RBN Energy
Early Access
Monday, 9/29/2025
Friday, 9/26/2025
Before data centers were the hot topic everywhere, Virginia was already rolling out the red carpet and it seemed that tech firms were constructing facilities as fast as humanly possible, drawn by the state’s robust fiber-optic network and low power prices. But while other states are racing to catch up, Virginia may be hitting the brakes. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll look at what makes Virginia so “sweet” for data center developers, their impact on the state, and efforts by some to slow progress.
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 John Abeln - Monday, 9/29/2025 (3:30 pm)
Report Highlight: NATGAS Permian
Dry natural gas production in the Permian Basin averaged 22 Bcf/d for the week ended September 29, down slightly from the week prior, with small changes across most pipelines in the basin last week. The past few weeks, El Paso Pipeline has been the primary driver of lower supply.
By Martin King - Monday, 9/29/2025 (2:15 pm)
For the week of September 26, Baker Hughes reported that the Western Canadian gas-directed rig count was unchanged at 60 (blue line and text in left hand chart below), five less than one year ago and is holding at its highest point since mid-March.
Daily Energy Blog
Thursday, 4/25/2013
Category:
Natural Gas
Last year natural gas power burn increased by 6 Bcf/d over 2011. This year power burn levels in the first quarter were down 10 percent from 2012. Peabody Energy reported last week that coal consumption for generation is growing this year versus 2012. Today we ask whether 2012 power burn was an anomaly and what we should expect in 2013.
Wednesday, 4/24/2013
Category:
Refined Fuels
There is plenty of crude oil in North Dakota but the State does not refine enough of it to meet rising demand for diesel caused by booming energy industry activity. The latest North Dakota Pipeline Authority data shows oil production in February 2013 up 40 percent since February 2012 to 778 Mb/d. Demand for diesel increased 35 percent between February 2010 and February 2013. North Dakota’s only refinery produces less than half the diesel the State consumes. To help remedy that disparity the first new refinery to be built in the Lower 48 since 1977 is under construction today and two more new refineries are planned. Today we look at the refinery economics.
Tuesday, 4/23/2013
Category:
Crude Oil
In the short term midstream companies with crude-by-rail unloading terminals at the Gulf Coast can deliver cheaper light sweet crudes from the Midwest and West Texas. Once new pipelines come online to deliver that crude direct to Houston that price advantage will disappear. At that point rail terminal operators need to diversify their business to survive. Today we look at the fate of Texas Gulf Coast rail terminal operators.
Monday, 4/22/2013
Category:
Crude Oil
By the end of 2014 an additional 1.7 MMb/d of pipeline capacity will open up from the Midwest and the Permian basin – bringing crude into the Texas Gulf Coast region. A good deal of that crude will pass through pipelines and/or storage in the Houston Ship Channel area. Ordinarily all that pipeline capacity should trump crude-by-rail due to lower transport costs. But the onslaught of rail could change the game, as over 200 Mb/d of new rail capacity is being built in the Channel area Today we discuss the logic of crude-by-rail in Houston.
Sunday, 4/21/2013
Category:
Crude Oil
Last week we reviewed prospects for oil production from the Niobrara shale formation in Colorado and Wyoming (see Bananarama in the Rockies). Despite early promise the Niobrara has proven complex to drill successfully but recent optimism from Noble Energy,Anadarko and others suggest that the tide may be turning. Today we take a look at growing takeaway capacity in the Rocky Mountains.
Thursday, 4/18/2013
Category:
Crude Oil
The latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) April 2013 short term energy outlook forecasts US crude oil production to increase from an average of 6.5 MMb/d in 2012 to 7.9 MMb/d in 2014. Surging crude production needs to find routes to market – and often competes for pipeline space with growing Canadian imports. New crude pipelines are taking too long to build. At the same time many natural gas pipelines are flowing far beneath capacity because new gas production nearer to market makes them redundant. Converting these natural gas pipelines to crude oil use where geography allows is a potential win-win. Today we look at gas to crude pipeline conversion economics.
Wednesday, 4/17/2013
Category:
Industry
It’s time! Registration for RBN’s *Summer* School of Energy is open. Once again RBN Energy is offering an intense curriculum of energy market fundamentals analysis covering the whys and hows of the most important developments in the crude oil, natural gas and NGL markets. This time the course is hot. Really hot. Because we are holding the conference in the middle of July in Houston. And we’ve expanded the content to include an optional Preschool that consists of a half-day deep dive into the (hot) condensate markets, and another half day for a tour of (very hot) Mont Belvieu. There is more - much more that we’ll review below. And BTW, if this sounds like an unabashed commercial for our conference, that’s because it is. You have been warned!
Tuesday, 4/16/2013
Category:
Crude Oil
As much as 240 Mb/d of light sweet crude from North Dakota is currently being shipped from the Bakken to St. James LA in what has become a pipeline on wheels. More crude is also moving to the Gulf Coast from Western Canada by rail and new destination terminals are being developed along the Mississippi River. But increased pipeline capacity to the Gulf Coast is a growing competitive threat to these rail destinations. Today we survey rail destination terminals East of the Mississippi.
Monday, 4/15/2013
Category:
Natural Gas
Last week (April 9, 2013) South African firm SASOL held an investor strategy day in New York. The company confirmed it is moving ahead with plans to build a 100 Mb/d gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Lake Charles, LA. Shell is evaluating plans for a similar plant in LA. The plant feedstock will be up to 1 Bcf/d of dry natural gas and output will be very low sulfur diesel, naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). A year ago in April 2012 the economics looked very positive because of the wide spread between gas prices and refined products but the margins have narrowed since then. Today we look at prospects for this plant and others like it.
Sunday, 4/14/2013
Category:
Crude Oil
January 2013 oil production from the Denver-Julesburg and Powder River Basin Niobrara Shale plays in Colorado and Wyoming was 170 Mb/d (Bentek estimate). Operators in the Niobrara have been running hot and cold on the play ever since a gusher in Weld County, CO hit the headlines in October 2009 by producing 550 b/d in its first ninety days. Some like Chesapeake have sold assets; others like Noble Energy expect their oil production to increase significantly in 2013. Today we check out the current sentiment on this Rockies play.
Thursday, 4/11/2013
Category:
Natural Gas
These days natural gas can be traded in spot, term, or financial at over 120 locations across the US. Deals can be executed by Apps, by instant messages and by high-speed algorithm. And it is reported that a few human beings actually still trade gas bilaterally over the telephone as was done in the time of the Cro-Magnons. None of that would be happening without the big bang. Today we recall how the dust settled after the big bang in natural gas markets.
Wednesday, 4/10/2013
Category:
Crude Oil
Crude by rail is shifting to the West Coast in a big way. By the end of 2012 unit trains carrying light sweet Bakken crude had begun to flow to Washington State refineries. In 2013 West Coast refiners and terminal operators have continued investment in terminals to receive oil from the Bakken and Western Canada. Today we survey developing West Coast crude rail terminals.
Tuesday, 4/09/2013
Category:
Energy
Last week our attention was drawn to the “State of Energy” report published by the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners (TIPRO). Using Bureau of Labor quarterly census data the report provides a summary of state and national benefits attributed to growing US oil and gas production during 2012. For example, TIPRO reports that oil and gas industry employment increased by 65,000 to 971,000 in 2012. But the benefits of increased production are not just confined to the oil and gas industry. According to a presentation by the Chamber of Commerce Institute for 21st Century Energy (ITCE) the shale revolution provided $237B of growth to the US economy in 2012. Today we look at how huge changes taking place in US energy supplies impact the wider economy.
Monday, 4/08/2013
Category:
Natural Gas
Storage, the great balancing mechanism of the natural gas market in North America is heading toward another evolution in its usage, flow patterns and economics. Not too many years ago, natural gas storage was the hottest midstream investment opportunity going, expected to synchronize inbound flotillas of LNG imports with seasonal domestic demand. Winter vs. summer price differentials were wide, prices were volatile and storage economics looked great. When shale gas happened, those differentials evaporated along with storage economics. Today another phase looms for natural gas storage as Marcellus and now Utica production ramp up on top of (or more accurately, underneath) the largest storage region in the world – the Northeast U.S. This is a big topic with big implications. So rather than jumping into the middle of the upcoming gas storage transformation, we will walk through a multi-part North America natural gas storage blog series - its history and status, its challenges, who’s involved, and finally what could be in store going forward. Today we’ll start with some natural gas storage basics.
Sunday, 4/07/2013
Category:
Crude Oil
Last week (see Sailing Stormy Waters) we reviewed limited market options for Western Canadian heavy bitumen crude producers. The US Gulf Coast is the only viable market with significant refinery capacity to process these crudes. At the moment there is limited transport infrastructure in place to get them there. As a result prices are being heavily discounted in the over supplied Midwest market. The Canadian benchmark Western Canadian Select (WCS) price traded this January at a discount of more than $38/Bbl to the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI). Today we examine how much prices are likely to improve once the pipelines are built.