Offshore Oil Drilling 8 22 2019

U.S. Gulf of Mexico Oil, Gas Lease Sale Yields $160 Million in Bids

The U.S. Interior Department announced that its Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale held on Aug. 21 generated $159.4 million in high bids for 151 tracts covering about 835,000 acres, down from the previous sale, which drew about $244.3 million. The region-wide lease sale offered 77.8 million acres, including all available unleased areas…

North Carolina Clean Energy Plan

North Carolina’s Clean Energy Plan Envisions Carbon-Free Power Sector by 2050

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality on Aug. 16 unveiled a draft Clean Energy Plan outlining policy and action recommendations for the state to transition to carbon-free electricity by 2050, starting with a 60 to 70 percent reduction from 2005 levels by 2030. An executive order issued last year by Democratic Governor Roy Cooper…

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U.S. Achieves Oil and Natural Gas Production World Record in 2018

U.S. petroleum and natural gas production increased by 16% and by 12%, respectively, in 2018, and these totals combined established a new production record, according to the Energy Information Administration. In 2011, the country overtook Russia to become the world’s largest producer of natural gas and just last year surpassed Saudi Arabia in the production…

Natural Gas Deliveries LNG Facilities

Gas Deliveries to U.S. LNG Export Terminals Hit Record as New Facilities Come Online: EIA

Natural gas feedstock deliveries to LNG export facilities were the fastest growing among all U.S. natural gas consumption sectors in the first seven months of 2019, according to an Aug. 19 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Deliveries to export terminals set a new monthly record in July, averaging 6.0 billion cubic feet per day. The…

Carbon Capture and Storage Projects

States Challenge Trump Administration’s Rollback of Power Plant Emission Rules

A coalition of 22 states and 7 cities on Aug. 13 filed a lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Affordable Clean Energy” rule that replaced more stringent Obama-era restrictions on power sector emissions. The new plan allows states the flexibility to choose from a list of technologies to set performance standards for individual facilities, making…

Natural Gas Project

Ohio Regulator Issues Draft Rules to Strengthen Gas Pipeline Safety

The Ohio Public Utilities Commission on Aug. 14 proposed revisions to gas pipeline safety rules as part of its regular five-year review. The proposed rule would adopt the 2019 federal safety standards and include a requirement for pipeline  operators to develop a plan for abandoning inactive service lines in the state. The revisions will establish…

Power Plant 9 8 2019

New England Fuel Security Plan to Take Effect as FERC Lacks Quorum

The ISO New England Inc.’s short-term program to compensate resources for maintaining inventoried energy during winters 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 became effective by operation of law because the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission lacked a quorum to act on the proposed reforms before the statutory deadline, according to an Aug. 6 notice. A resource is eligible to…

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California Regulator Includes Electrification in $1 Billion Efficiency Fund, Marks Transition Away From Gas

The California Public Utilities Commission on Aug. 1 revised a 1992 energy efficiency policy to allow funding for electrification efforts, paving the way for new programs that use electric technologies powered by emissions-free resources. The decision modifies the “three-prong test” that was originally adopted to avoid encouraging programs that involved substituting one fuel for another,…

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Court Upholds Transco Pipeline Approval, Criticizes FERC’s Administrative Limbo

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Aug 2 upheld the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company’s Atlantic Sunrise Project, finding that the agency acted lawfully under circuit precedent. The court rejected arguments that the agency improperly conducted its environmental assessment, failed to substantiate the…

Kinder Morgan Gulf Coast LNG

U.S. Energy Department Approves LNG Exports From Kinder Morgan’s Mississippi Facility

The U.S. Energy Department authorized Kinder Morgan Inc. to export liquefied natural gas equivalent to up to 1.53 billion cubic feet per day from the proposed Gulf LNG Liquefaction Project, which will be built at the site of an existing import terminal in Mississippi, according to a July 31 press release. The export permit comes…

U.S. Energy Department Extends Third Set of Natural Gas Export Authorizations Through 2050

FERC Creates LNG Division to Expand Oversight of Export Projects

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on July 23 announced the formation of the Division of LNG Facility Review & Inspection to manage the growing number and complexity of proposals to develop liquefied natural gas export terminals. The new division, which will be a part of the agency’s Office of Energy Projects, will include 20 existing…