Trading

Three Ways for a Solar Energy Deal to Fail

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The solar business has been overshadowed in the past two years by rapidly declining prices, related “trade wars” replete with accusations of dumping on global markets and the failure of a high-profile company – Solyndra – pushing an unproved technology.

But solar power has in the past decade gone from a hippie style accessory and an expensive small-scale solution to a large, proven generation source with installations that can rival and exceed the scale of competing fossil fuel plants. Nonetheless, financing remains a fundamental challenge, with many projects highly dependent on market forecasts that have too little historic data for banks wary of lending to any but the most traditional enterprises at a time of intense regulatory oversight. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 20, 2013 at 10:30 AM

Tepco’s US LNG Agreement: Small Volumes, Big Deal

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Japan’s recent deal to import US LNG at Henry Hub benchmark prices appears largely symbolic, but is important for the sector as it could represent the beginning of a larger trend away from oil-linked LNG prices for the world’s largest LNG importer.

“They [the deal’s negotiators] were very surprised they were able to pull it off,” a source familiar with the negotiations recently told Breaking Energy. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 19, 2013 at 8:30 AM

Continued Strong Growth for Energy Mergers and Acquisitions in Q4

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Generally driven by a bump in generation asset and renewables transactions, mergers and acquisitions more than doubled in the fourth quarter of 2012 over the same period in 2011 for a whopping 116% increase, according to the PwC U.S. quarterly report North American Power Deals: Q4 2012.

Here are some takeaways from the report: Keep reading →

 /  Published February 15, 2013 at 3:00 PM

Natural Gas Market Transparency: What does FERC Want?

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Everyone wants Washington to take action, but when politicians and regulators start moving ahead with reform plans it is a good bet almost no one is going to be happy with the outcome.

The energy sector, as one of the most heavily regulated industries in the country, has some surprisingly freewheeling elements following the piecemeal and incomplete deregulation of energy trading that followed decades of extreme centralization. Efforts to dismantle the old central-planning model of energy markets were halted by the extraordinary complexity of market disruptions in the late 1990s and early 2000s and have been lagging in the decade since. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 15, 2013 at 11:15 AM

IEA: Oil Market Undergoing ‘Dramatic Changes,’ Prices Up

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In its Monthly Oil Market Report released today, the International Energy Agency said positive economic indicators from the US and China, strong financial market activity and cooler Northern Hemisphere weather combined to push global oil price benchmarks above nine month highs in early February.

Bringing incremental oil production volumes to the global market has been challenging for producers. The recent deadly hostage crisis at a remote Algerian natural gas plant has led firms to re-evaluate their security protocols in the region, with one company pulling its staff out of Nigeria due to safety concerns, said the IEA. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 13, 2013 at 12:00 PM

OPEC Warns on Risks to US Production Growth

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The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries Tuesday warned that expectations of growth in non-OPEC oil supply this year–seen as essential to meeting global oil demand in the long term–were subject to a high level of risk, particularly in the U.S.

 /  Published February 12, 2013 at 2:20 PM

Natural Gas Prices Fall Further After EIA Data

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Natural-gas futures fell Thursday after the Energy Information Administration reported a decline in U.S. inventories that was smaller than expected.

 /  Published February 7, 2013 at 12:00 PM

Why Gasoline Prices are Rising

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It’s happening again.

It’s not even close to the summer driving season — in fact, it’s not even springtime — but as surely as February gives way to March, gas prices have begun their annual ascent. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 6, 2013 at 3:00 PM

Looking Ahead: Giant Overseas Oil Field Startup vs Tough US Natural Gas Market

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Accounting firm Ernst & Young released its Oil & Gas Center’s quarterly outlook this week highlighting the major trends expected in various petroleum industry sectors over the near term. It’s done on a quarterly basis and provides an overall view of main themes to be watching. It is primarily generated as an internal document, “so everyone knows what’s going on and highlights are sent to clients,” Foster Mellen, Senior Analyst with Ernst &Young’s Oil & Gas Practice told Breaking Energy.

Some points of interest include the long-overdue startup of Kazakhstan’s giant Kashagan field and how companies may cope with US natural gas prices that have persistently remained below historical norms. Keep reading →

 /  Published January 31, 2013 at 11:30 AM

Energy Prices on the Rise Again

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Energy prices have been rising fast. But not enough to derail the economic recovery. Not yet anyway.

Over the last month, crude oil prices have risen over 4% and are approaching $100 a barrel. Analysts think they’ll soon trade in the triple digits. Gasoline futures are up even more, rising 8% over the last 30 days. At the pump, drivers are now paying 14 cents more a gallon than they were in mid December. Keep reading →

 /  Published January 30, 2013 at 2:00 PM
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