Year: 2022

This week saw two documents published by two government departments: the European Commission in Brussels and the Department of Treasury in Washington. The Commission’s document was a proposal for “a new instrument” aimed at limiting excessive gas prices in Europe. The Treasury’s document was guidance on the implementation of a price cap policy towards crude oil originating in the Russian Federation. Both were slammed by critics within hours of their publication. The two documents represent the long-awaited price caps that have been discussed since June for the oil price cap on Russian crude and…

Oil stocks have continued to show a peculiar disconnect from the commodity they track, with oil equities staging a powerful rally even as oil prices have fallen sharply since the last OPEC meeting. Over the past two months, the energy sector’s leading benchmark, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA: XLE), has climbed 34% while average crude spot prices have declined 18%. XLE now boasts a 61.2% return in the year-to-date, the best of any U.S. market sector.  According to Bespoke Investment Group via the Wall Street Journal, the current split marks the first time…

Contrary to much decarbonization hype, jumping on the green hydrogen bandwagon is not a silver bullet solution to climate change. In fact, it’s a double-edged sword. A versatile energy carrier, hydrogen is projected to play a major part in decarbonization of global manufacturing and industrial supply chains, but its production, transport, and conversion require major inversions of energy and investment that could slow down the rest of the green energy transition if mismanaged. Hydrogen is touted as a key element in any decarbonization trajectory because unlike solar and wind energy,…