EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 11/7/22
PIPELINE NEWS
WV News: Mountain Valley Pipeline developers hoping for an act of Congress; West Virginia reps remain supportive
Gate City Daily: Rally opposing carbon pipelines to be held Wednesday
The Journal News: Heartland Greenway Visits County Board
True North: Gas production breaks records, leading to Enbridge $3.6B expansion project
AlterNet: Watch: Herschel Walker falsely claims canceling the Keystone pipeline is the 'biggest threat to democracy'
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Bloomberg: Biden feud with oil industry ratchets up just as world needs more US oil
New York Times: New Tax Break for Clean Energy Draws Scrutiny
Associated Press: The EPA awards grants to monitor air quality in communities hurt by pollution
Reuters: U.S. EPA considering expanding Midwest E15 gasoline sales -sources
STATE UPDATES
Cleveland.com: Natural gas-linked super PAC drops $1 million backing Republicans
Reuters: Exxon faces $2 billion loss on sale of troubled California oil properties
Press release: Court Allows Environmentalists’ Request to Intervene in Exxon Trucking Case
Bakersfield Californian: Judge allows Kern to resume oil permitting
EXTRACTION
The Hill: New report a ‘chronicle of climate chaos’: UN chief
Wall Street Journal: Frackers Say Oil Production Slowing in the Shale Patch
Upstream Online: European Union to provide €3 billion in funding to help CCS projects
Allied Market Research: Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Market to Witness Remarkable Growth from 2021 – 2030
Politico: Occidental eyes massive CO2 removal project
Canadian Energy Centre: New report shows supplying Canadian LNG to Asia could reduce emissions by the equivalent of removing every vehicle from Canadian roads
Reuters: Canada's share buyback tax could backfire, energy sector warns
OPINION
New York Times: King Oil Reigns Over American Politics
The Hill: Climate stunts and the soup heard around the world
PIPELINE NEWS
WV News: Mountain Valley Pipeline developers hoping for an act of Congress; West Virginia reps remain supportive
Charles Young, 11/6/22
“The developers of the Mountain Valley Pipeline are hoping an act of Congress can help them finish the long-delayed project by the end of next year,” WV News reports. “During Equitrans Midstream’s recent third quarter earnings call, chairman and CEO Thomas Karam said passing federal energy project permitting reform is the “best path” to seeing the natural gas transmission line finished in 2023. “There continues to be significant, bipartisan support for federal energy infrastructure permitting reform legislation,” Karam said. “The litigation and regulatory issues present for critical natural gas infrastructure projects like MVP, combined with global events, clearly highlight the need for expeditious action by Congress on federal permitting reform legislation as the best path to complete the MVP project in 2023.” U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said has indicated he still supports passing federal energy project permitting reform legislation that would help see the Mountain Valley Pipeline project completed… “Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., who introduced her own energy permitting reform bill Sept. 13, also still hopes to see the pipeline competed, according to Peter Hoffman, Republican Communication Director for the Senate on Environment and Public Works. “Senator Capito will continue to support efforts to complete the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which will create jobs and finally green-light a critical natural gas project,” he told the News. “She’s introduced legislation and amendments that would both expedite MVP’s completion and support American energy projects of all kinds.”
Gate City Daily: Rally opposing carbon pipelines to be held Wednesday
Robin Delaney, 11/7/22
“A Carbon Pipeline Opposition Day of Action is planned for Wednesday, Nov. 9 to counter the national carbon capture and storage industry’s national conference at the Unitarian Church, 1800 Bell Ave., in Des Moines,” the Gate City Daily reports. “Summit, Navigator, Wolf and their investors are coming to Iowa and we want to tell them to pack their bags — we don’t want their carbon pipelines.” said Sherri Webb, Summit impacted Century Farm Owner, Sherri Webb. Impacted landowners from Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota and other impacted states are joining Iowa landowners to hear from expert speakers and to unite the fight against carbon pipelines across the Midwest… “Panel Discussion: Moderator: Dr. Silvia Secchi, Professor in the Dept of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences at University of Iowa; Dan Zegart, Author of the Gassing of Satartia and Author at the Climate Investigation Network; Bill Caram, Executive Director of Pipeline Safety Trust; Jane Kleeb, Executive Director of the BOLD Alliance… “2 p.m. — Rally at CCS Conference.”
The Journal News: Heartland Greenway Visits County Board
Mary (Galer) Herschelman, 11/7/22
“Representatives of the Heartland Greenway project attended the Montgomery County Board’s Personnel and Development Committee meeting on Thursday evening, Nov. 3, at the Historic Courthouse,” The Journal News reports.
True North: Gas production breaks records, leading to Enbridge $3.6B expansion project
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa, 11/6/22
“Energy developments in British Columbia are booming such that on Friday, Enbridge Inc revealed a $3.6 billion expansion to its gas pipeline in the province citing surging demand,” True North reports. “Enbridge is also considering a further $1.9 billion expansion in northern BC at the same time. The province is now pumping out natural gas at a record rate nearing 18 billion cubic feet a day. “Given the outlook for Western Canada supply, we are seeing strong customer interest for more egress for LNG exports and downstream access,” Enbridge CEO Al Monaco told stakeholders. The expansion announced today could add an additional 300 million cubic feet per day capacity to the company’s operations in the province. Gas will be delivered to southern BC and beyond.”
AlterNet: Watch: Herschel Walker falsely claims canceling the Keystone pipeline is the 'biggest threat to democracy'
Brandon Gage, 11/6/22
“Republican United States Senate nominee Herschel Walker of Georgia claimed to Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday that the most imminent dangers to the survival of American democracy are fringe social issues that the GOP exploits to rile up its right-wing base,” AlterNet reports. “...And the biggest threat to democracy is to have someone like [incumbent Democratic] Senator [and Reverend Raphael] Warnock vote against our Keystone pipeline, which put us under international threat," Walker proclaimed. "I think right now that's a threat and uh, that's a security threat going to our enemies for energy. That's a threat. That's the biggest threat to democracy that they have." That is false. "Many experts agree that moving ahead with the pipeline wouldn't have prevented U.S. gas prices from climbing to a record high. Expanding the Keystone would have increased global oil production by less than 1%, an amount, they explained, is 'almost negligible,'" CBS News reported in March.
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Bloomberg: Biden feud with oil industry ratchets up just as world needs more US oil
Kevin Crowley, Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Ari Natter, 11/6/22
“As October drew to a close, the White House saw another potential energy flash point on the horizon,” Bloomberg reports. “Diesel and heating oil inventories in the US Northeast were getting worryingly low. Officials swung into action, organizing a series of calls between Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and several of the country’s biggest oil refiners to discuss strategies to boost stockpiles. The tone was cordial, according to people with knowledge of the conversations. But the very next working day, the oil industry was blindsided. At a hastily arranged press conference on Oct. 31, President Joe Biden castigated oil companies for handing “outrageous” profits to shareholders and executives rather than bringing down prices at the pump. Unless that changed, he warned, oil companies faced more taxes. “Their profits are a windfall of war -- the windfall from the brutal conflict that’s ravaging Ukraine and hurting tens of millions of people around the globe,” he said. It was just the kind of whiplash that has repeatedly sown mistrust and stoked tensions with the fossil fuel industry over the course of the Biden administration, according to multiple interviews with executives and lobbyists involved in oil and gas, who declined to be identified because the meetings and conversations they described were private. Biden’s team has been at odds with the industry since the 2020 election campaign. But as global energy prices spiked this year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the White House called on oil companies to help, only to grow increasingly frustrated that it’s holding back on production while reaping record earnings… “While they were never under any illusions about the president’s green ambitions, oil industry insiders tell Bloomberg they’ve become increasingly unhappy with a series of conflicting policy priorities -- for example, moving within a matter of months from a halt on federal leasing for oil drilling to demanding more production -- and unrealistic requests such as spending billions of dollars to rapidly add more refining capacity.”
New York Times: New Tax Break for Clean Energy Draws Scrutiny
Eric Lipton, 11/3/22
“Blackstone, the New York-based asset manager with nearly $1 trillion of investor funds, is moving rapidly into the clean-energy revolution, driven in part by federal tax incentives that were sweetened this summer by the Biden administration and Congress,” the New York Times reports. “But one of its larger projects — through a subsidiary called Tallgrass Energy — is drawing protests from environmentalists who argue that Blackstone’s effort in New Mexico will not do enough to combat climate change, even if it receives tens of millions of dollars a year in federal subsidies intended to promote efforts to address global warming. Tallgrass intends to spend $600 million to rebuild a defunct coal-burning power plant in northwest New Mexico into one that uses natural gas converted into hydrogen to create electricity that will be sent to households and businesses in four states in the region. The project would be eligible for a generous tax break — generating about $30 million a year in federal subsidies for its electricity generation — because the climate-change-causing carbon generated by the plant would be collected and then buried deep underground, in a process called sequestration. The climate and tax legislation passed this summer by Congress and signed by President Biden, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, increased the carbon capture subsidy by 70 percent, to $85 per ton of carbon that is captured and buried… “These federal tax breaks fundamentally change the economics of hydrogen-based power projects, making them much more attractive to investors like Blackstone and its partners, while in theory also providing benefits to the environment and electricity ratepayers… “Burning hydrogen to create electricity generates nitrogen oxide, another pollutant that can cause asthma and other respiratory ailments. And the process of drilling and transporting natural gas to the site often involves the release of methane, which is an even more potent cause of climate change than carbon dioxide. Making matters worse, Bruce Robertson, an energy industry analyst who conducted a study of carbon capture projects worldwide, told the TImes, most of them have failed to live up to promised carbon removal targets, meaning they have not achieved the intended environmental benefits… “All these reasons have led some environmental engineers and energy industry analysts to question why Congress and the Biden administration are offering generous subsidies to so-called blue hydrogen projects that rely on natural gas to produce electricity… “Blue hydrogen is largely a creation of the gas industry to try to prolong the natural gas business,” Mr. Robertson told the Times. Tallgrass Energy, in fact, is primarily a natural gas pipeline company, and many of the biggest backers of the carbon capture technology, such as Exxon, are oil and gas companies.”
Associated Press: The EPA awards grants to monitor air quality in communities hurt by pollution
11/3/22
“The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday awarded grants for projects to monitor air quality in 37 states, with a focus on minority communities and other areas overburdened by pollution,” the Associated Press reports. “A total of 132 projects will receive $53.4 million to enhance air quality monitoring near chemical plants, refineries and other industrial sites — part of a commitment by the Biden administration to focus on environmental justice in communities adversely affected by decades of industrial pollution. The grants are funded by the sweeping climate and health law approved in August and the coronavirus relief plan approved by Congress last year… “The grants follow enforcement actions announced by Regan in January to conduct unannounced inspections of chemical plants, refineries and other industrial sites in three Gulf Coast states suspected of polluting air and water and causing health problems to nearby residents.”
Reuters: U.S. EPA considering expanding Midwest E15 gasoline sales -sources
Stephanie Kelly and Jarrett Renshaw, 11/3/22
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to seek public comment on whether to allow year-round sales of higher ethanol gasoline blends in Midwest states, based on a request from state governors that they say would ease pump prices and help farmers, according to three sources familiar with the discussions,” Reuters reports. “The move to expand sales of E15 would be a win for the ethanol industry, which wants to increase sales of the corn-based fuel and which argues the product would reduce gasoline prices by expanding the volume of available supply. However, critics of the idea - including those in the refining industry - have voiced concerns that a piecemeal approach to growing E15 sales could introduce logistical distribution challenges.”
STATE UPDATES
Cleveland.com: Natural gas-linked super PAC drops $1 million backing Republicans
Jake Zuckerman, 11/2/22
“An opaque political organization linked to the natural gas industry has quietly pumped big money into races bolstering Ohio Republicans, records show,” Cleveland.com reports. “The Affordable Energy Fund, a super PAC, raised nearly $830,000 from nondescript entities since its July 2021 launch, campaign finance records updated as of Oct. 19 show. Since then, it has blasted out ads and mailers supporting GOP U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance, along with several state House and Senate Republican candidates… “The organization cut similar ads for incumbent GOP senators Michael Rulli and Nathan Manning, as well as Michele Reynolds, a Republican running for an open seat in the Columbus area. It has also sent out mailers supporting incumbent House GOP representatives Andrea White and Gail Pavliga, plus outside candidate Jenn Giroux… “The money trail is hazy. The American Exceptionalism Institute, a nonprofit with little public profile, contributed $650,000 to the Affordable Energy Fund in September. According to Open Secrets, the organization has contributed nearly $3 million to similar funds in Georgia, Oklahoma and elsewhere. Affordable Energy LLC, a Virginia corporation whose address has surfaced in other states’ political contests, contributed another $155,000 in mid-October. However, documents obtained in a records request by the Energy and Policy Institute, which advocates for renewable energy and researches the fossil fuel industry’s political influence, show The Empowerment Alliance claimed credit for having “established” the Affordable Energy Fund as a “parallel” organization. The claim came in the organization’s annual report, which was provided to the Auglaize County Commission, which has since voted to prohibit wind and solar projects in its unincorporated areas. The Empowerment Alliance is a nonprofit that doesn’t disclose the source of its funding. Its executive director, Matthew Hammond, took over in November 2021 after stepping down as president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association. The alliance exists to promote “the development and use of natural gas to re-establish the United States as a global energy super power,” its website states. Local news reports identify The Empowerment Alliance touting natural gas at county commission meetings and rotary clubs.”
Reuters: Exxon faces $2 billion loss on sale of troubled California oil properties
Gary Mcwilliams, 11/6/22
“Exxon Mobil Corp will take up to a $2 billion loss on the highly leveraged sale of a troubled California offshore oil and gas field that have been idled since a 2015 pipeline spill,” Reuters reports. “The sale comes after a failed bid this year to restart production at the site and as Exxon culls poor performing businesses. Santa Barbara officials in March rejected an Exxon plan to restart operations and ship oil via dozens of tanker trucks each day to inland refineries. Sable Offshore, a blank check company founded by industry veteran James Flores, will borrow 97% of the $643 million purchase price from Exxon under a five-year loan. Blank check companies raise money to acquire operating businesses. If Flores fails to restart production at the Santa Ynez field by the start of 2026, Exxon could take back the entire operation, Sable disclosed in a filing.”
Press release: Court Allows Environmentalists’ Request to Intervene in Exxon Trucking Case
11/2/22
“A federal judge ruled today that conservation and Indigenous groups can help legally defend Santa Barbara County’s denial of ExxonMobil’s proposal to truck vast quantities of oil along dangerous California roads. ExxonMobil is suing the county for rejecting the plan, which would have helped the company restart three Santa Barbara Channel oil platforms that have been shut down since the 2015 Refugio oil spill. The Environmental Defense Center, Get Oil Out!, Santa Barbara County Action Network, Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation, Center for Biological Diversity, and Wishtoyo Foundation cited the trucking proposal’s risks to public safety and environmental and cultural resources in their bid to join Santa Barbara County in defending the denial of the trucking proposal. In March 2022 the Board of Supervisors rejected ExxonMobil’s proposal to truck more than 460,000 gallons of oil every day for up to seven years. In May 2022 ExxonMobil filed a lawsuit attacking the county’s denial in federal court in Los Angeles. Environmental groups sought to participate in the suit to help ensure that this dangerous project does not go forward, thereby preventing additional risks of more spilled oil, traffic accidents, and air pollution in our communities. Today, the court granted the groups’ request and recognized their significant interests in ensuring that the denial of ExxonMobil’s project is upheld… “ExxonMobil’s plan would have added up to 24,800 oil-filled truck trips a year on coastal Highway 101 and hazardous Route 166. ExxonMobil’s three platforms off the coast of Santa Barbara were shut down in 2015 after the Plains All American Pipeline ruptured and spilled more than 450,000 gallons of heavy crude oil onto our beaches and into the Santa Barbara Channel, spreading all the way to Orange County. In 2020, Santa Barbara County planning staff recommended a prohibition on oil tanker trucks on Route 166 after a major accident spilled more than 4,500 gallons into the Cuyama River.”
Bakersfield Californian: Judge allows Kern to resume oil permitting
JOHN COX, 11/2/22
“A court ruling issued Wednesday allows Kern government to resume oilfield permitting — a big win for an industry that has seen a significant slowdown in local activity after a local judge identified problems with an extensive environmental assessment undergirding the county's review process,” the Bakersfield Californian reports. “Kern County Superior Court Judge Gregory A. Pulskamp discharged a writ that in October 2021 removed the county's authority to approve projects and returned it to state officials who local oil producers complained were taking too long to issue permits. Pulskamp's finding Wednesday is the latest in a yearslong legal battle between the industry, which bankrolled the county's efforts, and a coalition of environmental and farming interests that promptly pledged an appeal… “Executive Director Caroline Farrell of the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment said by email it was disappointed the county "insists on moving forward with this misguided fast-track permitting scheme, which prioritizes the oil industry’s interests above residents' health and the welfare of Kern communities." She added that the coalition has filed an appeal "to address what we believe are ongoing deficiencies in the county’s environmental review, and we will continue to fight to ensure the county follows the law and institutes required protections."
EXTRACTION
The Hill: New report a ‘chronicle of climate chaos’: UN chief
ZACH SCHONFELD, 11/6/22
“United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called a new, dismal report that indicates the past eight years are on track to be the warmest on record a “chronicle of climate chaos,” The Hill reports. “The provisional report was released at the start of COP27, the UN climate summit that began in Egypt on Sunday and is expected to draw world leaders including President Biden and representatives of scores of other countries. The new report suggests climate change’s impacts are becoming more dramatic. The main greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide — again reached record high levels, with methane increasing at a record pace. The rate of sea level rise has doubled since 1993, and the past two-and-a-half years alone account for 10 percent in the overall rise since observers began satellite measurements nearly three decades ago, according to the report… “It’s already too late for many glaciers and the melting will continue for hundreds if not thousands of years, with major implications for water security,” World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a statement.
Wall Street Journal: Frackers Say Oil Production Slowing in the Shale Patch
Benoît Morenne and Collin Eaton, 11/6/22
“Despite an extended streak of strong profits, shale companies are slowing their oil-field activity, keeping U.S. oil production roughly flat and offering little relief for tight global markets,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “What was expected to be a banner year for U.S. oil production has failed to materialize as creeping inflation-related costs, supply-chain snarls and disappointing well performance for some companies have coalesced to limit domestic output, executives and analysts told the Journal. Global oil prices averaged about $100 a barrel in the third quarter, according to Bank of Nova Scotia, and in past years such prices have prompted increased shale production. This time, companies like ConocoPhillips, Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and Devon Energy Corp. are focused on profits instead of drilling and say there are constraints to growth. ConocoPhillips on Thursday reported a profit of $4.5 billion, almost double the same period last year. Pioneer recently said it netted about $2 billion, while Exxon Mobil Corp. posted a record profit of almost $20 billion, and Chevron Corp. said it earned its second-largest quarterly profit, of $11.2 billion. Many of the companies simultaneously lowered their projections for oil production as they reported strong profits.”
Upstream Online: European Union to provide €3 billion in funding to help CCS projects
Zsuzsanna Szabo, 11/1/22
“The European Union is set to launch a new €3 billion ($2.98 billion) package of incentives for carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects after Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson called for an increased sense of urgency in a field identified as fundamental for meeting climate targets,” Upstream Online reports. “Simson spoke about the new support, to be made available from the EU’s Innovation Fund, at the Carbon Capture, Utilisation & Storage Forum, held in Oslo last week. New funds to help bring large-scale innovative clean-energy projects to the market will be made available for CCS projects under a third call for applications under the EU’s Innovation Fund. Under the earlier second call, the EU selected 17 large-scale innovative clean-tech projects located in Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden, but the available grant for the selected projects was a total of €1.8 billion, according to a European Commission statement in July. At the EU’s annual CCUS Forum, co-hosted by Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum & Energy, Simson stressed one of the main obstacles of decarbonisation projects is “scarcity of funding”. She acknowledged that financing available to help to decarbonise Europe would have to rise far above current levels, and said the new call for applications was to address this shortfall. “In the coming weeks we will launch another call. A record [sum of] €3 billion will be allocated to CCS,” Simson said. “Scarcity of funding means no matter how great the ideas are, without the right capital the right ideas won’t make ground.”
Allied Market Research: Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Market to Witness Remarkable Growth from 2021 – 2030
11/6/22
“The global carbon capture, utilization, and storage market are expected to head toward expansion in the coming years, owing to rising industrialization along with soaring investments toward the introduction of emission control machinery will create significant market opportunities across various sectors including oil & gas, chemical and power generation across the globe,” according to Allied Market Research. “...Furthermore, several governmental policies to limit greenhouse gases emission across the key economic sectors with the participation of regulators will further stimulate the carbon capture, utilization, and storage industry landscape… “However, the high cost of carbon capture and storage and decreasing crude oil prices are expected to hamper the growth of the carbon capture, utilization, and storage market during the forecast period. Furthermore, a large number of upcoming projects in the Asia-Pacific and Europe region and continuous investments in developing innovative capturing technologies enabling economic operations are expected to provide growth opportunities for the carbon capture, utilization, and storage market during the forecast period… “Key findings of the study: In 2020, North America dominated the global carbon capture, utilization, and storage market with around 42.5% share, in terms of revenue; Europe is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 14.4% in terms of revenue; The capture service segment dominated the global carbon capture, utilization, and storage market with 70.0% of the share in terms of revenue; The post-combustion capture segment dominated the global carbon capture, utilization, and storage market with around 45.8% of the share in terms of revenue’ The oxy-fuel combustion capture segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 14.4% in terms of revenue; The oil & gas segment dominated the global carbon capture, utilization, and storage market with 57.6% of the share in terms of revenue.”
Politico: Occidental eyes massive CO2 removal project
11/4/22
“Occidental Petroleum Corp. unveiled plans this week for what it says will be the largest-ever deployment of direct air capture (DAC) technology, which pulls carbon dioxide out of the air,” Politico reports. “The oil and gas company said that its subsidiary 1PointFive has agreed to lease 106,000 acres of land near Corpus Christi, Texas, to develop the project, which could consist of up to 30 DAC plants across the site. All together, the company says the plants could remove up to 3 billion metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere annually. 1PointFive agreed to lease the land from King Ranch, an historic cattle and horse ranch that describes itself as focused on environmental stewardship and spans an area larger than Rhode Island… “The new projects will help the world to scale up DAC deployment, according to Ben Rubin, executive director of the Carbon Business Council, a trade group that represents carbon management companies… “Separately, climate technology company CarbonCapture Inc. and carbon storage developer Frontier Carbon Solutions announced in September another major direct air capture project, which will be built in Wyoming. The companies say the development, named Project Bison, will begin operations in 2023 and will achieve 5 million metric ton CO2 capture capacity by 2030. The Democrats’ climate law more than tripled the value of the carbon capture tax credit — known as 45Q — for direct air capture. William Fitzgerald, a spokesperson for 1PointFive, told Politico the expanded tax credit will “accelerate” the company’s deployment of DAC plants… “Environmental groups have long criticized petrochemical companies’ carbon capture announcements, which they say will extend the use of fossil fuels, as many companies use captured CO2 to extract otherwise unreachable oil out of the ground. Fitzgerald, the 1PointFive spokesperson, did not respond to a question about the company’s end-use plans for CO2 captured at the new DAC plants… “These projects being put forward by Oxy and the fossil fuel industry largely are little more than massive, publicly funded boondoggles that will result in the continuation of the industry that is literally destroying our climate and poisoning communities,” Jim Walsh, policy director at Food & Water Watch, told Politico.
Canadian Energy Centre: New report shows supplying Canadian LNG to Asia could reduce emissions by the equivalent of removing every vehicle from Canadian roads
11/7/22
“Canadian liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Asia could provide the annual net emissions equivalent reduction of removing every single car from Canadian roads, shows a new study from global energy research and consultancy firm, Wood Mackenzie,” according to the Canadian Energy Centre. “As world leaders gather in Egypt for the COP27 world climate summit Oct. 8-18, the study, commissioned by the Canadian Energy Centre, demonstrates how natural gas from Canada could help energy hungry Asian countries meet growing demand, while helping lower net global emissions by supplanting coal. Given Canada’s vast natural gas reserves, proximity to Asian markets and competitively priced product, Canada has an opportunity to become a key supplier for decades to come… “Canada currently has no ability to export LNG to global markets, but a handful of west coast projects could see Canada enter a global marketplace that has grown significantly as nations look for alternatives to Russian natural gas… “The report’s authors examined three scenarios – a base case that considers moderate growth of Canada’s LNG industry, one in which Canada greatly accelerates its LNG capacity, and one in which it remains largely stagnant. In the base case, by 2050, Canada could account for nearly 20% of the northeast Asia LNG market share, compared to 31.7% under the accelerated model and just under 7% if Canada limits LNG growth. Under the scenario in which Canada accelerates its LNG capacity, helping Asia switch from coal to natural gas, net emissions in the region could be reduced by an average of 188 MtCO₂E (metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) per year, or about 29% of Canada’s total annual greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of removing all of today’s cars from Canada’s roads. Should Canada limit LNG growth, total emissions in northeast Asia would continue to rise by an average of four MtCO₂E per year.” “...Meanwhile, the CEC has also launched a digital media campaign during COP27 targeting delegates with the message that Canada’s oil sands industry has “accepted the challenge” of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The campaign includes online display banner ads in Egypt as well as print ads in the New York Times international edition, which will appear in 190,000 papers. The ads will direct people to www.oilsandsnetzero.ca, which will highlight the important role oil and gas plays in meeting current and future global energy demand, and how Canada’s oil and gas industry is the supplier of choice for meeting the world’s growing energy needs.”
Reuters: Canada's share buyback tax could backfire, energy sector warns
Rod Nickel and Nia Williams, 11/6/22
“Canada's proposal to tax corporate stock buybacks is unlikely to deter oil and gas companies from returning cash to shareholders and may instead put them at a competitive disadvantage, industry officials and analysts said,” Reuters reports. “Canadian energy companies have been the most active in buying back shares of any sector during the past year, according to CIBC, and also funnelled profits from high prices into dividends and debt payments, limiting new production investments. On Thursday, the Liberal government proposed a 2% tax on buybacks to encourage companies to reinvest in their workers and business. The tax will generate an estimated C$2.1 billion ($1.6 billion) over five years and take effect on Jan. 1, 2024. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada both said the tax, double of a 1% measure in the United States, would be a competitive disadvantage. The tax "may have the unintended effect of discouraging investment into Canadian-run businesses while putting the shareholder returns of Canadian investors at risk," said CAPP President Lisa Baiton. The tax could especially hurt small companies which have fewer resources, Michael Belenkie, CEO of Advantage Energy (AAV.TO), a 54,000-barrel-of-oil-equivalent-per-day producer, told Reuters. “If you take away the ability to buy back equity when times are good, then you restrict the ability and desire to issue equity when times are bad," he told Reuters. Canada's four largest producers - Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNQ.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Suncor Energy and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) - spent C$15.8 billion combined on buybacks in 2022's first three quarters, according to Tudor Pickering Holt (TPH). At the same time those companies have held back from significantly boosting production because of concerns about volatile prices and slowing long-term oil demand.”
OPINION
New York Times: King Oil Reigns Over American Politics
Meg Jacobs teaches history and public affairs at Princeton and is the author of “Pocketbook Politics: Economic Citizenship in Twentieth-Century America” and “Panic at the Pump: The Energy Crisis and the Transformation of American Politics in the 1970s,” 11/5/22
“President Biden knows the political power of the price of gasoline,” Meg Jacobs writes for the New York Times. “About two weeks ago, fearing what an uptick in gas prices might do to Democrats at the ballot box in the midterms, Mr. Biden announced the release of 15 million barrels from the United States’ emergency petroleum stockpile in an effort to drive down prices. A gallon now costs $3.78 on average compared with $5.03 five months ago, but that is still higher than what Americans want to pay. To show he means business, Mr. Biden went a step further this week, calling on Congress to consider a windfall profits tax on oil companies, which are reaping record gains since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a spike in oil prices. “It’s time for these companies to stop war profiteering,” Mr. Biden said… “America lives under the shadow of King Oil because our lives are organized around our cars and our cars run on gasoline. The roots of this dependence go back to before the 1970s oil shocks, to the postwar years when America’s economy boomed, thanks to cheap and plentiful gas… “Appeals to conservation went unheeded. Americans refused to consume less; we resisted developing new forms of energy. As a result, the nation was running in place. Americans wanted everything to be the same… “Mr. Biden has watched as his party’s political fortunes have been driven by the ups and downs of energy prices since the early 1970s. Over those nearly 50 years he has undoubtedly discovered the tension at the heart of this: While politicians live and die in the short term, it’s only long-term policies that can offer an enduring solution… “Even as Mr. Biden might get minimal short-term benefits from his energy and climate policies — and minimal relief in gas prices in the near future — history may look back on his record as a turning point, when America didn’t just start ending its gas addiction but went further into alternatives that began making our country and our politics less in thrall to King Oil.”
The Hill: Climate stunts and the soup heard around the world
Andreas Karelas is the author of “Climate Courage: How Tackling Climate Change Can Build Community, Transform the Economy, and Bridge the Political Divide in America,” 11/6/22
“Ahead of the United Nations climate conference COP 27 kicking off in Egypt, the UN Secretary General António Guterres said, “There is no way we can avoid a catastrophic situation, if [the developed and developing world] are not able to establish a historic pact … because at the present level, we will be doomed.” “Present policies [on the climate] will be absolutely catastrophic,” he added,” Andreas Karelas writes for The Hill. “...Yet, recent climate protests with unconventional tactics are what have garnered more attention, more impassioned discussion and posed deeper societal and ethical questions than the countless well-meaning speeches we hear from world leaders, decade after decade. It started with two young climate activists in the UK with a can of soup and a bottle of glue: A few weeks ago, a pair of British teenagers emptied a can of tomato soup on a priceless Van Gogh painting, “Sunflowers,” in London’s National Gallery and glued themselves to the wall to call attention to climate change. Other climate activists have followed suit in a number of similarly bold protests… “But once I learned that the painting was covered with glass, which the activists knew ahead of time, and that the painting had not been damaged, my opinion changed. This is exactly the type of activism we need more of… “While climate change is so easy for society to try and ignore (until the next extreme weather event), actions like this make it urgent — make it front page news, which is exactly what it should be, as the activists have pointed out. Frankly, we are not protesting nearly dramatically enough… “Are there productive ways of taking action that are more solutions-oriented, like spearheading community-based solar projects? Absolutely. The climate movement must create more opportunities, especially for young folks, to direct their efforts and activism. However, we are in an all-hands-on-deck type of moment. So, to the agitators throwing soup, mashed potatoes or orange paint to call attention to the climate crisis: Keep doing what you’re doing. We need you.”