What the Data Shows Us About Building Natural Gas Pipelines Part 3
In Parts 1 and 2, we explored how pipelines and markets evolved from regulation to competition. In Part 3, we examine how the market evolved from 1997 to the market we know today, beginning with how participants tried to forecast and plan within a system that had become too complex to see all at once. […]
What Trump’s Use of the Defense Production Act Means for Oil & Gas, and What It Doesn’t
Energy Security is National Security On April 20, 2026, the Trump administration invoked Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA) across oil, natural gas, LNG, power generation, grid infrastructure, and coal. The federal government is now stating explicitly that energy production and infrastructure shortfalls now constitute a national defense risk, and that […]
What the Data Shows Us About Building Natural Gas Pipelines Part 2
By Cyrus Brooks, RBAC, Inc. In Part 1, we traced how the U.S. natural gas system evolved from the first long-distance pipelines into a regulated interstate network, then through shortages, deregulation, and the restructuring that turned pipelines into open-access transporters. In Part 2, the story shifts from the pipelines in the ground to the market […]
Why Some Traders Love “Long-Dated Risk”
By Cyrus Brooks, RBAC, Inc. The Video Game Edition In the world of natural gas, “long-dated risk” simply means making a bet on what gas will cost a long time from now—like 2, 5, or even 10 years away. In the industry, we call this trading the “back of the curve” (the prices for years […]
What the Data Shows Us About Building Natural Gas Pipelines Part 1
By Cyrus Brooks, RBAC, Inc. Pre-History Natural gas was first piped over distances for use in ancient China around 500 BC. So, there’s a little prehistory to our natural gas system in the United states which I wrote about and you can read it here if you are interested. But this article is about the […]
Early History of Natural Gas and Pipelines
By Cyrus Brooks, RBAC, Inc. From Ancient Flames to the First Long Pipelines The “eternal flame” at the Oracle of Delphi in Greece, around 1000 BC, is one of the earliest known examples of natural gas escaping from underground and being ignited, appearing to ancient observers as something spiritual or divine. Five centuries later, around […]
Could a President Really Waive the Jones Act?
By Cyrus Brooks, RBAC, Inc. Key Question in an Energy Emergency Q: Could a President simply waive the Jones Act to rush energy (oil, refined products, fuels, LNG) to constrained markets like California, the Northeast, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, et al? A (short version): Yes. And No. Though a panacea it is not. So, then […]
A Short History of the Shale Revolution
By Cyrus Brooks, RBAC, Inc. Origins of Shale Gas Production Shale gas is natural gas found in low-permeability sedimentary rock formations deep beneath the surface. Although small amounts of shale gas were produced as far back as the 1800s, for much of the 20th century it was not a major resource because it was difficult […]
From Climate-First to Energy Security-First: Davos 2026 Part 2
What This Shift Means for Natural Gas, LNG, Power, and Global Growth Part 2 In Part 1, we explored how Davos 2026 highlighted the limits of energy strategies that underweighted reliability, cost, and infrastructure. In Part 2, the focus shifts to what is now forcing the issue: surging electricity demand from AI and data centers, […]
From Climate-First to Energy Security-First: Davos 2026
What This Shift Means for Natural Gas, LNG, Power, and Global Growth Part 1 “Energy and geopolitics were always interwoven. But I have never ever seen that the energy security risks are so multiplying and the dark and long shadow of geopolitics on energy sector overall. So, therefore energy security in my view should be […]
