Stefanie Heerwig

Stefanie Heerwig is a policy analyst and researcher with a focus on resource governance and extractive industries. Her past work has concentrated on fossil fuel subsidies and extractive industry governance in developing countries. She holds a bachelor's degree in economics and politics from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and a master's degree in economics for development from the Universtiy of Oxford.

Articles by Stefanie Heerwig

• Will the gold rush ever end?

  Monday, May 22, 2017

  ​In response to the financial crisis in 2007, gold prices more than doubled rising from an average of $600 per ounce in 2006 to a record high of $1,700 per ounce in 2012. Since then, markets stabilized slightly, and gold prices have decreased to an average of $1,200 to $1,300 per ounce through 2015 and 2016.

• The next frontier: Mining the deep sea

  Tuesday, April 04, 2017

  As we continue consuming metals and rare earths at the same speed as today, we could run out of existing resources 20 years' time, according to an estimate of current resources and reserves worldwide. Rare earths are the basis for state-of-the-art renewable technology like solar panels. And replacing oil, gas and coal with existing renewable energy technology would require the extraction of rare earths to increase by 700 percent over the next 25 years, according to the latest MIT research.

• Challenges of oil and gas investment in West Africa with low oil prices

  Friday, September 16, 2016

  When oil prices were up to $100 per barrel (WTI), development and exploration investments were booming — even in high-risk areas. From Arctic oil to deepwater drilling, oil and gas majors were not afraid to invest despite production costs of $95 per barrel and above.

• The danger of missing climate change policies in business forecasts

  Friday, August 12, 2016

  Between 2010 and 2016, the U.S. coal industry was subject to some of the most extremes booms and busts. Expecting a super cycle driven by growth in emerging markets, big players entered risky acquisitions to increase their market shares — in many occasions with disastrous outcomes.

• The impact of Brexit on the oil and gas industry

  Friday, July 08, 2016

  The decision by the British people to exit the European Union two weeks ago was for many a surprise and sparked turmoil in global markets. The British pound dropped to a 31-year low, while investors poured money into the dollar, yen and gold — whose price increased by around 20 percent. An estimated $2 trillion was wiped off equity markets worldwide.

• Are we heading toward a future of low oil prices?

  Friday, June 03, 2016

  ​As the third-largest oil price crash over the past 30 years, the latest oil price cycle has raised new questions about the current nature of of the oil market. Experts are split about whether the latest cycle has been a result of a structural change of the oil market or whether it is just business as usual. After all, the discussion centers around one question: "Will the oil price stay low for long?"

• The end of the 40-year-old crude export ban?

  Friday, October 02, 2015

  After 40 years, the U.S. House of Representatives is considering a bill on the floor to lift the ban on exporting crude oil from the U.S. Implemented during the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s, the export ban has turned into a controversial issue with the U.S. becoming the largest producer of oil after Saudi Arabia in recent years.

• Rockets and feathers: Why prices at the tank fall so slowly

  Friday, September 04, 2015

  While crude oil prices have been cut roughly in half since June last year, retail prices for regular and premium gasoline have not fallen by nearly as much, with an average fall of 30 percent and 20 percent in the same period, respectively. Conversely, when crude prices rocketed from 2007 onward, retailers were quick to pass on the price changes.

• EPA Clean Power Plan not as radical as it appears

  Friday, August 14, 2015

  The Aug. 3 announcement of the EPA Clean Power Plan was not only met with surprise, but also huge opposition. Being in some respect stricter than previous targets, the plan could set an example for other countries at the UN Climate Change Conference beginning in November in Paris. However, it may also fail in its implementation right from the start.

• Is fracking really a waste of water?

  Friday, July 10, 2015

  One of the critiques against hydraulic fracturing (or fracking as it is commonly called) is that the process uses millions of gallons of water per well, far too much for arid areas like Dimmit County in Texas.

• Afghanistan must fall out of love with a natural resource-led future

  Friday, June 05, 2015

  ​Not so long ago, Afghanistan's economic future was closely bound to the idea that despite all the political turmoil, terrorism and insecurity, it had untold natural resources under its soil that would bring in the money needed to create a viable economy and fund the government. But as prestige projects have stalled, many experts now feel the potential was overstated to begin with, and there seems little prospect of a steady flow of income anytime soon.

• US leads the world in hydrocarbon production — but for how long?

  Friday, May 08, 2015

  According to the latest estimates of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) , the U.S. remained the world's largest producer of hydrocarbons in 2014, despite plunging oil and gas prices and a dropping rig count. The EIA estimates that U.S. hydrocarbon production continues to exceed that of both Russia and Saudi Arabia. U.S. petroleum production increased by 1.6 million barrels per day in 2014, while natural gas production increased by 13.9 billion cubic feet per day over the past five years.

• Is the shale bubble really ready to burst?

  Friday, April 03, 2015

  Since June last year, bond yields of companies in the shale business rose from an average of 5.7 percent to 9.7 percent. Currently, about 17 percent of all junk bonds on the market are made up of U.S. oil and gas exploration and production firms, according to Bloomberg News.

• Low oil prices and fossil fuel subsidy reforms

  Friday, March 06, 2015

  ​In 2014, nearly 30 countries cut down on their fossil fuel subsidies. In countries like Egypt, Indonesia and India, low oil prices have dampened the political cost of implementing these reforms, which have usually been met with public protests.

• Has the oil price hit its floor?

  Friday, February 06, 2015

  Abdulla Al-Badri, secretary general of OPEC, announced recently that oil prices might have reached their floor and could even rise to up to $200 per barrel in the near future. This is a surprising comment, given OPEC's resistance to decrease its oil production and complaints by struggling oil exporters like Nigeria and Venezuela. In fact, Al-Badri's comment was in response to the biggest one-day gain in oil prices since 2009. Brent rose almost 8 percent and finished above $50 per barrel while Western Texas intermediate crude jumped by 7 percent to $53 per barrel.

• Why falling oil prices don’t signify the end of the shale revolution

  Friday, January 09, 2015

  As shale businesses fear for their survival and workers for their jobs, the future of the U.S. shale industry seems doomed. Oil prices have plunged by more than two-thirds over the last six months, and the feasibility of shale extraction has been put into question.

• What’s the real cause of falling oil prices?

  Friday, November 14, 2014

  Despite conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Nigeria and Libya, oil prices have bottomed out since June this year. Falling by more than 20 percent, this phenomenon seems somewhat surprising given that many forecasts predicted otherwise, or thought at least that the oil price would remain close to its $100-per-barrel line.

• Local content requirements in the oil and gas sector

  Friday, October 17, 2014

  With decreasing oil and gas supplies and increasingly-hard-to-reach reserves, global oil and gas majors have started to invest in frontier areas, many of them in the developing world — like East Africa and Afghanistan, just to name two.

• Round Zero and Mexico’s energy reform

  Friday, September 19, 2014

  ​Nearly one year ago Mexico's government enacted a ground-breaking constitutional reform wrapping over the country's entire energy sector. Since then, President Enrique Peña Nieto has signed 21 secondary laws defining the anatomy of the reform.

• The end of coal? What new EPA regulations mean for the industry

  Friday, August 22, 2014

  ​On June 2, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a plan to cut carbon emission from power plants 30 percent below the 2005 level by 2030. While still not set in stone, the legislation would mean an end for many of the 577 coal-fired power plants across the U.S., coal industry insiders fear.

• US cruising on a fast track toward LNG exports

  Monday, July 28, 2014

  With the Ukraine-Russia conflict tightening, rebel armies trying to take control over Iraqi oil and Westerners being urged to leave Libya in a heightening conflict, demand for U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas could never be higher.

• How will Iraq turmoil impact the oil price?

  Friday, June 27, 2014

  Speculations have run rampant about the impact of the Iraqi attacks on international oil prices. Will we face another 2008 oil price shock? By how much will the prices rise? However, you never know what is going to happen on the oil market, and the market will deal with it anyway.

• Unconventional oil — Is it really worth it?

  Friday, May 30, 2014

  Capital expenditure (capex) by oil companies has been rising to astronomical heights over the past decade. According to Bloomberg, capex by major oil companies is now five times higher than in 2000. Morgan Stanley estimates that the largest oil companies require an oil price of over $95 per barrel for 20 to 25 percent of their future projects.

• Has US oil consumption decreased because of peak oil?

  Friday, May 02, 2014

  Since 2008, U.S. oil consumption has declined by more than 20 percent, giving peak-oil theorists their confirmation — world crude oil production is decreasing. And no matter how much U.S. production increases, everyone will feel the squeeze in the face of rising international oil prices.

• Are electric cars an efficient renewable energy policy?

  Friday, April 04, 2014

  In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama set an ambitious goal — for the United States to become the first country in the world with 1 million electric cars on its roads by 2015. In fact, the U.S. currently has the largest electric car fleet in the world.

• Big data and big oil — a perfect marriage?

  Friday, March 07, 2014

  Big oil and gas companies are finding new ways to extract data streams, combine them, merge them and gain insights that can optimize their businesses, increase profits and save the environment. We're talking about big oil meeting big data.

• Can solar energy compete with fossil fuels?

  Friday, February 21, 2014

  According to the Edison Electric Institute, such utility-sized solar plants will soon appear across the United States with 232 under construction, in testing or to be granted with permits. One question, however, remains: Can solar compete with fossil fuels in terms of price?

• Refineries: The real winners of the shale oil boom

  Friday, February 07, 2014

  Smoke rises again from the pilot flare of a Texas-based Blue Dolphin Energy refinery after a two-decade standstill — and that's just the beginning. Following the shale oil boom, is another boom: refining. Blue Dolphin Energy, Valero Energy, Kinder Morgan and many others are building new crude-processing equipment, reopening old refineries and building new ones.

• US vs. Europe: Comparing different approaches to renewable energy

  Friday, January 24, 2014

  Let's assume this statement is true: The world is running toward a huge climate crisis. Temperatures will rise by about 11 degrees F , if we do nothing, and the impacts of such a rise can be fatal — floods, droughts, food insecurity, migration, just to name some. Now, what should we do, and what is the best approach of creating the right policy in a fight against time? The common assumption, when comparing the European Union and U.S., is that the U.S. approach to renewable energy is lagging behind the EU.

• The end of gas prices as we know them

  Friday, January 10, 2014

  Many have heard about fears that exports of natural gas in the U.S. could lead to comparatively higher domestic gas prices, potentially hampering the growth of the U.S. economy. Antiexport proponents are mostly energy-intensive groups like the chemical and metal industries. On the contrary, a study done for the U.S. Department of Energy by the economic consultancy NERA in 2013 suggests that natural gas exports would actually benefit the U.S. economy, despite rising natural gas prices.

• Federal vs. state: What’s best to regulate hydraulic fracturing?

  Friday, December 13, 2013

  The discussion about who should regulate hydraulic fracturing and how reached another critical point in the past month. On Nov. 21, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 2728 with the support of 12 Democrats. The bill would inhibit the U.S. Bureau of Land Management from imposing federal regulations on states that already have regulations for hydraulic fracturing in place. In short, it would give states the lead in how to regulate the possible environmental and health hazards of fracturing.

• Turkish-Kurdish pipeline poker and Kurdistan’s investment climate

  Monday, December 02, 2013

  ​Over the last three years or so Iraqi Kurdistan has gained attention from international oil companies as a place to go when it comes to sweet crude deals. No wonder megacompanies like ExxonMobile and Total have not hesitated to sign oil and gas contracts with Erbil since 2011. The situation, however, is not as ideal as it sounds, and tensions between Baghdad and Erbil have been boiling and could even take an uncomfortable turn in response to a recent pipeline pact between Turkey and Kurdistan.

• To frack or not to frack: What should you think?

  Friday, November 15, 2013

  When I tell friends about what industry I am working in, I often get the following question: "So what do you think about fracking?" The question alone often already indicates their bias against the technology because the term "fracking" is usually used by opponents.

• Afghanistan at a crossroads for future oil and gas extraction

  Friday, November 01, 2013

  At the beginning of October, Afghanistan's Ministry of Mines and Petroleum released a new tender for a block in the prospective Amu-Darya basin at the northern tip of the country. China's giant state-owned oil and gas company, CNPC, already holds two blocks in that basin and started extracting oil at the end of last year. Twelve years after the invasion into Afghanistan, the country finds itself at the crossroads to a promising future thanks to its riches in oil, gas and other natural resources.

• The scramble for East Africa

  Friday, October 18, 2013

  Go East might be the new motto for oil and gas investors buzzing around in the search of profitable routes to new markets, low cost and little risk. Over the past few years, the hype about East Africa has grown after oil was found in Uganda and Madagascar and gas in Tanzania and Mozambique. And now also Kenya is becoming a hot spot — probably even the first East African oil exporter before Uganda.

• Contract transparency: A win-win situation

  Friday, October 04, 2013

  Contract transparency is increasingly advocated as a tool to achieve good governance in the extractive industries around the globe. Those opposing contract transparency argue that if the practice is not implemented consistently, nontransparent companies will have an advantage to transparent ones, and nontransparent countries will attract more investment compared to transparent ones.

• Awaiting the SEC’s decision on transparency in the extractive industries

  Friday, September 20, 2013

  ​Whatever will happen in the next months will probably be a turning point in the history on transparency in the extractive industries. What I am talking about is Section 1504 of the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act which will require U.S.-listed oil, gas and mining companies to publish revenue payments to governments such as taxes, royalties and license fees on a country-by-country and project-by-project basis.

• Getting green and energy independent: Nice try?

  Tuesday, September 17, 2013

  "We'll continue our march towards energy independence and address the threat of climate change," President Barack Obama announced ambitiously April 10, 2013. According to his proposal, the U.S. should half its oil imports by 2020 and double its energy productivity by 2030. A high aim, but possible as some experts like Christine McEntee, executive director and CEO of the American Geophysical Union, suggest, especially because the plan is carefully tailored and radically wide-ranging.

• Can Egypt have a serious impact on the international oil market?

  Tuesday, September 17, 2013

  Without doubt Egypt is one of the strategic hotspots when it comes to transporting fuel between the Middle East and the Mediterranean. But are fears about possible supply disruptions justified? And if they are, would these disruptions have a major long-term impact on the international oil market?

• US as leading subsidizer of fossil fuels? Do estimates matter?

  Tuesday, September 17, 2013

  If you want to know the true costs of fossil fuel subsidies in the US, you might think you can just have a look at the U.S. budget and that's it. No, sorry, it's not that easy, because major organizations like the IMF, OECD or the IEA have not agreed upon a uniform methodology to measure subsidies yet, nor on a definition of subsidies.

• US Department of Energy pessimistic about energy independence?

  Tuesday, September 17, 2013

  Very pessimistic, the EIA foresees in its main prediction (or reference case) that U.S. net imports will decline only till 2020 making up 34 percent of petrol consumption by 2019, and then increase again to a share of 37 percent by 2040.

• Making sense of oil pricing and price manipulation

  Tuesday, September 17, 2013

  The prices oil companies like Shell, BP and Statoil report to Platts are based on their amount of physical trades, mostly forward contracts. And here is where one of the major loopholes in the assessment of the Brent benchmark already arises.

• Iran’s influence on the oil market and the fate of the US oil industry

  Tuesday, September 17, 2013

  The first question, of course, is whether Iran would throw a 1 million barrels a day on the market in the short-term future. This depends mostly on whether sanctions by the U.S. and EU will be lifted.

• Energy sector reforms in Mexico: A catch-22

  Friday, August 09, 2013

  Whatever changes Mexico's energy sector will take, they will be radical compared to the status quo. At least this is what you might think, if you've followed Mexico's energy reform debate since 2008 and President Enrique Pena Nieto's announcements following his ascent to power in December 2012. But the energy industry may be caught in a catch-22 situation allowing for little or no reform, which might not be enough to attract investment on a grand scale from interested parties like Exxon and Chevron.

• Shale revolution in doubt — so what?

  Friday, June 21, 2013

  No single day seems to go by without praises of the shale revolution. And no assessment of the oil market seems to work anymore without including the U.S. as a global supplier.