LNG for free – who can take it?
Ever since the very first cargo of LNG was shipped a little more than 60 years ago by now, the entire LNG world was dominated by the notions of reliability and financial safety. The dogma is that LNG terminals and…
Category Peripheral Vision
Up here, the shouting fades. Below, the deckhands brawl over semantics and empty barrels. But from the rigging, the shape of things comes into focus — slow collapse, fast delusion, and the absurd elegance of it all.
This is where I map the mess from altitude. Big arcs. Broken patterns. Unwelcome truths seen before impact. No rah-rah optimism, no collapse-porn doomerism. Just the sharp wind, a good scope, and the knowledge that sometimes the best you can do is spot the rocks early and yell loud enough for someone below to hear.
Will an OPEC++ oil deal do any good?
If you are an oil and gas professional I want you to make a little mental exercise with me. Close your eyes, lean back and think very hard if you have ever seen such crazy times in your trade. Be…
Border Adjustment Tax – Control Knob for Free Trade
Last week we saw that unchecked free trade leads into the abyss of countries competing on how to better destroy country and people. How to fix it. In the developed world we like to give things a price. At least…
How free shall trade ever be
In nature, it often happens that two organisms form a mutually beneficial, stable relationship with each other. It’s called a symbiosis. Both organisms have an interest in the relationship. A very iconic example is the honeybee and flowers. The flowers…
How COVID-19 will reshape energy
In 1347, a ship of the Genoese merchant fleet arrived in Messina (Sicily). Most of the crew had already deceased when it pulled into the harbor. They had fallen victim to a mysterious affliction. The Black Death had arrived in…
A flawed world laid bare by COVID-19
In 1955, the then-North Korean leader Kim Il Sung gave a speech. During this speech, he mentioned the term “Juche” for the first time. The exact title was “On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and Establishing Juche in Ideological Work”. North…
The wrath of the Tsar
Every group of people has its stories, fables, and prejudices. That’s no different for planet gas. The story of Russia’s gas weapon wielded to achieve political objectives is its most pervasive staple. I have discussed it with many professionals and…
The first LNG Market Maker
Late in 2008, the foundational agreements for the GATE terminal were in final negotiation. For the first time, a multiuser regasification terminal strictly separated the owner/operator from the capacity customers. We often met in small teams haggling until the early…
Europe – from LNG’s killing fields to its innovation hub
During the 1950ies, the energy world started to understand that something useful had to be done with Natural Gas. It was a by-product of nearly every oil well and as it could not be put to good use most of…
The LNG seesaw is out of whack
In part 2 of this series, I have described the events that have led to the situation we are in now. Oversupply. Oh no, I am really downplaying things now. It’s not way more than simple oversupply. This is the…