Lisa Shidler

Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) inventories have been climbing for more than a year, but they could go much higher if President Trump has his way, as one of his major campaign promises was to refill the SPR “to the very top,” a goal he has repeated since his return to the Oval Office. Current inventories sit just below 400 MMbbl, leaving the SPR about 320 MMbbl shy of maximum capacity. But the refilling process may not be as straightforward as one might think, as three of the four SPR storage sites have experienced construction upgrades in the last year — which means things could go slower than anticipated. In today's RBN blog, we'll discuss the challenges of filling up the SPR and detail four scenarios for how the process might play out.

The U.S. power sector is undergoing a major expansion to keep pace with the rising demand for electricity from data centers and other consumers, and trying to do a lot at once. Keep a lid on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by adding wind, solar and other renewables. Maintain grid reliability by supplementing variable renewable energy with more around-the-clock sources like natural gas-fired power plants. Oh, and keep power costs down, too. That's a big collective ask, and to help make it possible, power grids are turning to so-called “virtual power plants” (aka VPPs) that, with an assist from computers and software, aggregate smaller power sources, batteries and flexible demand to provide power to the grid much like a traditional combined-cycle plant would. In today's RBN blog, we'll introduce VPPs and explain why they're worth learning about.

The pace of announcements for planned data centers accelerated in 2024 and has continued to gather steam in 2025, with natural gas-fired power plants emerging as a frequent choice, along with nuclear power, to provide the around-the-clock electricity that large-scale data centers want and need. In today's RBN blog, the first in a series, we'll detail plans by several well-known energy firms to construct new gas-fired plants that would produce electricity

The Trump administration announced on February 26 that it is ending Chevron's permit to operate in oil-rich Venezuela, which will halt U.S. imports of Venezuelan crude by early April. These changes, combined with other recent developments, are likely to significantly impact complex U.S. Gulf Coast refiners relying on heavy crude. In today's RBN blog, we'll discuss these impacts — an issue our Refined Fuels Analytics (RFA) practice examined in its recently updated

Total U.S LNG feedgas demand soared to 15.73 Bcf/d last week, up 0.51 Bcf/d from the previous week – once again driven by the newest rising star – Plaquemines LNG.

Total U.S LNG feedgas demand soared to 15.73 Bcf/d last week, up 0.51 Bcf/d from the previous week – once again driven by the newest rising star – Plaquemines LNG. Plaquemines' owner, Vent

Growing power demand for data centers has been one of the biggest stories in energy markets over the past year, with natural gas-fired power plants emerging as the primary choice for developers seeking to provide the 24/7 power these massive, energy-

Plaquemines LNG terminal’s volumes were steady last week and the company now has an additional pipeline route available. Commissioning volumes at Plaquemines LNG are around 2 Bcf/d (see chart below).

The boundaries of what we typically think of as the Haynesville Shale in Northeast Texas and Northwest Louisiana are expanding.

Like the classic tune, “Rock the Boat,” U.S. LNG feedgas demand hit choppy water last week, slipping as intake dropped at Sabine Pass, Corpus Christi, Cameron, and Plaquemines. Last week, U.S. LNG Feedgas demand averaged 15.41 Bcf/d, down 0.84 Bcf/d from the previous week.