RBN Energy Blogcast

Marathon Petroleum is selling a pair of inland refineries — the 105-Mb/d St. Paul Park refinery in Minnesota and the 72-Mb/d Mandan refinery in North Dakota — to CVR Energy. Today, we look at why major refiners are increasingly pointing their investment dollars toward the Gulf Coast.

Qatar has long been a heavyweight in LNG, but its ambitions now extend well beyond supplying its own cargoes from its own shores. Today, we look at Qatar’s evolving strategy, why U.S. LNG figures prominently in its plans, and what its expanding role could mean for the global battle for market share.

If you buy, sell or burn natural gas in New England and Greater New York City, you know the routine. A stretch of mild weather, then a cold snap. The pipelines fill, then cash prices go parabolic. Today, we look at the push and pull shaping the New England and New York gas markets.

The Gulf Coast will require vast amounts of incremental natural gas storage space over the next few years. As brownfield expansion opportunities run out, LNG export terminals and other facilities that need more storage will likely turn to the best planned greenfield projects.

Rising public opposition to data centers led Texas to issue a moratorium on new data center grid connections. Today, we review the directive, how it might change with the state soon to be under new leadership, and assess its impact on the megaprojects already in development.

National Fuel Gas, founded in 1902, is an energy industry unicorn — the only U.S. company fully integrating exploration and production, midstream gathering and transportation, and downstream utility sales of natural gas. But as NFG recently announced, that’s about to change. 

Efforts by midstreamers to add natural gas pipeline capacity into and through the Southeast took a big leap forward when Kinder Morgan sanctioned plans for the Southeast Connector, a greenfield pipeline intended to greatly enhance the delivery of Appalachian-sourced gas to the heart of the South.

Valero Energy is paying $320.5 million to purchase LyondellBasell’s mothballed refinery on the Houston Ship Channel, with plans to restart 165 Mb/d of light, sweet crude processing at the site by the end of 2027. Today, we discuss what it means for Valero and the U.S. refining outlook.

Pemex has been mired in debt and plagued by setbacks for many years now, but a JV with Woodside Energy may signal the beginning of a turnaround. The 100-Mb/d Trion project, Pemex’s first ultra-deepwater development, is proceeding on schedule and budget and is slated to deliver its first oil in 2028.

Forget ghosts and monsters; this Halloween, the scariest thing in the energy industry is the tanker market, where a spooky jump in demand and frighteningly tight vessel supply have sent freight rates soaring to scream-inducing heights.