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“Bad Moon Rising” – Venezuelan Happenings and Potential Impacts for U.S....
By John Auers and John Mayes While developments in Venezuela have long been “top of mind” for global energy markets and particularly U.S. refiners, they have become particularly critical and worrisome...
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The RFS Program- After a Monkey Wrench Has Been Thrown In
By Elizabeth Hilbourn and John Auers Just when the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program seemed to be getting on track, another monkey wrench has been thrown in. 2012 was the last year RFS was on...
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Merchant Refineries- Monkey in the Middle
By Elizabeth Hilbourn and John Auers Monkey in the Middle is a throwing and catching game for a small group where players try to keep the ball away from one player (the “monkey”). Merchant refineries...
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Internal Combustion Engines – “The Reports of My Death Are Greatly Exaggerated.”
By Robert Auers Mark Twain is often famously (mis)quoted as having said, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated” after hearing of his own obituary being printed in a major American Newspaper...
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“Ridin’ the Storm Out” – Harvey’s Impacts on Refineries and Lessons From Past...
By: John Auers, John Mayes and Robert Auers Our thoughts and prayers are for all of the residents of the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast that are feeling the devastating impacts of Hurricane Harvey. As...
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“Things Have Changed” – Market Changes Since the Last Major Hurricanes and...
By: John Mayes and Robert Auers Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to all of the residents of the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast that are beginning to recover from the devastating impacts of...
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“Roll with the Changes” – Europe’s changing views on Diesel
By Robert Auers Europe originally began promoting diesel over gasoline in the 1990s primarily as a way of decreasing carbon dioxide emissions. This is a result of the higher efficiency achieved in...
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Renewable Fuels- the moldable fuel
By: Elizabeth Hilbourn and Wei Li We can all remember playing with silly putty. If you rolled it into a ball, it would bounce. If you pushed it onto a newspaper cartoon, it would pull off the image,...
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Will OPEC Continue to “Walk the Line” and Other Thoughts Following Last...
The Following Turning Point blog is provided by Brian Milne, Editor and Product Manager at DTN, a leading source of analysis serving commodity oriented industries. Now in its third year, there is...
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E10 – “I Won’t Back Down”
By John Auers and Elizabeth Hilbourn The original Renewable Fuel Standard (first passed in 2005 and expanded in 2007) called for ever-increasing volumes of renewable fuels to be blended into U.S....
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A Loophole in the Duck Test – Winter RBOB
By Elizabeth Hilbourn and Robert Auers Many people, particularly politicians, like to use the popular “duck test” when making a point about a particular issue or object – “If it looks like a duck,...
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Refiners “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by Projected Product Demand Increases
The Who’s single, “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” released in 1971, cautioned against political revolutions, which (especially in the developing world) often don’t deliver on all their promises. Though we...
View Article“I’m a (Not so) Little Teapot” – The Changing and Growing Influence of Teapot...
By Robert Auers and John Auers The so-called “Teapot” refineries in China have acquired a significant increase in their public profile and indeed in their impact on both crude and product markets since...
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Is Peak Demand “More Than a Feeling?”
By Robert Auers and John Auers It wasn’t long ago that many were talking about impending crude oil shortages, $150+ prices and the inevitability of a Peak Oil (supply) environment. However, the “shale...
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“Goin’ Down to Mexico” – Revisiting the Mexican Refining Sector
By Robert Auers and John Auers ZZ Top’s First Album (Yes, that was the name of the album for those who didn’t already know), released in 1971, established the band’s distinctive Southern hard...
View Article“Canadian Railroad (Pipeline) Trilogy” – An Impending Takeaway Crunch in...
By Robert Auers and John Auers Gordon Lightfoot, perhaps Canada’s greatest songwriter of all time, wrote “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” to describe the building of the first Trans-Canadian railway in the...
View ArticleThanksgiving 2017
With many of us already making preparations for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, we have decided to take a break from industry topics this week to have a blog dedicated to this special day. For most...
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“Desperados (Permian Crude) Waiting For a Train”
By Robert Auers and John Auers A couple of weeks ago, we discussed the potential of an impending “crunch” in pipeline takeaway capacity out of Western Canada. The outage of TransCanada’s Keystone...
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“You Wreck Me” – RIN Cost Impacts
Authors: Elizabeth Hilbourn and John Auers Refiners these days can really relate to the lyrics of Tom Petty’s classic, “Your Wreck Me” when they see the tab for their Renewable Identification Number...
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“Pass it on Down” – Are RIN Costs Simply Passed on to Consumers?
By Robert Auers and John Auers Last week we discussed Renewable Identification Number (RIN) prices and the growing prominence of Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) compliance costs in refiners’ earnings...
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