Capitol Crude: The US Energy Policy Podcast

Record supply disruptions in an already well supplied market may have contributed to the departure of a true risk premium in the oil market, Paul Sheldon, chief geopolitical advisor with S&P Global Platts Analytics tells Platts Capitol Crude. On this week's podcast, Sheldon says the risk premium could return following a major supply disruption or a flare up in military tensions between the US and...

As rising US oil production allows the Trump administration to rewrite foreign policy, what if projections for its continued growth are wrong? Adam Waterous, CEO of Waterous Energy Fund, thinks North American oil and gas producers face severe capital flight risks in the coming years that could result in US crude output falling by 2 million b/d or more. He says the sector is experiencing a prolonge...

Crude prices have surged, Iran has vowed revenge and analysts expect another attack on energy infrastructure in the Middle East, potentially impacting global oil supply significantly in the near term. On this Platts Capitol Crude we talk to Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and an Iran expert, on the policy and market impacts of the US killing of Ir...

Carbon-capture projects are economically unviable at the moment and will need a major increase in government spending for wide-scale deployment, says John Minge, former chairman and president of BP America. On today's Platts Capitol Crude, Minge talks about the policy changes needed, including expansion of federal tax incentives, to build out the carbon-capture technology that many point to as one...

The oil market is closing out 2019 with a smaller geopolitical risk premium despite the September attack on Saudi Arabia's Abqaiq facility exposing a staggering supply vulnerability. Greg Priddy, Stratfor's director of global energy and Middle East, argues the oil market can no longer hold onto a risk premium, between hedging and the responsiveness of US shale production. He said a sharp premium w...

US oil producers seem to be at an inflection point, where efficiency gains are waning, output growth is slowing and capital is drying up, Antoine Halff tells Platts Capitol Crude. On this week's episode, Halff talks rig counts, well completions and flaring, the likely impact of deeper OPEC cuts, and he forecasts the path forward for US oil output. Halff also talks about why lagging government data...

OPEC, Russia and its nine other oil-producing allies have agreed to fresh supply cuts, but how much compliance will they achieve in the next three months? Former Capitol Crude host Herman Wang returns with details of the deal struck Friday in Vienna. The contentious talks featured a walkout by Angola and hardball by Iraq and Russia. Saudi Aramco's massive initial public offering hung over the even...

The US shale oil boom has been heralded as an economic windfall for small towns from New Mexico to North Dakota. But it has also strained local public services, putting a toll on education, infrastructure and housing, while leaving many communities moresusceptible to the boom and bust nature of oil prices. On this week's Platts Capitol Crude podcast, we talk with Daniel Raimi, a senior research as...

As US crude oil exports surge above 3 million b/d, is the US-China trade dispute inhibiting growth? Can US crude oil exporters survive without access to the world's biggest demand market? On today's Platts Capitol Crude, we talk to Jacques Rousseau, managing director with ClearView Energy Partners, about the impact of the trade dispute on exports and the state of US export infrastructure. Are tari...

On today's Platts Capitol Crude, Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, says Bakken oil output will continue to break records into 2020, but enforcement of gas capture rules will hinder growth, potentially for years. Helms, North Dakota's top oil and gas regulator, talks about why state regulators can no longer allow operators to exceed flaring limits and what is...

After the Abqaiq attack, OPEC+, trade fights, and the ongoing record growth of US shale, oil prices are, basically, right where they were a year ago. Are supply and demand aligned? Is the oil market actually balanced, or at least as balanced as it will ever be? At the US Association for Energy...

US oil producers are bracing for a tough end to 2019: flat prices, falling rig counts, slower drilling permits and fewer well completions. Karr Ingham, a petroleum economist from Amarillo, Texas, and the executive vice president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, says those factors will not...

The 2020 fight over energy policy is just getting started, and investors already have a bad case of heartburn over Democratic presidential candidates' proposals to ban all fracking in the US. Katie Bays, who advises institutional investors as co-founder of Sandhill Strategy in Washington, joins us...

The future of Citgo and its three US refineries hangs on this weekend's deadline for the interim Venezuelan government to make a massive bond payment that it can't likely pay. The Guaido administration's ad-hoc PDVSA board could lose control of Citgo because the loan is backed by a 50.1% stake in...

On this week's Platts Capitol Crude we talk with Keisuke Sadamori, the International Energy Agency's director for energy markets and security, about the US' changing role in the global oil market and necessity of the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The SPR wasn't tapped...

Venezuela is in the midst of an economic collapse, its political future remains uncertain and Citgo appears unlikely to be able to pay a more than $900 million bond payment due later this month. Could creditors soon seize Venezuela's core foreign asset, including three major crude oil...

International buyers of US crude exports are increasingly seeking specific grades that once made up the blended pool of West Texas Intermediate. Buyers can request these "neat" barrels, thanks in part to new pipelines from the Permian to the Texas Gulf Coast that allow shippers to separate...

The September 14 attack on Saudi oil projects took 5.7 million b/d of crude supply off the global market, but, ultimately, had little impact on oil prices. That's partly due to the growth of US oil production. But what is global demand from US crude and how much can be exported? On this...

A week after attacks on Saudi oil facilities shut down nearly 6% of the global oil supply, Brent futures prices are up less than $5/b. The market reaction has been wrong, though, giving Saudi estimates that output will quickly return far too much credibility and significantly undervaluing an...

Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield sees Permian production growth slowing next year, but he still thinks the basin will eventually pump a staggering 8 million b/d. In an interview with Capitol Crude at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Sheffield shared his views on breakeven oil prices,...

Columbus Oil operates 27 oil wells in rural Oklahoma which each produce an average of just 8 to 10 b/d of oil equivalent. On this week's Capitol Crude, Darlene Wallace, Columbus' president, CEO and owner, talks about all the cost-cutting she's had to take to make a profit --...

On this week's Platts Capitol Crude, we look at the impact of the US shale boom on the US economy as the Trump administration continues to push the narrative that a recession is not imminent. Mine Yucel and Michael Plante with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas call in to talk about the...

Last week, the Trump administration held its latest auction for oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico. The sale generated high bids of less than $160 million, drawing interest in less than 1% of the total acreage offered. But could those bids be nullified? On today's podcast, Brettny...

Alberta oil producers are in the eighth month of mandatory production curtailments. Have they worked? On today's Capitol Crude, Rory Johnston, a commodity economist at Scotiabank, talks about the impact of the curtailments on prices, supply and investment in Western Canada's oil...

Tariffs, retaliatory tariffs and currency fights, the US and China are locked in a trade war with massive consequences for the global economy. What impact will this fight have on US crude oil exports and ongoing US sanctions on oil exports out of Iran and Venezuela? Could disputes over tariffs...