The future of the U.S. oil industry may well be taking shape north of this town on 15 square miles of windswept prairie above the Bakken Shale. It’s about as far from the industry’s wildcatting heritage as is thinkable. “Our idea was to build the world’s greatest oil factory,” says Chris Wright, the chief executive of Liberty Resources LLC. And if the U.S. oil industry is going to overcome several significant challenges, it may have to follow the lead of this small Denver-based company. –Russell Gold, The Wall Street Journal, 6 May 2015
U.S. oil prices are heading into a sweet spot that could spur the fracking industry to crank up some of the drilling it shut down when crude prices collapsed. “If oil prices stabilize above $60, I believe we are going to resume production growth in the second half of the year. More companies will drill more wells,” said Fadel Gheit, senior energy analyst at Oppenheimer. –Patti Domm, CNBC, 5 May 2015
The U.S. nuclear industry is feeling its age. Once touted as a source of electricity that would be “too cheap to meter,” plants face an unprecedented wave of closures. Yet 82 of the 117 U.S. nuclear power plants, including seven in the process of shutting down, don’t have enough cash on hand to close safely. — Isaac Arnsdorf, Bloomberg, 4 May 2015
India is not “legally” bound under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and it has been “coordinating” with like minded countries for protecting its own interest in the climate change negotiating fora, the Indian government said today. “The Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change monitors and reviews the mandate and activities under the eight missions. No agreement has been signed on reducing greenhouse gas with any country,” Javadekar said. He said that the new climate change agreement has to be under the UNFCCC and developed countries should take lead in combating climate change as per their mandate under the convention. —Press Trust of India, 5 May 2014
The value of [carbon] credits are down 98 percent since the 2008 recession, meaning it now costs about 12 times their value to install the equipment needed to reduce greenhouse gases, according to data from Johnson Matthey Plc. “It’s shameful that regulators have allowed so many years of work to go to nothing,” said Richard Chatterton, an analyst in London at New Energy. “The drying up of demand in Europe is another nail in the coffin.” –Mathew Carr, Bloomberg, 5 May 2015
