Crude Oil and Natural Gas Prices

Crude oil is a global commodity due to the relative ease with which the product can be transported to all global regions. The cost/barrel is 

However, since 2000, the price of global crude oil has increased significantly, while the price of natural gas increased until about 2010 and since then has significantly decreased due to the shale gas revolution in the United States. 

as mentioned previously, the drilling boom over the past five years from the new drilling techniques involving horizontal drilling, have 

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MMBtu NG). With special circumstances such as large-scale, high final product value, low coal cost or intangibles such as security of raw material supply, these type plants have been successfully built and operated on a limited basis. However, as crude oil and natural gas pricing has increased, interest in coal to chemicals has dramatically increased. 

As crude oil and natural gas prices continue to escalate, it is not difficult to visualize the resurgence in use of more traditional materials. 

US National Academy of Science (2004) The Hydrogen Economy Opportunities, Costs, Barriers, and R D Needs, Washington, DC National Academies Press. Villar, J.A. and F.L. Joutz (2006) The Relationship Between Crude Oil and Natural Gas Prices , Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration (EIA), Washington, DC. 

Common thermoplastic molding pellets are derived from fossil fuels and suffer the price fluctuations present in this market. However, thermoset molding compounds contain a high percentage of filler the filler is usually inorganic and made of some inexpensive, plentiful material. Thus the thermoset molding compounds are not as sensitive to market crude oil and natural gas pricing. Currently, in response to... 

In 2002, the recession was in full swing and much hand-wringing was observed in the press. Despite the decline in domestic demand, crude oil and natural gas prices surged to record levels (although inflation-adjusted comparisons for oil prices show that these were far from record prices - exceeding the record for crude oil would require inflation-adjusted prices over 93/bbl., and the prices being reported were really futures, not actual trades). The drop in demand, coupled... 

With such a sharp run-up in the price of both crude oil and natural gas, as well as in the prices of the stock of companies involved in oil and gas production and servicing, do the potential opportunities in the energy sector instead lie with companies that are investing in alternative energy sources ... 

Prices of phenolic resins vary substantially depending on the application. In 2001, the price of general-purpose and semisolids was 1.50-1.80/kg, whereas epoxy-hardener grades can exceed 2.20/kg. Because raw materials of phenolic resins are derived from crude oil and natural gas, the prices of phenolic resins depend on the prices of these resources. 

Estimates of capital costs of GTL plants display a wide range while the EIA (2006) indicates capital costs at US 25 000 45 000 per barrel of daily capacity, depending on production scale and site selection, the IEA (2006) reports capital costs of GTL plants currently completed or under construction with US 84 000 per barrel. By comparison, the costs of a conventional refinery are around 15 000 per barrel per day. Gas-to-liquid is assumed profitable when crude oil prices exceed 25 per barrel and natural gas prices are in the range of 0.5-1.0/GJ (EIA, 2006). The economics of GTL are extremely sensitive to the cost of natural gas. 

Natural gas is sold in regional markets defined by pipeline capacity. Because of the importance of Texas and California in today s hydrogen economy, Figure 4 presents the data for the West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil Spot Price and City Gate Natural Gas Prices in Texas and in California. By applying time-series econometric techniques to these data, one can conclude that the price of oil leads natural gas prices and that the price of oil does not follow changes in any other energy price [9,10]. 

Year Bituminous coal and lignite, /Mg ( /US ton) Natural gas at the wellhead, 71000 ( 71000 std ft ) Crude oil, domestic first purchase price, 7nd ( 7hLl)... 

The London-based International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) is the second largest energy futures exchange in the world, listing futures contracts that represent the pricing benchmarks for two-thirds of the world s crude oil and the majority of middle distillate traded in Europe. IPE natural gas futures may also develop into an international benchmark as the European market develops larger sales volume. 

The major advantage of Fischer Tropsch diesel, compared to natural gas, lies in its liquid nature. It does not need special infrastructure and compression like CNG does, and unlike LNG, once converted, it is a liquid fuel that can be treated like any other liquid fuel. However, because the GTL process is more complex than traditional refining, it requires low-cost natural gas priced at less than 1 per million BTUs to remain cost-competitive. Without stranded gas, sources sold at a large discount compared to crude oil, GTL diesel would be considerably more expensive than traditionally refined diesel fuel. 

Further variables that determine the scenario are given exogenously. This includes the prices for crude oil (see also Fig. 18.11) and natural gas, which are taken from the WETO-H2 reference case (WETO, 2006). 

Chemical producers have witnessed a dramatic run-up in their feedstock prices in the last four years, whether natural gas, crude oil derivatives such as naphtha, or petrochemicals such as benzene. The US chemical industry s feedstock bill in 2004, for example, was up USD 31 billion compared with 2002, representing a 57 percent increase in the net sales value of these basic chemicals. This dramatic overall surge conceals a number of different drivers, each with its own dynamics (Fig. 16.1). Basic hydrocarbon costs were up 72 percent, led by crude oil and nat-... 

In direct contrast to North American chemical companies, the chemical makers already sourcing their natural gas feedstock in the Middle East or in other low-priced locations such as Trinidad have seen their advantage multiply as crude oil prices and North American natural gas prices rose (Fig. 16.3). 

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