Oil prices are down. What is going to happen next?
June 19th saw the price of Brent crude rise to a one-year high of USD 116 per barrel. A week later, the price began to drop, eventually reaching its lowest since April last year, at slightly below USD...
View ArticleEnergy security: a global perspective
The Ministry of Economy has put out for initial public consultation a draft of the Polish Energy Policy until 2050. As could be expected given the current tensions between the EU, US and Russia,...
View ArticleThey are us
As of this May, Poland has been a member of the European Union for 10 years. Our membership in the EU has already brought us tangible economic, social and political benefits. A clear testament to the...
View ArticleBetter security through knowledge
Security was the leading theme of a closed expert debate organised by the Polish Institute of International Affairs and its Turkish counterpart – the Centre for Strategic Research of the Ministry of...
View ArticleABC of the power segment – part 1
After discussing the crude oil and fuel market mechanisms in our ‘ABC of the crude oil and fuel prices’ series, it is now time to have a closer look at another key business segment. I have chosen to...
View ArticleUncertain times
Oil prices surprise us again as Brent falls to below USD 90 on Thursday (9/10). What is going to happen next? Will the downward trend continue? Or should we rather expect the prices to hit USD 100 and...
View ArticleEntrepreneurial state and innovation economy
The European Union has opened a debate on how to stimulate the European economy. In the meantime, preparations are under way for negotiations over the European climate and energy policy. In both cases,...
View ArticleABC of the power segment – part 2
Although the share of renewable energy sources is growing, fossil fuels, supplying more than 80% of global primary energy demand, play the dominant role. In 2011, fossil fuels, which include crude oil,...
View ArticleGood performance is welcome but will not change the condition of refineries
The performance of oil companies in Q3 2014 was strongly affected by an increase in refining margins, which was primarily attributable to a surprising decline in crude oil prices. How will oil prices...
View ArticleClimate policy’s instrument is more important than its numeric target
Last Thursday, I took part in the Energy Conference in Ústí nad Labem in the Czech Republic. During the debate, the panel discussion moderator asked me why Poland contested the EU climate policy for...
View Article25 years into transformation – what’s next?
A conference commemorating 25 years of Poland’s political transformation was held at the Warsaw School of Economics on November 19th 2014. Interested in what conclusions can be drawn from past events...
View ArticleOPEC decision – what’s next?
The London petroleum exchange saw the price of Brent crude slide to just under USD 70 per barrel today. What is more, after last week’s decision by OPEC, there is no indication that the downward trend...
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ABC of the power segment – part 3
How is coal converted to electricity? Coal is first milled to a fine powder, which increases the surface area and allows it to burn more quickly. In these pulverised coal combustion (PCC) systems, the...
View ArticleAbout a dog and an innovation-friendly vision
Last Monday, I took part in the Rzeczpospolita daily newspaper’s economic debate entitled ‘The end of the free market? Origins of the crisis’. Three questions were sent to the participants by the host:...
View ArticleWhat’s up with the oil market?
The summer of 2008 saw the price of Brent crude rise to its record high, reaching more than $144 per barrel on July 3rd, and some speculated it would continue growing. However, the price fell to below...
View ArticleWaiting for expectations – how will the oil supercycle end?
The oil price slump has come as a huge surprise for the market. The very scale of the phenomenon is astounding, of course, but what is really interesting is that although everyone knew about the...
View ArticleThe implications of oil price slump
Low crude prices are now a fact and likely to remain so for the next few (or more) quarters. This is how long it will take the market to absorb the current supply glut and non-OPEC producers to cut...
View ArticleThe Energy Union – not as black as it’s painted
The Energy Union is still very much like a yeti. Though no one has seen it yet, it is already feared. But this is to be expected considering that the concept was born out of concern for security in the...
View ArticleAre crude oil prices rebounding?
Since the beginning of February, the price of Brent crude has gone up by nearly USD 10 per barrel. Analysts agree that the recent price hike was driven primarily by data published by Baker Hughes, a...
View ArticleWhy Poland lacks innovation and how to change it
Being a hot topic of discussion, innovations seem to be everywhere. But when we try to take a closer look, they are like Winnie-the-Pooh’s best friend: ‘the more he looked inside the more Piglet wasn’t...
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