Graphics of the Week: Oil & Gas from Frontier Basins Increases, Thermal Plasma Methods for Various Mineral Recovery, Lifecycle Costs of Clean Energy Technologies, U.S. Agricultural Trade Balance, High Valuable Metal Concentrations Found in URO’s Beryllium Project in Australia, Gas Production by Major Oil Companies Continues to Drop, and Percentages By Country of Light Sweet Crude Imported to Europe by Sea

Graphics of the Week: Oil & Gas from Frontier Basins Increases, Thermal Plasma Methods for Various Mineral Recovery, Lifecycle Costs of Clean Energy Technologies, U.S. Agricultural Trade Balance, High Valuable Metal Concentrations Found in URO’s Beryllium Project in Australia, Gas Production by Major Oil Companies Continues to Drop, and Percentages By Country of Light Sweet Crude Imported to Europe by Sea

 

This batch includes eight graphics in seven contexts, including two tables.

The first graph was posted on LinkedIn by Rystad Energy showing the percentage of new oil & gas from basins of different maturity levels from mature to frontier to emerging. It shows a recovery in 2024 from low levels in 2023 of new oil & gas from frontier and emerging basins. This is important as it can be seen that 2023 was by far the lowest year for frontier and emerging basin production. Rystad pointed out that this is to be expected since new discoveries in frontier basins can potentially be more economical which is a key incentive to explore.

Graphic #2 is a table posted to a LinkedIn Waste to Energy Group. It is a table of Thermal Plasma Methods for Various Mineral Recovery. It shows the methods of recovery and materials from which metals are being recovered including post-consumer electronic waste, mineral processing and industrial waste, radioactive waste, and red mud which refers to a mineral processing waste that is left over from the conversion of bauxite ore to alumina. Electroplating sludge produces large volumes of wastewater laden with heavy metals. Galvanization, the process of coating steel with aluminum to protect it from corrosion, also produces wastewater with high toxicity from heavy metals. High heat levels are required for the separation processes. In several cases, the hot plasma enables the chemical reduction of oxidized wastes.   

Graphic #3 is Lifecycle Costs of Clean Energy Technologies posted by the IEA. This one compares the upfront costs plus the operating costs of ICE vs. EV cars in Europe, 2-wheel ICE vs. 2-wheel EV motorbikes in India, and gas boiler + air conditioner vs. heat pump in the U.S. Upfront costs are marginally higher for the cleaner technologies except for heat pumps, which have slightly cheaper upfront costs compared to gas boiler plus a/c. I think the point is that EVs and heat pumps are reasonably close to parity and by some measures have achieved it. While ICE technology and natural gas efficiency technology continue to improve, so do EV efficiency and heat pump efficiency. Perhaps when solid-state batteries and other designs are deployed, we will see that EVs can achieve parity. I have always said that the 2030s will be when EVs are more widely adopted unless some real breakthroughs occur in ICE technology. EVs still need to overcome some lingering range issues and charging issues. Heat pumps need to overcome low-temperature limitations and increase system lifespans. These changes are occurring, and when they are overcome, they will compete even better.

Graphic #4 is the projected U.S. Agricultural Trade Balance. The source is the USDA and the Senate GOP Ag Committee. The graph shows we entered an agricultural trade deficit in early 2023 and that is set to continue to increase through 2024. This is being led by steep drops in exports of horticultural goods (presumably fruits and vegetables) and sugar and tropical goods. The data does not show deficits in any other sectors. The drop in horticultural exports is quite steep. Most U.S. agricultural exports go to Canada, Mexico, China and to a lesser extent Europe and Japan. Most of our agricultural imports come from Canada, Mexico, and Europe.  

Graphic #5 was posted in the Exploration Geologist LinkedIn group. It shows a new beryllium discovery showing “some of the highest Bertrandite readings ever found on surface globally” and “high gold and silver prospectivity with high antimony and bismuth.” The project referenced in URO’s Arunta Beryllium Project in Western Australia. The table shows the concentrations of different important metals.

 

Graphic #6 was posted by Energy Analytics showing the declining natural gas production of major oil companies. They pointed out in the post that national companies like Rosneft and PetroChina have increased production. This likely has to do with the development of natural gas infrastructure and utilities in China vs. places like the U.S. where natural gas remains at high supply levels and oil is more profitable. It also looks like BP and Chevron have actually seen steady or increasing gas production, so the trend is not across the board.

Graphics #7 and #8 show the percentages of Light Sweet Crude being imported to Europe by sea. This is a Rystad Energy post. The second graph shows that 16% of those imports come from North Africa, or Libya in this case. Libya is the second highest source of light sweet crude after the U.S. Will the U.S. increase exports? Libyan supply is currently under threat due to the conflict there and an alternative source may be needed.

References:

 

Outlook for U.S. Agricultural Trade: U.S. Agricultural Exports in Fiscal Year 2025 Forecast at $169.5 Billion; Imports revised upwards to $212.0 Billion. USDA. Economic Research Service. USDA ERS - Outlook for U.S. Agricultural Trade

Rystad Energy

International Energy Agency

Energy Analytics