Featured Articles

Exxon’s profits leave BP and Shell in the shade

February 03, 2023 | Latest Featured Articles

By Neil Collins You may have noticed that the big oil companies had rather a good time last year. They could hardly fail to make bonanza profits given what was happening to the price of their principal products. Shares in both Shell and BP were among the best UK performers of 2022, and portfolio managers who had abandoned producers of the nasty black stuff lost out badly. Yet on a longer view, both shares look like feeble also-rans when compared to their biggest competitor, Exxon …

Why The Oil Industry Can No Longer Rely On China

June 05, 2020 | Latest Featured Articles

By Cyril Widdershoven The global oil sector is reeling from a combination of negative oil prices, storage overload, demand destruction, and calls for a renewable energy revolution in the post-COVID-19 era. US and European oil market analysts appear to be pinning their hopes on a rebound in oil demand from Asia. Even international financial institutions, such as the IMF, WB, ECB and OECD indicate that the future of economic and energy demand growth is inextricably linked to the future of China and, increasingly, India. OPEC …

Another Major Car Maker Is Backing Hydrogen

February 19, 2020 | Technology Reviews

By Jon LeSage | – The hydrogen fuel cell market has a serious player emerging in South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Corp., which is jumping into the hydrogen truck market to compete with Nikola, Toyota, and Tesla’s Cybertruck and Semi. Hyundai and Yeosu Gwangyang Port Corp. are partnering to commercialize hydrogen fuel-cell trucks in South Korea. An agreement between the automaker and the port operator includes the development and demonstration of hydrogen fuel-cell trucks for logistics transportation and building out a hydrogen fueling station. The commercial fuel-cell trucks will be put …

Indonesia may no longer require African, South American heavy crude

May 15, 2019 | Field Case Studies

By  Gawoon Philip Vahn,  Eesha Muneeb  and Anita Nugraha | — Indonesia recently decided to source all of its heavy crude oil requirements from domestic field operators as Jakarta continues to find ways to cut its hefty energy import bills — a move that could put an end to the country’s dependency on African and South American supplies. Indonesia imported around 25 million barrels of crude over January-April, almost 50% lower than 48 million barrels received during the same period a year earlier, as the country …

OPEC in a Changing World

January 22, 2019 | Field Case Studies

By Council on Foreign Affairs | Introduction The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a bloc of fourteen oil-rich states spanning the Middle East, Africa, and South America. Combined, the group controls close to forty percent of world oil production. This dominant market position has at times allowed OPEC to act as a cartel, coordinating production levels among members to manipulate global oil prices. OPEC’s golden era occurred in the 1970s, when the United States became increasingly reliant on foreign oil as a …

Oil Prices Surges and Falls On Output Cut

December 11, 2018 | Field Case Studies

By Steve Okoekpen | – Market analysts and stakeholders will all agree that oil producers and consumers endured a turbulent period, as the oil market has had a tough time this year, with prices sliding since October. And yet, there have been a radical turn of events over last week, with the outlook looking drastically different with seismic optimism as the markets opened for trading last week. It is important to note that one of last week’s  biggest market movements was oil, with brent crude …

Why OPEC Needs To Adapt For The Future

December 09, 2018 | Roundtable Discussion

Wael Mahdi | – The successful outcome of the 175th meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) last week is no reason for the producer group to cheerfully forget about why the gathering was such a tough one. Up until the last minute, there were concerns that OPEC may not reach an agreement to cut production, leading to a drop in oil prices. Before addressing the reasons that made the meeting successful, it is important to discuss the factors that made it …

US, Western Diplomats See Political Motive Behind OPEC Oil Cut

December 09, 2018 | Roundtable Discussion

By Jamie Dettmer | – A view of the meeting of oil ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, at their headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Dec. 6, 2018. Despite repeated calls by U.S. President Donald Trump for oil production to remain steady, the Saudi-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, along with Russia and its allies, announced Friday they would cut their pumping of crude to reduce oil flows onto the global market by 1.2 million barrels of per day, a bigger-than-expected cut. …