BP Energy Outlook 2016: NatGas Surpasses Coal by 2035
UK oil and gas giant BP released the 2016 edition of their BP Energy Outlook on Wednesday. BP, being a European company, lards the Outlook up with flowery talk of renewable this and sustainable that. But there are a few facts from the Outlook that slap you in the face: (1) By 2035, across the entire world, 80% of all energy will come from fossil fuels. So much for renewables riding in to the save us all “any day now.” (2) Natural gas is the largest-growing fossil fuel and by 2035 it will have replaced coal as the #2 source of energy in the world. (3) The U.S. will achieve overall energy self-sufficiency by 2021, and oil self-sufficiency by 2030. Another fun fact from the BP Energy Outlook: shale gas will account for 20% of total global gas output by 2035. Read the full report below…
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Chesapeake Energy’s stock plunged on Monday after a report in Debtwire said the company has retained a restructuring firm to help the company cope with $9.8 billion in debt. “Restructuring” is typically a nice way of saying “bankruptcy protection.” When the market caught wind of “restructuring” that’s just what they thought–and started selling like crazy. A year ago Chesapeake’s stock stood at $22 per share. Yesterday end of day it closed at $2.05 per share–down 33% from Friday and down over 90% in the last year. Chesapeake, in an attempt to get out in front of this latest turn of events, issued a statement yesterday saying the firm they’re using is nothing new–the firm was hired in 2010 and continues to advise the company. (Reuters reported that the firm was recently asked to evaluate restructuring for the company.) Chesapeake, with debt eight times the market value of the company, said in yesterday’s statement: “Chesapeake currently has no plans to pursue bankruptcy and is aggressively seeking to maximize value for all shareholders.” Saying you have no plans to do something is also saying at some point you may well do that thing. Publicly traded companies have to be careful with their statements because shareholders may come back to sue them later if they somehow feel mislead. So perhaps we should read Chessy’s statement like this: “We don’t want to declare bankruptcy, we have no intention of doing so, but if that’s the only option left, we will.” Here’s a recap of this still developing story…
MDN received an exclusive tip from a trusted source (who is also an MDN subscriber) yesterday about the Shell ethane cracker plant in Monaca (Beaver County), PA. Our source, who lives in Beaver County, told us he was approached by a Shell landman about signing a pipeline right-of-way through his property to build a pipeline to the plant. We have an account of our source’s conversation with the landman, and some key information the landman let slip about Shell’s plans for two such pipelines…