That would change if the war were to spread, but Iran and China have a stake in keeping it contained. A war in the Middle East typically sends oil prices soaring, since the region is home to about half of the world’s proven reserves. Not this time. After ticking up a few dollars, the price of Brent crude has been even or lower than on Oct. 6, ...

But political instability will make it difficult to obtain all the minerals electric cars will need. California made a stunning decision last year—that by 2035 all new cars sold in the state must have at least 2½ times as much copper as conventional cars today. That’s not literally what the mandate said, of course, but it’s the practical effect ...

WASHINGTON, DC – Given the scale and complexity of the transition away from hydrocarbons, some worry that economic analysis has been given short shrift in the policy planning process. A clear-eyed assessment of the transition's prospects requires a deeper understanding of at least four major challenges. The “energy transition” from ...

The Russian ruler quotes Milton Friedman, but cuts in production could harm Russia and its allies. Europe’s ban on Russian oil, combined with the U.S.-generated “cap” on Russian oil prices, marks the end of the global oil market. In its place is a partitioned market whose borders are shaped by not only economics and logistics but also ...

Russia’s energy war deploys high prices to promote social turmoil and empower populist parties. The second front has opened in the battle for Ukraine—an energy war in Europe. There’s no mystery about Vladimir Putin’s strategy. He laid it out at an economic conference in St. Petersburg in June: high energy prices, which bring hardship as ...

The metal has become central to the drive to net zero given its use in electric car batteries and other technologies. As countries try to figure out how to meet their targets for net zero emissions, minerals have become a big target of concern. Several governments and international organizations have expressed alarm about whether there will ...

WASHINGTON, DC – Today’s global energy crisis could turn out to be even worse than what the world experienced in the 1970s. Much will depend on more informed collaboration between governments and industry leaders, with policymakers properly understanding and managing the energy flows on which modern economies depend. Is today’s energy crisis ...

As inflation soars, the West is finally getting serious about a goal it abandoned years ago. The amnesia about energy security is over. The global energy crisis fueling record high inflation is shaking governments as consumers are stunned and angry at high prices and the prospect ...

The EU faces hard but necessary choices if it is to end its reliance on Russian gas imports. Among Vladimir Putin’s many miscalculations was his expectation, before the invasion of Ukraine, that Europe’s dependence on Russian energy was so great that its response would be muted, limited to little more than protests. That’s hardly proved to be ...

What seemed undoable when Russia invaded Ukraine – banning Russian oil and gas sales in a Europe that depends heavily on Russian energy – is becoming increasingly likely. But it will need to be done right if it is going to work. Sanctions imposed against Russia in February after the war began notably excluded energy because it was feared ...

U.S. exports limit price increases and help check disruptive behavior by the likes of Russia and Iran. While the Ukraine crisis was raising anxiety about Europe’s dependence on Russian natural gas, something remarkable happened. Last month, for the first time ever, U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas to Europe exceeded Russia’s ...

The degree to which the world depends on oil and gas is not well understood. To appreciate the complexities of the competing demands between climate action and the continued need for energy, consider the story of an award–one that the recipient very much did not want and, indeed, did not bother to pick up. It began when Innovex Downhole ...

Pandemic lockdowns, a drought and a winter storm have broken links in the supply chain. The chip famine is starving the global auto industry and putting car buyers on a strict diet. So far this year, seven million cars that were supposed to be produced haven’t been, according to IHS Markit data. Auto companies are shutting down production ...

Prices won’t break out of the $40 to $50 range until consumption gets back to normal sometime next year. When will oil sustainably break out of the “Virus Alley”—that $40 to $50 band that has held oil prices in check for months? That’s Question No. 1 going into 2021 for an oil industry that has dramatically retrenched and investors who ...

Amid the economic shutdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic, much attention has focused on dire consequences in the airline and retail industries, but recent developments in the oil and gas industry — which accounts for 60 percent of the world’s energy — are also alarming. The oil business is caught up in a double crisis. There are ...

Russia’s push for lower prices gets a boost from a demand shock. Can U.S. shale producers survive? The oil-exporting alliance between Saudi Arabia and Russia collapsed on Friday after almost four years. The OPEC+ deal, which the two countries brokered in 2016 after a debilitating 2014 price collapse, is over, called off by the Russians. Result: ...

The dictator destroyed a world energy powerhouse. U.S. sanctions will squeeze production even further. Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela has been waging economic warfare against the country it rules. The result has been an almost unfathomable million-percent inflation rate coupled with near-total social collapse—food shortages, people ...

Iran and its rivals vie for advantage amid low prices, oversupply and the likely end of the U.S. export ban. What will the global oil market look like in 2016? This year is closing out with the industry in turmoil. The price of oil is hovering in the mid-$30s a barrel, supplies are swamping the market, the U.S. is on the cusp of ending ...

Topping the list are Greece, Iran, China—and, strange as it may seem, the US. Fear and fundamentals are driving down oil prices. The fear arises from the unknown risks of the Greek and Iranian negotiations, and the panic in China’s stock markets. These fears have acted as triggers, bringing much greater clarity to the fundamentals of ...

A HISTORIC change of roles is at the heart of the clamor and turmoil over the collapse of oil prices, which have plummeted by 50 percent since September. For decades, Saudi Arabia, backed by the Persian Gulf emirates, was described as the "swing producer." With its immense production capacity, it could raise or lower its output to help the ...

New supply—rather than demand—is dominating the market, and OPEC has been caught by surprise. The decision by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countrieson Thursday not to cut production reflects a profound shift in the world oil market. The demand for oil—by China and other emerging economies—is no longer the dominant ...

The biggest innovation in energy so far this century has been the development of shale gas and the associated resource known as “tight oil.” Shale energy ranks at the top not only because of its abundance in the United States, but also because of its profound global impact – as events in 2014 will continue ...

The oil embargo 40 years ago spurred an energy revolution. World production is 50% higher today than in 1973. Forty years ago, on Oct. 17, 1973, the world experienced its first "oil shock" as Arab exporters declared an embargo on shipments to Western countries. The OPEC embargo was prompted by America's military support for Israel, which ...

With the end of the supercycle, copper prices have dropped 30% from their 2011 peak, and iron ore is down 32%. Though it was summertime, a tinge of ice was in the June air at this year's St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. "There is no magic wand we can wave," said Russian President Vladimir Putin, acknowledging the abrupt drop ...

The domestic energy industry is booming—and driving a U.S. economic revival. When the 'shale gale'—the surge in the production of natural gas trapped in very dense shale rock—first came into public view in 2008, the focus was primarily on the energy and environmental implications. But the past couple of years have brought recognition of ...

The passing of Margaret Thatcher comes at a time when the great theme that shaped her years as Britain’s prime minister – the frontier between government and the private sector – is again the focus of serious public debate. Her historic achievement was to widen the frontiers of the “market” and, as she said, to have “rolled back the frontiers ...

Thanks to new technology, the U.S. has become less dependent on petroleum imports from unstable countries..

Every president since Richard Nixon has called for energy independence. Nevertheless, U.S. reliance on imported oil long seemed to be headed in only one direction—up—and that pointed to inevitably increasing dependence on the huge resources of the Middle East. ...

A Caltech scientist turned the key in 1948, and innovation is getting into gear. Now we're on the road from smog to ZEVs.

One day in 1948, Caltech chemistry professor Arie Haagen-Smit took a break from trying to decipher the mystery of the flavor of the pineapple. He stepped outside his lab for a breath of fresh air but instead found himself enveloped in what he called "that stinking cloud" of ...

For more than five decades, the world’s oil map has centered on the Middle East. No matter what new energy resources were discovered and developed elsewhere, virtually all forecasts indicated that U.S. reliance on Mideast oil supplies was destined to grow. This seemingly irreversible reality has shaped not only U.S. energy policy and ...