Entries by Peter Tertzakian

A New Episode of The Oil Cycle: Inflation

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Inflation is the talk of the town.  Price indices around the world are showing sharp year-over-year increases. The benchmark US Consumer Price Index is tracking over 5% per year. That’s high: for over a dozen years we’ve been acclimatized to half that rate. The pull for resource commodities is a big part of what’s driving broad-based inflation.  Consider oil. A barrel of Texas light is selling for over $US 70, again. Only a year ago, under debilitating lockdowns, forty bucks […]

How to Seed an Energy Transition

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In the world of energy, government money is seed capital. Billions of stimulus dollars merely tickle a transition. Wholesale transformation at a national level — decarbonizing factories, changing out vehicle fleets, making buildings efficient — requires trillions. So, private investment must be enticed to follow.   Pension and sovereign wealth funds, endowments, family fortunes and corporate spending — these are among the large pools of capital that must be shaken loose to rewire, re-pipe and renovate our energy economy.  There are caveats to attracting big money. Investors need an expectation that money will be […]

Inflation and the Energy Transition

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The global economy is gaining momentum, even before the masks have come off the pandemic. Unemployment rates are falling faster than expected in key countries, most notably the United States. Global GDP is being revised upward according to the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook report. The economy is forecast to grow by 6% this year. […]