The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management on Nov. 21 issued a draft environmental review for a new integrated activity plan for the 23-million acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The proposal includes an alternative that would open as much as 18.3 million acres, or about 80 percent of the reserve, to oil and gas development,…
The California Department of Conservation halted approval of new permits for wells that use high-pressure steam to extract oil from underground formations and instituted a scientific review of pending applications to conduct hydraulic fracturing and other well stimulation practices, according to a Nov. 19 news release. The new measures stem from legislation enacted last month…
The U.S. Energy Department awarded a 20-year contract to ExxonMobil Pipeline Company to operate the Strategic Petroleum Reserve’s two-million-barrel capacity St. James marine terminal and Bayou Choctaw 36-Inch Pipeline, according to an Oct. 28 news release. The new lease, effective Jan. 1, 2020, ends Shell Pipeline Company LP’s 22-year control of the facilities. The St.…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Oct. 15 proposed to calculate the small refinery exemptions for 2020 under the Renewable Fuel Standard, or RFS, program based on a three-year average of the relief recommended by the Energy Department. The biofuel industry criticized the proposal for failing to meet the Oct. 4 agreement with the Trump…
Fossil fuels continue to account for the largest share of energy consumption in the United States. Last year, about 79 percent of domestic energy production was from fossil fuels, and 80 percent of domestic energy consumption originated from fossil fuels, according to the Energy Information Administration. The share of U.S. total energy production from fossil…
The Minnesota Supreme Court on Sept. 17 declined to hear challenges by tribal and conservation groups to the environmental review of Enbridge Inc.’s proposal for replacing its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline across northern Minnesota. In a June ruling, the Minnesota Court of Appeals found that the project’s environmental review failed to consider the…
Republican Governor Christopher Sununu signed legislation on Sept. 11 prohibiting offshore oil and natural gas exploration in state waters. New Hampshire joins California, New Jersey, Maine, and Oregon that have enacted similar measures in response to the Trump administration’s plan to open vast amounts of coastal waters to drilling activities. The bill bans the lease…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Aug. 29 proposed to reverse regulations put into place in 2016 to limit the emissions of methane, a potent global warming pollutant, during oil and natural gas drilling operations. The move follows a sweeping executive order that President Trump issued in 2017 to undo the prior administration’s climate regulations…
The U.S. Energy Department issued a notice of sale of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, to fulfill the requirements of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, according to an Aug. 21 news release. The sale will be conducted with crude oil from three sites…
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…
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…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on July 5 proposed set a blending volume of 20.04 billion gallons for 2020 under the Renewable Fuel Standard, up from the current level of 19.92 billion gallons. The proposal would keep the target for conventional biofuel, mainly corn-based ethanol, at 15 billion gallons. However, proposal drew criticism for failing…
