In The News

Forbes: Oil and Violence in Niger Delta Have Global Impact

Terry Hallmark February 22, 2017
The Niger Delta Avengers have declared “all-out” war against the Nigerian government and oil interests, continuing a two-decades-long conflict in the Niger Delta. Profitable oil drilling has pitted the Nigerian government and multinational corporations including Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron against a rotating cast of opponents. Organized opposition surfaced in the 1990s, with protests, civil...

US to OPEC: Don’t Drill, Baby, Don’t Drill

Keith Johnson October 6, 2016
Economic and political concerns influence US responses to a potential slowdown in oil output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The Trump campaign advocates for more drilling and fewer regulations to increase jobs in America’s oil-producing heartland. Not everyone would benefit: “what’s good for the goose in the oil patch and parts of many red states, may not be good for the...

Will ExxonMobil Have to Pay for Misleading the Public on Climate Change?

Paul Barrett and Matthew Philips September 7, 2016
A handful of climate-change skeptics have convinced legislators in the United States and other nations to dismiss ample findings by climate researchers that the planet is warming. The Union of Concerned Scientists in 2007 compared fossil-fuel industry tactics “to manufacture uncertainty” on scientific findings with those of the cigarette industry. Investigative journalists in 2015 suggested that...

Texas Shale Oil Has Fought Saudi Arabia to a Standstill

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard August 1, 2016
Oil suppliers have flooded global markets, driving down prices. Investment in the industry is down, and some high-cost projects in deep waters and other challenging environments have been shelved, but “North America's hydraulic frackers are cutting costs so fast that most can now produce at prices far below levels needed to fund the Saudi welfare state and its military machine, or to cover...

Cheap Money Helped Inflate Energy Balloon

Rani Molla and Lisa Abramowicz June 20, 2016
The loose monetary policy applied by the US Federal Reserve, crafted to stimulate the economy after the 2007-2008 global debt crisis, may have also contributed to the shale oil boom and recent bust. The policy of reduced rates and borrowing costs may have encouraged speculative behavior as investors searched for high yields. “The increase in debt went hand in hand with a drastic increase in U.S....

Cheap Money Helped Inflate Energy Balloon

Rani Molla and Lisa Abramowicz June 7, 2016
An easy monetary policy applied by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks since 2008 to stimulate the economy after the global debt crisis may have contributed to the shale oil boom and bust. The reduced interest rates and borrowing costs may have encouraged speculative behavior among investors searching for high yields. “The increase in debt went hand in hand with a drastic increase in U...

US Officials Warn of Looming Crisis in Venezuela

Tim Johnson May 16, 2016
Venezuela should be prosperous in terms of its location and the largest reserves of crude oil in the world. But low oil prices caught such countries by surprise. Foreign oil companies are reducing activity due to low prices and payment struggles. “Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, already struggling to keep his country’s lights on and its stores stocked with basic food, faces a series of...