Category: Congress

Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich, vows to advance era of energy abundance as new GOP-led Congress readies to take its seat. UPI/Yuri Gripas. WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 (UPI) — House Republicans will work to create the "architecture of abundance" needed to take advantage of North American energy leadership, a lawmaker said. The House Energy and Commerce Committee published a 105-page strategy document meant to highlight the agenda of the incoming Republican-led Congress. It says federal policies are ill-suited to develop the infrastructure needed to take advantage of the oil and gas production boost in the United States. "Creating this architecture of abundance is slowed at every step by archaic federal rules that can cause years of delays and even block some pipeline and power line projects outright," the paper reads. Rep. Fred Upton, the committee’s chairman, said the new Congress would work to advance its blueprint when it comes into power […]

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Results of 2014’s congressional elections have reduced the prospect of the federal government enacting its own hydraulic fracturing regulations, Moody’s said in a Dec. 17 report. It noted that Republicans, who generally have taken the position that state regulations are sufficient, will assume control of the US Senate in addition to the House in January. This change in Washington’s political climate means oil and gas producers can avoid the consequences of higher costs from federal regulation, the New York credit rating service said. It cited an Independent Petroleum Association of America estimate that one proposal could raise costs per well by up to $100,000. “However, the biggest benefit of not having federal regulation is the time to receive permits, which likely would have slowed,” the report added. Operators face growing regulations of their exploration and development of unconventional resources on state and local levels, it continued. Courts in Pennsylvania […]

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The U.S. Congress is talking about allowing unfettered oil exports for the first time in almost four decades. Its timing couldn’t be worse. There’s space in the global market for 1 million to 1.5 million barrels a day of U.S. crude if the ban vanishes, Energy Information Administration chief Adam Sieminski told a congressional subcommittee at a Dec. 11 hearing. That would be less than 2 percent of worldwide demand . With prices sliding amid a glut, the figure is bound to be even smaller, according to consultants including Wood Mackenzie Ltd. As members of Congress promise more hearings on repealing the restrictions on oil exports, the world is awash in the stuff. Global prices have fallen by almost half since June to the lowest in five years amid slower demand growth and rising supply. What’s more, the kind of crude flowing in record volumes from U.S. shale plays […]

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Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., chairman of a House energy commerce subcommittee, says during debate on export policies shale yielding an oil domestic refineries don’t want. (UPI Photo/Roger L. Wollenberg) The House Energy and Commerce Committee heard testimony Thursday on the validity of restrictions on U.S. crude oil exports at a time when production, largely from shale, is at 40-year highs. With U.S. oil production eclipsing 9 million barrels per day, those in the exploration and production sector say the time is ripe to consider repealing a 1970s-era ban on crude oil exports. Studies conducted by the Brookings Institution , IHS Energy, the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, and the U.S. Government Accountability Office found there would be consumer benefits , like low gasoline prices, from easing the restrictions, though each found lifting the ban did little to eliminate foreign dependency. Deborah Gordon, director of energy programs at the Carnegie Endowment […]

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House committee chaired by Rep. Fred Upton hears testimony on effectiveness of 1970s era policies restricting crude oil exports. (UPI Photo/Kevin Dietsch) House leaders hear testimony Thursday on policies restricting crude oil exports, arguing America’s updated energy outlook mean it’s time to redraft the rules. Advances in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, techniques usually described under the banner of fracking, have resulted in exponential increases in U.S. oil production. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates total U.S. crude oil production will increase next year by 10 percent to average 9.42 million barrels per day, a level not seen since the 1970s. "America’s updated energy outlook necessitates the re-examination of laws conceived in an era of energy scarcity," a memo from the House Energy and Commerce reads. Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries stopped exporting oil to the United States in response to U.S. support for Israel […]

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Representative Joe Barton will introduce a bill on Tuesday to lift the 40-year ban on exports of crude oil, but the measure has almost no chance of passing due to lawmaker concerns about fuel prices and costs to refiners. Barton, a Republican from Texas, will introduce a bill to lift the export ban Congress passed in the 1970s after the Arab oil embargo led to fears of fuel shortages, an aide said. The lawmaker will introduce the measure ahead of a hearing later this week by the House of Representatives subcommittee on energy and power on whether the export restriction makes sense amid the domestic drilling boom. "The Congressman is planning to drop his bill tomorrow … and he hopes the timing will make it a centerpiece piece of conversation at Thursday’s hearing," the Barton aide said. Barton, a member of the committee, believes lifting […]

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A House of Representatives panel will hold a hearing on Dec. 11 to explore whether a decades-old law that prohibits the export of crude oil makes sense in an era Continue Reading