Capitol Crude: The US Energy Policy Podcast

Sanctions have been imposed and reimposed, US oil production continues to shatter records, but WTI and Brent prices have yet to blink. Are the days of oil climbing over $100 or below $30/b over? On today's podcast, Ed Morse, Citigroup's global head of commodities research, and John...

Is the looming IMO 2020 deadline for cleaning up marine fuels the Y2K of today's oil market? The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers say US refiners are well prepared to meet the stricter sulfur standards by January 1 after having a dozen years to prepare. The group joined the Coalition...

It's been two weeks since the Trump administration unveiled sanctions on PDVSA, Venezuela's state-owned oil company, and questions remain over where US Gulf Coast refiners will find replacement, heavy barrels, where Venezuela might ship its displaced supply and just how quickly oil...

Rampant oil consumption in Middle East nations is undermining their energy export economies and subsidy reform is desperately needed, Jim Krane argues in his new book "Energy Kingdoms: Oil and Political Survival in the Persian Gulf." On this week's Capitol Crude, Krane talks about the...

Global gasoline demand is stagnating and stronger fuel economy standards and the rise of electric vehicles could soon push demand down. But jet fuel demand is rising relatively dramatically and could soon be the key driver of world oil consumption, according to a new report by ClearView Energy...

The US Environmental Protection Agency is running out of time to deliver on President Donald Trump's promise to approve 15% ethanol blends by this summer's driving season. US Senator Mike Rounds, Republican-South Dakota, joined Capitol Crude to tell us why this is such a big issue for Midwest...

The Trump administration is pushing to expand oil and gas drilling to nearly all federal waters while weakening offshore safety rules developed in response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. On this week's Capitol Crude, David Hayes, a deputy Interior secretary during both the Obama and...

On this week's Capitol Crude podcast we look at Alberta's recent decision to cut crude oil output by 325,000 b/d. David Goldwyn, president of Goldwyn Global Strategies, says the Canadian production curtailment may be more severe micromanagement of the oil market than OPEC has done....

A month after reimposing sanctions on Iranian crude oil exports, the Trump administration has no clear policy end game. What are the administration's goals? Will sanctions waivers really be just temporary? Could high prices cause the administration to weaken its stance on Iran? Did the...

US President Donald Trump is putting unprecedented pressure on Saudi Arabia to keep oil prices low as OPEC ministers arrive in Vienna this week. Trump spent the past month working to soothe US-Saudi relations, as criticism over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi grew louder, largely due to...

With its reserves shrinking, Colombia recently set a goal to double its oil output. But the country's oil production has fallen and with attacks on pipelines and legal fights over fracking it remains unclear which direction output in the South American nation is headed. On this week's...

Far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro has been elected Brazil's next president, a victory widely viewed as good for the country's oil sector. What does the election of the man dubbed the "Tropical Trump" mean for Petrobras, its subsidiaries, fuel subsidies, and Brazil's deepwater prospects? On this...

Big questions remain about the outlook for Mexico's oil sector as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador takes office December 1. Duncan Wood, director of the Wilson Center's Mexico Institute, joins Meghan Gordon and Brian Scheid to talk about some of the factors to watch. Will the new...

The global crude oil market is in the final countdown before US sanctions on Iranian crude exports snap back on Monday. The US is expected to announce potential waivers from sanctions as soon as Friday, but what countries may get them? Amos Hochstein, a senior vice president with Tellurian and the...

Foreign governments cannot believe how much the US spends to store government-owned gasoline. The Department of Energy no longer plans to establish a dedicated marine terminal to ship out its emergency crude. And despite record-breaking US oil output, there is still a need for millions of barrels...

Looming Iran sanctions, the ongoing collapse of Venezuela's oil sector and increased uncertainty surrounding output out of Nigeria and Libya indicate that a historic global oil supply crunch could be nearing. On this week's Capitol Crude podcast, we look at future production out of...

With control of Congress at stake in next month's US midterm elections, we look at the three possible scenarios and oil policy consequences after all the votes have been counted. Kevin Book, managing director with ClearView Energy Partners, walks through what happens to everything from Russia...

With oil prices on the rise, the Trump administration is ramping up criticism of OPEC, with US President Trump pressing Saudi Arabia to do much more to push oil prices down and the State Department telling S&P Global Platts that it wants OPEC and other producers to start developing spare...

On today's Capitol Crude we look at the ongoing trade war between the US and China and whether US crude oil exports could be subject to retaliatory tariffs. Frank Verrastro with the Center for Strategic and International Studies discusses why Chinese oil demand and looming Iranian sanctions...

In just over a month, California voters will decide whether to repeal a recent 12 cents/gallon gasoline tax increase and prevent state lawmakers from increasing gas taxes in the future. The potential change could have a major impact on California's 43 millions gal/d gasoline market. Sam Ori,...

On this week's Platts Capitol Crude we look at a plan by Congress to lease unused space in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve to private companies and foreign governments. We talk to Congressman Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, former chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and...

President Donald Trump recently signed into law expanded powers for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The inter-agency group led by the Treasury secretary reviews outside investment in US companies for potential national security threats. Refineries, upstream oil and gas...

Out with NAFTA, in with the US/Mexico trade deal. The agreement reached last week between Washington and Mexico City appears to include a provision the US oil and gas industry saw as critical to protecting investments in the newly opened Mexican upstream. Joshua Zive, a lawyer and trade expert at...

US Senator Tina Smith, Democrat-Minnesota, joins Capitol Crude to share how President Donald Trump's biofuel policies and trade wars are playing in the Midwest ahead of the November midterm elections. In Iowa this summer, Trump said he would approve year-round E15 sales "very...

US lawmakers in both chambers of Congress have proposed a raft of new sanctions to counter Russian interference in US elections and alleged use of banned weapons. Most of the bills target energy trade or investment, whether it's Russian joint ventures with western oil companies or the Nord Stream 2...