LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) – Diesel is now six times more
expensive than natural gas on an energy-equivalent basis in the
United States, a gap that is unsustainable.

As Herbert Stein, chief economist to President Richard Nixon
noted, if something cannot go on forever, it will stop. But how
and when the gap closes is the single most important question
facing oil and gas consumers around the world.

LONDON, March 13 (Reuters) – There is enough gas locked in
ice-like crystals buried beneath the permafrost and trapped
under the oceans to guarantee the world will not run out of
fossil energy for centuries.

This potential energy source will be irrelevant, however, to
almost everyone for many decades to come, except perhaps Japan.

LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) – North America’s shale fields
are the most visible symbol of the energy revolution, but they
tell less than half the story. An even bigger transformation is
taking place in the engines and fuel tanks of cars and trucks
across the United States.

High oil prices, recession and tougher fuel economy
standards have combined to cut 5.5 million barrels per day from
projected U.S. oil consumption in 2020, according to an analysis
of forecasts published in recent years by the U.S. Energy
Information Administration (EIA).

LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) – Unless prices for natural gas
and crude start to converge soon in the United States, the
overwhelming incentive to switch to dual fuel engines which use
a mix of diesel and natural gas will be overwhelming

It will oust oil-based fuels from a huge range of
applications, ranging from trains, ships and trucks to
industrial engines.

LONDON, March 5 (Reuters) – Observing Brent in the first two
months of 2013 has been a bit like watching a broken barometer.
It is not clear what the market has been reacting to, as prices
swing to and for, but it certainly hasn’t been fundamentals.

Volatility has fallen to its lowest level for almost two
decades. But what remains seems to have been induced by hedge
funds rather than changes in physical supply and demand.

LONDON, March 4 (Reuters) – The Middle East generates a
smaller share of electricity from nuclear than any other region
of the world. But before the end of the decade the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) is set to join Iran, which has linked a nuclear
power plant to its grid.

Other countries considering construction of reactors include
Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Keeping the lights on and the
country warm must be the first and over-riding priority for
Britain’s gas and electricity utilities, as well as its energy
market regulator, and ministers at the Department of Energy and
Climate Change (DECC).

If they cannot meet reasonable gas and electricity demand
they must be replaced by other institutions and leaders who can.
Failure is not an option.

LONDON, Feb 26 (Reuters) – “What we’ve got to do, when the
markets do get stronger, no need to keep building a new asset
and let’s keep the market tight for a while,” Glencore Chief
Executive Ivan Glasenberg said in remarks about overinvestment
in the mining industry.

Glasenberg’s comments underlined the case for vigilant
antitrust enforcement in the mining sector.

LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Few places on earth bear the
scars of oil production like Long Beach, California.

Parts of the city have sunk by as much as 29 feet from their
original level because of subsidence caused by extraction of
billions of barrels of oil from the giant Wilmington field lying
directly beneath the city’s streets and the adjoining harbour.

LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Most analysts still write about
the U.S. fuel market as if it were a closed system, with
refiners importing crude to meet domestic needs and bringing in
some extra gasoline from Europe to meet peak demand during the
summer driving season.

But that model has long ceased to be an accurate description
of how the system works.