News Pulse
Rare Petro is committed to keeping the pulse on the latest news surrounding our industries. Whether it’s the monthly basin breakdown or the weekly periodical series, Rare Petro is sure to keep you informed.
Global Oil Demand: Vaccinations and the Summer Travel Bug
In this week’s episode of the Periodical Podcast, your hosts Kevin and Tavis give an update to our Post-COVID global demand outlook projections. Now that global vaccination rollouts are in full force while a travel bug appears to be sweeping across the planet, how...

Saudi To The Rescue
Following hectic trade movements on Thursday, oil prices settled with gains of more than 3% for the day after OPEC+ signaled with its latest oil production decision that it believes in the global oil demand recovery through the summer. According to sources, OPEC+ is considering increasing output by 350,000 barrels per day in May, 350,000 bpd in June and 400,000 bpd in July while Saudi Arabia is preparing to support extending cuts into June and is also ready to prolong its own voluntary cuts to boost prices amid a new wave of coronavirus lockdowns.

Bringing The Law
Like many of their fossil fuel producing counterparts, the Bakken states of North and South Dakota are fighting new federal regulations from the Biden Administration threatening fossil fuel development. As President Biden attempts to lead the country towards a carbon-neutral future, leaders in the Dakota’s are rallying support in their attempt to lead the states towards sustained revenue and prosperity through the development of the area’s natural fossil fuel resources. State leaders have realized that halting new oil and gas leasing on federal lands as well as the revoked permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline project will slash investment, cut jobs, drop wages, and pummel tax revenues throughout the region. As their fight continues, they are working to evaluate the impact of the climate related executive orders and enact legislation for the state to decide how their state’s resources should be developed.

Arterial Traffic Jam
On Tuesday, a gargantuan 400-metre cargo ship named the Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal, blocking maritime traffic from entering or exiting the crucial shipping highway due to strong winds from a sandstorm that restricted visibility. The canal is the carotid artery of the global shipping system with around 12% of worldwide shipping traffic flowing through its narrow waters, including roughly 5% of globally traded crude oil. With 237 vessels waiting in the area on Friday – 107 at Port Suez in the Red Sea, 41 at the canal’s midway point in the Great Bitter Lake, and 89 at Port Said in the Mediterranean – the blockage is costing an estimated $9.6 Billion in goods each day.
Permian Basin News Pulse February 2021
The Permian Basin | February 2021 Field Overview Located in West Texas, the Permian Basin has been producing oil for over 100 years. It leads the US in oil production and estimates put 43 billion bbl of oil still in the Permian; 80% of those reserves are believed to...
Powder River Basin News Pulse February 2021
The Powder River Basin| February 2021 Field Overview The Powder River Basin, known for its coal deposits, is located in Southeast Montana and Northeast Wyoming. The basin is named so because it is drained by the Powder River. Major cities in the area include Gillete...
SCOOP/STACK News Pulse February 2021
The SCOOP/STACK Basin | February 2021 Field Overview Ranking 6th in oil production and 3rd in natural gas production, the SCOOP/STACK play is one of the largest fields within the continental United States. It is primarily a shale play, with the Anadarko and Ardmore...
Marcellus Shale News Pulse February 2021
The Marcellus Shale| February 2021 Field Overview The Marcellus Shale is the largest gas play onshore in the US. Located in the Northeast, it supplies the high demand markets along the East Coast. Most of the basin’s gas is produced through unconventional methods,...
DJ/Niobrara News Pulse February 2021
The DJ/Niobrara Basin| February 2021 Field Overview Located mainly in the Northeast of Colorado, the Denver-Julesburg Basin consists of five main oil-producing formations: Niobrara sections A-C, Codell, and Greenhorn. These five plays produce over 90% of Colorado's...
Wyoming’s Battle For Economic Survival
For hundreds of Wyoming workers and companies involved in oil and gas exploration and development, the ripple effect of pausing new federal leases generates an enormous amount of fear and uncertainty. The lost jobs and revenue caused by Biden’s actions inhibit Wyoming’s ability to invest in new energy projects and generate revenue from future lease sales. In the longer run, Wyoming may find itself with no choice but to increase the costs of doing business with other energy sources in order to balance their budget.
Path To Paris
A report released this past week by the Climate Action Tracker suggests the United States needs to reduce its national emissions by at least 57-63% below 2005 levels by 2030 and provide support to other countries in order to be consistent with the Paris Agreement 1.5°C limit. The report further suggests that President Biden’s actions in the transportation and building sector need to be as stringent as his policies for decarbonizing the U.S. power sector by 2035 if the emissions targets are to be reached. Luckily, the report spells good news for Summit Carbon Solutions $2 billion pipeline project currently in development that will carry carbon dioxide captured from ethanol refineries scattered across the Midwest to a site in North Dakota where it will be pumped thousands of feet underground.
Frozen Texas Power Grid
A major winter weather system characterized by extreme cold spread across much of the central United States, disrupting energy systems and causing serious health and safety issues, particularly in Texas. As the storm blew in, the cold weather increased energy demand as consumers and businesses turned up the heat and stayed inside to avoid the weather. It also affected energy supply, causing intense and widespread energy market disruptions. Since this is not the first time an arctic blast has plunged Texas into darkness, it has left many people wondering: why did this happen and could energy producers and regulators have done more to prepare for this cold spell?
Carbon Negative
Chevron has announced it will work with a unit of oilfield services giant Schlumberger, as well as with Microsoft and private company Clean Energy Systems, to build a bioenergy plant with carbon capture technology that would produce carbon-negative power in Mendota, California. The bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration (BECCS) project is planned to convert agricultural waste biomass, such as almond trees, into a renewable synthesis gas that will be mixed with oxygen in a combustor to generate electricity. This is Chevron’s newest project as a growing number of oil corporations look to develop carbon capture technology and other low-carbon energy solutions.
Revenue or Political View: How New Mexico is Navigating the Federal Moratorium
President Joe Biden’s executive order halting all leasing of Federal land for oil and gas activities indefinitely will be felt nationwide but nowhere else more so than New Mexico. Since energy production is the backbone of New Mexico’s economy, much of which sits on Federal land, no bigger impact of halting Federal oil and gas leasing would be felt than in New Mexico. The state has worked to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the sector long before Biden took office and now only time will tell the full impact of Joe Biden’s Federal lease ban and temporary drilling moratorium.
Rising Tensions
On the precipice of another historic meeting between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies (OPEC+), leaders will discuss the possibility of increasing oil production levels. Since many countries in the group are dependent on oil revenues, some are wary of another price crash while others are concerned about the wellbeing of their country. Nonetheless, tensions are high and sideline members including the United States have attempted to intervene.
Oklahoma’s Battle For Federal Lands
Shortly after being sworn into office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to indefinitely ban lease sales for oil and gas development on all federal lands and offshore waters. Since energy production, namely oil and gas, is the backbone of Oklahoma’s economy, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt went to bat with an executive order of his own in an attempt to overrule the order. While there is no certainty Oklahoma will be able to ignore or become exempt from Biden’s executive order, they can certainly let policy makers in Washington, D.C. know the problems that the new restrictions will cause.
Texas Deep Freeze
On Monday, all 254 of Texas’s counties were under a winter storm warning at the same time. As wind turbines froze in place, natural gas pipelines froze shut, refineries shut down, and more than 4 million barrels of crude oil production was shut in; the amount of power supplied to the grid fell rapidly just as demand was increasing as consumers and businesses turned up the heat and stayed inside to avoid the weather. Now, millions in Texas are still left without power from an electric grid that had not taken winterization measures as low temperatures continue to rock the Lone Star State that is woefully underprepared for such a rare event.
Dr. Copper – An Oil Price Indicator
In the modern age, copper is so essential across multiple industries that its price is widely seen as a proxy for modern development and economic vitality. Similarly, oil has long been the lifeblood of current economies by generating energy to make development possible. Since copper can be considered a barometer of global economic health, it is no surprise a correlation to oil and gas demand exists as a healthy, growing economy requires more and more energy. Unfortunately, an unexpected divergence has occurred since the beginning of the global pandemic. Luckily, there appears to be market energy building for a large commodity price upcycle in which crude closes the gap and corrects upward to its industrial cousin, copper.
California News Pulse January 2021
California | January 2021 Field Overview California, with both onshore and offshore oil production, has been supplying...
SCOOP/STACK News Pulse – January 2021
The SCOOP/STACK Basin | January 2021 Field Overview Ranking 6th in oil production and 3rd in natural gas production,...
Bakken News Pulse January 2021
The Bakken Shale| January 2021 Field Overview Named after Henry Bakken, the farmer who owned the land where oil was...
Powder River Basin News Pulse January 2021
The Powder River Basin| January 2021 Field Overview The Powder River Basin, known for its coal deposits, is located in...
Permian Basin News Pulse January 2021
The Permian Basin | January 2021 Field Overview Located in West Texas, the Permian Basin has been producing oil for...
Eagle Ford News Pulse January 2021
Eagle Ford Basin | January 2021 Field Overview A heavy shale play, the Eagle Ford basin is located east of the...
DJ/Niobrara News Pulse January 2021
The DJ/Niobrara Basin| January 2021 Field Overview Located mainly in the Northeast of Colorado, the Denver-Julesburg...
Marcellus Shale News Pulse January 2021
The Marcellus Shale| January 2021 Field Overview The Marcellus Shale is the largest gas play onshore in the US....
Everyone Needs A Win
Everyone needs a win every now and again, especially when they have been battered for so long. That is exactly what happened this week when oil prices posted their longest “winning streak” in two years, gaining ground for eight straight days. Even though the world is beginning the slow and gradual transition to renewable energy, it seems markets have realized societies current reliance on fossil fuels.
Biden’s Energy Policy – Part Three: The Clean Energy Revolution And What It Means For The Global Energy Industry
President Joe Biden is using his presidential powers to make climate change a central issue of the new administration and is taking immediate action to prove his commitment to the environment. After Biden took executive action to tackle the climate crisis at home and abroad, create jobs, and restore scientific integrity across the federal government; he finished the structure of his clean energy policy by surrounding himself with like-minded, climate-forward individuals to lead the country towards carbon neutrality. He is not only focusing on climate change at the national level, but also on a global scale. His actions have put the climate crisis at the center of United States foreign policy and national security and utilize a whole-of-government approach to accomplish his climate goals. Only time will tell how much of Biden’s energy policy will be implemented during his tenure in the White House, but the process to create a unified global front for attacking the climate crisis is well underway.
End Of An Era
Early last year, the Trump administration’s Department of Energy celebrated a special birthday. “Happy Third Operating Anniversary, Petra Nova!” The release celebrated a Texas based power-plant successfully removing carbon dioxide from the plant’s emissions and safely storing them for three years. But the celebration was short lived as Petra Nova barely made it to its fourth birthday before being shuttered indefinitely in what may be one of the last gasps for carbon capture and storage technology in the U.S. While it is grim news for the aspiring technology, maybe Elon Musk can bring new vigor to CCS with his upcoming carbon capture competition.
Biden’s Energy Policy – Part Two: Laying the Groundwork for Climate Initiatives
Incoming United States President Joe Biden wasted no time putting the climate crisis back on the U.S. government agenda, proving to the world he meant business to become the “climate president”. With new executive orders detailing far-ranging plans to shift the U.S. away from fossil fuels in order to create millions of jobs in renewable energy while conserving vast swaths of public lands and water, it appears there is a new sheriff in town. But, Biden has taken office at an inflection point in U.S. energy policy, where fossil fuels still dominate transportation and electricity generation, even as they are starting to lose ground to both market forces and shifting public opinion. Now, even though the United States and the world face a profound climate crisis, Joe Biden needs to take his foot off the gas to implement small steps in order to tackle the climate crisis on a united front instead of waging war against fossil fuels.
Ex-Platform Spaceports
Most news headlines (including those at RARE PETRO) have focused on Joe Biden and his newly enacted Energy Policies, but nobody likes a broken record so let’s dive into something a little more bizarre, shall we? What do Elon Musk and Fossil Fuels all have in common? Well, a couple things now! Late last week SpaceX announced it had bought two former Valaris oil rigs to build floating launchpads for its Starship rocket, essentially building spaceports for future trips to Mars. Following up on that, Elon Musk sent out a Tweet to the Universe that he would award a $100 Million Prize to anyone who comes up with the “best carbon capture technology”. While many replied sarcastically, some have jumped aboard and started companies to fight climate change and maybe take home a hefty paycheck.
Biden’s Energy Policy – Part One
In his first 48 hours in office, the 46th President of the United States, Joseph Biden Jr. cranked out about 30 executive actions, 14 of which target a broad range of former President Trump’s executive mandates, focusing on themes such as climate change, clean energy, and decarbonization. The chasm between Biden’s agenda and Trump’s legacy is one of the widest in recent decades and nowhere is that contrast more pronounced than on climate change and the environment. Biden comes to power with a sense of urgency about climate change that is unmatched by any previous occupant of the White House, and he is installing people who share his views throughout the government. Biden’s plan for the future of energy in America sets the country down a new path – one aimed at transition and lasting change during his “Clean Energy Revolution – that will have reaching implications both domestically and abroad.