Energy In-depth: Sales of natural gas-powered vehicles expected to grow 62% over next decade
by January 8, 2016 7:46 am 131 views
Editor’s note: Each Friday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Energy In-depth,” a round-up of energy and regulatory news.
SALES OF NATURAL GAS-POWERED VEHICLES EXPECTED TO GROW 62% OVER NEXT DECADE: As the price of natural gas continues to slide, a new report from Navigant Research shows that annual sales of natural gas vehicles (NGV) are expected to reach nearly four million by 2025. The NGV market is taking off in some regions, although growth has been slower than previously projected. While drops in oil prices and gains in battery cost reduction and capacity are hindering some of the advantages of NGVs, the market is still expected to grow from 2.4 million vehicles in 2015 to 3.9 million in 2025.
The report examines the global market for NGVs, with a focus on passenger cars, light duty trucks and vans, medium/heavy duty trucks and buses, and commercial vehicles. The study provides an analysis of the key factors expected to influence demand for NGVs, including fuel prices, infrastructure availability, regulations, and technical issues. An executive summary of the report is available here.
BIG OIL DEAL COUNT DOWN IN 2015 DUE TO LOW CRUDE PRICES: Despite an ample supply of oil and gas assets on the market due to low oil prices, the overall merger and acquisition (M&A) deal count in the upstream energy sector plunged in 2015 as the weakness and volatility in oil prices made it difficult for buyers and sellers to achieve consensus on value and outlook, according to a new analysis by Wall Street consulting firm IHS.
Even with a boost from Shell’s $85 billion deal to take over Australia’s BG Group, total transaction value for global upstream oil and gas M&A deals in 2015 declined 22% to $143 billion from $184 billion in 2014, when transaction value rose 30% year-over-year. In 2015, several large, unsolicited corporate takeover bids were rejected and asset deal value fell to a 10-year low.
STATE REGULATORS PREPARE TO SEND EPA FINAL COMMENTS ON PRESIDENT’S CLEAN POWER PLAN: State regulators on Tuesday (Jan. 5) hosted the fifth and final “stakeholder” meeting in Little Rock before a draft plan and comments are submitted to federal environmental officials on Jan. 21 to move Arkansas closer to complying with President Obama’s sweeping Clean Power Plan.
The all-day meeting, held at the Little Rock headquarters of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, is the latest in a series of meetings hosted by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the state Public Service Commission. The meetings, initiated by the Beebe administration in the summer of 2014, were reconvened in October by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to develop a state plan to meet the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s requirement to reduce carbon emissions at 19 power plants across the state. Read more here.