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MORNING ENERGY NEWS  |  01/27/2020
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Most productive man in Davos: Mnuchin takes down the Mademoiselle and her fellow profits of doom.


CNBC (1/24/20) reports: "The president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin laid bare their stark differences over how the world should transition to cleaner energy sources...Speaking on a panel Friday as the event drew to a close, Lagarde told the audience that central banks needed to lead the economic modeling of how changes to the environment should be costed and mitigated...Responding to the new ECB president directly, Mnuchin said he didn’t think forecasting the cost of protecting the environment was possible. 'Christine, I think you can have a lot of people and model it, but I just don’t want to kid ourselves. I think there is no way we can possibly model what these risks are over the next 30 years with a level of certainty, given what I think is the changes in technology along the way,' he said...'I don’t think we know how to price these things,' he said, adding that the current pricing of future greener energy sources was being inflated. 'So, I think we are overestimating the cost. So, if you want to put a tax on people, go ahead and put a carbon tax. That is a tax on hard-working people. I personally think the costs are going to be much lower 10 years from now — because of technology — than we think they are today.'"   

Watch this:




"Because of the drive of American entrepreneurs, domestic oil production has more than doubled since January 2010 to more than 12.5 million barrels per day."

 

– Nicolas Loris, Heritage Foundation

Doing more with less.


Energy Information Administration (1/24/20) reports: "U.S. oil production from tight formations increased in 2019, accounting for 64% of total U.S. crude oil production. This share grew because of the increasing productivity of new wells that were brought online during 2019. Since 2007, the average first full month of oil production from new wells in regions tracked by the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Drilling Productivity Report (DPR) has increased. The growing initial production rates have helped oil production from tight formations to increase despite the slowdowns in drilling activity when oil prices fell between 2015 and 2016. Since 2017, recovering oil prices and more efficient production from new wells have helped producers cover costs of drilling, production, and the development of new technologies...Rig counts have fluctuated throughout 2019 in all DPR regions. The aggregate rig counts declined 16% in the first 11 months of 2019. Despite the decrease in rig count, producers are capable of drilling more efficient wells faster to keep U.S. crude oil production growing."

Mike McKenna:  A Very Stable Genius


E&E News (1/24/20) reports: "The Trump White House approaches energy policy like a jackhammer to a concrete slab — chipping away at Obama-era regulations on everything from greenhouse gas emissions to mercury to wetlands. Driving that deregulatory agenda at the White House, from the start, has been a fairly small cadre of aides that has only grown smaller in the last three years...But Trump runs the White House like his business empire — with a 'lean and mean team,' said Tom Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance who led the Trump Energy Department transition team...McKenna has more energy experience than everyone else named in this article. For decades, he has been a fixture in Washington energy circles, lobbying for a range of companies like Competitive Power Ventures and natural gas distributor Engie SA. Last fall, he landed a job at the White House. He's serving as associate director in legislative affairs under Director Eric Ueland. A longtime conservative voice on energy and free markets in the Washington press, McKenna has stayed out of the papers since joining the White House in the fall."

Congratulations and fight on, Amy.


John Locke Foundation (1/23/20) announces: "Amy O. Cooke, known across the United States for her innovative efforts to defend and advance freedom, is returning to her family’s North Carolina roots to lead the John Locke Foundation. Her arrival comes as JLF approaches its 30th anniversary as North Carolina’s most respected voice on behalf of limited, constitutional government that supports economic freedom and personal liberty...Amy comes to North Carolina from Colorado, where she served as Executive Vice President of the Independence Institute, Colorado’s free-market think tank. She was also Director of the Energy and Environmental Policy Center at the Independence Institute. Amy spent 16 years with the organization, where she racked up victories in public policy and media and streamlined foundation operations. For 10 years she hosted the award-winning Amy Oliver Show on News Talk 1310 KFKA and received accolades from the Colorado Broadcasters Association...Amy is a sought-after voice in the country’s freedom movement. She is a former senior fellow with the Independent Women’s Forum, has written op-eds for numerous national and state newspapers, and has been a guest on Fox News."

Here’s a crazy notion. Perhaps Coloradans love their cars.


Denver Post (1/26/20) reports: "The troubled agency that oversees the Denver metro region’s transit system faces a potentially pivotal moment in 2020 as criticism of RTD and calls for change reach a crescendo not heard in years. The Regional Transportation District’s chronic bus and light rail operator shortages, longstanding budget challenges and its latest proposal to scale back service have thrown the agency into flux — all while its board searches for a new CEO to take the reins. A chorus of voices is taking notice, from officials in the state Capitol to business leaders to vocal riders and transit advocates who are fed up with what they see as the agency’s drift into disarray. And they’re not just complaining. Some have proposed a raft of short-term and long-term changes that, if adopted, could mark an inflection point for RTD...Ask Natalie Menten, who is nearing the end of her second term, and the Jefferson County board member said RTD doesn’t need more money. It needs to re-evaluate its priorities as it faces the coming budget shortfall, she said, and she’s not sure how new board appointees would help. 'I don’t know where the taxpayer watchdog is in that,' she said. 'If there’s one thing I’d change in that whole part of the proposal, it would be that there would be a citizen in there whose whole focus is looking out for the taxpayers.'" 

Energy Markets

 
WTI Crude Oil: ↓ $52.83
Natural Gas: ↑ $1.94
Gasoline: ↓ $2.51
Diesel: ↓ $2.97
Heating Oil: ↓ $168.10
Brent Crude Oil: ↑ $59.13
US Rig Count: ↓ 815

 
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