Oil and gas merger activity rebounds in Q4, but a pandemic hangover lingers

Oil and gas merger activity rebounds in Q4, but a pandemic hangover lingers

Energize Weekly, January 20, 2021 After being hobbled by an economy and commodity prices weakened by the novel coronavirus pandemic, merger activity among oil and gas production companies rebounded in the second half of 2020, according to Enverus, an industry analytics firm. Total activity for 2020 was $52 billion, powered…

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Oil and gas activity rebounds in the Permian Basin but economic pressure persists

Oil and gas activity rebounds in the Permian Basin but economic pressure persists

Energize Weekly, January 13, 2021 After a punishing year, oil and gas activity in a swatch of oil county from Louisiana through Texas to New Mexico rebounded in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to a survey by Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. The bank queried oil company executives in its…

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Gas flaring is a problem from Texas’ Permian Basin to Russia’s Siberian oil fields

Gas flaring is a problem from Texas’ Permian Basin to Russia’s Siberian oil fields

Energize Weekly, January 6, 2021 The U.S set a record for flaring of gas at well sites in 2019 and was part of a global pollution problem created by a handful of oil-producing countries, according to two energy agencies. An average of 1.48 billion cubic feet of gas was vented…

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Global energy efficiency gains slow in 2020, hobbled by coronavirus pandemic

Global energy efficiency gains slow in 2020, hobbled by coronavirus pandemic

Energize Weekly, December 16, 2020 Energy efficiency gains slowed to their lowest level in a decade in 2020, and feeling the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic, energy efficiency investment is projected to be down 9 percent year-on-year to $227 billion in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).…

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Colorado adopts sweeping oil and gas rules, banning flaring, creating a 2,000-foot setback

Colorado adopts sweeping oil and gas rules, banning flaring, creating a 2,000-foot setback

Energize Weekly, December 2, 2020 Colorado has adopted the strongest oil and gas regulations in the country and reoriented its oversight agency from “fostering” oil and gas development to “regulating” the industry to protect public health, safety, the environment and wildlife. After more than a year of hearings and negotiations,…

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UN rules to reduce carbon emissions from ocean vessels draw fire for being ineffective

UN rules to reduce carbon emissions from ocean vessels draw fire for being ineffective

Energize Weekly, November 25, 2020 New regulations to cut carbon emission from ocean cargo ships adopted last week by the United Nation’s maritime organization drew immediate fire from environmentalist and analysts who said they will do little to curb pollution. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) approved rules requiring short-term technical…

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Voters weigh in on local and state energy issues from renewable energy to oil and gas taxes

Voters weigh in on local and state energy issues from renewable energy to oil and gas taxes

Energize Weekly, November 11, 2020 Election returns on state and local energy issues were both literally and figuratively all over the map last week on issues ranging from renewable energy to oil and gas taxes. Voters in Alaska rejected a tax on oil operations while the industry was denied a…

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Weak oil and gas markets forcing mergers and bankruptcies among shale operators

Weak oil and gas markets forcing mergers and bankruptcies among shale operators

Energize Weekly, November 4, 2020 After weak third quarter in 2020 for oil and gas industry mergers and acquisition, one of the worst in 10 years, the fourth quarter opened with a string of big deals – a sign that the sector remains under pressure to consolidate, according to analysts.…

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A Biden plan would speed a clean energy transition, but have limited impact on oil

A Biden plan would speed a clean energy transition, but have limited impact on oil

Energize Weekly, October 28, 2020 As Election Day nears, analysts are starting to focus on what the administration of front-running Joe Biden will mean for energy and find it could accelerate the decline of coal, stabilize near-term oil markets, as well as boost renewables and new jobs. A Biden administration,…

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Fossil fuel demand drops in 2020 with a limited rebound in 2021, IEA says

Fossil fuel demand drops in 2020 with a limited rebound in 2021, IEA says

Energize Weekly, October 21, 2020 The global pandemic will cut worldwide energy demand 5 percent in 2020 and result in an 18 percent decline in energy investment, according to International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts. If the novel coronavirus is brought under control in 2021, energy demand will return to its…

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Utilities are pledging zero-carbon emissions, but “the math doesn’t yet add up”

Utilities are pledging zero-carbon emissions, but “the math doesn’t yet add up”

Energize Weekly, September 30, 2020 A growing number of investor-owned utilities (IOUs) have pledged to sharply reduce their carbon emissions or even cut them to zero, but two studies have found a gap between the pledges and those utilities’ performance. Forty-three of the country’s 55 IOUs have emission-reduction targets, and…

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Could a Biden presidency be a boost to both the power sector and the oil and gas industry?

Could a Biden presidency be a boost to both the power sector and the oil and gas industry?

Energize Weekly, September 9, 2020 Joe Biden becoming president of the U.S. could be a boost for clean energy and perhaps somewhat ironically, for oil and gas – at least in the short run. That was the conclusion of energy industry consultants Wood Mackenzie and Rystad Energy in separate analyses.…

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The ongoing pandemic and weak economy led to across-the-board energy production cuts

The ongoing pandemic and weak economy led to across-the-board energy production cuts

Energize Weekly, August 19, 2020 Projections for U.S. energy production in 2020 – from oil to natural gas to coal – continued to fall as the novel coronavirus pandemic and global recession depress economies. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has lowered its estimate for domestic crude oil production by…

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Renewable electricity generation set to surpass coal, which continues to decline, in 2020

Renewable electricity generation set to surpass coal, which continues to decline, in 2020

Energize Weekly, May 20, 2020 Renewable electricity generation is set to surpass coal-fired generation in 2020, as coal continues to slide, having hit a 42-year low in 2019, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA is projecting a 25 percent drop in coal-fired generation in 2020 and…

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Utilities and state regulators delay rate increases, disconnections to deal with COVID-19

Utilities and state regulators delay rate increases, disconnections to deal with COVID-19

Energize Weekly, May 6, 2020 In the face of the novel coronavirus pandemic, utilities and utility regulators are moving to postpone rate increases and guard against service shutdowns for customers as most states continue to impose stay-at-home orders for their residents. The moves are also creating some financial risk and…

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Coronavirus pandemic rattles energy markets from oil to wind to energy storage

Coronavirus pandemic rattles energy markets from oil to wind to energy storage

Energize Weekly, April 22, 2020 Pandemic and recession are rippling through almost every corner of the energy sector from oil companies to wind, solar and energy storage manufacturers. “Over half the world’s population is now under lockdown, as demand for power drops and the risk of global recession grows,” according…

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Hedges will help U.S. drillers survive Russian-Saudi price war and coronavirus

Hedges will help U.S. drillers survive Russian-Saudi price war and coronavirus

Energize Weekly, March 18, 2020 The oil market is set for a long price war, falling consumption, a shake-out among U.S. shale drillers and a missed opportunity for Asian economies, according to industry analysts. Yet even as depressed prices lead to fewer drilling rigs and a slowing in U.S. production,…

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New York Mayor de Blasio seeks to end the use of oil and gas in large buildings

New York Mayor de Blasio seeks to end the use of oil and gas in large buildings

Energize Weekly, February 12, 2020 New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is taking aim at fossil fuels seeking to end the use of natural gas and oil in large buildings and banning the development of oil and gas infrastructure in the city. Other initiatives include switching the municipal feet…

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Oil companies need to investment more in the global energy transition, IEA says

Oil companies need to investment more in the global energy transition, IEA says

Energize Weekly, January 29, 2020 The oil and gas industry needs to be major player in the global transition to cleaner energy, in part to maintain its social license to operate, but barely 1 percent of its capital investment is going to alternative technologies, according to the International Energy Agency…

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U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell in 2019, but face a future bump from oil and gas

U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell in 2019, but face a future bump from oil and gas

Energize Weekly, January 15, 2020 The burgeoning U.S. oil and gas and petrochemical sectors are set to add greenhouse gas emissions over the next five years – even as they decline for the power sector, according to two analysis of the country’s emissions. In 2019, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell…

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Global energy consumption set to rise 50 percent by 2050 led by rapid growth in Asia, EIA says

Global energy consumption set to rise 50 percent by 2050 led by rapid growth in Asia, EIA says

Energize Weekly, January 8, 2020 Global energy consumption is projected to grow 50 percent between 2018 and 2050, spurred by a rising demand for energy in Asia and a sharp growth in electricity as a key energy source, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). In its annual International…

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The Hartford to stop insuring and investing in coal and tar sands over climate concerns

The Hartford to stop insuring and investing in coal and tar sands over climate concerns

Energize Weekly, January 8, 2020 The Hartford Financial Services Group said it will no longer insure or invest in companies mining or using coal or developing tar sands oil over concerns about risks linked to climate change. The company, based in Hartford, Conn., said it would not deal with companies…

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Natural gas overtakes coal as a source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and Europe

Natural gas overtakes coal as a source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and Europe

Energize Weekly, December 18, 2019 Natural gas – while helping to lower overall greenhouse gas releases – has overtaken coal as a source of carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. and the European Union, according to a report from the Global Carbon Project. While total fossil fuel emissions are projected…

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Oil and gas investments of $1.4 trillion by 2024 will lock in greenhouse gas emissions, report says

Oil and gas investments of $1.4 trillion by 2024 will lock in greenhouse gas emissions, report says

Energize Weekly, December 18, 2019 Worldwide investment in oil and gas production, estimated at $1.4 trillion over the next five years, will lock in carbon emissions that will make it impossible to meet the goals to limit global warming, according to a report by a coalition of environmental groups. “While…

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Employment picture cools in the Permian Basin, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas says

Employment picture cools in the Permian Basin, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas says

Energize Weekly, December 11, 2019 Employment in Texas’ Permian Basin – in a sign of cooling oil and gas activity – declined by 400 jobs through the first 10 months of 2019 after adding 16,700 jobs in 2018, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. For the year, employment…

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Companies join global effort to set science-based emission targets for their operations

Companies join global effort to set science-based emission targets for their operations

Energize Weekly, December 11, 2019 Nearly 700 companies around the world are moving to adopt “science-based targets” for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions with 40 percent already having plans in place, according to the non-profit and governmental groups sponsoring the initiative. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) – a collaboration…

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FERC approves three Texas LNG facilities despite climate and excess capacity concerns

FERC approves three Texas LNG facilities despite climate and excess capacity concerns

Energize Weekly, December 4, 2019 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved three new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in Texas at its November meeting over the objections of one commissioner, who said the decisions failed to take into account their impact on climate. The commission also rejected arguments from…

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Energy-related CO2 emissions in U.S. rise in 2018 for the first time in five years

Energy-related CO2 emissions in U.S. rise in 2018 for the first time in five years

Energize Weekly, December 4, 2019 Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from energy-related activities in 2018 rose in the U.S. for the first time in five years, posting a 2.7 percent annual increase to 5.27 billion metric tons, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). Driving the increase were higher emissions…

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International action has been insufficient to curb GHG, drastic action needed, the UN says

International action has been insufficient to curb GHG, drastic action needed, the UN says

Energize Weekly, December 4, 2019 The gap between international efforts to curb greenhouse gases (GHG) and the growing emissions has grown so large that dramatic reductions over the next decade are needed to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, according to a United Nations (UN) report. Under the 2015…

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Climate and energy policies around the world are falling short in meeting goals, IEA says

Climate and energy policies around the world are falling short in meeting goals, IEA says

Energize Weekly, November 20, 2019 Even if all the commitments made by countries to cut carbon emissions and provide dependable energy were enacted, the world would still fall far short of having clean, reliable energy in 2040, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA placed all those emission and energy…

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Jet fuel demand projected to soar by 2050 with Asian markets leading the way, EIA says

Jet fuel demand projected to soar by 2050 with Asian markets leading the way, EIA says

Energize Weekly, November 13, 2019 Global demand for jet fuel will continue to be the fastest-growing transport fuel through 2050, with the biggest growth coming in China and Southeast Asia, according to the federal Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) International Energy Outlook. The EIA projects that jet fuel consumption will more…

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Invenergy’s planned Rhode Island natural gas plant lost out to renewables and energy efficiency

Invenergy’s planned Rhode Island natural gas plant lost out to renewables and energy efficiency

Energize Weekly, November 13, 2019 Invenergy’s proposed, large-scale, natural gas-fired power plant in Rhode Island was undone by delays that enabled renewable power and market efficiencies to overtake the project, according to state regulators. In August, the Rhode Island Energy Siting Board voted to deny Invenergy a permit for the…

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Equity and bond money for drillers dries up in Q3 as investors are wary

Equity and bond money for drillers dries up in Q3 as investors are wary

Energize Weekly, November 6, 2019 The stock and bond markets continued to cool for oil and gas drillers in the third quarter of 2019 with $495 million raised in equity, a 79 percent decline year-over-year, according to a report from Enverus, an industry analytics firm. Bond offerings for “upstream” drillers…

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