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.
Massive volumes of natural gas are already converging on the Katy Hub and much more will be soon. A planned bidirectional header system is designed to help ease the flow of gas through that key aggregation and distribution point for gas bound for industrial, power-generation, and LNG export load.
U.S. oil and gas rig count was unchanged at 588 for the week ending August 28 according to Baker Hughes data, as one-rig gains in the Haynesville and All Other were offset by one-rig declines in Appalachia and the Gulf of Mexico.
The Crude Voyager is a weekly analysis of U.S. Gulf Coast loading activity that explains the ebbs and flows of crude loadings, destinations, and geopolitical issues impacting U.S. exports. It outlines the major paths for laden tankers hauling U.S. crude all over the world and reflects the change in tanker departures to the main regions that consume U.S. crude.
In Western Canada the gas-directed rig count dropped by 2 to 63 rigs, while the oil-directed rig count fell by 4 to 143 rigs, for the week ended August 28, according to Baker Hughes data.
Woodside Energy has placed its Beaumont New Ammonia facility under strategic review and is evaluating its options for the site, the company said during its H1 2026 earnings presentation on August 25. CEO Liz Westcott said the company’s assets “must all compete for capital equally,” and that new energy opportunities must be supported by clear customer demands and commercial markets and compete for capital with other investment opportunities.
For many, 2026 will be remembered as the year that diesel cracks topped the century mark ($100/bbl) for the first time, surpassing even the post-COVID boom year of 2022. Today, we examine the various factors driving this run-up and what they reveal about the broader physical refined products market.
VLCC freight has quickly emerged as a growing headwind for U.S. Gulf Coast crude exports to Asia.
Rising crude oil prices provided a powerful tailwind for Oil-Weighted E&Ps, while plunging natural gas prices wounded Gas-Weighted producers after a bountiful Q1. Today, we review the Q2 2026 results of the 37 publicly traded E&Ps we cover and analyze the remarkably wide performance gap they reveal.
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.
According to the EIA’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) released this morning, distillate stocks are on track for their lowest end-of-month level since April 2005; and this week marks the lowest inventories have been in the month of August since 1951.
U.S. propane inventories climbed to a second consecutive record as Gulf Coast and Midwest stocks accounted for approximately 92% of the weekly build. If inventories continue building at a similar pace, total stocks could approach 119 MMbbl by early October.
AltaGas has delayed the startup of its Ridley Island Energy Export Facility, so buyers won’t have the benefit of increased fuel supplies this winter. Today, we review industry plans to expand LPG export capacity on North America’s west coast, and how this could impact North American LPG markets.
