EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 10/28/22
PIPELINE NEWS
Associated Press: NTSB: Valve leak fueled 2021 pipeline blast that killed 2
WGIL: BATTLE RAGING BETWEEN KNOX COUNTY LANDOWNERS AND CARBON PIPELINE DEVELOPER
Dickinson Bulletin Review: Supervisors consider draft pipeline ordinance
KCHA: Summit Reaches 80% of Voluntary Easements for Carbon Pipeline
KCCR: Public Utilities Commission Addresses CO2 Pipeline Party Status Requests Thursday
Des Moines Register: Wolf Carbon Solutions adds pipeline meetings after 'anomalies' in notifications
Oil & Gas Journal: Denbury signs CO2 transport, storage agreement for Lake Charles Methanol project
WASHINGTON UPDATES
The Hill: Republicans probe oil reserve release
E&E News: Judges Skeptical Of Greens' Trump NEPA Overhaul Lawsuit
E&E News: Senate panel eyes Nov. hearing for FERC chair renomination
Press release: Groups Urge DOE to Finally Act on Nearly Ten Year Old Petition Calling for Review of Fracked Gas Export Policy
Associated Press: US sued over lack of protection plan for rare grouse
STATE UPDATES
InsideClimate News: For the Third Time, Black Residents in Corpus Christi’s Hillcrest Neighborhood File a Civil Rights Complaint to Fend Off Polluting Infrastructure
Los Angeles Times: Oil giants sell thousands of California wells, raising worries about future liability
Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins moves toward oil and gas regulations that would prevent new drilling in city
Colorado Sun: Colorado oil and gas regulators approve new wells in Weld County over Broomfield’s objections
EXTRACTION
Guardian: Profits at world’s seven biggest oil firms soar to almost £150bn this year
New York Times: Exxon and Chevron Rack Up Giant Profits
The Hill: UN warns of closing window to avert planetary warming, calls for ‘unprecedented’ action
Washington Post: Climate-warming methane emissions rising faster than ever, study says
NASA: Methane ‘Super-Emitters’ Mapped by NASA’s New Earth Space Mission
Reuters: U.S. crude exports surge to record, stocks up again - EIA
CLIMATE FINANCE
NJ Spotlight: NJ’s big-oil lawsuit reason to divest, advocates say
Reuters: World Bank projects 11% energy price decline in 2023
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
News Channel Nebraska: Stanton County Emergency Management Agency awarded thousands for program
OPINION
Dickinson County News: Summit isn't listening, doesn't care, and isn't here for us.
WyoFile: Regulators must stop letting industry pollute aquifer
The Hill: Is hydrogen really the Holy Grail of green energy?
PIPELINE NEWS
Associated Press: NTSB: Valve leak fueled 2021 pipeline blast that killed 2
10/27/22
“A valve leak and a spark of unknown origin combined to cause a North Texas natural gas pipeline explosion last year that killed two workers and injured two others, federal investigators said,” the Associated Press reports. “A report by the National Transportation Safety Board followed the agency's investigation of the June 28, 2021, explosion near Farmersville, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) northeast of Dallas. In the report issued Wednesday, the NTSB said a work crew was using a steel rod to insert an inline tool into the Atmos Energy pipeline when an explosion in front of the tool shot it from the chamber and at the workers standing in front of the door. Investigators said they found scratches and gouges in a mainline valve seal in front of where the tool was, creating leak paths. Workers had suspected the leak existed the week before, tightened the valve until the leak stopped or was reduced to undetectable levels, then marked the valve's position to avoid a recurrence. The leak persisted, however, the NTSB said. Also, Atmos procedures and training did not prepare workers to recognize the developing hazard. Although the work crew had many years of collective experience, the workers were not qualified as required by federal regulations and were not using gas monitors to watch for a hazardous atmosphere, the board said.”
WGIL: BATTLE RAGING BETWEEN KNOX COUNTY LANDOWNERS AND CARBON PIPELINE DEVELOPER
Nick Ischer, 10/28/22
“A battle is being waged over a pipeline that will stretch from Galva through Knox County, transporting Carbon Dioxide from Big River Resources on the Heartland Greenway System,” WGIL reports. “...There is a push against the pipeline, which will run through the eastern side of Knox County, traveling west of Williamsfield before turning to the southwest and into Fulton County near London Mills. Knox County Board members heard a presentation last month from Lane and Pam Richardson with the Coalition Against CO2 Pipeline, who presented their concerns about the CO2 pipeline and showed a video of CO2 pipeline ruptures and the after-effects. One such rupture which was brought up was in Satartia, Mississippi, where a CO2 pipeline ruptured leading to the evacuation of the community and the sickening of dozens of people. “The rupture created a 30-foot-deep crater that covered with a thick coating of ice,” Lane Richardson told the board in September. “One of the things you’ll hear from Navigator is they’re going to use strategically located main valves, with automatic shutoffs, monitored 24/7, 365 days a year. And, that may be true. But the investigators in Satartia noted that just eight minutes after the rupture, the shutoff valves activated both upstream and downstream of the leak.” The Richardsons also questioned the jobs that were going to be created for the construction of the pipeline. Lane said the company is promising 3,565 jobs at peak construction of the pipeline but had not been independently verified… “The Coalition asked the Knox County Board to put a two-year moratorium in place on CO2 pipelines until more research could be done to address safety concerns and measure the environmental impact. Landowners, mostly farmers, have spoken out against the pipeline and the potentially devastating impacts on their land – something that Navigator says they would compensate them for any damage sustained during the installation of the pipeline. No action was taken by the County Board on Wednesday, regarding the pipeline. It is uncertain if a moratorium will be considered.”
Dickinson Bulletin Review: Supervisors consider draft pipeline ordinance
Dan Mundt, 10/27/22
“The Crawford County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday continued to move toward enacting a “hazardous liquid pipeline” ordinance for the county,” the Dickinson Bulletin Review reports. “County Attorney Colin Johnson presented a draft of an ordinance that he said was drawn from multiple sources and was heavily influenced by a Shelby County ordinance. The ordinance would require a company that has filed a petition with the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) for a permit to construct a hazardous liquid pipeline in Crawford County to submit an application to the county zoning administrator for a conditional use permit within seven days of the IUB filing; the company would be required to provide a range of documentation. The proposed ordinance sets minimum separation distances for a hazardous liquid pipeline from a variety of locations: from the city limits of an incorporated city, not less than two miles; from a church, school, nursing home, long-term care facility, or hospital, not less than one-half mile; from a public park or public recreation area, not less than one-quarter mile; from any occupied structure, confined animal feeding operation, electrical power generating facility of five megawatts or more, electric transmission line of 69 kilovolts or higher, electric transmission substation, public drinking water plant or public wastewater treatment plant, not less than 1,000 feet… “If the pipeline were to be sold or transferred to a different entity, the new entity would have to apply for a new conditional use permit; a new conditional use permit would be required if the use of the pipeline were to be “materially or substantially changed or altered.” The proposed ordinance also regulates abandonment, discontinuance and removal of the pipeline… “No action was taken on the ordinance; the county attorney’s office will make several requested changes and return it to the board at a future meeting.”
KCHA: Summit Reaches 80% of Voluntary Easements for Carbon Pipeline
Mark Pitz, 10/27/22
“The company proposing to build a carbon capture pipeline in Chickasaw County says they have doubled their voluntary easement agreements with landowners in the last four months,” KCHA reports. “Summit Carbon Solutions Ben Fuller provided a project update to the Chickasaw County Board of Supervisors Monday. Fuller says Summit will continue to seek voluntary easements in hopes of avoiding the use of eminent domain through the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB). Fuller added that, statewide, Summit has reached 54% of the voluntary easements totaling over 370 miles along the proposed route for their Midwest Carbon Express pipeline, which would utilize the Homeland Energy Solutions ethanol plant between Lawler and New Hampton for its easternmost starting point.”
KCCR: Public Utilities Commission Addresses CO2 Pipeline Party Status Requests Thursday
10/27/22
“The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission addressed party status in two applications to build liquid carbon dioxide pipelines across the state Thursday,” KCCR reports. “P-U-C staffer Kristen Edwards says Daniel Hoey, the superintendent at West Central School, did not want to intervene in the Summit Carbon Solutions project anymore… Hoey was superintendent at Stanley County before moving to West Central. His withdrawal from the docket still leaves over 400 entities for whom party status has been approved. Two groups were seeking to be added as intervenors in the docket for the Navigator Heartland Greenway pipeline. Cara Semmler represents the South Dakota Telecommunications Associations says her group just wants to keep up with the project… Melanie Carpenter representing Navigator had no objection to adding S-D-T-A. The Commission approved not only the S-D-T-A but Brookings County as intervenors in the Navigator project.”
Des Moines Register: Wolf Carbon Solutions adds pipeline meetings after 'anomalies' in notifications
Donnelle Eller, 10/28/22
“Wolf Carbon Solutions says it will hold public meetings in December on its proposed carbon capture pipeline through eastern Iowa, acknowledging "some anomalies" occurred when it tried to notify residents about the first round of meetings in August,” the Des Moines Register reports. “At the same time, Wolf announced it no longer plans to run the pipeline 2 miles through Johnson County as it makes its way through eastern Iowa. The developer seeks to build the pipeline through Linn, Cedar, Clinton and Scott counties. Colorado-based Wolf agreed to hold new meetings Dec. 5 and 6 in the four counties after Iowans complained they hadn't receive adequate notice of the first meetings. The move came after the Iowa Utilities Board grilled the pipeline developer about how it reached out to affected Iowans… “Wolf said it discovered that some certified letters to residents in the pipeline's path were returned, sometimes due to lack of adequate mailing information, and conducted an internal review.”
Oil & Gas Journal: Denbury signs CO2 transport, storage agreement for Lake Charles Methanol project
10/27/22
“Denbury Carbon Solutions LLC, a Denbury Inc. subsidiary, has executed a 20-year definitive agreement with Lake Charles Methanol (LCM) to provide CO2 transportation and storage services for LCM’s planned blue methanol project, the company said in a release Oct. 27,” Oil & Gas Journal reports. “LCM’s $4-billion project, to be sited along the Calcasieu River near Lake Charles, La., 10 miles from Denbury’s Green Pipeline, is designed to use Topsoe technology to convert natural gas into hydrogen which will be synthesized into methanol, while incorporating permanent carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). The process is expected to deliver over 500 million kg/year of hydrogen as a feedstock to produce 3.6 million tonnes/year (tpy) of blue methanol, while capturing about 1 million tpy of CO2—the CO2 equivalent of removing emissions of 200,000 cars from the road each year, Denbury said. CO2 captured by LCM will be transported by Denbury to the Green Pipeline and then to one of multiple planned sequestration sites along Denbury’s Gulf Coast CO2 pipeline network. In association with the project, Denbury plans to construct a pipeline connection from the Lake Charles industrial area to its Green Pipeline. CO2 emissions in the area are currently estimated at 20 million tpy… “Construction of the Green Pipeline was completed in 2010. The 320-mile pipeline runs from the end of Denbury’s NEJD pipeline near Donaldsonville, La., westward to Hastings field south of Houston, Tex. Denbury is currently utilizing about 25% of the 16 million tpy CO2 capacity.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
The Hill: Republicans probe oil reserve release
RACHEL FRAZIN, 10/27/22
“Republicans are examining what they described as the “potential misuse” of the nation’s oil reserves by the Biden administration, they said in a new letter released Thursday,” The Hill reports. “Thirteen Republicans on the House Oversight and Reform Committee wrote to the Energy Department requesting documents about releases from Strategic Petroleum Reserve that were aimed at bringing down gasoline prices. They also requested documents on whether the administration planned to ban the export of any fuels amid the administration’s call for energy companies to limit their exports of refined products like gasoline and diesel. The administration has not said whether it would pursue a ban. “We request documents and information to learn more about the Administration’s potential plans to ban oil and gas exports, as well as the Department of Energy’s (DOE) role in the potential misuse of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) as a means to increase domestic fuel supply,” the lawmakers wrote in a Wednesday letter.”
E&E News: Judges Skeptical Of Greens' Trump NEPA Overhaul Lawsuit
Niina Farah, 10/27/22
“A federal appeals court on Wednesday questioned whether environmental groups could still challenge a Trump-era rule that overhauled requirements for how agencies should take a ‘hard look’ at air, water and climate impacts of major projects like highways, pipelines and gas export facilities. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seemed to doubt that opponents of the 2020 White House Council on Environmental Quality’s National Environmental Policy Act implementing regulation could still prove they were harmed by the rule now that the Biden administration is in the process of writing a replacement. CEQ finalized the first phase of revisions last spring but has yet to introduce a proposed Phase 2 rule. The fact that the rule revisions have happened more slowly than environmental groups might like doesn’t mean the courts need to get involved, said Judge James Wynn, an Obama pick. ‘It’s going somewhere,’ said Wynn, referring to the rulemaking process. ‘At some point of time, there is a separation of powers issue to consider.’ Wild Virginia and 16 other groups claim the Trump-era regulation, which went into effect last year, severely undermines the quality of environmental and climate analysis that agencies conduct before approving major projects — potentially putting communities, wildlife and the environment at risk. But their challenge to the substance of the 2020 rule cannot proceed without the go-ahead from the 4th Circuit.
E&E News: Senate panel eyes Nov. hearing for FERC chair renomination
Jeremy Dillon, 10/27/22
“The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is eyeing Nov. 15 for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Richard Glick’s confirmation hearing, two people familiar with the timing told E&E News. “...Glick’s tenure at FERC is set to expire by the end of the year. President Joe Biden renominated him for another five-year term in May, but committee Chair Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has held off on scheduling a hearing. Should the Senate not act on the nomination, the commission would be deadlocked 2-2 between Democrats and Republicans, with key clean energy policies and Biden administration climate goals hanging in the balance. Senate approval from all 50 Democrats would likely be needed to move Glick’s nomination through the chamber by the year’s end. Republicans have balked at supporting Glick because of his record with fossil fuel project approval timelines. Manchin has lashed out at actions taken by Glick over the past year. He notably criticized a since-withdrawn FERC proposal that would consider the climate emissions of natural gas infrastructure in permitting decisions. In September, however, Manchin said Glick had been making “better decisions” of late… “Manchin’s office on Thursday would not confirm the Nov. 15 confirmation hearing date.”
Press release: Groups Urge DOE to Finally Act on Nearly Ten Year Old Petition Calling for Review of Fracked Gas Export Policy
10/27/22
“The Sierra Club, with partners, sent a letter today urging the Department of Energy (DOE) to take long overdue action in response to a petition for rulemaking regarding liquefied methane gas (LNG) export policy filed by the groups in 2013. Friends of the Earth, Earthworks, Environment America, Delaware Riverkeeper, and the Center for Biological Diversity signed the petition and joined the Sierra Club in sending today’s letter. The original petition points to the fact that DOE has never specifically articulated a policy for reviewing LNG export applications. Without such a policy, DOE has failed to weigh the environmental and public health impacts of increased fracked gas production for export, nor adequately consider the economic impacts on American consumers who face higher energy prices in the face of increased exports of that gas overseas… “Sierra Club’s letter (as well as the original petition) calls on DOE to put in place updated regulations or guidance for gas exports that set clear rules for determining whether those applications are in the public interest, as required by law under the Natural Gas Act. It also asks DOE to open a public comment period to inform this guidance, in order to solicit input from affected stakeholders… “Sited primarily in communities of color, proposed LNG export facilities would perpetuate environmental injustice. New and expanded gas export facilities would harm Gulf Coast communities that are already overburdened by industrial pollution from the fossil fuel industry as well as the effects of extreme weather driven by climate change… “Talia Calnek-Sugin, Sierra Club’s Associate Director of Legislative and Administrative Advocacy for the Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign, said: “More than nine years ago, we called on the Department of Energy to establish a fair and transparent framework for approving gas exports that ensured they were in the interest of the American public. Since then, DOE has approved over 40 export permits to non-FTA countries, with disastrous effects for frontline communities, American consumers, and the future of our planet.”
Associated Press: US sued over lack of protection plan for rare grouse
SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, 10/25/22
“An environmental group is suing U.S. wildlife managers, saying they have failed to protect a rare grouse found in parts of the Midwest that include one of the country’s most prolific areas for oil and gas development,” the Associated Press reports. “A lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Center for Biological Diversity says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is nearly five months late in releasing a final rule outlining protections for the lesser prairie chicken. Once listed as a threatened species, the prarie chicken’s habitat spans parts of New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas -- including a portion of the oil-rich Permian Basin that straddles the New Mexico-Texas state line. Environmentalists have been pushing to reinstate federal protections for years. They consider the species severely threatened, citing lost and fragmented habitat as the result of oil and gas development, livestock grazing, farming and the building of roads and power lines… “The oil and gas industry has fought for decades against safeguards for the lesser prairie chicken, and the Fish and Wildlife Service is late issuing its final rule,” Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate with the environment group, told AP. “The agency has slow-walked every step, and these imperiled birds keep losing more habitat.”
STATE UPDATES
InsideClimate News: For the Third Time, Black Residents in Corpus Christi’s Hillcrest Neighborhood File a Civil Rights Complaint to Fend Off Polluting Infrastructure
Dylan Baddour, 10/27/22
“The Hillcrest neighborhood in Corpus Christi, Texas, started out as an upscale all-white community in the heart of the city. But after oil was discovered nearby in 1930, a growing refinery sector on Hillcrest’s edge drove many residents to seek homes elsewhere. So in 1944, Corpus Christi recommended Hillcrest be opened to Black people,” InsideClimate News reports. “In the following decades, refinery flares and smoke stacks cropped up around the neighborhood. An interstate highway cut it off from the rest of the city, and it became host to Corpus Christi’s sewage treatment plant. Now, the city hopes to add Texas’ first large-scale seawater desalination plant to meet the demands for fresh water from a booming industrial buildout in the region. But a fresh civil rights challenge filed Wednesday by residents of Hillcrest promises to further delay the plant’s construction, which was initially supposed to be running by early next year. “The City is sacrificing Hillcrest yet again to support industry’s need for additional water,” Pastor Adam Carrington at the Brooks AME Worship Center told ICN. “Corpus Christi has proven over and over again that it values profits over Hillcrest residents’ health and quality of life.” Community groups gathered in the chapel to announce the complaint under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against the City of Corpus Christi and its Inner Harbor desalination plant, planned on 12 acres in the Hillcrest neighborhood. The complaint requested investigations by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice into allegations of discriminatory practices in Corpus Christi’s treatment of Hillcrest. Title VI prohibits racial discrimination by any program that receives federal assistance.”
Los Angeles Times: Oil giants sell thousands of California wells, raising worries about future liability
MARK OLALDE, 10/27/22
“The price of oil produced in California this year reached its highest level in a decade. President Biden is releasing millions of barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to keep prices in check. And fossil fuel companies’ earnings are so high that Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for a windfall tax on their profits,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “It might seem like a lucrative time to drill for oil in the Golden State. Yet, some of the world’s largest oil companies, several of which have done business in the state for more than a century, are selling assets and beginning to pull out of California. Even with strong cash flow in the short term, producers have more to gain from offloading wells and the associated liability — chiefly expensive environmental cleanup — than from pumping more oil and gas, experts say. “This is the kind of deal you see when an industry is in its twilight,” Andrew Logan, senior director for oil and gas at Ceres, a nonprofit focused on sustainability in companies and markets, told the Times. Some industry experts, lawmakers and environmentalists are concerned about the recent deals, noting that the sales shift environmental liability from corporate powerhouses to less-capitalized firms, increasing the risk that aging wells will be left orphaned, unplugged and leaking oil, brine and climate-warming methane. They see a threat that the state’s oil industry could repeat a pattern seen in other extractive industries like coal mining and lead to taxpayers bearing cleanup costs… “Supermajors Shell and ExxonMobil recently agreed to sell more than 23,000 wells in California, which they owned through a joint venture called Aera Energy, to German asset management group IKAV for an estimated $4 billion… “Shell and ExxonMobil say the deal will strengthen their businesses. But Greg Rogers, an attorney and accountant who researches the oil and gas industry, told the Times the deal allows the sellers to shed decommissioning costs. “You got bad assets with big liabilities, and you can get rid of both at the same time. That’s a win for Exxon and Shell,” he told the Times.
Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins moves toward oil and gas regulations that would prevent new drilling in city
Molly Bohannon, 10/26/22
“There are only 10 active oil and gas wells in Fort Collins, but 17 in the city's growth management area and 261 in Larimer County,” the Fort Collins Coloradoan reports. “That's not much compared to Weld County’s 18,353, more than a third of all of Colorado’s wells. But oil and gas regulation is an issue that Fort Collins City Council has directed staff to work on since 2019. In April 2018, Colorado adopted a law that changed the way oil and gas development is regulated, required updates to state regulations and allowed local government authorities to adopt tighter regulations than those established by the state. Following that, Larimer County adopted “comprehensive regulations along with resources for regulatory compliance programs,” according to city documents. Meanwhile, some in the Fort Collins community have expressed concerns about new oil and gas developments within city limits or city natural areas, largely because of traffic, leaks and spills, regional air quality and climate change impacts. So in response to the changing regulations locally and community feedback, staff developed its own set of regulations for existing and new oil and gas facilities in Fort Collins. Those regulations were presented to City Council at a work session Tuesday night. All in all, council members broadly showed support for the regulations and no concrete changes were suggested… “Current oil and gas regulations around setbacks and where wells could be built have left about 3% of city land and open space available for development, but the proposed changes for new facilities decrease that to about 0% availability. Proposed changes to new well regulations include 2,000-foot setbacks from occupiable buildings, parks, trails or natural areas and would limit developments to industrial zone districts, which are intended to house “a variety of work processes and work places such as manufacturing, warehousing and distributing, indoor and outdoor storage, and a wide range of commercial and industrial operations,” according to the city’s land use code. Very few, if any, land in city limits meets all these requirements, so the regulations would essentially prohibit new drilling. “
Colorado Sun: Colorado oil and gas regulators approve new wells in Weld County over Broomfield’s objections
Mark Jaffe, 10/26/22
“Colorado oil and gas regulators Wednesday approved a plan to drill 19 horizontal oil and gas wells between two fast-growing Front Range suburbs over a protest by Broomfield County and City, which said the project could pose public health risks,” the Colorado Sun reports. “Crestone Peak Resources won approval for the drilling plan from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission after a hearing that was a battle of dueling scientific analyses. Broomfield presented air monitoring data, which captured spikes in air emissions of hazardous chemicals, such as benzene, which the city said were linked to oil and gas operations. It also offered a health survey, done in coordination with researchers at the Colorado School of Public Health, that showed people living closer to well pads reported higher incidences of respiratory problems and other health issues. Meagan Weisner, Broomfield’s senior environmental epidemiologist, told the Sun that residents in that area adjacent to the proposed project are already coping with multiple oil and gas operations. “They don’t live near one well pad, they live near six of them,” Weisner told the Sun. “So adding another megawell pad with 19 wells is going to add to it.” “...Broomfield was able to lodge its protest under a new rule allowing not only the local government where a project is located to intervene in commission proceedings, but those proximate to the site. It was the first time the new rule was used.”
EXTRACTION
Guardian: Profits at world’s seven biggest oil firms soar to almost £150bn this year
Jasper Jolly and Jessica Elgot, 10/27/22
“Profits at the world’s biggest oil companies have soared to nearly £150bn so far this year as Russia’s war on Ukraine pushed up energy prices, according to estimates from analysts,” the Guardian reports. “Britain’s Shell and France’s TotalEnergies on Thursday reported profits for the first nine months of 2022 of $59bn (£51bn). US rivals Chevron and ExxonMobil are expected to report year-to-date earnings approaching $70bn on Friday, while 2022 profits at Britain’s BP could break the $20bn mark on Tuesday. The cumulative takings for the seven biggest private sector oil drillers during the first nine months of 2022 could hit $173bn (£150bn), according to analyst forecasts collated by S&P Global Market Intelligence and reported earnings. Earnings have surged because of dramatic energy price increases after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The UK and EU have instituted windfall taxes on fossil fuel profits to try to support households struggling with higher bills, while campaigners in the US have called for Joe Biden to introduce a similar measure.”
New York Times: Exxon and Chevron Rack Up Giant Profits
Clifford Krauss, 10/28/22
“Exxon Mobil and Chevron, the largest U.S. oil companies, reported on Friday a fourth consecutive quarter of robust profits on the back of high oil and natural gas prices and strong chemical and refining earnings,” the New York Times reports. “But the companies remain cautious as they face uncertain future prices because of a weakening global economy and international conflict. Exxon’s profit of $19.7 billion from operations topped the previous quarter’s $17.9 billion. The oil giant’s latest quarterly profit was nearly triple what it made in the same period last year. It cited oil and natural gas output as major contributors, along with cost cutting. The company said its production in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico was its highest ever, as was the volume of its North American refining. “The investments we’ve made, even through the pandemic, enabled us to increase production to address the needs of consumers,” Darren Woods, the chief executive, said in a statement. Chevron reported a profit of $11.2 billion in the third quarter, down slightly from the previous quarter but nearly double the year before. Mike Wirth, Chevron’s chief executive, called it “another quarter of strong financial performance.” The company’s operations in the Permian Basin also set a quarterly production record, at 700,000 barrels per day, a 12 percent jump from the previous year. On Thursday, Shell and TotalEnergies reported that their profits in the third quarter were more than double those of the same period the year before… “The high commodity prices and record profits through much of the year have increased political pressure on oil companies to increase output and lower prices at the gasoline pump. President Biden has repeatedly called on the companies to produce more, but their responses have been tepid.”
The Hill: UN warns of closing window to avert planetary warming, calls for ‘unprecedented’ action
RACHEL FRAZIN, 10/27/22
“In a new report, the United Nations’s Environment Program described recent progress on tackling climate change as “woefully insufficient” and called for unprecedented changes to mitigate planetary warming,” The Hill reports. “The emissions report, which was titled “The Closing Window,” said countries’ stated ambitions and policies to meet those ambitions were not enough to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. “Current policies and [nationally determined contributions] NDCs are woefully insufficient to meet the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement,” the report states, referring to each country’s climate commitments. The report says that in order to keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius or 1.5 degrees Celsius, global emissions need to be reduced by 30 and 45 percent respectively. Currently, the plans put forward by each country would only cut global emissions by 5 to 10 percent. It also says that many Group of 20 nations — a group of world powers like the U.S., China, India and Russia, which are also responsible for a great deal of its emissions — will not meet the climate goals they have set… “The new report comes on the heels of a separate UN report, which similarly found that current climate ambitions were not enough to keep warming under 2 degrees Celsius.”
Washington Post: Climate-warming methane emissions rising faster than ever, study says
Steven Mufson and Sarah Kaplan, 10/26/22
“The amount of methane in the atmosphere is racing ahead at an accelerating pace, according to a study by the World Meteorological Organization, threatening to undermine efforts to slow climate change,” the Washington Post reports. “The WMO’s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin said that “global emissions have rebounded since the COVID-related lockdowns” and that the increases in methane levels in 2020 and 2021 were the largest since systematic record keeping began in 1983. “Methane concentrations are not just rising, they’re rising faster than ever,” Rob Jackson, a professor of Earth system science at Stanford University, told the Post… “Scientists are studying whether the unusually large increases in atmospheric methane levels in 2020 and 2021 are the result of a “climate feedback” from nature-based sources such as tropical wetlands and rice paddies, or whether they are the result of human-made natural gas and industrial leakage. Or both. “The isotope data suggest it’s biological rather than fossil methane from gas leaks. It could be from agriculture,” Jackson said. He warned that “it could even be the start of a dangerous warming-induced acceleration in methane emissions from wetlands and other natural systems we’ve been worrying about for decades.” The WMO said that as the planet gets warmer, organic material decomposes faster. If the organic material decomposes in water — without oxygen — this leads to methane emissions. This process could feed on itself; if tropical wetlands become wetter and warmer, more emissions are possible. “Will warming feed warming in tropical wetlands?” Jackson asked. “We don’t know yet.”
NASA: Methane ‘Super-Emitters’ Mapped by NASA’s New Earth Space Mission
10/25/22
“NASA’s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) mission is mapping the prevalence of key minerals in the planet’s dust-producing deserts – information that will advance our understanding of airborne dust’s effects on climate. But EMIT has demonstrated another crucial capability: detecting the presence of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. In the data EMIT has collected since being installed on the International Space Station in July, the science team has identified more than 50 “super-emitters” in Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Southwestern United States. Super-emitters are facilities, equipment, and other infrastructure, typically in the fossil-fuel, waste, or agriculture sectors, that emit methane at high rates. “Reining in methane emissions is key to limiting global warming. This exciting new development will not only help researchers better pinpoint where methane leaks are coming from, but also provide insight on how they can be addressed – quickly,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The International Space Station and NASA’s more than two dozen satellites and instruments in space have long been invaluable in determining changes to the Earth’s climate. EMIT is proving to be a critical tool in our toolbox to measure this potent greenhouse gas – and stop it at the source.” “...The mission’s study area coincides with known methane hotspots around the world, enabling researchers to look for the gas in those regions to test the capability of the imaging spectrometer. “Some of the plumes EMIT detected are among the largest ever seen – unlike anything that has ever been observed from space,” said Andrew Thorpe, a research technologist at JPL leading the EMIT methane effort. “What we’ve found in a just a short time already exceeds our expectations.” For example, the instrument detected a plume about 2 miles (3.3 kilometers) long southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico, in the Permian Basin. One of the largest oilfields in the world, the Permian spans parts of southeastern New Mexico and western Texas.”
Reuters: U.S. crude exports surge to record, stocks up again - EIA
David Gaffen, 10/26/22
“U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose in the most recent week, even as the volume of exports hit an all-time record, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday,” Reuters reports. “...Crude exports surged to a weekly record of 5.1 million barrels per day, cutting net crude imports to just over 1 million bpd, also a record. The United States has ramped up exports sharply in recent years since the Obama administration ended a 40-year ban in 2015. “That export number is huge. It’s the all-time record but that’s no surprise” because of the big discount for U.S. crude to international benchmark Brent, Robert Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York, told Reuters. Coming into Wednesday’s trade, the discount on U.S. crude was more than $8 per barrel to Brent.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
NJ Spotlight: NJ’s big-oil lawsuit reason to divest, advocates say
JOHN REITMEYER, 10/27/22
“A major lawsuit New Jersey filed against the fossil-fuel industry seeking compensation for damages caused by climate change provides another reason for the state’s public-worker pension fund to stop investing in companies in this sector,” NJ Spotlight reports. “That was the message environmental advocates delivered Wednesday to the New Jersey State Investment Council. For years, those advocates have been calling for fossil-fuel divestment in a state that has experienced firsthand some of the worst effects of climate change, including severe flooding, drought and deadly storms. “Continuing to invest in, and thereby underwrite, these fossil-fuel companies would be enabling them to continue to do more and greater harm to New Jersey taxpayers, residents, pension members and retirees,” said Tina Weishaus, cochair of the DivestNJ coalition of advocacy groups, during the investment council’s public meeting. The latest public pitch for fossil-fuel divestment came just weeks after a key Senate committee approved legislation that would require the pension fund to halt any investments with links to the world’s 200 largest fossil-fuel companies. And it also came about a week after New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin announced the filing of a lawsuit against five top oil companies and their trade association, the American Petroleum Institute. The suit argues the fossil-fuel industry failed to warn the public that its products were dangerous and instead sought to sow public doubts that fossil-fuel emissions were linked to climate change. “It is now state policy to seek billions of dollars in damages from these fossil-fuel companies,” Weishaus told members of the investment council, which sets policy for the state’s nearly $90 billion pension fund, after reading from sections of Platkin’s lawsuit. “As fiduciaries, the Division of Investment and the State Investment Council cannot morally and/or fiscally continue to invest in the very companies we, the people of New Jersey, are suing,” she said. A widespread call to divest all fossil-fuel investments held by major institutional investors such as pension funds and university endowments has been growing nationally in recent years. It comes amid increasing concerns about climate change and the role that fossil fuels have played in rising temperatures and sea levels.’
Reuters: World Bank projects 11% energy price decline in 2023
Andrea Shalal and David Lawder, 10/28/22
“The World Bank on Wednesday said it expects energy prices to decline by 11% in 2023 after this year's 60% surge following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, although slower global growth and COVID restrictions in China could lead to a deeper fall,” Reuters reports. “The bank in its latest Commodity Markets Outlook projected a Brent crude average price of $92 a barrel in 2023, easing to $80 in 2024 but well above the five-year average of $60. It said Russia's oil exports could drop by as much as 2 million barrels per day due to a European Union embargo on Russian oil and gas products, coupled with restrictions on insurance and shipping, that are take effect on Dec. 5… “The World Bank said the stronger dollar - and the shrinking value of the currencies of most developing economies - had driven up food and fuel prices that could aggravate the food insecurity already affecting 200 million people worldwide… “Currency depreciation meant that almost 60% of oil-importing emerging markets and developing economies saw an increase in domestic currency oil prices from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, the report found… “While energy prices were easing, they would still be 75% above their average over the past five years, the bank said. Both natural gas and coal prices are projected to decline in 2023 from record highs in 2022, but Australian coal and U.S. natural-gas prices are still expected to be double their average over the last five years by 2024. European natural gas prices could be nearly four times higher, it said. Coal production, meanwhile, was increasing significantly, as major exporters boosted output, putting climate-change goals at risk.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
News Channel Nebraska: Stanton County Emergency Management Agency awarded thousands for program
10/27/22
“The Stanton County Emergency Management Agency got a little boost to upgrade its drone program, thanks to a $15,000 donation by the TC Energy Foundation Build Strong Program,” News Channel Nebraska reports. “The money will be used to purchase a DJI M30T Thermal Drone. "Currently, there are no state or federal grants available for the purchase of this equipment," Mike Frohberg, Director of Stanton County Emergency Management Agency, told NCN. "However, having a partnership with The TC Energy Foundation helps us obtain the most up-to-date and advanced equipment to help our community and our region.” “...In 2021, TC Energy contributed $28.5 million to communities across North America. "When we started this program over two years ago, everything we had purchased was used," Frohberg told NCN. "We’ve maintained that equipment and continue to use them in the field. However, the purchase of a new M30T Thermal drone has many more benefits to our agencies."
OPINION
Dickinson County News: Summit isn't listening, doesn't care, and isn't here for us.
Bonnie Ewoldt, Milford resident and Crawford County landowner, 10/25/22
“Summit Carbon Solutions tells Iowans it cares, it’s listening and it’s here for us. Designed to tug at our heartstrings with reassuring verbiage and photos of down-home farm folk dressed in obligatory plaid shirts, the ads target thousands of landowners, such as myself, who refuse to sign voluntary easements with the hazardous CO2 pipeline company. After more than a year of land agent visits, emails, phone calls, letters, meetings, luncheons, PR mailings and other tactics, the company has merely acquired half of the signatures needed for the project. Landowners aren’t buying what Summit is selling,” Bonnie Ewoldt writes for the Dickinson County News. “Summit isn’t listening. It’s trying to buy something that isn’t for sale – unrestricted access to private property for a profit-making scheme. Land agents continue to badger us and will not take “no” for an answer. Why would we sign a legal document giving profiteers a “free and unobstructed permanent, non-exclusive pipeline easement … in, over, through, across, under and along landowner’s property?” While claiming “We Listen,” Summit disingenuously points to the 170,000 miles of pipelines in the five-state region already “in operation supplying communities with necessities like water, electricity, and sewer.” “...Quite frankly, Summit doesn’t care. Even though its ad proclaims, “We Care,” Summit’s actions speak louder than its empty words. If the company truly cared, it wouldn’t be gambling with public safety by running toxic waste – an asphyxiant and caustic agent – in underground pipes throughout the state… “Even though the current 170,000 miles of underground utility pipelines are heavily regulated, there are no state or federal regulations for hazardous CO2 pipelines. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, has only begun to write CO2 pipeline regulations. This will take time. If Summit truly cared, it would wait in order to provide the safest possible outcome. It wouldn’t be pushing the IUB for an earlier intervention date, harassing landowners to sign sooner rather than later, or planning set-backs as short as 500 feet when research shows a plume cloud can travel miles, depending on weather… “In spite of Summit Carbon Solutions’ claims to the contrary, the company isn’t listening to landowners. The company doesn’t care about the long-term impact of a hazardous CO2 pipeline on the state, and it’s only here to serve its own profit-driven self-interests. We landowners won’t be signing the easements, but we will be reaching for our plaid flannel shirts as the weather gets colder.”
WyoFile: Regulators must stop letting industry pollute aquifer
Sue Spencer is a retired Wyoming registered professional geologist who spent her 35-year career working as a consulting hydrogeologist in Utah and Wyoming, 10/27/22
“Our aquifers, rivers and freshwater resources in Wyoming and the arid West are rapidly shrinking to the point where they may soon be more valuable than gold. Unfortunately, our Wyoming regulators and policy makers are treating our unpolluted streams, reservoirs and groundwater aquifers like they are expendable. For example, Wyoming regulators have approved permits that allow polluted oil and gas-produced water in the central-Wyoming Moneta Divide field to be discharged untreated into freshwater streams and aquifers,” Sue Spencer writes for WyoFile. “The Moneta Divide oil and gas field produces enormous quantities of polluted water as a by-product of the natural gas extraction process. Although the oil and gas operator, Aethon, has the option of treating the produced water and discharging or reusing it, the industry is able to forego the cost of treatment because our Wyoming regulators allow it to discharge untreated polluted water directly into our streams and aquifers… “The Madison Aquifer is a critically important freshwater aquifer for both current and future water supplies. According to hydrogeologists, this aquifer is among the most prolific and reliable aquifers in the state of Wyoming. Using the aquifer for disposal of millions of gallons of waste fluid is not wise water-resource management policy… “With climate change and droughts becoming increasingly common in the western U.S., it is reasonable to assume that there will be a strong future demand for this water by towns, cities and agriculture in the region. Using the aquifer for disposal of millions of gallons of waste fluid is not wise water-resource management policy… “Now is the time to protect all of our freshwater resources for current and future generations. It is time for industry to start paying its way and stop relying on taxpayers to pay the ultimate cost of cleanup and/or loss of Wyoming’s valuable water resources. Get engaged and talk to your local, state and federal policy makers and tell them to protect our freshwater resources.”
The Hill: Is hydrogen really the Holy Grail of green energy?
Mark Brownstein is senior vice president of energy at the Environmental Defense Fund, and a member of EDF’s executive team, 10/27/22
“Driven by severe price shocks in the oil and gas market combined with the urgent need for low-carbon fuels to stave off a climate crisis, hydrogen is being aggressively promoted as a cure for climate and energy security concerns. Producers, investors and policymakers all are rallying around the prospect of an environmentally friendly solution that can be made using renewable energy or natural gas. While hydrogen offers an important opportunity, we must be cautious about its potential downsides,” Mark Brownstein writes for The Hill. “The Biden administration’s $8 billion plan for up to 10 regional hydrogen hubs — “one of the largest investments in [Department of Energy] history” — is just the tip of the iceberg. Germany and other European countries are considering importing mass quantities of hydrogen to offset Russian gas. All told, at least $600 billion worth of hydrogen projects have been announced worldwide… “At the same time, there are at least three reasons for concern. First, recent science suggests that the degree of climate benefit — if any at all — will depend heavily on where and how the hydrogen is produced and used. One challenge is that hydrogen has powerful warming effects when it escapes to the atmosphere, a fact even many experts have overlooked. And because hydrogen is a small molecule, it’s particularly hard to keep it contained in the plumbing needed to transport and store it… “Another issue is production. Standard methods for making hydrogen today are dirty and energy intensive, far worse for the climate than fossil fuels. Hydrogen can also be made using renewable energy to strip away oxygen molecules from water — leaving just the H in H20 — or derived from natural gas where at least 90 percent of the resulting CO2 captured and supply chain methane emissions minimized. These methods account for all but a small fraction of the market today… “Finally, the question nobody seems to be asking is where hydrogen fits in an overall energy strategy. Decoupling our electric grid from fossil fuels and, in turn, using green electricity to replace fossil fuels to power personal transportation, homes and businesses is the core to any viable decarbonization plan… “For hydrogen to deliver on its potential, we need to make it without harmful climate pollution; ensure that producers and users monitor, measure, and eliminate leaks; as well as focus our hydrogen investment on the cases where it’s needed most — not those where clear alternatives are more economically and environmentally competitive.”