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Trump’s LNG metamorphosis
Fast-tracking US project approvals and increased trade pressures have already changed the LNG landscape since Trump came to office, with further transformation ahead
Letter from the US: Oil and gas producers face tax threat
Capping state corporate income tax deductions would reduce energy supplies and raise prices
Trump’s energy policy paradox
US consumers are not likely to see gasoline prices fall to Trump’s ‘beautiful number’, at least if the president also wants to encourage more drilling
Letter from the US: Houston has a problem with Trump’s energy policy
At some point it is likely that $70/bl will be quietly accepted as the producer-consumer sweet spot for a US administration having to balance both sides of the ledger
On tariffs, Trump is an open book
There is method to the US president’s apparent madness, and those seeking to understand need look no further than their local bookshop
Letter from the US: Trumpism threatens oil producers’ survival
Well-functioning democracies are required for healthier economies and a thriving oil industry
US upstream reasserts strategic importance
The country’s renewed focus on energy security has seen it move closer to Russia and Saudi Arabia on supply
Mideast Gulf oil exporters may engage in price war
The spectre of Saudi Arabia’s 2020 market share strategy haunts a suffering OPEC+ as Trump upends the energy world
Oil and gas industry beats demand drum
Bearish market sentiment and bullish long-term outlook for oil and gas consumption prevails at CERAWeek
Canada revisits big pipeline question
Investor certainty key to diversifying country’s oil and gas exports amid fresh talk of improving infrastructure to boost energy security
ExxonMobil US Chevron Canada Shell ConocoPhillips
Bill Barnes
5 January 2018
Follow @PetroleumEcon
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Oil firms back in the black

Investors want to see oil companies striving for value rather than volume in the year ahead

This year's progressive rise in worldwide oil and gas mergers and acquisitions activity has built on 2016's recovery from the depths of the 2015 oil-price crash. The industry as a whole has shown increased discipline as oil prices have more than doubled since their early-2016 nadir. Companies are broadly aiming to be cash-positive at prices over $50 a barrel, targeting returns in the mid-teens for new projects and over 20% for brownfield expansion and consolidation projects. The mood is one of "cautious optimism", according to Wood MacKenzie corporate analyst Tom Ellacott. "I don't think you're going to see a surge of investment next year," he says. "You may see a small improvement." Investo

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