James Stafford

Latest articles from James

• This Week in Energy … Climate Confusion is all the Rage

  Published 22 August 2014 | viewed 5,549 times

  This week, the ‘news’ is that the start of the most active part of the six-month hurricane season promises something big, maybe, possibly, no one’s…

• The Kardashians and Climate Change: Interview with Judith Curry

  Published 20 August 2014 | viewed 31,513 times

  Climate change continues to drive energy policy, despite the fact that there is no way to reconcile eradicating energy poverty in much of the world…

• This Week in Energy: The Fracking Media Circus

  Published 15 August 2014 | viewed 7,093 times

  A new study from Stanford University scientists finds no direct evidence of water contamination from hydraulic fracturing in Wyoming, but points out concerns that some…

• New Tax Threatens to Destroy Gas Production in Ukraine

  Published 12 August 2014 | viewed 18,983 times

  Independent gas producers in Ukraine are joining forces to pressure the government in Kiev to re-think its new gas tax before everyone makes a run…

• Yes To Mexico, No To Ukraine, Maybe To Offshore Fracking

  Published 07 August 2014 | viewed 7,194 times

  As Ukraine ushers through tax legislation designed to prop up political-business elite and alienate outside investors, Mexico finally passes secondary legislation to implement sweeping oil…

• Who Needs Russia? Ukraine Will Destroy Itself With New Gas Tax

  Published 07 August 2014 | viewed 25,630 times

  Ukraine doesn’t need Russia to take it down—Kiev is doing fine destroying itself, most recently with a new tax code that doubles taxes for private…

• This Week In Energy: Exports And Sanctions, Criss-Crossing The Atlantic

  Published 01 August 2014 | viewed 6,422 times

  It’s been a busy week in energy, particularly on the geopolitical front, with Washington at a loss over exactly whose side to take in the…

• What The Oil Headlines Miss: Interview with Michael Levi

  Published 30 July 2014 | viewed 32,552 times

  While we fixate on sexy headlines about Chinese military threats in the South China Sea, for instance, or Washington ‘lifting the ban’ on crude oil…

• This Week in Energy: A Turning Point in Ukraine?

  Published 18 July 2014 | viewed 6,081 times

  The conflict between Russia and Ukraine was heightened this week when Malaysia Air flight 17 was shot down by a missile strike over Ukraine on…

• Looking for the Next Oil Boom? Follow the Tech

  Published 14 July 2014 | viewed 35,126 times

  Much larger than Eagle Ford and once thought to have reached peak production, new technology has brought us full circle back to the Permian Basin…

• This week in energy…Welcome to ‘Sunnistan’

  Published 11 July 2014 | viewed 5,022 times

  The Islamic State, or IS (formerly ISIS), continues to gain ground in Syria and Iraq, taking control of a swath of land bridging the two…

• Oil Exports, Not Exactly a Coup

  Published 27 June 2014 | viewed 5,486 times

  Oil industry news is awash this week with reports that the Obama administration has effectively abolished a four-decade-long ban on US crude oil exports, but…

• 11 Years On, We’re Still In ‘Shock And Awe’ Over Iraq

  Published 20 June 2014 | viewed 5,495 times

  Iraq is burning, and now its largest refinery has quite possibly been taken over by Sunni insurgents.On June 18, reports on the ground remained unclear…

• LNG: The Long, Strategic Play for Europe: Interview with Robert Bensh

  Published 16 June 2014 | viewed 27,347 times

  Liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe isn’t a get-rich-quick scenario for the impatient investor: It’s a long, strategic play for the sophisticated investor who can…

• What Do Ukrainian Energy and Kurdish Oil Have in Common?

  Published 13 June 2014 | viewed 8,629 times

  As the second tanker of Iraqi Kurdish oil leaves the Turkish port of Ceyhan bound for sale on international markets, Baghdad is furious and Washington…

• This Week in Energy… Beating the Dead Horse That is Coal

  Published 06 June 2014 | viewed 6,470 times

  Though there is a ‘coup’ underway in Libya and the geopolitical crisis over Ukraine continues to intensify, the drama of the week focuses on the…

• This Week in US Energy … Shale Ups and Downs

  Published 30 May 2014 | viewed 6,109 times

  As the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) notes this week that US net natural gas imports fell 14% last year on record production, a report…

• Canadian Law Makes It Cheaper To Prevent Oil Sands Leaks Than Clean Them Up

  Published 29 May 2014 | viewed 17,166 times

  As the Canadian government pushes a new law rendering pipeline companies liable for all damages from leaks and spills, the only friend to both sides…

• This Week in Energy: Pump Full of Geopolitics and Speculation

  Published 23 May 2014 | viewed 4,362 times

  Chaotic preparations for presidential elections in Ukraine this weekend, a coup-in-the-making in oil giant Libya and the wider implications of a long-awaited Russia-China gas deal…

• Turkey’s Erdogan Prepares for Another Showdown After Mine Accident

  Published 16 May 2014 | viewed 5,850 times

  Violent protests have erupted in Turkey at the climax of the country’s worst mining accident in which 274 miners have already been declared dead, with…