LNG Market Faces Disruption as Red Sea Closure Forces Risky Detours
by Irina Slav
18 May 2024 at 4:00pm
The last LNG carrier that passed the Bab el Mandeb strait off the Yemeni coast did so in February. Since that month, there has been no LNG traffic via the once major energy chokepoint as vessels diverted around Africa?or changed destinations entirely. When the Houthi attacks on ships traversing the Red Sea prompted the redirection of maritime trade in the area, multiple analysts tried to gauge the significance of the events. Most seemed to agree that the rerouting of maritime transport would make goods more expensive and deliveries slower.?

SPR Levels Remain Low
by Robert Rapier
18 May 2024 at 2:00pm
Over the past week, multiple stories have appeared in the media with headline phrases like ?The U.S. is refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserves.? However, this is misleading at best. To recap, the SPR is maintained by the U.S. Department of Energy, and its oil stocks are stored in huge underground salt caverns at four sites along the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico. The size of the SPR (authorized storage capacity of 714 million barrels) makes it a significant deterrent to oil import cutoffs and a key tool in foreign policy. After?

These Are the 21 Most Polluted Cities in the U.S.
by OilPrice.com
18 May 2024 at 12:00pm
According to the World Health Organization, air pollution is responsible for 7 million deaths annually, and could cost the global economy between $18?25 trillion by 2060 in annual welfare costs, or roughly 4?6% of world GDP. And with predictions that 7 in 10 people will make their homes in urban centers by mid-century, cities are fast becoming one of the frontlines in the global effort to clear the air. In this visualization, Visual Capitalist's Chris Dickert uses 2024 data from the State of the Air report from the American Lung Association?

Body Heat: A New Source of Energy for Buildings?
by Felicity Bradstock
18 May 2024 at 10:00am
In a few countries around the globe, governments are using an innovative method to warm buildings using body heat. The long-talked-about idea is finally becoming a reality, but it is not yet widely used. A resting male can generate between 100 and 120 watts of energy, most of which is lost as excess heat. However, capturing this heat for other applications is complicated. In recent years, significant progress has been made in the body heat power generation industry, but scientists believe that applications of body heat can be much more widespread?

A New Sugar-Based Catalyst That Can Make CO2 Valuable
by Brian Westenhaus
18 May 2024 at 8:00am
A new catalyst made from an inexpensive, abundant metal and common table sugar has the power to remake carbon dioxide (CO2) gas into carbon monoxide (CO).In a just released Northwestern University study, the new catalyst successfully converted CO2 into CO, an important building block to produce a variety of useful chemicals. When the reaction occurs in the presence of hydrogen, for example, CO2 and hydrogen transform into synthesis gas (or syngas), a highly valuable precursor to producing fuels that can potentially?

Two Sectors Driving the Future of Oil Demand
by OilPrice.com
17 May 2024 at 5:00pm
Oil demand will rise further in the medium term, according to Rystad Energy research and modeling, as low-carbon alternatives are not yet sufficiently developed or economically competitive to offset the growing demand for transportation and industrial services. Rystad Energy?s latest Oil Macro Scenarios report explains how the 13 sectors that rely on oil will face a more complex transition than expected just a couple of years ago. These findings underscore the notion that oil demand remains sticky and the process of substituting the capital?

British Steel Plans to Build Electric Arc Furnace at Scunthorpe Site
by Metal Miner
17 May 2024 at 2:00pm
Via Metal Miner British Steel recently secured permission from the local authorities to build an electric arc furnace at its Scunthorpe site in Lincolnshire. In an April 30 announcement to steel news outlets, the London-headquartered company stated that the North Lincolnshire council approved its application to build a new EAF at Scunthorpe following a consultation. Officials at British Steel did not indicate a timeline for the new EAF to come on stream. However, a spokesman told MetalMiner that the furnace will have a capacity of 130 metric tons?

WTI Challenges $80 Again on Strong Economic Data
by Tom Kool
17 May 2024 at 2:00pm
U.S. crude oil prices pushed past $80 on Friday, with the global benchmark Brent crude also enjoying its first weekly gain since mid-April on Chinese industrial output data and U.S. consumer prices, both of which came in more favorably than anticipated for April.  On Friday at 4:20 p.m. ET, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was trading a penny shy of $80, and had surpassed $80 earlier in the afternoon. Brent crude was trading at $83.91, up 0.77% on the day.  The April U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) released on Wednesday showed a 0.3% increase?

Europe Imports Russian Oil Products via Turkey, Skirting Sanctions
by Julianne Geiger
17 May 2024 at 12:30pm
A recent report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) reveals that the European Union (EU) has imported EUR 3 billion worth of oil products from Turkish ports that predominantly handle Russian oil?ports that don't have refining hubs. This trade has effectively bypassed the EU/G7 sanctions on Russian petroleum products. Since the implementation of the EU/G7 petroleum products ban on February 5, 2023, until the end of February 2024, the EU has sourced 5.16 million?

Vertical Axis Wind Turbines Redefined by Machine Learning
by Brian Westenhaus
17 May 2024 at 12:00pm
EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) researchers have used a genetic learning algorithm to identify optimal pitch profiles for the blades of vertical-axis wind turbines. Vertical-axis wind turbines with their high energy potential, have until now been vulnerable to strong gusts of wind. The explanatory open access paper has been published Nature Communications. When you consider today?s industrial wind turbine, you likely picture the windmill design, technically known as a horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT).?

Precious Metals Markets Slide Sideways
by Metal Miner
17 May 2024 at 11:00am
Via Metal Miner The Global Precious Metals MMI (Monthly Metals Index) slowed its upward price action and moved sideways from April to May. All in all, the index only rose by 2.38%. Among precious metal prices, gold remains at historically high levels, while silver and palladium prices trended more sideways month-over-month. Precious Metal Prices: Gold Gold prices rallied to new highs in Q1 2024. However, more recent price action drove gold prices into a sideways range after a swing low formed near $2277/oz. Gold prices need to break above their?

Oil, Gas Activity in U.S. Holds Steady
by Julianne Geiger
17 May 2024 at 10:07am
The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States rose this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday. The total rig count rose by 1 to 604 this week, compared to 720 rigs this same time last year. The number of oil rigs rose by 1 this week, after falling by 3 in the week prior. Oil rigs now stand at 497--down by 78 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs stayed the same this week at 103, a loss of 38 active gas rigs from this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed the same?

Saudi Aramco Signs MOUs with U.S. Firms to Advance Lower-Carbon Solutions
by Julianne Geiger
17 May 2024 at 9:30am
In a strategic move to bolster its commitment to sustainable energy, Saudi Aramco (2223.SE) has entered into three significant memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with U.S. companies Aeroseal, Spiritus, and Rondo. The agreements aim to explore and develop lower-carbon energy solutions, as detailed in an official statement released on Friday. Improving Pipeline Integrity The MOU with Aeroseal?an energy efficiency solutions provider?focuses on the deployment and commercialization of its innovative technology designed to enhance the efficiency?

Heatwaves Push Asia?s Spot LNG Prices To Highest Since January
by Charles Kennedy
17 May 2024 at 9:00am
Heat waves in some parts of Asia and forecasts of above-average temperatures in southeast Asia and China in the coming weeks have prompted more spot LNG buying, which has raised the spot prices in Asia this week to the highest level since early January. The average LNG spot price for delivery into northeast Asia in July has increased this week to $10.90 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), according to estimates from industry sources cited by Reuters. This week?s average spot LNG price in Asia is higher than last week?s average?

China?s Apparent Oil Demand Dips in April for First Yearly Decline Since 2022
by Charles Kennedy
17 May 2024 at 8:09am
Chinese refiners processed lower crude volumes in April due to maintenance, while apparent oil demand in the world?s top importer of the commodity fell for the first time on an annual basis since the end of 2022. Chinese government data showed on Friday that crude processing rates fell by nearly 4% year-over-year to 14.36 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, due to the start of maintenance season at refineries.   Apparent oil demand in China declined by 3% in April compared to the same month last year. This marked the first annual?