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Tuesday, 12/03/2024
Monday, 12/02/2024
Even with all the headline-making deals we’ve seen in the North American oil and gas industry over the past two or three years, producers and midstream companies are still at it. And the M&A, the post-acquisition divestitures and the acreage swaps aren’t confined to the Permian, which has seen more than its share of big-dollar transactions lately. In fact, as we discuss in today’s RBN blog, some of the biggest deals the past few months have involved production assets in the booming Montney in Western Canada, the generally sleepy Piceance in western Colorado, the quirky-as-heck Uinta in Utah, and — on the midstream side of things — a trio of natural gas pipelines in the Midwest.
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 Martin King - Monday, 12/02/2024 (3:30 pm)
As reported by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), Alberta’s oil production was 4.18 MMb/d in October 2024 (rightmost stacked bars in chart below), 360 Mb/d higher than September and a year ago, and is the second highest oil output on record behind 4.19 MMb/d set in December 2023.
By Jeremy Meier - Monday, 12/02/2024 (2:30 pm)
The last week in November concluded what was a very stable month for US oil and gas rig count, with rigs falling to 582 for the week ending November 29, a decline of one vs. a week ago.
Recently Published Reports
| Report | Title | Published |
|---|---|---|
| TradeView Weekly Data | TradeView Weekly Data - November 29, 2024 | 3 days 8 hours ago |
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Daily Energy Blog
Friday, 11/08/2024
Category:
Natural Gas Liquids
A slew of LPG, ethane and ethylene export projects are underway along the Gulf Coast, a direct result of rising U.S. NGL production and generally flat domestic demand. Three of the projects will provide “flex” capacity of some sort — that is, the facilities will be able to shift between LPG and ethane exports or, in some cases, between ethane and ethylene. In today’s RBN blog, we review the history of U.S. LPG and ethane exports, why midstreamers have been struggling to keep up with export capacity, and how the ongoing addition of flex capacity is likely to play out.
Hard to Handle - Hydrogen's Unique Properties Make Using Natural Gas Infrastructure a Difficult Task
Thursday, 11/07/2024
Category:
Renewables
One of the biggest challenges to a significant expansion of the commercial hydrogen market in the U.S. is the lack of a comprehensive transportation network. That has spurred interest from utilities, government agencies and others interested in utilizing or repurposing parts of the existing (and extensive) natural gas infrastructure to ship hydrogen. But that approach comes with some challenges, starting with the significant differences in the physical and chemical properties of hydrogen and methane, the main component of natural gas. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll explain why moving hydrogen on the existing natural gas network — then storing and utilizing it — is no easy feat.
Wednesday, 11/06/2024
Category:
Natural Gas
One of the most prevalent stories in the U.S. natural gas market over the past decade has been soaring associated gas production in the Permian Basin and the question of what to do with it. Numerous pipelines have been built over the years connecting Permian gas to demand regions, and more are in the works. The largest source of incremental demand is LNG exports, mostly from the Sabine River area at the Texas/Louisiana border. The catch is, getting Permian gas past Houston to the banks of the Sabine presents significant challenges. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll discuss Kinder Morgan’s proposed Trident Pipeline — an attempt to overcome those challenges — and explain why this new outlet would alter gas pricing and flow dynamics in the broader Gulf Coast region.
Tuesday, 11/05/2024
Category:
Natural Gas
There may be ongoing uncertainty about the timing and volumes, but it’s not difficult to anticipate that natural gas flows through the Agua Dulce Hub near Corpus Christi will be rising significantly over the next few years as new LNG export capacity starts up and new gas-fired power plants come online in South Texas and south of the border in Mexico. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the status of the pipelines under development to transport gas into and out of Agua Dulce and the LNG facilities and power plants being planned and built to receive that gas. We’ll also look at our forecast for pipeline-corridor flows in the Agua Dulce area.
Monday, 11/04/2024
Category:
Natural Gas Liquids
The Gulf Coast is the engine of U.S. energy markets and its fiercely competitive. Over the past decade, monumental growth of crude oil and NGL production, predominantly from the Permian Basin, has led to a surge in exports, with more than 90% of these liquids departing from marine terminals along the Texas and Louisiana coasts. To facilitate that growth, the region has also experienced a tremendous buildout of gathering systems, pipelines, processing facilities, and especially export docks. Major Gulf Coast market regions like Corpus Christi, Houston, Beaumont, Lake Charles and Baton Rouge all have unique advantages and disadvantages. And the companies that operate in those regions have strategic motivations for where they would like to see new volumes go. As the Gulf Coast energy sector presses on to a new horizon, competition for market share among major players is intense, impacting producers, midstream operators, downstream consumers and exporters alike. That was the focus of our recent NACON: PADD 3 conference and it’s the subject of today’s RBN blog.
Friday, 11/01/2024
Category:
Refined Fuels
Weak refining margins, rising regulatory compliance costs, softening demand for gasoline and the push for lower-carbon alternatives like batteries and renewable diesel have each contributed to a steady decline in California’s refining capacity the past few years. Now, Phillips 66’s plan to idle its 139-Mb/d Los Angeles Refinery in Q4 2025 will leave the Golden State with only seven conventional refineries producing gasoline, diesel and jet fuel — a couple of dozen fewer than it had 40 years ago. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll put P66’s recent announcement in context and discuss the likelihood of additional refinery closures.
Thursday, 10/31/2024
Category:
Refined Fuels
Oxygen-containing gasoline additives called oxygenates, including ethanol, have provided an octane boost to the U.S. gasoline pool since 2000. This has allowed refineries to reduce the octane of refinery-produced gasoline, which increases their gasoline production capacity and efficiency while simultaneously helping achieve the goals for cleaner, lower-carbon fuels derived from domestic renewable feedstocks. A new approach to gasoline formulation promises to take this “sharing” of the octane load much further to exploit the unique octane-enhancing qualities of ethanol, although there are some real-world challenges to wider implementation. In today’s RBN blog, we explain what’s behind the concept of “hydrogen-rich” gasoline.
Wednesday, 10/30/2024
Category:
Crude Oil
Permian producers have enjoyed an abundance of outbound options since the pandemic, with egress capacity surpassing production. While a significant amount of capacity remains available, not all routes have proven equal in the eyes of the market, with Corpus Christi and Houston the most sought-after destinations for Permian crude. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll explore why ONEOK’s BridgeTex Pipeline is the only conduit serving the Houston market that still has room to take on additional volumes — although it appears to be quickly nearing full capacity.
Tuesday, 10/29/2024
Category:
Power
The prospect of a massive buildout of data centers across the U.S. has utilities preparing for a surge in power demand. And while access to an uninterrupted power supply is a critical factor for companies deciding where to build a data center, it’s not the only variable — power prices and proximity to customers also play a major role. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll look at where data centers are deployed across the U.S., the major factors that determine where a facility gets built, and how the sudden expansion is playing out in the major U.S. technology hubs.
Monday, 10/28/2024
Category:
Natural Gas
For natural gas markets to operate as efficiently as possible, a lot of data is needed, including up-to-date estimates of the amount of gas in storage and the physical capacity to hold it. For too long, Canadian natural gas markets have been operating with an obvious blind spot: little to no reliable storage data. With Alberta being home to the largest amount of gas storage capacity in Canada, having accurate information could provide vital data in the pricing of Canadian natural gas. In today’s RBN blog, we begin a multi-part series examining Canadian natural gas storage, starting with Alberta.
Friday, 10/25/2024
Category:
Financial
The multibillion-dollar acquisitions that have become almost routine in the upstream sector the past few years are typically accompanied by asset rationalization — in other words, a thoughtful look at which elements of the pro forma company make sense followed by the divestiture of those that don’t. In many cases, a key aim of that rationalization process is trimming any debt associated with the acquisition itself. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll discuss the big steps Chevron has been taking to rework its portfolio — and sell off up to $15 billion in assets — as it inches toward closing on its $60 billion purchase of Hess Corp.
Thursday, 10/24/2024
Category:
Crude Oil
Midland, TX, is the epicenter of the Permian Basin. As the largest crude oil hub in the region, it boasts about 20 MMbbl of crude oil storage and extensive downstream connectivity, with the ability to deliver to local refineries, Wichita Falls, Cushing, Nederland, Houston and even Corpus Christi (albeit indirectly). It’s also where Midland WTI pricing is assessed, shaping much of the broader oil market in the region and even around the world. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss why Midland is the center of it all.
Wednesday, 10/23/2024
Category:
Power
The growing number of energy-intensive data centers coming online across the U.S. is spurring utilities to ramp up plans to add new sources of power generation but also complicating efforts to decarbonize. One of the hottest topics in energy today is how plans to restart shuttered nuclear plants and build new small modular reactors (SMRs) could help accomplish both goals. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll look at why data centers and nuclear power seem like a natural fit, examine which shuttered plants might be brought back to life, and outline plans by a pair of U.S. economic titans to bring new advanced reactors online.
Tuesday, 10/22/2024
Category:
Refined Fuels
As the Atlantic hurricane season churns out storms that regularly threaten the U.S. Gulf Coast, it can be easy to forget that the East Coast — an important refining center and refined-products market — is not immune from their impact. A dozen years ago this month, Superstorm Sandy roared ashore in New Jersey, wreaking havoc with storm surges and fierce winds that stretched for 1,000 miles. While the East Coast lacks the Gulf Coast’s concentration of energy infrastructure, it is home to the critical New York Harbor (NYH) market. In today’s RBN blog, we will examine how storms have affected the refining sector on the East Coast.
Bad Moon Rising - Oil Producers Focus on High-Grading Crude Portfolio as Gas Price Impact is Minimal
Monday, 10/21/2024
Category:
Financial
The upcoming presidential election has filled the airways with discussions around crucial issues, some with dramatic short-term (yet highly variable) impacts and others that will play out over several years. The impact of the critical short-term issue facing oil and gas producers today — historically low natural gas prices — varies depending on the structure of individual company portfolios. In today’s RBN blog, the last of our four-part series, we analyze the effect of lower gas prices on the revenues, cash flows, investment, leverage and cash allocation of Oil-Weighted E&Ps and discuss how they are adapting.