There has been a lot of focus on the natural gas sector over the last few months. Demand was already rising as a result of its increasing importance as a transition fuel, and a recent mix of hurricanes, heatwaves and pipeline issues have complicated supply. Ructions in the crypto sector have added fresh demands and new challenges. The result, naturally, is rising costs. According to Mohamed El-Masri, founder and CEO of PermianChain Technologies, this is the perfect time to look at how we use natural gas globally and see if there are ways to make it more efficient.

It is probably fair to say that at a regulatory level, the response to the rise of crypto has been tepid in many countries. There is plenty of investigation going on into the potential of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) but in the main though, governments in most countries have been distinctly ambiguous. The problem is that while governments try to develop a response, alternative solutions are taking the opportunity to fill the void, and communities are missing out as a result.

It is widely accepted that flaring natural gas is environmentally damaging, but until recently the alternative to flaring has either been prohibitively expensive or even worse for the environment. The rise of the crypto economy creates an opportunity to monetise wasted gas in a new way, significantly reducing its environmental…

Bringing responsibly produced natural gas to bitcoin mining The world’s energy expectations are changing. Investors, regulators, governments and consumers want oil and gas to become more efficient, less wasteful and more respectful of the environment. This adds to the cost of extracting, refining and delivering natural resources. One of the…

There is a neat way of reducing waste in the oil and gas sector that will also meet the crypto sector’s growing appetite for electricity in a responsible way. And it could be the first step in significantly enhancing the way that the entire natural resources sector operates. Tokenization is more than hype. — The crypto sector offers efficient, low-cost transactions across a range of industries, it is challenging many established business models, and many people are excited. There’s a challenge though: it requires sustainable and reliable energy to verify the blocks of transactions taking place on the chain. …

Digital securities are receiving a great deal of attention at the moment, but what is getting lost among the hyperbole and technical explanations is an objective, simple, view of their benefits. Let’s try and remedy this issue, looking at the five key benefits from the perspective of the natural resources sector. — We’ve written extensively about blockchain, the technology that has the potential to drive significant change across a myriad of industries. We’ve also discussed the benefits of PermianChain’s approach to the oil and gas sector. …

Let’s be honest from the start, the first rule of investment is that there are no rules. As the last couple of months have proved, the markets can and sometimes do move in a variety of different directions and anyone that tells you that they have developed a structure that guarantees returns should, politely, be treated with a really high level of scepticism. — That said, one of the most fundamental rules we’ve learned from investment professionals at any level is that it’s not wise to keep your eggs in one basket, because if the basket should fall, all your eggs will be broken. To put it another way: spread your risk.

As we move into the 2020s, the long-term future of the oil and gas sector seems less assured than it was a decade ago. There’s competitive pressure from increasingly credible renewable alternatives, challenges from regulators and significantly less warmth from investors. If oil and gas is going to maintain its central role in the global economy then it needs to evolve. One of the most efficient ways of achieving this would be through embracing technology.

The oil and gas sector is in an unusual position. It has a preeminent role in the global energy mix, and has a broadly effective supply chain that has evolved with the sector’s requirements over the last century. At the same time however, its position is being challenged by increasingly viable alternatives and the underlying inefficiency of its supply chain is drawing attention from regulators, investors and even consumers. If it is going to maintain its central role within the global economy, the oil and gas sector needs to change.