After the Abqaiq attack, OPEC+, trade fights, and the ongoing record growth of US shale, oil prices are, basically, right where they were a year ago. Are supply and demand aligned? Is the oil market actually balanced, or at least as balanced as it will ever be? At the US Association for Energy...
US oil producers are bracing for a tough end to 2019: flat prices, falling rig counts, slower drilling permits and fewer well completions. Karr Ingham, a petroleum economist from Amarillo, Texas, and the executive vice president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, says those factors will not...
The 2020 fight over energy policy is just getting started, and investors already have a bad case of heartburn over Democratic presidential candidates' proposals to ban all fracking in the US. Katie Bays, who advises institutional investors as co-founder of Sandhill Strategy in Washington, joins us...
The future of Citgo and its three US refineries hangs on this weekend's deadline for the interim Venezuelan government to make a massive bond payment that it can't likely pay. The Guaido administration's ad-hoc PDVSA board could lose control of Citgo because the loan is backed by a 50.1% stake in...
On this week’s Platts Capitol Crude we talk with Keisuke Sadamori, the International Energy Agency’s director for energy markets and security, about the US’ changing role in the global oil market and necessity of the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The SPR wasn’t tapped...
Venezuela is in the midst of an economic collapse, its political future remains uncertain and Citgo appears unlikely to be able to pay a more than $900 million bond payment due later this month. Could creditors soon seize Venezuela’s core foreign asset, including three major crude oil...
International buyers of US crude exports are increasingly seeking specific grades that once made up the blended pool of West Texas Intermediate. Buyers can request these "neat" barrels, thanks in part to new pipelines from the Permian to the Texas Gulf Coast that allow shippers to separate...
The September 14 attack on Saudi oil projects took 5.7 million b/d of crude supply off the global market, but, ultimately, had little impact on oil prices. That’s partly due to the growth of US oil production. But what is global demand from US crude and how much can be exported? On this...
A week after attacks on Saudi oil facilities shut down nearly 6% of the global oil supply, Brent futures prices are up less than $5/b. The market reaction has been wrong, though, giving Saudi estimates that output will quickly return far too much credibility and significantly undervaluing an...
Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield sees Permian production growth slowing next year, but he still thinks the basin will eventually pump a staggering 8 million b/d. In an interview with Capitol Crude at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Sheffield shared his views on breakeven oil prices,...
Columbus Oil operates 27 oil wells in rural Oklahoma which each produce an average of just 8 to 10 b/d of oil equivalent. On this week’s Capitol Crude, Darlene Wallace, Columbus’ president, CEO and owner, talks about all the cost-cutting she’s had to take to make a profit --...
On this week’s Platts Capitol Crude, we look at the impact of the US shale boom on the US economy as the Trump administration continues to push the narrative that a recession is not imminent. Mine Yucel and Michael Plante with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas call in to talk about the...
Last week, the Trump administration held its latest auction for oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico. The sale generated high bids of less than $160 million, drawing interest in less than 1% of the total acreage offered. But could those bids be nullified? On today’s podcast, Brettny...
Alberta oil producers are in the eighth month of mandatory production curtailments. Have they worked? On today’s Capitol Crude, Rory Johnston, a commodity economist at Scotiabank, talks about the impact of the curtailments on prices, supply and investment in Western Canada’s oil...
Tariffs, retaliatory tariffs and currency fights, the US and China are locked in a trade war with massive consequences for the global economy. What impact will this fight have on US crude oil exports and ongoing US sanctions on oil exports out of Iran and Venezuela? Could disputes over tariffs...
With their output shattering records, US oil producers are flaring an unprecedented amount of unwanted gas. On this week’s Platts Capitol Crude, Ali Oktay, a senior pricing specialist with S&P Global Platts, talks about why flaring is increasing in the Permian and Bakken and why...
On today's Platts Capitol Crude, Fernando Ferreira, a senior analyst with Rapidan Energy Group, discusses a new report that forecasts the oil market impact of Iran successfully blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the world's busiest oil chokepoint. Rapidan's report, "Battlespace & Barrel Flow: Oil...
On this week's Platts Capitol Crude, we take a closer look at rising tensions between the US and Iran, tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's dwindling oil exports, and China's future as Iran's top importer. Brian Hook, the US State Department's special representative for Iran, talks about...
The Barrel Brothers are back! US Energy Information Administration petroleum analysts Jeff Barron and Mason Hamilton talk: the price impacts of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery explosion and closure; the state of East Coast gasoline supply and demand; global oil demand; and surprises in...
OPEC, Russia and other producing partners agreed to extend their 1.2 million b/d supply cut agreement for another nine months as Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih outlined OPEC’s new role as a reactionary force to US shale growth. On today’s Platts Capitol Crude podcast, Herman...
While the peak oil theory is dead, the industry faces a very real prospect of peak demand -- and sooner than you might think. Helen Currie, ConocoPhillips' chief economist, talked with Capitol Crude about where the major US oil producer sees global demand heading. She explains her outlook for US...
After weeks of uncertainty, OPEC and its allies will meet July 1 and 2 in Vienna and the fate of the 1.2 million b/d production cut agreement will be the key item on the agenda. On today’s Platts Capitol Crude, Spencer Dale, BP’s chief economist, discusses the impact of the OPEC+...
The Trump administration took a message of abundant US energy exports to the G-20 energy meetings in Karuizawa, Japan, over the weekend. We spoke with Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, who represented the US delegation along with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew...
Oil tanker attacks have the International Energy Agency "seriously concerned" about oil supply security, and yet oil demand growth concerns have tempered the price reaction for now. Platts Capitol Crude spoke with IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol on the sidelines of the G-20 energy ministerial...
In the thick of its trade dispute with China, the Trump administration threatened last week to start yet another tariff fight with a major trading partner: Mexico. This one would have hit Gulf Coast refiners hard, potentially making it uneconomical to import the key Maya heavy crude grade. Capitol...
Some view the Trump administration’s push to expand offshore oil and gas drilling to most federal waters as a failure. But with plans for oil and gas lease sales for the Atlantic and Arctic on an indefinite hold, amid court battles and leadership changes, the industry continues to push for...
A movement to reduce plastic use has led to bans worldwide on shopping bags, straws and other single-use items, but no noticeable impact on demand for crude oil and other feedstocks used to make plastic. Petrochemical and plastic demand is forecast to increase at as much as four times the rate of...
As tighter US sanctions against Iran continue to change global oil flows, Asian refiners are testing a new grade of lighter crude flowing from the Permian Basin. West Texas Light has an API gravity averaging 48, compared with traditional WTI at 38-44 API. Laura Huchzermeyer, managing editor of...
On this week’s podcast we speak with Henry Rome, an Iran analyst with the Eurasia Group, about why the global oil market is not as stable and well-supplied as the Trump administration wants the world to believe. Rome sees a supply crunch only getting worse and a $5/b increase looming ahead...
The US is producing more than twice the oil it was a decade ago, with about a third of the workers needed to do so, according to Jamie Webster, a senior director at the BCG Center for Energy Impact. On this week’s Capitol Crude, Webster, also a fellow at Columbia University’s Center on...
