We all believe that protecting the environment around us is something that must only affect others. Most people could not care less if Polar Bears find a patch of ice to live their lives on or if the rainforest dies…
Africa – just like many other regions on Earth – suffers from a double-edged problem. On one side, enormous amounts of natural gas are being flared every single day and this gas comes as associated gas to the surface with…
Now it’s official. Since September 1st this year, all new diesel vehicles sold in the European Union must comply with the EURO 6 standard. EURO 6 is by any measure the most severe limitation of nasty pollutants that are allowed…
Good ideas are born incredibly frequently and it’s even more astonishing how long they hover around without ever producing any noticeable impact. Most great ideas, that have gone on to change the world, did not do so because the ideas…
Is there still anyone who is not in awe of what the shale revolution has done to the planet? Whatever one might think of the environmental suitability of fracturing rock deep in the earth to extract oil and gas, one…
In July 2014 I made a wager. I said that before March 2016 (don’t ask me why this date, it just sprung into existence out of nothingness) WTI would go below 28 USD. We have seen a huge slide in…
What’s the biggest killer on planet Earth? It’s not the Islamic State or some other conflict. It’s not even cancer, bad driving, or cataclysms of Mother Nature. It’s a much more terrifying opponent – heart failure. A whopping third of…
Who knows what a Stirling engine is? Most of us won’t. Well, I didn’t until about a year ago and when I was explained the principle at its core, I had an EUREKA moment. Let’s go to the fundamentals. Stirling…
A couple of days ago I had a conversation with a trader friend who has migrated into the consulting business. His journey was the result of a bit of involuntary arm twisting to be sure as this was not what…
How many times have I written about the implications of shale on oil? For an LNG guy I have a strange obsession with that but look at the fundamentals and the picture is clear. Oil is still the big bully…
It is difficult not to be stunned by what happens in energy nowadays. Prices were stratospheric for many years and suddenly have dropped to less than half only to regain a little over the last weeks and months. Renegade drillers…
Who has not seen the movie “The Matrix”? As incredible as it seems, there still seem to be those who have not. I guess none of my readers responds to this challenge so I skip the storyline and the cast.…
There is a German saying. He, who does a voyage, shall have stories to tell. This certainly applies to the LNG business and to any newcomer getting his first chills from it. It’s all exciting but after the first few…
Since my earliest days in LNG, I have lived with the specter of Iranian LNG. Iran was always one of the potentially emerging LNG superpowers. Well – sort of at least. Since 1972, when the first concept for an LNG…
After nearly a decade in LNG, I tend to believe that I should have seen everything under the sun – but that conviction turns to shreds just an instant after when I see the next hilarious piece of LNG news.…
The news about the current Nigerian fuels crisis is already spreading beyond the realms of the Gulf of Guinea. It is said that this one is the worst since anyone can think. This is truly not an enviable legacy for…
When I was exposed to Sub-Saharan Africa for the first time in 1996, one of the real big problems of the time was keeping in touch with loved ones back in Europe. Telephones were rare and when they existed, lines…
On the day when my oldest son hit school, I had a moment of surprise. Gone were the neat rows of tables and chairs I had found as a boy. Today’s schools in Vienna (my hometown) were colorful, differently assembled…
This is not my first post on the current oil price dilemma and I have a hunch that there will be more to come in terms of even lower prices. From today’s vantage point it looks a bit like the…
In the mid-nineties, the UK transformed its gas market unleashing liberalization. Competition was about to set customers free, set traders loose and set the scene for the birth of the dominating gas hub of Europe. The National Balancing Point better…
Those who have spent the last 10 years in oil and gas were in for the ride of their lifetime. Those who have spent far longer in the industry will look back at the nuttiest 10 years of their entire…