Current climate policies ignore the long transition period required to develop reliable alternative energy systems
By Eric Newell and Perry Kinkaide Contributors Balancing energy, the environment and the economy is critical. Yet current climate policies and plans – including Canada’s – are designed to phase out fossil fuel production entirely as rapidly as possible, largely ignoring the several decades-long transition required to develop reliable alternative energy systems. To be effective,…
Carbon capture is key to reaching net zero emissions by 2050
Four hundred academics recently signed a letter to the federal government, condemning the next big thing in emissions reduction. They’re all wrong. Their target was Canada’s world-leading, greenhouse-gas-busting carbon capture and storage initiative. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been hailed as a key to reaching net zero emissions by 2050. The Alberta government kicked…
Oil prices may reach triple figures later this year
Global oil markets touched a seven-year high last week before capping gains late Friday. Prices have already gone up by more than 10 per cent this year. But the signals are ominous. Continued signs of robust demand have come despite: the COVID-19 Omicron wave; growing geopolitical instability in Eastern Europe and the Middle East; the…
Longer days are coming! Cheaper solar power, not so much
We are constantly being told that wind and solar power are really cheaper than fossil-fuel power if you tot up the true costs of using each type. These arguments have always been dubious on their merits, if not outright disingenuous. Yes, the wind is free and the sunshine is free, but nothing about capturing either…
China is making strong strategic moves to secure its future oil needs
China – the world’s largest crude oil importer, second-largest oil consumer after the United States and the world's number 1 polluter – is increasingly leveraging its position of influence on the global energy chessboard. In a bid to tame rising oil prices last November, the United States spearheaded a co-ordinated release by major oil-consuming nations…
Oil markets breaking out of their long-term downward trend
Despite the Omicron variant of COVID-19 hitting the world badly, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies in the expanded OPEC+ have confirmed the scheduled output increase of 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) for February. By now, OPEC+ countries have restarted about two-thirds of the production they halted in the early stages of…
For two decades, it has been predicted that climate change will open up the Arctic to economic development, leading to a race for resources. The region is supposed to be more accessible due to climate change. But is that true? In reality, many of the impacts of climate change make shipping, transportation and infrastructure development…
No one has a real handle on the market and its future direction
Despite the growing call for a cap on their consumption, fossil fuels are going nowhere. They will continue to drive our energy-driven civilization for the foreseeable future. Global oil demand is on the verge of reaching its pre-pandemic levels. As a result, oil markets posted their biggest gains since at least 2016 as 2021 wound…
Lack of investment in the industry could lead to an energy crisis
Led by kingpin Saudi Arabia, oil-producing nations are gaining confidence and delivering a message: the oil era is far from over. Last week, Saudi Petroleum Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman warned that global oil production could drop by a massive 30 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2030. That’s around 30 per cent of the…
Major oil-consuming nations seem to have gained some leverage in a market full of uncertainties
As 2021 winds down, oil markets face uncertainties. Omicron has begun to change crude demand perceptions. Economies – especially in Europe – are beginning to stutter, and Canada is also under pressure, with increasing restrictions in place. All this will impact crude oil consumption in the months to come. There’s no unanimity among experts on…
By Eric Newell and Perry Kinkaide Contributors Balancing energy, the environment and the economy is critical. Yet current climate policies and plans – including Canada’s – are designed to phase out fossil fuel production entirely as rapidly as possible, largely ignoring the several decades-long transition required to develop reliable alternative energy systems. To be effective,…
