Is A Deregulated Power Grid Good For Texans?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few weeks, you’ve most likely been inundated with all kinds of new stories and finger-pointing social media diatribes about Texas’ Continue Reading
U.S. Oil Production Fell To 11 Million Bpd In December
U.S. crude oil production fell in December to an average 11.063 million barrels per day, according to the Energy Information Administration’s latest monthly report . U.S. crude oil production fell Continue Reading
Who’s To Blame For The Expensive Energy Bills In Texas?
For the almost two decades of its existence as an independent system operator, only electricity wonks, neo-liberal economists and systems engineers talked about ERCOT (the Electric Reliability Council of Texas). Continue Reading
From U.S. domination to energy transition, two years that changed oil
Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took the stage at the world’s largest energy conference in 2019 to declare an age of U.S. dominance after a decade of rapid Continue Reading
Texas electricity firm files for bankruptcy citing $1.8 billion in claims from grid operator
Texas’s largest and oldest electric power cooperative on Monday filed for bankruptcy protection in federal court in Houston, citing a disputed $1.8 billion bill from the state’s grid operator. Brazos Continue Reading
Coronavirus live updates: New virus cases no longer declining in the U.S. in worrisome development
A steady decline in new coronavirus cases in the United States appears to have stalled in recent days, public health officials said, warning that new, more transmissible variants could be Continue Reading
Soaring U.S. Incomes Help Drive Biggest Spending Gain Since June
U.S. personal incomes soared in January as Americans received another round of pandemic-relief checks, helping to re-charge the economy with the strongest spending advance in seven months. The 10% gain in Continue Reading
Renewable Energy Advocate Granholm Confirmed For Top Energy Post
Renewable energy ally and fossil fuel foe Jennifer Granholm was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday to lead the Department of Energy by a 64/35 vote. The former Governor Continue Reading
Texas, Midwest refiners thaw out their plants after polar vortex
US refiners are restarting their plants after the recent deep freeze stretching from the Texas Gulf Coast north through the Midwest impacted refinery operations across a broad swath of the Continue Reading
Oil Crash Pushed 2020 U.S. Output to First Drop in Four Years
U.S. crude production decreased for the first time in four years in 2020 as the pandemic crushed global oil demand. American crude output averaged 11.313 million barrels a day last year, Continue Reading
Biden’s New Energy Secretary Eyes Big Investment to Boost Clean Technologies, Harden Electric Grid – WSJ
The new U.S. energy secretary said Friday she plans to revive a $40 billion loan program for energy projects and to push for improvements to the country’s electric grid in Continue Reading
The Oil Industry Is Ready To Fight President Biden In Court
Reeling from the effects of the pandemic, the oil industry is in no mood to fool around. When newly inaugurated President Joe Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline project, refiners Continue Reading
Which Banks Are The Biggest Backers Of Oil And Gas?
About a month ago, BlackRock Inc. the world’s largest asset manager with $9 trillion in assets under management (AUM), sent shockwaves through the fossil fuel sector after it vowed to Continue Reading
The Staggering Cost Of Weather-Proofing U.S. Infrastructure
As extreme weather conditions wreak havoc on America’s largest energy producing states, can they continue to provide for their citizens? The combination of climate change and aging infrastructure could soon Continue Reading
Natural Gas Production Plunged 45% During The Texas Freeze
Natural gas production in Texas collapsed by 45 percent during the cold snap last week, primarily due to freeze-offs, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Thursday, citing estimates from Continue Reading
US jobless claims at 730K, still high but fewest in 3 months
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week in a sign that layoffs may have eased, though applications for aid remain at a historically high level. Jobless Continue Reading
Financial firms raise U.S. GDP growth estimates on stimulus bets
Several major financial firms have upped their forecasts for U.S. economic growth based on expectations that President Joe Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill will come to fruition and Continue Reading
Gasoline Crisis Paralyzes One Out of Every Seven Texas Stations
One in every seven Texas gas stations is without fuel a week after the historic freeze crippled refineries and trucking, prompting at least one major retailer in the second-largest U.S. Continue Reading
Texans’ Frozen Pipes Warn of Yet Another Extreme Weather Threat
At first, Amanda Fuller thought she was one of the lucky ones. Then the water stopped running. As Texas started dipping into single-digit temperatures overnight Sunday, power companies began instituting Continue Reading
Who’s Who on Biden’s Sprawling Climate Team
Past presidents—even progressive ones—have viewed climate change as a problem for the future. President Barack Obama, for example, “took the view that climate change was a moral issue,” said Jeff Continue Reading
ERCOT lost almost half of generation capacity in storm, causing 20-GW load shed
Almost half of Electric Reliability Council of Texas generation capacity – 52.3 GW in all — was forced out at the highest point during the winter storm starting Feb. 14, Continue Reading
Why Is Mexico Returning To Coal?
As the world transitions away from fossil fuels and weens itself off emissions-heavy energy sources, one country is running against the current and right back into the arms of coal. Continue Reading
Texas Refiners Grapple with Damage from Storm
Refineries in Texas are finding a return to normal after last week’s Arctic blast and widespread power outages is a messy, stop-and-start process. At least seven of them were trying Continue Reading
Covid-19: U.S. Vaccine Production and Supply Increase After Snowstorms Caused Delays
The White House said on Tuesday that weekly shipments of coronavirus vaccines to the states would rise by one million doses to 14.5 million, as vaccine manufacturers continue to ramp up Continue Reading
Survey calls for second-ever US natural gas storage draw above 300 Bcf
Surplus to five-year average will switch to deficit Prices retreat following polar vortex US natural gas stocks posted a massive draw last week, likely well north of 300 Bcf, as Continue Reading
ERCOT’s unaffiliated board members plan to resign in wake of blackouts
All four unaffiliated Electric Reliability Council of Texas board members on Feb. 23 notified the Public Utility Commission of Texas of their plans to resign their seats at the end Continue Reading
US considers sanctions against Russia over SolarWinds hack
The Biden administration is planning a broad package of measures, including sanctions, to punish Russia over the sprawling SolarWinds espionage campaign that struck at the heart of the US government. US officials Continue Reading
Iran inspection deal opens window for nuclear talks with US
A last-minute deal between Iran and the UN atomic watchdog over snap inspections has opened a narrow diplomatic window to revive the landmark nuclear treaty between international powers and Tehran. The Continue Reading
Iran Doubles Down On Nuclear Ambitions As It Expands Oil Influence
Tehran’s broad strategy regarding the U.S. is to seek to push new President Joe Biden back into a non-renegotiated nuclear deal, which favours Iran, whilst at the same time allowing Continue Reading
Iran Claims U.S. Sanctions Cost $1 Trillion, Demands Compensation
A major crisis was narrowly averted Sunday over Iran’s nuclear facilities and the planned booting of IAEA inspectors from key sites , scheduled according to a prior Iranian parliament decision Continue Reading
Climate Threats Could Mean Big Jumps in Insurance Costs This Year
The cost of federal flood insurance will need to increase significantly in much of the country to meet the growing risks of climate change, new data suggests, creating a political Continue Reading
With ERCOT prices less than $20/MWh, Texas stops disconnects, launches probes
As Electric Reliability Council of Texas real-time prices averaged less than $20/MWh Feb. 22, state officials have forestalled disconnections for nonpayment and started investigating last week’s winter storm-induced energy emergency, Continue Reading
US lawmakers hit out at Biden administration over ‘inadequate’ Nord Stream 2 sanctions
Senior US lawmakers have slammed the Biden administration for failing to step up its opposition to the almost-complete Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline through increased sanctions designations. Receive daily email Continue Reading
Texans Will Pay for Decades as Crisis Tacks Billions Onto Bills
Now that the lights are back on in Texas, the state has to figure out who’s going to pay for the energy crisis that plunged millions into darkness last week. Continue Reading
Mapping Flood Damage: Millions More U.S. Homes At Risk Than Previously Thought
Millions of Americans just woke up in a flood zone that had never before been listed on U.S. government maps. The first-ever public evaluation of flood risk for every property in Continue Reading
Analysis: Road to renewed Iran nuclear deal likely to be long and bumpy
It took seven years from the summer’s day in 2008 when a top U.S. diplomat first sat down with his Iranian counterpart until the two sides sealed the 2015 Iran Continue Reading
Deaths surge in Mexico as pandemic extracts a heavy toll
Deaths in Mexico last year were 52 per cent higher than in previous years, putting the rate of excess deaths during the coronavirus pandemic well above that in some countries Continue Reading
China calls for reset in Sino-U.S. relations
Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi said on Monday the United States and China could work together on issues like climate change and the coronavirus pandemic if they repaired their damaged Continue Reading
Texas Deep Freeze: Restarting Oil and Gas Will Be an Emissions Mess – Bloomberg
Like a cold-blooded animal—a lizard or a snake—the petrochemical hub that is the state of Texas went dormant during the deep freeze. Eventually, it’ll wake up again, and when it Continue Reading
Is The Temporary Collapse Of Texas Foreshadowing The Total Collapse Of The US?
We are getting a very short preview of what will eventually happen to the United States as a whole. America’s infrastructure is aging and crumbling. Our power grids were never Continue Reading
Warmer Temperatures May Offer California Farmers a Rare Silver Lining: Fewer Frosts
Icicles created by drip irrigation are illuminated by a car’s headlights during a cold snap January 17, 2007 in Orange Cove, California. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Few things affect where Continue Reading
Iran tests Biden as he joins first international summit as president
After a campaign in which he promised to repair relations with allies and put diplomacy first, President Biden joined his first international summit on Friday: A virtual Group of Seven meeting Continue Reading
Pemex’s Oil Production Increase Is More Illusion Than Reality
Mexico’s Pemex reported its oil production grew last year, for the first time in fifteen years. However, there’s a big catch—the increase was only a result of how the company Continue Reading
Winter Freeze Damage Expected to Hit $18 Billion From Burst Pipes, Collapsed Roofs
Property insurers face an estimated $18 billion bill for damage to homes and businesses from the long stretch of frigid weather in Texas and numerous other states, the equivalent of a Continue Reading
U.S. Officially Rejoins Paris Climate Agreement
The U.S. officially rejoined the Paris climate change agreement on Friday as President Biden puts environmental policy at the center of his agenda and prepares to work with world leaders Continue Reading
U.S. Says It Would Meet for Nuclear Talks With Iran, Other Powers
U.S. and Iranian officials could hold nuclear discussions within coming weeks under a plan by the European Union to bring the two sides together for the first time since President Continue Reading
United States signals readiness to resume talks with Iran
The United States is prepared to talk to Iran about both countries returning to compliance with a 2015 deal that aims to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon, U.S. Continue Reading
Gulf Coast Fuel Makers Could Take a Week to Restart After Freeze
Four of the largest refineries in Texas are discovering widespread damage from the deep freeze that crippled the state and expect to be down for weeks of repairs, raising the Continue Reading
No LNG Tankers Are Loading at U.S. Export Terminals Amid Freeze
Right now there are no liquefied natural gas tankers docked and loading at any of the six U.S. export terminals for the first time since global demand for the superchilled Continue Reading
US jobless claims rise to 861,000 as layoffs stay high
The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid rose last week to 861,000, evidence that layoffs remain painfully high despite a steady drop in the number of confirmed viral infections. Continue Reading