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After having crashed nearly 70 percent in the first three months of 2020, benchmark WTI prices are trying to form a bottom around $20 per barrel. But this psychological threshold is looking increasingly shaky as global crude storage facilities are filling up at an unprecedented pace. OPEC and its partners officially ended their output cut deal today, following the words of Russian Energy Minister Novak that every producer is ‘’free to pump at will’’.

What Happens If You Can’t Pay Your Electricity Bill? By Julianne Geiger - Apr 01, 2020, 5:00 PM CDT Join Our Community Electricity With over 3 million Americans losing their jobs, and many more forced into lockdown, utilities are facing lower demand and more consumers that can’t afford to pay the bills At a time when over 3 million Americans have already lost their jobs, and as many as 47 million may be added to the unemployment roster, all that virus-forced staying at home will increase energy bills for people with limited means of paying them--at least until unemployment benefits...

After having crashed nearly 70 percent in the first three months of 2020, benchmark WTI prices are trying to form a bottom around $20 per barrel. But this psychological threshold is looking increasingly shaky as global crude storage facilities are filling up at an unprecedented pace. OPEC and its partners officially ended their output cut deal today, following the words of Russian Energy Minister Novak that every producer is ‘’free to pump at will’’. With a flood of physical crude set to hit the market, it will take weeks, not months, for global oil storage space to run out. The...

Global oil storage could reach maximum capacity within weeks, energy analysts have told CNBC, as the coronavirus crisis dramatically reduces consumption and some of the world’s most powerful crude producers start to ramp up their output. The coronavirus pandemic has meant countries have effectively had to shut down, with many governments imposing draconian measures on the daily lives of billions of people. It has created an unprecedented demand shock in energy markets, with storage space – both onshore and offshore – quickly running out.

Shares of energy companies rose alongside oil futures after Chinese data showed a rebound in industrial activity, spurring hopes that the global economy could shake off the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic more quickly than feared. U.S. crude futures rose 1.9% to $20.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a day after crashing to a fresh 18-year low. The long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline to take oil from Canada into the U.S. heartland will move forward after the Alberta province agreed to help finance the project, pipeline operator TC Energy said, as reported earlier.

Canadian pipeline operator TC Energy is moving forward with plans to build the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline, a project to move heavy crude oil from the tar sands region of Canada to Nebraska where it will then move on to refineries in Illinois and along the Gulf Coast. After years of legal battles, TC Energy confirmed Tuesday morning that the company plans to invest $8 billion on the crude oil pipeline project. The controversial pipeline project faced opposition and legal challenges from Native American groups, environmentalists and landowners. “We appreciate the ongoing backing of landowners, customers, Indigenous groups and numerous...

A Canadian company said Tuesday it plans to start construction of the disputed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline through the U.S. Midwest in April, after lining up customers and money for the project that is bitterly opposed by environmentalists and some American Indian tribes. Construction is set to begin at the pipeline’s border crossing in Montana, said TC Energy spokesman Terry Cunha. That would be a milestone for a project first proposed in 2008. The company said it lined up $1.1 billion in financing from the Canadian provincial government of Alberta to cover construction through 2020 and agreements for the...

Oil prices plunged on Monday to their lowest levels in eighteen years, below $20 per barrel, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to cripple global oil demand with no signs of Saudi Arabia backing down on its promised supply surge.

(AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) On 18 March, U.S. crude oil prices fell to their lowest level in 18 years. The following day, momentarily distracted from their hype of the coronavirus pandemic, pundits and analysts reminded us again that low oil prices are the result of Saudi Arabia instigating a price war with Russia. And again, the culprit named was Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Among his motives, they claimed, is hobbling the fracking industry that has ended American dependence on Middle East oil. Now, let’s examine the real backstory.

When Pennsylvania ordered coal mines closed because of the coronavirus, then reversed course and declared them to be “essential,” West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, who made a fortune in coal, was quick to mock his neighbors. “Coal is so essential it is unbelievable,” said Justice, a Republican. “We have to have good electricity flowing into our homes.” The mine workers union agrees with him. So does President Trump, who has spent the past three years talking up the coal business. But in the face of the pandemic, is coal mining actually so essential? Because of the nature of the work...

Oil prices continued to rise for the third day in a row, recovering earlier losses as U.S. lawmakers pressure Saudi Arabia to end the oil war. The ongoing oil war, in which Saudi Arabia and Russia are the key players, has exacerbated the already tremendous glut in oil markets, and demand destruction could end up reaching 15-20 million bpd in April. According to Russell Hardy, Vitol’s chief executive, the supply overhang could end up filling storage tanks at a very high pace as India, with the world’s fastest-growing oil consumer now facing a nationwide lockdown. Oilprice.com’s Julianne Geiger wrote yesterday...

Plunging oil prices could be headed a lot lower – possibly below zero, according to one Wall Street analyst. West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, fell by more than 10 percent Wednesday to near $24 a barrel, a level last seen in April 2002. “Oil prices can go negative,” wrote Paul Sankey, managing director at Mizuho Securities. If that weren't enough, Saudi Arabia recently slashed oil prices and raised output after Russia refused to join OPEC in deepening production cuts. Oil is a 100 million barrel-per-day market, but Sankey says it’s possible that the economic fallout from the...

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued a stern warning to nonessential businesses that are remaining open despite mandated closures to combat the coronavirus pandemic: “We will shut you down.” The mayor said Tuesday that he will step up enforcement actions against nonessential businesses such as salons, gyms and nightclubs that are defying orders to close. He said water and power would be cut off to businesses that fail to cooperate and that misdemeanor charges would be brought against repeat offenders. “If we see continued noncompliance, they’ll wind up facing a misdemeanor charge and [the Los Angeles Department of Water and...

Top exporter Saudi Arabia has chartered an armada of ships to flood the market with additional oil, but in the process has driven freight costs so high refiners are reluctant to take the shipments. That could leave the kingdom stuck with tens of millions of barrels in expensive ships at anchor when the coronavirus outbreak has destroyed oil demand and international prices have lost more than half their value compared with the start of the year.

The Energy Department announced Thursday that it will purchase 77 million barrels of American-made crude oil to begin to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve amid the coronavirus outbreak. “DOE is moving quickly to support U.S. oil producers facing potentially catastrophic losses from the impacts of COVID-19 and the intentional disruption to world oil markets by foreign actors,” Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said in a statement Thursday.The Energy Department is expected to purchase an initial 30 million barrels of crude oil, with a focus on small to midsize U.S. oil producers. “The small to midsize oil producers, which are the focus...

Copyright © 2020 Albuquerque Journal With oil prices plunging to their lowest level in 22 years, state legislators are projecting an imminent budget crisis that’s likely to force the New Mexico Legislature into special session. Sen. John Arthur Smith, chairman of the Legislative Finance Committee, said the state could be facing a $1 billion loss in oil- and gas-related revenue if the crisis continues through this year and into 2021. ADVERTISEMENTSKIP In a Thursday letter to legislative leaders, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham indicated a special session is inevitable but said state officials need to have updated revenue estimates and a...

Coal miners including Consol Energy (CEIX -13.9%) and Contura Energy (CTRA +2.1%) must shut their mines in Pennsylvania by tonight after the governor ordered "non-life-sustaining" to close in an attempt to control the spread of the coronavirus. The state's list of "life-sustaining businesses" included oil and natural gas extraction, steel mills and metal production but specifically excluded coal mining. The move has the potential to remove a large volume of coking coal from the global market. B. Riley FBR analyst Lucas Pipes says the worst-case scenario would have operations down through Q2 but "a shutdown lasting a week to several...

KIST researchers developed cathode material of carbon-silicon complex by simply mixing and heating silicon mixed with oil with green ingredients corn and sweet potato starch. If batteries made of this material are installed in electric vehicles, the driving range will more than double. Credit: Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) _______________________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Hun-Gi Jung and his research team at the Center for Energy Storage Research of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President Lee Byung Gwon) have announced the development of silicon anode materials that can increase battery capacity four-fold in comparison to graphite anode materials and...

Figure outlining the structural and morphological characteristics of the two oxyfluorides syhthesized by the researchers. Credit: Ji et al. ______________________________________________________________________________ In recent years, lithium-based batteries have become widely used to power a wide range of electronic devices, including tablets, smart phones and portable computers. These batteries have different compartments, called cells, each of which contains a positive electrode and a negative electrode separated by a chemical known as an electrolyte. Positive electrodes are generally composed of lithium compounds, such as LiCoO2 or LiFePO4, while negative electrodes are usually made of carbon. The electrolyte separating them, on the other hand, can...

In an effort to gain support on the far-left flank of the Democratic Party Sunday night, former Vice President Joe Biden vowed to stop oil drilling in the United States and said he would implement a ban on new fracking. "No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period. Ends," Biden said. "No new fracking."This translates to (massive job losses) for millions of Americans, not to mention how Biden's policy would create an unaffordable increase in energy prices.