General
News
How The Oil Price Collapse Could Reduce Methane
Emissions — Or Make Them Much Worse. According
to Grist, “Last year, oil and gas companies in the country’s two largest shale fields either burned off or directly released almost 500 billion cubic feet of natural gas into the air. That figure is more than the total natural gas released nationwide the year
prior — and it would be sufficient to heat about 6 million homes for a year, if it hadn’t been wasted. ‘Flaring’ is the industry term for burning natural gas, and ‘venting’ refers to simply letting the substance escape. Both are wasteful, bad for business,
and dangerous for the climate and public health. Methane, a greenhouse gas that is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, is the main component of natural gas. When natural gas is flared, methane is converted to carbon dioxide. But
if the flares are unlit or companies vent the natural gas instead, the methane escapes directly into the air. ‘What is coming out of these flares is toxic: It’s harmful to people, it’s harmful to local air quality, and it’s harmful to the climate,’ said Sharon
Wilson, a senior organizer at the environmental nonprofit Earthworks. The oil and gas industry has acknowledged that flaring is a problem. On Tuesday, a group of trade organizations and 40 oil and gas companies in Texas announced a new effort to reduce venting
and flaring. The group plans to identify ‘best practices to minimize methane emissions and flaring’ and find ways to improve the data available on the practice. ExxonMobil, Chevron, and other major oil and gas companies have also announced their own plans
to cut methane emissions. Companies either flare or vent natural gas when there aren’t enough pipelines to carry gas to refineries, or when it is prohibitively expensive to do so.” [Grist,
4/1/20
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Methane Emissions May Rise Despite Oil Crash —
Report. According to E&E News, “While
CO2 emissions are likely to fall this year because of the economic slowdown sparked by the novel coronavirus, there’s no guarantee methane emissions will fall even if oil and gas production falls, the International Energy Agency said in a report yesterday.
Methane, the main ingredient in natural gas, is the second-biggest driver of climate change after carbon dioxide, and oil and gas emissions account for the bulk of methane released into the atmosphere. Industrial emissions tend to rise and fall with the global
economy, and IEA predicts that carbon dioxide emissions will fall in 2020. But the authors of the agency’s annual Methane Tracker report said they can’t be as sure about methane emissions. ‘For example, a decline in revenues from oil and gas operations could
mean that companies pay less attention to efforts to tackle methane emissions,’ the report said. ‘Low natural gas prices may lead to increases in flaring or venting, and regulatory oversight of oil and gas operations could be scaled back.’ Overall, the oil
and gas industry contributed 81.3 million metric tons of methane to the atmosphere in 2019, the report found. While the authors called the results ‘sobering,’ they said ‘there are grounds for a more upbeat view. Methane emissions are large, but the evidence
makes it clear that a substantial amount can be reduced cost-effectively.’” [E&E News,
4/1/20
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This Former Oil Driller Taps Into The Earth’s
Clean Energy. According to Grist, “There’s
power locked inside our planet: heat that could be tapped to provide a rock-solid source of renewable electricity. By borrowing tools and know-how from the dirty business of oil and gas extraction, Tim Latimer’s San Francisco startup, Fervo Energy, hopes to
use that heat to create a far cleaner energy future. Latimer was recently named to the 2020 Grist 50, an annual list of emerging climate and justice leaders. We asked him about his plans to tap this inexhaustible energy source. His answers have been edited
and condensed for clarity. Q.You started on the dark side. Why did you make the switch? A.I studied mechanical engineering, and then in 2011 took a job as a drilling engineer, supervising rigs based out of Houston. But I had a nagging feeling. I was getting
more passionate about climate change, and I didn’t want to spend my career trying to get more oil out of the ground. I got really interested in clean energy, in particular geothermal. Geothermal power plants can produce a large amount of clean energy for,
decades. But some of the technology that’s now commonplace in modern oil and gas hasn’t made its way to geothermal yet. I saw an opportunity in closing that technology gap. Q.How does geothermal even work? Don’t you need, like, volcanoes? A.With traditional
geothermal, you drill vertical wells into geological hot spots. Think of places like Iceland, with volcanoes and geysers, areas with a lot of energy very close to the surface. They’re so hot that when you drill into them, you get steam. In California, it’s
dormant volcanoes bringing heat up close to the surface. It’s all about capturing steam, and turning it into electricity.” [Grist,
4/1/20
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Trump: 'You're Going To Lose An Industry'.
According to E&E News, “President Trump
reiterated yesterday that he’d get involved in a global price war at the ‘appropriate time,’ calling the historic low crude oil prices that threaten U.S. energy producers ‘not even feasible.’ Trump’s remarks came a day after he spoke with Russian President
Vladimir Putin in a bid to convince the country to end a price war that has sent oil prices plummeting amid the coronavirus pandemic that has flattened demand. And they came as Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette spoke with his Russian counterpart in what the
department called a ‘productive discussion.’ Trump, who weeks ago welcomed low gas prices as a boon to consumers, suggested that prices could drop to 99 cents a gallon as a result of Russia’s and Saudi Arabia’s decisions to open the oil spigots. ‘It’s incredible
in a lot of ways — it’s going to help the airlines,’ Trump said, adding, ‘At the same time it’s hurtful to one of our biggest industries, the oil industry.’ He noted that excess oil is being stored in oil tankers at sea, and ‘in some cases it’s probably less
valuable than water. We’ve never seen anything like it.’ Trump said he also talked with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and that the three leaders would ‘get together.’ ‘We’re all going to get together and we’re going to see what we can do because you
don’t want to lose an industry,’ Trump said. ‘You’re going to lose an industry over it, thousands and thousands of jobs.’” [E&E News,
4/1/20
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Science Board Won't Review Looming Methane Rule.
According to E&E News, “A committee of
experts who advise EPA on scientific and technical matters chose not to weigh in this week on the agency’s proposal to regulate leaked natural gas from petroleum operations. EPA’s Science Advisory Board voted 20-7 on Monday against reviewing an agency plan
to target volatile organic compounds from the oil and gas sector instead of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas targeted by EPA under President Obama. The agency has proposed replacing the rule in a move to loosen methane restrictions on the oil and gas sector.
The board of academics, industry consultants and former regulators said its decision was based in part on having too little time to review the planned rule. The board’s chairman, Michael Honeycutt, told the panel’s 43 members that EPA staff offered him a briefing
on the rule months ago, but he held off because EPA is revamping the terms of its relationship with the board and he wanted to include other members. The delay meant the board and its working groups would need to complete their review by June to influence
the rule, Honeycutt said, and there was no guarantee that EPA wouldn’t have finalized it by then. In the end, the panel passed a motion saying it might have reviewed the rule had it been briefed sooner. It was clear from the afternoon’s discussion that board
members, who have expertise in fields that include economics, mathematics and toxicology, weren’t steeped in the details of the proposed rule or its most controversial elements.” [E&E News,
4/1/20
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What Would Happen If 'Fracking' For Oil And Natural
Gas Was Banned? According to Real Clear
Energy, “All of the presumptive Democrat Presidential candidates and the two remaining – Joseph Biden and Bernie Sanders -- would essentially ban fracking in the U.S., as would many other politicians and activists. However, fracking is the major reason the
U.S. is the world’s leading natural gas and oil producer, and over 90% of U.S. natural gas and oil wells are currently developed via fracking. So, what would a ban mean for U.S. energy markets, the economy, and consumers? Three recent studies indicate the
implications of such a ban: Reports from the White House Council of Economic Advisors (CEA), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (CoC), and the American Petroleum Institute (API). All three reports indicate that a fracking ban would be disastrous. CEA notes that
over the past decade, increased shale production brought an 8X increase in natural gas extraction productivity and a 19X increase for oil. These gains have reduced costs and increased production to record-breaking levels: The U.S. has become the world’s largest
producer of both commodities, surpassing Russia in 2011 (for natural gas) and Saudi Arabia and Russia in 2018 (for oil). CEA estimates that shale production has reduced the domestic price of natural gas by 63%, led to a 45% decrease in the price of electricity,
and reduced the global price of oil by 10%. CEA estimates that by reducing energy prices the shale revolution saves U.S. consumers $203 billion annually -- $2,500 for a family of four.” [Real Clear Energy,
3/31/20
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No Easy Answers For A Texas-Sized Problem.
According to Axios, “President Trump and two Texas oil producers are launching new efforts to temper the stunning supply-demand imbalance and price collapse that’s inflicting deep
financial wounds in the U.S. industry, Axios’ Amy Harder and I report. Driving the news: Amy reports that shale producers Pioneer Natural Resources and Parsley Energy have formally asked Texas regulators to take the extraordinary step of imposing mandatory
production curbs to help steady the ship. A hearing is expected soon on their request, but the industry is divided over the concept (more on that below). Separately, Trump talked about oil markets yesterday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country
is battling Saudi Arabia for market share after their supply management pact collapsed weeks ago. The White House said they ‘agreed on the importance of stability in global energy markets.’ The latest moves come days after the White House and State Department
signaled that they’re trying to put more pressure on the Saudis too. But, but, but: Prices regained some ground on word of the Trump-Putin talks, Reuters notes. But don’t expect a magic fix. It’s hard to see changes that could substantially boost prices getting
hammered by COVID-19, or quickly ease logistical problems as storage fills up. Restrictions from the pandemic are causing an unprecedented demand decline that analysts see reaching 20 million barrels per day or more in the near term.” [Axios,
3/31/20
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BLM Urged To Punt Chaco Leasing Plan During Pandemic.
According to E&E News, “The Bureau of Land Management is facing increasing pressure to pause a planning process that could open land near New Mexico’s Chaco Culture National Historical
Park to oil and gas leasing, as lawmakers, environmentalists and Native Americans argue efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic should take priority. BLM’s New Mexico state office is currently weighing an amendment to its Farmington Mancos-Gallup resource
management plan (RMP). A 90-day public comment period on the plan, which covers 4.1 million acres of mostly BLM lands, including the Chaco Canyon area, is set to close on May 28 (Greenwire, Feb. 27). But New Mexico’s congressional delegation, as well as environmental
groups and tribal leaders, is pressuring Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and BLM officials to either extend that public comment period or freeze it altogether as the nation copes with the novel coronavirus. ‘We urge that you take this action so that we
can focus on protecting the health and well-being of our society, instead of a myopic focus on the health of the oil and gas industry,’ states a March 30 letter to BLM New Mexico State Director Tim Spisak endorsed by two dozen environmental, indigenous and
community groups. ‘As the world turns to manage an unexpected crisis, the BLM should not be leveraging the public quarantine to sacrifice more of our public lands, health and safety, and air and water resources to the oil and gas industry,’ states the letter,
organized by WildEarth Guardians Climate and Energy Program Director Jeremy Nichols, Navajo Nation Council Del. Daniel Tso and New Mexico state Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez (D).” [E&E News,
3/31/20 (=)]
Chad Ellwood
Senior Research Associate
Climate Action Campaign
202.448.2877 ext. 119