The majestic bald eagle may be the emblematic bird of the United States, but the bizarre greater sage grouse is the poster-bird for the relationship between the US oil and gas industry and undeveloped land. Take a trip to the American West and the sagebrush sea with Platts senior editors Brian...
The debate over US crude oil exports has been rife with policy-focused arguments on supply and demand fundamentals, but could a Republican bill and recent White House opposition turn the issue as just another piece of political theater? Are crude oil exports at risk of becoming the next Keystone XL...
Producers and consumers alike are becoming more attuned to the impact of goods of all sorts, and it's no different when it comes to a barrel of oil. Platts senior editors Herman Wang and Brian Scheid talk to two of the developers of the first-ever index measuring the climate impacts of individual...
It's Brian Scheid v. Herman Wang on Platts Capitol Crude Court this week, as the co-hosts duel over the notion of idled US shale oil wells contributing to global spare capacity. Brian argues that drilled and uncompleted wells and laid-down rigs represent a de facto source of spare capacity, since...
North Dakota's Bakken Shale embodies much of the best of the US' oil revolution and has been a success in spite of global oil market fundamentals. Platts senior editors Brian Scheid and Herman Wang are joined this week by Congressman Kevin Cramer, North Dakota's only member of the US House of...
Plenty of artists have penned songs about California - from Tupac to the Beach Boys to Katy Perry. But the one aspect of California that every singer seems to leave out is its Low Carbon Fuel Standard, a potentially game-changing program to clean up transportation fuels. LCFS credits have spiked in...
After the unveiling of President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan, it's an appropriate time to take stock of whether the administration's climate goals are at odds with the ongoing shale boom. Platts senior editor Brian Scheid asks whether history will remember Obama as the climate change president...
On this week's Capitol Crude, Platts senior editors Brian Scheid and Herman Wang slide tackle their way into the bipartisan, comprehensive US energy bill passed out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week. The bill is expected to be the first major US energy policy bill out...
Which anniversary includes the traditional gifting of a barrel of crude oil? On the 50th episode of Capitol Crude, Platts senior oil reporters Brian Scheid and Herman Wang look back at their year in podcasting and revisit some of the hottest oil topics to see what's changed and what's new. What...
After the landmark nuclear deal with Iran, what should the world expect from its oil industry? Platts senior oil editor Brian Scheid digs into the big questions: How much Iranian crude could hit the world market and when? Where will it go? What does it mean for prices in an already over-supplied...
Time is of the essence when it comes to opening up US oil exports . . . or is it? Platts senior editor Brian Scheid details why a vote to end long-standing restrictions on US crude oil exports is likely coming this fall. On opposites sides of the debate, George Baker, the head of Producers for...
It was a year of Star Wars, funk, Reggie Jackson and Saudi Arabian crude arriving in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve. From 1977 until today, the US' place in the oil market has come a long way. Platts senior oil editor Brian Scheid talks to Melanie Kenderdine, a top US Department of Energy...
You can come out of your tinfoil bunker: The Obama administration's recently announced plans to regulate commercial aircraft emissions, but any effects would likely be years in the future. Platts senior oil editors and Herman Wang and Brian Scheid wonder if this is part of a government conspiracy...
Did the Obama administration turn a T-Rex of a problem into an Indominus Rex of a problem, by requiring electronically controlled pneumatic brakes on oil trains? After watching Jurassic World, the much-hyped sequel to Jurassic Park, Brian Scheid and Herman Wang break down the administration's...
The US isn't a part of OPEC, and no government officials attended the OPEC meeting in Vienna last week, but the US and its shale oil boom were still on people's minds at the conference and summit. Platts senior editors Herman Wang -- who was in Vienna -- and Brian Scheid recap the conference and...
Is a new plan by Congress to sell 64 million barrels of crude from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve like a get-rich-quick scheme that's just too good to be true? Platts senior editors Brian Scheid and Herman Wang look at whether this plan could lead to an actual profit or just a convenient way to...
Summer is starting, and while Platts senior editors Brian Scheid and Herman Wang start thinking of sunscreen and sunglasses, Shell is planning to drill offshore Alaska. The plan has received conditional approval from the Obama administration, but it's drawn fierce opposition from environmental...
Senator Lisa Murkowski is the featured guest on this week's Capitol Crude, as Platts senior editors Brian Scheid and Herman Wang interview the Alaska Republican and chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee about her efforts to lift the US' longstanding restrictions on crude...
Venezuela was once the largest source of US oil imports, but when that relationship soured, the Latin American powerhouse turned to a new relationship with China. But as Platts senior editors Brian Scheid and Herman Wang explain, that partnership is not quite what was expected. Matt Ferchen,...
You've got questions? Capitol Crude has answers. Platts senior editors Brian Scheid and Herman Wang dip into their mailbag and answer some burning questions about crude oil policy. What can we expect at the upcoming June 5 OPEC meeting in Vienna? How will a bill recently passed by the US Senate...
There's no sure way to tell when the drop is coming, but take a ride with Platts senior oil editors Herman Wang and Brian Scheid on the Peak Oil Peaker, a virtual roller coaster built entirely on oil market speculation. When will low prices and falling rig counts cause US production — and...
Forecasting oil prices is a tough game, and Platts senior editors Brian Scheid and Herman Wang ask whether there's any value to long-term oil price forecasts or if there's too big of a chance of a fumble. The US Energy Information Administration recently projected crude oil prices to be between...
In this week’s Platts Capitol Crude, senior editors Brian Scheid and Herman Wang put their conflict resolution skills to the test as they stage an intervention between President Barack Obama and lawmakers in Congress, skeptical over his administration’s nuclear negotiations with Iran....
Platts senior editors Brian Scheid and Herman Wang are joined by John Kingston, president of the McGraw Hill Financial Institute, for a pretty ... pretty ... pretty interesting discussion of US crude policy. Drawing on their favorite moments from the HBO hit 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' the three draw...
Pull up a chair in the interrogation room and join Platts senior editor Brian Scheid as he asks questions about the Obama administration's new hydraulic fracturing rules and their impact on US oil and gas producers. Blasted by industry as overkill and environmentalists as ineffective, these...
For the first time, Platts Capitol Crude goes on the road to Platts’ New York office for a deep look into the crude oil futures market and its impact on US policy. Platts senior editor Brian Scheid talks to James Bambino, managing editor of Platts’ Oilgram Price Report, and Platts oil...
The debate over expanding US crude exports comes as the American fossil fuel industry finds itself in the midst of a "body swap" movie: policy has not kept pace with a radical change. Platts senior editor Brian Scheid gives a rundown of latest US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee...
The US oil industry and Obama administration are preparing for a duel over strict new safety rules governing shipments of crude by rail. Platts senior editors Herman Wang and Brian Scheid present a saga of the industry's tough encounters with regulators, lawmakers and the Knights Who Say...
Creepy backgound music, ominous foreshadowing, cocky attitudes: in a movie, these cues will let you know disaster is about to strike, but what clues would have let us know oil prices were about to tank?Platts senior editors Brian Scheid and Herman Wang wade into the world of climbing crude...
The US Environmental Protection Agency's Chris Grundler may not be a member of Depeche Mode, but to Platts senior editors Brian Scheid and Herman Wang his appearance at the recent National Ethanol Conference unfolded like the seminal British electronic goth band's discography.Grundler, whose office...
