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“Facts Are Stubborn Things, But Statistics Are Pliable”
By John Auers and John Mayes Although the oil business was only in its infancy when Mark Twain coined the famous quote in the title of today’s blog, it certainly came to mind when we were looking at...
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Diesel Doldrums – Will Slowing Demand and Oversupply Crash the Party?
By: Ryan M. Couture As oil prices fell from what seems like stratospheric levels to below $30 over the past 18 months, the implications for the industry have been many-fold. Producers have felt...
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To Build or Not To Build, That is the Question? What’s in Store for Refining...
By John Auers and John Mayes While the past 18 months have been very difficult for most of the petroleum industry, there is one sector that has done quite well – the refiners. Low prices have...
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The Super Bowl of Petroleum: Sorting Out the Winners and Losers
By John Auers and Ryan Couture With Super Bowl 50 putting the finishing touches on the 2015/16 season this past Sunday, we now know who rules the roost in the NFL. Our congratulations go out to those...
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“They got the regulation ties, regulation shoes”
By John Auers and Elizabeth Hilbourn AC/DC sings it in their 1981 song Breaking the Rules in the album For Those About to Rock We Salute You, AC/DC’s first album to reach number one in the U.S. They...
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Tell Me Something Good – Refiners a Bright Spot Despite Recent Dimming
By John Auers and John Mayes Ever since the crude price collapse in the second half of 2014, the petroleum markets have been consumed with doom and gloom. And, with the exception of a few good days...
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He (It) Ain’t Heavy, He’s (It’s) My Brother (Bunker)
By John Auers and John Mayes With apologies to The Hollies and Neil Diamond, we thought it appropriate to borrow the lyrics from the ballad both groups made famous 45 years ago in discussing the major...
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It Ain’t Heavy, It’s My Bunker – Part 2: Winners and Losers
By John Auers and John Mayes In last week’s blog, we provided some background on the mandate by the International Maritime Organization to reduce the global sulfur level in bunker fuel from 3.5% to...
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“The Ever Elusive Future” – Can the Futures Markets Shed Some Light on What’s...
By Ryan Couture and John Auers While the song bearing the title of today’s blog might not be near the top when most “Parrotheads” list their top Buffet tunes, it came to mind as we ponder the future...
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Is it Really All About the Benjamins? – The Relationship Between Price and...
Authors John Mayes and Mike Leger In the Puff Daddy hip hop ode to crass materialism, the “Benjamins” (or money in general), are all that really matters. But is that the case when it comes to refined...
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“Breaking Up Is Hard To Do” – The Why and What Might Be of the Motiva Breakup
By Ryan M. Couture and John Auers On March 16, Saudi Aramco and Shell announced their intent to divide the assets of Motiva Enterprises, the 50/50 joint venture which was formed in 1998 and has...
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“Better in the USA”- Domestic Project Cost and Execution Benefits
Authors: John Auers and Ryan M. Couture In addition to the pluses Glen Frey sings about “We got blue jeans and rock ‘n’ roll”, the refining industry has also become “Better in the USA”. Figure 1 below...
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“Blame Canada”– Keystone Leak/Canadian Takeaway Capacity
By John Mayes and John Auers The Academy Award nominated song, “Blame Canada,” a classic (and infamous) South Park satirization of scapegoating came to mind when we heard about the leak and subsequent...
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“I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”- WTI Refiners Air Concerns
The following Turning Point blog is provided by Dennis Sutton. Following a 40-year career with Marathon Petroleum, Dennis is now the Executive Director of the Crude Oil Quality Association (COQA) and...
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“Around the World in a Day” – Global Refinery Construction: Next Stop the...
Authors: Ryan M. Couture and John R. Auers With the unexpected passing of “The Purple One,” we thought it timely to use the title of one of his most interesting albums in our continuing series on the...
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“Chinese Rock” – Refining Projects in China and the Rest of Asia
By: Ryan M. Couture and John R. Auers While the 70’s punk rock tune, “China Rocks” (recorded by among others, The Hearbreakers, The Ramones and Sid Vicious) certainly had a vastly different topic, we...
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“Slumdog Millionaire” – How Underdog Indian Private Sector Refiners Have Been...
By: Ryan M. Couture and John R. Auers Over the last few weeks we have taken a trip around the world, examining how efficiently refining projects are executed in different regions and the reasons for...
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“A Long and Winding Road” – A Global Refining Construction Outlook
By: John Mayes and John Auers Over the last several weeks we have taken a “Trip Around the World”, analyzing the geographic disparities in refining construction activity and costs. In these...
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Another Brick in the (Blend)Wall – Proposed 2017 Renewable Volume Objectives
By John Mayes, Tom Hogan and John Auers Certainly Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters wasn’t thinking about renewable fuels mandates when he penned his multi-part rock classic “Another Brick in the Wall” in...
View ArticleStrange Brew: The Adventures of the Canadian Oil Industry
By John Mayes and John Auers While the 1983 Canadian movie “Strange Brew” won’t go down in movie annals as a classic, it does make for some easy watching entertainment as it follows the misadventures...
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