In the continued push for sustainable energy development, shale gas producer CNX Resources released its 2020 corporate responsibility report announcing its net carbon-negative achievement, a rarity for the oil and gas industry. The achievement signifies the sustainable business model of a low-cost producer focused on ESG progression is the direction the industry is headed.

European Union policymakers unveiled their most ambitious plan yet to tackle climate change, aiming to turn green goals into concrete action this decade, and in doing so lead the way for the world’s other big economies. Following in the footsteps of the IEA’s bombshell report on global oil and gas development in May, the European Commission, the EU executive body, proposed details on how the bloc’s 27 countries can meet their collective goal to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by 55% from 1990 levels by 2030 – and give humanity “a fighting chance” to combat climate change.

In 2020, total consumption of fossil fuels in the United States including petroleum, natural gas, and coal, fell to 72.9 quadrillion British thermal units, down 9% from 2019 and the lowest level since 1991. Last year marked the largest annual decrease in U.S. fossil fuel consumption in both absolute and percentage terms since at least 1949, the earliest year records have been kept. Economic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, including a 15% decrease in energy consumption in the U.S. transportation sector, drove much of the decline. But, with record declines in U.S. crude oil inventories falling by 6.9 million barrels and total motor gasoline inventories decreasing by 6.1 million barrels from the previous week, it appears this trend may be reversing.

It was a phenomenal week in the oil and gas industry with prices hitting a three-year high, rig counts soaring, and exploration expanding. Fuelled by an accelerated uptick in crude oil demand as the world sets sights on a return to pre-crisis times, oil and gas companies are set for record-breaking free cash flows this summer.

It was a phenomenal week in the oil and gas industry with prices hitting a three-year high, rig counts soaring, and exploration expanding. Fuelled by an accelerated uptick in crude oil demand as the world sets sights on a return to pre-crisis times, oil and gas companies are set for record-breaking free cash flows this summer.