Archive for the ‘Energy’ Category
A Run for the Canadian Border
By Marin Katusa, Chief Energy Strategist, Casey Research
The Gulf of Mexico disaster has changed U.S. priorities, costs, and energy supply sources for years to come. But the fact that the U.S. needs energy isn’t changing anytime soon, and as mass sources of green energy are still a while away, the most likely alternative might be the most surprising one.
With US$15 billion invested annually in offshore drilling in the United States, the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico means that this money is getting ready to migrate elsewhere. And it is the Athabasca oil sands of Alberta, Canada, that are number one on the list.
Given the amount of bad press the oil sands get, this could come as a shocker. But technological advances and improvements in recovery methods, as well as reduction of water usage and greenhouse gas emissions, have made oil sands a viable and popular option for the future of U.S. energy.
The numbers, too, are looking in their favor. Out of the 1.34 trillion barrels that is the world’s total proved oil reserves (2009), only about 20% (270 billion barrels) of this number is actually available to free-flowing capital investment – the vast majority is in the tight grip of various national oil companies. Read the rest of this entry »
China Is Winning the Energy Race
By Marin Katusa, Casey’s Energy Opportunities
Stop the presses. The United States is no longer the world’s biggest consumer of energy.
After topping the energy consumption charts for more than a century, the U.S. has been left behind as China leapfrogged past. According to the International Energy Association’s (IEA) latest report, China burned its way through 2,252 million tonnes of oil equivalent last year – about 4% more than the U.S.
(The oil-equivalent measure is a bundle of all forms of energy consumed, including crude, coal, nuclear, natural gas, and renewable resources.)
Will Obama Destroy U.S. Energy Independence?
The U.S. consumes nearly three times the amount of oil that it produces domestically on a daily basis. How can this statistic get any worse, you might ask?
Imagine in 2010 the Obama administration persuades Congress to pass a budget that results in a reduction of domestic oil production by 10% – 20%, making the supply/demand imbalance even more lopsided. Foreign oil companies will gain a distinct advantage over American domestic operators as an unintended consequence of these proposals. Read the rest of this entry »
How Obama’s Policies will Affect Energy Prices
By Marin Katusa, Chief Strategist, Casey Research Energy Team
Casey Energy Opportunities
One might think the United States would be charging hard on energy security as well as border and other kinds of security in its Global War on Terror campaign. Not so. For example, America imports some 12 million barrels of oil per day, yet maintains a Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) whose maximum is 727 million barrels and its inventory is currently lower, 701 million barrels, because the government cut off shipments to it last year in an effort to modulate gasoline prices. [That is just over a 58 day supply-Editor] The math gets even more discouraging when you work in the fact that the SPR’s daily drawdown capacity is only 4.4 million barrels – so America is completely unprepared for any worst-case scenarios, or even the bad-case ones. Read the rest of this entry »
What Effect Will Ethanol and Corn Have on Inflation?
Unless you have been living under a rock you have probably noticed that the government has mandated that the gasoline you are pumping into your car these days has Ethanol in it now. You have probably also heard that it is good for farmers and the environment but lets look at all those factors and one more…
Is there a link between Ethanol and Inflation?
These days Ethanol is the hot topic in many different circles including conservation, farming, energy, and even in investment circles. Read the rest of this entry »
Cap and Trade- Just a Hidden Tax?
Tim McMahon, Editor — Cap and Trade is the latest in the War on “Global Warming” but for all the hoopla what is really behind it all? Follow the money trail…
The Carbon Cap: The Newest Form of Taxation
By Doug Hornig, Editor, Casey Research
It’s possible that no concept in history has ever come so far, so fast, and with so little substance behind it, as “global warming.” Or, to be precise, anthropogenic global warming (AGW) – the kind caused by us puny humans rather than by that fireball that keeps the planet habitable.
We’re extraordinarily lucky. If present thinking is correct, the first single-celled living organisms may have appeared as much as 3½ billion years ago, and it would appear that once life arrived, it never went away. That’s a very long time for conditions to have remained favorable enough to keep the chain from breaking. Read the rest of this entry »
