Will Cheap Oil Kill Cleantech?
Lately, the Cleantech industry has been greatly boosted by reports that expenditures in the sector will hold up, reaching $329 billion last year, despite the competition from cheap oil prices. This is...
View ArticleHopes For An Oil Price Recovery Appear Exaggerated
Expectations that oil prices will recover to $80-100/barrel appear based more on wishful thinking than solid analysis.
View ArticleThe Senate Considers A New Energy Bill Or Evil Dead 4
The Energy Policy Act could be subject to opposition from those who feel it deal with bigger issues, as well as seekers of pork barrel spending, but should be focused on addressing technical issues.
View ArticleThe Science (Or Art) Of Forecasting Oil Prices
Criticisms of oil price forecasting abound, but ignore the fact that short-term prices are highly uncertain, and the range of possible prices is very wide.
View ArticleThe Science Of Forecasting Long-term Oil Prices: What Not To Do
To forecast the long-term price of oil, the first step is to avoid mistakes of the past.
View ArticlePride And Prejudice And Zombie Oil Companies
The sharp decline in the price of oil has inflicted serious pain in the industry and oil-producing regions, but most of the companies in serious financial distress are small gas producers. Predictions...
View ArticleOil's Not At A Bottom, But You Can See It From Here
The renewed drop in oil prices, after a brief recovery to $33 a barrel, is rather like a vise being twisted on the delicate parts of the oil industry after a period of relaxed tension. A drop to $20...
View ArticlePetroleum Resources For Dummies
Fears that the world's "finite" petroleum resource will prove inadequate reflect a misunderstanding of the estimates of resources, which are quite abundant.
View ArticleThe Saudi-Russian Oil Output Freeze May Lay Foundation For Bigger Action
In practical terms, the freeze represents very little, as Russian output has been growing slowly and Saudi output very little in the past year. But the suggestion of continuing negotiations holds out...
View ArticleNegative Electricity Prices Are Not A Sign Of Renewable Success
Renewable energy advocates point to occasional negative electricity prices as a sign of success, but they actually represent market imbalances and costs for consumers.
View ArticleMethods Of Forecasting Long Term Oil Prices
Forecasting long term oil prices should be done by watching marginal costs, but with attention to political changes in access to resources and ignoring cyclical cost fluctuations.
View ArticleSolar Showdown In The Nevada Desert: Warren Buffett Vs. Elon Musk?
The debate over net metering for solar power in Nevada is really nothing more than a conflict over fees and prices and specifically the desire of solar panel owners to have guaranteed returns.
View ArticleWill Renewables Revolutionize The Utility Industry?
Claims that residential solar power will revolutionize or even destroy the utility industry don't stand up to scrutiny.
View ArticleBanner Year For Renewables: Not For Consumers
Praise for the expected dominance of renewable in electric generation capacity additions ignores the low capacity factor and high costs involved.
View ArticleCould Oil Prices Double Dip?
The oil price recovery is welcome, but might be premature. The factors pushing prices down remain a concern.
View ArticleOil Company Missteps: Irrational Exuberance?
The oil industry has had major losses due to assuming oil prices would remain elevated, but they initially resisted boosting investments.
View ArticleManaging Oil Companies Better: Some Theory
Oil and energy companies have often gone astray because of a fundamental desire to invest regardless of conditions, but also due to executives who have insufficient understanding of the market...
View ArticleIs Cleantech Repeating Jimmy Carter's Gas Pricing Disaster?
Policies setting prices for renewable power are duplicating Jimmy Carter's disastrous attempt to set correct prices for natural gas in the U.S.
View ArticleThreat To Value Of Fossil Fuel Resources Misplaced
Claims that the value of fossil fuel resources are overstated because of threats to long-term demand are incorrect.
View ArticleRockefellers Divest From Exxon: Planet Is Saved!
Although the Rockefeller Family Fund's announcement that it's dumping its stake in ExxonMobil garnered plenty of sensational headlines, in reality it is probably harmful to efforts to reduce greenhouse...
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