More Export Destinations For U.S. Crude In 2016

03/29/17 •lweb.es/f2697 •bit.ly/2oQhXFR

Oil, prices, USA

Due to a surge in oil hedges, the oil-price weakness will not prompt US producers to pull back on drilling. The producers rushed to lock in oil prices above $50 a barrel after the OPEC production cuts announcement in November, and will use hedging gains to help plug any budget deficits caused by sub-$50 spot prices. However, most of the hedges expire by 2018, and oil futures prices must recover before producers can lock in prices over $55 a barrel for next year – a level needed for significant tight-oil production growth.

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Trump’s “Energy Independence” Order: Both Uncertainty And Opportunity

03/28/17 •lweb.es/f2693 •bit.ly/2ocvx54

Clean Energy, USA

President Trump has issued an executive order to dismantle the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. The “Energy Independence” order lifts a moratorium on federal coal leasing, triggers a review of methane and hydraulic fracturing restrictions, and eliminates use of the Environmental Protection Agency’s “social cost of carbon” in policymaking. From a climate action perspective, there is widespread agreement that the order is bad news for U.S. emissions. Interestingly, 62 percent of Trump voters support taxing and/or regulating pollution causing global warming, and nearly three-quarters think the U.S. should use more renewable energy in future.

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Russia Sticking To $40 Oil Scenario: Protection Against Worst-Case

03/24/17 •lweb.es/f2698 •bit.ly/2nWvh7E

Oil, prices, Russia

Policy makers in Moscow see Urals oil at an average of $50 a barrel this year, but falling to $40 at end-2017 and then staying near that level in 2018-2019. Russia’s Finance Ministry similarly highlighted the $40 level in January when it announced that the central bank would start buying foreign currency on its behalf when crude exceeds that level in order to insulate the exchange rate from oil volatility. The price of $40 is additionally being used to calculate the country’s budget in 2017-2019.

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Saudi Arabia: Long-Term Strategy For Asian Investment

03/23/17 •lweb.es/f2703 •bit.ly/2peKLnK

Asia, Investments, Oil, Saudi Arabia

Saudi King Salman’s lavish tour of Asia had a mission – to cement the kingdom’s place as leading oil supplier to the world’s biggest consumer region. The string of deals inked on his three-week tour to Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, and China – the big prize – also point to a fresh strategy: growth in the downstream. Chief executive officer of Aramco, Amin Nasser, said on this: “The growth in that sector is very important, and anything integrated between refining, petrochemical, with marketing and distribution, is of interest to us.”

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China’s Sinopec Buys Its First Major Refinery In Africa

03/23/17 •lweb.es/f2699 •bit.ly/2oTNcwJ

Africa, China, Oil, Refinery

China’s Sinopec has agreed to pay almost $1 billion for a 75 percent stake in Chevron’s South African assets and its subsidiary in Botswana, securing its first major refinery on the continent. The assets include a 100,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery in Cape Town, a lubricants plant in Durban as well as 820 petrol stations and other oil storage facilities. They also include 220 convenience stores across South Africa and Botswana. With a growing middle class, demand in South Africa for refined petroleum has increased by nearly 5 percent annually over the past five years.

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Oil Majors Drive Down Costs In The Offshore Wind Industry

03/23/17 •lweb.es/f2689 •bit.ly/2oQnlJ1

Clean Energy, energy, Offshore, World

Royal Dutch Shell, Statoil and Eni are moving into multi-billion-dollar offshore wind farms in the North Sea and beyond. The oil companies have many reasons to move into the industry. They’ve spent decades building oil projects offshore, and that business is winding down in some areas where older fields have drained. Returns from wind farms are predictable and underpinned by government-regulated electricity prices. Current projects entering operation are delivering power at about half the price of farms finished in 2012 helping the technology start to compete with traditional forms of energy.

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Oil At $40 No Problem: Hedging As A Shield

03/20/17 •lweb.es/f2705 •bit.ly/2oTZd5d

Oil, USA

American oil explorers are shrugging off the 14% slide in prices this year. The price would have to drop to the $30s or lower to dent the bottom line of many drillers now working U.S. shale fields. That’s because many producers have already locked in future returns with financial contracts that guarantee the price of their oil for most of the rest of the decade. “We’re in a boom again in Texas…” said Michael Webber of the University of Texas’ Energy Institute in Austin. “The cowboy spirit is back. Hedging is playing a big role.”

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IEA And IRENA Report: Perspectives For The Energy Transition

03/20/17 •lweb.es/f2704 •bit.ly/2pfa21i

Clean Energy, energy, World

The objective of this joint International Energy Agency and The International Renewable Energy Agency study “Perspectives for the Energy Transition. Investment Needs for a Low-Carbon Energy System”, requested by the German Government, is to analyse the scale and scope of investments in low-carbon technologies in power generation, transport, buildings and industry that are needed to facilitate such a transition in a cost-effective manner, while also working towards other policy goals. The findings of this report will inform G20 work on energy and climate in the context of the 2017 German G20 presidency.

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