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Energy-producing states blast Obama climate change plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration’s far-reaching plan to address climate change would cause job losses and lead to higher electricity prices and even power outages, attorneys general from two energy-producing states said Tuesday. West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt told a Senate panel that the administration’s plan to cut heat-trapping pollutants from coal-fired power plants would cause existing plants to retire early and prevent new ones from being completed. "Make no mistake about it: finalizing this proposal would have a devastating impact on my state, other coal-producing states and citizens from across the country who will feel the impact of high electricity prices and reduced reliability of the power grid," Morrisey told a clean air subcommittee of the Senate Environment Committee. Pruitt called the plan an attempt by President Barack Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency to "expand federal bureaucrats’ authority" over […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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AAA: Gas prices up for 20 straight days

Gasoline prices increase in the United States for 20 consecutive days in response to refinery issues and a rally on the crude oil market. Photo by Monika Graff/UPI WASHINGTON, May 5 (UPI) — Higher crude oil prices and seasonal maintenance at U.S. refineries means gasoline prices have increased for 20 straight days, motor club AAA said. AAA reports a national average retail price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline at $2.63 per gallon, a 3.5 percent increase from last week. Gas prices Tuesday are 10 percent, or 24 cents, more per gallon than they were a month ago and mark the 20th consecutive day for an increase in price at the pump . Spring prices are typically elevated as refineries conduct seasonal maintenance and switch over to a summer blend of gasoline, which is more expensive to produce because of additional environmental safeguards. "Unexpected refinery issues are also […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. shale players doing more with less

Companies working in U.S. shale basins are finding costs go down, leading some in the industry to raise their production forecasts for the year. Photo courtesy: Anadarko Petroleum. HOUSTON, May 5 (UPI) — Though net profits and spending are down, companies working in U.S. shale basins are finding well costs going down while production forecasts grow. The low price of oil is forcing energy companies to spend less on exploration and production efforts. Oil field services companies Halliburton and Baker Hughes are merging in an effort to control costs, while others shed numbers from their work force. Anadarko Petroleum said it’s delivered strong production results during the first quarter while spending less. At shale basins in Colorado, the company said it’s saved around $500,000 on drilling operations so far this year. In the Eagle Ford shale basin in Texas, the company said the cost of drilling a well is […]

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New refinery online in North Dakota

New North Dakota refinery is expected to help drive economy in oil-rich state, operator says. Photo by George Spade/Shutterstock DICKINSON, N.D., May 5 (UPI) — A new refinery in North Dakota, the first of its kind in the country in nearly 40 years, will help drive the state’s economy forward, MDU Resources said. MDU Resources and Calumet Specialty Products Partners announced its Dakota Prairie refinery started producing diesel fuel primarily for the state economy. "With more than two-thirds of North Dakota’s diesel fuel currently imported into the state, the Dakota Prairie refinery is well positioned to meet strong regional demand with additional, locally produced supplies of diesel fuel," David Goodin, president and chief executive officer of MDU Resources, said in a statement. "Over time, we expect that this refinery has the potential to be an important contributor to the economic growth of the local and state economy." North Dakota’s […]

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UPS to Use Renewable Natural Gas for Part of Delivery Fleet

Clean Energy Fuels produces a product called Redeem, which is the first renewable natural gas available in commercial quantities. The RNG will be used in stations across California beginning this month to fuel tractors and delivery vehicles. The stations in Sacramento, Los Angeles and Fresno will provide about 1.5 million gallon equivalents of RNG fuel to about 400 vehicles in the state. The company already uses natural gas on tractors in the U.K. RNG, or biomethane, can be created from sources such as decomposing organic waste in landfills. “Renewable natural gas is critical to our effort to minimize UPS’s environmental impact while meeting the growing demand for our services,” said Mitch Nichols, UPS senior vice president of transportation and engineering. The Atlanta-based delivery giant said in April that revenue for U.S. ground packages grew 5.3% to $6.36 billion in the first quarter. That helped buoy total U.S. domestic-package operating […]

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Nowhere Is Safe From California Drought—Not Even Beverly Hills

Freshly tilled dirt in the front yard of Robert Wunderlich’s home in Beverly Hills, Calif., Monday. Mr. Wunderlich is replacing his grass front lawn with drought-tolerant landscaping. Photo: Stuart Palley for The Wall Street Journal BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.—This enclave of movie-star glamour—famous for its tree-lined boulevards and manicured yards—is starting to turn heads for another look: dying grass and ripped-out lawns. Beverly Hills has been identified by state officials as among California’s biggest urban water guzzlers and, under rules expected to be approved this week, ordered to cut its consumption by 36% or face fines up to $10,000 per violation. Anticipating the crackdown, the city in mid-April stopped watering its grassy medians. On April 21, the City Council adopted tough new restrictions that include a limit on lawn watering to two days a week, and a ban on draining and refilling swimming pools under penalty of maximum $1,000 fines. […]

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Denbury, Chesapeake Are Beyond the Shale

ENLARGE North Dakota oil drilling is seen here. Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn has knocked shale-oil drilling as not profitable enough. Photo: Getty Images Talk about throwing the baby out with the frackwater. It seemed like the entire North American hydrocarbon industry was tarred with the same brush on Monday when Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn presented at the annual Sohn Investment Conference . The hedge-fund manager’s chief target, the “motherfracker” as he dubbed it, was Pioneer Natural Resources Co. PXD -3.14 % The charge: Shale-oil drilling chews up too much cash for too little benefit. Two companies set to report first-quarter results Wednesday, Denbury Resources Inc. DNR -3.62 % and Chesapeake Energy Corp. CHK -3.23 % , bear only a passing resemblance to the accused. But they dipped by 2.8% and 1.6%, respectively, in the minutes after Mr. Einhorn’s comments. Their results certainly won’t be pretty. Analysts see Denbury reporting […]

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Implications of Increasing Light Tight Oil Production for U.S. Refining

1. Background and Analytical Framework Background Recent and projected increases in U.S. crude production have sparked discussion about the implications of current limitations on crude oil exports for prices, including both world and domestic crude oil and petroleum product prices, and for the level of domestic crude production and refining activity. In response to multiple requests, the U.S. Energy Information Administration is developing analyses that shed light on these issues. Studies completed since May 2014 have considered the characteristics of domestic crude production streams, price formation for gasoline and other petroleum products, tools to better track displacement of crude imports by domestic production, and technical options for processing additional light tight crude oil. Given that some responses to the growth in production that has already occurred since 2011, including the like-for-like replacement of crude oil imports comparable in quality to new domestic streams, are inherently limited going forward, the […]

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Crude by rail accounts for more than half of East Coast refinery supply in February

graph of net crude supply to PADD1 by source, as explained in the article text Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Petroleum Supply Monthly Note: All sources are net receipts except field production. PADD is Petroleum Administration for Defense District. Monthly rail receipts of crude oil accounted for more than half (52%) of the crude oil supply to East Coast refineries in February. As U.S. and Canadian production of crude oil has increased, crude supply by rail to East Coast (PADD 1) refineries has grown, displacing waterborne imports of crude oil from countries other than Canada , such as Nigeria. While refinery utilization in Petroleum Administration for Defense District (PADD) 1 in early 2015 has been below typical levels, this still marks the first time in EIA’s dataset that crude deliveries by rail have accounted for such a high percentage of East Coast refinery supply. The growth since 2010 in […]

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ESAI: Refinery closures could hit 2 million b/d by yearend 2016

Global refinery closures by yearend 2016 could be more than the previously announced 1 million b/d of capacity, Energy Security Analysis Inc. reported. “The total capacity at risk of closure by that time is as high as 2 million b/d,” ESAI Refining Manager Christopher Barber said. Weaker refining margins in Europe and Asia will put more pressure on marginal operations as changing government policies put even more capacity at risk in Asia and Russia, the Wakefield, Mass., energy and power market research and strategic advisory firm said in its latest Global Refining Outlook . ESAI said refiners in Europe already plan to rationalize 320,000 b/d of capacity by yearend 2016, while petroleum product manufacturers in former Soviet Union countries intend to shut another 280,000 b/d. Refiners in Taiwan, Australia, and Japan plan to cut another 420,000 b/d, the analysis said. Reports also suggest that Saudi Aramco is planning to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple