US Prepares Renewal of Chevron's Venezuela License Without Broader Terms
The U.S. Treasury Department is getting ready to renew in the coming days Chevron Corp's license to operate in Venezuela, but likely without the greatly expanded terms the U.S. oil major sought, four people close to the talks said.The last U.S. energy producer in Venezuela asked President Joe Biden's government in March for a license that would allow it a greater say in its joint ventures with Venezuela's state-run PDVSA…
NOIA: U.S. Offshore Drilling Ban Would Crush Jobs, Govt Revenues
A U.S. ban on new offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, which presidential hopeful Joe Biden promised to enact if elected, would lead to hundreds of thousands of job losses and billions in lost government revenue over 20 years, an offshore drilling industry group said on Tuesday.The report by the Washington-based National Ocean Industries Association comes…
Drilling Ban Proposals Divide Democrats
In the southeast corner of New Mexico, new houses, hotels and jobs are sprouting like flowers in the desert. Trucks hauling equipment and laborers jam once-barren highways on the way to thousands of oil rigs.The Democrats who control the state's government have lofty plans for the billions of dollars in projected tax revenues from the drilling industry in the Permian Basin…
Senate Confirms Wheeler to lead EPA
The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed President Donald Trump's candidate, a former coal lobbyist, to lead the nation's top environmental regulator, infuriating Democrats and conservation groups who said his policies were endangering public health.Environmental Protection Agency Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler, a Washington insider with years of experience working as a congressional staffer…
Government Shutdown: Atlantic Seismic Permitting Blocked by Judge
A federal court judge on Friday ruled that the federal government cannot process seismic testing permits for offshore oil drilling during the ongoing government shutdown, dealing a blow Trump administration's energy agenda.Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court in South Carolina issued the decision in response to a motion filed by a range of conservation…
Orsted Loses Political Support for Divestment
Shares in Orsted fell on Monday after the energy company, which is 50.1 percent owned be the Danish state, on Sunday announced that there was no longer political support for the divestment of its power business.The world's largest offshore wind farm developer had put its Danish power distribution and residential customer businesses up for sale in June to focus on developing its international renewable energy operations.But as Denmark's Social Dem
US Working on Arctic Oil Leases Despite Shutdown
Even as a partial shutdown halts the functions of many U.S. government departments, forcing the Department of the Interior to close national parks, the Trump administration is continuing to push for the expansion of oil drilling on sensitive, federally owned lands in Arctic Alaska.The Alaska Bureau of Land Management (BLM), part of the Interior Department, was scheduled to hold a meeting on Wednesday night in Wainwright…
Over-extended Oil Prices Were Primed For a Fall
Pay attention to what traders actually do, not what they say, is one of the most important principles for successful oil market analysis.Despite all the bullish commentary around oil prices in recent weeks, there was plenty of forewarning prices were primed for a setback.By the middle of April, hedge funds had accumulated a near-record net long position in crude…
Trump's State Department Energy nominee Approved by Senate Panel
President Donald Trump's nominee for the top U.S. State Department job dealing with matters related to energy and the global oil industry was approved by a Senate committee on Wednesday, as the United States gears up to re-impose sanctions on Iran's oil exports. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved Francis Fannon, a former head of corporate affairs at mining company BHP Billiton and senior director of Murphy Oil Corp…
Germany: EU Should Present United Response to U.S. Tariffs
Germany's transatlantic coordinator told a group of newspapers that the European Union should take a common line in responding to proposed U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs. After visiting Washington, Juergen Hardt - a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats - told the RND group of newspapers that an escalation of the conflict with the United States was not in Europe's interests and Europe would stick to a "rule-based world order".
US Senators from 12 States Seek Offshore Drilling Exemptions like Florida's
Twenty-two Democratic U.S. senators from 12 states on Thursday joined the chorus of local representatives seeking exemptions from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's newly proposed offshore drilling plan, after his surprise move on Tuesday to shield Florida. Zinke surprised lawmakers, governors, and industry groups on Tuesday night by announcing that Florida would…
Fight over Alaska Arctic Drilling has Just Begun
Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, won a decades-long battle on Wednesday to open part of an Arctic wildlife reserve in her state to oil and gas drilling, but Democratic senators and conservationists vow the war has only begun. The tax bill passed by Congress contains language pushed by Murkowski and supported by President Donald Trump to hold two lease sales in the 1.5 million-acre (600…
Senate Panel Set to Advance Quest for Oil in Alaska Refuge
Oil drilling in a vast Alaskan wildlife refuge could move a step closer to reality on Wednesday as a Senate panel votes to open part of the reserve coveted by conservationists. Republicans, who control Congress and the White House, have long wanted to prise open a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the north coast known as the 1002 area. Senator Lisa Murkowski…
U.S. DoJ to Prosecute Energy Activist Vandals
The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday pledged to prosecute protesters who damage energy infrastructure in a move that could escalate tensions between climate activists and the administration of President Donald Trump. The DOJ said it was committed to vigorously prosecuting those who damage "critical energy infrastructure in violation of federal law." Attempts to "damage or shut down" pipelines deprive communities of services…
Arctic Oil Expansion Panned by Scientists
A group of 37 U.S.-based scientists whose research focuses on Arctic wildlife asked two U.S. senators in a letter on Thursday not to open the National Arctic Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration, according to a copy seen by Reuters. The scientists, including several retired former officials from the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S.
U.S. Interior Chief Seeks Changes at U.S. Monuments
The head of the U.S. Department of the Interior urged President Donald Trump to lift restrictions on activities such as logging and mining in or to shrink the footprints of 10 national monuments, according to the Washington Post. The Post, citing a copy of the recommendations, said late on Sunday that U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke had recommended reducing boundaries for Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante…
Alberta Committed to Seeing Trans Mountain Pipeline to Completion
Alberta's provincial government said on Tuesday that it remained "steadfastly committed" to seeing the Trans Mountain crude oil pipeline through to completion. British Columbia's minority Green Party on Monday struck a deal with the left-leaning New Democrats to govern Canada's western-most province, casting doubt on the future of the project. "It's important…
California Approves Fuel Tax Hike
California lawmakers on Thursday approved legislation to increase gasoline taxes and other transportation-related fees for the first time in decades, to fund an ambitious $52 billion plan to repair the state's sagging infrastructure. The legislation heads to the desk of Democratic Governor Jerry Brown, who urged its support after the Democratic-led state legislature…
Trump's Interior Pick Expected to be Confirmed
President Donald Trump's pick to head the Interior Department is expected to be confirmed easily by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday morning as the White House seeks to increase fossil fuel production from federal lands. U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke said in his confirmation hearing last month he would consider an expansion of energy drilling and mining on federal lands but would ensure that sensitive areas were protected.
Senate Set to Approve Trump's EPA Pick
The U.S. Senate is expected to approve President Donald Trump's pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday over the objections of Democrats and green groups worried he will gut the agency, as the administration readies executive orders to ease regulation on drillers and miners. Trump's nominee, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, is likely…
