RBN Energy Blogcast

The U.S. has been drilling for oil and gas for more than 160 years, and what to do with those wells once they are no longer productive has long been an issue, as they can also be significant emitters of methane, a major greenhouse gas. Today, we discuss a new approach that aims to address both issues.

The retail propane market delivers 9 billion gallons to U.S. consumers annually, with its heart anchored in “mom-and-pop” retailers serving rural and small-town communities. These small, owner-operated businesses know their customers, regions, and challenges. 

The six states in EIA’s PADD 1C subregion — Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia — consume massive volumes of refined products but produce very little themselves. That dichotomy spurred a multi-decade buildout of highly efficient pipeline, marine and trucking networks.

Florida is the nation’s fourth-largest consumer of natural gas, and its consumption has tripled since 2000, mostly due to the development of nearly 30 GW of new gas-fired power plants. In today’s RBN blog, we examine the state’s remarkable growth and whether additional pipeline capacity might be needed.

There’s more interest than ever in increasing coordination between the U.S. gas and electric sectors. Each market now depends more heavily on the other than ever. Yet significant hurdles remain, many stemming from fragmented and distinct regulatory regimes and deeply entrenched operating practices on both sides.

The U.S. midstream sector experienced a massive infrastructure buildout in the 2010s, followed by a sharp pullback after 2020, and then a new era of financial discipline and deleveraging. Now, AI-propelled power load growth and a wave of LNG export expansion are pushing midstream capex higher again.

The next four years will reshape the future of North America’s natural gas market. LNG exports are set to surge as new terminals across the U.S., Canada and Mexico come online, causing ripple effects through global energy trade and fueling new demand from Europe and Asia.

Devon Energy and Coterra Energy’s newly announced merger didn’t come as a huge surprise. They have highly complementary assets in the Permian and the Anadarko and their deal promises $1 billion or more in synergy-related savings. Finally — and this is important — their combination had been urged on by an activist investor.

For the past several years, a potent combination of market developments has incentivized PADD 2/Midwest refiners — and their midstream partners — to move increasing volumes of refined products east. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll discuss what’s been happening lately and how it’s affecting refiners.

The arrival of a special, 460-Mbbl shipment of U.S.-sourced naphtha in Venezuela a few days ago underscored a critically important fact, namely that production of Venezuelan heavy sour crude requires steady inflows of imported diluent. Today, we’ll discuss Venezuela’s need for diluent and how it’s likely to be met.

Given the recent media focus on AI and the surge of data center construction, it comes as no surprise that the electric utility industry’s capital investment has risen to record highs. What isn’t as widely publicized is the enormous strain this historic expansion has placed on utility balance sheets. 

The evolving situation in Venezuela is rife with uncertainty. But as the outlook for Venezuelan crude oil improves, there are significant market issues at play as well, including the potential for renewed competition with Canadian heavy crudes along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The long-anticipated return of Enterprise’s Midland to ECHO 2 Pipeline to crude service is underway, bringing 220 Mb/d online for the first time since the end of 2023. This coincides with Enterprise’s new NGL line, the Bahia Pipeline, which began operations in December. 

Haynesville natural gas production is heading back to record levels thanks to growing LNG demand and new pipelines designed to move gas from north to south in Louisiana. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll preview some of the topics RBN will be covering regularly in the new NATGAS Haynesville report. 

Buoyed by record-level feedgas demand and several planned export terminals reaching important development milestones, 2025 was a banner year for U.S. LNG. Today, we’ll examine some of the sector’s near-term challenges and look at where demand could increase in the long term.

Mexico’s still-rising demand for U.S.-sourced natural gas — and new pipelines to deliver it — has been driven by the buildout of new power plants and, more recently, by planned LNG exports. Today, we discuss more private-sector midstreamers and the new gas demand that may bring them new opportunities.

NGL production in Western Canada hit an all-time high in 2025 and looks to be headed even higher in the years ahead. Major midstream players, such as AltaGas, have been undertaking infrastructure expansions to deal with all the additional gas processing, Y-grade fractionation and product exports.

The news out of Venezuela has commanded the world’s attention since early January, with the country’s highly prized heavy crude oil caught in a geopolitical tug of war. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll lay out where Venezuela’s crude oil is produced and how it differs from grades elsewhere.

Producers venturing into the substantial natural gas reserves in the far-west part of the Haynesville Shale were historically thwarted by extreme geological conditions and poor drilling economics. Now, technological advancements and bullish market conditions are once again beckoning E&Ps. 

Mexico’s process for planning new gas pipelines is very top-down, with state-owned Cenagas and CFE playing key roles. But the buildout of pipelines there has been largely accomplished by private-sector companies that are now planning another round of projects that will spur more gas exports from the U.S.

The stock market of 2025 often felt like different movies playing on adjacent screens. On one, the broader market surged. On the other, economically sensitive sectors such as oil and gas stocks slid into the background. Today, we examine the performance of the 35 public E&Ps we cover.

In Mexico, state-owned players like Cenagas and CFE continue to play central roles in planning and underpinning the development of natural gas pipelines. At the same time, however, Mexico has leveraged the participation of a handful of private-sector companies that have built a significant share of the newer pipelines there. 

The U.S. refining industry has been on a real rollercoaster ride in recent years. Today, we take a region-by-region look at the future of the U.S. refining industry and explain why reductions in refining capacity are expected in some areas while others may be in a position to thrive.

All roads lead to Louisiana in the natural gas market, and those roads have become increasingly crowded as LNG demand sucks in gas from other states. Today, we discuss Boardwalk’s Kosci Junction project and how it will impact the gas market in Louisiana, Mississippi and beyond.

Even if Permian crude oil production were to stagnate over the next few years, the region’s output of NGLs would likely increase by half, from the current 3.2 MMcf/d to about 4.8 MMcf/d in 2030. Anticipating that growth, NGL midstreamers are planning new NGL pipeline capacity from West Texas to the Gulf Coast.