The data requirements of energy and commodity markets are complex and constantly evolving; finding ways to efficiently manage, organize, and store data are among the most significant challenges businesses face today. To address this challenge, many companies are confronted with the difficult choice of either building their own software solutions from scratch or buying an […]
Since energy products are the backbone of the economy and are widely used by all sectors, the general belief is that a rise in energy commodity prices in translates to an increase in the price of non-energy commodities, such as metals and agricultural products. To assess the validity of this common belief, we’ll review two […]
In an unprecedented move, China rejected a quarter of U.S. corn imports this year after discovering the corn violated its ban on specific genetically modified foods. China found 545,000 metric tons of U.S. corn unacceptable after finding it contained MIR162, an insect resistant strain of the grain (The Wall Street Journal). Although MIR162 has been […]
After eight years in the works, a sod-turning ceremony was held September 13, 2013 to celebrate the beginning of a new project that will result in a $5.7 billion refinery in Redwater, Alberta (about 50 km north of Edmonton) (The Globe and Mail). The Sturgeon Refinery is the first large-scale refinery to be built in […]
Japan made headlines recently as the resource-impoverished country is considering methane hydrates as a new energy source in order to help gain independence from relying on natural gas imports. The 2011 tsunami forced most of the country’s nuclear power plants to close (add to that, the fact that the last running nuclear power reactor was […]
Data is one of the most valuable intellectual properties a company can have. However ensuring they have the right system in place to collect and host their data is not enough on its own. Companies also need the assurance of knowing their data is being validated and being kept safely under lock and key. With this […]
When I think of Dubai, I think of oil and seven-star hotels. Of course I should know better than to pigeonhole the modern emirate state; which contrary to popular belief, counts less than 30% of its GDP from oil revenues. Today Dubai, both a city and emirate within the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is viewed […]
Continuing in our series on natural gas markets, I’ll be talking about European markets in this blog. Europe is a large complex continent with many different components and over twenty natural gas markets contained within the region. Therefore, there are a lot of different forces that affect European markets. The biggest forces at present that […]
Ever since people developed efficient means of refining petroleum into a range of different petro-products in the middle of the nineteenth century, crude oil has been a vital factor in development and welfare of our society. Nowadays, roughly eighty five million barrels of crude oil are consumed daily. Even though this number might seem like […]
