The next OPEC meeting on the 2nd of June will act as little more than a forum for continued altercations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, writes Rakesh Upadhyay of Oilprice.com. Relations between the two countries have reached a new low. The smaller OPEC nations have little choice but to remain spectators. … [Read more...]
Oil: not yesterday’s fuel – just yet
The new hype is to say that the end of the oil age is near. In the long run, the importance of oil will diminish, write Peter Simon Vargha, Chief Economist at  Hungarian oil and gas company MOL and his colleague Csaba Pogonyi, but before that some good years for oil are likely. Just as high prices reduced the likely future demand for oil, low prices will probably prolong its use. … [Read more...]
What happens when demand for oil peaks?
A gradual move away from oil, will have many benefits for the global economy, write Amy Myers Jaffe, executive director of energy and sustainability at the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies, and Jeroen van der Veer, former CEO of Royal Dutch Shell. According to Myers Jaffe and Van der Veer, a diminished role for oil means markets will become more stable and costly price subsidies can be reduced. The authors, both members of the new … [Read more...]
Saudi Arabia needs realism – not a 2030 vision
The recently published economic reform plan for Saudi Arabia, Vision 2030, is completely unrealistic, writes ex-Shell geoscientist Jilles van den Beukel.  He argues that it should be seen in the light of Mohammed bin Salman’s grab for power. The deputy crown prince, the King's favourite and de facto ruler of the country, has a limited time span to solidify his power base, given the frail health of his father. Van den Beukel argues that only … [Read more...]
Oil giants pile into “new energies”
Major oil companies like Total, ExxonMobil, Statoil and Shell have announced moves into “new energies”, writes Jason Deign, editor and publisher of Energy Storage Report. But according to Deign, it is hard to see how they can fight their way back into a renewable industry already sewn up by large players. The one remaining niche may be energy storage, which is still dominated by cash-hungry startups. … [Read more...]
Bakken shows: US tight oil production is up against its limits
Geology, drilling efficiency and increased focus on the best producing areas have all contributed to the dramatic increase in drilling productivity over the last 10 years in the Bakken, argue Jilles van den Beukel (ex-Principal Geoscientist with Shell) and Enno Peters. The contribution from technology is much smaller; for a given well location the well productivity has hardly improved. This has important implications: Van den Beukel and Peters … [Read more...]
Out of reach without nuclear and shale
Contrary to what some politicians are arguing, US emission reduction goals for 2025 cannot be achieved without nuclear power and shale gas, argues Geoffrey Styles, Managing Director of independent US-based consultancy GSW Strategy Group. Recent official revisions from the Environmental Protection Agency  (EPA) on estimated methane leaks from gas production and use do not negate the benefits of gas in recducing  emssions, he adds.  … [Read more...]
Has China’s coal use peaked? Here’s how to read the tea leaves
As the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, how much coal China is burning is of global interest, writes Valerie J. Karplus of the MIT Sloan School of Management. According to Karplus, an expert on Chinese energy, China's reported leveling off of coal use may be both real and sustainable. Nevertheless, there is one scenario in which coal use could easily go back up again: high oil and natural gas prices. In addition, it is likely that … [Read more...]
EPH’s takeover of Vattenfall’s lignite assets should ring alarm bells in Berlin and Stockholm
By taking over the German lignite assets of Vattenfall, Czech utility EPH shows it believes in the future of lignite in Germany. This raises questions for the German government about its climate policies - and for the Swedish government which has to decide on the deal, writes Julian Schwartzkopff, researcher at energy and climate think tank E3G. … [Read more...]
Phasing out fossil fuels for renewables may not be a straightforward swap
To have any chance of preventing dangerous climate change, the world needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero or even negative by mid-century. Many experts suggest this means we need to completely phase out fossil fuels and replace them with renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. But according to Anthony James, lecturer with the National Centre for Sustainability, Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, new … [Read more...]
Globalisation of the gas market: it has been going on longer than you think
The general view among analysts is that gas prices in North America, Europa and Asia diverged in the period 2005-2014. This was always a bit odd, since regional markets were becoming more interconnected in those years through increased LNG trade, increased market related pricing and gas hub development. Now it turns out that, according to new research from Floris Merison at the Energy Delta Institute, the conventional view of price divergence is … [Read more...]
Debacle at Doha – the collapse of the old Oil OrderÂ
The failure of the world’s biggest oil producers to agree on an output freeze at their recent meeting in Doha, Qatar, was more than a geopolitical incident, writes energy author Michael T. Klare. The Doha debacle shows that the world of ever-increasing oil demand that we have come to known over the last decades is no more. From now on, suppliers will fight each other for ever diminishing market shares. Courtesy of TomDispatch. … [Read more...]
Saudi Arabia releases ambitious plan to diversify economy
On Monday, Saudi Arabia released a blueprint for the future, a plan for the Kingdom that could alter the course of its history. The "Vision for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" could radically transform Saudi Aramco, the Saudi economy, and the country's social structure, reports Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com. … [Read more...]
Russia: a global energy powerhouse that’s much more than a petro-state
Russia is not what you think. Most discussion about its energy influence has focused on oil and gas, particularly gas, and Russia and is routinely described, as a petro-state. But this is only partly accurate, writes Scott L Montgomery, Lecturer at the University of Washington. According to Montgomery, Russia has been building an altogether new kind of energy state, one with more global influence than even OPEC. This has profound implications for … [Read more...]
California cleans up the natural gas sector – a model for the rest of the world
If natural gas is to be a bridge to a future of low greenhouse gas emissions, the problem of methane leakage has to be tackled. The State of California is taking measures that will mean a sea change in the way utility companies deal with methane leakage, writes Tim O’Connor, California Director Oil & Gas at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). According to O’Connor, this should be a model for other States and countries to follow. … [Read more...]
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