This is the guy guiding economic policy for the country.

The executive told Financial Times, "We're talking about this administration screwing us over again…. If the U.S. government starts providing guarantees to oil companies to produce or grow oil production in Venezuela. I'm going to be…. pissed."

In Venezuela the money is in the oil, not the associated gas, so that gas is all flared and vented. Same is true in Texas. And North Dakota, etc.

India’s energy storage market set for breakout year in 2026 #energysky -- via pv magazine global:

Lying in the bed that you made....

There is a lot of media coverage over this deal and how Singer is getting credit for being really smart in acquiring....stay with me here....the rights to three US refineries and a lot of gas stations. The idea that this is a smart investment in 2026 is questionable.

A resignation letter: "We all saw it. We all saw, with our own two eyes, people getting dragged like dogs and killed. But we could not write one line about it on the newspaper. In shame, we put down our pens. May 20, 1980 All Journalists of Jeonnam Maeil Shinmun"

“If the spread between Henry Hub, TTF and JKM falls below the variable cost to ship LNG, then some of those cargoes will be cancelled,” Rau said. “We really haven’t seen that since Covid, but it likely will happen again at some point, especially if the world is flooded with gas.” US LNG will lose $

'They don’t care. They’re just animals. I’ve never seen people behave like this.'"

Last month I wrote about Harold Hamm and how he has misled the people of America about how much oil we can produce while at the same time investing in other countries. Like this: "Harold Hamm’s Continental Resources Inc. is expanding its interest in Argentina’s gas-rich Vaca Muerta shale play..."

On CNN!! “The largest economy in the world is embracing a petrostate approach. It just reinforces this notion that the United States is increasingly going backward on the energy transition and on top of that, is very willing and able to deploy military forces to achieve that goal.”

Batteries are the fossil fuel killer. China knows and would prefer to not be reliant on fossil fuels from place like Venezuela. So they do this.

"No private company will invest in Venezuela’s oil infrastructure with their own money. Wall St. will charge up to 25%, so no companies will go forward because they can’t make money. That’s why Trump is now saying that Americans are supposed to pay to get Venezuela’s oil flowing less sluggishly."

"The US president will have to hope that the LNG industry is correct." A conman will have to hope that another group of conmen are correct or US consumers will pay much higher electricity and heating prices. Want to guess how that ends?

"The fossil fuel industry is essentially running the United States government from the inside. It's a desperate industry. They know that clean renewable energy is cheaper. "

At risk of repeating myself: if you have a Twitter/X account then at least pause it. Tell organisations you work for/are involved in to stop posting there.

I'm so grateful to see someone say this out loud, without fear of being called an alarmist or a pearl-clutcher. Because history shows the roadmap very clearly. If we don't call it what it is, we can't deal with it realistically. www.importantcontext.news/p/experts-wa...

"Just as AI does not require fossil fuels or nuclear power, modern mobility does not require internal combustion. What requires them are the vested interests whose business models collapse when energy and movement decentralise." Good read.

California is around the 5th largest economy in the world. Nat gas prices are dropping there for some reason. "A notable exception were prices in California, where renewables have chipped away at natural gas’ share of the electric generation market."

"Per Reuters’ Russell, the European Union bought an average 1.73 million barrels daily of U.S. crude oil in 2025. That was down from 1.91 million barrels daily a year earlier."

this is a new one. "The senior administration official said the transfer would happen quickly because Venezuela’s crude is very heavy, which means it can’t be stored for long."

India’s coal dims; renewables shine. #econsky

Something I see a lot of folks missing in discussions about what's happening Venezuela, particularly around oil, is the role U.S. oil majors' interest in Guyana—and the threat Venezuela posed to it—has in all of it. Explainer here: drilled.media/news/guyana-...

The economic idiocy on display is pretty wild. Apparently Trump created a new oil empire where he has a new unique power. "Washington would have the means to keep the oil price close to $50 a barrel" Brilliant. None of the US oil industry makes money at that price. What a great option to have!

I've seen a lot of commentary on the Venezuelan oil situation. Personally, I wouldn't trust anyone's estimates on the economics of VZ oil production just yet.

“This is just the latest chapter in a long history of extractive companies from North America profiting from poisoning and polluting in Latin America,” Mikulka said. Comment on current events? No. Something I said last month.

Seb Kennedy is a great gas market analyst. And he has lived and worked in Venezuela. His take on things is definitely worth your time.

It's technically true what they say: As a Flow Gas, Anthropogenic Methane wouldn't contribute much to global warming if emissions held steady for about 12 years. There's only one problem...

“If we just replace coal plants with LNG, that means the coal exit actually doesn’t lead to a green transition and merely shifts Korea’s addiction from coal to gas, which undermines the whole spirit of climate action," Lee said. Pretty easy to understand.

"If all the stars align — which is to say that government policy is supportive, industry delivers and the technology works — there could be a global fleet of 1,000 SMRs with aggregate capacity of 120 gigawatts by 2050" 120 gigawatts by 2050 is a rounding error in the global energy system.

"Coal India has been sitting on bloated inventories of unsold fuel after a milder-than-expected summer subdued demand for electricity last year. It has also seen its sales squeezed by intensifying competition from rival miners as well as growing output from renewables."

AI overlords: "we are all-knowing and will deliver higher intelligence that will solve all of the world's problems" Also AI overlords: "we are going to build all of the water hungry data centers in areas without water"

"The US power sector is poised for a landmark transition in 2026, with all net new generating capacity expected to come exclusively from renewable energy and battery storage, according to forecasts from the US Energy Information Administration"

"In roughly five years, according to Lanzerac’s operations manager, Tiaan Lategan, electricity for the estate will essentially be free. 'The pros definitely outweigh the cons,' he said" Simple math.

"We are losing an information war because we want to fight it with a volunteer effort." A few thoughts on my career in journalism and analysis.

When it saves you money and improves your life to put solar on your roof. You put solar on your roof (South Africa edition). "Today, solar and battery systems are deployed across a variety of businesses — auto factories and wineries, gold mines and shopping malls. "

FYI - Trump and the Republicans no longer consider if new LNG projects poison the local population (protip: they do!). Real quality people, that crew.

In 2019 I wrote the following in an article about how renewables would beat out gas in the future. "Estimates predict the cost of storage alone could drop 80 percent by 2040. Who wants to own a gas power plant in 2040 knowing that?" Updated timeline:

"Excess fuel supplies, a hardware backlog and a more competitive alternative bode ill for LNG market incumbents. A crash is looming." I'm used to making forecasts a few years ahead. But things are moving fast now. I wrote this story in Sept and now Reuters is running with the same message

Good morning. How about 2000 words about the state of the US oil industry? "Hamm admitted the Bakken is 'tapped out.' The reason he is buying shale assets in other countries is because the reality is that the U.S. oil industry is tapped out."

It's a good thing we didn't build a bunch of new EV charging lounges based on the idea it would take 30 minutes.

Using CO2 to push more oil out of old oilfields (enhanced oil recovery[EOR]) is a bad idea for many reasons but one of the biggest is that much of the CO2 doesn't stay in the ground and even worse, some can be converted to methane. Issue could use much more attention.

Perhaps the economy isn't working for everyone these days?

This is a big piece on Yahoo Finance about targeting methane emissions. It gets some of the facts wrong. First up: "Methane emissions from oil and gas operations account for almost a third of the global total and are caused primarily by leaks and flaring." Leaks are less than 10% of emissions.

"Cicio noted that for every $1 increase in the Henry Hub price, U.S. consumers pay roughly $34 billion more for natural gas and $20 billion more for electricity — about $54 billion annually." (paywalled)

Some of my stories this year included: - how the gas industry pushed state bills to redefine gas as “clean” energy - how the DOE partnered with plastics lobbyists - how Exxon is building CO2 pipelines through communities after Trump withdrew safety regs More: www.exxonknews.org/p/exxonknews...

Jigar and I don't agree on everything but it's good to see him calling out the US media's energy "reporting." "...despite the glass-half empty reporting out of the USA."

"The key question for 2026 is whether China will, and can, continue to buy excess crude when prices drop, effectively providing a floor." While the US is issuing threats and tariffs to try to implement global energy policy, China has legit economic levers it controls.

I will be publishing a new piece that focuses on Harold Hamm and the Bakken very soon. Interesting timing to have this come out today. "Harold Hamm, founder of Continental Resources, donor to President Donald Trump and friend and associate of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum..."

Blue collar workers were convinced to vote against their own financial interests quite successfully in this country. Will white collar workers do the same?