One could not invent a more perfect storm — since the 1970s, at any rate.
Petroleum and natural gas prices have come under pressure, a consequence of pandemic recovery and war, but also structural fundamentals and emerging political pressures on producers and refiners that predated both events.
Many want these ructions — in Europe, the U.S., and around the world — to herald a refreshed commitment to alternative energy schemes, a wave of green new deals. They want global energy and emissions solved in one fell swoop. Nirvana — from the White House to the G7.
Except for a not-so-small problem: What’s considered to be “upstream” for alternative energy looks a heck of a lot like upstream for conventional energy. The non-renewable ingredients, derived from non-fuel minerals underpinning wind, solar, batteries and other alternative energy…