US debates oil exports; Ukraine secures Russian gas; Solar gets cheap [Recharge]
A government report says US oil exports could actually benefit domestic consumers. Ukraine, Russia, and the EU avoid a humanitarian crisis by forging a deal to resupply Ukraine with Russian gas. Meanwhile, solar power prices keep on plunging. Catch up on the week in global energy with Recharge.
A pump jack pulls crude oil from the Bakken region of the Northern Plains near Bainville, Mont.
Matthew Brown/AP/File
From oil prices to听Ukraine听gas talks to climate change, Recharge delivers global energy's big ideas to your inbox each Saturday.听.
Abundance: Too much oil is a better problem to have than not enough.听, according to a new government report. If Republicans win the Senate next week, that conclusion will serve as ammo for a push to roll back a decades-old oil export ban. But with oil prices dropping, and a boom built on debt,听.
Thaw: UK natural gas prices are falling too, on听. Kiev, Moscow, and Brussels finalized a deal Friday that would get Ukraine the gas it needs to keep Ukrainians from freezing in the coming months. If it holds, it will be a relief for all parties involved, and听it presages听a broader detente in a crisis that has dragged on for almost a year.
Parity:听. With current tax credits, solar electricity will be as cheap or cheaper than traditional power prices across 47 US states by 2016, according to a report this week by Deutsche Bank. The precipitous price drop should lessen听.
In the pipeline
Tuesday, Nov. 4: ACROSS THE US 鈥撎�. If Republicans capture the Senate, a GOP House and Senate could together听stymie Obama's climate agenda and move ahead with听Keystone XL, oil and gas exports, and offshore drilling. But control of the upper chamber depends on a few critical races where energy is an outsize issue 鈥� from oil-rich Louisiana, to coal-heavy Kentucky (see palm card at right).
Wednesday, Nov. 5: NEW YORK and THE INTERNET 鈥撎齣n the Eastern Mediterranean and Europe at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. New offshore gas finds, and a longstanding drive to expand a Southern Gas Corridor could help Europe diversify its energy supply.
Drill deeper
Is the US oil boom in trouble?听摆海角大神]
The collapse in global oil prices could mean trouble for US shale drillers, who rely on high prices to profit off expensive, labor-intensive drilling through shale rock. Rig counts have already suffered, and some challenge rosy projections of how much oil and gas is left. But increased productivity per well may boost shale's prospects, and crude prices would have to plunge further to halt US shale drilling all together.
听
听摆The Financial Times]
In 2012, Exxon and Russian oil giant Rosneft forged partnerships that 鈥� had they materialized 鈥� would have helped open Russia's abudant stores of crude to foreign markets. But Western sanctions are putting that and other partnerships on ice, and without outside investment, the growth of Russia's oil industry will likely stall.
[The New York Times]
鈥淚 think Iraqi Kurdish independence is inevitable, at least eventually,鈥� Michael Makovsky, a former Pentagon official, told the New York Times. 鈥淭hey have natural allies in the United States because of the oil companies involved in drilling there. And the Turks and Europeans need their gas.鈥�
Energy sources
: "[C]ountries in the Baltic region and southeastern Europe which are highly dependent on Russian gas, and hence extremely vulnerable to interruptions, could substatntially reduce and even eliminate imports of Russian gas by the early 2020s, by a combination of LNG supplies and pipeline gas from Azerbaijan. Similar measures could reduce (but not eliminate) the dependence of central Europe and Turkey on Russian gas."
听secretary general Abdullah al-Badri via Reuters: "I don't think 2015 will be far away from 2014 in terms of [oil] production. There is nothing wrong with the market."
: "[Saturday's] AAA national [gas prices] average: $2.995"
From oil prices to听Ukraine听gas talks to climate change, Recharge delivers global energy's big ideas to your inbox each Saturday.听.