EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 11/16/21
PIPELINE NEWS
Reuters: Rainstorms force evacuation of Canadian town, shut down major oil pipeline
BIV.com: Coastal GasLink not complying with "eviction" notice
Star Tribune: Line 3 resistance to take to the air with thermal imaging of pipeline
Politico: KEEP THE GAS FLOWING
Virginia Mercury: State should have oversight over proposed Chickahominy Pipeline, regulator says
Associated Press: Philly suburb appeals ruling on gas pipeline records
Journal Courier: Construction could begin in 2024 for carbon-capture pipeline cutting through Jacksonville region
Oskaloosa.com: Board hires ISG for pipeline inspection
S&P Global: Permian's Double E Pipeline enters service as West Texas gas output surges
WASHINGTON UPDATES
New York Times: Biden Plans to Bar New Drilling Around a Major Native American Cultural Site
Bloomberg: Shale Is Making Too Much Money to Rescue Biden From Oil Shortage
STATE UPDATES
Santa Fe New Mexican: Proposed rule aims to protect New Mexico's cultural, historic sites
EXTRACTION
CNBC: Oil and gas giants hit back at climate critics, say they’re leaders in energy transition
S&P Global: Producers target lowest-carbon oil supply to keep pumping during transition
CLIMATE FINANCE
E&E News: New York sends ‘unequivocal’ climate signal to insurers
OPINION
Detroit Metro Times: Republicans peddle lies about impact of Line 5 shutdown
Forbes: Biden Admin Dismisses Michigan Gov’s Wishes On Line 5 Pipeline Closure
The Hill: Build Back Better must sharpen focus on environmental justice
Santa Fe New Mexican: Cultural resources deserve protection
PIPELINE NEWS
Reuters: Rainstorms force evacuation of Canadian town, shut down major oil pipeline
By David Ljunggren, 11/15/21
“Huge rainstorms lashed the western Canadian province of British Columbia on Monday, triggering landslides, shutting roads, prompting the evacuation of an entire town and forcing an oil pipeline to close,” Reuters reports. “Authorities in Merritt, some 124 miles (200 kilometers) north east of Vancouver, ordered all 8,000 citizens to leave after rising waters cut off bridges and forced the waste water treatment plant to close… “Some areas received 8 inches (200 mm) of rain on Sunday - the amount they usually see in a month - and the deluge continued on Monday, with roads covered by mud or up to 10 inches of water. The storms forced the closure of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which takes crude from Alberta to the Pacific Coast. The line has a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day. Work on a proposed expansion project has also been halted, the operating company told Reuters.”
BIV.com: Coastal GasLink not complying with "eviction" notice
Nelson Bennett, 11/15/21
“TC Energy says Coastal GasLink pipeline work crews in the Morice River area have not been evacuated in response to an “eviction” enforcement notice served by the Gidimt’en clan of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation,” BIV.com reports. “But now those workers could be at risk of running short of supplies, as roads have recently been blockaded, despite assurances from Houston RCMP that roads would be kept open. B.C.'s Public Safety minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth has now weighed in on the "criminal actions" of protesters, saying the Gidimt’en blockades not only puts workers at risk, but also puts the "good faith commitments" his government made with the Wet'suwet'en to address rights and title issues at risk as well. On Sunday, members of the Gidimt’en clan said they were enforcing an eviction notice to Coastal GasLink pipeline construction crews… “In a press release issued Sunday, TC Energy said public statements suggesting TC Energy was planning to comply with the eviction notice are false… “TC Energy says a BC Supreme Court injunction issued against pipeline protesters in 2020 is still in effect, making any attempts to block roads for accessing work sites illegal… "These unlawful actions have put our people in danger, stranding them at work lodges where supplies will run out in the coming days and limiting their access to medical care in the event of an emergency,” the company told BIV.com. "We have made the RCMP aware of our concern about the safety of our workers due to these unlawful actions, the latest in a series of illegal opposition activity."
Star Tribune: Line 3 resistance to take to the air with thermal imaging of pipeline
Jennifer Bjorhus, 11/15/21
“Indigenous opponents of Line 3 are raising money to fly a drone with thermal imaging equipment along the oil pipeline's Minnesota route to see for themselves whether there are more drilling fluid spills or groundwater problems,” the Star Tribune reports. “Thermal imaging is a new direction for the Indigenous-led Line 3 opposition. It comes as state environmental regulators investigate whether construction crews damaged aquifers at two locations along the Line 3 route, in addition to the major aquifer breach in Clearwater County for which energy company Enbridge has been fined. The state's latest estimates are that the breach has spilled about 50 million gallons of groundwater, up from previous estimates of around 24 million gallons. "I've ridden the whole line on horseback pretty much, but I never took that bird's eye view," Winona LaDuke, co-founder of Honor the Earth, told the Tribune. "I think it's going to show more damage than anybody knows. It's a crime that's underway." The flyover project will cost an estimated $52,000… “The standing water at the site is due to soil being compacted during construction in the wetlands, DNR spokeswoman Gail Nosek told the Tribune. She said the sheen on the water in the photographs "is the result of naturally occurring bacteria that grow in iron-rich, oxygenated water." LaDuke and Turney told the Tribune they don't buy that. Turney said he thinks he has evidence of frac-outs that went unreported to the MPCA.”
Politico: KEEP THE GAS FLOWING
Matthew Choi, 11/15/21
“Owners of the embattled Spire STL Pipeline on Friday asked FERC to reissue the certificate of operation vacated by a federal court earlier this year,” Politico reports. “The commission granted the pipeline a temporary emergency certificate in September, lasting through Dec. 13, but the St. Louis, Missouri-based pipeline company has been vying for a more permanent solution. FERC will consider the company’s case at its open meeting on Thursday.”
Virginia Mercury: State should have oversight over proposed Chickahominy Pipeline, regulator says
SARAH VOGELSONG, 11/15/21
“A state regulatory official on Monday said the State Corporation Commission should have oversight of Chickahominy Pipeline’s plan to build a natural gas pipeline through five central Virginia counties,” the Virginia Mercury reports. “In my opinion, Chickahominy’s planned pipeline would be subject to the commission’s jurisdiction … because Chickahominy would be a ‘public utility’ under the plain language of the Utility Facilities Act,” wrote Hearing Examiner D. Mathias Roussy in a report to the commission. Roussy’s report is not binding but will act as a recommendation for the three-judge SCC to use in making their final decision on the case... “During a hearing earlier this month, Chickahominy Pipeline argued that it doesn’t need SCC approval because “while it will be transporting natural gas for heat, light or power, it will not be doing so for sale” and therefore should not legally be considered a public utility subject to commission regulation. Roussy rejected that argument and the company’s petition Monday, writing that “the gas that would flow on the pipeline would be sold to (Chickahominy Pipeline) through an arrangement between a natural gas supplier and (Chickahominy Pipeline). Therefore … I find that the natural gas that would be transmitted or distributed by the pipeline is for sale.”
Associated Press: Philly suburb appeals ruling on gas pipeline records
11/16/21
“A Philadelphia suburb is fighting a court order to release communications between municipal officials and the developer of a natural gas pipeline that was recently charged with environmental crimes related to the pipeline's construction,” the Associated Press reports. “Middletown Township has been refusing to produce the records for nearly a year, asserting they were exempt from disclosure under the state’s open records law. Energy Transfer, the owner of the multi-billion-dollar Mariner East pipeline system, also opposed their release. A Delaware County judge ruled last month that the records are public, and ordered the township to turn them over to the owners of a 124-unit apartment complex along the pipeline route. Middletown Township on Friday appealed the judge's ruling to Commonwealth Court, days after a similar appeal by Energy Transfer. The township says the records contain sensitive and confidential information the township obtained from Energy Transfer during its investigation of sinkholes near the pipeline. The owners of Glen Riddle Station Apartments, who have been seeking the records, say pipeline construction has threatened the health and safety of the residents. The pipeline’s route splits the apartment complex in half.”
Journal Courier: Construction could begin in 2024 for carbon-capture pipeline cutting through Jacksonville region
David C.L. Bauer, 11/15/21
“Construction could begin within a few years on a carbon-capture pipeline that will snake its way through west-central Illinois as part of its 1,418-mile journey from South Dakota to a sequestration site in Christian County east of Jacksonville,” the Journal Courier reports. “Roughly 125 miles of the Heartland Greenway System will go through Brown, Scott, Morgan and Sangamon counties under initial plans. A separate line would tap into the system near the Adams-Schuyler counties border, carrying captured carbon dioxide through Henry, Knox, McDonough and Schuyler counties… “Navigator CO2 Ventures started floating the idea this summer during what is known as a binding open season. It said in mid-October that it saw substantial reception and had obtained necessary board approvals to proceed with the pipeline system. The company "has commenced the process to obtain all the necessary permits to construct the Heartland Greenway and start initial system commissioning during late 2024 and into early 2025." “...Navigator CO2 Ventures has contracts with two companies to develop the Heartland Greenway sequestration site. Work being performed by affiliates of Tenaska and Advanced Resources International is under way.”
Oskaloosa.com: Board hires ISG for pipeline inspection
SHANNON RABOTSKI, 11/15/21
“The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors accepted a letter of intent for county representation and inspection services for the Heartland Greenway System project from ISG at the Nov. 15 regular meeting,” Oskaloosa.com reports. “...ISG’s services would include assigning inspectors to construction crews to ensure quality completion of the project. Inspectors will be assigned to focus on specific aspects of construction, including top soil stripping and trenching, among others. Landowners with complaints about how the project is being completed will be able to reach out to ISG for guidance or assistance. Board of Supervisors chair Mark Groenendyk reminded constituents that the board does not have a say on the details of the project. “This board has no authority on whether the pipeline goes through, where it goes, that’s strictly up to the legislation,” he said. “The only responsibility we have is to hire an inspector to make sure that the work is done properly. [ISG is] kind of the intermediary between the pipeline and the landowner.”
S&P Global: Permian's Double E Pipeline enters service as West Texas gas output surges
J Robinson, 11/15/21
“The startup of the Double E Pipeline this week promises to significantly expand downstream market access for Permian Basin producers, possibly fueling new production growth in New Mexico and West Texas,” S&P Global reports. “Extending some 135 miles from the Lane Processing plant to the Waha Hub in West Texas, the newbuild pipeline brings an incremental 1.35 Bcf/d in flow capacity to the core of the Delaware Basin. Double E will receive gas from at least seven processing facilities, including six in New Mexico and one in Texas, with its strategic location placing it within proximity of some 20 to 25 other processing plants. For capacity holders, the pipeline offers expanded access to West Texas' benchmark Waha Hub with interconnectivity to key downstream pipelines, including Kinder Morgan's Gulf Coast Express and Permian Highway Pipelines to East Texas as well as the Trans Pecos Pipeline to the Texas-Mexico border. The project, a 70-30 joint venture among Summit Midstream Partners and ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Energy, already has a substantial majority of its throughput capacity underpinned by 10-year take-or-pay volume commitments — 750 MMcf/d of which is currently held by JV partner XTO Energy.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
New York Times: Biden Plans to Bar New Drilling Around a Major Native American Cultural Site
Coral Davenport, 11/15/21
“President Biden will announce on Monday that his administration is moving to block new federal oil and gas leasing within a 10-mile radius around Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, one of the nation’s oldest and most culturally significant Native American sites, according to White House officials,” the New York Times reports. “The announcement is to come as Mr. Biden hosts a tribal nations summit meeting at the White House at which, administration officials said, he will also highlight steps that he has taken to improve public safety and justice for Native Americans. The move to restrict fossil fuel drilling around a major Native American site dovetails two of Mr. Biden’s top policy priorities: addressing climate change and injustices against Native Americans. Although Mr. Biden has pushed an ambitious climate agenda, he has come under fierce criticism from Native American environmental activists for his administration’s approval of Line 3, a $9 billion pipeline that would carry hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil through Minnesota’s delicate watersheds and tribal lands. “Chaco Canyon is a sacred place that holds deep meaning for the Indigenous peoples whose ancestors lived, worked and thrived in that high desert community,” Ms. Haaland told the Times. “Now is the time to consider more enduring protections for the living landscape that is Chaco, so that we can pass on this rich cultural legacy to future generations. I value and appreciate the many tribal leaders, elected officials and stakeholders who have persisted in their work to conserve this special area.” The step is likely to generate significant pushback from Republicans and from New Mexico’s oil and gas industry, particularly at a moment when oil and gas prices have surged to five-year highs.”
Bloomberg: Shale Is Making Too Much Money to Rescue Biden From Oil Shortage
By Kevin Crowley, 11/15/21
“America’s right-leaning oil industry has little political will to help President Joe Biden lower energy prices by raising production. But there’s another reason why Texas wildcatters are refusing to help: the status quo is just so profitable,” Bloomberg reports. “...After effectively subsidizing consumers through the 2010s with break-neck drilling that depressed global oil prices, the shale industry appears to have struck a winning formula: moderating production, limiting reinvestment in new wells and shaving debt. Crucially, executives now understand that any output growth must be carefully measured, and not take market share from OPEC and its allies, for fear of sparking repeats of the bruising price wars of 2014 and 2020. “Public-company investors just don’t want to see companies spend a ton of money only to slam the price,” Nick O’Grady, chief executive officer of Northern Oil & Gas Inc, told Bloomberg. “It becomes self-defeating. And that’s the experience of public investors for the last 10 years.” The Democratic Party’s green agenda and anti-fracking platform upset many in the oil patch and the critics now are keen to point out the irony of a president who restricted drilling at home only to ask Mideast nations and Russia to increase crude production.”
STATE UPDATES
Santa Fe New Mexican: Proposed rule aims to protect New Mexico's cultural, historic sites
By Scott Wyland, 11/14/21
“As one New Mexico tribal leader describes it, Indigenous people’s heritage was not respected for decades, with ancestral sites damaged by looting and careless commercial activities,” the Santa Fe New Mexican reports. “Whether thieves were pilfering artifacts or an oil driller unintentionally dug into an ancient Indigenous site, the damage over the years is immeasurable, David Toledo, secretary for the All Pueblo Council of Governors, told SFNM. And tribes have little authority to stop such intrusions on cultural sites outside their pueblos, Toledo said. “For us, it’s hard to enforce rules or laws to protect these areas because they are on public lands,” he said. The State Land Office is proposing a rule to safeguard “cultural properties” within its jurisdiction. The rule would require anyone planning a new soil-disturbing project on state land to first conduct an archaeological survey to ensure the work won’t damage what could be deemed a cultural property. Fossil fuel, mining, agriculture and other industries that use state lands would be affected on activities such as drilling wells, laying pipelines, excavating ore and building roads… “Some industry groups have mixed sentiments, saying they support the basic intent but think the requirements are murky and cumbersome. The Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico is one such group. The association “conceptually” backs the proposed rule, Executive Director Jim Winchester wrote in an email, “but does have concerns with the logistics related to implementation.”
EXTRACTION
CNBC: Oil and gas giants hit back at climate critics, say they’re leaders in energy transition
Holly Ellyatt, 11/16/21
“The CEOs of some of the world’s leading energy companies have defended their position in the energy mix after the COP26 climate summit focused attention on the future of the industry,” CNBC reports. “Speaking on a panel at the ADIPEC energy forum in Abu Dhabi hosted by CNBC’s Hadley Gamble, the CEOs of BP, Lukoil, Occidental and Eni insisted they were diversifying their energy offering and reducing carbon emissions while also maintaining supplies of hydrocarbons that are still heavily relied upon. “And as long as we can deal with the emissions and help others that use the products deal with the emissions too, then we have the right to be here,” Vicki Hollub, president and chief executive of U.S. energy company Occidental, told CNBC.”We have the right to provide the quality of life that oil and gas has provided ... for the current rich countries, and we need to allow the developing countries the same right to become wealthier through the development of their natural resources.” “...Like other industry leaders, BP’s Bernard Looney has admitted that oil and gas will have a role in the energy mix for years to come. Speaking to CNBC’s Hadley Gamble on the ADIPEC panel on Monday, Looney said that energy transition takes time. “We have to be very, very clear on what our objective is when we begin any dialogue in this space. And our objective is in this conversation about driving emissions down ... Now that for some people is unacceptable because that means that hydrocarbons are part of the mix. This is simply a system that has been in place for decades and decades and decades. It’s called an energy transition for a reason. There is no light switch. It doesn’t happen overnight.”.
S&P Global: Producers target lowest-carbon oil supply to keep pumping during transition
Meghan Gordon, Robert Perkins, 11/15/21
“Many oil and gas producers are scrutinizing the emissions impact of their portfolios in a bid to determine which fields will have staying power as fossil fuel investment shrinks. Carbon pricing and other climate policy could create a premium for the least-intensive crude streams,” S&P Global reports. “...The analysis represents the greenhouse gas emissions of a field's current operations from the wellhead to storage or export terminal, including upstream activities like flaring and venting but not exploration and drilling… “The calculations show a massive range of impacts, from above 170 kgCO2e/boe for California's onshore San Joaquin Basin to below 2 kgCO2e/boe for Norway's offshore Johan Sverdrup… “Methane controls largely determine where US onshore shale drillers fall on the CI scale, and the entire sector will be forced to tighten these emissions further under the Environmental Protection Agency's latest proposed methane rule. US onshore operations range from about 17 kgCO2e/boe in the Permian and Delaware basin to 46 kgCO2e/boe near the Louisiana Gulf Coast, according to Platts Analytics. Canadian shale producers face the same methane challenges but also must contend with these formations' high water content, with water recycling and other logistics increasing their emissions impact. Canada's oil sands have some of the highest carbon intensities in the world, driven by the need for gas-powered steam injections to mine the heavy bitumen.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
E&E News: New York sends ‘unequivocal’ climate signal to insurers
Avery Ellfeldt, 11/16/21
“New York’s top financial agency yesterday became the first state regulator to lay out in detail how it expects the insurance industry to handle global warming,” E&E News reports. “The final guidance unveiled by the New York State Department of Financial Services says insurers based in the state need to do so in several ways. Principal among them: disclose the risks they face from extreme weather events and the clean energy transition; consider those same threats when making business decisions; and conduct scenario analyses to gauge climate change’s capacity to spur losses in the short-, medium- and long-term. The regulator, which oversees New York-based insurers, banks and other finance institutions, said it would monitor insurers’ progress on those points and others in the coming months. By August of next year, for instance, the agency expects insurers to have incorporated climate risk management into the structure of its board and company leadership. That could entail appointing someone with climate expertise to the board, and selecting a top executive to spearhead the company’s work around climate change.”
OPINION
Detroit Metro Times: Republicans peddle lies about impact of Line 5 shutdown
Steve Neavling, 11/15/21
“Michigan Republicans and right-wing groups are spreading lies about the controversial Line 5 pipeline, falsely claiming that a shutdown is imminent and would drastically increase heating costs as winter approaches,” Steve Neavling writes for the Detroit Metro Times. “...Two conservative groups tied to the west Michigan DeVos family – Michigan Freedom Fund and Michigan Rising Action – are spreading falsehoods about the impact of a shutdown on families, while ignoring the environmental hazards of Line 5… “There’s no evidence that shutting down the pipeline would increase fuel prices. Between 90% and 95% of the light crude oil carried by Line 5 is sent to refineries in Sarnia, Ontario. A tiny fraction is destined for Detroit and two refineries in Toledo. If the pipeline is shut down, there are other sources, including the Capline and Mid-Valley pipelines, according to For Love of Water, a Traverse City-based nonprofit… “Republican and conservative groups who are using scare tactics about Line 5 point to escalating energy costs, without explaining why prices are on the rise. Driving up the cost of propane and natural are exports and price-gouging, which have nothing to do with Line 5.”
Forbes: Biden Admin Dismisses Michigan Gov’s Wishes On Line 5 Pipeline Closure
Daniel Markind, 11/15/21
“The Biden Administration has announced that it is not, for now, supporting the closure of the Line 5 pipeline, which carries Canadian oil and gas across the border into Michigan,” Daniel Markind writes for Forbes. “Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has pushed in recent months for the line’s closure, on environmental grounds. The Administration announced that it was not attempting to close Line 5 after all. Instead, it will continue a review by the Army Corps of Engineers and will maintain intensive talks with the Canadian government about the pipeline’s future… “Following the poor results of last week’s elections for Democrats, with inflation rising, winter approaching, and the US’s largest trading party now furious with it over Line 5, Biden finally bowed to the inevitable. While not explaining exactly what he or Governor Whitmer intend to do to resolve the dispute, the President took its potential closure off the table – at least for the time being… “Now, almost one year into his Administration, Biden has finally pulled back. For the first time, the potentially immediate political, economic, and diplomatic ramifications of alienating Canada and causing a major price spike in the United States, especially with winter fast approaching, proved too great for the President… “All presidents have a political base to which they are indebted, yet all face real world realities that can sometimes conflict with the desires, wishes, and demands of that base. Enbridge Line 5 has ultimately proved a “bridge too far” for this President to uphold his base’s wishes. We shall see how, or if, this experience will lead the President toward more realistic, and secure, energy policy as his term plays out, or whether the lessons that have been learned from the Line 5 debacle will be too quickly forgotten.”
The Hill: Build Back Better must sharpen focus on environmental justice
Justin Schott is project manager of the Energy Equity Project at the University of Michigan. Kyle Whyte, Ph.D., is a professor at the University of Michigan and a member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, 11/13/21
“President Biden is so bullish on his Build Back Better (BBB) proposal that it was the centerpiece of his remarks last week at the global climate summit in Glasgow stating, “My Build Back Better framework will make...the most significant investment to deal with the climate crisis that any advanced nation has made ever,” Justin Schott and Kyle Whyte write for The Hill. “...Justice40, the environmental justice mandate that Biden ordered just days after taking office, faces its first real test in the $1.75 trillion BBB bill... “Justice40 demands that at least 40 percent of the benefits of federal funding flow to disadvantaged communities. It directs agencies to apply the Justice40 standard to “reflect existing authorities agencies may possess for achieving the 40-percent goal as well as recommendations for legislation needed to achieve the 40-percent goal.” After analyzing HR 5376’s components, we find the BBB bill falls far short of upholding the mandate, with only about 15 percent of funds ($82 billion) aligned with Biden’s Justice40 pledge… “Disadvantaged communities are unlikely to see more than a sliver of the benefits from BBB… “If we are going to hit Justice 40 objectives and truly "build back better" we must do more to put justice at the center of this legislation. We are hopeful that Biden’s commitment to Justice40 is authentic.”
Santa Fe New Mexican: Cultural resources deserve protection
Reyaun C. Francisco is from Iyanbito but currently resides in Santa Fe and serves as the associate environmental justice director at Nuestra Tierra, 11/6/21
“The Southwest has been home to Dinétah (Navajo Nation) and diverse groups of Indigenous communities since time immemorial. This same land is highly desired by oil, gas and mining companies for its overlapping location in the San Juan Basin, a geological mother lode of natural gas reserves in the Four Corners region. It has become one of North America’s richest sources of mineral wealth,” Reyaun C. Francisco writes for the Santa Fe New Mexican. “I am of the Naakai Diné’e (Mexican People Clan), Born for the Kinyaani (Towering House People Clan), and my maternal grandfather is of the Maii Deeshgizhnii (Coyote Pass People Clan); that is how I identify as Diné (Navajo). Throughout my life, I’ve witnessed the continued impacts oil, gas and mining developments have had on our Diné way of life and for other Indigenous communities across North and South America… “The Biden administration can now make good on its commitments to Indigenous communities, whose outcries against mining and drilling near sacred ground went unnoticed for centuries. For too long, Native voices have been silenced when it comes to land-management decisions… “President Joe Biden and Secretary Deb Haaland must act now to update our federal oil, gas and mine leasing systems to prioritize preservation over short-term profits; this will protect future generations of Diné children and guarantee a better future free from water poisoning, destroyed ancestral territory and our history. It would give Indigenous communities the ability to continue participating in centuries-long ceremonies on land that has not been tainted by pollution.”