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Oklahoma governor signs legislation to prevent local fracturing bans

Oklahoma cities and counties would be unable to ban hydraulic fracturing or other oil and gas operations under Senate Bill 809 that Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has signed into law. The Oklahoma law, effective in 90 days from May 29, allows municipalities or counties to enact regulations concerning road use, traffic, noise, and odors associated with oil and gas operations. It also authorizes fencing requirements around drilling sites and setback requirements for a well from homes and businesses. Fallin noted the law reaffirmed that the Oklahoma Corporation Commission remains Oklahoma’s primary oil and gas regulator. The three commission members are elected by voters. “They are best equipped to make decisions about drilling and its effect on seismic activity, the environment and other sensitive issues,” Fallin said in a statement. “The alternative is to pursue a patchwork of regulations that, in some cases, could arbitrarily ban energy exploration and damage […]

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Exxon Wants to Use Trucks to Move Oil After California Spill

Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM 0.01 % plans to ask Santa Barbara County, Calif., this week for permission to temporarily transport its crude oil in trucks after a pipeline it was using burst two weeks ago , spilling more than 100,000 gallons of oil off the coast. “The County will consider the information provided by ExxonMobil later this week and make an informed decision, based upon our zoning codes, policies and environmental review if warranted,” said Kevin Drude, who heads the county’s energy division, in an emailed statement. Mr. Drude said the pipeline, owned by Plains All American Pipeline PAA 1.42 % LP, pumped about 30,000 barrels a day of crude oil from Exxon’s Las Flores Canyon facility to a pumping station in Gaviota, where the crude then continued on to refineries inland. The pipeline also was used to move some 4,000 barrels a day of oil produced by private […]

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Rising Crude Derails Bakken Tax Trigger

North Dakota Tax Trigger Fails The recent increase in crude prices is good news for North Dakota’s coffers, but bad news for Bakken oil and gas producers. Related: State Set to Lose Millions if Tax Incentives Take Effect North Dakota’s oil tax trigger was introduced by lawmakers to provide tax incentives to strained producers to ease the sting of prolonged lower crude prices. The trigger went into effect in February as WTI crude dipped below the $52.58 price point. The formula requires that crude stay below that price for five consecutive months, for the state to waive its 6.5% oil extraction tax. The oil trigger was expected to take place June 1st, but rising crude prices mean it wont be implemented and producers will miss out on an estimated $480 million over the next six months. Since the nosedive last fall, crude prices inched up after the first of […]

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Solar power getting brighter for U.S. grid

U.S. government approves first three solar projects under a plan for Western states that envisions enough power for 8 million households. UPI/Stephen Shaver WASHINGTON, June 2 (UPI) — The first solar energy projects were sanctioned under a fast-track program that envisions enough power for 8 million homes, the U.S. Interior Department said. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced the first three solar energy projects were approved according to the terms of the so-called Western Solar Plan . Once built, the three projects on public lands in Nevada will generate as much as 440 megawatts of energy, enough to meet the annual demands of about 132,000 homes. "Through thoughtful planning and upfront public participation, these solar projects demonstrate we can reduce permitting times, create certainty for energy developers, and achieve better outcomes for communities and the environment," Jewell said in a statement. The plan, steered by the department’s Bureau of […]

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California water use fell 13.5 percent in April amid drought

AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Ordered to use a fourth less water during this record drought, Californians managed to get about halfway to their goal in April, regulators announced Tuesday. California residents reduced overall water usage by 13.5 percent compared to the same month in the benchmark year of 2013, water officials said. That’s the second-best conservation achievement since state officials started closely tracking water use more than a year ago, but falls short of the 25 percent cuts Gov. Jerry Brown that became mandatory for cities and towns on June 1. "Local communities are stepping up in a way they weren’t before, and I’m hoping that’s why we are starting to see the uptick" in conservation, said Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the state Water Resources Control Board, which compiles usage reports from more than 400 water agencies around California. "The real challenge is, we really have […]

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House energy chair supports lifting oil export ban

WASHINGTON The Republican chairman of the House of Representatives’ energy panel on Tuesday said he favored lifting the 40-year-old ban on U.S. oil exports, a move that could boost support for legislation in the chamber. "Oil exports can be a win for the American people and a win for our allies," said Representative Fred Upton of Michigan in prepared remarks at a hearing. Upton’s backing could clear the path for other representatives to support a bill in the House to overturn the trade restriction Congress enacted in the 1970s after the Arab oil embargo. The measure currently has 40 co-sponsors in the 435-member House. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican who chairs the Senate Energy Committee, introduced a bill to overturn the ban last month. It has 13 co-sponsors, including one Democrat. Oil producers eager to ship to markets in Asia and Europe say the ban would cause a glut […]

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Greece’s Alliances Fade in European Debate About Its Debt Crisis

Photo European leaders gathered on Monday night in Berlin to discuss the Greek debt crisis, conspicuously excluding representatives of Greece from the meeting. Credit Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters ROME — If Europe is finally coming to a moment of reckoning in the Greek debt crisis — a standoff now rattling financial markets and threatening European unity — then the critical meeting apparently occurred late Monday night, when Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany summoned critical players to an emergency summit meeting in Berlin. Everyone was invited, except Greece . This was not a big surprise, since those invited were Greece ’s creditors, who were in effect trying to form a united front against Athens and speed up the debt talks before a payment due on Friday. But the list of attendees symbolized how Greece’s far-left government had become very much alone politically, analysts said, and how its promise to roll back the […]

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Greek Insolvency Could Be ‘Gigantic’

BERLIN—The political consequences of a Greek insolvency would be “gigantic,” German Vice-Chancellor and Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Tuesday, calling on the left-wing Greek government to be willing to compromise. His comments come after German Chancellor Angela Merkel , French President François Hollande, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde , met in Berlin Monday evening to discuss ways to break up the deadlock of the Greek debt crisis. “I think it’s absolutely right that Germany and France once again try to find a solution, because the political consequences of Greece’s insolvency within the eurozone would of course be gigantic,” said Mr. Gabriel at a conference. “Many people seem to have somewhat the impression that it’s better to make a painful break than to draw out the agony. The truth is, that if the first […]

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Russia keeps oil output at post-Soviet high before OPEC meet

MOSCOW Russian oil output remained unchanged in May at a post-Soviet high of 10.71 million barrels per day (bpd), Energy Ministry data showed on Tuesday, three days before OPEC meets to decide on output levels. In tonnes, oil output rose to 45.288 million from 43.830 million in April while gas production fell to 48.28 billion cubic meters (bcm) last month, or 1.56 bcm a day, from 52.64 bcm in April. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which controls more than 40 percent of the world’s crude oil production, meets this Friday in Vienna. Analysts expect the bloc to maintain current output levels. OPEC sources have said an output cut would only be possible if other oil-producing nations such as Russia join in. Oil revenues are the cornerstone for many countries’ budgets, including Russia. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak is due to meet OPEC officials this week ahead […]

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Greece will not pay IMF on Friday without prospect of a deal: lawmaker

ATHENS Greece will not make a June 5 repayment to the International Monetary Fund if there is no prospect of an aid-for-reforms deal with its international creditors soon, the spokesman for the ruling Syriza party said on Wednesday. The payment of 300 million euros ($335 million) is the first of four this month totaling 1.6 billion euros from a country that depends on foreign aid to stay afloat. Greece owes a total of about 320 billion euros, of which about 65 percent to euro zone governments and the IMF, and about 8.7 percent to the European Central Bank. On Tuesday, Greece’s creditors drafted the broad outlines of an agreement to put to the leftist government in Athens in a bid to conclude four months of negotiations and release aid before the country runs out of money. "If there is no prospect of a deal by Friday or Monday, I […]

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