America’s oil refiners are preparing to intensify efforts to press the federal government to drop mandates to encourage the development of advanced biofuels and counter the Obama administration’s “war on fossil fuels.”
The Renewable Portfolio Standard requires that 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel be blended with petroleum-based products by 2022 under the Bush-era Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Keep reading →
The Middle East holds a little less than half the world’s proven natural gas reserves, but several countries in the region are facing gas shortages. In fact, many of these fossil fuel titans are pursuing solar power and other alternative energy technologies to supplement their soaring power generation requirements.
The International Energy Agency discusses this issue in its recently released Medium-Term Gas Market Report 2012 and says that – with the exception of existing export contracts – incremental medium-term production will exclusively serve domestic markets in the Middle East. Keep reading →
Few industries are hit as hard by high oil prices than the airlines, which can spend close to 40% of their budget on fuel. With jet fuel prices near record highs, the drive to conserve is stronger than ever. Delta recently made headlines with its novel bid to buy an oil refinery, taking a more direct role in procuring fuel. But Delta and other airlines are experimenting with a number of other ways to cut costs. The entire industry is hoping a switch from radar to GPS-based navigation will cut the time it takes both to reach cruising altitude and land a plane.
The spread of innovative drilling techniques combined with high oil prices have caused a renaissance in American oil exploration and production. The boom has been confined in large part to traditional oil-and-gas states like Texas and North Dakota, but other states that have seen resource dividends pass them by in previous eras are now enjoying their own expansions thanks to oil and gas development.
The latest round of American boomtowns to be profiled by CNNMoney lie in Kansas, and the site has profiled seven of the workers benefiting from oil investment even as they grapple with the challenges of a resource sector that often requires a high degree of mobility and a tolerance for isolation. Keep reading →
Eager to feed its growing energy appetite, China’s worldwide buying binge for oil and other energy assets is spreading to North and South America. Yet most analysts say China’s newfound interest in American energy may actually be good for U.S. consumers, as it will likely increase oil and gas supplies worldwide and possibly lower prices. Big deals: Earlier this month, reports said PetroChina is close to buying an old refinery on Aruba owned by American refining giant Valero. China is also said to be interested in building a pipeline to carry 300,000 barrels a day of Colombian oil to the Pacific Coast, according to a recent Eurasia Group note.
An Iranian war-boat fires a missile during the ‘Velayat-90’ navy exercises in the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran on December 30, 2011.
The fact that some of the world’s largest oil and gas reservoirs are 100% owned and operated by national oil companies could benefit international oil companies if economic sanctions imposed on Iran constrain the country’s petroleum production, Moody’s Investors Service said in a recent note. Keep reading →
It doesn’t feel like we’re in Kansas anymore.
Oil rigs are springing up in farmers’ fields. “No vacancy” signs hang in the windows of local motels, and a steady stream of trucks barrel through Main Streets. Along the state’s southern border, the once-quiet farm towns are quickly transforming into boomtowns. Keep reading →
What is the difference between conventional and unconventional oil? Find out here: http://bit.ly/J5Y9Cf IEA
What trading technology used to look like at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1986.
Energy trading has long been divided between the headline prices everyone can see on the news and the much longer list of prices that exist in the traditionally more freewheeling over the counter markets. Keep reading →
Energy Book Review: ‘The Eskimo and The Oil Man’ by Bob Reiss
By Peter GardettIn retrospect, it isn’t surprising that there is a market for writing that fits nicely into the niche between the analytical musings of the Economist and the heart-thumping pace of a Jason Bourne thriller.
A little bit populist and much faster paced than traditional writing about current events, while still retaining a seriousness of purpose but steering clear of the polemics of a Michael Moore documentary, the idea for this generation books is fact that reads like fiction. Perhaps it is “a thriller for the CNN generation” or, given reading patterns in the US, just as likely an “Agatha Christie for the CSPAN generation.” Keep reading →