OIL
A new House Bill would repeal fossil fuel tax breaks and expand fossil fuel companies’ liability for spills and cleanup tasks. On November 21, 2013, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) introduced the 2013 End Polluter Welfare Act (H.R. 3574) aimed to end fossil fuel subsidies. The bill would close tax loopholes…...
The House has approved two energy bills that would expedite permit issuance for drilling on federal lands and prevent duplicative hydraulic fracturing regulations. On November 20, 2013, the U.S. House of Representatives approved two bills – Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act (H.R. 1965) and Protecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act…...
President Obama’s Senior Advisors today recommended he veto two new energy bills which respectively seek to block Interior Department regulations on hydraulic fracturing and speed up oil and gas drilling permits. On November 19th, 2013, the White House Administration issued a pair of statements strongly opposing two new energy bills: (1) H.R. 2728 – Protecting…...
An EIA report shows that U.S. monthly crude oil production in October 2013 exceeded net imports for the first time in two decades. On November 13, 2013, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its Short Term Energy Outlook, showing that U.S. monthly estimated crude oil production averaged 7.7 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in October,…...
IEA’s 2013 World Energy Outlook finds technology is opening new oil resources in the U.S., but the Middle East remains key to the longer-term outlook. The International Energy Agency (IEA) today released its annual World Energy Outlook, indicating that “although rising oil output from North America and Brazil reduces the role of OPEC countries in…...
API’s guidelines for SEC’s Dodd-Frank disclosure rule intend to protect energy companies’ competitiveness without undermining the rule’s objectives. In its letter, API pointed out SEC’s flexibility in complying with the disclosure mandate, as outlined in the Court ruling, without undermining the statute’s objectives. Specifically, API suggested a compilation model of disclosure, whereby the Dodd-Frank requirements…...
The Northern American Energy Infrastructure Act is a bipartisan bill that creates a new approval process for oil and natural gas pipelines and electric transmission facilities crossing U.S. borders. On October 29th, 2013 the Energy and Power Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee (the “Committee”) held a hearing on H.R. 3301, the North…...
On September 23, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updated its 2012 New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) rule, which indirectly regulates fugitive methane emissions at the production phase of oil and natural gas development. Overview EPA will use outcome data from the NSPS NESHAP rule to determine…...
NY State’s Strategic Gasoline Reserve will hold three million gallons of fuel to prevent emergency supply gaps. On October 26, 2013, New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo launched the first U.S. state-based Strategic Gasoline Reserve as part of the Fuel NY initiative to prevent potential supply gaps during weather events and emergencies, such as…...
On September 23, the EPA updated its 2012 New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) rule, which indirectly regulates fugitive methane emissions at the production phase of oil and natural gas development. Data from the rule will determine whether the EPA will directly regulate methane from oil and…...
EPA’s latest GHG emissions data show that power plant emissions declined by 10 percent between 2010 and 2012 due to increased natural gas use. On October 23, 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) released its third annual report detailing facility-level greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data from large industrial sources across…...
Earlier this month, California Air Resources Board (CARB) released a draft Update to the Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32) Scoping Plan, describing the progress made towards objectives and defining priorities and activities to reduce emissions. Overview AB 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, created a…...