WTI Surges! On What News? December 23, 2022

ERCOT: in good shape, second 12-hour stretch of this 60-hour freeze.

Investors: if overweight in oil, looking good.

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Back to the Bakken

The Far Side: link here.

Active rigs: 45.

WTI: $80.21. Up 3.5%; up $2.72.

Natural gas: $5.136.

Sunday, December 25, 2022: 69 for the month, 178 for the quarter, 723 for the year.
38202, conf, CLR, LCU Foster Federal 3-28H1,
38200, conf, Hess, EN-Rehak A-155-94-1423H-3,
37897, conf, BR, Ole 2-1-29MTFH,
37891, conf, Enerplus, Cadmium 147-93-17B-20H,

Saturday, December 24, 2022: 65 for the month, 174 for the quarter, 719 for the year.
38484, conf, Hess, Go-Johnson-156-98-2635H-2,
38203, conf, CLR, LCU Foster Federal 2-28H,
37890, conf, Enerplus, Bismuth 147-93-17B -20H,
37697, conf, BR, Ole 2-1-29MBH,

Friday, December 23, 2022: 61 for the month, 170 for the quarter, 714 for the year.
38485, conf, Heess, GO-Johnson-156-98-2635H-3,
38410, conf, Whiting, Kannianen 11-5TFH,
37698, conf, BR, Ole 4-1-29MBH,

RBN Energy: blue hydrogen, blue ammonia, and now blue methanol.

Many may have nits to pick with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — some may not like one or both at all — but it would be hard to argue with the view that they provide generous financial support for the production of clean hydrogen and the capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2).

And now, with a clearer understanding of the tax credits that will be available going forward, companies active in the clean hydrogen and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) spaces are scrambling to advance large-scale projects that would benefit from the federal government’s largesse.

That includes blue methanol plants, which produce a super-low-carbon version of the petrochemical intermediate and shipping fuel by capturing and sequestering most of the CO2 that is generated during production. In today’s RBN blog, we look at the blue methanol projects taking shape along the Gulf Coast.

Efforts to decarbonize the U.S. economy have come in a variety of flavors. Build more wind farms and solar facilities. Improve energy efficiency. Encourage the manufacture of electric vehicles and the development of charging stations. And don’t forget hydrogen — or, more specifically, clean hydrogen produced either by running water through a renewables- or nuclear-powered electrolyzer (typically referred to as “green” and ”pink” hydrogen, respectively) or running natural gas through steam methane reformers (SMRs) or auto thermal reformers (ATRs) and capturing and sequestering the CO2 generated by the reforming process.

The hydrogen produced via the latter process, generally characterized as “blue,” isn’t carbon-free like green hydrogen, but the CCS process can keep as much as 96% of the CO2 generated out of the atmosphere, so most view blue hydrogen production as a big step forward from an emissions perspective.