Robert Rapier

Latest articles from Robert

• Oil Prices May Have Reached A Bottom

  Published 18 November 2018 | viewed 25,898 times

  Last Friday, oil prices fell for the 10th consecutive day. According to CNBC, this marked the longest losing streak for crude oil in 34 years. I…

• Trump Claims Victory As Oil Prices Plummet

  Published 17 November 2018 | viewed 38,431 times

  Oil prices are now down over 20 percent from recent highs, and President Trump knows exactly where the credit for that belongs. “If you look…

• The Energy Investment Model With A Glaring Problem

  Published 06 November 2018 | viewed 7,198 times

  The first master limited partnership (MLP) was formed by Apache Oil Company in 1981. In 1987 Congress legislated the rules for publicly traded partnerships in…

• The Overlooked Downside Of Ethanol

  Published 05 November 2018 | viewed 31,963 times

  Ethanol is known to damage small gasoline-powered engines, such as those in lawnmowers and leaf blowers. Consumer Reports explains: A Department of Energy study found that…

• The Death Of Algal Biofuel

  Published 27 October 2018 | viewed 22,953 times

  During the advanced biofuel craze of the past decade, many companies made claims that weren’t remotely credible. A long list of companies claimed they could economically convert…

• Fact Checking Bernie Sanders On Renewable Energy

  Published 25 October 2018 | viewed 17,709 times

  When discussing energy policies, I think it’s critical to accurately represent facts. Otherwise, we may end up making ineffective policy decisions based on myths or…

• New Tech From Iceland Can Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel

  Published 24 October 2018 | viewed 32,167 times

  I wrote this column in Iceland, where I recently traveled on a working vacation. While in Iceland I met with an innovative energy producer whose technology could help mitigate…

• Is The Threat Of High Oil Prices Overstated?

  Published 04 October 2018 | viewed 16,136 times

  As U.S. sanctions on Iran have forced some countries to stop importing oil from Iran, crude oil prices have inevitably risen. The U.S. started down…

• Creating Fuel From Thin Air

  Published 29 September 2018 | viewed 15,839 times

  Wouldn’t it be magnificent if we had a low-cost way to capture the sun’s energy and economically store it for later consumption? Actually, we do. Plant…

• Why Peak Oil Demand Doesn’t Matter

  Published 22 September 2018 | viewed 28,100 times

  Although natural gas is projected to be the fastest-growing fossil fuel over the next two decades, the global oil market won't likely be far behind.…

• Refiners Aren’t To Blame For Climate Change

  Published 16 September 2018 | viewed 14,714 times

  For about a decade, Texas has considered the idea of erecting a coastal barrier to protect against the impacts of hurricanes. Texas A&M researchers concluded that a direct…

• How Natural Gas Is Paving The Way To A Cleaner Energy Future

  Published 12 September 2018 | viewed 17,224 times

  Many environmentalists are staunchly against the idea that natural gas can act as a bridge fuel to a renewable future. Actor Mark Ruffalo echoed the…

• New Fuel Efficiency Rules Could Boost Oil Consumption

  Published 11 September 2018 | viewed 9,539 times

  Last month, the Trump Administration announced that it would replace fuel efficiency standards enacted by the Obama Administration in order to make cars safer and more affordable.…

• Why Diesel Prices Are Set To Soar

  Published 01 September 2018 | viewed 62,345 times

  The world is ticking down to a deadline that promises to have major ramifications in the global fuel markets. On January 1, 2020, the International Maritime…

• Lower Gas Prices Are Right Around The Corner

  Published 25 August 2018 | viewed 46,297 times

  Fall arrives next month. Along with it comes relief from the heat, and usually at the gasoline pump as well.  It isn’t simply that demand for gasoline…

• Venezuela’s Key Refineries At Risk Of Seizure

  Published 18 August 2018 | viewed 24,253 times

  In 2007, following Venezuela’s expropriation of billions of dollars of assets from U.S. companies like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, I suggested a potential remedy. Since Venezuela’s state-owned oil…

• The Real Leader In Global Energy Production

  Published 13 August 2018 | viewed 11,063 times

  Last week President Trump spoke to business leaders at a dinner. Daniel Dale, the Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star, posted several tweets about the…

• Are Natural Gas Prices About To Break Out?

  Published 11 August 2018 | viewed 39,372 times

  In the previous article, The U.S. Is Still The Global Natural Gas King, I highlighted the rise of the United States as the world’s leading…

• The U.S. Remains The Natural Gas King

  Published 04 August 2018 | viewed 15,862 times

  Data from the 2018 BP Statistical Review of World Energy show that last year the U.S. maintained a healthy lead as the global natural gas powerhouse. In 2017, the U.S.…

• How U.S. Shale Flipped The Script In Global Oil Markets

  Published 28 July 2018 | viewed 27,951 times

  In the previous article, Asia’s Insatiable Oil Demand, I covered global and regional oil consumption numbers according to the recently-released 2018 BP Statistical Review of…