What is it going to take?

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DAILY ENERGY NEWS | 01/05/2022

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It looks like it will take a serious energy crisis in the northeast before they reverse course.

Doomberg (12/30/21) substack article: "At its core, the human body is a symphony of chemical reactions. The complexities and interdependencies of the molecular machinery that makes our bodies function are almost too staggering to ponder. As any chemist can attest, chemical reactions are usually quite sensitive to temperature, and sensitivity to temperature varies substantially across reaction pathways. As such, temperature control not only dictates reaction rates, but it also influences product and byproduct distributions. At one temperature, two reagents might react cleanly to produce a desired product with high purity. At a different temperature, an undesirable pathway might become more kinetically favored, leading to the accumulation of unwanted impurities...Because internal temperature is critical to sustaining life, the body has developed elaborate heat management systems, including discomfort nudges (like shivering and sweating) that are meant to directly generate or shed heat and motivate you to relocate to a more suitable environment. If you stand outside for a few minutes in the winter wearing nothing but shorts and a t-shirt, you become uncomfortable rather quickly. Return inside to a warm fire and a rewarding comfort envelops you. Just don’t get too close to the fire, lest the body be forced to nudge you back outside...We leave you with a tweet we posted a week ago today that went viral. At the time of this writing, it has been seen by nearly 250,000 people and has over 1,900 likes. With less nuclear, insufficient natural gas pipelines, and no LNG available to save the day, New England is one cold snap away from a substantial disaster. If you live there, prepare your thermal comfort zone accordingly."

"New England, literally within dozens of miles of the Marcellus, one of the world's biggest gas fields, is about to get LNG deliveries from, erm, Trinidad & Tobago. Because of pipelines, or a lack thereof."

– Simon Casey, Bloomberg

Why would France burn more coal to keep the lights on? Why not just use more wind and solar?

Bloomberg (1/4/21) reports: "France is considering a plan to allow electricity producers to burn more coal after the nation’s grid operator warned of possible power shortages. The government may raise the annual cap on running coal-fired power stations, plugging a potential gap in supply as an unusually high number of nuclear reactors halt for maintenance just as the coldest months get under way. The country’s three remaining coal units may be permitted to operate for about 1,000 hours over the first two months of 2022, according to a draft decree on the Ecology Ministry’s website. That’s 300 hours more than the annual cap that was set in 2019 to help curb carbon emissions. 'This measure is necessary to ensure security of electricity supply,' the ministry said. 'It raises electricity production margins only for the most problematic period of winter in January and February 2022, while keeping the target of a definitive halt of coal stations in mainland France.'"

Remember friends, Joe Manchin is not necessarily a friend of free markets in energy...

A country goes from ruling half the world to struggling to keep the lights on in less than a century. A cautionary tale, to be sure.

Oil Price (1/4/21) reports: "Households in the UK are facing much higher electricity prices as a result of the energy crunch, British media report, as the government prepares to adjust a cap on utility bills in April this year. 'This year is going to be a very tough year for many people. The energy price crisis needs substantial intervention from the Government,' said Martin Lewis, founder of the free money saving advice website Money Saving Expert, as quoted by iNews. 'We are going to see a minimum 50 per cent increase in energy prices in the system and that is unsustainable for many,' Lewis also said. Per another report, in The Guardian, some six million UK households may be unable to afford the higher energy bills expected from April unless the government intervenes, according to a charity. There were four million households living in fuel poverty at the start of 2021, the charity, National Energy Action, said. This number will grow by another two million if the energy bill cap is adjusted in tune with market price trends."

Energy Markets

WTI Crude Oil: ↑ $77.91
Natural Gas: ↑ $3.80
Gasoline: ↑ $3.29

Diesel: ↑ $3.57
Heating Oil: ↑ $244.28
Brent Crude Oil: ↑ $81.07
US Rig Count: ↑ 692

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