Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 5

Friday, February 15, 2019

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 5

1              Oil Will Continue to Play Significant Role in 2040 https://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_will_continue_to_play_significant_role_in_2040-15-feb-2019-158167-article/

Although the precise outlook is uncertain, the world looks set to consume significant amounts of oil for several decades, according to BP’s latest Energy Outlook.

2              Oil prices are rising and poised for a breakout. Watch these levels   Reuters
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/15/oil-prices-are-rising-and-poised-for-a-breakout-watch-these-levels.html

People work at the Halfaya oilfield in Amara, southeast of Baghdad, Iraq.

Analysts say oil prices are approaching breakout levels, and the final day of trading this week will offer clues about whether crude futures can keep rallying.

Brent crude on Friday topped $65 a barrel for the first time this year, hitting a nearly three-month high. The international benchmark for oil prices was pushing toward $66 around 9:45 a.m. ET.

3              EIA adds new play production data to shale gas and tight oil reports – Today in Energy
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=38372

In December 2018, U.S. shale and tight plays produced about 65 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas (70% of total U.S. dry gas production) and about 7 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil (60% of total U.S. oil production). A decade ago, in December 2008, shale gas and tight oil accounted for 16% of total U.S. gas production and about 12% of U.S. total crude oil production.

4              Exclusive: Trafigura halts oil trade with Venezuela –
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-oil-trafigura-excl-idUSKCN1Q41H8

Global commodities firm Trafigura has decided to stop trading oil with Venezuela due to U.S. sanctions on the OPEC nation’s energy sector, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

5              Brent crude hits 2019 high above $65, buoyed by output cuts
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKCN1Q403J

Brent crude oil climbed above $65 a barrel to its highest this year as OPEC-led supply cuts and this week’s announcement of a higher than expected cut by Saudi Arabia encouraged investors.

6              Shell taking time with Prelude FLNG commissioning
https://www.lngworldnews.com/shell-taking-time-with-prelude-flng-commissioning/

The Hague-based LNG giant Shell said it is in no rush with the commissioning process of its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility located offshore Western Australia.

The company has already started feeding the gas into the pipes in the third quarter last year and opened up a number of wells and fed the gas to the unit for liquefaction in December.

7              Liquefied natural gas: US hype and German obedience?
https://www.naturalgasworld.com/germany-us-liquefied-natural-gas-hype-67966

The US has a vested interest in selling liquefied natural gas to Europe’s biggest economy as it produces a lot more than it needs at home. But is LNG really vital for Germany’s long-term energy strategy?

8              Germany soon to have two LNG terminals
https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/13022019/germany-soon-to-have-two-lng-terminals/

The German economy minister, Peter Altmaier, has expressed optimism that Germany will soon be building two LNG import terminals in the near future.

9              Bioplastics: Promising but pricey | Plastics News
https://www.plasticsnewseurope.com/article/20190212/PNE/190219951/bioplastics-promising-but-pricey

One of the bio-based plastics that have attracted major interest in recent years is PHA. Produced by bacteria, PHA is not just one, but a family of naturally occurring biopolyesters with the potential to replace a host of conventional, fossil-based resins.

10           Inoes boss slams EU green taxes for “uncompetitive” chemicals industry
https://www.plasticsnewseurope.com/article/20190213/PNE/190219934/inoes-boss-slams-eu-green-taxes-for-uncompetitive-chemicals-industry

Ineos founder and chairman Jim Ratcliffe has written an open letter to European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, expressing his concerns about the future of the European chemicals industry.

The letter particularly criticised the EU for its green taxes and regulations, saying they should be reduced to sustain a competitive chemical industry.

Business Intelligence and Analytics 5

Friday, February 15, 2019

Business Intelligence and Analytics 5

1              Why It’s So Hard to Fight Instinct vs. Data in BI Decision-Making
https://www.smartdatacollective.com/how-big-data-changes-business-intelligence-decision-making/

In the days before robust business intelligence (BI) platforms existed, professionals usually had to rely on experience and gut instinct when making decisions.

Now, data analysis tools can give solid conclusions gleaned from months or years of compiled information. Even so, the people who dig through data still have difficulty trusting what the data says and quieting their gut instincts.

2              Top 10 Data Science Use Cases in Telecom
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2019/02/top-10-data-science-use-cases-telecom.html

In the course of time, data science has proved its high value and efficiency. Data scientists find more and more new ways to implement big data solutions in daily life. Nowadays data is a fuel needed for a successful company.

(Fraud detection, Predictive analytics, Customer segmentation, Customer churn prevention, Lifetime value prediction. Network management and optimization, Product development, Recommendation engines, Customer sentiment analysis, Real-time analytics)

3              Data science is a growing field. Here’s how to train people to do it
http://theconversation.com/data-science-is-a-growing-field-heres-how-to-train-people-to-do-it-110449

The world is inundated with data. There’s a virtual tsunami of data moving around the globe, renewing itself daily. Take just the global financial markets. They generate vast amounts of data share prices, commodity prices, indices, option and futures prices, to name just a few.

4              How To Drive More Engagement On All Your Digital Assets
https://socialmediaweek.org/blog/2019/02/how-to-drive-more-engagement-on-all-your-digital-assets/

Let’s talk about how to drive more engagement for a minute. These days, consumers have plenty of choices available to them in terms of products and services. So, you differentiate your brand by becoming the one that has the most valuable connections (or the best relationship) with the consumer.

5              Deep Learning 101 for Dummies like Me –
https://towardsdatascience.com/deep-learning-101-for-dummies-like-me-a53e3caf31b1

Currently, Artificial Intelligence is advancing at a great pace and deep learning is one of the biggest contributors to that. So, in the 2nd post of the 101 for Dummies like Me series, I’ll take you through the basics of deep learning. You can find the 1st post here where we talked about the basics of PyTorch, which was inspired by Intro to Deep Learning with PyTorch from Udacity. Some of the images in this post are taken from Udacity Deep Learning Nanodegree which is a great starting point for beginners. In the last years, applications of Deep Learning made huge advancements in many domains arousing astonishment in people that didn’t expect the technology and world to change so fast. Refer below image for a uber level comparison between AI vs. ML vs. DL

6              Top Trends for Data Science in 2019
https://www.datasciencecentral.com/profiles/blogs/top-trends-for-data-science-in-2019-1

Ok. So there’s been a lot of coverage by various websites, data science gurus, and AI experts about what 2019 holds in store for us. Everywhere you look, we have new fads and concepts for the new year. This article is going to be rather different. We are going to highlight the dark horses – the trends that no one has thought about but will completely disrupt the working IT environment (for both good and bad – depends upon which side of the disruption you are on), in a significant manner. So, in order to give you a taste of what’s coming up, let’s go through the top four (plus 1 (bonus) = five) top trends of 2019 for data science:

(AutoML, Interoperability (ONNX), Cyber Data Science Crime, Cloud AI-as-a-Service, (Bonus) Quantum Computation & Data Science.)

7              Here’s How Big Data Analytics Has Changed the eCommerce Industry
https://www.smartdatacollective.com/how-big-data-analytics-has-changed-ecommerce-industry/

Data is everywhere. We gather and share countless data every moment, in fact, even our actions are generating data right now. Things that we used to see in sci-fi movies have now become real. With us being surrounded by so much data, managing them has become very challenging, but then big data is here!

8              4 Ways To Take Big Data And SEO To The Next Level
https://www.smartdatacollective.com/4-ways-to-take-big-data-and-seo-to-next-level/

With planning and the right moves, business leaders can improve their operations and take big data and search engine optimization (SEO) initiatives to the next level. The two technologies have changed a lot in the last two years.  Relatively recent innovations have created new ways for enterprises to find, understand and engage with their audiences with the help of big data and SEO. As new marketing channels like social media gain traction, a wealth of data is available to help marketers understand consumers in new and exciting ways.

Business Intelligence and Analytics 4

Friday, February 8, 2019

Business Intelligence and Analytics 4

1              7 elements of an effective inbound marketing strategy
https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/inbound-marketing-strategy/7-elements-of-an-effective-inbound-marketing-strategy/

A step-by-step guide to producing a plan that will attract, engage and delight customers Building a strong brand, attracting new prospects and retaining customers requires a strong integrated marketing strategy. This will use a combination of both outbound (push) and …..

2              Biggest Challenges to AI Marketing Success
https://marketinginsidergroup.com/artificial-intelligence/biggest-challenges-to-ai-marketing-success/

Embracing the new opportunities that AI brings to marketing is something that every business must do to stay competitive in 2019 and beyond.

However, just because AI-powered marketing platforms are becoming more commonplace and simpler to use, it doesn’t mean there aren’t any pitfalls when it comes to using AI in marketing.

3              Best Ways to Automate Your Business in 2019
https://www.business2community.com/strategy/best-ways-to-automate-your-business-in-2019-02166107

Automation is a business trend that won’t be going away any time soon. Entrepreneurs always tend to have a ton on their plate. For some, the 4-hour work week can seem like a myth.

To get a better handle on your to-do list and actually make progress, try adding more automation to your business. Automation is when you rely on the tools and systems that are often put in place by technology to do things quicker and without your direct involvement.

4              Big retailer will test reusable packaging to replace throwaway plastic in Canada
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/loop-reusable-packaging-1.5004525

Canadian efforts to reduce single-use plastic will get a boost this year when a major retailer is slated to launch a test of reusable packaging in the most populated part of the country.

The chain’s identity is expected to be unveiled this spring, with online operations starting by year end, says the founder of recycler TerraCycle’s Loop.

5              Using Blockchain: A Strategic Roadmap for Companies
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/using-the-blockchain-a-strategic-roadmap-for-companies/

Bitcoin may be getting the headlines, but what makes companies more excited is the blockchain, the decentralized ledger technology that underpins cryptocurrencies. It has the potential to revolutionize everything from financial settlements on Wall Street to global supply chains. But like any promising innovation, there’s also plenty of hype that comes along with it.

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 4

Friday, February 8, 2019

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 4

1              Petrobras sets aside $622M in case it has to pay up for Vantage rig contract termination
https://www.offshoreenergytoday.com/petrobras-sets-aside-622m-in-case-it-has-to-pay-up-for-vantage-rig-contract-termination/

Brazilian oil company Petrobras has set aside $622 million plus interest in case it is forced to pay Vantage Drilling for wrongful termination of a 2015 drillship contract.

2              Falling oil-by-rail shipments could hurt Alberta’s plan to clear backlog
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/crude-by-rail-oilpatch-imc-suncor-cn-cp-1.5007949

The push by oil companies in Western Canada to ship oil by rail has lost its momentum, which could undermine the Alberta government’s attempts to clear the backlog of crude in the province.

3              Oil and economy poised between growth and recession: Kemp
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-economy-kemp-idUSKCN1PW1QD

Policymakers and analysts who claim the outlook is “unusually uncertain” are normally overstating their own forecasting problem and understating the difficulties faced by their predecessors.

4              Oil falls as U.S. inventories weigh on supply outlook
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKCN1PW03Z

Oil fell more than 2 percent on Thursday as the market confronted concerns that global demand growth would lag in the coming year.

5              Oil Major Total Evacuates Staff From Venezuela After U.S. Sanctions | OilPrice.com
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Oil-Major-Total-Evacuates-Staff-From-Venezuela-After-US-Sanctions.html

France’s oil and gas major Total has pulled out all its personnel from Venezuela following the U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA, which also blocked Total’s accounts in the Latin American country, CEO Patrick Pouyanné said on Thursday.

6              Uncertainty Continues For LNG Markets | OilPrice.com
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Uncertainty-Continues-For-LNG-Markets.html

‘King Coal’ dominated the energy mix during the industrial revolution of the 19th century. The replacement of the steam engine by the internal combustion engine made oil the most important source of energy. However, industrialisation’s fallout effect, global warming, has increased the importance of environmentalism. Natural gas is one of the few sources of energy which is relatively clean and able to supplement renewables.

7              Global polyolefins giant LyondellBasell Industries posted higher sales but lower profit in 2018
https://www.plasticsnewseurope.com/article/20190205/PNE/190209950/global-polyolefins-giant-lyondellbasell-industries-posted-higher-sales-but-lower-profit-in-2018

The firm, which is based in Houston and London, rang up sales of just over $39 billion in 2018, up 13 percent vs. 2017. But annual profit slipped almost 4 percent to just under $4.7 billion.

8              How U.S. sanctions on Venezuela have left a dozen oil tankers idling with no place to go
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/venezuela-oil-sanctions-1.4990879
The sanctions the U.S. slapped on Venezuelan oil last week are playing havoc with the tankers that ship crude around the world, and throwing energy prices off-kilter in the process.

9              The United States expands its role as world’s leading ethane exporter – Today in Energy
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=38232

U.S. exports of ethane have increased from nearly nothing in 2013 to an average of 260,000 barrels per day (b/d) through the first 10 months of 2018, accounting for about one-sixth of U.S. hydrocarbon gas liquids exports. Ethane is a key feedstock for petrochemical manufacturing. The United States became the world’s top exporter of ethane in 2015, surpassing Norway, the only other country to ship ethane internationally. In 2014 and 2015, all U.S. ethane shipments went to Canada, but in 2018 the United States sent ethane to 10 countries.

10           In squeezed oil industry, some rethink hunt for new barrels
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-exploration-analysis-idUSKCN1PU1AJ

New partnerships are emerging in the global hunt for oil discoveries, with some explorers essentially offering an outsourcing service for the riskiest part of the energy business.

Central to this new strategy are efforts to find an ally earlier in the process of discovering new fields, and on a larger scale, in order to save money as budgets remain tight after the oil price slump of 2014.

11           Microplastics finally on their way out?
https://www.plasticsnewseurope.com/article/20190204/PNE/190209982/microplastics-finally-on-their-way-out

The European Chemicals Agency ECHA as submitted a restriction proposal for microplastic particles that are intentionally added to mixtures used by consumers or professionals. The scope covers a wide range of uses in consumer and professional products in multiple sectors, including cosmetic products, detergents and maintenance products, paints and coatings, construction materials and medicinal products, as well as various products used in agriculture and horticulture and in the oil and gas sectors.

Business Intelligence and Analytics 3

Friday, February 1, 2019

Business Intelligence and Analytics 3

1              How Data Analytics Can Boost Any Organization’s Performance
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/data-analytics-can-boost-organizations-performance/

Data analytics isn’t just the realm of high-tech industries any more. It’s making inroads into a wide variety of organizations, from financial firms to sports teams to medical institutions. One sign of the times is that New York City recently passed a bill to make the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics a permanent part of city government, according to StateScoop.

2          The Practical Guide to Artificial Intelligence
https://blog.marketo.com/2018/12/the-practical-guide-to-artificial-intelligence-for-marketers.html

Today’s marketers are in the early stages of transforming how they identify, execute, and evaluate campaigns leveraging new and innovative technology: artificial intelligence (AI). As digital-savvy customers expect more sophisticated and personalized experiences, marketers can lean on AI advancements to seamlessly deliver what they crave.

3              How companies are building sustainable AI and ML initiatives
https://www.oreilly.com/ideas/how-companies-are-building-sustainable-ai-and-ml-initiatives

The current generation of AI and ML methods and technologies rely on large amounts of data—specifically, labeled training data. In order to have a longstanding AI and ML practice, companies need to have data infrastructure in place to collect, transform, store, and manage data. On one hand, we wanted to see whether companies were building out key components. On the other hand, we wanted to measure the sophistication of their use of these components. In other words, could we see a roadmap for transitioning from legacy cases (perhaps some business intelligence) toward data science practices, and from there into the tooling required for more substantial AI adoption?

4              Big Data Improves Customer Segmentation Analysis For Email Marketers
https://www.smartdatacollective.com/how-big-data-improves-customer-segmentation-analysis-for-email-marketers/

Big data is turning old email marketing strategies on their head. You can use big data to get a better understanding of your customers, which helps you make sure they are segmented properly. This is just one of the many ways that big data helps maximize the ROI of your email marketing strategies.

5              Top 10 Technology Trends of 2019
https://www.datasciencecentral.com/profiles/blogs/top-10-technology-trends-of-2019

Primarily smart data technologies were actively applied only by huge enterprises and corporations. Today, big data has become available to a wide range of small businesses and companies. Both big enterprises and small companies tend to rely on big data in the questions of the intelligent business insights in their decision-making.

The ever-growing stream of data may also present a challenge to businesspeople. The prediction of changes in the role of big data and technologies is even more difficult. Thus, our top technology trends of 2019 are to serve a comprehensible roadmap for you.

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 3

Friday, February 1, 2019

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 3

1              Exclusive: Qatar, Exxon to proceed with $10 billion Texas LNG project https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-lng-golden-pass-exclusive-idUSKCN1PQ4OZ

Qatar Petroleum and Exxon Mobil Corp are expected to announce plans next week to proceed with a $10 billion project that will expand a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in Texas, three people familiar with the transaction said.

2              Oil Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – OPEC-led Cuts Underpinning Prices; China Deal Will Spike Prices Higher
https://www.fxempire.com/forecasts/article/oil-price-fundamental-daily-forecast-opec-led-cuts-underpinning-prices-china-deal-will-spike-prices-higher-550313

The price action clearly indicates that the next major move in crude oil will be fueled by the outcome of U.S.-China trade relations. Simply stated, a deal has to get done by the self-imposed March 1 deadline or President Trump is likely to impose stiffer penalties on China. This is likely to lead to further weakness in China’s economy, which could eventually spread to the global economy.

3              OPEC oil output drops on Saudi cut, outages and sanctions
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/opec-oil-output-drops-january-saudi-cut-outages-124114858–finance.html

OPEC oil supply has fallen in January by the largest amount in two years, a Reuters survey found, as Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies over-delivered on the group’s supply-cutting pact while Iran, Libya and Venezuela registered involuntary declines.

The 14-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has pumped 30.98 million barrels per day (bpd) this month, the survey showed on Thursday, down 890,000 bpd from December and the largest month-on-month drop since January 2017.

4              Mexican Oil at a Crossroads | Rigzone
https://www.rigzone.com/news/mexican_oil_at_a_crossroads-29-jan-2019-158030-article/

Having taken office, President Andres Manuel Lopez Labrador has both challenge and opportunity with regards to setting policy for the Mexican oil industry. Historically, policy has been driven by nationalist sentiments and a preference for government over private ownership, both of which have had some negative consequences. Recent reforms have already achieved significant results and should be furthered, but it appears he will not do so.

5              Natural Gas Price Fundamental Weekly Forecast
https://www.fxempire.com/forecasts/article/natural-gas-price-fundamental-weekly-forecast-mixed-forecast-for-feb-5-9-keeping-traders-guessing-549361

Forecast: The hang-up for traders is the forecast for a milder trending pattern February 5 to February 9, which sees less cold air across the northern U.S. The European model see colder temperatures during this time period.

Next week’s direction will be determined by how this time period plays out. We’re likely to see a sideways, choppy trade if the forecasts continue to clash. The market is likely to turn bullish if the forecasts point to increased demand. We could revisit recent lows if both forecasts turn bearish.

6              East Med Energy: Restoring Squandered Opportunities
https://www.naturalgasworld.com/east-med-energy-opportunities-67121

At beginning of this decade, natural gas prospects in the Eastern Mediterranean generated geopolitical optimism about potential new patterns of regional cooperation that might catalyze a Cyprus settlement, improve Arab-Israeli relations, and provide new gas supplies for Turkey and the EU. Natural gas projects do indeed appear to be reinforcing new strategic triangles among Israel, Cyprus, and Egypt as well as Israel, Cyprus and Greece. Turkey, however, risks being left out of the strategic mix. By using energy as a uniting factor, the European Union has a chance to play a catalyzing role in resolving the Cyprus Question and improving Turkey-EU relations, similar to the role of the US in the Southern Corridor.

7              Pemex to hold restricted tender for $8-bln refinery

https://www.theoilandgasyear.com/news/pemex-to-hold-restricted-tender-for-8-bln-refinery/

Mexican NOC Pemex will hold a restricted tender to choose a company to build the 340,000-bpd Dos Bocas refinery in the state of Tabasco, local media reported Tuesday.

“It will be a restricted tender because we are going to invite serious specialist companies,” local newspaper Excelsior cited Secretary of Energy Rocío Nahle as saying to audiences at an oil and gas conference in Mexico City. “We are avoiding international companies that have a history of corruption.”

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 2

Friday, January 25, 2019

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 2

1              The Week Ahead For Crude Oil, Gas and NGLs Markets – Jan 21, 2019
https://info.drillinginfo.com/the-week-ahead-for-crude-oil-gas-and-ngls-markets-jan-21-2019/

CRUDE OIL

US crude oil inventories declined 2.7 MMBbl last week, according to the weekly EIA report. Gasoline and distillate inventories showed sizable gains of 7.5 MMBbl and 3.0 MMBbl, respectively. Total petroleum inventories posted a gain of 5.0 MMBbl. US crude oil production was estimated to be up 200 MBbl/d. Crude oil imports were down 319 MBbl/d, to an average of 7.5 MMBbl/d, versus the week prior.

NATURAL GAS

Natural gas dry production gained 0.25 Bcf/d, while Canadian imports decreased 0.17 Bcf/d

NGLs

Prices improved week over week across the board. Ethane was up $0.01 to $0.30, propane up $0.02 to $0.67, normal butane up $0.02 to $0.80, isobutane up less than $0.01 to $0.80, and natural gasoline up $0.01 to $1.06.

2              Natural Gas Price Fundamental Weekly Forecast

Could See Another “Gap and Go” on Monday’s Opening

https://www.fxempire.com/forecasts/article/oil-price-fundamental-weekly-forecast-rally-drivers-are-optimism-over-trade-deal-opec-production-cuts-548174

Oil Price Fundamental Weekly Forecast – Rally Drivers Are Optimism Over Trade Deal, OPEC Production Cuts

Last week’s rally indicates that two events will need to take place to sustain the current rally. Firstly, the U.S and China have to continue to make progress toward a trade agreement, and OPEC must continue to adhere to its strategy to limit output. This is because of the U.S. goal to become a net exporter while reducing its reliance on foreign oil.

3              Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA.

https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/pdf/steo_full.pdf

EIA forecasts Brent prices will average $61 per barrel (b) in 2019 and $65/b in 2020. In 2018, Brent prices averaged $71/b. EIA expects West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices will average $8/b lower than Brent prices in the first quarter of 2019 before the discount gradually falls to $4/b in the fourth quarter of 2019 and throughout 2020. EIA’s forecast for the average WTI price for December 2019 of $59/b should be considered in the context of NYMEX futures and option contract values for December 2019 delivery. NYMEX trading during the five-day period ending January 10, 2019, suggest that a range of $28/b to $101/b encompasses the market expectation for December 2019 WTI prices at the 95% confidence level.

4              Oil Majors Near Inflection Point As Spending Rises
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Oil-Majors-Near-Inflection-Point-As-Spending-Rises.html

Oil prices are still down sharply from the highs of October 2018, but the industry may still increase spending this year. The cost of developing new projects might rise along with higher spending levels.

A survey of top industry executives by DNV GL suggests that capital spending on oil and gas could rise in 2019. Of the 791 senior professionals in the energy industry surveyed by DNV GL, 70 percent said they plan on either maintaining or increasing capex this year. That is up significantly from the 39 percent who said the same in 2017.

5              WoodMac Forecasts 2019 Oil Price https://www.rigzone.com/news/woodmac_forecasts_2019_oil_price-24-jan-2019-157991-article/

Brent will average $65 per barrel in 2019 and $68 per barrel in 2020, according to Wood Mackenzie’s (WoodMac) latest price forecast.

The forecast was included in an editorial published on WoodMac’s website earlier this week, which revealed that the company expects global oil demand to grow 1.1 million barrels per day (MMbpd) this year and 1.3 MMbpd in 2020 in its base case.

6              JKM reveals three surprises in 2018 as LNG’s commoditization accelerates
https://blogs.platts.com/2019/01/24/jkm-three-surprises-2018-lng/

The LNG market continues to confound expectations. The past year saw strengthening of Platts’ JKM despite new supply, as well as de-correlation from other commodities, and flattening seasonality.

7              Natural Gas Price Forecast – natural gas markets bounced slightly on Wednesday
https://www.fxempire.com/forecasts/article/natural-gas-price-forecast-natural-gas-markets-bounced-slightly-on-wednesday-548806

The natural gas markets bounced a bit during the trading session on Wednesday, using the $3.00 level as a bit of support. There is a significant amount of support just below that level, both from a structural and psychological standpoint so this move makes sense.

8              The 7 Factors Driving Oil Prices In 2019
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/7-factors-driving-oil-prices-230000721.html

Demand

China’s economic health

Global Recession and Financial turmoil

2020 Maritime Regulations

Trade war

Production cuts

Iran Waivers

9              US to become a net energy exporter in 2020 for first time in nearly 70 years, Energy Dept says
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/us-become-net-energy-exporter-150700697.html

The boom in U.S. oil and natural gas production will make the U.S. a net energy exporter in 2020 — a feat the country has not achieved in nearly 70 years, the Department of Energy’s statistics bureau said on Thursday.

10           U.S., China ‘miles and miles’ from trade deal: Ross
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/china-says-depth-talks-u-economic-trade-issues-073326679–finance.html

“There is a very large group coming. There’s been a lot of anticipatory work done but we’re miles and miles from getting a resolution and frankly that shouldn’t be too surprising,” Ross said in an interview with CNBC.

“Trade is very complicated, there’s lots and lots of issues – not just how many soybeans and how much LNG.”

11           Military buildup in Arctic as melting ice reopens northern borders https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/24/military-buildup-in-arctic-as-melting-ice-reopens-northern-borders

The climate crisis is intensifying a new military buildup in the Arctic, diplomats and analysts said this week, as regional powers attempt to secure northern borders that were until recently reinforced by a continental-sized division of ice.

12           Can Mexico Stop Its Oil Production Decline?

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/mexico-stop-oil-production-decline-220000322.html

López Obrador and Pemex have grand plans for reversing the decline, with the government coming to the rescue of Pemex, as the oil firm itself said last month. A new strategic plan aims to guarantee “the country’s energy security and sovereignty” and targets to raise crude oil production to 2.48 million bpd by the end of this administration’s term in office—the end of 2024.

Business Intelligence and Analytics 2

Friday, January 25, 2019

Business Intelligence and Analytics 2

1              The Fascinating Role of Predictive Analytics in CMS Today
https://www.smartdatacollective.com/fascinating-role-of-predictive-analytics-in-cms-today/

Predictive analytics is changing digital marketing and website management. In previous posts, we have discussed the benefits of using predictive analytics to identify the types of customers that are most likely to convert and increase the value of your lead generation strategy. However, there are also a lot of reasons that you can use predictive analytics in other ways. Improving the quality of your website is one of them.

2              Your customer service strategy
https://seths.blog/2019/01/your-customer-service-strategy/

When Tony built Zappos, he invested in having his customer service people spend hours on the phone with customers, rewarding them for going to great lengths to create memorable interactions. It created a billion dollar shoe store

3              The Most Intuitive and Easiest Guide for CNN – Towards Data Science
https://towardsdatascience.com/the-most-intuitive-and-easiest-guide-for-convolutional-neural-network-3607be47480

Today, we’re going to discuss this powerful neural networks. This is the second series of ‘The easiest guide for complete starters,’ and it assumes that you have pre-knowledge on the basics of neural networks. If you are new to ANN, it’ll be great to check out this previous post. Today’s keywords are convolution, filters, padding, pooling, and flattening. The core of CNN lies on understanding the functional usage of these steps and how the dimension of data changes. Are you ready to become a pixel of an image and take a trip to neural networks? Let’s get it done.

4              The Next Level of Data Visualization in Python – Towards Data Science
https://towardsdatascience.com/the-next-level-of-data-visualization-in-python-dd6e99039d5e

How to make great-looking, fully-interactive plots with a single line of Python

5              3 Big Data And Automation Resolutions For Entrepreneurs In 2019
https://www.smartdatacollective.com/3-big-data-and-automation-resolutions-for-entrepreneurs-in-2019/

Entrepreneurs and small business owners are always looking to get more done with less time. With so many tasks to complete, many business owners quickly feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day. Fortunately, two emerging trends, big data and automation, can reduce the amount of time required to do important work tasks.

1. Reduce Costs
2. Save Time
3. Increase Sales

6              3 trends driving the Second Golden Age of Martech: ecosystems, experts, and (citizen) engineers
https://chiefmartec.com/2019/01/3-trends-next-age-martech-ecosystems-experts-engineers/?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=3-trends-next-age-martech-ecosystems-experts-engineers

There are three trends that are changing the nature of Martech. They will catalyze the end of the “first golden age of Martech” and lay the foundation for a second golden age that will be much larger, but likely look quite different.

Ecosystems — instead of marketing cloud suites vs. best-of-breed point solutions, we will have the best of both: open platforms that serve as stable foundations, augmented by large ecosystems of specialized third-party apps that are more deeply integrated.

Experts — the lines between software vendors and professional services firms will blur: software companies will offer more expert services; services firms will automate and bottle their expertise in code.

(Citizen) Engineers — in a digital world where every company asymptotically becomes a “software business,” organizations will extend commercial platforms with customized customer experience apps and business process logic, many via “citizen developers.”

Business Intelligence and Analytics 1

Friday, January 18, 2019

Business Intelligence and Analytics 1

1              How Algorithms Are Taking Over Big Oil
https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2019/01/14/how-algorithms-are-taking-over-big-oil/

A visitor to one of BP’s natural gas fields in Wyoming a few years ago might have noticed an odd sight: smartphones in plastic bags tied to pumps with zip ties. This was an early test of a multistate initiative by the oil giant to link a network of Wi-Fi sensors to an artificial intelligence system—one that now operates the Wamsutter field in Wyoming with far less human oversight than before.

2              Hands-on: Predict Customer Churn
https://towardsdatascience.com/hands-on-predict-customer-churn-5c2a42806266

we want to get our hands dirty: building a model that identifies our beloved customers with the intention to leave us in the near future.

3              How Big Data Makes Traditional Branding More Effective Than Ever
https://www.smartdatacollective.com/how-big-data-makes-traditional-branding-more-effective-than-ever/

Big data can align itself with traditional branding strategies to bring out some of the best results as can be seen as follows.

4              Article in Journal ‘Science’ Argues MOOC Participation is Declining as Providers Pivot
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-01-10-article-in-journal-science-argues-mooc-participation-is-declining-as-providers-pivot

What lessons can be learned from the rise and pivot of MOOCs, those large-scale online courses that proponents said would disrupt higher education?

5              Which Model and How Much Data? – Towards Data Science
https://towardsdatascience.com/which-model-and-how-much-data-75a3999660f3

How to decide what deep learning model to use for a specific problem? How do we know whether we are using the correct training dataset or we should gather more data? Those questions are the common denominator across all stages of the lifecycle of a deep learning

6              How to get B2B marketing measurement right | CMO Strategy
https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/b2b-marketing-measurement/316293/

The holy grail for marketers has always been to correlate spend with sales. In B2B, especially for larger purchases, measurement is further complicated given an average 14-month sales cycle involving five or more decision makers.

7              Talent on Tap: Why Online Labor Platforms Are Taking Off
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/talent-tap-online-labor-platforms-taking-off/
However, one part of the gig economy that has taken off is this: online labor platforms. Popularized by Uber but also by handyman sites such as TaskRabbit, online labor platforms connect individuals and businesses with independent contractors offering an array of services.

8              How Customer Obsession Creates Accountability for Change
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-customer-obsession-creates-accountability-for-change/

Most companies claim to be customer-focused these days, to the point where the concept has lost much of its power. But when customers are truly at the center of your business, change proceeds from the organizing principle: What’s best for them?

9              A New, Faster Approach To Data Science And Machine Learning

https://getpocket.com/a/read/2448745822

Data analytics and machine learning drive smarter business decisions, greater operational efficiency, and higher levels of customer satisfaction.

10           10 Email Metrics You Need to Impress in 2019
https://www.business2community.com/brandviews/campaign-monitor/10-email-metrics-you-need-to-impress-in-2019-02158197

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 1

Friday, January 18, 2019

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 1

1              Natural Gas Price Fundamental Daily Forecast

https://www.fxempire.com/forecasts/article/natural-gas-price-fundamental-daily-forecast-setting-up-for-test-of-key-support-zone-at-3-089-to-3-014-547956

The market is setting up to test a value zone at $3.089 to $3.014. In order to attract buyers on the move, the weather models are going to have to agree on the return of cold weather. Otherwise, we’re likely to see a sideways-to-lower trade over the short-term.

2              Petrochemical growth spurt expected despite rising desire for fewer plastics
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/petrochemical-growth-spurt-expected-1.4981860

Canada’s slow-growing petrochemical industry is headed for its biggest surge of expansion spending in five years in 2019, thanks in large part to incentive programs by federal and provincial governments.

3              The Incredible Ways Shell Uses Artificial Intelligence To Help Transform The Oil And Gas Giant
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/01/18/the-incredible-ways-shell-uses-artificial-intelligence-to-help-transform-the-oil-and-gas-giant/

Royal Dutch Shell is heavily investing in research and development of artificial intelligence (AI), which it hopes will provide solutions to some of its most pressing challenges.

4              Weekly resin report: Spot resin markets roused from holiday slumber
https://www.plasticstoday.com/resin-pricing/weekly-resin-report-spot-resin-markets-roused-holiday-slumber/83911690560087

After a few weeks of minimal buying, spot resin demand returned with a vengeance.

5              Oil Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – Uncertainties Being to Exert Downside Pressure
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/oil-price-fundamental-daily-forecast-093834316.html

Our near-term target for WTI crude oil is $48.14 to $46.85. Brent is likely to correct to $56.39 to $54.96.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

6              How Algorithms Are Taking Over Big Oil
https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2019/01/14/how-algorithms-are-taking-over-big-oil/

Artificial intelligence has come to the oil patch, accelerating a technical change that is transforming the conditions for the oil and gas industry’s 150,000 U.S. workers. Giant energy companies like Shell and BP are investing billions to bring artificial intelligence to new refineries, oilfields and deepwater drilling platforms. Already, these investments are paying for themselves by helping drill tricky oil wells faster, predict equipment failures and slash fugitive methane emissions.

7              It’s About Time: Welcome to the “Now” Economy and Smart Warehouses
https://www.industryweek.com/technology-and-iiot/its-about-time-welcome-now-economy-and-smart-warehouses

We all want everything now, putting the onus on supply chains to hurry up and give it to us. Luckily, deploying the right tech makes this possible.