America, The Waning Days

Potential earthquakes and black swans are right ahead of us. What else is new? On April 16, Turkey has a referendum to decide whether Erdogan will become de facto supreme ruler. What happens if he loses the referendum is completely unclear, undiscussed even, but it’s obvious a loss would have the country shake on its […]

Waking up to World War III

GOOGLE searches for the term “World War 3” are at the highest level since records started back in 2004 in a clear reflection of the nervous global mood in these diplomatically tumultuous times. Recent military manoeuvring and chest beating from both the Trump administration and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un has set the world on […]

Supply Crunch Or Oil Glut: Investment Banks Can’t Agree

In recent years, U.S. shale has thrown in another unknown in the mix of factors driving the price of oil. This year, shale output forecasts combine with OPEC’s production cuts, geopolitical factors, and unexpected outages to further complicate supply/demand and oil price forecasts by Wall Street’s major investment banks. The biggest banks remain bullish on oil […]

IEA Forecasts Second Straight Year of Slowing Oil Demand Growth

Global oil demand growth is expected to slow for the second year in a row, the International Energy Agency said Thursday, sounding a cautious note for the market. In its closely watched monthly oil market report, the IEA reduced its forecast for 2017 demand growth to 1.3 million barrels a day, warning that this outlook […]

Oil From the U.S. and Saudis: Top Buyers Get What They Want

Buyers in the world’s biggest oil market are finding they can almost always get what they want, at a time when they weren’t expected to get what they need. Saudi Arabia, which is cutting output as part of a deal to ease a global glut, was said to supply customers in Asia with all the […]

Goldman Sachs anticipates return to long-term oil price stability

Goldman Sachs has maintained its base case for oil prices at $50 per barrel, saying it anticipates a return to stable long-term oil prices. The bank said in an outlook note that confidence in long-term oil prices has increased due to improvements in technology and therefore the costs involved with shale extraction. Price fluctuations are […]

Tillerson meets with Putin amid deepening tensions over U.S. missile strikes in Syria

The rift between the United States and Russia was laid bare Wednesday when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held his first direct talks with Russia’s president. Their discussions failed to ease deepening tensions over Syria and Washington’s demands that Moscow abandon its main Middle East ally. “There is a low level of trust between our […]

Oil majors’ reserves are shrinking and investors don’t mind

As crude prices recover, oil majors face a dilemma – how quickly should they seek to replenish reserves? It’s the same question the cyclical oil industry has tackled many times before: go too fast and risk spending too much for little reward, go too slowly and your rivals will be better positioned to grab market […]

Exiting The Anthropocene

The beginning of the Anthropocene, the period when humanity became the predominant driver of changes in the Earth Systems, has been open to debate. Some argue for the period of the post-WW2 Great Acceleration, others for the beginning of industrialization, and some would perhaps go back as far as the European conquest and colonization of […]

Return to Fukushima: Eerie pictures show nuclear disaster aftermath

Return to Fukushima: Eerie pictures show the abandoned streets and buildings six years after 100,000 fled Japanese nuclear disaster zone By Dave Burke For Mailonline © Rebecca Bathroy The fascinating images were taken in the red zone, which was the scene of a mass exodus in March 2011 For years the streets of Fukushima have […]

Chevron executive pay rises

Compensation for three of Chevron Corp’s (CVX.N) senior leaders, including Chief Executive John Watson, rose last year due to a change in how the value of pensions are calculated. The disclosure, required by U.S. regulators, comes as the oil industry grapples with low prices and Chevron, the second-largest U.S.-based oil producer, tries to bounce back […]

In surprise move, Iran’s Ahmadinejad to run for president

Iran’s former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday stunned the country by unexpectedly filing to run in the May presidential election, contradicting a recommendation from the supreme leader to stay out of the race. Ahmadinejad’s decision could upend an election many believed would be won by moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who negotiated the nuclear deal with […]

The Syrian conflict could actually send oil prices lower

Geopolitical tensions could be a double-edged sword for oil prices and threaten the complicated alliance among the world’s biggest producers. The oil market is closely eyeing the Syrian situation, where a U.S. attack last week increased tensions between the U.S. and Russia, but drew praise from Saudi Arabia. For now, the market assumes OPEC, including […]

Is Another Bust Looming Over The Oil Industry?

Notable authorities such as the EIA, the IEA, OPEC and BP forecast growth of demand for oil in their base case scenarios through the end of their forecast periods. These same organizations failed to predict, and even to fully recognize after the fact, the start of declining demand in the United States and the OECD […]

Oil Climbs After Reports That Saudi Arabia Wants Output Cuts Extended

Crude oil turned positive on Tuesday, reversing course on reports that Saudi Arabia has told OPEC officials it wants to continue output cuts for an additional six months. Oil futures have been pinned in a range, supported by production cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cartel and other producing states but capped […]

Radiation is Safe Within Limits

Opening eyes to the facts. Nuclear power is a green environmental solution. It generates no CO2. The fuel is cheap and inexhaustible. Green nuclear power can solve the global crises of air pollution deaths and climate change. Cheap energy can help developing nations escape poverty and let industrialized nations improve economic growth. Is nuclear power […]

Saudis to Seek Bids for 700-Megawatt Wind and Solar Projects

Saudi Arabia will begin seeking bids next week from renewable-energy companies to build wind and solar plants with a combined capacity of 700 megawatts as part of the kingdom’s $50 billion program to boost power generation and cut its oil consumption. Energy Minister Khalid Al Falih will announce a request for proposals for the projects, the […]

Oil – Expect More Uncertainty

Summary In this article, I decided to go over some weekly oil statistics that cover production, demand, inventories, etc. I found a mixed but slightly bearish picture facing the industry, but demand figures suggest that there is still some bullish data out there. I also looked at export data and figured that, with regulatory changes […]

The Flies of Summer

“Any faith that China will be standing at the base of the burning building with a fireman’s net is misplaced. “ A portion of the Silk Road passing through Northern Fujian Province, October 2016 image by Albert Bates As national Republican political strategist Rick Wilson said on The Last Word, what we witnessed this past […]

Is Britain’s ‘largest oil discovery in decades’ really all that?

A large oil find has been declared 60 miles west of Shetland, off the north coast of Scotland. It’s being described as the UK’s “largest undeveloped discovery”. Taken at face value, this is exciting news for an industry still reeling after the oil price collapse of the past few years (environmentalists though are less enthusiastic). […]

Is peak oil demand for real?

Standing at the front of a windowless room in downtown Washington last week, the Swiss energy economist Christoff Frei lectured on how the world’s energy sector is about to undergo an upheaval the likes of which has not been seen in a century. Between the insurgence of electric cars, climate change policy and a host […]

US Chemical Safety Board faces elimination

US President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating the US Chemical Safety Board, a somewhat obscure agency that has angered so many groups over the years that no one is likely to leap to its defense. The group is an independent government agency, much like the National Transportation Safety Board. While the NTSB investigates plane accidents […]

Kunstler: Wonderland

There are times in the course of events when a society cannot tell what the fuck is going on, or what to do about it, and this is one of those moments in history here in the USA. The quandaries of life on the home front — how to make a living, how to care […]

Geopolitical Risk Premium Is Back In Oil

WTI and Brent jumped to one month highs on the news of U.S. airstrikes in Syria, and while direct risks to oil supply are limited, oil traders are on edge. (Click to enlarge) The U.S. launched airstrikes on a Syrian airbase late Thursday in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian […]

Oil Surplus Or Scarcity? Shale Makes It Even Harder To Predict

  The shale oil boom has transformed the U.S. and global energy sector to such an extent that it has upended traditional supply dynamics and made forecasts far more polarised. Investment banks, many of which finance new projects, along with oil majors such as Total and Eni, have warned that huge spending cuts caused by […]

Is This The Beginning Of The End For U.S. Empire?

Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad. Before I get into the meat of this post, I want to revisit something I wrote back in January. From the post, Very Powerful People in the U.S. Government Want War – This is Their Sales Pitch: We need to understand that those who want […]

Oil and gas power American’s lives

Quick: What do makeup, prosthetics, and heart valves have in common? Unbeknownst to most Americans, all are made possible by fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are behind almost every aspect of our daily lives — from T-shirts to life-saving medical devices. Unfortunately, a growing movement to keep oil and gas in the ground could cut off […]

Gasping for gas

Multi-billionaire and philanthropist Warren Buffett says: “You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out”. The tide of energy revenue has receded for Trinidad and Tobago, this time from structural changes in global energy, meaning the tide is not returning whilst our economy, exposed in its fragility, remains stranded on the […]

North Sea oil is in its death throes. But the industry has one last grand act left

To witness the beginning or end of a great industry or a way of living isn’t unusual. Each generation has its list of comings and goings – great grandfathers who remember the advent of the motor car, grandmothers who recall the last factory hooter in Accrington, fathers and mothers who can say where and when […]

Saudi Arabia unveils plans for ‘entertainment city’ near Riyadh

Saudi Arabia has unveiled plans for an entertainment city on the edge of Riyadh which will be 50 times the size of Gibraltar once complete. The 334 sq km (129 sq mile) attraction will offer cultural, sporting and entertainment activities – including a Six Flags park and a safari park. The announcement boasts it will […]

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