Any number of things can impact the price of specific types of crude oil at various locations — supply interruptions, takeaway constraints and refinery outages, to name just a few. Every so often, the stars align and just about all those factors narrow the differential between, say, Western Canadian Select (WCS) and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at the U.S. Gulf Coast to near-record levels. Well, that’s happening now, for the first time in five years. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the shockingly small WCS/WTI differential and what’s driving it.
Daily Energy Blog
Friday, 8/08/2025
Category:
Crude Oil
Thursday, 8/07/2025
Category:
Natural Gas
The European Union (EU) appears poised to substantially increase its imports of U.S. LNG after reaching a trade deal with the Trump administration that includes a pledge to purchase $750 billion worth of U.S. energy over three years. The trade agreement and the EU’s plans to phase out deliveries of Russian LNG and piped-in natural gas by 2027 may end up being a big positive for U.S. producers. But that doesn’t mean it’s all clear sailing, thanks to competition with Qatar and uncertainty around EU regulations. In today’s RBN blog, we look at how U.S. exporters could still get squeezed on price and volume between today and 2030.
Wednesday, 8/06/2025
Category:
Renewables
Not long ago, several large-scale carbon-capture projects had plenty of momentum, fueled by a push toward decarbonization and expanded federal tax credits. But while progress on many projects has slowed as they faced a host of problems, Tallgrass’s plan to convert its Trailblazer pipeline from natural gas service to carbon dioxide (CO2) has had a comparatively smooth ride, thanks in large part to an engagement strategy that has allowed it to navigate the trickiest potential complication — local opposition. In today’s RBN blog, we review Trailblazer’s conversion, examine why Tallgrass’s strategy has succeeded where similar projects have failed, and look at what happens next.
Tuesday, 8/05/2025
Category:
Natural Gas
The San Juan Basin in northwestern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado has seen more than its share of booms and busts in the last 100-plus years. During the Shale Era, natural gas production in the 7,500-square-mile basin has been slowly declining, undercut by competition from more prolific, better-situated wells in the Permian and Eagle Ford. But a small band of “San Juan believers” think the region is poised for yet another rebound, this time due to what they view as massive, untapped potential in the basin’s Mancos Shale. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss recent developments in the San Juan — and the basin’s extensive pipeline infrastructure.
Monday, 8/04/2025
Category:
Crude Oil
Western Canadian crude oil production is rising fast. To keep pace, Enbridge is planning expansions to its pipelines into the Midwest and Great Plains. But PADD 2 refineries are maxed out on heavy crude, so virtually all those incremental barrels will need to keep flowing south to refineries and export terminals along the Gulf Coast. Can the pipelines from PADD 2 to PADD 3 handle the higher volumes? In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the knock-on effects of rising Western Canadian production and Enbridge’s pipeline expansions.
Friday, 8/01/2025
Category:
Financial
MPLX’s July 31 announcement that it has reached an agreement to acquire Northwind Midstream for $2.375 billion puts a spotlight on two undeniable trends. First, the acquisition is the latest in what by now is a long series of multibillion-dollar deals by midstream giants to expand their Permian-to-Gulf, “wellhead-to-water” networks that gather, process, transport and export crude oil, natural gas and/or NGLs. Second, Northwind has been a pioneer in gathering and processing unusually sour associated gas in the prolific Northern Delaware Basin, an area of particular interest to a growing number of E&Ps. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the deal and what it brings to MPLX.
Smart Money - Strong Returns, Low Costs Attract Investors and Consolidators to Mineral/Royalty Firms
Thursday, 7/31/2025
Category:
Financial
U.S. E&Ps’ strategic shift from growth at any cost to a laser focus on cash flows to fund shareholder returns revitalized their investor base. But that strategy has been challenged as crude oil prices have eroded since their mid-2022 peak, with producers struggling to balance the need to maintain output and the pressure to sustain dividends. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll see how things are going with the oil and gas companies that bear no responsibility for the costs and complications associated with the finding, development and production of hydrocarbons — the entities that own mineral and royalty interests.
Wednesday, 7/30/2025
Category:
Crude Oil
Crude oil producers in the prolific Permian Basin have plenty of options to move their barrels, especially since pipeline capacity currently exceeds production, but not every route out of the basin is equal. One of the hottest destinations for Permian crude is Houston, which boasts an attractive mix of refining and export demand. In today’s RBN blog, we look at the pipelines that transport Permian crude to Houston, discuss why it’s such a vital spot, and preview our latest Drill Down Report.
Tuesday, 7/29/2025
Category:
Crude Oil
Through the early years of the Shale Era, produced water gathering systems in the Permian were mostly small, simple and focused solely on transporting the salty, petroleum- and mineral-tainted water emerging from wells to nearby saltwater disposal wells. In the 2020s, though, these systems — now mostly owned and operated by third-party produced water specialists — have been becoming larger, more interconnected, and more likely to include at least some water recycling and reuse. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll continue our look at big, far-reaching produced water systems in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.
Monday, 7/28/2025
Category:
Energy
It's an integrated energy market that stretches across the North American continent, from Texas and Florida to the mountains of British Columbia and Canada’s industrial heartland in Ontario/Quebec — a cross-border network so deeply connected, it functions as one massive, interdependent system for oil, natural gas and NGLs. That system is undergoing major shifts and challenges, driven not only by changing supply/demand dynamics and evolving infrastructure within the market itself, but also by powerful external forces, including regulatory policies and political pressures. That’s why we couldn’t think of a better time — or a better place — to host RBN’s 19th School of Energy than in Calgary next month. In today’s RBN blog — a blatant advertorial — we’ll highlight how our upcoming conference will dig into how the interconnected energy landscape is changing and why understanding those shifts is more critical than ever. You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet!
Friday, 7/25/2025
Category:
Refined Fuels
Expectations for electric vehicle (EV) adoption in the U.S. took a sharp detour into uncharted territory earlier this month when President Trump signed the landmark budget reconciliation bill into law. Known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), the law dramatically scales back EV subsidies, eliminates penalties for automakers that don’t meet fuel-efficiency standards, and significantly restricts state-level zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) programs. In today’s RBN blog, we look at why the law is likely to slow the pace of EV adoption and impact forecasts for vehicle sales and gasoline demand — a key topic in the just-published Future of Fuels report from our Refined Fuels Analytics (RFA) practice.
Thursday, 7/24/2025
Category:
Power
Perhaps the most hyped-up topic in energy these days is how much electricity new data centers will need to keep up with the increased use of artificial intelligence (AI). And that’s prompting some big questions, such as where all the power will come from and how much natural gas demand will rise. But another crucial question may be whether these data centers will pull that power from the grid or generate it themselves on-site. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll discuss the benefits and challenges of each approach.
Wednesday, 7/23/2025
Category:
Natural Gas
The Bakken Shale needs more natural gas takeaway capacity, North Dakota wants to encourage more in-state consumption of Bakken-sourced gas, and two entities — WBI Energy and a combo of Intensity Infrastructure Partners and Rainbow Energy Center — have each proposed similar (but not identical) cross-state pipelines that would help achieve those aims. But, assuming that two new pipelines would be overkill, which of the two proposals is the more likely to advance to a final investment decision (FID), construction and operation? In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the two competitors and the state of North Dakota’s impending decision on which pipeline project to support.
Tuesday, 7/22/2025
Category:
Crude Oil
There’s a lot going on in the Permian produced water space lately. Crude-oil-focused production in the prolific shale play is generating vast and increasing volumes of produced water that needs to be recycled or injected into disposal wells. State regulators, concerned about injection-related seismic activity, are tightening their rules, ramping up oversight and cracking down. Produced water gathering systems are being expanded and long-distance pipelines are being planned and built. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the latest developments and where things are heading.
Monday, 7/21/2025
Category:
Natural Gas Liquids
Associated gas production in the Bakken Shale continues to increase and, with more NGL pipeline capacity coming online and a new option on the horizon, there’s a gunfight brewing between two of the U.S.’s largest midstreamers. At one end of a dusty Wild West street stands the sheriff in town, ONEOK, which recently completed an expansion of its Elk Creek NGL Pipeline. At the other is a renowned midstreamer from Texas, Kinder Morgan, which is staking a claim in the Rockies by converting its Double H crude oil pipeline to NGL service — renaming it Hiland Express when it does — and planning an NGL header pipeline. As we discuss in today’s RBN blog, Kinder is the first to challenge ONEOK in this space.
