RBN Energy
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Thursday, 4/17/2025
Friday, 4/18/2025
The North American energy landscape has undergone significant shifts in production, infrastructure and pricing for crude oil, natural gas and NGLs over the past few years and developments within Canada have strengthened its role in the global energy trade, creating opportunities and reshaping supply chains. Yet, the market is constantly changing and today geopolitics and the potential impact of tariffs weigh heavily on the relationship between Canada and the U.S., North America’s two producing heavyweights. That shifting landscape is the subject of today’s RBN blog and a topic we’ll be discussing at our upcoming School of Energy Canada, set for August 26-27 in Calgary. Fair warning, this blog includes an unabashed advertorial for the conference.
Analyst Insights
Analyst Insights are unique perspectives provided by RBN analysts about energy markets developments. The Insights may cover a wide range of information, such as industry trends, fundamentals, competitive landscape, or other market rumblings. These Insights are designed to be bite-size but punchy analysis so that readers can stay abreast of the most important market changes.
By Jeremy Meier - Friday, 4/18/2025 (3:15 pm)
US oil and gas rig count grew to 585 for the week ending April 17 according to Baker Hughes data, a gain of two vs. a week ago. Three rigs were added in Appalachia, while the All Other group fell by one rig. All other basins were flat this week.
By RBN Team - Friday, 4/18/2025 (2:15 pm)
The announcement by Valero to shutter its Benicia refinery by April 2026 may have come as a surprise to city leaders, but it fits with recent trends.
Recently Published Reports
| Report | Title | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Crude Oil Billboard | Crude Oil Billboard Weekly - April 16, 2025 | 2 days 12 hours ago |
| U.S. Propane Billboard | U.S. Propane Billboard Weekly - April 16, 2025 | 2 days 13 hours ago |
| NATGAS Appalachia | NATGAS Appalachia Weekly – April 16, 2025 | 2 days 17 hours ago |
| NATGAS Billboard | NATGAS Billboard - April 16, 2025 | 2 days 19 hours ago |
| Canadian Natgas Billboard | Canadian NATGAS Billboard - April 16, 2025 | 2 days 20 hours ago |
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Daily Energy Blog
Here, There and Everywhere - Despite Trade Frictions, Enbridge Forges Ahead with Pipeline Expansions
Wednesday, 3/26/2025
Category:
Crude Oil
It might seem crazy to talk about expanding crude oil and diluent pipeline systems between Canada and the U.S. amid what could escalate into an all-out trade war between the two nations. However, Enbridge, one of the largest pipeline operators in the world, is doing just that — actively planning and investing in pipeline expansions for its Mainline, Express-Platte and Southern Lights systems that would help move an ever-rising tide of Canada’s oil sands crude to market in the years ahead. We examine Enbridge’s plans in today’s RBN blog.
Tuesday, 3/25/2025
Category:
Government & Regulatory
Huge fees may be coming to ships built in China each time they arrive at a U.S. port. During a hearing in Washington on Monday, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) heard comments on its January 2025 study that laid out China’s strategy to achieve dominance in the global maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors — a strategy that has worked spectacularly. Since 1999, China’s share of the global shipbuilding market has soared from 5% to 50%. The USTR argues that China’s growing control over the maritime sector poses serious economic and national security risks to the U.S., making immediate action necessary. Proposed measures include imposing port fees from $1 million to $1.5 million per port entry. If implemented, the fees would substantially increase costs for exports and imports using Chinese ships. That could have incredibly disruptive impacts on most oceangoing transport, and energy products are no exception — unless they get an exception! In today’s RBN blog, we explore the background of the USTR’s China port-fee proposal and what it could mean for global energy logistics.
Monday, 3/24/2025
Category:
Natural Gas Liquids
More than 9 billion gallons of propane were delivered to U.S. consumer markets in 2024, primarily for residential heating and cooking. Demand is highly seasonal, which brings a unique set of challenges for buyers, especially on the wholesale side of the market, but production tends to be steadier over the course of the year. In today’s RBN blog, we show how wholesalers balance supply and demand and the critical role of the winter-to-summer ratio.
Friday, 3/21/2025
Category:
Natural Gas Liquids
A half dozen large midstream companies provide the full gamut of “wellhead-to-water” services for Permian-sourced natural gas and/or NGLs, and a couple of those offer the same for crude oil as well. For Enbridge and Plains All American, the clear focus has been on crude — pipelines, storage and marine terminals — though Enbridge has been rapidly expanding its portfolio of Permian-to-Gulf gas assets too. In today’s RBN blog, we look at what Enbridge and Plains have and what they are planning.
Thursday, 3/20/2025
Category:
Natural Gas
Mexico’s LNG sector has seen notable advancements in the past year, including new export project announcements and strategic investments. But many of the proposed LNG projects require extensive pipeline buildouts — no easy task south of the border and perhaps the biggest impediment most of the export projects face. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll look at where things stand with Mexico’s LNG sector and the export projects under development.
Wednesday, 3/19/2025
Category:
Natural Gas
Western Canada’s natural gas market never really seems to catch a break. Prices this winter have remained well below those across much of the rest of North America thanks to an all-too-common combination of insufficient pipeline export capacity from the region, bloated gas storage and robust supply growth. Even with forward price prospects for much of the rest of the continent looking buoyant, with more gas expected to head to expanding Gulf Coast LNG terminals and a storage-refill season that will be stronger than last year, price upside for Western Canada looks to be minimal at best and will be partly dependent on the rate of gas intake to LNG Canada, as we explain in today’s RBN blog.
Tuesday, 3/18/2025
Category:
Refined Fuels
The Trump administration announced on February 26 that it is ending Chevron’s permit to operate in oil-rich Venezuela, which will halt U.S. imports of Venezuelan crude by early April. These changes, combined with other recent developments, are likely to significantly impact complex U.S. Gulf Coast refiners relying on heavy crude. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll discuss these impacts — an issue our Refined Fuels Analytics (RFA) practice examined in its recently updated Future of Fuels report.
Monday, 3/17/2025
Category:
Natural Gas Liquids
Crude-oil-focused drilling and completion in the Permian Basin is generating fast-increasing volumes of associated gas — and creating opportunities for midstream companies that provide “wellhead-to-water” services for natural gas and NGLs. ONEOK has become a much bigger player in this space via several transformational acquisitions and MPLX has been making moves of its own. (The companies also are working together on a new LPG export terminal — and more.) In today’s RBN blog, we continue our review of Permian-to-Gulf midstreamers’ expansion plans with a look at what ONEOK and MPLX are up to.
Friday, 3/14/2025
Category:
Crude Oil
The Rocky Mountain region (PADD 4), with a population that is both smaller and more spread out than other parts of the Lower 48, consumes only around 650 Mb/d of refined products — just one-fourth the volume of the next-smallest PADD. That limits the need for refinery capacity, which matches the region’s average annual consumption and is only outstripped in the summer months. Yet, the Shale Revolution has impacted the Rockies as much as any other region, boosting production in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) and Uinta basins, and the Montana portion of the Bakken. At the same time, the area has also seen increasing volumes coming in from PADD 2 and Canada. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll look at how PADD 4 dispenses these barrels and its role in balancing continental crude oil supply and demand.
Thursday, 3/13/2025
Category:
Natural Gas
President Trump’s flurry of executive orders upon returning to office included one titled “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential,” which aims to see the realization of the long-dormant Alaska LNG project, a multibillion-dollar plan to bring natural gas several hundred miles from Alaska’s North Slope to Anchorage and Cook Inlet for eventual liquefaction and export. The president’s endorsement renewed interest in a project that has been on the drawing board for more than 30 years. In today’s RBN blog, we look at why there is renewed interest in the project, some of the hefty challenges it would need to overcome, and why many still see it as a long shot.
Wednesday, 3/12/2025
Category:
Crude Oil
As the global crude oil market continuously evolves, so do the tools that traders, refiners and producers rely on to navigate its complexities. Among these tools, futures contracts play a pivotal role, allowing market participants to manage risk and ensure liquidity. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll explore what sets apart two major futures contracts for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil, focusing on the differences in location, connectivity and quality — and how those distinctions define their roles in the market.
Tuesday, 3/11/2025
Category:
Natural Gas
New England is determined to shift toward a greener electric grid, but the region’s plan to slash its current reliance on natural gas (and backup fuel oil — and sometimes coal) by ramping up offshore wind and solar (and backup batteries) has hit a seemingly immovable object. President Trump, a staunch opponent of offshore wind, on Day 1 of his second administration ordered a halt to new leases and permits and directed his Interior Secretary to review existing permits. As we’ll discuss in today’s RBN blog, those moves have left New England power planners scratching their heads, and may even resurrect the possibility of expanding natural gas pipeline capacity into the region.
Monday, 3/10/2025
Category:
Power
The pace of announcements for planned data centers accelerated in 2024 and has continued to gather steam in 2025, with natural gas-fired power plants emerging as a frequent choice, along with nuclear power, to provide the around-the-clock electricity that large-scale data centers want and need. In today’s RBN blog, the first in a series, we’ll detail plans by several well-known energy firms to construct new gas-fired plants that would produce electricity specifically for data centers.
Friday, 3/07/2025
Category:
Natural Gas Liquids
The handful of midstream companies that provide a full range of “wellhead-to-water” services between the Permian and the Gulf Coast are in growth mode, advancing a long list of gas processing plants, takeaway pipelines, fractionators and export terminal expansions. Last time we looked at what Enterprise Products Partners and Energy Transfer are up to. In today’s RBN blog, we shift our spotlight to what Targa Resources and Phillips 66 are planning, with Targa building a slew of projects and P66 growing primarily through organic opportunities that have arisen following recent bolt-on M&A.
Thursday, 3/06/2025
Category:
Power
The U.S. power sector is undergoing a major expansion to keep pace with the rising demand for electricity from data centers and other consumers, and trying to do a lot at once. Keep a lid on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by adding wind, solar and other renewables. Maintain grid reliability by supplementing variable renewable energy with more around-the-clock sources like natural gas-fired power plants. Oh, and keep power costs down, too. That’s a big collective ask, and to help make it possible, power grids are turning to so-called “virtual power plants” (aka VPPs) that, with an assist from computers and software, aggregate smaller power sources, batteries and flexible demand to provide power to the grid much like a traditional combined-cycle plant would. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll introduce VPPs and explain why they’re worth learning about.