Refusal by global-warming activists to address core issues has gone from tiresome to annoying. President Barack Obama committed the dodge in his State of the Union address on Jan. 28 when he declared, “Climate change is a fact.”

Total SA has started production from Phase 2 of the Itau natural gas-condensate field on Block XX (Tarija Oeste) in the Andean Cordillera foothills of Bolivia.

The US drilling rig count gained 8 units to reach 1,785 rigs working during the week ended Jan. 31, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.

ConocoPhillips reported full-year earnings of $9.2 billion in 2013, an increase from the $8.4 billion totaled in 2012, which included $1.2 billion from downstream operations before the separation of Phillips 66 on Apr. 30.

The New York Mercantile Exchange March crude contract jumped 87¢ on Jan. 30, closing at $98.23/bbl. The April contract climbed 78¢ to settle at $97.66/bbl.

PetroKazakhstan Oil Products LLP, a joint venture of state-owned KazMunaiGas (KMG)and China National Petroleum Corp., has let a services-related contract to China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corp. (CPECC) for a long-delayed project to upgrade the 5.25 million tonne/year Shymkent refinery in Kazakhstan.

The number of automated demand response sites worldwide will grow from the current number of 217,000 to more than 1.9 million by 2023, according to a new report.

This will eqate to a rise in global spending on ADR from today’s $13m to $185m.

“As more intermittent renewable energy is added to power grids worldwide, more flexible and faster responding resources will be required to help balance loads,” said Brett Feldman, senior research analyst with Navigant Research which carried out the study.

Navigant found that as the power grid moves away from traditional central plants and towards more distributed resources to address future energy needs, demand response is a growing part of the resource base that electric system operators use to maintain reliability on the grid.

“Automated demand response will play a primary role in enabling the demand side to participate in these market opportunities,” added Feldman.

Navigant found that customer resistance is a key barrier to further ADR adoption.  Some customers, in both commercial and industrial and residential markets, are reluctant to give up control of its energy usage, according to the report. 

This reluctance is related to security concerns, production concerns in the case of an industrial facility, and comfort concerns for commercial buildings or households.