Regulation
Senate Panel Passes Bill Lifting Crude Oil Export Ban
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate panel has approved energy legislation that would lift the 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports and open some areas of the Outer Continental Shelf to oil and gas exploration. Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, chairman of the panel, championed the plan to lift the restrictions. It passed by a party-line vote of 12-10. Murkowski said lifting the ban would turn the United States into an energy superpower. Democrat Maria Cantwell of Washington, who opposes lifting the ban, describes the votes as an important first step in a long journey.
Opposing Sides Face Off at Keystone XL Pipeline Hearing
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Opposing sides in the debate over the Keystone XL oil pipeline faced off Monday in front of the state regulatory panel that is considering for the second time in just over five years whether to approve the construction of the South Dakota portion of the long-delayed project.
Excelerate Gets Go Ahead On Aguirre Offshore GasPort Project
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorized Excelerate Energy, in cooperation with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), to site, construct and operate the Aguirre Offshore GasPort Project, off the shore of Puerto Rico. The project will consist of a floating LNG terminal with a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), minimal infrastructure to moor the vessel, and a subsea pipeline to deliver the gas onshore. The facility will provide fuel to PREPA's Central Aguirre Power Complex.
Begin Again: Keystone XL pipeline back before South Dakota regulators
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The Public Utilities Commission is considering whether to approve for the second time in just over five years construction of the South Dakota portion of the long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline. The hearing process started Monday. The state authorized TransCanada Corp.'s project in 2010, but permits must be revisited if construction doesn't start within four years. The commission is now considering the company's guarantee that it can complete the project while meeting the conditions of the 2010 approval. It's unlikely the panel will make a decision immediately.
Brazilian Oil Workers Go on a 24-hour Strike
SAO PAULO (AP) — Tens of thousands of workers at Brazil's state-owned Petrobras went on a nationwide 24-hour strike on Friday to protest the oil company's plans to sell $15.1 billion worth of assets by the end of next year to help pay off a debt of about $120 billion. Caroline Cavassa, a press officer for the National Oil Workers Federation, said 90% of the company's 86,000 workers joined the strike in 12 states. The strike took effect after midnight. Cavassa said the strike affects refineries and onshore and offshore operations. She did not provide details.
Utility Board Approves Changes to NJ Pipeline Authorization
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The state's Board of Public Utilities has approved two amendments to an earlier order authorizing a natural gas pipeline in southern New Jersey. The board greenlighted Wednesday the amendments concerning the proposed nearly 22-mile pipeline from Maurice River Township to Upper Township. It's the latest in South Jersey Gas' efforts to move forward with the project that has been on hold amid environmental concerns because the pipeline runs through part of the state's Pinelands preserve.
Congress No Longer Views Strategic Petroleum Reserve as Key to U.S. Security
The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), once seen as a cornerstone of America’s energy security, is losing its shine in Washington. The SPR was established in the aftermath of the 1973-1974 oil embargo, which led to high gasoline prices, fuel rationing, price controls, and long lines at gas stations. The U.S. government decided to stockpile oil in salt caverns in Texas and Louisiana, fuel that could be used in the event of a supply outage. Today, the SPR holds 695 MMbbls of oil.
Shell Gets Permits for Limited Oil Drilling in Arctic Waters
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Obama administration has given Royal Dutch Shell PLC approval to begin limited exploratory oil drilling off Alaska's northwest coast. The two permits issued Wednesday clear the way for drilling in Chukchi Sea, but with conditions. Shell can only drill the top sections of wells because the company doesn't have critical emergency response equipment on site to cap a well in case of a leak. That equipment is aboard a ship headed to Portland, Oregon, for repairs.
Cuadrilla to Appeal UK Council's Anti-Fracking Decision
LONDON (AP) — Cuadrilla Resources Ltd. said it will appeal a local authority decision to block the oil and gas exploration company's bid to frack shale gas in northwest England — a setback for plans to establish a fracking industry in Britain. Lancashire County Councilors last month rejected plans for exploratory drilling at two sites about 240 miles northwest of London, citing effects on traffic and the landscape. Britain's government hopes fracking will reduce the country's reliance on gas imports.
Dig It! Safe-Utilities Law Stakes Claim over Campaign Signs
PHOENIX (AP) — With city elections in Phoenix next month and 2016 races around the corner, Arizona regulators are warning people that they might need to pull up stakes on the many campaign signs on lawns and street corners. Signs installed without prior inspection could create danger around utility lines and bring hefty fines, according to a longtime state law. The Arizona Blue Stake law mandates that anyone doing excavation must have utility lines marked first. It's a law that was enacted in 1974 and has been enforced by the Arizona Corporation Commission.
Amid Lawsuit, Further Delay of Federal Land Drilling Rules
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Proposed rules for oil and gas drilling on federal lands nationwide continue to be delayed amid a legal challenge. A federal judge in Wyoming has ordered the Interior Department to better document how it developed the rules. The documentation originally was due to be filed with the court no later than this Wednesday. A recent extension to Aug. 28 means the rules now won't take effect until sometime in September at the soonest.
North Dakota Regulators Signal Comfort on Energy Transfer Pipeline Issues
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota's Public Service Commission says some big environmental concerns have been addressed by the company proposing a $3.8 billion pipeline from western North Dakota to Illinois. The three-member regulatory panel says Energy Transfer Partners appears to have a good plan in place to address worries about land reclamation and river crossings. The PSC held an informal work session on the project Monday but took no action. The panel expects to meet again late next month to talk about the company's permit application.
Part II: Presidents Report Finds Need to Bolster Vulnerable Infrastructure
<em>Editor’s note: This second of a three-part series on the first-ever presidential Quadrennial Energy Review 2015 focuses on the safety and vulnerabilities of transportation, storage and distribution (TS&D) infrastructure and methane emissions</em>. Natural disasters pose a significant safety risk to the nation’s TS&D infrastructure. In 2012, there were 11 weather disasters in the United States costing $1 billion, second only to 2011 for the most on record. Insurance data in the QER reports $22 billion in total losses from weather events in 2013, excluding self-insured losses.
Price Gregory President Discusses Accomplishments, Semi-Retirement
Price Gregory President Michael Langston recently announced his retirement after a 35-year career in the pipeline construction sector. Langston joined H.C. Price in 1981. Following a merger between H.C. Price and Gregory & Cook Construction, Price Gregory was formed. Price Gregory was later purchased by Quanta Services and Langston was named president of the company.
Natural Gas Surpasses Coal as Biggest US Electricity Source
Natural gas overtook coal as the top source of U.S. electric power generation for the first time ever earlier this spring, a milestone that has been in the making for years as the price of gas slides and new regulations make coal more risky for power generators. About 31% of electric power generation in April came from natural gas, and 30% from coal, according to a recently released report from the research company SNL Energy, which used data from the U.S. Energy Department. Nuclear power came in third at 20%.
PHMSA Issues Rules for State Pipeline Excavation Damage Prevention, Enforcement
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) today announced the issuance of a final rule to establish the process for evaluating State excavation damage prevention programs and enforcing Federal standards in states where such requirements are inadequate or do not exist.
California Gas Prices May Top $4 a Gallon Despite National Downward Trend
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — While gas prices nationwide are on a downward trend, California is experiencing a spike that could see prices top $4 a gallon before easing again, according to analysts. A shortage in oil and other components used in refining California's unique blend of less-polluting gas was one of the reasons for the price jump, industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said. A slowdown in imported crude and a refinery shutdown in Torrance also caused wholesale prices to skyrocket, experts said.
Petrobras Scandal Could Force Dramatic Policy Changes in Brazil
Brazil’s Petrobras is staggering under the weight of its debt, the corruption scandal is not yet over, and it was recently forced to slash spending and dramatically lower its production target for 2020.
Carbon Emission Regulations Could Jeopardize LNG Projects
Natural gas is increasingly being viewed as one of the most important sources of fuel in the coming decades. That is why Royal Dutch Shell, an oil major, made a huge bet onLNG when it decided to purchase BG Group, which has major holdings in LNG projects in Australia and East Africa.
Permits Granted for Bakken Pipeline Beneath ND Lake
The North Dakota Public Service Commission unanimous backed a Hess Corp. crude oil pipeline that will run under Lake Sakakawea. The $105 million project will convert an 8-inch pipeline to transfer Bakken crude oil along a 2.4 mile section of pipe buried 6 feet under the lake bottom in 1992.
Greener-Than-Thou Vermont Accused of Exporting Its Energy Problems
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — When Vermont became the first state to ban hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in 2012, Gov. Peter Shumlin said the ban was "in keeping with our environmental ethic and our protection of our natural resources." But the state is likely on the verge of a big increase in the use of fracked gas from Canada.
Regulators Ask Appalachian Power to Keep Up Infrastructure at Closed Plant
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia regulators have asked Appalachian Power to maintain infrastructure at a closed coal-fired power plant that could one day be used to convert the facility to natural gas. Fully demolishing the Kanawha River Plant would rule out such a conversion, the Public Service Commission said in an order issued Tuesday. "We're just starting to understand the implications of the order," Appalachian Power spokeswoman Jeri Matheney said Wednesday. "We're going to have look at these costs and the feasibility of complying with the order."
DOEs Gant: Shifting Energy Policy to Stewardship of Abundance
Although we are already 15 years deep into the 21st century and women working at the top rungs of professional life no longer turn heads, when it comes to the “hard” numbers-crunching parts in the global economy – science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) – women still get asked why they selected this way to earn a buck. This same question is occasionally put to Paula Gant, holder of a doctorate degree in economics and the deputy assistant secretary for oil and natural gas in the federal Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy.
House Committee Subpoenas Kerry for Keystone XL Documents
WASHINGTON (AP) — A House of Representatives panel has issued a subpoena to Secretary of State John Kerry for department documents, reports and letters related to the contentious push to build the $8 billion Keystone XL pipeline. Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee announced the subpoena on Wednesday. The pipeline would transport oil from Canada's tar sands to pipelines linked to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.
Administration Proposes More Safety Valves for Gas Lines
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Obama administration moved Wednesday to significantly expand a requirement for utilities to install inexpensive safety valves on gas lines across the nation following deadly fires and explosions going back decades that officials and safety advocates said could have been avoided. The Transportation Department proposal would cover new or replaced natural gas lines serving multi-family dwellings, small businesses and homes not already covered under a 2009 mandate.
EIA: Annual Energy Outlook Through 2040
The latest Annual Energy Outlook 2015 (AEO2015) prepared by the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA) presents long-term annual projections of energy supply, demand and prices through 2040. This analysis focuses on six scenarios: a reference case, low and high economic growth cases, low and high oil price cases, and the high oil and gas resource case.
Effects of Clean Power Plan on Natural Gas Markets, Pipeline Infrastructure
The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP) establishes state-by-state carbon emissions rate targets that it projects will reduce U.S. electricity sector carbon emissions 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. Some stakeholders, including the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), have raised concerns that states might rely heavily on natural gas generation for CPP compliance, creating stress on gas pipeline capacity and ultimately affecting electric system reliability.
Canadas Carbon Emissions Rules Spark Hope for Keystone
TransCanada Corp. has written to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arguing that new Canadian rules on emissions should persuade him to approve the construction of the much-delayed Keystone XL pipeline. The proposed $6.4 billion project would carry an estimated 830,000 bpd of Canadian crude oil per from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, NE, then link up with Keystone’s existing line, which would take the oil on the final leg to the Texas coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
Judge Orders Colorado Oilman to Pay $16.8 million in Legal Fees
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A Colorado oilman must pay $16.8 million to reimburse energy companies for legal fees they incurred defending his unsuccessful lawsuits against them, a federal judge has ordered. Jack Grynberg received national attention when he filed scores of lawsuits against natural gas and pipeline companies around the West in the late 1990s.
Gulf States Reach $18.7 Billion Settlement with BP over Oil Spill
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Officials in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana announced an $18.7 billion settlement with BP on Thursday that resolves years of litigation over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The settlement announcement comes as a federal judge was preparing to rule on how much BP owed in federal Clean Water Act penalties after millions of gallons of oil spewed into the Gulf. Individual states also were pursuing litigation. Most of those penalties were to be distributed among the states for environmental and economic restoration projects along the Gulf Coast.
- Trump Aims to Revive 1,200-Mile Keystone XL Pipeline Despite Major Challenges
- Valero Considers All Options, Including Sale, for California Refineries Amid Regulatory Pressure
- ConocoPhillips Eyes Sale of $1 Billion Permian Assets Amid Marathon Acquisition
- ONEOK Agrees to Sell Interstate Gas Pipelines to DT Midstream for $1.2 Billion
- Energy Transfer Reaches FID on $2.7 Billion, 2.2 Bcf/d Permian Pipeline
- U.S. LNG Export Growth Faces Uncertainty as Trump’s Tariff Proposal Looms, Analysts Say
- Tullow Oil on Track to Deliver $600 Million Free Cash Flow Over Next 2 Years
- Energy Transfer Reaches FID on $2.7 Billion, 2.2 Bcf/d Permian Pipeline
- GOP Lawmakers Slam New York for Blocking $500 Million Pipeline Project
- Texas Oil Company Challenges $250 Million Insurance Collateral Demand for Pipeline, Offshore Operations
