Nick Cunningham

Latest articles from Nick

• White House Targets Methane Emissions

  Published 29 March 2014 | viewed 17,236 times

  On March 28, the White House released a multi-pronged strategy to reduce methane emissions from a variety of sources, a step the administration says is…

• A U.S.-Saudi Move to Lower Oil Prices?

  Published 27 March 2014 | viewed 23,953 times

  Could the U.S. unleash a flood of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve that would drive down prices in order to punish Russia? While the…

• DOE Approves West Coast LNG Terminal

  Published 25 March 2014 | viewed 9,705 times

  The Department of Energy issued its conditional approval for a liquefied natural gas export terminal in Oregon on March 24. This marks the seventh overall…

• Russia Looks East as Relations with Europe Deteriorate

  Published 22 March 2014 | viewed 20,485 times

  The standoff between the U.S. and the EU on one hand, and Russia on the other, intensified pretty quickly late last week. The U.S. quickly…

• Outlook for Coal Darkens

  Published 20 March 2014 | viewed 9,340 times

  The coal market in the United States continues to shrink, dimming the industry’s future prospects. New data from the Energy Information Administration shows that planned…

• How Will Crimea Influence Iran Talks?

  Published 18 March 2014 | viewed 7,489 times

  Talks are resuming in Vienna over Iran’s nuclear program between Iran and the P5+1 – China, France, Russia, the U.K., the U.S. and Germany. The…

• Russia Eyes Crimea’s Oil and Gas Reserves

  Published 15 March 2014 | viewed 36,984 times

  According to Reuters, Crimea may nationalize oil and gas assets within its borders belonging to Ukraine, and sell them off to Russia. Crimea’s Deputy Prime…

• Ukrainian Crisis Sparks EU Efforts to Improve Energy Security

  Published 13 March 2014 | viewed 11,152 times

  Russia’s incursion into Ukraine has sparked concerns over disruptions in natural gas supplies to Europe. Russia has previously shut off the taps for geopolitical leverage,…

• Three Years After Fukushima, What’s Next for Nuclear Power?

  Published 11 March 2014 | viewed 6,916 times

  March 11 marks the third anniversary of the tsunami that hit Japan and led to the disaster at Fukushima-Daiichi. Thousands died from the tsunami, and…

• Geopolitical Turmoil Takes its Toll on ExxonMobil

  Published 08 March 2014 | viewed 18,826 times

  ExxonMobil had a pretty rotten week. On March 5 it announced that it would reduce capital expenditures this year, after having “peaked” in 2013. Its…

• Coal’s Comeback Year Runs into Trouble

  Published 06 March 2014 | viewed 14,029 times

  The U.S. coal industry is expected to have a comeback year in 2014, regaining some of the ground it lost in the electric power industry…

• Russia Needs to Sell Gas More than EU Needs to Buy it

  Published 04 March 2014 | viewed 16,883 times

  The Russian occupation of Crimea has raised concerns about the European Union’s dependence on its eastern neighbor for natural gas. The EU gets about 34%…

• Markets in Turmoil on Ukrainian Crisis

  Published 03 March 2014 | viewed 5,326 times

  The brewing war in Ukraine has quickly reverberated through the markets, sending stocks down and commodities up. Tension heightened over the weekend with Russia’s move…

• China Moves Forward with New Nuclear Reactors

  Published 01 March 2014 | viewed 14,971 times

  On February 27th, China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) approved the construction of two new nuclear reactors in the eastern coastal province of Shandong. The…

• Shell’s Troubles in Nigeria Continue

  Published 27 February 2014 | viewed 9,814 times

  Royal Dutch Shell is in the midst of a flurry of sell offs to fix its balance sheet, unloading billions of dollars of assets as…

• Obama Admin Raises Liability Cap for Oil Spills

  Published 25 February 2014 | viewed 12,817 times

  On February 21, the U.S. Department of Interior proposed raising the cap on liabilities that oil companies are forced to pay in the event of…

• Can U.S. LNG Break Russia’s Gas Grip on Europe?

  Published 22 February 2014 | viewed 26,245 times

  The spread between natural gas prices in the United States and Asia has many U.S. producers salivating at the prospect of shipping LNG overseas. Japan,…

• Opportunity for U.S. LNG Exporters May Be Limited

  Published 20 February 2014 | viewed 10,144 times

  Natural gas prices in the U.S. for quite a few years now have hovered between the $2 and $4 per million btu (MMBtu) range, while…

• Oil Train Derailments Reaching Crisis Point

  Published 18 February 2014 | viewed 18,430 times

  On February 13 a Norfolk Southern Railway train bound for New Jersey derailed in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania. About 3,500 to 4,500 gallons of crude oil spilled,…

• Iranian Oil Exports Increase After Nuclear Deal

  Published 17 February 2014 | viewed 14,106 times

  Shaking off some of the restrictions of international sanctions, Iran managed to boost its oil exports by 100,000 barrels per day in January. According to…