RBN Energy Blogcast

Enbridge has launched a non-binding open season for West Texas Express, a 2-Bcf/d pipeline to move Permian natural gas from the Waha Hub to near El Paso. It is aimed at meeting local demand for power projects, and potentially data centers, while also providing connectivity to other markets. 

As tariffs, trade restrictions and geopolitical tensions reshaped LNG flows, sellers were pushed to find new buyers, buyers had to find new suppliers, and traders had to find new routes. Today, we look at how this shift reshaped U.S.-China LNG trade and whether the change is likely to stick.

After years of relentless balance-sheet repair, the upstream oil and gas industry may be reaching an important turning point in its capital-allocation strategy. Today, we review Q2 2026 cash allocation and analyze a trend that is far from uniform, revealing sharply different priorities among E&Ps.

Enbridge is buying Tallgrass Energy's crude oil transportation business for $2.55 billion. The deal includes a 75% stake in the 1,050-mile Pony Express Pipeline system, which connects oil production in the Rockies to Cushing and provides access to about 500 Mb/d of refining capacity. 

Today, we look at why high crack spreads don't necessarily increase a refinery's output, how market disruptions elsewhere can drain U.S. inventories, and the indicators that will help tell us whether the diesel squeeze is easing (or worsening).

Summit Midstream is moving full speed ahead with its 900-MMcf/d expansion of the Double E Pipeline after it secured about 550 MMCf/d of long-term commitments to move natural gas from the Permian Basin's Delaware Basin toward the Waha Hub.

Industry executive surveys in Q2 2026 and observations by oil service firms all reflect an optimism that suggests producers are warming to increasing activity to boost oil and gas output. The key question is whether that has translated into higher investment.

Venezuela's oil industry spent more than a decade moving in the wrong direction, but 2026 has brought a notable change. Today, we look at the improvements in production and exports in light of Venezuela's sweeping new deal with the U.S. and also address the prospects for the refining sector.

E&Ps active in the San Juan Basin's Mancos Shale think it has real potential, but acknowledge that regional natural gas prices would have to be higher to justify the investment. What Mancos producers need, they say, is better access to premium markets like Arizona and northwestern Mexico. A new pipeline might help.

The oil pipelines from the Permian to Corpus Christi have been very crowded, but two recent expansion projects are adding nearly 200 Mb/d of capacity to Corpus Christi, providing a bit of breathing room. Gray Oak wrapped up a two-part 120 Mb/d expansion in May, and Plains All American completed its 75 Mb/d expansion of Cactus III (formerly EPIC), which just went into service in August. 

ONEOK is buying Brazos Midstream's Midland Basin natural gas gathering and processing assets for $4.425 billion. ONEOK says this acquisition will more than double its Midland Basin processing capacity to roughly 2.3 Bcf/d.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the global energy landscape faster than any technological shift in recent memory. Chevron's Project Kilby, a natural‑gas‑fired power plant built specifically to supply an AI data center, represents a strategic pivot for Chevron into a new business vertical.

Enbridge is buying Salt Creek Midstream's crude-oil gathering business for $600 million, which includes full ownership of the Orla and Wink North systems and a 50% interest in Delaware Crossing. Today, we'll discuss how the deal strengthens Enbridge's link between Permian production and export markets.

A small cadre of E&Ps active in the San Juan Basin's Mancos Shale is anticipating breakout growth in natural gas production there if and when gas prices rise, and a well-known midstreamer is planning what could eventually be a high-capacity gas pipeline to the burgeoning Arizona market.

Massive volumes of natural gas are already converging on the Katy Hub and much more will be soon. A planned bidirectional header system is designed to help ease the flow of gas through that key aggregation and distribution point for gas bound for industrial, power-generation, and LNG export load.

For many, 2026 will be remembered as the year that diesel cracks topped the century mark ($100/bbl) for the first time, surpassing even the post-COVID boom year of 2022. Today, we examine the various factors driving this run-up and what they reveal about the broader physical refined products market.

Rising crude oil prices provided a powerful tailwind for Oil-Weighted E&Ps, while plunging natural gas prices wounded Gas-Weighted producers after a bountiful Q1. Today, we review the Q2 2026 results of the 37 publicly traded E&Ps we cover and analyze the remarkably wide performance gap they reveal.

AltaGas has delayed the startup of its Ridley Island Energy Export Facility, so buyers won't have the benefit of increased fuel supplies this winter. Today, we review industry plans to expand LPG export capacity on North America's west coast, and how this could impact North American LPG markets.

The Permian Basin is poised to gain new natural gas pipelines and projects over the next year or two, finally easing its long-standing takeaway constraints. But the changes will not stop there. A new wave of proposed projects could further reshape the basin into the 2030s.

British Columbia is a new hot spot for LNG export development. The first phase of LNG Canada is up and running; Phase 2 is nearing FID. Two smaller LNG export projects are under construction; and a 12-MMtpa (~1.6 Bcf/d) proposal may be sanctioned soon. 

Over the past couple of years, the Permian has been dominated by one story: natural gas takeaway constraints and negative prices at the Waha Hub. That has changed recently, however, as more pipelines have entered service, and now plans for the Solitude Pipeline System have been unveiled. 

Global prices for refined products have remained elevated for a number of reasons, with the state of Russia's refining sector a major, if sometimes overlooked, factor. Today, we look at the conditions in Russia, how trade flows have shifted, and what a post-war recovery might look like.

Since the start of 2022, more than 12 Bcf/d of new gas processing capacity has come online in the Permian, about half of it in the Midland Basin and half in the Delaware. That unprecedented buildout will be continuing in 2027-29, and the shift toward the gassier Delaware is picking up steam.

AltaGas has delayed the startup of its Ridley Island Energy Export Facility, so buyers won't have the benefit of increased fuel supplies this winter. Today, we review the existing LPG export terminals on North America's west coast and how their growth has impacted Western Canadian LPGs.

For the first time in years, the Permian Basin's chronic natural gas takeaway constraint is beginning to ease — and in a big way. Today, we discuss the major Permian gas pipeline projects scheduled to come online in 2026-27, how much new capacity they will provide, and consider what it all means.

LNG Canada didn't load its first cargo until June 2025, more than nine years after Sabine Pass LNG was up and running in Louisiana. But while the U.S. Gulf Coast had a big head start, Canada is finally firing on all cylinders, with plans to more than triple its LNG export capacity by the early 2030s.

U.S. rules around decommissioning offshore oil and gas platforms were rewritten in 2024, but the Trump administration paused their implementation in 2025. Today, we examine the proposed revisions, which aim to reduce regulatory costs without shifting decommissioning liabilities to taxpayers.

Efforts to move more natural gas into gas-starved New England are picking up steam. Enbridge said Project Beacon's open season was better than expected, while DT Midstream is moving ahead with one Millennium Pipeline expansion and considering a much larger one.

There has been no 11-figure upstream M&A since Devon Energy and Coterra Energy announced their $21.4 billion merger in early February, just a few weeks before the war on Iran started and the Strait of Hormuz was closed. But other, somewhat smaller — but still noteworthy — deals continue to happen.

It has been a volatile spring and summer for global natural gas markets as the war in Iran has dragged on, seemingly causing prices to jump — or falter — with every headline. Today, we discuss Europe's gas storage woes and the potential ramifications as its time runs out to refill inventories.

Over the past 16 years, BP has undergone multiple restructurings of its upstream portfolio, interrupted by a shift to — and then from — one of the sector's most ambitious energy transition strategies. Today, we chronicle the evolution of one of the industry's most significant integrated companies.

The Haynesville is the nation's #3 natural gas producer, and close to most of the U.S.'s LNG export capacity. That makes gas pipelines from the Haynesville to the Gulf Coast critically important — and valuable — assets, a reality Williams Cos. just affirmed with its plan to buy Momentum Midstream.

Refined product prices have remained elevated this summer even as crude oil prices have fallen from their 2026 highs set just a few months ago. In today's RBN blog, we look at several factors that help explain the seeming disconnect between product prices and crude oil prices.

Louisiana's refineries process vast amounts of domestic crude oil — much of it from the offshore U.S. Gulf — and imported oil from Canada and other countries. The refineries also play a critically important role in supplying refined product to the Southeastern U.S and the Mid-Atlantic states.

Since early 2026, disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz and shifts in Venezuelan exports have shifted crude oil and product flows from their historical norms. On the U.S. domestic front, closures of West Coast refineries and proposed new pipelines to that region suggest more changes are coming.

Crude oil — often mistakenly described as a single, standardized commodity — is anything but uniform. Every stream has its own chemical fingerprint, including differences in density and sulfur content. Today, we'll dig into why crude quality matters and how it can make a real difference to the bottom line.

One of the seminal energy-related controversies of the past decade was the construction of Mountain Valley Pipeline, but much of its capacity is unused in the shoulder season. Now, three projects aim to debottleneck MVP: Transco's Southeast Supply Enhancement as well as MVP Southgate and MVP Boost.

Geopolitical developments have resulted in perhaps the most chaotic and unstable energy market in the last 50 years, but sharply lower global crude oil prices and a rollback in U.S. production could be just ahead, two forecasts at the heart of our newly available Future of Fuels report.

Each of Louisiana's three refining regions has its own sources for crude oil and its own way of delivering that oil to refineries. Today, we look at crude oil flows and supply/demand balances in the southwestern and northwestern parts of the Bayou State — and how the status quo may be in for changes.

The first half of 2026 was a tale of two commodity markets as crude oil prices surged during the spring while natural gas prices retreated after an exceptionally strong winter rally. Today, we examine which oil and gas producers outperformed and why investors rewarded certain business models over others.

Natural gas-fired generation is king in the realm of data center development, at least for the near term. Still, hyperscalers are taking a variety of steps to mitigate the climate impact of their expanding gas use. These include adding CCS, building renewables and supporting new nuclear.

Several projects in the works would expand crude oil pipeline takeaway capacity out of Western Canada. But, given the pace of production growth there, will enough takeaway space come online in time to prevent pipeline capacity shortages and the price dislocations that come with them?

Natural gas prices in the Permian spent the first half of the year in the red. Then, in mid-June, Kinder Morgan flipped a switch and now Waha prices are back above zero. The “switch” was a compression expansion on Gulf Coast Express, which added a desperately needed 570 MMcf/d of takeaway capacity.

Over the past 18 months, Gulf Coast dock capacity capable of handling either LPG or ethane has grown significantly. It's something relatively new called “flex capacity,” and it's a darned good thing it's online. Without it, both LPG and ethane export capacity would already be maxed out.

Demand for natural gas in Northeast and pipeline capacity out of Appalachia are poised to grow in the coming years, but will production follow suit? Even if market conditions improve, it's not a done deal. Today, we look at which producers are best positioned to grow if conditions warrant.

Crude oil sourcing for the three refining regions in Louisiana couldn't be more different from each other. In today's RBN blog, we examine crude oil flows into and out of the Bayou State, assess supply/demand balances, and explore why is could be increasingly important to understand those balances.

The U.S. energy industry is continuously evolving. Unlike the previous era of unconventional supply growth, demand is increasingly determining where capital will be deployed, reshaping investment priorities. That's today's subject and the focus of our upcoming School of Energy: Foundations.

There are several approaches hyperscalers can take to mitigate the climate-related impacts of their increasing gas consumption for data centers. These include buying and retiring environmental credits; capturing and sequestering gas-plant CO2; and developing more renewables and nuclear capacity.

Efforts to develop a new LNG export terminal along the Delaware River near Philadelphia appeared to be going nowhere. But now it seems that Penn America Energy's moribund plan for such a project has gained new life with a new company name and a new site — in Eddystone Borough, PA.

The price of the D4 Renewable Identification Number has increased 130% so far in 2026, a response to a 70% increase in the minimum bio-based diesel volume mandate and a higher price premium for soybean oil. Today, we analyze the additional factors at play, from theoretical and practical standpoints.

M&A activity in the oil and gas minerals/royalty space had quieted during a prolonged wave of major E&P consolidation. As that activity winds down, rising realizations for both oil and gas have spurred a major consolidation among royalty trusts as well as a recent successful initial public offering.