An unexpected disruption in Oil supply could occur at any moment, as has happened in the past, leading to a sudden and sharp jump in prices. Geopolitical tension has been largely irrelevant since the collapse of oil prices in 2014, but …
The 5 Countries That Could Push Oil Prices Up Read More »
While OPEC mulls over further steps to once again support falling oil prices, tech startups are quietly ushering in a new era in oil and gas: the era of the digital oil field.
The “Amazon Effect” Is Coming To Oil Markets Read More »
Mali in Western Africa which produced 50.9Â Â tonnes of gold in 2016, up from 50.5 tonnes produced in 2015 (but below 2009 levels). Can current levels of production be sustained? Or are their best days behind them?
North Korea is making quite a bit of news these days with its crazy war threats and threatening missile launches.  It knows that in the past brinkmanship has gotten it concessions from every U.S. President since Clinton. During Clinton’s Presidency North Korea began its “Saber Rattling” in response former President Carter began negotiations that resulted in an agreement that North Korea would cease work on Nuclear weapons in exchange 500,000 tons of oil a year and $4 billion toward the construction of a light-water reactor capable of producing nuclear energy (but not weapons) . By 2003, North Korea had breached that agreement . In 2005, North Korea reached another agreement to stop production in exchange for economic and energy aid.  That deal unraveled in 2008. Since 2008 there hasn’t been much done in negotiations between North Korea and the U.S.
The $10 Trillion Resource North Korea Has But Can’t Tap Read More »
In the following article Andreas de Vries and Dr. Salman Ghouri of Oilprice.com discuss the possibility of oil price spikes crippling the oil industry. At first blush that seems highly unlikely. Â After all the oil industry is critical to powering the world and although there have been bumps along the road over the last 100 years the oil industry has always weathered the storm. But let’s look at what they have to say.
Could the Next Oil Price Spike Cripple The Industry? Read More »
The following article by Cyril Widdershoven of Oilprice.com takes a look at the recent technical glitch that could cut Saudi production by as much as 900,000 barrels per day. Many Middle East oil fields are aging and are experiencing technical challenges. Creation of the Manifa oil field was a technological wonder of the modern world due to its abundance of marine life and unique structure. As of today Manifa is reporting that the water injection issue is not currently affecting oil production
The Technical Failure That Could Clear The Oil Glut In A Matter Of Weeks Read More »
On November 30th 2016, Bloomberg trumpeted the following headline, OPEC Confounds Skeptics, Agrees to First Oil Cuts in 8 Years. On the day before, (i.e. November 29th) oil prices had plunged 2.5% and the NYMEX Oil ETF was trading at $11.34 and the news drove the price up to $13.05 by January 6th, 2017 where it peaked and it’s been downhill ever since.
Was this a case of “Buy the Rumor Sell the News”?  Not quite since it did climb for a couple of months before reality set in, but the OPEC deal was doomed to fail pretty much from the beginning. First of all, U.S. Shale Oil wasn’t part of the deal and secondly the targets were set at previous peak production so there really weren’t any “cuts” simply limits to future growth. After falling to $9.89 on June 21st the price has rebounded a bit moving back above support so we could easily see a move to the resistance line or above. So have we seen the bottom and is this the beginning of  a new rally?   Or is this a counter-trend rally to the top of the channel or simply a fake and the beginning of a correction to the downside? In today’s post, Brian Noble looks at the question, “Is a big move in Oil Prices Due?”~ Tim McMahon, editor.Â
Is A Big Move In Oil Prices Due? Read More »
The Permian Basin is the largest petroleum-producing basin in the United States and has produced a cumulative 28.9 billion barrels of oil and 75 trillion cu ft. of gas. Currently, nearly 2 million barrels of oil per day are being pumped from the basin advances in hydrocarbon recovery such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) have expanded production into unconventional, tight oil shales which up until fairly recently were unrecoverable. Prior to these advances, all the talk was about “Peak Oil” and that we would run out of recoverable oil. And then along came horizontal drilling and fracking and we are suddenly awash in oil and natural gas. But is it all about to come to a screeching halt as Permian oil production peaks? In the following article about Permian Basin Productivity Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com looks at where Permian productivity is headed now.
Has Permian Shale Productivity Peaked Already? Read More »
The oil industry is notoriously cyclical. Perhaps because it takes so long to bring new supply on-line. As prices rise and the industry blossoms the oil machinery kicks into gear. Independants locate the oil and the fields get bought up by majors who bring it into production, this boosts supply. And then when the supply hits the market, prices go down, small over-leveraged players get squeezed and then go bankrupt, and exploration dries up. Eventually, this causes supply to slacken and prices begin rising again. And the cycle continues. In today’s article we’ll look at where oil prices could be 3 years on as increased demand meets Saudi production cuts and shale-oil production increases.
Where Will Oil Prices Be in 2020? Read More »
I’ve been enamored with electric vehicles since long before they were commercially available. Way back in 1975, Mechanix Illustrated featured the “Urba Town car” and offered plans to build your own Electric Car. It required removing the body from a VW bug, and building a new cool looking body out of fiberglass. I spent a whopping $20, (which was much more valuable back then, not just because of inflation but because I was a poor college student without a job). It even had an option of adding a generator and making it a hybrid. Unfortunately, I never got around to using the plans but over the years I’ve enjoyed reading about quite a few successful conversions of various vehicles and I followed Tesla’s rise to fame in the electric vehicle market with marked enthusiasm hoping to one day, own one myself. Well, today Jon LeSage of Oilprice.com tells us that the electric vehicle may have finally reached the Tipping Point and other experts saying “By 2020 there will be over 120 different models of EV across the spectrum,” . ~Tim McMahon, editor.
Big Oil Betting On Electric Vehicles? Read More »
