RBN Energy Blogcast

Sure, natural gas markets have experienced lots of changes the past few years. But all that was merely a prelude. The main event — a transformation of Gulf Coast markets — is about to begin. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss our upcoming GasCon 2026 conference on this market-shifting inflection point.

Wow! Pragmatism! Driven by physics, economics and, yes, even politics. It’s clear that 2025’s reset will carry into 2026, and energy markets are breathing a collective sigh of relief. So what does this renewed tilt toward fossil fuels mean for markets? Today, our Prognostications for 2026.

Well, 2025 is now in the books, allowing us time for reflection, resolution-making and pretending we always knew how the year would turn out. And unlike many, we also look into the rear-view mirror to see how we did with last year’s predictions. That’s what we’ll do in today’s blog.

Regularly scheduled refinery turnarounds are one the most important (and expensive) activities of any refiner. Today, we look at what happens during a typical turnaround, the ways refiners seek to manage their risk, and the biggest potential payoffs that come with a well-executed project.

What it takes to get energy from where it is produced to where it is consumed was at the heart of many of RBN’s most popular blogs in 2025. But there were also the three T’s: Trump, tariffs and turbulence.

There are at least a couple of clear trends in upstream-sector M&A. One is that E&Ps continue to zero in on the basins where they see the most promise, and to divest non-core assets. Another is that the ramp-up in LNG exports is spurring heightened interest in acreage and production targeting that market. 

The International Energy Agency’s new World Energy Outlook 2025 has a major shift in how the agency is framing the future of global energy. It’s going back to basics and once again providing an outlook based solely on policies already on the books today. 

In the upstream oil and gas world, “reserve life” — calculated via the Reserve Life Index — is one of the simplest and most widely cited metrics. But behind the RLI lies a web of technical, financial and strategic forces that make it surprisingly nuanced measure of an E&P’s long-term outlook.

Crude oil production in the U.S.’s portion of the Gulf of Mexico is poised to top 2 MMb/d for the first time in six years — and only the third time ever. New projects keep coming online. And a newcomer to the U.S. GOM, U.K.-based Harbour Energy, just announced a deal to acquire LLOG Exploration.

Opinions vary on how much U.S. electricity demand may rise and how much that may impact demand for natural gas. But there’s across-the-board agreement that the electric and gas sectors are more intertwined than ever and electric-grid reliability will suffer if gas-fired plants don’t get the fuel they need.

A framework agreement between Canada’s federal government and the province of Alberta aims to kickstart a process to construct a new crude oil pipeline to the country’s west coast that would expand direct crude exports to Asia and reduce reliance on the U.S. as an export customer.

U.S. E&Ps continue to ignore political pressures to “drill, baby, drill,” sticking rigidly to capital discipline and trimming their drilling-and-completion activity. But that hasn’t kept production from inching up as E&Ps continue to increase their productivity.

Five years ago, Vermont enacted a law requiring steep reductions in GHG emissions and, in 2023, it directed regulators to develop a program to steer households and businesses away from heating oil and propane. But now everything’s in limbo — a development with important implications for other states. 

Plains All American’s Basin Pipeline and the complementary Sunrise Pipeline play major roles in moving Permian crude to Cushing, OK, the delivery point for the U.S. benchmark and a key storage hub. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll dig into why the pipes are so important to the Permian, Plains and Cushing.

Underpinned by new shipper commitments, a WhiteWater Midstream-led team has upsized the capacity of its planned 2.5-Bcf/d Eiger Express Pipeline to a whopping 3.7 Bcf/d. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll discuss the expansion plan.

Three-quarters of the Bakken's top-tier well sites may have already been drilled and the remaining inventory may be less than stellar, but a new AI-based analysis suggests the quality of the rock held by the shale play’s top producers varies widely.

The E&Ps we track have retained investor support over the past three years despite a drop in oil prices. Their formula has been throttling back costs and investment to prioritize shareholder returns.

In newly announced deals, Antero Resources and Antero Midstream will expand their holdings in northern West Virginia and divest non-core assets in eastern Ohio.

Houston and Corpus Christi have been locked in a battle for the top spot as the primary outlet for Permian crude. Lately, the pendulum has been swinging toward Corpus — and not by accident. 

All the speculation you hear about the future of data centers comes with the promise of massive amounts of electricity usage down the line. But which facilities are using the most grid power right now?

A new analysis suggests about 75% of the Bakken’s top-quartile locations have been drilled and only 6,100 well sites would generate a good return at the prices we’ve seen the past couple of years.

Amber Energy has been declared the winner of the CITGO refineries and intends to keep the CITGO brand and operate it with new leadership focused on cost-cutting and operational improvements. 

U.S. E&Ps have battled mightily to mitigate the impact on earnings and cash flows caused by the steady erosion in commodity prices, but concerning trends could impact future earnings.

Targa Resources’ plan to acquire sour-gas specialist Stakeholder Midstream will give the midstream giant an even stronger foothold in the Northern Delaware Basin, where much of the associated gas has high levels of H2S and CO2.

Phillips 66’s Sweeny Complex includes refining, midstream and petrochemical units and illustrates how a well-designed facility can deliver operating and financial efficiencies.