Research Library

Circular economy principles are oftentimes used in conjunction or synonymously with the term “sustainability.” However, although there is a relationship between sustainability and circularity, these two concepts are very different. Energy fellow Rachel A. Meidl explains the distinction in a new post for the Baker Institute Blog.

U.S. producers have sustained oil supply by feathering their beds with “DUCs down” — their large inventory of drilled-but-uncompleted wells. Could they exhaust the DUCs? What then? Energy fellow Mark Finley explains on the Baker Institute Blog.

Amid recent disputes on oil trade, "fractious Saudi-UAE relations are ... better understood as a return to the pre-2015 status quo than a unique diplomatic breach," write Jim Krane and Kristian Coates Ulrichsen.

How did the pandemic impact energy markets around the world? The results of this year's bp Statistical Review of World Energy show how the U.S. led the widespread decline in energy production, oil was the energy type most impacted by shutdowns, and global trade for fossil fuels fell more rapidly than production.

Methane emissions are both "extraordinarily bad" and "easy to fix," so why not address them now? A federal tax of $1,500 per metric ton emitted could curb and counter the impact of U.S. methane emissions, argues this commentary piece.

Today’s oil market contains not one, but two prisoner’s dilemmas: traditional OPEC+ members, policed by Saudi Arabia, and a new dilemma with U.S. shale producers, policed by their investors. This boosts the prize for cooperative behavior but also raises new risks. Energy fellow Mark Finley explains.

The authors point to several tangible benefits of U.S. LNG exports that go beyond its low procurement cost — including greater security of supply and emissions reductions when used as an alternative to coal.

Why did Mexico’s state-owned PEMEX buy a Houston-area oil refinery this week, when many other oil companies are moving away from fossil fuels? Post-doctoral energy fellow Adrian Duhalt explains in the Baker Institute Blog.

Baker Institute Rice Faculty Scholar and University Professor Moshe Vardi analyzes three recent crises — the 2021 winter storm in Texas, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Boeing 737 Max software failure — that highlight the cost of valuing efficiency over resilience and provide lessons for bringing society into balance.

Texans served by regulated electricity markets, especially by electric cooperatives, were much more satisfied with their providers’ performance during Winter Storm Uri than those in deregulated markets. In this post for the Baker Institute Blog, the authors offer possible explanations for the contrast in favorability.