The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported its fourth straight week of crude oil inventory builds. The week, according to the API, the build was 3.294 million barrels-strong. U.S. crude inventories are still 63 million barrels below where they were at the beginning of the year. Analyst expectations for the week were for a build of 2.233-million barrels for…
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Recovering fuel demand and additional demand for oil products amid record-high coal and natural gas prices have pushed up global oil refining margins to their pre-pandemic levels. For the first time since COVID crippled fuel demand and margins in early 2020, refining margins in the key regions Asia, Europe, and North America have rebounded strongly in recent weeks, according to…
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Kazakhstan’s national grid operator has begun rationing electricity to the country’s biggest consumers, likely targeting cryptocurrency mining farms. Facing a sudden energy shortage, officials must be regretting their recent embrace of the crypto industry. Nur-Sultan has struggled to land on a consistent policy toward cryptocurrencies and mining – the series of electricity-hungry calculations made by networked computers to verify and…
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Ever since the arrival of the ESG craze, we have discussed the change in “optics” that Exxon has been trying to pull off in order to placate some of the most vocal activist shareholders, some of whom now happen to be on the company’s board. But now, instead of just purely superficial changes, Exxon may be on the cusp of…
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The government’s plan to establish two new LNG terminals appears to be in limbo as Minister for Maritime Affairs is unhappy at the volume of capacity for the two terminals, arguing that allocation of pipeline capacity, as proposed by the Petroleum Division, may not serve the purpose, well informed sources told Business Recorder. On October 8, 2021, the Petroleum Division briefed…
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Trying to bounce back from Covid, the world has run headlong into an energy crisis. The last spike of this magnitude popped the 2008 bubble. Crude oil is up 65% this year to $83 per barrel. Gasoline, above $3 per gallon in most of the country, is more costly than any time since 2014, with inventories at the lowest level…
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Chinese coal prices tumbled on fears of government intervention in the strained energy sector, as Beijing seeks to rein in electricity costs and stem a crisis that has hobbled the country’s economic growth. Thermal coal futures trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange, which have hit record levels in recent weeks, fell the maximum 8 per cent for a second consecutive…
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THE natural gas and energy crunch sweeping Asia and Europe has propelled spot rates for liquefied natural gas carriers above $260,000 per day on key routes as traders sought vessels to profit from cargo arbitrages worth over $100m. The Baltic Exchange currently assesses time charter equivalent rates to ship 180,000 cu m of LNG to Tokyo from Gladstone, Australia at…
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A decade of underinvestment in traditional energy supply chains has finally caught up to world economies. Surging demand, tightening inventories and soaring prices are causing energy shortages and blackouts. Coal and natural gas inventories are at dangerously low levels, diesel power generation is switching on, factories are shutting down, and blackouts are already happening in China. The situation has deteriorated…
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From ageing electric batteries to old engines to rearview mirrors, the auto industry is revving up its recycling efforts as it faces pressure to reduce its colossal carbon footprint. The world’s automakers are investing in facilities to salvage old parts but the industry is also looking to recycle the millions of electric batteries used for the cars of the future.…
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