-
Contract transparency: A win-win situation
Stefanie HeerwigContract 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.
-
Exporting the revolution: Shale gas goes global. Or does it?
Lucy WallworkBy now there are few who doubt the transformative impact of U.S.-produced unconventional resources on both the domestic and international markets. But there is little consensus on the odds of the so-called 'shale revolution' going global.
-
Electronic device applications — the road ahead
Don RosatoStated simply, 20 percent of global electricity is consumed for lighting. The advent of light emitting diodes (LED) — only the fourth lighting technology in the history of humankind is transforming the lighting industry. Plastics are playing a key role in lighting alternatives as global requirements for energy efficient alternatives to incandescent light bulbs continue to tighten.
-
Awaiting the SEC’s decision on transparency in the extractive industries
Stefanie HeerwigWhatever 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.
-
Preventing a BLEVE: 5 beliefs that are commonly misunderstood
Sasha ViasashaCorrosion is relentless. Thanks to the second law of thermodynamics, things fall apart and the existence of oxygen in the air is enough cause for corrosion to set in. One of the biggest reasons for aboveground storage tank owners to get a handle on corrosion is that the weakened state of the tank builds uneven pressure, leading to a worst case scenario – the BLEVE.
-
Getting green and energy independent: Nice try?
Stefanie Heerwig"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?
Stefanie HeerwigWithout 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?
Stefanie HeerwigIf 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?
Stefanie HeerwigVery 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
Stefanie Heerwig Natural ResourcesThe 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.
All Natural Resources Articles