Russell Hardy, the CEO of Dutch energy and commodities company Vitol, the world’s largest independent oil trader, spoke with Bloomberg Markets: European Open this morning about the impact of the coronavirus on the oil markets as Congress finalizes the latest stimulus bill. What will energy get?
Senate Democrats and Republicans disagree about the latest stimulus package in response to the coronavirus pandemic. They are now frantically negotiating and aiming for a noon Eastern time vote. Here’s where energy and transport stand.
Volkswagen’s chief strategist this week said that even a yearlong slump in oil prices will not slow down the company’s shift to EVs. VW and nearly every other major automaker have environmental goals that eclipse any short-term impacts from lower prices at the pumps. And the only way to achieve reduced emissions is with electric powertrains.
Russia refused to cut oil output quotas by up to 1.5 million barrels per day at a failed meeting on Friday between OPEC and non-OPEC nations. So in retaliation, Saudi Arabia will produce 2 million barrels per day at $6 to $7 a barrel into an already oversupplied global market. As a result, oil prices have dropped by a third today.
ExxonMobil held its investor day at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) yesterday, and its CEO, Darren Woods, dismissed carbon targets as a “beauty match” with other companies.
JP Morgan, the world’s largest financier of the fossil-fuel industry, announced yesterday that it will end fossil-fuel loans for Arctic oil drilling and phase out loans for coal mining.
Arizona governor Doug Ducey (R) signed House Bill 2686 into law on Friday. The new law declares that a “utility provider’s authority to operate and serve customers is a matter of statewide concern.”
In other words, the new law removes the power of every town, city, and county in Arizona to choose their own energy infrastructure.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has proposed leasing two-thirds of Slickrock for oil and gas drilling, even though it has very low potential to produce.
The world-famous, nearly 11 mile-long, mountain-biking Slickrock trail near Moab, Utah, takes e-bike and non-e-bike riders over stunning petrified sand dunes and sea bed remnants.
More than 600 gallons of diesel were dumped into the water in the Galapagos Islands after a ship was capsized by a falling container and crane.
Natural gas prices plummeted at the end of November due to a glut of supply. It’s also looking as though a warmer December is going to keep demand down.
And finally, the fossil fuel is being increasingly banned in US cities and towns for environmental and safety reasons.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) released its annual report yesterday. The Paris-based intergovernmental organization points to electric vehicles as instrumental in curbing global emissions. Unfortunately, those gains are being fundamentally undercut by the dramatic rise in SUVs.
In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
CNBC moderated a panel on Monday at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference (ADIPEC). The panel consisted of heads of Big Oil and Big Gas. The CEOs spent their time defending their efforts to reduce carbon emissions and intimated that environmental groups pushing for a faster transition to green energy were being unrealistic and overly emotional.
In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
The Keystone oil pipeline has spilled approximately 383,000 gallons of tar sands oil in northeastern North Dakota, according to North Dakota state regulators on Thursday. The pipeline was shut down on Tuesday after crews discovered the leak.
In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
Murray Energy Holdings Co, the largest private coal company in the United States, has filed for bankruptcy in the midst of a rapidly diminishing demand for coal.
In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
Green New Deal co-sponsor Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) (above left) returned nearly $47,000 in donations from fossil-fuel-connected lobbyists. The donations violated the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge, which Markey signed in December 2018.
ExxonMobil headed to federal court in Manhattan yesterday. The State of New York is suing the Big Oil giant on charges that the company misled its investors about the climate crisis. And as Baltimore joins New York, Massachusetts, and other cities and counties in the lawsuit arena, it looks as though Big Oil is going to be spending a lot of time on trial in the future.
Green energy in the UK, which includes wind farms, solar, biomass, and hydro plants, generated more electricity than coal, oil, and gas in the third quarter of 2019, according to a new report by Carbon Brief.
In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) announced late yesterday that they reached agreement on a new Turkey Sanctions Bill in response to the country’s military operations against the Kurds in northeastern Syria. This includes sanctions against the country’s energy sector.
US Interior Secretary David Bernhardt spoke at the annual meeting of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association in Santa Fe yesterday. The interior secretary criticized the Green New Deal, saying that its “policies threaten their livelihoods and economic progress,” according to the Associated Press.