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U.S. takes steps to curb natural gas footprint

The Sierra Club said Energy Department steps to reduce methane emissions tied to the natural gas sector are vital tools in the fight against climate change. U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz unveiled ways to minimize the amount of emissions generated from the natural gas sector. Deb Nardone, a campaign director at the Sierra Club, said the department’s efforts must be matched by equal efforts from the Environmental Protection Agency. "Together, actions by the DOE and the EPA can move the ball forward to break our reliance on all fossil fuels, including dirty fracked gas, while ushering in clean energy and energy efficiency," she said in an emailed statement. Critics of hydraulic fracturing, known also as fracking, say the process could lead to higher emissions of methane, which could in part offset the low-carbon footprint of natural gas. Moniz unveiled a four-point plan for what he said […]

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Report: Alberta oil spill disclosure delayed

Files obtained from the Canadian government show there was a push to delay publication of information about an Alberta oil spill, a newspaper said. In mid-July, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. published a 92-page report on the 2013 seep of more than 12,000 barrels of bitumen, the viscous form of oil found in Alberta. Canadian newspaper the Toronto Star reported Tuesday it obtained more than 100 pages of emails showing the enforcement branch of Environment Canada called on a spokesman to "limit information" released about the spill last year. The Star reports the seeps began in May 2013, but weren’t disclosed until July when the newspaper issued its accounts of the incidents. Megan Leslie, a provincial lawmaker from Halifax, told the newspaper the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper was massaging public relations about the energy sector. "The responses (to media) don’t need to be beefed up," she said. "Our […]

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Tanker of Texas Oil Heading to South Korea in First Sale Since 1970s Embargo

A tanker of oil from Texas set sail for South Korea late Wednesday night, the first unrestricted sale of unrefined American oil since the 1970s. How that $40 million shipment avoided the nearly four-decade ban on exporting U.S. crude is a tale involving two determined energy companies, loophole-seeking lawyers, and an unprecedented boom in American drilling that could create a glut of ultralight oil. The Singapore-flagged BW Zambesi is the first of many ships likely to carry U.S. oil abroad under a new interpretation of the federal law that bars most sales of American oil overseas. Analysts say future exports appear wide open: as much as 800,000 barrels a day come from just one of the many U.S. oil fields pumping light oil. Though U.S. policy on oil exports hasn’t changed, production of this kind of oil, known as condensate, is surging. This early shipment "is the wedge that’s […]

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Weather more than rail issues likely cause of soft US OTC prices: analyst

Mild summer weather, not rail problems, is the biggest reason for softness in the US over-the-counter coal market, Ted O’Brien, an analyst with Doyle Trading Consultants said Wednesday. The effect is most acute in the Powder River Basin market, but it has also kept Central Appalachia prices soft. "Lots of people I talk to say you look at the weather in Texas and that dictates the direction of PRB pricing," O’Brien said. "[Pricing] was pretty resilient coming out of the spring, even though we did have rail issues, but I think all the incremental weakness is driven by or attributed to very unfavorable weather." In the CAPP market, it’s the same story, he said. "It’s come off, driven almost exclusively by weather," he said. "The [barge market] probably has held up a little better than the rail contract." In Wednesday’s session, the physically-settled CAPP barge contract (12,000 Btu/lb) for […]

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Average Price of Electricity Climbs to All-Time Record

For the first time ever, the average price for a kilowatthour (KWH) of electricity in the United States has broken through the 14-cent mark, climbing to a record 14.3 cents in June, according to data released last week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Before this June, the highest the average price for a KWH had ever gone was 13.7 cents, the level it hit in June, July, August and September of last year. The 14.3-cents average price for a KWH recorded this June is about 4.4 percent higher than that previous record. Average Price for a KWH of Electricity Typically, the cost of electricity peaks in summer, declines in fall, and hits its lowest point of the year during winter. In each of the first six months of this year, the average price for a KWH hour of electricity has hit a record for that month. […]

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Energy Companies Rethinking Russia After New Round of Sanctions

The downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine — and the tougher round of sanctions against Russia that followed — is prompting some big multinational energy companies to take a fresh look at the ramifications of the crisis. For months, American and European energy players have continued to sign deals with Russia, maintaining a posture that business was proceeding as usual. But top industry executives are now starting to acknowledge that the escalating tensions could sharply hurt Western oil and gas giants with major investments in Russia, as well as the service companies that are key technology suppliers. “We are in the heat of a very emotional stage,” Robert W. Dudley, BP’s chief executive, told reporters on Tuesday. The company warned that further economic sanctions could harm BP’s income, production and reputation. France’s oil giant, Total, which had been among the most committed to Russia, […]

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Merkel rethink on sanctions reflects loss of trust in Putin

epaselect epa04241887 German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) in Deauville, Normandy, France, 06 June 2014. Merkel met with Putin for bilateral talks before the ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day landing of Allied forces in France. D-Day marked the beginning of the advance into Europe which led to the defeat of Nazi Germany. EPA/MICHAEL KAPPELER Hours after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed in a field in eastern Ukraine, killing 298 people and igniting a geopolitical crisis, Angela Merkel reacted to the news with the same quality that has characterised much of her political life: caution. It was “too early” to discuss new sanctions against Moscow, the German chancellor said, even as claims were already surfacing that Russia-backed separatists had shot down the plane. More On this story On this topic IN Europe “These events have once again shown us that what […]

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U.S. and European companies are girding for the possible impact of

U.S. and European companies are girding for the possible impact of tougher international sanctions against Moscow , with auto makers and energy giants moving to limit the Russian risks to their businesses. French oil company Total SA said Wednesday that it has stopped increasing its stake in Russia’s second-largest natural-gas producer, OAO Novatek , and will discuss the sanctions with its partners in Russian projects. A factory of Russian titanium-manufacturing company VSMPO-Avisma. Reuters "Russia is a great oil-and-gas country and we’ll have to wait and see the nature of these new sanctions first," Total Chief Financial Officer Patrick de la Chevardière told reporters during a conference call. The European Union and the U.S. on Tuesday adopted sweeping economic sanctions against Russia, targeting for the first time sectors including Russia’s state-controlled banks and oil industry. The stronger sanctions have been driven by public outrage and Kremlin recalcitrance in the aftermath […]

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Germany's Backing of Russia Sanctions Marks Breach in Pivotal European Relationship

Russian President Vladimir Putin led a cabinet meeting at his residence outside Moscow on Wednesday. Alexei Nikolsky/Press Pool Three days after the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin for at least the 30th time since the Ukraine crisis erupted. She had a blunt message, according to people briefed on the phone conversation: Call me if you have progress to report in defusing the conflict. That was July 20. The two leaders haven’t spoken since. The silence marks a breach in perhaps the most important relationship in European geopolitics, illustrating the daunting challenges facing the West in trying to calm the crisis in Ukraine. More broadly, the frayed relationship between Ms. Merkel and Mr. Putin shows the disintegration of a decadeslong effort by both Germany and Russia to bind the World War II adversaries to each other. Mr. Putin, in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Germany’s Backing of Russia Sanctions Marks Breach in Pivotal European Relationship

Russian President Vladimir Putin led a cabinet meeting at his residence outside Moscow on Wednesday. Alexei Nikolsky/Press Pool Three days after the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin for at least the 30th time since the Ukraine crisis erupted. She had a blunt message, according to people briefed on the phone conversation: Call me if you have progress to report in defusing the conflict. That was July 20. The two leaders haven’t spoken since. The silence marks a breach in perhaps the most important relationship in European geopolitics, illustrating the daunting challenges facing the West in trying to calm the crisis in Ukraine. More broadly, the frayed relationship between Ms. Merkel and Mr. Putin shows the disintegration of a decadeslong effort by both Germany and Russia to bind the World War II adversaries to each other. Mr. Putin, in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple