The US Department of Energy’s newly rebranded Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management aims to fund the research and technology deployment that will help the US reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. We spoke with Acting Assistant Secretary Jennifer Wilcox, head of the office and a carbon capture expert, about some of the promising technologies to curb US dependence on fossil fuels and cut emissions. We talked about harder-to-decarbonize sectors like aviation, shipping and long-haul trucking, as well as a proposal to expand the 45Q tax credit for carbon capture. Stick around after the interview for the Market Minute, a look at near-term oil market drivers.

Capitol Crude: The US Oil Policy Podcast

Managing carbon poses a challenge in harder-to-green sectors like aviation, shipping, agriculture

Silos within the energy industry are coming down as companies confront the need to dramatically cut carbon emissions. The so-called energy convergence is the idea that companies, policy makers and regulators need to be more collaborative across the energy spectrum. Joe Brettell is a partner for strategic engagement at Prosody Group, which consults on energy, agriculture and financial services. We asked him about the rising importance of US regulators, climate-related investor pressures, and the changing focus of the US energy capital Houston as it adapts to the energy transition. Stick around after the interview for the Market Minute, a look at near-term oil-market drivers.

Energy convergence breaks down silos as industry confronts climate change

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are locked in a dispute over how to ease oil-production limits as global demand recovers from the pandemic. Nareeka Ahir, a geopolitical analyst at S&P Global Platts Analytics, tells us about the oil market risks that could emerge from the fight. She also shares the latest geopolitical risks from the Iran nuclear talks, Iraq's widespread power outages, Nigeria's oil facility attacks and Libya's volatile oil output.

Oil market risks arise from UAE's OPEC standoff, other geopolitical hot spots

Freeport LNG CEO Michael Smith joined us to talk about the state of the market, his company's expansion plans, climate concerns and the start of the Atlantic hurricane season. Activity has started picking up for US developers of new liquefaction terminals after a two-year lull in firm commercial deals that predated the coronavirus pandemic. For existing exporters, global gas and LNG forward prices are trending strong and relatively stable, pointing to a long runway for exporters to enjoy healthy netbacks on deliveries to Europe and Asia, buffeted by cheap feedgas costs due to low US Henry Hub prices. Feedgas deliveries to US LNG export terminals have recently been averaging over 11 Bcf/d, implying utilization of over 90%. Later this year, a seventh major US LNG export terminal could start up and a sixth train at Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass could begin production.

US LNG bull run spurs new export infrastructure hopes

As extreme weather events continue across the US, they're disrupting energy supplies and demanding more planning for the future. Texas and California have both in recent weeks asked residents to conserve electricity to avoid power grid failures, only a few months after crippling power outages during Texas' deep freeze. And the Gulf Coast just started what looks to be an active hurricane season. Today's guest believes the conversation about the energy transition away from fossil fuels has not focused enough on energy resilience. Economist and energy expert Paul Sullivan says our society and energy systems are a lot more brittle and vulnerable than most people think. Sullivan is the lead of the Energy Industry Study at the National Defense University and a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, where he teaches a class on energy and environmental security. Stick around after the interview for the Market Minute, a look at near-term oil market drivers.

Extreme weather, cyberattacks demand stronger energy resilience

It's no secret that the power sector is undergoing dramatic changes. Market dynamics and ambitious decarbonization goals set by the Biden administration are driving a transition away from fossil fuels and toward more renewable energy and electric vehicles. Consumers and investors are also expressing new expectations for sustainability and a cleaner energy economy. Utility executives have acknowledged a need for new digital technologies and a digitally savvy workforce, but a new survey by Ernst & Young found that the utility sector is falling behind in this digital transformation. Nearly 90% of utility executives say they do not have enough workers with the right skills to take advantage of digital technologies, and many lack a plan to proceed. We spoke with Ryan Levine of Ernst & Young about the report and what it means for the power sector going forward.

In move to cleaner energy economy, power sector falling behind in digital transformation

Venezuelan sanctions and the Maduro regime have been a backburner issue so far for US President Joe Biden. When he was elected, many energy analysts predicted he would grant some sanctions relief on humanitarian grounds. Fernando Ferreira, director of Rapidan Energy Group’s Geopolitical Risk Service, predicts we'll start to see the White House's direction on Venezuela later this year. We asked him about the ban on diesel-for-crude swaps, Chevron's waiver extension, the status of opposition leader Juan Guaido and the future of Venezuela's oil production. Stick around after the interview for the Market Minute, a look at near-term oil market drivers.

Biden’s Venezuela policy after Maduro outlasts Trump’s maximum sanctions pressure

The US and Iran are entering a sixth round of indirect talks in Vienna aimed at restarting the 2015 nuclear deal. S&P Global Platts Analytics still expects the sides to reach a deal in the coming months, with the Biden administration removing sanctions on Iran's oil, petrochemical, shipping and other sectors by September. This sanctions relief would allow Iran to boost crude and condensate exports to 1.5 million b/d by December, from 600,000 b/d in May. We spoke with Henry Rome, senior analyst at the Eurasia Group, about the main sticking points to reaching a deal. He also walks through some of the domestic political dynamics in Tehran and Washington and gives his prediction for when higher Iranian oil exports will start to flow. Stick around after the interview for the Market Minute, a look at near-term oil market drivers. Related stories: US State Department sees longer road ahead for Iran talks, lifting sanctions Infographic: Iran's oil industry eyes end to sanctions

Iranian oil sanctions relief still expected as Vienna talks stretch into summer

Investors are proving they have climate change and the energy transition on the their minds. Last week, activist investors got at least two seats on the ExxonMobil board of directors, and Chevron's shareholders approved Scope 3 emission targets, both which could lead to lower oil and gas production ahead. The popularity of ESG (environmental, social and governance) investments is soaring. But what does it even mean for a company to adopt that label, and how do we weigh one ESG pledge against another? Jonathan Chanis, managing member of New Tide Asset Management, believes ESG priorities are here to stay. He thinks regulators have a role to play to make sure these ESG labels mean something but he sees potential risks from regulators getting these reforms wrong.

ESG fever and the challenges of climate-related financial reforms

The Biden administration surprised many last week in granting a sanctions waiver to the company building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. The move allows work to continue on the almost-finished project, despite long-standing US opposition on the grounds that it will increase Germany's dependence on Russian gas supplies. We spoke with US Senator Kevin Cramer, Republican-North Dakota, who introduced a bill to reinstate the Nord Stream 2 sanctions. The pipeline is expected to be completed this summer, possibly before the next State Department report is due to Congress in mid-August. Cramer also gives his outlook for North Dakota oil production, the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Interior Department’s leasing ban.

Russia sanctions fight heats up in Congress as Biden gives pass to Nord Stream 2

The White House and Democrats in Congress are looking at a number of ways to increase taxes and federal revenues from the oil and gas industry as part of their climate and clean energy agenda. They're looking at higher royalty rates on federal lands and eliminating deductions like intangible drilling costs and percentage depletion. We spoke with Dan Naatz, executive vice president for the Independent Petroleum Association of America, about how his group is engaging on this issue. We also talked about where he sees the Interior Department's leasing ban headed and the impact of Congress restoring Obama-era methane emissions. S&P Global Platts Analytics predicts the leasing moratorium eventually could lower US onshore production by more than 1 million b/d in the next five years, while risks to offshore production will not show up for at least 10 years. Total US oil production is projected to grow by at least 200,000 b/d in 2021 and by 1 million b/d in 2022, but it won't reach its pre-pandemic peak of nearly 13 million b/d until at least 2023.

Independent US oil, gas drillers fight higher taxes, leasing ban

We're sizing up some of the top geopolitical factors influencing oil markets with Paul Sheldon, chief geopolitical adviser for S&P Global Platts Analytics. The US and Iran entered a fourth round of indirect talks in Vienna this month. Sheldon explains why he still sees good odds of a framework deal emerging within weeks and what that would mean for the US easing sanctions on Iran's oil, petrochemical, shipping and other sectors. Sheldon also previews OPEC's June 1 meeting, looks further out at the durability of the OPEC+ alliance, and gives his outlook for any easing of Venezuela sanctions.

Iran talks, US sanctions, OPEC+ supply balancing dominate oil market geopolitics

Will the cyberattack that forced the largest US oil pipeline to shut down for days be a wake-up call for the industry to rapidly shore up its cyber defenses? On this special episode, we have two interviews from cybersecurity experts. Both say they were not entirely surprised by the attack on the Colonial Pipeline, as they have witnessed the oil and gas sector be slower to adopt cyber security programs than counterparts in the utility sector. Leo Simonovich, global head of industrial cyber at Siemens Energy, returns to Capitol Crude after joining us last year, when he made the case that the industry's digital transformation was being accelerated by the pandemic and that it was compounding cyber risks. John Cusimano, vice president of industrial cybersecurity at aeSolutions, explains the challenges that pipeline networks face in guarding against attacks.

US pipelines wake up to cyberthreats after Colonial shutdown exposes vulnerabilities

Just how realistic are the ESG goals being set each quarter by US energy producers in the face of rising pressure from investors, banks and the government to become more environmentally sustainable? The Biden administration has ushered in new climate priorities across the government, including the Environmental Protection Agency reviewing methane limits, the Federal Reserve weighing climate risks to the economy, and the Securities and Exchange Commission examining climate disclosures in public markets. We spoke with Andrew Logan, director the oil and gas program at Ceres, an investor network focused on making financial markets and companies more environmentally sustainable. He sized up President Biden’s climate policy progress so far, how oil and gas producers are responding to these pressures, whether carbon capture solutions are being oversold, and what rapid decarbonization could mean for the energy sector.

ESG pressure builds on energy sector as investors, lawmakers raise climate goals

The US Interior Department has approved more than 500 drilling permits on federal lands and waters since January, despite the Biden administration's halt to new lease sales. The agency has not said when it might resume leasing, other than canceling any sales through June. Producer-state senators contend that this pause will turn into a permanent ban. Senator John Hoeven, Republican-North Dakota, made that case on yesterday's Capitol Crude podcast. We took a look at how the leasing review is actually impacting US oil production. Ash Singh, S&P Global Platts manager of supply and production analytics, shares the latest outlook and gives his prediction for how leasing might resume. He also gets into the current economic climate for US drillers and how capital discipline is playing out in the early stages of pandemic recovery.

Will Biden’s review of oil, gas leasing turn into a drilling ban?

In-depth weekly analysis of US oil policy news from S&P Global Platts' senior editors covering the capitol. Hosted by senior oil news editors Brian Scheid and Meghan Gordon.

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Capitol Crude: The US Oil Policy Podcast

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