The Trump administration will not extend its Iran sanctions waivers to China, India and other buyers in an attempt to push Iran exports to zero. But Sara Vakhshouri, president of SVB Energy International, argues on today’s Platts Capitol Crude that even with strict US sanctions coming into...
Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman arrived in the US a year ago to help write a new chapter in US-Saudi relations, but following the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, have relations been irreparably strained? On this week’s Platts Capitol Crude, Matt Reed, vice president of Foreign Reports, says...
A bill in Washington state could shut down 150,000 b/d of Bakken rail traffic through the Pacific Northwest, boost oil imports from Alaska and Asia through Puget Sound and increase North Dakota shipments to the US Gulf Coast. On this week’s Capitol Crude, we look at the bill, aimed at...
Nine years ago, President Barack Obama signed a regulation into law requiring oil, gas and mining companies to publicly report all payments made to governments, an effort aimed at curbing decades of corruption, but President Donald Trump has repealed that regulation and the US has since departed a...
A month from now, waivers which have allowed Iran’s biggest crude oil and condensate buyers to keep buying Iranian oil are set to expire. Analysts fully expect the administration to extend the waivers, but fissures have emerged within the administration, arguing that the US cannot drive...
On this week’s Capitol Crude, Frank Verrastro and Andrew Stanley with the Center for Strategic & International Studies’ energy and national security program talk about the state of Venezuela’s oil sector, the impact of US sanctions on PDVSA and what recovery might look like....
Platts Capitol Crude was in Houston last week talking with S&P Global editors about three stories shaping the domestic oil market. Laura Huchzermeyer, managing editor, Americas crude, and Catherine Wood, associate editor, Americas dirty tanker markets, talk about skyrocketing US crude exports...
On this special edition of Platts Capitol Crude from CERAWeek by IHS Markit in Houston we’re talking about the shifting global flows in crude grades. Demand for heavy crudes, due largely to US sanctions on Venezuela and Iran, is growing as production of light oil reaches historic highs....
On this early edition of Capitol Crude, we predict the top themes of next week’s CERAWeek, the mega-conference where US shale producers, US government officials and OPEC ministers rub elbows. We spoke with American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers about surging US oil...
Have record US oil production and crude exports changed the US role in global maritime security? How can oil flows calm the brewing feud between the US and China? Is the closure of the Strait of Hormuz a credible threat? On this week’s podcast, Dennis Blair, the former US Director of National...
Sanctions have been imposed and reimposed, US oil production continues to shatter records, but WTI and Brent prices have yet to blink. Are the days of oil climbing over $100 or below $30/b over? On today’s podcast, Ed Morse, Citigroup’s global head of commodities research, and John...
Is the looming IMO 2020 deadline for cleaning up marine fuels the Y2K of today's oil market? The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers say US refiners are well prepared to meet the stricter sulfur standards by January 1 after having a dozen years to prepare. The group joined the Coalition...
It’s been two weeks since the Trump administration unveiled sanctions on PDVSA, Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, and questions remain over where US Gulf Coast refiners will find replacement, heavy barrels, where Venezuela might ship its displaced supply and just how quickly oil...
Rampant oil consumption in Middle East nations is undermining their energy export economies and subsidy reform is desperately needed, Jim Krane argues in his new book “Energy Kingdoms: Oil and Political Survival in the Persian Gulf." On this week’s Capitol Crude, Krane talks about the...
Global gasoline demand is stagnating and stronger fuel economy standards and the rise of electric vehicles could soon push demand down. But jet fuel demand is rising relatively dramatically and could soon be the key driver of world oil consumption, according to a new report by ClearView Energy...
The US Environmental Protection Agency is running out of time to deliver on President Donald Trump's promise to approve 15% ethanol blends by this summer’s driving season. US Senator Mike Rounds, Republican-South Dakota, joined Capitol Crude to tell us why this is such a big issue for Midwest...
The Trump administration is pushing to expand oil and gas drilling to nearly all federal waters while weakening offshore safety rules developed in response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. On this week’s Capitol Crude, David Hayes, a deputy Interior secretary during both the Obama and...
On this week’s Capitol Crude podcast we look at Alberta’s recent decision to cut crude oil output by 325,000 b/d. David Goldwyn, president of Goldwyn Global Strategies, says the Canadian production curtailment may be more severe micromanagement of the oil market than OPEC has done....
A month after reimposing sanctions on Iranian crude oil exports, the Trump administration has no clear policy end game. What are the administration’s goals? Will sanctions waivers really be just temporary? Could high prices cause the administration to weaken its stance on Iran? Did the...
US President Donald Trump is putting unprecedented pressure on Saudi Arabia to keep oil prices low as OPEC ministers arrive in Vienna this week. Trump spent the past month working to soothe US-Saudi relations, as criticism over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi grew louder, largely due to...
With its reserves shrinking, Colombia recently set a goal to double its oil output. But the country’s oil production has fallen and with attacks on pipelines and legal fights over fracking it remains unclear which direction output in the South American nation is headed. On this week’s...
Far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro has been elected Brazil's next president, a victory widely viewed as good for the country's oil sector. What does the election of the man dubbed the "Tropical Trump" mean for Petrobras, its subsidiaries, fuel subsidies, and Brazil's deepwater prospects? On this...
Big questions remain about the outlook for Mexico's oil sector as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador takes office December 1. Duncan Wood, director of the Wilson Center's Mexico Institute, joins Meghan Gordon and Brian Scheid to talk about some of the factors to watch. Will the new...
The global crude oil market is in the final countdown before US sanctions on Iranian crude exports snap back on Monday. The US is expected to announce potential waivers from sanctions as soon as Friday, but what countries may get them? Amos Hochstein, a senior vice president with Tellurian and the...
Foreign governments cannot believe how much the US spends to store government-owned gasoline. The Department of Energy no longer plans to establish a dedicated marine terminal to ship out its emergency crude. And despite record-breaking US oil output, there is still a need for millions of barrels...
Looming Iran sanctions, the ongoing collapse of Venezuela’s oil sector and increased uncertainty surrounding output out of Nigeria and Libya indicate that a historic global oil supply crunch could be nearing. On this week’s Capitol Crude podcast, we look at future production out of...
With control of Congress at stake in next month’s US midterm elections, we look at the three possible scenarios and oil policy consequences after all the votes have been counted. Kevin Book, managing director with ClearView Energy Partners, walks through what happens to everything from Russia...
With oil prices on the rise, the Trump administration is ramping up criticism of OPEC, with US President Trump pressing Saudi Arabia to do much more to push oil prices down and the State Department telling S&P Global Platts that it wants OPEC and other producers to start developing spare...
On today’s Capitol Crude we look at the ongoing trade war between the US and China and whether US crude oil exports could be subject to retaliatory tariffs. Frank Verrastro with the Center for Strategic and International Studies discusses why Chinese oil demand and looming Iranian sanctions...
In just over a month, California voters will decide whether to repeal a recent 12 cents/gallon gasoline tax increase and prevent state lawmakers from increasing gas taxes in the future. The potential change could have a major impact on California’s 43 millions gal/d gasoline market. Sam Ori,...
