OilPrice.com (April 12)
The Iran “crisis has thrown the precarity of the current global energy trade into sharp relief,” accelerating shifts in energy policy. That shift is expected to include “expanded clean energy production capacity” and greatly benefit China. Chinese companies are “incredibly well positioned to continue to consolidate their dominance in global markets, as they are by far the cheapest producer and most accessible trade partner for many nations that have been left in the lurch by the effective blockade of Hormuz.”
Tags: Accelerating, Accessible, Blockade, Capacity, Cheapest, China, Clean energy, Consolidate, Crisis, Dominance, Global markets, Hormuz, Iran, Policy, Precarity, Producer, Shifts, Trade, Trade partner
Newsweek (January 18)
“As 2018 begins, the United States has become the largest producer of gas, oil, and coal in history. Its stock market is at record levels. The economy is growing at a 3 percent rate—and unemployment may dip below 4 percent, even though some commentators have claimed over the last decade that it likely would never fall below 5 percent again. The auto, steel, manufacturing, financial, agricultural, and high-tech industries are ascendant.”
Tags: Coal, Economy, Gas, Manufacturing, Oil, Producer, Stock market, U.S., Unemployment
New York Times (August 17)
China is both the world’s largest consumer of coal and the world’s largest producer of CO2 emissions. Encouragingly, that may be set to change. “The wretched air in China’s cities is forcing Chinese officials to change their energy policies. If they do a good job tackling local pollution, they could also have a big impact on climate change.” Details are still scarce, but could include a ban on the use of coal in urban areas by 2020.
Tags: Ban, China, Cities, Climate change, CO2 emissions, Coal, Consumer, Energy policies, Officials, Pollution, Producer, Urban areas
Wall Street Journal (November 4)
By year end, the U.S. is likely to unseat Russia and become the second largest global producer of liquid fuels. The U.S. is now well positioned to escape the capricious yoke of OPEC and “even could surpass Saudi Arabia to become the leading global producer within the next decade.” Former Secretary of State George Schultz and FedEx CEO Fred Smith write, the nation’s leaders should “embrace both the supply revolution now well under way and the emerging demand revolution in oil-displacement technology that, together, promise a more secure and prosperous future.”
Tags: Demand, Energy security, FedEx, Fred Smith, Fuel, Future, George Schultz, Oil-displacement, OPEC, Producer, Revolution, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Supply, Technology, U.S.
National Geographic (November 12)
“In an indication how ‘fracking’ is reshaping the global energy picture, the International Energy Agency today projected that the United States will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer by 2017. And within just three years, the United States will unseat Russia as the largest producer of natural gas. Both results would have been unthinkable even few short years ago.”
Tags: Fracking, IEA, Natural gas, Oil, Producer, Russia, Saudi Arabia, U.S.
