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MORNING ENERGY NEWS  |  01/23/2020
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Starbucks needs to signal how 'concerned' they are about the environment.


Bloomberg (1/21/20) reports: "The latest blow to the downtrodden dairy industry was delivered by none other than Starbucks Corp., with the coffee giant looking to condition customers to use milk alternatives in a bid to reduce its carbon footprint. While Starbucks accounts for just 0.3% of U.S. milk production, the decision to formally declare an emphasis on non-dairy options may encourage other food-service outlets to follow suit. That could add momentum to the shift toward oat, nut, soy and other alternative beverages for health and environmental reasons. American cow-milk consumption has fallen about 2% each year since the 1970’s, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It’s a trend that has helped put plenty of American dairy farmers out of business and led to two big U.S. processors -- Dean Foods Co. and Borden Dairy Co. -- into bankruptcy. Dean is one of Starbucks’ key suppliers, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Marketing group Dairy Management Inc. said that while it shares Starbucks’ commitment to sustainability, the industry’s environmental footprint is small and shrinking due to innovative farm practices and new technologies. 'Both plants and animals play a critical role in the health of the people and the planet,' the group said."

"During the last three years, through tax cuts, deregulation, unleashing America’s energy resources, and easing restrictions on credit markets, we have witnessed a rebirth of freedom and free enterprise—and a very fortunate move away from socialism."

 

– Representative Andy Barr, Kentucky's 6th District

Right message on Climate and Carbon taxes.


USA Today (1/23/20) reports: "Treasury Secretary Steve Munchin dismissed the concerns of Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg on Thursday, telling her to wait until she has an economics degree before she advises countries how to handle energy policy...At a CNBC forum, Mnuchin defended the environmental record of the Trump administration and said, 'I think there's a misinterpretation as to what our view is.' 'The U.S. administration very clearly believes in clean air and clean water,' he said. "We have been very focused on technology to have cleaner energy in the U.S. And without a lot of government intervention, our private industry has been moving in that direction. 'We very much support that countries should be doing things where there are environmental issues, particularly in the air and water,' he said. 'We're very proud of our record there.' But, when it came to reducing carbon emissions, Mnuchin said it was important to consider the economic impacts. 'The president was very clear: The reason we got out of the Paris agreement was we thought it was an unfair agreement to the U.S,' he said. He mentioned that he used to love driving his Tesla, but he said switching to electric vehicles raises its own set of concerns, such as how the electricity is generated and how the batteries are safely disposed of...'From the U.S. standpoint, we support a clean environment, we just believe it should be done in a way that can also be pro-business and thoughtful.'"

A CEO of an oil company taking an anti-fossil fuel position? You'd have to be looney. 


Reuters (1/22/20) reports: "Change is afoot at BP. Incoming Chief Executive Bernard Looney plans to expand the company’s climate targets and is considering overhauling the structure of the oil and gas major in one of the biggest shake-ups in its 111-year history. The 49-year-old Irishman plans to adopt broader carbon emissions reduction goals that will likely include emissions from fuels and products sold to customers rather than just the far lower emissions from BP’s own operations, according to four sources with knowledge of internal discussions with the new CEO. The aim is to catch up with, and possibly outdo, rivals such as Royal Dutch Shell and Repsol as investor pressure over climate change mounts, said the sources who declined to be named as the plans have not yet been made public...Any new strategy will require a fine balancing act though, and is not without risk for a company whose pioneering efforts in the early 2000s to build a large renewables business, branded 'Beyond Petroleum,' ended with huge losses."

Anti-pipeline zealots are anti-safety. 


Energy In Depth (1/21/20) blog: "Texas is currently experiencing unprecedented natural gas production, accounting for a quarter of the country’s natural gas output. However, without the necessary buildout of pipeline infrastructure, Texas’ abundant natural gas, and its many economic and environmental benefits, would go unrealized. As EID’s latest fact sheet explains, pipelines are the safest and most efficient way to move Texas’ ample natural gas to market. This would not be possible without the leading safety measures and advanced technologies used by the natural gas industry, paired with critical oversight by state agencies. Check out the fact sheet below to learn more about the industry’s safety efforts and oversight:"

A record-breaking year, and we're not even out of January yet.


Oilprice.com (1/21/20) reports: "Oil production in the seven most prolific shale plays in the United States is set to increase by 22,000 bpd in February to 9.2 million bpd, the Energy Information Administration said in the latest edition of its monthly Drilling Productivity Report. Production in set to decrease in the Anadarko, Eagle Ford, and Niobrara regions by a combined 28,000 bpd next month, but are more than offset by increases in the Permian and Bakken plays, which together should add 50,000 bpd in February, according to the EIA. Gas production is also set to increase in February overall in the seven plays, by 65 million cubic feet per day. The EIA is forecasting the star of the shale patch, the Permian basin, to increase production by 45,000 bpd, from 4.758 million bpd in January to 4.803 million bpd in February. The Bakken will see a smaller increase, from 1.521 million bpd in January to 1.526 million bpd in February. Year over year, the Permian basin’ February 2020 production would be an increase of 800,000 bpd." 

The People's Republic of California continues to import electricity and oil while primarily exporting middle-class refugees. 


Heartland Institute (1/17/20) blog: "California’s green crusade direction and actions are increasing the costs of electricity and fuels which guarantees growth of the homeless, poverty, and welfare populations, and further fuels (no pun intended) the housing affordability crisis. It’s scary that our leaders can’t 'see' that the regressive energy policies have serious consequences for working families. Their misguided directives are intertwined with every aspect of daily life and is causing the continuous growth of poverty and homelessness from the Oregon state line on the north all the way to the Mexican border on the south. California professes to be the leader of everything, but spouting voracious pride of being the only state in America that imports most of its crude oil energy from foreign countries, and the State that and imports more electricity than any other state, may not be in the best interest of California’s 5th largest economy in the world. It's fine to import when you get bargain rates, but both oil and electricity, are two commodities that are ultra-expensive to import and drives up the cost of everything...It's mind-boggling that our California legislative leaders continuously fail to see the direct correlation between high energy costs for electricity and fuels, and poverty, homelessness, and a housing affordability crisis already impacting the Golden State."

Energy Markets

 
WTI Crude Oil: ↓ $55.77
Natural Gas: ↑ $1.96
Gasoline: ↓ $2.54
Diesel: ↓ $2.98
Heating Oil: ↓ $177.00
Brent Crude Oil: ↓ $62.21
US Rig Count: ↑↓ 1137

 
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