Energy

30 September 2016

China used to call Russia its ‘older brother’. However, never again since the fall of the USSR. In an effort to portray its status as a less powerful yet assuredly more senior neighbour, Russian officials have recently begun referring to their country as China’s ‘elder sister’. The new term...

Featured Articles

8 September 2016

Oil & Gas Equipment Manufacturers will be Slow to Recover

Oilfield services, shipbuilders and other industries that rose with the pre-2014 oil price boom have had it hard. Since barrel rates fell, their previous patrons have become uninterested in doling out major purchase orders, leaving oil and gas equipment manufacturers...

6 September 2016

How is China’s Low-Carbon Transformation Progressing?

China was responsible for 25 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions in 2012. According to World Bank research, cities consume more than 65 percent of global energy and emit some 70 percent of greenhouse gases. Transforming cities into ‘low-carbon cities’...

31 August 2016

Oil Output Freeze Looking Less Likely

Oil has broken down further today.  The ostensible trigger was the larger than expected build in US inventories.  However, the price of oil has been trending lower since the beginning of last week.  It appears that our skepticism of talk...

31 August 2016

The Permian Basin Bucks the Trend for Now

  The collapse of oil prices has ground shale drilling to a halt, but the one region where drilling is still active, and even increasing, is in West Texas.     The collapse of oil prices has ground shale drilling...

25 August 2016

Are You a ‘Lithium Skeptic’?

We have gone electric, and there is no going back at this point. Lithium is our new fuel, but like fossil fuels, the reserves we are currently tapping into are finite—and that is what investors can take to the bank....

24 August 2016

Saudi Arabia Plays a Balancing Act

  It's possible that OPEC is crying wolf with hints of an output freeze next month in Algiers; but it's also possible that they are ramping up production to take the sting out of a freeze. This is a delicate...

19 August 2016

Stacking the Deck before the Next OPEC Meeting

Saudi Arabia suggests it may be increasing its August crude output to a new all-time high as it could give it more leverage to influence the September informal talks on a possible production freeze, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing industry sources. Saudi...

12 August 2016

Vietnam’s Ambitious Clean and Green Goals

In recent decades, Vietnam’s demand for energy has increased along with its rapid economic development. This surge in demand could provide the impetus to develop Vietnam’s emerging renewable energy industry. In recent decades, Vietnam’s demand for energy has increased along...

9 August 2016

A New OPEC Meeting May Give Oil New Life

This Great Graphic from Bloomberg shows the September light sweet crude oil futures contract since peaking in early June near $52.75.  It reached a low last week of about $39.20.  The turn last week came on news that although oil...

5 August 2016

Conditions now Could Set Up Higher Oil Prices Later

Another oil price downturn threatens to deepen the plunging levels of investment in upstream oil and gas production, which could create a more acute price spike in the years ahead. Oil and gas companies have gutted their capex budgets, necessary...

25 July 2016

September Oil is Losing a Technical Battle

Today's 2.5% fall in the September light sweet crude oil futures contract extends the decline that began on June 9.  It is the third consecutive loss and the fifth loss in the past six sessions.  There are two important points...

19 July 2016

Lithium’s Run is Likely not Over

  So far, lithium has been the hottest metal of 2016, beating out gold, with exponential demand expected over the coming years. Although the price trajectory of the metal has been subdued in recent months, the fundamentals behind the long-term...

12 July 2016

(Re) Calling All Oil Workers

The rig count has rebounded from the lows seen in late May; a small indication that oil companies in the U.S. could begin drilling anew. Shale drilling is a short-cycle prospect, requiring only a few weeks to drill and bring...

11 July 2016

More Rigs could be the Oil Rally’s Greatest Foe

  In an industry where anything could happen, surprises—often unwelcomed—are hard to come by. Oil is exactly such an industry at the moment. No one is sure where oil is heading, near-term forecasts range from $20 to $80 per barrel by the end of...