New Conversion Method Turns Plastic Into Fuel
by Brian Westenhaus
25 Mar 2023 at 2:00pm
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory announced a new method to convert waste plastic to fuel and raw materials that promises to help close the carbon cycle at mild temperature and with high yield. There?s a lot of potentially useful raw materials bound up in used face masks, grocery bags and food wrap. But it has been much cheaper to keep making more of these single-use plastics than to recover and recycle them. The research team reported their discovery in Science. Now, an international research team led by the Department?

Ammonia Security Risks Could Harm Energy Transition Plans
by Cyril Widdershoven
25 Mar 2023 at 12:00pm
With the recent publication of the IPCC report warning of the devastating effects of global warming and the need for action, the push for energy transition away from hydrocarbons faces new challenges. While green hydrogen and green ammonia are being touted as viable substitutes for hydrocarbons in a low-carbon or Net-Zero future, security risks associated with their transportation and storage are being increasingly acknowledged. This poses a potential threat to Europe's green energy strategies, as NGOs and citizens may oppose these plans due to?

Russia?s Nuclear Industry Continues To Rake In Export Revenue
by Haley Zaremba
25 Mar 2023 at 8:00am
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February of last year, President Vladimir Putin counted on the fact that imposing meaningful economic sanctions on his country would be no easy feat. Putin?s leverage over the West (and many other key economies worldwide) has been growing for years as a steady stream of cheap and (until now) dependable oil and gas has been flowing over Russian borders. To hit Russia where it hurts, the world would have to endure a lot of pain at the pumps and in their energy and heating bills. Everyone?s economies would?

Carbon Capture Technology And Its Growing Role in Decarbonisation
by Felicity Bradstock
25 Mar 2023 at 8:00am
With a greater number of climate policies coming into place worldwide, from the Biden Administration?s IRA to the European Union?s New Green Deal, companies are feeling mounting pressure to decarbonise. And while some are doing it to enhance their ESG practices and futureproof their business, others are concerned about rising carbon taxes, which could slash their profits. So, as well as introducing green energy technology, many are turning to carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies to support their decarbonisation efforts. Big?

Natural Gas Prices See Yet Another Weekly Decline
by Julianne Geiger
24 Mar 2023 at 3:30pm
Natural gas prices are up on the day, but they are once again down on the week?the third week running?as unseasonably warm weather dampened prospects for one more demand push in the United States. Natural gas prices were trading up on the day to $2.191 (+1.81%), but prices week to week are down. Natural gas started the week at $2.365 per mmBtu, but prices have been falling since the first few days of March, and this week marks the third straight week of weekly declines. Both April and May gas contracts were down on the week.  The?

Standard Chartered: Oil Prices Likely To Head Higher
by Alex Kimani
24 Mar 2023 at 3:00pm
After a major decline that saw oil prices fall to multi-year lows, oil markets appear to have bottomed out and begun an encouraging ascent higher. Over the past two weeks, a general bearish and risk-off sentiment cut across asset markets and triggered a lengthy unwind of speculative positions in oil futures. A top commodity analyst blamed the unusually steep decline to significant selling by banks in response to gamma-effects as prices closed in a concentration of producer puts around USD 75/bbl for Brent and USD 70/bbl for WTI crude. Luckily for?

Real-Time Data Could Be Key In Achieving Net Zero Targets
by OilPrice.com
24 Mar 2023 at 2:00pm
Companies are famous for their animal imagery. We?re all familiar with unicorn businesses; elusive, mythical, technological creatures valued at over $1bn. Then there are ?zebra? organisations, defined by their combination of profitability (black) and impact on society (white). And, according to Harvard Business Review, we?re now entering the era of the ?camel?; companies well-suited to the current macroeconomic climate through their ability to ?survive for long periods without sustenance?. Cheery?

Elon Musk Responds To Worries Over Altitude Changes In Starlink Satellites
by OilPrice.com
24 Mar 2023 at 12:00pm
Elon Musk's SpaceX recently launched the first batch of its next-generation Starlink internet satellites that already appear to be in trouble.  In a Wednesday tweet, Musk said there were "some issues" with "V2 Mini" satellites that were blasted into orbit last month.  "Lot of new technology in Starlink V2, so we're experiencing some issues, as expected," Musk wrote. The billionaire was responding to a Twitter conversation with some users pointing out "significant" altitude changes of some of the V2 Minis.  Musk said, "Some sats will?

Petrobras Ready To Be Last Oil Producer Standing
by Julianne Geiger
24 Mar 2023 at 11:30am
Petrobras could be the last man standing when it comes to crude oil production amid the energy transition, the state-run oil company?s CEO Jean Paul Prates said in an interview in Rio de Janeiro. ?We will get market share,? Prates said, according to Bloomberg, referring to Brazil?s state-run oil company. The comments come with respect to the energy transition and whether there is cause for concern for an oil company such as Petrobras. But Prates isn?t worried. ?We may be the last to produce oil in the world,??

Is A Global Tin Shortage Looming?
by Ag Metal Miner
24 Mar 2023 at 11:00am
Via AG Metal Miner Cornish Metals plans to begin tin mining at its wholly-owned South Crofty site by 2026. According to the Vancouver-headquartered company, the start of mining will also coincide with an expected deficit in tin. Indeed, market analysts predict that there will be a significant shortfall in the global tin supply by the same year, which could drastically impact the tin price. Plans are now underway at South Crofty to start dewatering the mine by June. According to Cornish Metals CEO Richard Williams last week, the current aim is to?

Protests In France Force Exxon To Shut Port Jerome Refinery
by Julianne Geiger
24 Mar 2023 at 10:30am
An extension of the current strikes at France?s Le Havre port has cut off crude oil deliveries to ExxonMobil?s nearby Port Jerome refinery, according to the CGT trade union. Exxon?s Port Jerome refinery?a 236,000 bpd refinery in northern France?and the Gravenchon petrochemicals plant will stop operations today, CGT said, according to Argus. The refinery was originally expected to close earlier this week as the strikes drug on, but the refinery received a shipment of crude oil from Libya. TotalEnergies? Gonfreville?

Oil Rig Count Inches Higher As WTI Holds Below $70
by Julianne Geiger
24 Mar 2023 at 10:17am
The total number of total active drilling rigs in the United States rose by 4 this week, according to new data from Baker Hughes published on Friday. The total rig count rose to 758 this week?88 rigs higher than the rig count this time in 2022 and 317 rigs lower than the rig count at the beginning of 2019, prior to the pandemic. Oil rigs in the United States increased by 4 this week, to 593. Gas rigs stayed the same at 162. Miscellaneous rigs also stayed the same. The rig count in the Permian Basin rose by 3, on top of last week?s 7-rig?

Total And BP Tap Wind Power To Decarbonize North Sea Oil Operations
by Michael Kern
24 Mar 2023 at 9:30am
Crown Estate Scotland has awarded offshore wind leases to 13 Companies, including BP and TotalEnergies, to support North Sea oil and gas decarbonization. On Friday, Crown Estate Scotland, an independent commercial organization responsible for managing the British seabed, announced that it had awarded leases to 13 companies, including Big Oil's BP and TotalEnergies, and several UK renewable firms.  The companies will develop offshore wind projects to supply power primarily to North Sea oil and gas platforms to reduce the sector's emissions.?

Latin America?s Bid To Challenge China?s Dominance In The Lithium Market
by Michael Kern
24 Mar 2023 at 9:00am
The government of Bolivia has called on its neighbors, Argentina, Brazil and Chile, to work on setting a Latin America-wide policy on the exploitation of lithium. The idea is part of a broader initiative to form an OPEC-like cartel to collectively boost these countries' bargaining power.  President Luis Are spoke in La Paz, saying, "We must be united in the market, in a sovereign manner, with prices that benefit our economies, and one of the ways, already proposed by (Mexico's) President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is to think of?

North American LNG Projects Plagued By Price Volatility
by Tom Kool
24 Mar 2023 at 8:00am
New U.S. and Canadian LNG export projects show signs of accelerating but volatile natural gas prices are making bets on future supply and demand difficult, industrial market intelligence provider Industrial Info Resources (IIR) said in new research on Friday. ?But too much too fast could overwhelm the sector. Volatility in natural gas prices makes it difficult to bet on the future and exports take away from domestic needs,? IIR said in a statement.   In Canada, the provincial government of British Columbia has allowed the US$7.2?