General
News
DOE
Blasts Delay Of $7B LNG Deal Over Methane. According
to E&E News, “The Department of Energy last week slammed reported concerns from the French government that U.S. energy-related emissions are too high to move forward with a $7 billion deal between a French trading company and a U.S. supplier of liquefied natural
gas. The contract, now stalled, was purportedly put on hold over concerns about emissions coming from the West Texas oil and gas fields where NextDecade Corp. would obtain its supply of natural gas for its planned Rio Grande LNG export facility (Climatewire,
Oct. 23). Engie SA, the French company, paused the deal after the French government stepped in, according to the French news site La Lettre A and later confirmed by Politico. Jessica Szymanski, an Energy Department spokesperson, said in an email Friday that
the United States would continue its efforts to provide ‘cleaner-burning, reliable LNG’ to its global allies. ‘It is short-sighted and narrow-minded to delay LNG projects for political posturing and hinder the environmental progress we’ve made using American
natural gas, especially if countries like France hope to meet their own climate goals,’ Szymanski said in a statement. Energy-related emissions will decline ‘not by eliminating our abundant natural resources and the economic benefit they provide,’ she said.
Szymanski didn’t respond to questions about whether Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette plans to get involved or whether he has discussed the matter with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who, according to Politico, plans to pressure the French government to approve
the deal. A spokesperson for the Department of State did not comment on Pompeo’s involvement in the matter but said the department is ‘monitoring the situation’ and hopes ‘the parties reach a successful conclusion soon.’” [E&E News,
10/26/20
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AOC
Isn't Concerned Biden's Opposition To Fracking Ban Will Hurt Young Voter Turnout.
According
to CNN, “Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Sunday that she isn’t concerned that Joe Biden’s opposition to a nationwide ban on fracking will hurt young voter turnout, arguing that they will support the Democratic presidential nominee because they
are ‘realistic and pragmatic in their vote.’ ‘I believe that young people right now have a very disciplined, activist mindset, and they are not here with the intent of voting for their favorite person or voting for, you know, someone that they think is perfect
as president,’ Ocasio-Cortez told CNN’s Jake Tapper on ‘State of the Union’ when asked about how Biden’s position will play with younger voters. ‘I think young people are actually quite disciplined and quite realistic and pragmatic in their vote, and they
want to vote for who they are going to lobby,’ she said. The answer from the New York Democrat signals that for many in the party’s rising progressive wing, the need to defeat President Donald Trump in November is of higher priority than focusing on differences
they have with Biden’s more moderate position on some issues. Biden has sought to clarify his position on fracking, a key issue that gained more attention during last week’s debate when the former vice president was pressed by Trump about his position on it.
Speaking to supporters in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Biden said: ‘I’m not banning fracking in Pennsylvania or anywhere else. I’m going to protect Pennsylvanian jobs, period.’ During the final debate, Biden falsely claimed that he ‘never said
I oppose fracking.’ In two Democratic primary debates, Biden had made confusing remarks over fracking that his campaign had to clarify. In 2019, Biden said ‘we would make sure it’s eliminated’ when asked about the future of coal and fracking; in 2020 he said
he opposed ‘new fracking.’” [CNN, 10/25/20
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Gavin
Newsom Pledged To Ban Fracking In California — But He Just Greenlit More Of It.
According
to Salon, “On Sept. 23, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to ban hydrofracturing in the state by 2024. Just three weeks later, on Oct. 16, his administration approved permits to frack six new wells owned by a company with whom he has lobbying
ties. That company, Aera Energy – a joint venture of Shell and ExxonMobil – is represented by the lobbying firm Axiom Advisors. Axiom’s lobbyists include Jason Kinney, a senior advisor to Newsom while he served as lieutenant governor, and Kevin Schmidt, a
policy director for Newsom during the same time period. Kinney’s wife, Mary Gonsalves Kinney, Capital & Main previously reported, is also the personal stylist for First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Jason Kinney has been called a ‘majordomo’ for the governor
by Sacramento political press. The permits, granted by the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) for wells in Kern County’s Belridge field, came on a Friday just over two weeks before Election Day. The Newsom administration has established
a pattern of approving permits during busy moments: CalGEM handed out a dozen on June 1, just days after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The administration also issued permits days before the Fourth of July weekend, and immediately after
Memorial Day weekend. More were approved in early April, just weeks into the dawn of the COVID-19 era in the U.S. Press officers for Newsom deferred commenting to the California Department of Conservation, which oversees CalGEM. The agency did not directly
answer questions about the permit approvals’ timing. ‘The Governor has expressed his commitment to work with the Legislature to change state law to prohibit the practice of hydraulic fracturing by 2024,’ said Uduak-Joe Ntuk, State Oil & Gas Supervisor for
CalGEM, in a statement emailed to Capital & Main.” [Salon, 10/26/20
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BLM
Releases Plan For ANWR Seismic Testing. According
to E&E News, “An Alaska Native corporation is seeking to shoot seismic surveys in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) this winter, according to an application published Friday by the Bureau of Land Management, reigniting concerns that heavy-duty trucks
and machinery may kill threatened polar bears and damage the sensitive tundra. The Kaktovik Iñupiat Corp.’s (KIC) proposal, which would give industry a clearer understanding of mineral reserves beneath the refuge, also sparked speculation about the Trump administration’s
long-awaited plans to hold the first ever oil and gas lease sale in ANWR. KIC’s Marsh Creek East seismic program would have a smaller footprint than earlier, failed attempts to conduct 3D seismic surveys in ANWR’s 1.6 million-acre coastal plain. KIC would
limit its activity to a half-million acres in the eastern plain, where the corporation has land and mineral access. BLM oversees most of that land, but KIC holds 92,000 acres, with the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. owning some mineral rights. During seismic
surveying, heavy vibrator trucks typically trace a grid pattern as they shoot acoustic waves into the ground that are picked up by sensors. Geophysical companies then create 3D imagery from the data that reveals oil and natural gas mineral deposits. The proposed
project in ANWR would mobilize in late December, starting from existing facilities in Deadhorse, Alaska, an unincorporated community that largely houses industry workers in and around the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. It would start with two forward-looking infrared
radar surveys to scout for polar bear dens, according to the application.” [E&E News,
10/26/20
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Can
The Trump-Biden Fracking Fight Really Swing Pa.? According
to E&E News, “It’s clear that Pennsylvania could decide the presidential election, considering the makeup of the Electoral College. What is less certain is whether the fierce dispute between President Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden over
hydraulic fracturing, which erupted again in last night’s debate, will make a difference with voters in the Keystone State. In 2016, energy played a prominent role in presidential politics in Pennsylvania, with a flood of TV ads accusing then-Democratic nominee
Hillary Clinton of wanting to destroy the coal industry. But with fracking, the energy politics — and timing — are different. For one, Republicans in some of the city suburbs that are crucial to swinging the state support local fracking bans already in place
in Pennsylvania — and the coronavirus is thwarting the usual political rules. Fracking’s ‘political importance is greatly exaggerated,’ said John Hanger, a former head of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection who supervised the early stages
of the state’s Marcellus Shale boom. ‘It’s nonsense when people say it’s going to decide the election. It’s not even a top 10 issue. And it is hated as much as it is loved.’ At the same time, a national gas boom over the past two decades has created thousands
of jobs in the state in rural areas that were critical to Trump’s 2016 victory, and current surveys show that the issue remains important to those voters. Trump is also ramping up energy rhetoric after Biden said during last week’s debate he planned to transition
the country away from oil, raising the question of whether the push would give renewed steam to the fracking issue.” [E&E News,
10/26/20
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Federal
Government Unveils Details Of New Methane Fund. According
to Politico, “The federal government is launching a C$675 million fund to help onshore oil and gas companies reduce methane emissions, more than six months after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the program as part of a package of financial supports
for the country’s energy sector. The emissions reduction fund will provide loans of between C$100,000 and C$20 million to upstream and midstream oil and gas sector companies that propose projects to lower or eliminate methane venting into the atmosphere. The
fund is intended to help the energy sector, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, to meet or exceed Canada’s new methane regulations. The program will begin accepting applications on Oct. 28. Key context: Methane is deliberately released from
equipment during oil and gas development in a process called venting, but also escapes unintentionally from leaks. The federal government estimates that methane accounts for 43 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector. In 2018, Ottawa
finalized new methane regulations that began to come into force this year, intended to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 40 to 45 percent from 2012 levels by 2025. As of January 2020, companies were required to start putting in place
methane leak detection and repair programs. In 2023, facilities will have to start limiting the amount of methane they release through venting. The details: Under the terms of the new fund, companies can apply for multiple projects at multiple facilities in
a single application, and can receive loans covering up to 75 percent of their project costs. Funding is expected to flow in early 2021, with all funds to be disbursed by March 31, 2022. Projects are to be completed by the end of the 2022-23 fiscal year, and
the loans must be repaid within five years.” [Politico, 10/23/20
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Biden’s
Oil Slip Gives Trump Campaign Hope In Pa., Texas. According
to Politico, “Joe Biden’s plan to move to a clean energy economy isn’t new to those who’ve been paying attention: For months, he’s promised to put the country on a path to be carbon neutral by 2050. But Biden, who’s been extraordinarily cautious throughout
the campaign while talking about fossil fuels, clearly believes he botched his own strategy on Thursday night. Within minutes of the debate, where he said he wanted to transition away from the oil industry, Biden walked back his remarks with reporters. On
Friday, his running mate Kamala Harris reaffirmed the ticket’s support for fracking. And two members of Congress from oil- and gas-rich areas immediately distanced themselves from the Democratic nominee. So with only 11 days to go until the election, Biden
and other Democrats are doing clean-up duty at precisely the wrong time. ‘We’re not getting rid of fossil fuels,’ Biden told reporters after the debate. ‘We’re getting rid of the subsidies for fossil fuels, but we’re not getting rid of fossil fuels for a long
time.’ President Donald Trump’s campaign has spent the day rejoicing at Biden’s remarks, crowing on a call with media outlets on Friday it ‘put the nail in the coffin’ for him in Pennsylvania. But in a sign of their confidence here in the presidential race,
many Democrats in the critical battleground state, including even those living in fracking country, are largely shrugging it off. ‘I don’t think it’s going to be an issue,’ said Pennsylvania Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who hails from the western side
of the state where there’s been a fracking boom. ‘I think if you are fundamentally committed to or work in that industry, you’ve already made up your mind.’” [Politico,
10/23/20
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Interior
Processing Application For ANWR Oil Exploration. According
to Politico, “The Interior Department is processing a proposal to do oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge starting this December, according to a new document posted on a government website Friday. Details: The application was filed by Kaktovik
Iñupiat Corporation, a private company formed by members of the native tribe in the area of ANWR where drilling is being proposed. Houston-based SAExploration would do the work over a large swath of the so-called 10-02 area of ANWR starting in December, according
to the proposal. Context: If approved, the permit would be the first for large-scale oil exploration in the ANWR’s 10-02 region, an undeveloped patch of wilderness that Congress opened up for potential drilling in its 2017 tax bill. A host of groups have been
fighting efforts to open the area to exploration, saying that the seismic testing used to find oil and gas deposits harms wildlife and that the infrastructure built for oil and gas drilling could destroy the polar bear and caribou population there. Several
environmental groups, native tribes and individual states are suing Interior, alleging that its environmental reviews on the possible impacts of oil and gas development in ANWR were faulty and that the administration has downplayed the effects exploration
will have on wildlife in the refuge. Critics have also questioned bringing in SAExploration in particular to do the work. The company announced in August it was entering bankruptcy court, and the Securities and Exchange Committee earlier this month charged
several of its former executives with accounting fraud.” [Politico, 10/23/20
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Oil And Gas Debt Is Through The Roof. According to the Washington Examiner, “The associated
debt from bankruptcies among oil and gas companies in North America this year has reached an all-time high, the research group Rystad Energy projected yesterday. There have been 84 oil and gas bankruptcy filings this year, short of the record high of 142 in
2016. But the associated debt these companies are carrying is much higher, at $89 billion so far, some $19 billion more than in 2016. Rystad expects that figure to grow to more than $100 billion by year-end. ‘The North American bankruptcy wave is not over
yet. A significant number of small- and mid-size public and private producers are still experiencing financial challenges in the current price environment and questions about their ability to service their debt in 2021-2022 remain,’ said Artem Abramov, Rystad’s
head of shale research.” [Washington Examiner, 10/23/20
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Chad Ellwood
Senior Research Associate
Climate Action Campaign
202.448.2877 ext. 119