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Treat China’s dubious energy data with caution
Emmanuel Macron © Getty Images The most interesting comment at Davos this year came from the French economy minister Emmanuel Macron who said that he simply did not believe for a second the figures...
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Shale — the unfinished revolution
A worker washes a truck used to carry sand for fracking in Odessa, Texas © Getty Images If you live in Europe you could be forgiven for thinking that the shale revolution is strictly an American...
View ArticleWill China transform the world’s energy market?
Could China become an energy exporter? The thought is certainly counter intuitive. Because China is one of the world’s largest single consumers of energy, second only for the moment to the US, the...
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Are we approaching peak energy demand ?
Energy demand in China appears to have decoupled from GDP © Getty Images The changes taking place in the world energy market are not just a matter of oversupply or the unwillingness of Saudi Arabia to...
View ArticleBritain can find opportunities beyond Hinkley
This could be a chance to accelerate projects from lower cost nuclear providers, writes Nick Butler Read more
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A Chinese test for Theresa May
Theresa May, UK prime minister © Getty Images All new leaders face tests. Do they mean what they say? Will they flinch or give way under pressure? For a prime minister the tests can come from any...
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The summer mirage of rising oil prices
Khalid al-Falih, the new Saudi oil minister © Getty Images Are we on the verge of a real upturn in oil prices? Over the last 10 days, the price has risen almost 20 per cent. Is the talk of a...
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Will oil peak within 5 years?
Simon Henry, Royal Dutch Shell CFO © Getty Images On November 2 Simon Henry, the chief financial officer of Royal Dutch Shell and one of the most respected figures in the industry, told analysts on a...
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Climate change: time for adaptation to reality
Anne Hidalgo (left), Mayor of Paris, and French energy minister Segolene Royal celebrate the Paris COP21 climate accord. © Getty Images The Paris agreement on climate change has been ratified, earlier...
View ArticleEnergy personality of the year
For most of those involved in the energy sector 2016 has been a year to forget. Oil prices have risen a little but despite the Opec deal are still almost 50 per cent down on where they were 2 years...
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An optimist’s view of 2017
Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman © Getty Images The downbeat mood of the times was confirmed before Christmas by the publication of the Bloomberg Pessimist’s Guide to 2017. The guide...
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China’s energy strategy: power and independence
China is restructuring its domestic coal industry © Getty Images What are the implications of China’s announcement last week that it will be spending $360m over the next four years to build up its...
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UK energy policy — the need for a plan B
Electricity pylons seen from Hinkley Point © Getty Images The prospect that Toshiba will withdraw from the nuclear power business after its embarrassing and expensive experience with the American...
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Oil prices: the lonely role of the swing producer
Saudi oil minister Khalid al Falih © Getty Images The new Opec quota has been in force for six weeks, which is sufficient time to judge what is happening on the basis of facts rather than speculation....
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Alternative truths and some hard facts about coal
© Getty Images Is coal finished, to be displaced by renewables in a move that will solve climate change and clean up air quality across the world? Is coal — as one headline writer put it recently —...
View ArticleThe implications of shelving the Aramco IPO
A decision to consider dropping the planned sale of a minority stake in the Saudi state oil company Saudi Aramco through a formal listing of the company on the international market as reported in the...
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The disruptive power of renewables
© Getty Images After years of hope and promise, renewables are beginning to establish a presence in the energy market free of the requirement for heavy subsidies or other policy interventions. The...
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China’s promised energy revolution
Can China transform its energy economy? For the last 30 years rapid economic growth – based on heavy industry, manufacturing and construction – has been sustained by hydrocarbons. Coal remains...
View ArticleMade in China – the world energy market of the future
What happens next in the global energy market depends to a disturbing degree on China. Disturbing not because the Chinese have done anything wrong – they haven’t. The country’s energy policy has been...
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Natural gas golden age turns to bubble
© Getty Images The “golden age of gas” has not turned out quite as the forecasters and the gas producers who promoted the slogan a few years ago expected. Gas was supposed to be the irresistible fuel...
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