Category Archives: Energy and Geopolitics

“Energy independence” won’t free the USA from global oil market & geopolitics [I’m cited: CNNMoney]

Posted on August 12, 2016 | 1 comment
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Credit: CNNMoney, 9 August 2016

Mr. Trump promises he’d use the USA’s shale-oil revolution to deliver “complete” independence from foreign oil, telling voters in May: “Imagine a world in which our foes and the oil cartels (sic) can no longer use energy as a weapon. Wouldn’t that be nice?” But, he is confusing two quite distinct things:

“Energy independence” – in the sense of the USA producing more oil than the country consumes – is indeed possible, even “tantalizingly close” as this CNNMoney article (Aug. 9, 2016, by Matt Egan) makes clear, citing myself and other experts.  For clarity, I’ll call this “net oil-exporter status.”

However, Donald Trump asks us to “imagine” he can use this net oil exporter status, to make the US independent of the global oil market and oil in geopolitics where our “foes” and “cartels” have leverage. Continue reading →

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Posted in Energy and Geopolitics, Energy and Geostrategy, Gas globalization, Global Oil Market, Global Oil system, international relations, Iran sanctions, Iraq, Iraqi oil, Libya, oil, Oil prices, Oil supply, OPEC, Resource conflicts, Russia, Sanctions, Saudi Arabia, shale gas, shale oil, The USA, U.S. oil, Ukraine, Uncategorized

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How fast can Libyan oil recover? (I’m quoted by CNN)

Posted on July 21, 2016 | Leave a comment
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CNN 20 July 2016

The oil market remains glutted, with price in the mid-$40’s.  Despite furtive hopes over recent weeks  by the business press about “imminent re-balancing” of global supply v. demand and about “draw downs” of record-high global storage inventories, data reveal only incremental re-balancing has occurred since fall of 2014 when this all began. (And, from November 2014,  the Saudi’s responded by fighting for their market-share rather than for boosting price, which would have been impossible for OPEC to do on its own given the huge supply glut.)

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Posted in Energy and Geopolitics, Gaddafi, Global Oil Market, Global Oil system, Libya, Oil prices, Oil supply, OPEC, Saudi Arabia, Uncategorized

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New US tech squeezing oilfields & rivals [IBD quotes me]

Posted on June 18, 2016 | 1 comment

U.S. oil companies are developing new technologies and techniques to produce oil cheaper and faster.Gillian Rich at Investors’ Business Daily News (17 June 2016) writes a quite informative survey of the many new technological methods pushing the cost of US shale production ever downward. Here’s Gillian’s article. She asked me about the impact on OPEC producers and my central point (my quotes are below) was that it will be the high-tech, most-efficient producers (such as US shale) and NOT necessarily those with the largest and easiest-to-access proven reserves (e.g., countries such as Venezuela and much of OPEC, many corrupt Russian and Chinese state-dominated firms, etc.)  that will set the pace in the new oil order

If the latter actors can’t find ways to innovate in technology and operational methods they will be at a disadvantage because shale production looks more like manufacturing than  traditional oil extraction.  Many OPEC and other state-owned firms never had to think like a combination of Henry Ford and Silicon Valley, but could instead count on huge, low-cost reserves, inefficient exploration and production and cheap local labor.

Eventually, the new shale methods will of course spread to promising shale fields in Argentina, China, Eastern/Central Europe and elsewhere; but this will require big advances in local infrastructure, training and government regulatory capacity. Again, things those countries must think about very seriously. Here are my quotes (from near the end of her long article).

New Oil Order

…. OPEC countries like Nigeria and Venezuela that haven’t invested in newer technology will be hurt by advances in the U.S., said Thomas O’Donnell, a senior energy analyst at the consulting firm Wikistrat. Russia also can’t exploit shale and Arctic assets because of economic sanctions that limit Westerners from helping develop the new fields.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has low-cost production fields, and state-run oil company Saudi Aramco can bring in foreign experts knowledgeable about fracking and new technologies, he added.

Still, OPEC must now grapple with U.S. shale producers on the rebound, which could lead to volatility, O’Donnell said. “The oil order has changed. It’s conventional oil on one side, and new shale oil on the other.”

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Posted in Energy and Geopolitics, Enhanced oil production, Global Oil Market, Global Oil system, High technology, Oil prices, OPEC, Saudi Arabia, shale gas, shale oil, The USA, Tight oil, Uncategorized, Venezuela oil

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What’s keeping foreign oil firms out of Iran? IRG? [CNNMoney quotes me]

Posted on June 17, 2016 | 1 comment
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To put Iran’s recent production increases in perspective: On its own, for 37 years, Iran has struggled to produce two-thirds of its pre-revolutionary level of 6 million barrels/day. Now, domestic opposition is again limiting foreign oil companies’ participation to boost production.

Since the Obama-administration’s and Europe’s nuclear sanctions were lifted early this year (marked ‘e’ on the chart), Iran has been expanding its production and exports more rapidly than most experts had expected. Tehran has actually tripled exports since late-2015 (see point ‘f’).  But, here’s the big question: Can Iran sustain this years’ production gains?
If to, this could seriously undermine Saudi Arabia’s global oil-market share, and boost Iran’s sanctions-damaged economy to a long-awaited recovery.
The short answer: Now that foreign sanctions are finally lifted, the battle to boost Iran’s oil exports has shifted to a domestic clash over whether to allow foreign oil companies to have significant upstream involvement. This is a domestic Iranian issue with a long history.
Historical perspective
Let’s start with some historical perspective: The Iranian National Oil Company (NIOC) can only do so much on its own to boost production. After decades of sanctions, it lacks the needed technology and finance.  I told CNNMoney‘s Matt Egan, on Wednesday, that the faster Iran expands on its own, the faster production will plateau. (His CNNMoney article today quotes me .).
This was what happened after the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.(‘b’ on the chart). By about 1992, production had plateaued at almost 4 million barrels/day, under 2/3 of the pre-revolutionary, late-1970’s level of roughly 6 million barrels per day. (‘a’ on chart).  The Iranian president at the time, Rafsanjani, argued to religious conservative and nationalist members of the Majilis that only foreign oil companies’ technology and investments could expand production further. However, he only won grudging approval for an offshore project due to fears that foreigners would bring their irreligious ways ashore and/or undermine the hard-won nationalization of Iran’s oil sector.
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Posted in Chavez, Chavez lagacy, Chavez legacy, Energy and Geopolitics, Faja of the Orinoco, Global Oil Market, heavy oil, Iran, Iran nuclear, Iran sanctions, Obama, oil, Oil prices, Oil supply, OPEC, Sanctions, Saudi Arabia, shale oil, The USA, U.S. oil, Uncategorized, Venezuela oil

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Aside

Last night Investor’s Business Daily NEWS’ Gillin Rich interviewed me. The title reflects some rumors, but my point of view, as she reports, emphasizes market realities that bode against any output limit – esp. if the Iranians are still intransigent … and … Continue reading →

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Posted on June 2, 2016

Don’t write off American oil boom despite OPEC – CNNMoney cites my analysis

Posted on June 1, 2016 | Leave a comment

cnn_money-chart-oil-production-down-slow-01jun16

I was interviewed today by CNNMoney’s Matt Egan on what  OPEC should expect from US shale as they hold their 169th “Ordinary Meeting” in Vienna tomorrow (2 June).  Indeed, at some point oil production and demand will balance (likely in 2017), and then the Saudis and OPEC will have to cautiously test the presently unknown dynamics of high-tech US shale on the rebound. -Egan cites my point  of view in his article. Read on … – Tom O’D.

Don’t bet against the resilience of U.S. oil companies

by Matt Egan @mattmegan5 CNNMoney (New York) June 1, 2016: 12:23 PM ET

Many expected U.S. oil output would collapse under the weight of a lengthy price war with the mighty OPEC, the fractured oil cartel that’s meeting in Vienna Thursday.

The U.S. oil boom, fueled by the shale revolution, has obviously taken a few punches from OPEC’s strategy of all-out pumping. But the latest numbers show that American production continues to remain stubbornly high in recent months despite the crash in crude to as low as $26 a barrel in February.

The U.S. pumped 9.13 million barrels per day in March, down by a miniscule 6,000 barrels from the prior month, according to stats released this week by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That represents a deceleration from recent monthly declines. By comparison, daily U.S. output dropped by 58,000 barrels in February and by 83,000 barrels in December.

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Posted in Energy and Geopolitics, Global Oil Market, Global Oil system, High technology, Oil prices, Oil supply, OPEC, Saudi Arabia, shale oil, The USA, Tight oil, U.S. oil, Uncategorized

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Latin American Oil: Beijing Still Lending, But for How Long? – I’m quoted by Energy Compass

Posted on May 31, 2016 | Comments Off on Latin American Oil: Beijing Still Lending, But for How Long? – I’m quoted by Energy Compass

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Last week, Energy Intelligence (EI) quoted me on China’s continued appetite for oil and gas investments in Latin America even with its own  economic slowdown and LatAm’s many political upheavals. (Sincere thanks to EI for a PDF of their proprietary Energy Compass to share on my blog. You can access it below here.)

Some thoughts on China’s strategy: In the case of Venezuela, as the price of oil fell, Beijing quickly eased up on PDVSA’s repayment terms for its huge outstanding loans which are repayable in oil. This shows some willingness to help Venezuela cope with the falling market value of oil. Why? Because, mainly, it is the oil that China has always been laser-focused on – not making interest on these loans.

Generally, it is clear that new Chinese investments or loans are still possible in Latin America. In Venezuela however, Continue reading →

Comments Off on Latin American Oil: Beijing Still Lending, But for How Long? – I’m quoted by Energy Compass

Posted in Brazil, Chavez, China, Economic Crisis, Energy and Geopolitics, Faja of the Orinoco, Global Oil Market, Global Oil system, heavy oil, Hugo Chávez, Latin America, Oil prices, OPEC, PDVSA, PDVSA weakness, Rosneft, Russia, Sechin, shale oil, The USA, Uncategorized, Venezuela oil

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Wikistrat Report “Saudi Arabia & the Future of Oil” cites my views

Posted on May 29, 2016 | Leave a comment

Wikistrat - my quote on US continued interestThis Wikistrat Report on the Saudi kingdom’s “reform” plans and the future of oil is from a press webinar I did on 17 May together with Dr. Ariel Cohen (Atlantic Council, Washington) and Prof. Shaul Mishal (Middle East Division, IDC Herzliya & Tel Aviv U.).  A nicely done report on oil market and geopolitical hot topics.

30May16 note: A couple typos I had found have been fixed by Wikistrat since I initially posted this Report.  The latest version is now linked here. – T.O’D.

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Posted in AICGS, Energy and Geopolitics, Energy and Geostrategy, Enhanced oil production, Global Oil Market, Global Oil system, international relations, Iran nuclear, Iraqi oil, Obama, Oil prices, Oil supply, OPEC, Persian Gulf, Russia, Saudi Arabia, shale oil, The USA, Tight oil, U.S. oil, Uncategorized, Venezuela oil

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I’m quoted by MarketWatch: Five key issues for OPEC’s June meet

Posted on May 27, 2016 | 1 comment

Oil ministers of Venezuela, Saudi Arabia & Qatar had agreed in February to freeze output if others did too. AFP/Getty Images

After a Wikistrat Webinar I did, MarketWatch asked me about Saudi & OPEC policy, ond US Shale. Read on here, or at MarketWactch! – Tom O’D.

5 key issues OPEC must wrestle with at its June meeting

By  – Published: May 27, 2016 2

Oil output freeze is needed to ‘create a firm price floor’: analyst

The oil market has given members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries a reason to crack a cautious smile when they meet June 2 in Vienna.

Signs of a more stable oil market have emerged since the cartel members last held a regularly-scheduled meeting. Oil prices CLN6, +0.04% LCON6, -0.38%  have gained more than 30% so far this year. And both West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, and Brent crude, the global benchmark, briefly traded above $50 on Thursday.

Global production is falling following a larger-than-expected weekly decline in crude supplies, according to a report from the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday. The report comes as the number of active-drilling rigs have been in a steady state of decline and oil-company spending cuts, oil-and-gas sector bankruptcies, and recent outages in Africa and North America, have been supportive for crude prices.

“OPEC members are likely to be a little happier going into June’s meeting than they were in December,” Tom Pugh, commodities economist at Capital Economics, said in recent research note.

Oil prices have “surged by about a third since the start of the year,” he said. The “higher prices will have removed some of the pressure on [OPEC] to act to prop up prices.”

But that doesn’t mean major oil producers can sit back and relax when they get together. Oil market supply and demand haven’t fully stabilized and there a lot of factors than can, and probably will, rock OPEC’s boat.

Here’s a rundown of what analysts see as the key issues at hand and possible outcomes for the OPEC summit: Continue reading →

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Posted in AICGS, Energy and Geopolitics, Energy and Geostrategy, Global Oil Market, Global Oil system, international relations, Oil prices, Oil supply, OPEC, PDVSA, Saudi Arabia, shale oil, The USA, Tight oil, U.S. oil, Uncategorized, Venezuela oil

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Falling oil price & Saudi strategy: My Sky News interview (London)

Posted on February 12, 2016 | 4 comments

Here’s my live interview recently on Sky News – the all-news UK channel. It just went up.

Here’s the gist: Years-long high prices brought the US shale revolution and other new higher-cost oil online like offshore of Brazil and Africa. This glut was already dropping prices when the Saudi’s decided in November 2014 that OPEC alone could not cut enough production to reverse the slide. So what to do if Russia and Mexico won’t join an OPEC cut? Continue reading →

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Posted in Energy and Geopolitics, Global Oil Market, Global Oil system, Mexico, Oil prices, Oil supply, OPEC, PDVSA, Russia, Saudi Arabia, The USA, Tight oil, Trade and Commerce, Uncategorized

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My AQ piece: “Russia Is Beating China to Venezuela’s Oil Fields”

Posted on February 4, 2016 | 5 comments
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Russian Production & Stakes in Venezuelan Oil Projects (40% stake is limit)

Last October & November I succeeded in interviewing several people in the Venezuelan private sector directly knowledgeable of Russian oil projects with PDVSA. Many Venezuelans wonder what all the Russians-known for their secrecy-are up to there.  Some of my key findings are in Americas Quarterly‘s Winter 2016 edition. Read on … 

Russia Is Beating China to Venezuela’s Oil Fields – By THOMAS W. O’DONNELL

The profits, politics and luck behind Russia’s growing footprint.

Russian companies produce more oil in joint projects with PDVSA than their Chinese counterparts This article is adapted from our 1st print issue of 2016. 

The late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, had long envisioned China becoming Venezuela’s biggest oil-sector production partner. So when Rafael Ramírez, then president of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), announced in January 2013 that Russia would produce enough oil with PDVSA by 2021 to become “the biggest petroleum partner of our country,” very few people believed him. It sounded like empty hype.

Yet it turns out that Ramírez was serious. Three years later, Russian companies are already producing more oil in joint projects with PDVSA than their Chinese counterparts. Official figures are either unreliable or unavailable, but according to field data provided by Global Business Consultants (GBC), a Caracas-based energy consulting firm, Russia-Venezuela production as of late 2015 was 209,000 barrels per day (bpd), compared to China-Venezuela’s at a bit over 171,000 bpd.

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Posted in Chavez, Chavez lagacy, China, Energy and Geopolitics, Energy and Geostrategy, Faja of the Orinoco, Global Oil Market, heavy oil, Hugo Chávez, international relations, PDVSA, PDVSA weakness, Putin, Rosneft, Russia, Sanctions, Sechin, Uncategorized, Venezuela oil, Zulia

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“The Road to Paris: COP21 …” Berlin HEEN Conference

Posted on November 26, 2015 | Leave a comment

heen_logoCOP21 begins soon in Paris.  A very interesting discussion of the issues, with diplomats from EU states and China, takes place tomorrow, Friday evening, at Hertie School of Governance in Berlin to open the Hertie Energy & Environmental Network’s (HEEN) conference. I’ll be moderating the session. The session is open to those interested. Read on:

Opening remarks by German Undersecretary of State, ret. Rolf-Dieter Schnelle, fellows & friends of the Hertie Foundation

Panelists:
• Philippe Etienne, Ambassador of France to Germany
• Friis Arne Petersen, Ambassador of Denmark to Germany
• Wang Tianling, Counsellor, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Berlin
• Iwona Jakuszko-Dudka, First Secretary to the Embassy of Poland to Germany
• Dr. Jan Minx, Professor for Science Policy and Sustainable Development, Hertie School of Governance, Head of Working Group on Applied Sustainability Science, Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change

• Moderation by Dr. Thomas O’Donnell, Hertie School of Governance

Please register until 25 November 2015 via the following link https://docs.google.com/f

Background

In December 2015, the COP 21 climate conference in Paris will bring together world leaders, scientists, pressure groups and United Nations agencies, with the task to craft an agreement at the highest political level to tackle global warming. The representatives from 196 countries must reach an agreement to replace the Kyoto protocol. The COP 15 summit in Copenhagen (2009) is remembered more for the difficulty of reaching a global consensus than for tangible progress.

What will the legacy of COP 21 in Paris be?

  •  Is putting a price on carbon worldwide politically feasible?
  •  Is the gap between the cost of energy produced from fossil fuels and energy produced from renewable energy sources narrowing as much as to be a game-changer?
  •  How would policy proposals that raise the cost of energy go down with national leaders from the developing world, under pressure to deliver standard-of-living improvements?
  •  How will Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) impact the negotiations?
  •  How will China’s early pledge to peak emissions ahead of 2030, and the USA’s commitment to deep reductions by 2025 shape what is globally possible?
  •  Will the European Commission get a critical mass of support for the Paris Protocol?
  •  Will all parties arrive at an robust enough agreement?
  •  What is the future of the Green Climate Fund?
  •  How will the financing volume necessary to keep global warming below 2 degrees be secured?

Speakers will provide their take on the above, and engage in a lively and dynamic discussion with the audience about the major challenges which will be tackled at the COP 21 in Paris in December 2015.

The Hertie Energy and Environment Network (HEEN) is an established platform bringing together fellows of the Gemeinnützige Hertie-Stiftung with professional experience in the field of Energy and Environment (E&E) in the public, private, academic or civil society sector. HEEN’s purpose is to facilitate dialogue, knowledge-sharing and learning, to provide a trust-based environment for career path reflection, and to facilitate the development of lasting professional connections among outstanding individuals of diverse backgrounds who share a common interest and motivation for further professional development in the E&E field.

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Posted in Alternative energy, China, Energiewende, Energy and Environment, Energy and Geopolitics, Energy and Geostrategy, Environment, Euroepen Union, Germany, Uncategorized

Bypass Operation: Nord Stream 2, Russia-to-Germany pipeline deal, raises questions

Posted on October 20, 2015 | Leave a comment

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Here’s my latest at Berlin Policy Journal (DGAP):  With Nord Stream 2, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is nearing his goal of cutting Ukraine out of the gas supply picture.  October 20, 2015

On 18 June, during the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an agreement was signed to build a controversial new “Nord Stream 2” pipeline under the Baltic Sea that would go directly from Russia to northern Germany, with a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters (bcm). The project, which consists of two segments that would run along the same route as the existing two segments of the 55 bcm Nord Stream line, completed in 2011, has met with strong opposition from energy officials in Brussels, as well as leaders in Ukraine and some other EU states.

Indeed, the agreement between Russia’s Gazprom and a consortium of German, Austrian, French,, and Anglo-Dutch companies came as a surprise. After all, in January 2015 Gazprom announced it had abandoned the project, blaming both the falling price of gas over the previous year and anti-monopoly restrictions in the EU’s Third Energy Package, which prohibit suppliers of gas from also owning pipelines delivering it. This provision has prevented Gazprom from ever filling the original North Stream more than half way.[1] In retrospect, the sudden signing of a Nord Stream 2 agreement only six months after the project was supposedly abandoned, plus the fact that the consortium foresees a quick start reveals the prior cancellation to have been a political ruse. Continue reading →

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Posted in Energy and Geopolitics, Energy and Geostrategy, Euroepen Union, France, Germany, international relations, LNG, Putin, Resource conflicts, Russia, Sanctions, shale gas, The USA, Trade and Commerce, Ukraine

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Containing Gazprom: Putin may be overplaying his hand on gas – but no thanks to Berlin and Paris

Posted on August 10, 2015 | Leave a comment
Russia’s President has used Europe’s dependence on Russian gas as a powerful geopolitical lever. But energy geopolitics is a risky game, especially with the world awash in cheap gas – and Brussels now poised to take advantage of opportunities to permanently slash Gazprom’s market share in Europe.

Russia’s president has used Europe’s dependence on Russian gas as a powerful geopolitical lever. But energy geopolitics is a risky game, especially with the world awash in cheap gas – and Brussels now poised to seize opportunities to permanently slash Gazprom’s market share in Europe.

Here is my article in today’s Berlin Policy Journal. Continue reading →

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Posted in Algeria, Energy and Geopolitics, Energy and Geostrategy, Euroepen Union, France, Gas globalization, Germany, Greece, LNG, Russia, Spain, The USA, Ukraine

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MY REPORT | Washington Viewpoints: Assessing Berlin’s Leadership on EU Energy Security

Posted on July 3, 2015 | Leave a comment

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Merkel and Obama answer questions. 6 June 2014 [Denver Post]

During April and May, I interviewed over a dozen Washington-based experts in European energy and geopolitics.  My report on these interviews–along with some policy proposals in light of Brussels’ “institutional incapacities” and the “fundamental contradictions” of German leadership–is here: [PDF with a Table of Contents for navigation] or at the AICGS website [HTML].

This work was conducted as a resident fellow of the AICGS (American Institute of Contemporary German Studies) in Washington, DC and supported by a generous grant from the German Academic Exchange Office (DAAD) with additional support from the Foreign Office.  My thanks to the AICGS for their collegial support and warm hospitality.

Next, the plan is to interview in Berlin and perhaps Brussels energy experts and officials for their viewpoints on European energy vulnerabilities and on their work with the U.S. side.

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Posted in AICGS, Alternative energy, Energiewende, Energy and Environment, Energy and Geopolitics, Energy and Geostrategy, Euroepen Union, Germany, Global Oil system, international relations, Putin, Resource conflicts, Russia, Sanctions, The USA

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