Andrew joined NGI in 2018 to support coverage of Mexico’s newly liberalized oil and gas sector, and his role has since expanded to include the rest of North America. Before joining NGI, Andrew covered Latin America’s hydrocarbon and electric power industries from 2014 to 2018 for Business News Americas in Santiago, Chile. He speaks fluent Spanish, and holds a B.A. in journalism and mass communications from the University of Minnesota.
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Articles from Andrew Baker
Congress Approves Restoration of Obama-Era Methane Rules for Oil, Natural Gas Industry
The House on Friday voted to restore Obama-era controls on methane emissions from the oil and natural gas sector that had been partially rescinded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Trump administration. The measure passed by a margin of 229-191 under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) after 52-42 passage by the Senate, and…
June 25, 2021
Bitcoin Mining Digging for E&P’s Natural Gas Gold in Lower 48
A symbiotic relationship is burgeoning in North America between oil and natural gas producers and miners of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Both groups are seeking to capitalize on immense volumes of excess and/or stranded natural gas flared off or shut in by a lack of infrastructure. Bitcoin mining offers a new outlet for this gas at…
June 25, 2021
Mexico’s Pemex said Poorly Positioned to Capitalize on Oil Price Rally
As major economies across the globe emerge from the doldrums of the pandemic and travel surges, oil prices could further spike and reach $100/bbl by next year, according to the most bullish Wall Street forecast yet this year. It could also mark the final surge in oil prices, however, as pressure intensifies on energy companies…
June 23, 2021
Asia Pacific Coal Power Investments Seen Outpacing Natural Gas into 2030s
Wind, solar and natural gas have the brightest future in Asia Pacific power generation, although coal is not going anywhere soon, according to experts at Wood Mackenzie. “Asia Pacific power generation investments are leading the world and expected to hit $2.4 trillion in the current decade, with renewables accounting for over half, or $1.3 trillion…
June 23, 2021
Pony Express Testing Support for Wyoming-to-Colorado Oil Pipe Expansion
Tallgrass Pony Express Pipeline LLC has launched a binding open season to gauge interest from crude oil shippers in securing expansion capacity on a section of the 830-mile pipeline. Pony Express has a capacity of roughly 400,000 b/d, and sources crude from the Williston, Denver Julesburg and Powder River basins. The system stretches from Guernsey,…
June 18, 2021
Natural Gas said Vital to Shrinking Mexico’s North-South Development Gap
Natural gas could help determine whether Mexico can shrink the economic gap between its industrialized north and developing south, according to a new report published by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. Through his Program for the Development of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (PDIT), President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is aiming to succeed where…
June 16, 2021
Latin America Oil, Natural Gas Capex Seen Rebounding in 2021
Upstream oil and gas spending in Latin America is on track for a modest year/year (y/y) recovery in 2021 after a pandemic-driven slowdown in 2020, according to Evercore ISI. Exploration and production (E&P) spending by select firms in the region fell by 14% y/y in 2020, Evercore analysts said in the firm’s 2021 Global E&P…
June 14, 2021
Lower 48 Oil and Gas Producers Must Treat, Recycle More Produced Water to Reduce Earthquakes, Study Finds
Earthquakes in the Lower 48 oil and natural gas patch have been steadily increasing over the last four years and will continue to do so if the industry doesn’t adjust its methods for disposing of produced water, according to new analysis by Rystad Energy. The Oslo-based consultancy examined seismic activity in Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma,…
June 12, 2021
Mexico’s Pemex Scraps Zama Offshore Oil Appraisal Well as Wrangling Over Operatorship Continues
Mexico’s state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) has jettisoned plans to drill an appraisal well delineating the Zama shallow water oil deposit, which straddles one block operated by Pemex and another operated by Talos Energy Inc. The decision was revealed Tuesday during a session of upstream regulator Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos (CNH). CNH approved a…
June 9, 2021
Texas E&Ps Independence, Contango to Merge in All-Stock Deal, Pursue Lower 48 Growth
Texas-based exploration and production (E&P) firms Independence Energy LLC and Contango Oil & Gas Co. announced Tuesday they will merge in an all-stock transaction. The E&Ps produced a combined 111,000 boe/d of oil and gas in the first quarter across several major Lower 48 basins. Houston-based Independence is owned and managed by global investment firm…
June 8, 2021