By now, we are all used to commodity markets lunging randomly whenever news breaks of some real or imaginary event that might possibly add or subtract a barrel of oil from the marketplace. Many market players use the phenomenon to further their self-interests. It’s a tiresome game but like anything in life, if there’s a loophole or sneaky tactic that works, someone will be there to exploit it. And no one is better at manipulating the media than OPEC. The latest chew-toy that’s enthralled the [Read more]
Without pipelines, wood and coal will eventually do the job that renewables cannot
This appears to be an unprecedented time in modern history, where a handful of zealots can wield enough power to derail, well, pretty much whatever they want. Another important pipeline project is in jeopardy, in the US this time, for some vague and not credible historical reasons as well as the grave “concerns about water” that only pipeline foes seem to share. President Obama is blocking a major pipeline out of the Bakken region after pressure from the usual coalition of fossil fuel haters [Read more]
Oil over gold – in a world of endless debt, it’s the only truly functional reserve currency
To warn readers in advance, this post includes concepts that are usually left to the realm of economists. Nothing puts a damper on the day like economic theory, it’s like stepping in dog crap. On the other hand, for energy people it is worth considering the implications for oil’s growing importance in relation to the utterly unsustainable debt trajectories of most governments. By way of background for those who’ve never had to sit through an economics class, gold is viewed as the ultimate [Read more]
Worrying about where the next super-giant oil fields are is far more important than weekly rig count data
There is a lot of media noise these days about rising rig counts, how drillers are enthusiastic again, and how production may stop falling and stabilize. The commentators get into a fever pitch awaiting Friday's weekly report, rushing to their calculators to confirm that there is indeed a trend, their child-like enthusiasm consistently mistaken in the significance of ten more rigs being put to work out of 3,000 in mothballs. If your planning horizons don’t extend beyond the next month, those [Read more]
BC’s fading LNG dreams are giving Alberta gas pains; time to make a deal or play hardball
A few short years ago, some sectors of the western Canadian energy industry looked and felt very different. Alberta was in the process of advancing multiple pipeline projects in anticipation of growing transportation demand, and British Columbia was on the verge of an LNG export boom with new projects being announced seemingly weekly. Unfortunately, both dreams seem near dead. Pipelines can’t be built anywhere in Canada it seems (except in Alberta), and west coast LNG export terminals may [Read more]
Notley’s not the problem, 50 years of unfettered growth left an almighty mess
There is a lot of discontent with the government’s policies these days, pretty much all of them, but particularly anything pro-environment which is interpreted as anti-business by default. The frustration is somewhat understandable given the economic situation the province is in – the energy business is taking a kicking like it hasn’t in a good long while. That is fundamentally due to the price of oil, which has nothing to do with any government (it’s hard to call Saudi Arabia’s arrangement a [Read more]
Suncor ponders “stranding” oil sands reserves: humbly adjusting to the lowest common denominator, with spectacular results
A sad story appeared in the news the other day, in the business section of all places. Not comically sad like earthquakes or pet hamster deaths, more like the demoralizing sadness one gets when hearing an interview with a Wall Street banker. The sense that the wrong people are winning. In this instance, the disheartening story was how Suncor Energy, a major Canadian oil sands producer and general all around fossil fuel company, made headlines by announcing that it would be prepared to “strand” [Read more]
No more free electricity: British electro-motorists at forefront of inevitable day of reckoning
Green energy has come a long way in the past decade, for a number of reasons. A primary one was that oil prices hit levels never seen before, which made many green technologies economic to pursue. That incentive has gone away now with low oil prices, and has resulted in consumers somewhat losing interest. Another green-boosting phenomenon is showing signs of weakening as well – the tendency of governments and businesses (through government) to provide major, some might say outlandish, incentives [Read more]
Why can’t we build anything anymore? Seven billion people need infrastructure, get over it
We are heading for a big collision between two huge and opposing forces. On one hand we want everything, and we want it cheap, safe, environmentally friendly, and right now. On the other, vested interests always seem to jam a stick in the spokes of progress for subjective and highly personal reasons, which custom now demands that everyone respect. Something has to give somewhere. At its most obvious, this problem is easiest illustrated by the problems associated with construction of [Read more]
When analyzing oil markets, use your own judgment – experts often know less than you
The general population forms opinions by absorbing the flow of headlines that bombard the senses; for peripheral topics like energy there is little time or inclination for most to dig deeper. The same happens with financial industry media coverage. One forms opinions based on the preponderance of evidence (that is, the headlines) and it often is too intimidating to challenge predominant themes, or too much of a pain to try. The logical assumption, arrived at in lieu of a lot of digging, is that [Read more]
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