Energy / Energy-General

• Increasingly Desperate Venezuela Makes Oil-for-Cash Deal With China

  Venezuela is showing increasing signs of desperation as it takes out an additional $4 billion in loans from China in exchange for oil. The deal, announced July 21, will give embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro an immediate influx of cash, which he needs to keep the economy afloat. Average Venezuelans are suffering from a shortage of basic goods, food and medicine, and inflation hit an eye-popping 62 percent for the 12-month period ending in June.With foreign currency running short, President Maduro might seek a currency devaluation to boost the economy. But that route could also lead to more inflation and…

• Kiev Should Stop Playing Politics With Gas Debt

  Ukraine’s energy system can stay afloat only as long as the country’s underground gas-storage facilities are full. But by the end of the year the government in Kiev may start siphoning off natural gas destined for the European market.The issue of natural gas has divided European opinion on the civil war in Ukraine. Brussels’ plan to force EU members into “energy solidarity” with the disintegrating state of Ukraine and to use illegal reversed gas flows is losing support. “The EU has no intention of repaying Ukraine’s debts for Russian gas,” said Dominique Ristori, the director general of the European Commission’s…

• Chips and Salsa with Russell Gold

  Russell Gold is absolutely marvelous. Not only has he spent over a decade as an intrepid energy reporter at the Wall Street Journal, but he has written a book, ‘The Boom‘, which is the quintessential history of the US fracking revolution.The book provides a fair and balanced view on how hydraulic fracturing has kick-started the US energy boom, and I am so keen to spread the word about it that I have five copies to give away. But before that, here is an interview with the mighty Russell Gold himself, providing some candid and compelling insights. Enjoy!1)  You got to…

• Geopolitics and the Changing Oil Market

  In the oil markets today there’s a lot to talk about, almost too much.  I have never seen such a disarray of geopolitical influences on the oil market at any other point in my 25-year career and it comes at a time when financial influences are similarly changing quickly.Stay with me for a moment, because the only way I can get you to understand what’s happening in oil, now and in the future, is to get a little wonky on you and take you into my world of financial and not fundamental oil.  I outlined my career thesis on the…

• One Bright Spot In Utilities

  If you consider a time span measured in years rather than days, weeks or months, it is hard to make a good case for investing in power utilities. Most are aware that over the next few years utility stocks are going to get hit with a double-whammy of epic proportions.New EPA emissions regulations are going to force them to shutter many coal powered plants and move to cleaner energy sources. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has estimated that this will cost utilities $28.1 Billion a year. No doubt some of those ongoing costs will be passed on to the consumer,…

• The Shale Revolutions Next Winner: The Permian Basin

  While North Dakota and South Texas garner much of the attention by energy investors, West Texas is fast becoming the backbone of the shale story in the United States.West Texas is home to the Permian basin, which was originally discovered nearly a century ago. It was home to much of Texas’ oil production for decades, but peaked in the 1970’s – along with many other American oil fields – and entered into a period of gradual decline.That all reversed course over the last few years, with the familiar story involving hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling unfolding on the dusty plains…

• Global Energy Advisory July 25th 2014

  Regulatory AlertsWith the final voting schedule for its Energy Reform regularly pushed back, Mexico finally gives investors a piece of good news. The Senate voted Tuesday to end the rule stating that Pemex was the only player permitted to explore and exploit oil and gas resources in the country. The bill, which is expected to pass the Chamber of Deputies, would definitely open the door to foreign players investing in the Mexican oil and gas sector and attract as much as $20 billion in foreign investment a year.The White House has tightened regulations for freight trains hauling oil, after coming…

• This Week in Energy: A Busy, Grisly Week

  With the words “World War Three” being bandied about, it’s tough to decide which story to start with, but with the killing of at least 16 people (some reports say 15) by an apparent rocket strike of a U.N.-run school sheltering Palestinians in Northern Gaza, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict seemed to come into the sharpest focus as this week came to a close. Just one day after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry left his Cairo diplomacy headquarters to make a surprise visit to press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into a ceasefire, the attack seemed to dash any hope for…

• Another Export Route for Oil Sands Blocked

  A city council in Maine took action on June 21 that all but blocks off another export route for Canada’s oil sands. The South Portland City Council voted 6-1 to block the export of oil from its waterfront, citing concerns about local air and water pollution. The vote potentially kills off a larger plan by the oil industry to connect Alberta’s oil sands to the Atlantic Coast. South Portland, Maine is a key piece of the puzzle because it is home to the end of a pipeline that runs between the coast and Montreal. The pipeline currently only runs in…

• California’s Progressive, Divisive Cap and Trade Plan

  California is claiming the environmental high ground by preparing to take the next step in its carbon reduction plan, but the result may leave drivers fuming. Starting on January 1, 2015, a cap and trade system will go into effect for all transportation fuels in California, including, of course, gasoline. Oil companies are predicting it will mean an immediate increase of at least 12 cents a gallon at the pump.Utilities and heavy manufacturers in the Golden State already have to pay to emit carbon through the Global Warming Solutions Act, passed in 2006 by then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The act aims…