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Energy Companies Can Be Sued Over Earthquakes, Oklahoma Supreme Court Says

The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a woman injured in a 2011 earthquake can file suit in district court against the two energy companies she accuses of causing the quake. The ruling raises the prospect of more lawsuits seeking to hold companies responsible for an increase in seismic activity in the state, as more scientific studies link the tremors to the energy industry. In particular, the studies have found evidence tying quakes to operations that inject wastewater left over from drilling into wells deep underground. Sandra Ladra of Prague, Okla., about 60 miles east of Oklahoma City, sued New Dominion LLC and Spess Oil Co. last summer for injuries she sustained during a 5.6-magnitude quake that toppled her stone chimney. The lawsuit in Lincoln County District Court contends that the companies caused the quake by injecting wastewater into nearby wells. The companies argued that they lawfully operated their […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Monthly Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production

Beginning this month, EIA is expanding the coverage of natural gas production to include a break out for an additional ten states based on data from the EIA-914 survey. The additional states include: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, and West Virginia. Estimates for the ten states were previously included in the "other states" total. Estimates for production back to January 2015 now include the new breakout. EIA will continue to report natural gas gross withdrawals here instead of in the Natural Gas Gross Production Report. Later this summer, EIA expects to report survey-based estimates for crude oil production (including lease condensate). Later in 2015, EIA will report monthly crude oil production by API gravity category for each state.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Case for Keystone XL has grown stronger, TransCanada tells Kerry

Canada is taking strong steps toward combating climate change, and the proposed Keystone XL pipeline crude oil pipeline remains in the US national interest, TransCanada Corp. said in a June 29 letter to US Sec. of State John F. Kerry and two senior State Department officials. “Given the passage of time, the facts supporting the proposed project have continued to build,” Kristine Delkus, TransCanada’s executive vice-president and general counsel, said in the letter to Kerry; Amos Hochstein, special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs at DOS’s Bureau of Energy Resources; and Judith G. Garber, acting assistant secretary for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs. “For this reason, as a prudent applicant, TransCanada believes it is necessary to provide [DOS] with updated information on recent developments,” Delkus said. These developments include: • The Canadian government’s May 15 announcement that it intends to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 30% […]

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Senate Democrats outline broad energy goals to nation’s governors

Forty-five US Senate Democrats outlined broad energy policy goals including more clean energy technology investments, infrastructure improvement, and carbon pollution reduction in a letter seeking support from the nation’s governors. “Your feedback will help us collectively craft a path forward on an energy policy that unleashes America’s limitless capacity for innovation, rewards middle-class families for making smart energy choices, and keeps our air and water clean for generations to come,” Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.), Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Minority Member Maria E. Cantwell (Wash.), and 43 other Senate Democrats said in their June 29 letter . Their call for more clean energy investments included low-carbon fossil fuels as well as renewable technology, storage, and advanced grid systems. The nation’s infrastructure should be modernized to make it more reliable and resilient with a safe structure from physical and cybersecurity threats, they recommended. Business and individual […]

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U.S. crude oil production for April rises to most since 1971: EIA

NEW YORK U.S. crude oil production rose 9,000 barrels a day to 9.701 million barrels a day in April, the highest since May 1971, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in monthly data released Tuesday. Technology for tapping shale oil has helped the U.S. unlock vast reserves of crude that were previously inaccessible, boosting production. The modest increase from last month may suggest that a production plateau is approaching, which could deal a blow to U.S. crude prices, which have been generally rallying since March. The flood of oil was one factor contributing to a price rout in the second half of last year, but production has continued at high levels even as drillers have shut in rigs in an attempt to scale back production. The EIA, the statistical arm of the Department of Energy, expects that crude production will decline on a monthly basis starting in June. Because […]

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Greece Misses Debt Payment, Deepening a Crisis

Photo Newspapers were on display in central Athens on Tuesday, the deadline for Greece to make a debt payment of 1.6 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund. Credit Aris Messinis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images ATHENS — The International Monetary Fund said shortly after midnight Wednesday that Greece had missed a crucial debt payment to the fund. “We have informed our executive board that Greece is now in arrears and can only receive I.M.F. financing once the arrears are cleared,” said Gerry Rice, a spokesman for the fund. Greece is not technically in default, but missing the payment is yet another an unmistakable warning that the country will probably be unable to meet its other obligations in coming weeks, to its bond holders and to the European Central Bank . That may might make the European Central Bank, one of its principal creditors, less willing to continue emergency loans […]

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Russia Seen Extending Oil-Sales Lead With Second China Pipeline

Russia is set to strengthen its position as the biggest oil supplier to China in the coming decade with a planned second pipeline link to Chinese refineries, according to a unit of Fitch Group Inc. A construction contract was signed between two units of state-run China National Petroleum Corp. for a domestic pipeline carrying Russian crude, the country’s official Xinhua News Agency reported June 26. The 955 kilometer (594 mile) facility from Mohe to Daqing in northeast China will have an annual capacity of 15 million metric tons, it said. Russia in May surpassed Saudi Arabia as China’s leading crude supplier for the first time in almost a decade as a global fight for market share intensified. The Asian nation’s increasing reliance on oil from its northern neighbor also benefits a Russian economy weakened by American and European sanctions over Ukraine and a collapse in the ruble. “The promise […]

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Ruble Seen Extending Worst Drop Since January on Debt, Greece

The ruble extended its biggest monthly drop since January, with PAO Rosbank, Credit Suisse Group AG and Renaissance Capital seeing more weakness in the third quarter because of the crisis in Greece and external debt payments. Russia’s currency retreated less than 0.1 percent to 55.764 against the dollar at 4:45 p.m. in Moscow. The ruble is headed for a 6.2 percent drop this month, the most since January, while Brent crude is 4 percent weaker in June. Bonds gained as the Finance Ministry said it plans to sell 275 billion rubles ($4.93 billion) of debt in the third quarter, the most since the first three months of 2014. The rising likelihood Greece will leave the euro region is one more reason to be wary of the Russian currency. Oil-price risks and looming foreign-debt payments, in addition to the central bank’s foreign-currency purchases, will continue exerting pressure on the ruble […]

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Russia, Ukraine ‘Still Far Apart’ on Gas Deal

BRUSSELS—Russia and Ukraine “are still far apart” on a deal to ensure stable natural-gas deliveries to Ukraine and the European Union over the winter, the EU’s energy czar said Tuesday. The statement from the EU’s vice president for the energy union, Maros Sefcovic, came after the energy ministers from both sides met in Vienna, along with the chief executives of their gas companies, Russia’s OAO Gazprom and Ukraine’s OAO Naftogaz. The EU gets about one-third of its gas from Russia and about half of that is transported through Ukraine. But the conflict in eastern Ukraine and the broader standoff between Moscow and Kiev has put these deliveries in doubt. “As the meeting has shown today, the parties are still far apart,” Mr. Sefcovic said. “We have agreed that the [European] Commission will put forward ideas to prepare next steps so that the next consultation could take place.”

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Ukraine suspends Russian gas purchases

A worker checks equipment at the Dashava gas storage near the western Ukrainian town Stryi Russian gas purchases have been suspended by Ukraine after a breakdown in talks aimed at keeping supplies running for three to six months. The Ukrainian state energy company, Naftogaz, said it would continue transporting Russian gas supplies to other European customers. It will be the second time in less than a year that Russian fuel supplies have stopped running to Ukraine. Russian energy minister Alexander Novak called the decision "unfortunate". Moscow hiked prices after Kremlin-backed leader Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February 2014. It cut off gas supplies in June 2014 as the conflict between the government in Kiev and pro-Russian rebels in the east escalated. Since then, the European Union, which mediated at the price negotiations in Vienna, has forged a series of temporary agreements that need to be renewed every three months. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple