RBN’s Daily Energy Blog and Insights sharpen your energy IQ through fundamentals-based analysis that makes sense of North America’s energy market dynamics.
E&Ps active in the San Juan Basin’s Mancos Shale think it has real potential, but acknowledge that regional natural gas prices would have to be higher to justify the investment. What Mancos producers need, they say, is better access to premium markets like Arizona and northwestern Mexico. A new pipeline might help.
Over the past couple of years, the Permian has been dominated by one story: natural gas takeaway constraints and negative prices at the Waha Hub. That has changed recently, however, as more pipelines have entered service, and now plans for the Solitude Pipeline System have been unveiled.
Crude Oil TradeView provides up-to-date data and insights into the behavior of differentials for 33 crude assessments across North America. Each week, it also walks you through the reasoning of why differentials widen, narrow, flip (premium vs. discount), or blow out.
The oil pipelines from the Permian to Corpus Christi have been very crowded, but two recent expansion projects are adding nearly 200 Mb/d of capacity to Corpus Christi, providing a bit of breathing room. Gray Oak wrapped up a two-part 120 Mb/d expansion in May, and Plains All American completed its 75 Mb/d expansion of Cactus III (formerly EPIC), which just went into service in August.
U.S. oil and gas rig count was unchanged for the second consecutive week, holding at 588 for the week ending September 4 according to Baker Hughes data, as one-rig gains in the Permian and Niobrara were matched by one-rig declines in Appalachia and the Gulf of Mexico.
In Western Canada the gas-directed rig count dropped by one to 62 rigs, while the oil-directed rig count fell by four to 139 rigs, for the week ended September 4, according to Baker Hughes data.
Keyera Corp. announced it was reducing its 2026 guidance for Marketing segment realized margin by CAD$40 MM, citing a two-week unexpected outage on Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline, and lower than expected utilization at its Alberta EnviroFuels facility (AEF) following its re-start this spring
Construction is underway at Blue Point One (#32 in map below), a low-carbon ammonia plant in Modeste, LA, billed by the joint venture’s partners — CF Industries (40%), JERA (35%) and Mitsui (25%) — as the world’s biggest of its kind. The plant will have an annual capacity of 1.4 million MT and is expected to begin production in 2029.
The Crude Oil Billboard keeps readers at the forefront of the U.S. crude oil market by offering access to data and information moments after its release. Say goodbye to PDF reports that come out after the market has already moved on.
ONEOK is buying Brazos Midstream’s Midland Basin natural gas gathering and processing assets for $4.425 billion. ONEOK says this acquisition will more than double its Midland Basin processing capacity to roughly 2.3 Bcf/d.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping the global energy landscape faster than any technological shift in recent memory. Chevron’s Project Kilby, a natural‑gas‑fired power plant built specifically to supply an AI data center, represents a strategic pivot for Chevron into a new business vertical.
As discussed in this week’s Crude Billboard, the EIA’s latest Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) shows how strong refinery demand and exports can quickly tighten U.S. crude balances, even as imports rise.
