General
News
Op-Ed: How Pennsylvania’s Natural Gas Boom Has Led To Carbon Emission Cuts.
According to an op-ed by Tony Seiwell and Dave Spigelmyer in the Morning Call, “This year, we celebrate Earth Day with cleaner air and water than when the event was created 50 years
ago, thanks to decades of collaboration and innovation. The United States is well positioned for continued environmental success, with American natural gas serving as the latest catalyst for positive progress. As the nation’s second-largest natural gas producing
state, with output reaching 6.2 trillion cubic feet in 2018, Pennsylvania is at the tip of the spear in realizing these generational environmental benefits. From developing well sites to laying pipelines, the tens of thousands of men and women who make up
our industry — including many in the skilled union building trades — are committed to protecting the health and well-being of the public and environment. Operating under some of the most stringent and rigorous environmental standards in the nation, Pennsylvania’s
natural gas industry earned a 98% regulatory compliance rate following nearly 20,000 state inspections last year. Companies often exceed these standards, by conducting meticulous inspections, testing and ever-advancing technology. Evidence shows these efforts
are paying off. The industry’s focus on limiting emissions has helped lower combined methane emissions from oil and natural gas systems 23.2% since 1990, according to data released recently from the Environmental Protection Agency. During this same time frame,
natural gas production has increased 50%.” [Morning Call,
4/21/20 (=)]
Oil Price War And Coronavirus "A Double Whammy" For Texas City's Economy.
According to CBS News, “With people staying home and not traveling during the coronavirus pandemic, the demand for oil has plummeted. A key benchmark determining crude oil prices
fell below zero for the first time ever Monday. Low oil prices can be disastrous for regions that rely on drilling and fracking for jobs and tax revenue. In Midland, part of West Texas, Kris Dokey, a fourth-generation Midland oil field worker, was laid off
last week like so many Americans. But, unlike others, coronavirus isn’t the main culprit. ‘We got hit with a double whammy ... between the Saudi and Russia price war that started right about the same time the coronavirus hit,’ he told CBS News correspondent
Janet Shamlian. ‘Kind of unprecedented times for us out here.’ ‘Out here’ is the Permian Basin, which Midland is part of. The region produces roughly a third of U.S. oil. It had been booming with new construction everywhere. Then, the price war and coronavirus
sent prices spiraling. The city of about 140,000 now tops the list of those that would be hardest hit by a recession, according to the public policy group, The Brookings Institution. ‘It’s like someone hit the switch. All of a sudden, layoffs already start.
All of a sudden, the city starts to slow down, and you can literally feel it,’ said Midland Mayor Patrick Payton. Payton said once coronavirus hit, it grounded planes and kept drivers off the roads, dealing a devastating blow to demand for oil and bringing
Midland to its knees. Now, one of the city’s best restaurants, Opal’s Table, is a food pantry, providing free lunch for first responders and anyone who cannot afford to buy groceries.” [CBS News,
4/21/20 (=)]
Oil, Gas Workers Feeling Impacts Of Drastic Market Drop In Form Of Cuts, Losing Hours.
According to WOIA, “Companies are laying off thousands of employees and dramatically scaling back drilling. Texas produces 40 percent of all U.S. oil and recently prices at the pump
have dropped drastically, as the national average is now at $1.49. While it sounds like good news, it isn’t, because more people are working from home so they are driving less. We took a trip down to Three Rivers, home to a Valero refinery, where pumps continue
to run extracting oil from the ground. ‘They’re saying that there’s too much oil and they don’t have storage for it,’ Eduardo Lugo said. Lugo, a sand fracking driver, says the oil surplus will lead to job cuts. ‘That means people are going to start getting
laid off, they’re going to be out of work, there’s going to be more unemployment,’ Lugo said. Gilbert Godinez, who transports cement across Texas, agrees. ‘You have to transport, whether its Walmart here, whether its gas or oil everything has to do with transportation,’
Godinez said. ‘They’re paying a lot of truck drivers less to go over the road, I don’t want to leave Texas.’ Bernice Lopez, a cashier in Three Rivers, said they have a lot of clients who work at the refinery and they used to come over and say work was slow
and their hours were being cut. Lopez, a cashier at Taqueria Agave Jalisco, says they’re also hurting. They used to deliver large orders for employees at the Valero refinery. With their hours being cut back, she says staff at the restaurant is now on rotation.”
[WOIA,
4/21/20 (=)]
AP: Cyprus: Turkey's Latest Drilling Is Proof Of 'Expansionist Plans'.
According to E&E News, “Turkey continues to pursue ‘illegal expansionist plans’ in the east Mediterranean by again attempting to drill for gas in waters where Cyprus has exclusive
economic rights, the Cypriot government said Monday. The Cypriot government said the latest target of Turkish drillships is in waters south of Cyprus that span two sections — or blocks — of the economic zone where the island nation has exclusive rights and
licensed energy companies Eni SpA and France’s Total SA to carry out exploratory drilling. ‘This new illegal ‘act of piracy’ constitutes a further severe violation of the sovereign rights and jurisdiction of the Republic of Cyprus, contrary to international
law,’ the Cypriot government said in a statement, noting that the move is taking place amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. The government said the latest actions represent the sixth time in less than a year that Turkey moved to drill inside Cypriot waters.
Turkey first dispatched a warship-escorted drillship in July of last year. Turkish research vessels also are carrying seismic surveys inside Cyprus’ economic zone that Cyprus also considers illegal and part of a ‘militarization’ by Turkey of the surrounding
sea that ‘puts peace and security in the east Mediterranean at risk.’ A statement posted Sunday on the Turkish Ministry of National Defense website says that Turkey’s drillships — the Fatih and the Yavuz — and research vessels Barbaros and Oruç Reis were continuing
their activities in the eastern Mediterranean, with the Turkish navy providing security from both the air and sea.” [E&E News,
4/22/20 (=)]
Hackers Hit Oil And Gas Firms Ahead Of OPEC Deal — Report.
According to E&E News, “As OPEC and its allies were crafting a historic deal to cut crude output, hackers ramped up efforts to breach oil and gas companies in the United States and
other major oil-producing countries, according to a new report. The Romanian-based cybersecurity firm Bitdefender said in a report yesterday it detected a flurry of malicious emails hitting energy firms in recent weeks. The unknown hackers impersonated an
Egyptian petroleum contractor and a shipping company in their ‘spearphishing’ messages. ‘The emails seem to be very, very carefully crafted,’ said Bitdefender analyst Liviu Arsene. ‘I’ll be honest, if I were working in the oil and gas industry, I would probably
fall for it.’ The campaign was not part of a massive spearphishing effort, said Arsene, but instead was a targeted attack that included jargon commonly used in the industry and real information to make it appear as though the hackers were legitimate. ‘Either
they’ve successfully compromised similar organizations in the past and they’ve learned how people interact with each other using these emails, or maybe it’s somebody that has some sort of background in oil and engineering,’ Arsene said. The phishing campaign
began at the end of March, just as the previous OPEC production deal was expiring and calls for cuts to worldwide oil output were ramping up to tackle falling crude prices. The timing of the campaign ‘suggests motivation and interest in knowing how specific
countries plan to address the issue,’ according to the report.” [E&E News,
4/22/20 (=)]
Trump Wants Lifeline For Struggling Industry.
According to E&E News, “President Trump this morning directed two of his Cabinet secretaries to fix a financial lifeline for struggling oil and natural gas producers caught in the
midst of a global oil glut. ‘We will never let the great U.S. Oil & Gas Industry down,’ Trump tweeted. ‘I have instructed the Secretary of Energy and Secretary of the Treasury to formulate a plan which will make funds available so that these very important
companies and jobs will be secured long into the future!’ The directive follows a news briefing last night in which Trump downplayed concerns about low oil prices, including yesterday’s historic dip in oil futures to below zero. Trump predicted the issue would
be corrected by the market in due time (Energywire, April 21). It remains to be seen what funds could be made available for oil companies. The Department of Energy did not respond to a request for comment this morning. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette is expected
to join a House GOP conference call organized by Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), according to a report by Politico. The Trump administration helped orchestrate a ‘historic’ agreement to reduce global production from OPEC countries and Russia by 9.7 million
barrels a day. That cut has done little to ease the markets, as oil futures hit historic lows in the United States by going negative for the first time in its pricing history. Oil-state Republicans had been advocating for a more heavy-handed government approach
to help solve the oil and gas crisis.” [E&E News,
4/21/20 (=)]
Chad Ellwood
Senior Research Associate
Climate Action Campaign
202.448.2877 ext. 119