Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 22

Friday, June 21, 2019

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 22

1              Transparency used to be a dirty word in energy, now it’s the norm
https://www.businessinsider.com/transparency-used-to-be-a-dirty-word-in-energy-now-its-the-norm-2017-6

Seven years ago, two friends set up a software company in Paris. Their aim was to develop a system that could track oil and gas cargos around the world. Today, Kpler has four offices globally and employs 50 people. Its clients represent 95% of the global LNG industry, and 60% of the LPG market. The company is currently expanding into crude oil and fuels, and is planning to cover all seaborne commodities in the future. Just another success story from the digital age? It’s more than that.

2              The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most important oil transit chokepoint – Today in Energy
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=39932
The Strait of Hormuz, located between Oman and Iran, connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most important oil chokepoint because of the large volumes of oil that flow through the strait. In 2018, its daily oil flow averaged 21 million barrels per day (b/d), or the equivalent of about 21% of global petroleum liquids consumption.

3              Oil Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – Will Speculators Increase Long Positions Ahead of Weekend?
https://www.fxempire.com/forecasts/article/oil-price-fundamental-daily-forecast-will-speculators-increase-long-positions-ahead-of-weekend-581868

The foundation is there for a rally today given all the positive developments this week. The rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran should underpin prices into the week-end. I’d be surprised if traders took profits ahead of the week-end given the uncertainty over current events. Speculative buying may actually increase into the close as traders bet on the worst outcome.

4              MHIENG receives order for US polyethylene plant
https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/petrochemicals/21062019/mhieng-receives-order-for-us-polyethylene-plant/

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering (MHIENG) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America (MHIA), group companies of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), have received an order for construction of a large-scale polyethylene plant with annual production capacity of 1.3 million t.

5              BASF CEO Wayne Smith says petrochemical industry needs to do better
https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2019/06/20/basf-ceo-industry-needs-to-improve-image-keep.html

The chairman and CEO of the second-largest chemical producer in North America said the industry has to do a better job telling the public about its advances in sustainability and also keep putting a lot of effort and money into doing even better in the future.

6              Asia and North America to lead ethylene capacity additions by 2023
https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/petrochemicals/21062019/asia-and-north-america-to-lead-ethylene-capacity-additions-by-2023/

Global ethylene capacity is poised to see considerable growth of 27% from 207.58 million tpy in 2019 to 264.13 million tpy in 2023, led by Asia and North America,

7              Canada Risks Becoming Banana Republic Over Energy
https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/canada_risks_becoming_banana_republic_over_energy-21-jun-2019-159126-article/

Canada risks becoming a banana republic for its restrictive energy policy and failure to attract new investment into the sector, according to a Calgary money manager.

8              Asian LNG spot prices slip as cargoes flood market
https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/21062019/asian-lng-spot-prices-slip-as-cargoes-flood-market/

According to the latest Reuters report, Asian LNG spot prices have slipped in response to a surge in supply, which has flooded the market at a time when regional demand has remained stable.

9              GLX LNG platform receives first firm bid in Europe
https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/21062019/glx-lng-platform-receives-first-firm-bid-in-europe/

Trafigura have placed the first bid on GLX’s Europe LNG bid-offer platform just a day after its launch.

10           Mexico’s Pemex to stick to areas it knows best, pass on deepwater: CFO
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-pemex-idUSKCN1TL2TM

Petroleos Mexicanos will focus on shallow water projects and onshore plays, and avoid investing in its deepwater riches for now, as the ailing Mexican state-run oil company seeks to turn around a 14-year slide in crude production, a top official said on Thursday.

11           Exclusive: Chevron Phillips Chemical in bid to acquire Nova Chemicals
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-novachemicals-m-a-chevronphillips-exc-idUSKCN1TL2OA

Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, a joint venture between Chevron Corp and Phillips 66, has offered to acquire Nova Chemicals Corp for more than $15 billion including debt, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

12           Exxon’s $53 billion Iraq deal hit by contract snags, Iran tensions
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-iraq-oil-exclusive-idUSKCN1TM0IZ
Just weeks ago, U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil looked poised to move ahead with a $53 billion project to boost Iraq’s oil output at its southern fields, a milestone in the company’s ambitions to expand in the country.

13           Anadarko approves $20 billion LNG export project in Mozambique
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mozambique-anadarko-lng-idUSKCN1TJ2DI
The announcement, which occurred at an event in Mozambique, was widely expected after Anadarko last month flagged the decision date.

“As the world increasingly seeks cleaner forms of energy, the Anadarko-led Area 1 Mozambique LNG project is ideally located to meet growing demand, particularly in expanding Asian and European markets,” Chief Executive Officer Al Walker said in a statement

14           The Energy Sector Gets Its First Custom-Built Blockchain
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/the-energy-sector-gets-its-first-custom-built-blockchain

Blockchain’s energy industry promise has come a step closer to reality with the launch of the first public, open-source, enterprise-grade Blockchain for the sector.

Business Intelligence and Analytics 22

Friday, June 21, 2019

Business Intelligence and Analytics 22

1              Harness Data to Help You Define a Partner Channel Upsell Strategy
https://www.business2community.com/sales-management/harness-data-to-help-you-define-a-partner-channel-upsell-strategy-02211714

It’s crystal clear that your partner channel is an asset to your company’s overall business revenue number. What’s murkier is the operational process to actually put those dollars in your pocket.

2              Why Data Now Makes Every Company a Tech Company
https://blogs.perficient.com/2019/06/20/data-makes-every-company-a-tech-company/

Along with countless others in the IT consulting space, I’ve written about the challenges facing businesses as they undergo their various digital transformation initiatives. I find the topic endlessly fascinating, as it not only speaks to today’s business opportunities but explores what will be the foundation for the next century of innovation.

3              Considering a Subscription Model? Avoid These Rookie Mistakes
https://www.industryweek.com/leadership/considering-subscription-model-avoid-these-rookie-mistakes

The subscription economy is taking business by storm. Entire industries have moved to subscription-based pricing, leaving behind some of the slow movers but also giving new life to companies that were struggling. Some talk about the end of ownership and the start of usership. It is a real revolution.

4              Meet The World’s Most Valuable AI Startup: China’s SenseTime
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/06/17/meet-the-worlds-most-valuable-ai-startup-chinas-sensetime/

In just four years, SenseTime went from being an academic project to become the world’s most valuable artificial intelligence (AI) company with a current valuation of $4.5 billion. Based in China, the company has a portfolio of 700 clients and partners, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Qualcomm, Honda, Alibaba, Weibo, and more.

5              Benefits of Cloud Hosting
https://www.quicksprout.com/benefits-of-cloud-hosting/

Broadly speaking, the cloud refers to remote storage. For example, you can store pictures from your smartphone or documents on your computer to a cloud storage space like Google Drive.

6              10 Simple hacks to speed up your Data Analysis in Python
https://towardsdatascience.com/10-simple-hacks-to-speed-up-your-data-analysis-in-python-ec18c6396e6b

Tips and Tricks, especially in the programming world, can be very useful. Sometimes a little hack can be both time and life-saving. A minor shortcut or add-on can sometimes prove to be a Godsend and can be a real productivity booster.

7              How to Use Python’s datetime
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2019/06/how-use-datetime.html

Wrangling dates and times in python. Python’s datetime package is a convenient set of tools for working with dates and times. With just the five tricks that I’m about to show you, you can handle most of your datetime processing needs.

8              5 Reasons Why Customer Support Systems are Essential to Great Businesses
https://www.business2community.com/brandviews/teamsupport/5-reasons-why-customer-support-systems-are-essential-to-great-businesses-02212037

Customer support can be a challenge. Especially in the B2B (business-to-business) industry, the quick decisions your support team makes can have a profound impact on a customer relationship. Whether or not they make the right decision on the phone can be the difference between calming an upset customer or making them even more angry.

9              7 Effective Ways to Boost the Sales of Your Digital Products
https://www.business2community.com/ecommerce/7-effective-ways-to-boost-the-sales-of-your-digital-products-02212036

Creating and selling digital products is one of the best ways to monetize a website or blog. With digital products you’ll have no need to invest capital in inventory, no issues keeping popular products in stock, and you’ll be able to set up a system that automatically delivers the products by email or instant download to your customers.

10           Mobile apps as marketing tools: types, goals, and building strategies
https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/mobile-apps-as-marketing-tools-types-goals-building-strategies/

Apps offer effective solutions for communicating with users and keeping them with the brand. Every job requires a tool, and brand marketing is no exception. The era of mobile devices also asks for something new, different from old but gold TV, radio ads, and street banners. Mobile branding apps are the exact tools that today’s brands require.

11           Growing profits through focusing on the customers that matter
https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/05/22/growing-profits-through-focusing-customers-matter

In business as in life, growing profits are a strong indicator of your organization’s performance. And while there is a tendency to think of ‘growth’ as something that happens as a result of expansion and by reaching ever higher numbers of people in more places than ever before, this is not always the case.

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 21

Friday, June 14, 2019

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 21

1              IEA cuts 2019 estimate for oil demand growth on global trade worries
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iea-oil-idUSKCN1TF0TA
The outlook for oil demand growth in 2019 has dimmed due to worsening prospects for world trade, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday, although stimulus packages and developing countries should boost growth going into 2020.

2              Global gas demand to keep rising over next five years, IEA says
https://www.lngworldnews.com/global-gas-demand-to-keep-rising-over-next-five-years-iea-says/

After another record year, global demand for natural gas is set to keep growing over the next five years due to strong consumption in fast-growing Asian economies, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its Gas 2019 report.

3              Oil set for weekly loss as demand fears outweigh geopolitics
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKCN1TF041

Oil prices steadied on Friday but remained on track for a weekly loss on fears that trade disputes will dent global oil demand, though attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman this week gave prices a floor.

4              OPEC, Russia nearing accord on long term oil supply coordination: Nikkei
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-opec-novak-idUSKCN1TF0C4

OPEC and other producers including Russia are in final talks for an agreement, that may be signed in early July, to cooperate on oil supplies on a long-term basis, Japan’s Nikkei reported, citing Russian energy minister Alexander Novak.

5              America’s Most Important Natural Gas Export Market
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Americas-Most-Important-Natural-Gas-Export-Market.html

Most of this growth was in exports to Mexico, which imported 1.7 Tcf of U.S. natural gas in 2018. This is a far greater total than for any other country, and is in fact more than all liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to all countries.

6              How Will Industry Respond To Michael Bloomberg’s New Assault On Natural Gas?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2019/06/13/how-will-industry-respond-to-michael-bloombergs-new-assault-on-natural-gas/

You have to admire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a way. Rather than taking the track of exploiting climate alarmism for profit, as so many prominent figures in our society have done, he puts his own money where his messaging is.

7              ExxonMobil, SABIC to Proceed with Gulf Coast Growth Ventures Project
https://www.manufacturing.net/news/2019/06/exxonmobil-sabic-proceed-gulf-coast-growth-ventures-project

ExxonMobil and SABIC announced the decision to proceed with the construction of a chemical facility and a 1.8 million metric ton ethane steam cracker in San Patricio County, Texas, leading to thousands of high-paying jobs and billions in economic output.

8              Reliance, BP to start work on third gas project in India’s Bay of Bengal
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-reliance-bp-project-idUSKCN1TC2DE
India’s Reliance Industries Ltd and partner BP said on Tuesday they would start developing a third gas field off India’s east coast.

9              Shell to invest at least $397 million in Mexican deepwater oil projects
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-oil-shell-idUSKCN1TC2A6
Mexico’s independent oil regulator on Tuesday approved deepwater energy exploration plans for five areas operated by Royal Dutch Shell Plc in Mexican waters near the maritime border with the United States.

10           Province looking into making plastics, packaging producers run the recycling system
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/plastic-producers-recycling-1.5167669

Producers of plastic and packaging products could be on the hook for Ontario’s entire recycling bill, as the province looks to shift management of the blue bin system.

11           Shell Begins Shipping LNG From Huge Prelude Project
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Shell-Begins-Shipping-LNG-From-Huge-Prelude-Project.html

Shell has finally sent the first shipment of liquefied natural gas from its Prelude floating production facility off the coast of Australia. S&P Global Platts reports that the cargo is bound for Asia, although the name of the buyer was not disclosed.

Business Intelligence and Analytics 21

Friday, June 14, 2019

Business Intelligence and Analytics 21

1              Google to buy unified data platform Looker for $2.6 billion to strengthen Cloud analytics
https://marketingland.com/google-to-buy-unified-data-platform-looker-for-2-6-billion-to-strengthen-cloud-analytics-262239

Earlier today, Google announced plans to acquire unified data and analytics platform Looker for $2.6 billion in an all-cash transaction. Once the deal is complete later this year, Looker will join Google Cloud.

2              Mary Meeker’s Annual Tech Report Outlines Coming Shifts in Social Media and Digital Marketing
https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/mary-meekers-annual-tech-report-outlines-coming-shifts-in-social-media-and/556664/

Every year, the tech sector keenly awaits Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends Report, which looks at the key industry shifts and developments to be aware of, in order to help marketers, and others, plan for the next major evolutions.

3              Five things to do on a small digital marketing budget Search Engine Watch
https://searchenginewatch.com/2019/06/13/small-digital-marketing-budget-tips/

When you have a smaller digital marketing budget, every dollar counts, and you often need to get creative to make sure your ads show where you want.

4              How Automation Helps [Small] Businesses Increase Agility
https://www.business2community.com/small-business/how-automation-helps-small-businesses-increase-agility-02210712

Rapid change and technology have made organizational agility an absolute must for businesses in the 21st century. If efficiency was the key to success in the industrial age, agility is the new determining factor for success in the age of technology.

5              8 Low-Key Ways Ecommerce Brands are Using Competitor Insights to Spy on You
https://www.business2community.com/ecommerce/8-low-key-ways-ecommerce-brands-are-using-competitor-insights-to-spy-on-you-02210439

If you’ve every watched a sports movie, then you’re familiar with the scene where the underdog team watches video of the competition and freaks out a little because of how good they are. A seasoned coach might point out vulnerabilities in the competition, but by the end of the movie, the underdog team defeats the reigning champs and comes out on top.

6              7 Ways to Win Over Customers Through a Welcome Email Series
https://www.business2community.com/email-marketing/7-ways-to-win-over-customers-through-a-welcome-email-series-02209320

Did you know that a welcome email series is one of the most overlooked email automations of small- to medium-sized businesses? As it turns out, many who send out newsletters or campaigns on a regular basis completely overlook this crucial component to any email marketing strategy.

7              What Does it Mean to Pivot in Entrepreneurship?
https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/pivot-entrepreneurship/
“Pivot” is a popular term in the start-up world. If their initial idea doesn’t work as planned, entrepreneurs are expected to be ready to pursue a Plan B. But what does it actually mean to pivot – and are entrepreneurs really as open to doing it as they say they are?

8              5 Ways to Deal with the Lack of Data in Machine Learning
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2019/06/5-ways-lack-data-machine-learning.html
In many projects I carried out, companies, despite having fantastic AI business ideas, display a tendency to slowly become frustrated when they realize that they do not have enough data… However, solutions do exist! The purpose of this article is to briefly introduce you to some of them (the ones that are proven effective in my practice) rather than to list all existing solutions.

9              What you need to know: The Modern Open-Source Data Science/Machine Learning Ecosystem
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2019/06/top-data-science-machine-learning-tools.html
Recently we reported the results of 20th annual KDnuggets Software Poll: Python leads the 11 top Data Science, Machine Learning platforms: Trends and Analysis.

As we have done we examine which tools were part of the same answer – the skillset of the user. We note that this does not necessarily mean that all tools were used together on each project, but having knowledge and skills to used both tools X and Y makes it more likely that both X and Y were used together on some projects. The results we see are consistent with this assumption.

10           Top Programming Languages For Data Developers In 2019
https://www.smartdatacollective.com/top-programming-languages-for-data-developers-in-2019/

If you are a data developer, then you need to invest in learning the right programming languages. There are a ton of languages on the market, but some are more reliable than others. You will have a lot more job security if you invest in the right field.

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 20

Friday, June 7, 2019

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 20

1              Global gas demand to grow at 1.6% per year until 2024: IEA
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gas-iea-idUSKCN1T80JN

Global gas demand is expected to grow at a rate of 1.6% a year until 2024, fueled by Chinese consumption which will account for over a third of the demand growth during the period, the International Energy Agency said on Friday.

2              Quartet forms Northern Sea Route LNG transportation partnership
https://www.lngworldnews.com/quartet-forms-northern-sea-route-lng-transportation-partnership/

Russia’s Novatek, China COSCO Shipping Corporation, Sovcomflot and Silk Road Fund have signed an agreement regarding the Maritime Arctic Transport (MArT) joint venture.

3              China’s Demand For Gas “Almost Infinite”
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/commodities/

Last year, the buzz term in the natural gas world was the alarmist cry of “stranded assets”, with headlines shouting that overproduction of shale oil and gas in North America would leave markets oversaturated with product and infrastructure soon to become obsolete thanks to the rise of more affordable wind and solar. Since then, there have been just as many think pieces and reports tempering the stranded asset panic with assurances that natural gas is here to stay.

4              US promotes ‘freedom gas’ but prices, not politicians, drive LNG flows
https://blogs.platts.com/2019/06/05/us-freedom-gas-prices-lng-flows/
The US is describing its growing LNG exports as “freedom gas”, giving America’s allies “a diverse and affordable” clean energy source, but prices, not politicians, will decide where that LNG flows.

5              Oil Just Had Its Worst Run Since 2008
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Oil-Just-Had-Its-Worst-Run-Since-2008.html

Oil has entered a bear market as fears of an economic downturn mount. The fundamentals look much tighter than the swoon might suggest, but the supply and demand picture is also beginning to look more negative.

6              Oil rises as Saudi Arabia signals OPEC deal extension
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKCN1T801T
Oil prices rose on Friday, climbing further from five-month lows hit this week amid signs that OPEC and other producers could extend their output reduction deal.

7              U.S. Targets Venezuelan Oil Blending With Latest Restrictions
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/commodities/
The U.S. is stepping up efforts to cripple Venezuela’s oil industry, this time by targeting the petrochemicals the country’s state-owned oil company needs to keep its crude exports flowing.

8              Oil Industry Banks On Shaky Plastic Bet

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Oil-Industry-Banks-On-Shaky-Plastic-Bet.html

Even as oil demand is beginning to weaken this year due to a brewing economic slowdown, the oil industry faces a longer-term threat to oil demand as bans on plastic begin to multiply.

9              Oil giants bet their futures on plastic — just in time for a plastic-trash crackdown
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oil-plastic-petroleum-environment-20190606-story.html

As the world strives to wean itself off fossil fuels, oil companies have been turning to plastic as the key to their future. Now that’s looking overly optimistic.

10           Oil Sands Production To Hit 4 Million Bpd By 2030
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Oil-Sands-Production-To-Hit-4-Million-Bpd-By-2030.html
Crude oil production from Canada’s oil sands could rise by a million barrels from today’s average daily rate to as much as 4 million bpd in 2030 despite a slowdown in the annual growth rate, IHS Markit has forecast.

11           As Permian oil production turns lighter, price outlook darkens
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-oil-permian-idUSKCN1T71B7
The United States may now be the world’s biggest crude producer, but the oil being produced in its prolific Permian basin is increasingly too light in density for domestic refiners or for exports, eroding prices for these orphan barrels.

12           EIA tool compares individual power plants’ generation, cooling water use, and emissions

Today in Energy
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=39732

EIA’s electric power sector surveys collect plant-level information on several attributes of U.S. power plants, including cooling water use and emissions data.

13           LyondellBasell, Braskem end merger talks
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/LyondellBasell-Braskem-end-merger-talks-13933334.php

After nearly a year of talks and significant delay, petrochemical makers LyondellBasell and Braskem have mutually ended talks over a potential merger.

14           Latest setback to Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline is more bad news for oilfield workers, industry warns
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/minnesota-rejects-enbridge-line-3-1.5160404
A court ruling in Minnesota that could further delay Enbridge Inc.’s Line 3 oil pipeline replacement project spells more bad news for Canadian oilfield workers, says the CEO of the Petroleum Services Association of Canada.

Business Intelligence and Analytics 20

Friday, June 7, 2019

Business Intelligence and Analytics 20

1              3 Ways to Streamline and Economize the Manufacturing Supply Chain
https://www.manufacturing.net/article/2019/06/3-solutions-streamling-and-economize-manufacturing-supply-chain

A study conducted by the Material Handling Institute surveyed 1,000 supply chain executives to identify the top technologies projected to shape supply chain processes in the coming years. The answers included cloud computing and storage, inventory and network optimization, predictive analytics and IoT.

2              Data Is the Lifeblood of Sales Intelligence Programs
https://www.informationweek.com/big-data/big-data-analytics/data-is-the-lifeblood-of-sales-intelligence-programs/a/d-id/1334832

Many organizations are going through an analytics evolution. And this data-driven approach is no longer exclusive to technical teams as more business personnel become “citizen” data scientists — yes, even sales teams.

3              Industry 4.0: Why Manufacturers Need to Keep Their Eye on the Long Game
https://www.manufacturing.net/2019/06/industry-40-why-manufacturers-need-keep-their-eye-long-game

An industrial revolution is a fundamental shift in the way industry works that forever changes the way manufacturing is done. However, besieged by bright shiny objects of Industry 4.0, manufacturers should focus on long term goals instead of being swept up by the abundance of new technologies, such as cloud, big data, IoT, mobile, location, additive manufacturing, edge computing, miniaturization, augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and robotics.

4              8 Industrial IoT Trends of 2019 That Cannot Be Ignored
https://datafloq.com/read/8-industrial-iot-trends-2019-cannot-be-ignored/6452

From manufacturing to the retail sector, the infinite applications of the industrial internet of things are disrupting business processes, thereby improving operational efficiency and business competitiveness. The trend of employing IoT-powered systems for supply chain management, smart monitoring,  remote diagnosis, production integration, inventory management, and predictive maintenance is catching up as companies take bold steps to address a myriad of business problems.

5              How We Can Solve Big Data’s Bias Problem
https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/big-data-ai-bias/
Data analytics and artificial intelligence are transforming our lives. Be it in health care, in banking and financial services, or in times of humanitarian crises — data determine the way decisions are made. But often, the way data is collected and measured can result in biased and incomplete information, and this can significantly impact outcomes.

6              Visualising Geospatial data with Python using Folium
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2018/09/visualising-geospatial-data-python-folium.html

Data visualization is a broader term that describes any effort to help people understand the importance of data by placing it in a visual context. patterns, trends, and correlations can be easily shown visually which otherwise might go unnoticed in textual data.It is a fundamental part of the data scientist’s toolkit. Creating visualisations is pretty easy but creating good ones is much harder.

7              Marketing Metrics for Demand Generation
https://blog.marketo.com/2019/06/why-digital-marketing-kpis-keep-your-demand-generation-campaign-relevant.html

In our previous posts about demand generation, we explored some of the ways to drive an effective demand gen campaign. For our final blog in this series, let’s talk about KPIs—because the cold, hard truth is without metrics, no other aspects of your campaign matter.

8              The Importance of — and How to Calculate — Lifetime Customer Value
https://www.business2community.com/customer-experience/the-importance-of-and-how-to-calculate-lifetime-customer-value-02207695

Lifetime customer value, also called customer lifetime value (CLV), is one of the most important metrics out there. The logic is self-explanatory, so we won’t belabor it because you’re all smart people, but the bouncing ball goes like this:

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 19

Friday, May 31, 2019

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 19

1              Trade wars tip oil toward biggest monthly drop in six months
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKCN1T1056

Oil was on track for its biggest monthly drop in six months on Friday as U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up trade tensions, weighing on the demand outlook.

2              Can Canada Become Energy Independent By 2030?
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Can-Canada-Become-Energy-Independent-By-2030.html

Andrew Scheer—leader of Canada’s Conservatives who are currently in opposition but leading Liberals in the polls ahead of the October federal elections—has recently outlined his vision for Canada that includes the country becoming energy independent by cutting off all foreign oil imports by 2030.

3              LNG mega-projects face funding evolution
https://www.petroleum-economist.com/articles/midstream-downstream/lng/2019/lng-mega-projects-face-funding-evolution

The shifting risk and reward equations created by LNG’s commoditisation will lead to fundamental changes in financing

4              Shale Drillers Keep On Falling Into The Same Trap
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Shale-Drillers-Keep-On-Falling-Into-The-Same-Trap.html
Despite the hype of lower breakeven prices, and despite the hype around longer laterals, energy digitalization, and other technological breakthroughs, most shale companies are still not profitable.

5              EIA’s new liquids pipeline projects database shows new U.S. crude oil pipeline capacity
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=39672

EIA recently launched a new liquids pipeline projects database that tracks more than 200 crude oil, hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL), and petroleum products pipeline projects. Rising domestic crude oil production has led to several changes in Gulf Coast crude oil supply and demand patterns, creating a need for more pipeline capacity.

6              Analysis: Potential Reliance, Aramco tie-up seen as ‘match made in heaven’
https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/analysis-potential-reliance-aramco-tie-up-seen-as-match-made-in-heaven/

Talks for Saudi Aramco to buy a stake in the downstream segment of India’s Reliance Industries are in advanced stages, sources have told S&P Global Platts, a potential tie-up that could open a window of opportunity for both companies to nurture their refining and petrochemical expansion dreams.

7              Total to move ahead with using palm oil at biodiesel refinery
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-total-biofuels-lamede-idUSKCN1SZ1V9

Total is set to start up a biodiesel refinery using palm oil whose planned launch last summer sparked opposition from farmers producing vegetable oil and from environmental activists.

8              ExxonMobil backs LNG imports to world’s biggest exporter
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-gas-outlook-idUSKCN1T00T2
Imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Australia – the world’s biggest LNG exporter – now appear “highly realistic” as the country struggles to fill a looming gas shortage, U.S. energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp said on Thursday.

9              Smart Money Turns Increasingly Bearish On Oil
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Smart-Money-Turns-Increasingly-Bearish-On-Oil.html

Over the past month, hedge funds and other portfolio managers have been liquidating some of their bets that oil prices will rise, as concerns about the future of global economy grew amid an intensifying U.S.-China trade war.

10           Bechtel scores $9.5 bln Rio Grande LNG EPC deal
https://www.lngworldnews.com/bechtel-scores-9-5-bln-rio-grande-lng-epc-deal/

US LNG export project developer NextDecade has signed two contracts with Bechtel for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG project in Brownsville, Texas, totaling $9.565 billion.

11           Pemex’s oil exports tumble 11% in April from March
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-oil-idUSKCN1SV007
Pemex’s oil exports dropped by 11% in April compared to the previous month, while production slipped by 0.9%, data from the Mexican state oil firm showed on Friday.

12           Expert insights on choosing the right plastics for medical applications
https://www.plasticstoday.com/medical/expert-insights-on-choosing-right-plastics-medical-applications/16899970660867

The material selection process for a medical application must consider many of the same issues as for any other product—the material’s physical properties, the environment(s) in which the product will be used, the cost of the material, the manufacturing process, and so forth

Business Intelligence and Analytics 19

Friday, May 31, 2019

Business Intelligence and Analytics 19

1              The Secret Sauce Behind Successful Analytics
https://www.business2community.com/business-intelligence/data-integration-the-secret-sauce-behind-successful-analytics-02204698

There’s more data available to businesses now than ever before. But lost at sea in this data ocean are companies that have not yet made strides to better integrate their business with the information at hand. Aberdeen’s Data Integration study findings reveal what changes the industry leaders have made, as well as what challenges companies can expect to face in the near future.

2              4 Keys to Building a Successful Business Intelligence Strategy
https://learn.g2.com/business-intelligence-strategy
If you’re a company with high-growth aspirations, I’m sure you’ve considered looking into business intelligence at least once or twice. When done right, business intelligence leads to faster and more confident decision-making; mainly because these decisions are backed by data. It can save time, money, effort, and open new opportunities.

3              Top 5 Tips For Conducting Successful BI Projects With Examples & Templates
https://www.datapine.com/blog/analytics-and-bi-projects-examples-templates/
BI projects aren’t just for the big fishes in the sea anymore; the technology has developed rapidly, the software has become more accessible while business intelligence and analytics projects implemented in various industries regularly, no matter the shape and size, small businesses or large enterprises. With the help of online data analysis tools, these kinds of projects have become easy to manage and agile in performance.

4              Careful! Looking at your model results too much can cause information leakage
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2019/05/careful-looking-model-results-cause-information-leakage.html

It’s always to use as much data as you can when building machine learning models. I think we all are aware of the issue of overfitting, which is essentially where the model you build replicates the training data results so perfectly its fitted to the training data and does not generalise to better represent the population the data comes to, with catastrophic results when you feed in new data and get very odd results.

5              How Artificial Intelligence Will Disrupt the Financial Sector
https://datafloq.com/read/artificial-intelligence-disrupt-financial-sector/6417

Artificial intelligence thrives with data. The more data you have, the better your algorithms will be. However, just having a lot of data is not sufficient anymore. You also need high-quality data, or in the words of Peter Norvig, you need better data

6              Neural Adaptation: 5 Key Ways to Boost Your Conversions Using this Psychological Principle
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/neural-adaptation

This is explained by a concept called neural adaptation: a gradual decrease in response to a stimulus due to constant exposure to it. This concept explains why our clothes, shoes, and caps feel like a part of our body and why we feel slight pain when we dip our hand (or body) in slightly hot water but feel almost nothing if our hand remains in the slightly hot water despite its temperature not changing considerably.

7              Who is your Golden Goose?: Cohort Analysis
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2019/05/golden-goose-cohort-analysis.html
Customer segmentation is the technique of dividing customers into groups based on their purchase patterns to identify who are the most profitable groups. In segmenting customers, various criteria can also be used depending on the market such as geographic, demographic characteristics or behavior bases. This technique assumes that groups with different features require different approaches to marketing and wants to figure out the groups who can boost their profitability the most.

8              Six Productivity Tips to Help You Build Healthy Habits
https://problogger.com/build-healthy-habits/

Do you struggle with managing your time? As an online entrepreneur it’s easy to slip into bad habits – moving frantically from one urgent thing to another, or responding to other people’s agendas without much thought about what we need to get done. In this post, I’m sharing six things that have helped me form good habits in my blogging, my business, and many aspects of my life.

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 18

Friday, May 24, 2019

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 18

1              Oil rises towards $69 but set for 2019’s biggest weekly loss
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKCN1SU01P

Oil rose towards $69 a barrel on Friday after two sessions of losses, but remained on track for its biggest weekly drop this year due to rising inventories and concerns about an economic slowdown.

2              How Trump and Xi Killed the Oil Rally
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/How-Trump-And-Xi-Killed-The-Oil-Rally.html
WTI fell below $60 per barrel for the first time in two months, dragged down by growing fears of a global economic slowdown.

3              Oil Price Fundamental Daily Forecast
https://www.fxempire.com/forecasts/article/oil-price-fundamental-daily-forecast-pressured-by-rising-u-s-stockpiles-concerns-over-slowing-economy-576228

With both WTI and Brent crude oil on the weak side of the 200-day moving average at $60.63 and $68.61 respectively, we expect rallies to be short-lived until enough buyers return to drive prices over this technical level.

4              Natural Gas Price Fundamental Daily Forecast
https://www.fxempire.com/forecasts/article/natural-gas-price-fundamental-daily-forecast-models-showing-some-heat-for-first-week-of-june-576237

The daily chart shows buyers are going to have a hard time initiating a rally due to a series of potential resistance levels at $2.609, $2.619, $2.632 and $2.641. Based on the current set-up, we’re likely to see a range-bound trade until a prolonged period of heat is identified by the weather forecasts.

5              U.S. Energy Storage Capacity Set To Double This Year
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/US-Energy-Storage-Capacity-Set-To-Double-This-Year.html

U.S. grid-connected energy storage capacity this year is set for a twofold increase to 712 MW from 376 MW last year. What’s more, between 2019 and 2024, storage capacity will soar to almost 5 GW, of which 90 percent will be battery storage, IHS Markit said in a new report.

6              Paying some piddling carbon tax will do nothing to defend us from what lies ahead
https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/carbon-tax-debate-1.5143916
Sometime this summer, once Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls the next election, our political leaders will try hard to lead us, like a herd of confused cattle, into a stupid fight and the wrong conversation. Conservative leaders intend to make Trudeau’s carbon tax the big issue.

7              Asia oil refiners mull run cuts with margins at 16-year low for season
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-asia-oil-idUSKCN1ST0QM

Asia’s oil refiners are considering reducing output after margins slumped to their lowest for the season since 2003, according to industry sources and Refinitiv data.

8              Aramco Starts Fuel Trading From U.A.E. With Ex-BP, Pemex Hires
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/commodities/
Saudi Aramco hired two Singapore-based traders and began dealing in fuel at the Middle East’s main bunkering port as the world’s biggest oil exporter expands further into the trading business.

9              Shell Appomattox Project: Ahead Of Time And Under Budget
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2019/05/24/shell-appomattox-project-ahead-of-time-and-under-budget/
It is no secret that costs of finding and producing oil and gas in North America have dropped dramatically in recent years. Much of this is thanks to improvements in processes and efficiencies within upstream companies; producers have leaned on service providers to reduce billing rates; smarter drilling and hydraulic fracturing programs have played a big role; and of course, the adoption of new, smarter technologies has also been a major key.

10           Weekly resin report: Some processors bank on PE supply surge that will send resin prices lower
https://www.plasticstoday.com/resin-pricing/weekly-resin-report-some-processors-bank-on-pe-supply-surge-will-send-resin-prices-lower/44010771360835

So, how busy were the spot resin markets last week? Well, at mid-month, resin trading was nearly double the historic average, reports the PlasticsExchange (Chicago) in its Market Update. Polypropylene  (PP) prices inched up another cent while polyethylene (PE) prices held firm, having consolidated recent gains at slightly elevated recovery levels.

11           Materials:: Two Performance PE Film Grades for Quality Flexible Packaging Debut at Chinaplas
https://www.ptonline.com/products/materials-two-performance-pe-film-grades-for-quality-flexible-packaging-debut-at-chinaplas-2019

Houston-based ExxonMobil has introduced two new performance PE polymers for high-quality flexible packaging which were highlighted at Chinaplas 2019. Both mark the latest addition to the company’s Exceed family of metallocene hexene LLDPE film resins.

12           This Under 30 Startup Just Raised Another $32 Million To Manufacture Chemicals With Bacteria
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2019/05/22/this-under-30-startup-just-raised-another-32-million-to-manufacture-chemicals-with-bacteria/

Houston, Texas-based chemical manufacturing startup Solugen, which was cofounded by Forbes Under 30 alumni Gaurab Chakrabarti and Sean Hunt, announced Wednesday that it has raised a $32 million series B round, which the company will use to expand its manufacturing facilities.

Business Intelligence and Analytics 18

Friday, May 24, 2019

Business Intelligence and Analytics 18

1              Will the Real AI Please Stand Up?
https://www.informationweek.com/big-data/ai-machine-learning/will-the-real-ai-please-stand-up/a/d-id/1334670

Make sure that your use of machine learning has more substance than hype. Here’s a framework you can use to help you cut through the noise.

2              Will Programmers Have a Job in the Future? – Future Trends & Prediction
https://medium.com/future-trends-prediction/will-programmers-have-a-job-in-the-future-13b930555f5f

We’ve ushered into the age of technology, and if programming was considered in the 60s and 70s a “geek activity,” today it has become one of the most respectable, high-paying jobs one could get. It is also a sector that is rapidly evolving, and almost everything that has recently been associated with progress has also been associated with programming. That’s great. But programmers are no less susceptible than everyone else when it comes to losing their jobs. In this article, we ask the question, “will programmers still have a job in the future?”

3              Customer Success Leading Indicators and 3 Ways to Turn Around a Failing Product
https://www.business2community.com/product-management/customer-success-leading-indicators-and-3-ways-to-turn-around-a-failing-product-02199901

In the world of SaaS products, there are plenty of ups and downs. Every product goes through the process of checks and balances, and sometimes there are more downs than ups. Just because you have a ‘failing’ product doesn’t mean it’s time to pack up shop. Instead, this could be the perfect opportunity to revamp and refocus your go-to-market strategy. If your product is struggling to keep up with industry demands, it’s time to seek help from the audience that is working with your product every single day: your customers.

4              Building Digital-Ready Culture in Traditional Organizations
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/building-digital-ready-culture-in-traditional-organizations/

Even though traditional companies find much to admire and learn from in the cultures of born-digital companies, some born-digital qualities are cause for concern. Amazon.com, for instance, launches new businesses quickly and drives repeated efficiency gains in operations. However, it is less admired for what can be seen as uncompromising relationships with publishers, partners, localities, and workers. Uber is revered for its ability to innovate services with agility.

5              Why Location and Demographic Data Play an Essential Role in Predictive
https://datafloq.com/read/location-demographic-data-essential-role-marketing/6395

For most of the past century, marketing was far more of an art than a science. Marketers made decisions primarily off of intuition. Their models have shifted markedly in recent years, as big data plays a more important role in customer outreach and engagement. Predictive analytics is taking data-driven marketing to the next level.

6              6 Industries Warming up to Predictive Analytics and Forecasting
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2019/05/6-industries-warming-up-predictive-analytics-forecasting.html

Predictive analytics and forecasting tools help companies have more confidence about what to anticipate for the future instead of just taking educated guesses and hoping for the best.

7              A Complete Machine Learning Walk-Through in Python: Part One
https://towardsdatascience.com/a-complete-machine-learning-walk-through-in-python-part-one-c62152f39420

Putting the machine learning pieces together

Reading through a data science book or taking a course, it can feel like you have the individual pieces, but don’t quite know how to put them together. Taking the next step and solving a complete machine learning problem can be daunting, but preserving and completing a first project will give you the confidence to tackle any data science problem. This series of articles will walk through a complete machine learning solution with a real-world dataset to let you see how all the pieces come together.

8              A Complete Machine Learning Walk-Through in Python: Part Two
https://towardsdatascience.com/a-complete-machine-learning-project-walk-through-in-python-part-two-300f1f8147e2

Model Evaluation and Selection

As a reminder, we are working on a supervised regression task: using New York City building energy data, we want to develop a model that can predict the Energy Star Score of a building. Our focus is on both accuracy of the predictions and interpretability of the model.

9              Price Forecasting: Applying Machine Learning Approaches to Electricity, Flights, Hotels, Real Estate, and Stock Pricing
https://www.altexsoft.com/blog/business/price-forecasting-machine-learning-based-approaches-applied-to-electricity-flights-hotels-real-estate-and-stock-pricing/

When you give customers advice that can help them save some money, they will pay you back with loyalty, which is priceless. Interesting fact: Fareboom users started spending twice as much time per session within a month of the release of an airfare price forecasting feature. This tool continues to grow conversion for our partner.

10           5 Step Guide to Successfully Implementing Robotic Process Automation
https://www.business2community.com/product-management/5-step-guide-to-successfully-implementing-robotic-process-automation-02201465

Robotic Process Automation has been around for quite some time and is starting to gain momentum in large corporations as they’ve seen the results of cost savings from previous RPA implementations. In this article, we aim to break down what RPA is and how enterprises can go about formulating the right RPA implementation strategy from creating the business case to the initial discovery workshops and implementation to testing, and rollout.