As exports of crude oil, natural gas and NGLs have surged, U.S. markets for these energy commodities have undergone radical transformations. Exports now dominate the supply/demand equilibrium. These markets simply would not clear at today’s production levels, much less at the volumes coming on over the next few years, if not for access to global markets. It is more important than ever to understand how the markets for crude, gas and NGLs are tied together, and how the interdependencies among the commodities will impact the future of energy supply, demand, exports and, ultimately, prices. Making sense of these energy market fundamentals is what RBN’s School of Energy is about. Warning! Today’s blog is a blatant commercial for our upcoming Houston conference. But we hope you will read on, because this time around, our curriculum includes all the topics we have always covered at School of Energy, PLUS five all-new sessions dedicated to export markets.
Canadian crude output is rising, requiring new export routes. As traditional pathways face constraints, the U.S. Rockies—especially the Guernsey, WY hub—are emerging as key corridors for moving Canadian heavy crude to downstream markets, including the Gulf Coast.
RBN School of Energy is Back!
It’s been more than 18 months since the last RBN School of Energy. Not because of any lack of need for energy fundamentals education, but instead because our team at RBN chose to focus our resources on two large-venue conferences, PermiCon (October 2018 –– all about the Permian) and xPortCon (May 2019 –– focused on exports). Those conferences were highly successful, with about 700 attendees each, providing the opportunity to get a lot of information out to a large audience. Some might say like drinking from a firehose.
So as Rod Stewart likes to say, it is really time to be back at school. Back to a more structured learning experience. And that is just what we will be doing October 15-17, 2019 –– back to the Houstonian Hotel in Houston for a new, updated School of Energy designed for these extraordinary times.
If you are not familiar with RBN’s School of Energy, the conference is structured more like a classroom experience, where we work through current developments in some aspect of the market and then examine them in the context of Excel models that grapple with a wide range of issues including production economics, production forecasting, crack and frac spreads, gas processing economics, ethane rejection, petrochemical feedstock selection and all sorts of similar topics. These models are much like what we’ve used in past Schools, except they have all been updated and upgraded. Likewise, the course content follows the same themes we write about each day in the blog, namely that the relationships among the energy commodities have changed … such that the markets for natural gas, NGLs and crude oil are tied together in ways that are shifting dramatically due to the dominant role of exports today. School of Energy 2019 is designed to integrate your knowledge of these three commodities with hands-on, practical instruction and training.
See the School of Energy page on RBN's website for more information, and to download a brochure with detailed course content and syllabus.
We also have reorganized our School of Energy content to make it easier to focus on what’s most relevant to you. Day 1 is Energy Market Fundamentals (EMF), and covers the basics of energy fundamentals analysis, including terminology, market evolution, the nuts-and-bolts of oil and gas production, the pipeline transportation grids, natural gas processing, demand sectors and the essentials of spot markets and trading. This day is optional. You can register for EMF only, you can skip EMF altogether, or register for EMF along with the remainder of the conference. Five Excel models are included with the EMF sessions.
In Day 2, we cover all of the current developments in U.S. crude oil, natural gas and NGL markets. In the morning plenary session, we review RBN’s forecasts for crude, gas and NGL markets, examining supply/demand balances, infrastructure constraints, and pricing differentials. The afternoon splits into three tracks, with one focusing on the most important market issues in each of the commodity groups; the other two tracks focus on specific models –– how to use them and interpret their results. So, to be clear, you can attend either one of two Excel model tracks, or skip the models and attend more lecture/discussion sessions.
Finally, in Day 3 we focus on exports and international markets, considering export dock capacity, export economic relationships and destination markets. Day 3 will also provide the opportunity for you to catch up with modeling sessions that you were not able to attend on Day 2.
But that’s not all! We are honored that astronaut Terry Virts will join us as our luncheon keynote speaker on Day 1. Colonel Virts is a U.S. Air Force test/fighter pilot and NASA veteran of two space flights –– a two-week mission onboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 2010 and a 200-day flight as commander of the Space Station in 2014-15. He is a celebrated thought leader, speaker and author who is currently working on multiple projects, including a new book and television series. He also is an avid reader of the RBN blog!! Terry will speak about his missions and how principles from space travel and the U.S. space program are applicable to today’s energy markets. Following his remarks, I will join Terry on stage to discuss the intersections between space travel and energy.
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About the song
"Maggie May" was written by Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton, and appears as the first cut of side two of Stewart's third solo album, Every Picture Tells a Story. The song started out as the B-side of the single "Reason to Believe," but radio stations favored playing "Maggie May" to the A-side, quickly making it a hit. It went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and has been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Stewart claims that the song is a semi-autobiographical account of the first time he had sex, which took place with an older woman in a tent at the Beaulieu Jazz Festival in Hampshire, England, in 1961. There is a newsreel of the festival on the internet that briefly shows a young mod Stewart with a rucksack on his back at this very festival. The song's lyrics refer specifically to Stewart's status at that young age: "It's late September and I really should be back at school," and the foreshadowing phrase, "or find myself a rock 'n roll band that needs a helping hand" –– a nod to his joining The Faces as their lead singer. Personnel on the song were: Rod Stewart (lead vocals), Ronnie Wood (electric guitar, 12-string guitar, bass), Martin Quittenton (acoustic guitar), Ian McLagan (Hammond organ), Ray Jackson (mandolin), Pete Sears (celesta) and Micky Waller (drums).
Every Picture Tells a Story was recorded at Morgan Studios in London between November 1970 and January 1971, with Rod Stewart producing. It was released in May 1971, and went to #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. It has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. All five members of The Faces appear on the album at various times, along with an A-list of additional players.
Rod Stewart is a British rock singer and songwriter. He has sold over 100 million records worldwide to date. He has released two studio albums with the Jeff Beck Group; four studio albums and one live album with The Faces; and 31 studio albums, four live albums, 22 compilation albums and 147 singles as a solo artist. Stewart has received one Brit Award, one Grammy Award and an ASCAP Founders Award. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Faces and as a solo artist; Rod also is a member of the UK Music Hall of Fame. He continues to record and tour, is currently booked on the Blood Red Roses Tour with a residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas that ends in October, and with an appearance with Jeff Beck at the Hollywood Bowl on September 27. Stewart embarks on a European tour in November.
