Capitol Crude: The US Energy Policy Podcast

A new report from the Energy Industries Council found that energy supply chain bosses are not seeing all the hype and ambitious net-zero pledges translate into consistent and profitable work on green projects. EIC CEO Stuart Broadley contends that at the end of the day, if the volume and profitability metrics for net-zero solutions aren't showing up in order books, energy supply chain businesses w...

The country's emergency crude stockpile -- called the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR -- played heavily in President Joe Biden's strategy last year for curtailing global oil supply shortages and bringing down domestic fuel prices. The Biden administration has now turned its attention to refilling the SPR, which has seen some progress as well as some hiccups. Skanda Amarnath, executive director...

OPEC on Aug. 4 renewed production cuts that are expected to tighten global oil supplies and in turn keep upwards pressure on oil prices which have seen several consecutive weeks of gains recently. Tim Evans , energy analyst and founder of the new consultancy Evans on Energy, joined the podcast to discuss OPEC's production policy, the group's objectives and what that means for oil prices. Evans has...

Mentions of artificial intelligence and the metaverse may conjure images of the latest video game or social media platform, but the technologies are increasingly being deployed across a wide range of industries including the energy sector. And AI is becoming an increasingly talked about issue among the federal government, with even the White House jumping in to try to start laying a framework for...

With the rise of millennials as a formidable social force, the effectiveness of anti-oil-and-gas activism and the growing attention paid to environmental justice, the oil and gas sector's old playbook to simply "educate and engage" the public must be thrown out and replaced with a more proactive and constructive mindset, according to Adamantine Energy Founding CEO Tisha Schuller. Schuller, who pre...

The Bureau of Land Management held a federal oil and gas lease sale in Wyoming on June 29. It marks the second onshore lease sale for the state since President Joe Biden took office and the first to take place in the state since the Inflation Reduction Act instituted higher oil and gas royalty rates and leasing costs for development.  Pete Obermueller , president of the Petroleum Association of Wy...

An aborted rebellion by the Wagner mercenary group last month, although short-lived, highlighted potential political instability within the Kremlin and resurfaced energy security concerns after a softening of prices had allowed for some complacency among oil importers. Geopolitical experts have said it would be naïve to think the turmoil in Russia is over. Claudio Galimberti , North America resear...

A bipartisan group of senators recently wrote the Treasury Department to push for the use of the most accurate and up-to-date lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions analysis as the department fine-tunes the methodology for calculating new tax credits for sustainable aviation fuel. John Fuher, vice president of government affairs for the ethanol group Growth Energy, joined the podcast to discuss how im...

The Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan infrastructure law injected an historic level of government funding and tax credits into the clean energy marketplace, but enacting those laws has been far from drama free. Initially, some countries, including allies and trade partners, were left scratching their heads as to what it would mean for them, even spurring talk of a potential "transatlantic tra...

US sanctions and export controls against Russia have centered on a dual mandate of squeezing the Kremlin's oil export revenues and ensuring the continued flow of Russian oil supplies to the global market. With that in mind, price caps were devised as a carve out for EU and G7 maritime service providers to continue aiding with the seaborne transport of Russian fuels, as long as they are sold at or...

How can we heat and cool homes in a safe, non-emitting and affordable way? Well, one nonprofit says networked geothermal systems are the answer. Networked geothermal uses ground source heat pumps to heat and cool buildings without fossil fuels in neighborhoods or city blocks, cutting down on methane leakage. The nonprofit Home Energy Efficiency Team is working with natural gas utilities and state...

Streamlining the federal permitting process is key to both deploying more renewable and carbon-free energy and ensuring needed fossil fuel production for US and global markets. But how and when to update US permitting laws is the sticking point. S&P Global Commodity Insights industry editor Molly Christian spoke with Alex Herrgott , president and CEO of the Permitting Institute, on what leading pe...

Momentum for electric vehicles is on the rise as policy, industry investment and market perspectives are aligning for a potential EV revolution. But challenges also remain plentiful. Darcy Bisset , a partner at Hogan Lovells specializing in renewable energy and energy transition transactions, joined the podcast to discuss what's needed to meet ambitious policy goals for EV adoption. She touched on...

The US Supreme Court recently decided it would not weigh into a dispute between oil companies and local governments over the appropriate venue to hear lawsuits seeking damages for adverse impacts allegedly caused by the oil and gas industry's greenhouse gas emissions. These climate liability lawsuits are now poised to proceed in state courts across the country. Phil Goldberg, special counsel for t...

With the recent indictment of former President Donald Trump, and with the prospect of more to come, the political waters of the country appear to be at their best muddied, at least for the Republican camp that has been a key backer of the oil and gas industry for decades.  S&P Global Commodity Insights senior journalist John Siciliano spoke with Dan Eberhart , the CEO of Canary, the fifth largest...

OPEC+ surprised market watchers with plans to make more than 1.6 million b/d of voluntary oil supply cuts, starting in May. On the podcast, Ben Salisbury , director of research and head energy policy analyst at Height Capital Markets, delves into some of the producer bloc's motivations for pursuing crude oil production cuts while prices remain relatively high and what it could mean for US drivers...

US Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 259, held at the end of March, was closely watched as the first oil and gas auction offered in that area since November 2021. And given that expectations weren't too high, the auction actually turned out quite well. It attracted 353 bids across 313 blocks and captured $264 million in apparent high bids – the highest total in six years. S&P Global Commodity Insights sen...

Comments are due later this month on the Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to grant a fuel policy shift that would clear a path for eight Midwest states to offer a gasoline blend containing 15% ethanol year-round. While ethanol producers were furious that the proposed policy change wouldn't go into effect in time for this summer, some oil refiners insist even the 2024 planned implementati...

A global banking meltdown rattled the oil market in recent weeks and sent crude futures plummeting. OANDA senior market analyst Ed Moya was optimistic that relief was in store for the oil sector from the banking turmoil but he also warned of the Jekyll and Hyde nature of the market as risks remain. On the podcast, he discussed the lingering impact the banking crisis would have on energy sector inv...

Sentiment suggesting continued bearishness in the crude complex is being challenged by the potential for a tightening market in the second half of the year. Russia continues to be a wildcard and concerns are rising over Iran, just as Chinese demand looks to shoot back, OPEC seems intent on supply cuts and the US aims to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Phil Flynn , senior energy analyst at...

The war in Ukraine has raged on for over a year now with no signs of Russian President Vladimir Putin backing down despite the onslaught of sanctions that continue to hit the Russian economy. A major target has been the Kremlin's oil and gas revenues, but efforts to cut that income source are complicated by Russia's outsized role in global oil markets. Brian O'Toole , a nonresident senior fellow w...

The Environmental Protection Agency recently put forth a proposal approving Midwest governors' petition for a fuel policy shift that would allow their states to sell a gasoline blend containing 15% ethanol year-round. But ethanol producers are livid that the agency's proposal would delay implementation of the new rule until 2024, leaving E15 retailers in the Midwest to wonder if they'll be able to...

The Biden administration is working to reduce US aviation emissions by 20% by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions for the sector by 2050. To meet this goal, the administration launched the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge to catalyze the production of at least 3 billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) per year by 2030 and 35 billion gallons per year of SAF by 2050. Gevo is curr...

Accommodating the growth of renewable energy needed to meet ambitious climate goals will require the US to expand the power grid. And according to Princeton researchers, those grid investments could cost upwards of $2 trillion if the US is to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.  So who's going to foot that bill? Well, ultimately, it's electricity consumers that pay for new transmission, and federa...

As the operator of the Texas electric grid, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas is familiar with high stakes. But it's not extreme weather that has the grid operator on its toes this time. It's litigation before the Texas Supreme Court over whether ERCOT is in fact a division of state government and thus protected by sovereign immunity, meaning it can't be sued. Merchant power developer Pand...