EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 3/25/22
PIPELINE NEWS
Associated Press: US pipeline agency pulls back plan to assess climate impacts
Politico: MCCONNELL WEIGHS IN
E&E News: Republican bill would overturn new FERC pipeline policy
Mitchell Republic: Crowd at Sioux Falls meeting expresses skepticism about proposed carbon pipeline
The Gazette: Massive Iowa oak tree may be in path of CO2 pipeline
Stand.Earth: COASTAL GASLINK: A DANGEROUS PROJECT THAT BLATANTLY VIOLATES INDIGENOUS RIGHTS
MPR: Bill would toughen penalties for water violators
E&E News: ‘Drill, buddy, drill!!!!’ Inside FERC’s $40M Rover fine
NorthJersey.com: NJ Supreme Court to consider if pipeline company can be part of construction permit appeal
S&P Global: Ample Canadian crude pipeline, rail export capacity exists if output rises
St. Louis Public Radio: Cleanup of big Edwardsville oil spill continues, but pipeline concerns persist
WBRC: ATF: Ruptured methane pipeline near coal mine possible criminal act
Pipeline Fighters Hub: Risks of Converting Natural Gas Pipelines to CO2 Service
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Washington Post: Sen. Manchin launches new push for ‘all of the above’ energy bill
Politico: GREAT LEASING EXPECTATIONS
Center for Biological Diversity: Lawsuit Aims to Protect California’s Temblor Legless Lizard
Reuters: Regulatory changes over U.S. oil and gas leases not hampering output -Barclays
STATE UPDATES
New York Times: Methane Leaks in New Mexico Far Exceed Current Estimates, Study Suggests
EXTRACTION
AFP: Canada torn between economy, climate in deciding oil project
Associated Press: Methane survey from small plane finds more pollution, waste
E&E News: Gas flaring connected to early U.S. deaths — report
Reuters: Eying strong year-end prices, U.S. oil firms accelerate activity- Fed Survey
S&P Global: Occidental to spend 5% of 2022 capital on Permian carbon removal plant
Wall Street Journal: High Gasoline Prices Have Consumers Thinking Electric
CLIMATE FINANCE
ACRE: Vanguard’s Empty Promises: How Vanguard Funds Harm and Fuels Extractive Industry
OPINION
Cape Gazette: Pipeline expansion is everything we don’t need
Forbes: Purchase Oil From Canada, Not Venezuela
Troy Media: Canada’s oil sands represent U.S. energy security
PIPELINE NEWS
Associated Press: US pipeline agency pulls back plan to assess climate impacts
By MATTHEW DALY, 3/24/22
“Amid pushback from industry groups and lawmakers in both parties, federal energy regulators on Thursday scaled back plans to consider how natural gas projects affect climate change and environmental justice,” the Associated Press reports. “The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said a plan to consider climate effects will now be considered a draft and will only apply to future projects. Opponents had criticized a proposal approved last month to tighten climate rules, saying it was poorly timed amid a push for increased natural gas exports following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine… “Climate activists accused FERC of bowing to political pressure, a claim FERC Chairman Richard Glick denied. “I’m not going to do anything for political purposes,” he told reporters, adding that he and other commissioners have had discussions with numerous pipeline and natural gas companies since the panel approved the climate policy last month. Industry leaders told them the policy changes “raise additional questions that could benefit from further clarification,″ Glick said… “In a related development, FERC approved three natural gas projects that have been pending before the panel for months. Two of the projects will expand gas production in the U.S. Gulf Coast, while the third is located in New York State. One of the projects will connect with an export terminal in Louisiana for liquefied natural gas, or LNG… “But Kelly Sheehan, senior director of the Sierra Club’s energy campaigns, told AP the draft policy was a small step toward meeting the commission’s legal requirements to protect the environment and guard against climate change. “The fossil fuel industry and the politicians they finance are pitching a fit because they’re worried FERC’s modest proposed policy changes might mean they no longer have free rein to build as many polluting pipelines as they want, with no regard for the impacts on communities or the climate,″ Sheehan told AP… “Chatterjee, a former McConnell aide who was elevated to chairman by former President Donald Trump and later demoted by Trump, called the panel’s decision to delay the climate rule “a big-time win” for pipeline companies. Any company considering a natural gas project “should expedite and move forward ASAP before the commission finalizes the statements,″ he wrote.
Politico: MCCONNELL WEIGHS IN
Matthew Choi, Catherine Morehouse, 3/24/22
“Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is joining the chorus of conservative opposition to the FERC statements today and plans to write to Glick this morning that the timing of the policy statements was “especially baffling” with the U.S. shoring up its LNG export capacity to help meet Europe’s energy needs,” Politico reports. “McConnell told Politico the statements would complicate approvals with “new ill-defined ‘environmental justice’ factors” and considerations for climate effects, “many of which are not even under pipeline builders’ control.” McConnell cited 15 pipeline projects awaiting FERC approval, which have been pending for an average of more than 480 days, as examples of a sluggish permitting process holding up capacity growth. “At a time when we should be looking for ways to expedite the approval of these important projects, the Commission has chosen on a purely partisan basis to do the exact opposite,” McConnell writes in a draft of the letter obtained by Politico. “Erecting new roadblocks to affordable, abundant energy makes no sense, particularly in this tenuous time.”
E&E News: Republican bill would overturn new FERC pipeline policy
NICO PORTUONDO, 3/24/22
“The top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, introduced a bill yesterday to effectively halt new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission policies that could impose stringent regulations on new natural gas pipelines due to their greenhouse gas emissions,” E&E News reports. “The bill would specifically nullify recent controversial FERC actions on pipelines until the North American Electric Reliability Corp. — an industry nonprofit that has an official advisory role under FERC — determines that disruptions to natural gas pipelines pose no risk to power reliability virtually anywhere in the country. “FERC’s destructive new policies will make it nearly impossible to build or upgrade any natural gas infrastructure,” Barrasso said in a statement introducing the "Ensuring National Security Using Reliable Energy (ENSURE) Act." He added, "My legislation stops that from happening." Barrasso's bill comes after an extended controversy over February policy enactments by FERC regarding natural gas pipelines. The new guidance allows the agency to consider proposed natural gas projects that emit more than 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year as having a "significant environmental impact," subjecting the projects to more rigorous environmental regulations if they're approved.”
Mitchell Republic: Crowd at Sioux Falls meeting expresses skepticism about proposed carbon pipeline
Christopher Vondracek, 3/24/22
“At one point on Wednesday, March 23, Jimmy Powell, the leader of a proposed carbon pipeline, held the microphone closely to his mouth so everyone in the packed hotel ballroom could hear him,” the Mitchell Republic reports. "Is this better?" The ensuing applause was about the warmest reception he and leadership of Midwest Carbon Express Project would receive all night. The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday held a public meeting about a proposed 2,000-mile pipeline that would, if approved, ferry carbon from more than 30 ethanol plants across the Upper Midwest to a sequestration dig in northwestern North Dakota. But many of the hundreds who gathered had already made up their mind they were opposed to the project… “But even those members of the public who said they'd considered the project with an open mind were, by Wednesday, now in opposition. "I've evolved into not being in favor of this project," said Minnehaha County Commissioner Jeff Barth, who stepped up first to the temperamental microphone… “But the public, many of whom have been contacted by the company as early as last August about a pipeline potentially running through their property, seemed skeptical that they'd receive a fair monetary value for their easement from the company. And they doubted the goals of the project… “Oran Sorenson, of Garretson, South Dakota, said he suspected that Summit Carbon actually sought federal tax credits for carbon sequestration. "I don't believe we should be altering our lifestyle even a little bit to line some people's pockets," Sorenson said to more applause.”
The Gazette: Massive Iowa oak tree may be in path of CO2 pipeline
Erin Jordan, 3/25/22
“Bobbye McNish was elated when she got a letter Nov. 1 saying the white oak tree she owns, just 50 yards from the Mississippi River in Lee County, was on track to be the state’s largest of its kind. Elation turned to dismay a few days later when she got another letter saying the property was on or near the proposed route of an underground carbon dioxide pipeline,” The Gazette reports. “I’m thinking, ”No! Don’t destroy this tree that I had come to realize has some historical value,“ McNish, 67, who lives in Texas, but still owns the Lee County land where her grandparents and parents lived, told the Gazette. ”It’s such a small community. We want to be proud of the things we have in our small towns.“ McNish remembers visiting her grandparents at their cottage, where she could see the moon shine on the river. The white oak, likely planted before 1850, was on the neighboring property, at that time owned by Sen. Stanley L. Hart, a Republican who served in the Iowa Senate from 1937 to 1953… “McNish allowed Dakota Access an easement in 2016 to install a petroleum pipeline and she believes Navigator is following a similar corridor as Dakota Access. “I’ve informed them about the tree.” she said of Navigator. “They say they take it into consideration.” “...Navigator spokesman Andy Bates said in an email this week the oak is not in the direct path of the pipeline at this time.”
Stand.Earth: COASTAL GASLINK: A DANGEROUS PROJECT THAT BLATANTLY VIOLATES INDIGENOUS RIGHTS
3/24/22
“First conceived in 2012, Coastal GasLink made international headlines in early 2020, when Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) forcibly arrested Wet’suwet’en land defenders and allies at a camp along a contested logging road. The raid sparked solidarity protests and railway blockades across the country. Built by TC Energy, the 670-km Coastal GasLink pipeline is intended to carry fracked gas from Dawson Creek to Kitimat, BC, where it will be converted to liquified natural gas (LNG) for export to global markets. Despite unequivocal Wet’suwet’en opposition to the project, the pipeline runs through 22,000 square kilometres of the Nation’s unceded territory. It also crosses more than 206 ecologically sensitive waterways… “With an estimated CAD $6.6 billion price tag, the project reached financial close in April 2020. The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is among five commercial banks (including Bank of Montreal, Scotiabank, CIBC and TD bank) that provided the project with working capital. RBC provided CAD $275 million in project finance – including a co-financed $6.5 billion loan and a $40 million corporate loan, and $200 million in co-financed working capital – while acting as financial advisor for the pipeline. RBC also holds over 85 million shares in TC Energy, which translates to about 8.6% of the company or more than a $1.03 billion-dollar stake (at $58/share). RBC not only finances TC Energy; it’s deeply invested in the company, and doubly exposed in the Coastal GasLink pipeline. In September 2021, RBC joined the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) – a coalition of financial institutions committed to accelerating economic decarbonization. Yet, between January and October 2021, RBC provided fossil fuel companies with $23.9 billion in loans and underwriting and $51 billion in investments. Coastal GasLink contradicts both Canada’s international climate commitments and B.C. legislation intended to stem the climate crisis.”
MPR: Bill would toughen penalties for water violators
Kirsti Marohn, 3/25/22
“Some Minnesota lawmakers are proposing to give the state Department of Natural Resources more enforcement tools to hold accountable those who violate permits to use the state’s water,” MPR reports. “The bill is a response to breaches of underground aquifers by crews installing the Line 3 oil pipeline last year, which caused millions of gallons of groundwater to flow to the surface. "We have a multibillion dollar corporation violating permits and impacting our state waters,” state Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn, DFL-Roseville, the House bill’s author, told MPR. “And the tools that we have to hold them accountable seemed to not be enough." In January 2021, crews working on Line 3 near the Clearbrook terminal in northwestern Minnesota dug too deeply and pierced an aquifer under pressure. It was five months before the DNR learned of the breach, and nearly a year before Canadian company Enbridge finally stopped the uncontrolled flow… “The DNR hit Enbridge with the maximum fine of $20,000 — pocket change for a major energy company. Becker-Finn's bill would give the DNR a slate of new accountability measures for water users who violate their permits. It would increase the maximum penalty to $40,000, and require payment for serious or repeat violations. The worst offenders who harm the state's waters or those who profit from violations could face court-ordered civil penalties of up to $10,000 a day. "It's a lot of additional language that we're putting in here to make it clear to permit holders that if they violate their permits and they don't correct them, and they don't sort of do things in good faith, that there will be harsher penalties,” Becker-Finn told MPR.
E&E News: ‘Drill, buddy, drill!!!!’ Inside FERC’s $40M Rover fine
Mike Soraghan, 3/24/22
“Tunneling under the Tuscarawas River was not going well. It was early April 2017, and construction on the Rover pipeline across Ohio had just begun. At a worksite near Canton, Ohio, a drilling device was stuck, probably caked with mud. And drilling fluid that should circulate back to the surface was instead disappearing underground,” E&E News reports. “ So the night foreman of a contractor crew started adding diesel fuel to the mix to lubricate the drill and get it unstuck, according to an enforcement report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Other workers followed his lead. It’s an old trick. It was also against the law. The drilling fluid — about 2 million gallons of it — later surfaced in a pristine wetland across the river. The mud was at least a foot and laced with the toxic fuel. Now, FERC is seeking a $40 million fine from Rover’s developer, Energy Transfer LP. In its report issued late last year, agency enforcement staff said the company fostered a speed-justifies-the-means attitude and passed it on to its roughly 12,000 contract employees, all the way to the laborers in the mud pits. “These violations were the product of a corporate culture that favored speed and construction progress over regulatory compliance that Rover pressed upon its contractors,” FERC’s enforcement staff wrote… “The $40 million fine would represent the revenue Rover pipeline takes in, on average, every 18 days, according to the filings. It is far less than what the company has already spent dealing with the incident. Energy Transfer told tax officials the spill and subsequent delays cost about $229 million and increased regulatory costs by $94 million.”
NorthJersey.com: NJ Supreme Court to consider if pipeline company can be part of construction permit appeal
David M. Zimmer, 3/25/22
“The fate of a controversial project to build a natural gas compressor station along a pipeline in North Jersey could lie with the New Jersey Supreme Court,” NorthJersey.com reports. “Later this month, the court justices are due to hear arguments regarding the circumstances of an ongoing challenge to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline project's Highlands Act exemption from environmental advocacy groups. The federally regulated pipeline project would install an electric powered 19,000-horsepower compressor turbine near the Monksville Reservoir. Combined with two other compressor station upgrades, including one in Sussex County, the project would expand capacity on the Tennessee Gas system enough to allow Consolidated Edison to end its moratorium on natural gas connections in Westchester County, New York, records show. On March 28, the Supreme Court is expected to consider the legality of the 2021 challenge to the project from nonprofits Food & Water Watch and the New Jersey Highlands Coalition. The groups appealed the project's Highlands Applicability Determination and Water Quality Management Plan Consistency Determination, which essentially granted the company a permit to build the station and affiliated facilities in spite of Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act restrictions on development. The challenge from the nonprofits seeks to intervene and nullify the permit.”
S&P Global: Ample Canadian crude pipeline, rail export capacity exists if output rises
Jordan Blum, 3/24/22
“As crude oil prices have surged, so to has a renewed emphasis on North American energy security and the need for the US to lean more on volumes from the Canadian oil sands,” S&P Global reports. “Energy executives and analysts acknowledge there now exists ample pipeline and rail capacity to move additional barrels from Alberta into US refining hubs, even without the infamous Keystone XL Pipeline project that President Joe Biden effectively canceled. A handful of competing pipeline projects and expansions recently ended the longstanding Canadian pipeline bottleneck into the US, easing the flow of the heavy Canadian barrels desired by many US refineries. Pipeline capacity tightness could still emerge in early 2023 -- if Canadian production rises by 300,000 b/d or so as projected -- but it would only be expected to last for a few months until Canada's delayed expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline is completed in the fall. In the interim, crude-by-rail exports could return to their pre-pandemic volumes temporarily, experts told S&P. As the US and Canada have banned Russian barrels for the invasion of Ukraine, it has become political theater to allege that the existence of Keystone XL would notably alter North America energy supplies and lower US gasoline prices. But the reality is much different from the rhetoric, AJ O'Donnell, product team director for East Daley Capital, told S&P. "Without a large change in supply or a shift in capital, we have plenty of capacity to clear the basin.” “...And even moving more Canadian crude to the USGC by water could theoretically become a more viable option. Illinois-based Ducere said it will start construction this spring on a barge project to transport up to 450,000 b/d of Canadian heavy crude from the Chicago Ship Channel along the Mississippi River to feed refineries in Louisiana and beyond.”
St. Louis Public Radio: Cleanup of big Edwardsville oil spill continues, but pipeline concerns persist
Danny Wicentowski, 3/23/22
“An oil spill in Edwardsville unleashed an estimated 165,000 gallons of crude oil into Madison County waterways earlier this month. It’s among the largest local spills on record — but for residents near the spill site, it wasn’t clear at first that anything was wrong,” St. Louis Public Radio reports. “The first local observation started with a smell. On March 11, the Edwardsville Fire Department alerted residents on Facebook to “multiple calls this morning for an odor of natural gas in the air.” But it wasn’t natural gas. Instead, it was an oil spill from Marathon Petroleum, which maintains a 75-mile pipeline that runs for part of its length parallel to Cahokia Creek. On Wednesday’s St. Louis on the Air, Edwardsville resident Toni Oplt recalled detecting the smell but not knowing what it meant: One of her neighbors believed that a work crew was tarring a road. Days later, another complained the smell was giving her headaches. She sees the spill as a much-needed warning. Edwardsville resident Toni Oplt is an environmental activist, a member of the Sierra Club and serves as the chairperson for the Metro East Green Alliance. “I think this is a wake-up call for us,” Oplt told SLPR. “We always think of natural disasters as being far away, until they're with us.” “...In a statement to St. Louis on the Air, Marathon Petroleum said that its crews are continuing to work along the area of the spill near the Cahokia Creek. The statement added that the spill is being “monitored 24 hours a day for impacted wildlife and audible deterrent is being used to keep any animals from entering the affected area.” In an earlier statement, the company claimed it had already recovered between 2,200 and 3,000 barrels of oil that had spilled from the pipeline.”
WBRC: ATF: Ruptured methane pipeline near coal mine possible criminal act
3/24/22
“A methane pipeline ruptured in Brookwood after midnight Thursday, according to ATF agents,” WBRC reports. “...Investigators told WBRC law enforcement personnel located a methane pipeline that was ruptured along with debris, which indicates the incident could possibly be the result of a criminal act. The Alabama Mining Association announced Brookwood’s Warrior Met Coal, Inc. is offering $25,000 to anyone who provides information which directly leads to an arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the attack against the natural gas pipelines… “Warrior Met Coal issued this statement: The suspected use of explosives and subsequent damage to the natural gas pipelines owned by the Company, endangered the health and safety of members of the public, employees, and first responders. Concerning the serious nature of the events, D’Andre Wright, spokesperson for the Company, told WBRC, “Warrior Met Coal and its subsidiaries have always focused on the safety of our employees and the communities in which we live and operate. We believe today’s attack on our pipeline facilities was related to the ongoing labor dispute.”
Pipeline Fighters Hub: Risks of Converting Natural Gas Pipelines to CO2 Service
Paul Blackburn, 3/25/22
“The carbon pipeline projects that are grabbing the most media attention involve the construction of new pipelines across several Midwest states. However, we are also hearing about the possibility of converting existing oil and natural gas pipelines to ship carbon dioxide (CO2) as well,” Paul Blackburn writes for the Pipeline Fighters Hub. “Communities and landowners should be aware of these conversion pipeline proposals because the risks of living next door to a CO2 pipeline are very different that an oil or gas pipeline… “Although federal law regulates all aspects of the conversion of a natural gas pipeline to CO2 service, this does not mean that there is nothing state and county governments can do to protect citizens and their properties around pipeline laws and zoning. In particular, county commissions should consider land use and zoning controls, emergency planning and other means to ensure that carbon pipelines do not threaten the land and water or the lives and health of citizens… “The primary reasons why the owner of an existing natural gas or oil pipeline might convert it to CO2 gas service is to take advantage of the generous federal CCS tax credits (e.g. 45Q) or to provide CO2 to an enhanced oil recovery project. It might be able to save a bundle of money by converting an existing pipeline instead of building a brand new one, and thereby extend the pipeline’s commercial life. We shouldn’t let this urge to save money put our lives and communities at risk. Before any pipelines are converted to ship CO2 gas, PHMSA must issue comprehensive federal safety standards applicable to these pipelines, which standards must address their unique safety risks. Otherwise, these converted pipelines could operate without any federal or state safety standards and oversight. This regulatory gap creates an unacceptable safety risk that no community should accept. Should you be approached by a company that seeks to convert an existing natural gas or oil pipeline to CO2 gas, let us know and also contact PHMSA and ask it to comply with its Congressional mandate to issue federal standards to ensure that the CO2 gas pipelines operate safely. Any conversion to transport CO2 gas should be put on hold at least until PHMSA issues federal safety regulations specifically applicable to CO2 gas pipelines.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Washington Post: Sen. Manchin launches new push for ‘all of the above’ energy bill
Maxine Joselow, Anna Phillips and Tyler Pager, 3/24/22
“Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) has restarted talks with fellow Democrats about reviving the party’s climate and social spending bill, according to two people familiar with the matter, as administration officials search for oil and gas policies that could make the measure more palatable to him,” the Washington Post reports. “Manchin, who has traveled in the past week with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, has told staff members and colleagues that the legislation must be voted on before senators leave town in August, according to the two people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. Manchin, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has said that he wants the bill to take an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy policy, these people said, and that it’s still possible to reach a deal that includes billions of dollars’ worth of provisions to tackle climate change, cut prescription drug costs and update the tax code. He has also indicated that he wants the Biden administration to make some concessions related to oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and natural gas exports, they added… “White House national climate adviser Gina McCarthy on Thursday told the Post that Biden is ready to reengage with Manchin on tax credits and other policies aimed at boosting clean energy and electric vehicles.”
Politico: GREAT LEASING EXPECTATIONS
Matthew Choi, Catherine Morehouse, 3/24/22
“Signs are pointing toward the Interior Department announcing an onshore lease sale in the next month, a person with knowledge of the agency’s plans tells Politico. The Department hasn’t held one since President Joe Biden took office, leaving Republicans and Manchin, whose committee oversees Interior, fuming. Interior had planned to hold an onshore lease sale in March, but scrapped it after a federal judge ruled that it couldn’t use the social cost of greenhouse gas as a factor in its environmental review, an aide for Congressional Democrats familiar with the situation told Politico. Now that an appeals court has blocked that decision, Interior may wish to announce a sale soon, the aide told Politico, especially given that it needs Manchin’s vote to clear from committee Laura Daniel-Davis, Biden’s nominee to lead the department’s land and minerals office.”
Center for Biological Diversity: Lawsuit Aims to Protect California’s Temblor Legless Lizard
3/23/22
“The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit today to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decide whether the temblor legless lizard in California warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act. The legless lizard is a rare, sand-swimming reptile that occupies a very small area of habitat near the Temblor Range on the southern end of California’s San Joaquin Valley. The survival of the species is jeopardized by oil and gas drilling in its limited range. “Rampant oil and gas development is putting these rare animals at risk of extinction,” said Lauren Parker, an attorney at the Center’s Climate Law Institute. “It’s past time for the Fish and Wildlife Service to stop dragging its feet, complete its review and protect the legless lizard before it’s too late.” In response to a 2020 Center petition, the Service announced last June that the Temblor legless lizard may qualify for protection under the Endangered Species Act. The next step is for the agency to issue a 12-month finding and proposed rule. That finding is more than a year overdue… “Today’s legal complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. The Center is seeking a date by which the Service must complete its listing review.”
Reuters: Regulatory changes over U.S. oil and gas leases not hampering output -Barclays
3/23/22
“Regulatory changes are not slowing U.S. oil and gas production on federal lands, Barclays said on Wednesday, even as energy companies say the White House's policies have hindered the energy industry amid calls to ramp up output to plug potential supply shortfalls following Russia's invasion of Ukraine,” Reuters reports. “While the Biden administration early in its tenure temporarily limited federal leasing, it has shifted to pushing for more oil and gas development in the short-term to offset an expected drop in exports from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine… "While output on federal lands is trending below the pre-COVID-19 level, its share of the total U.S. output is largely unchanged," Barclays said, adding fewer leases being issued was a trend prior to Biden's administration. "The industry has drilled more wells on federal lands, but also completed fewer wells, in part contributing to lower production," it said.
STATE UPDATES
New York Times: Methane Leaks in New Mexico Far Exceed Current Estimates, Study Suggests
Maggie Astor, 3/24/22
“Startlingly large amounts of methane are leaking from wells and pipelines in New Mexico, according to a new analysis of aerial data, suggesting that the oil and gas industry may be contributing more to climate change than was previously known,” the New York Times reports. “The study, by researchers at Stanford University, estimates that oil and gas operations in New Mexico’s Permian Basin are releasing 194 metric tons per hour of methane, a planet-warming gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide. That is more than six times as much as the latest estimate from the Environmental Protection Agency. The number came as a surprise to Yuanlei Chen and Evan Sherwin, the lead authors of the study, which was published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. “We spent really the past more than two years going backwards and forwards thinking of ways that we might be wrong and talking with other experts in the methane community,” Dr. Sherwin, a postdoctoral research fellow in energy resources engineering at Stanford, told the Times. “And at the end of that process, we realized that this was our best estimate of methane emissions in this region and this time, and we had to publish it.” He and Ms. Chen, a Ph.D. student in energy resources engineering, told the Times they believed their results showed the necessity of surveying a large number of sites in order to accurately measure the environmental impact of oil and gas production.”
EXTRACTION
AFP: Canada torn between economy, climate in deciding oil project
3/25/22
“Eco warrior turned Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, picked by Justin Trudeau five months ago to guide Canada's climate policy, will soon face his first major test in deciding on a new offshore oil project,” AFP reports. “Norwegian firm Equinor is seeking to develop oil discoveries in the Flemish Pass Basin, some 500 kilometers (310 miles) east of St. Johns, Newfoundland. Its proposed Bay du Nord project promises to create thousands of jobs and generate Can$3.5 billion (US$2.8 billion) in royalties for the Atlantic island province, rescuing its floundering economy. But exploiting an estimated 300 million barrels of oil over 30 years would set back efforts to curb climate change… “Guilbeault, a longtime activist who scaled Toronto's CN Tower in 2001 to draw attention to climate change, is to announce a decision in the coming weeks. Environmentalists tell AFP this will be a "real test" of his and Prime Minister Trudeau's climate bona fides. The Trudeau administration faces "a very big dilemma," Pierre-Olivier Pineau, an energy policy expert at HEC Montreal business school, told AFP. "If I had to bet, I think there is a slightly higher chance that he rejects the project," he told AFP, opining that the government needs to show itself to be taking real climate actions, especially after being thrashed in 2018 for salvaging construction of a major pipeline from the Alberta oil sands to the Pacific coast.”
Associated Press: Methane survey from small plane finds more pollution, waste
MORGAN LEE, 3/23/22
“A pollution survey using sensors on small airplanes to detect methane emissions across a major U.S. oil and natural gas production zone points to greater releases of the potent climate-warming gas than previous estimated by other methods, according to results published Wednesday,” the Associated Press reports. “Underwritten by philanthropists and the fossil fuel industry, the study examined emissions from October 2018 through January 2020 across New Mexico’s portion of the Permian Basin, one of the world’s largest sources of oil and natural gas that extends into West Texas. The study estimated that methane emissions are equivalent to roughly 9% of the overall gas production in the surveyed area. That’s more than double the rate in several previous studies of the Permian Basin and national estimates by the U.S. government of natural gas lost to leaks and releases. “The bad news is that emissions in this time and this region were as high as they are,” Evan Sherwin, co-author of the study and a research fellow at Stanford University’s department of energy resource engineering, told AP. “The good news is it was only about 1,000 sites out of 26,000 active wells. ... It’s just a few percent that were emitting during this extensive study.” “The main advantage of airplanes is that they strike a balance between sensitivity and rapid coverage,” Sherwin told AP, acknowledging recent advances in satellite surveying technology. “This is the largest survey that has been used to estimate total methane emissions from a region.”
E&E News: Gas flaring connected to early U.S. deaths — report
CAMILLE BOND, 3/25/22
“The oil industry’s practice of burning off excess gas may have contributed to as many as 53 premature deaths in the United States in 2019, according to a study from the Clean Air Task Force and Rice University,” E&E News reports. “Companies often flare gas when they lack the infrastructure or the capacity to capture it. The practice releases both carbon dioxide and black carbon, a component of soot. According to EPA, black carbon is associated with a variety of health problems, from respiratory and cardiovascular disease to cancer and birth defects. The study, published recently in Atmosphere, an international journal of science related to Earth's atmosphere, was the first to use NOAA satellite data on total gas flared in the United States to model the human toll of the practice in terms of premature deaths. “The health impacts we’re seeing here are significant,” Lesley Fleischman, a senior analyst at the Clean Air Task Force and one of the study’s authors, told E&E News. “But they’re also unnecessary.”
Reuters: Eying strong year-end prices, U.S. oil firms accelerate activity- Fed Survey
Liz Hampton, 3/23/22
“Activity in the oil and gas sector accelerated in the first quarter as company outlooks improved, according to a survey of oil executives released on Wednesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas,” Reuters reports. “U.S. crude will sell for an average of $93 a barrel by the end of the year and natural gas prices at the largest U.S. hub will average $4.57 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), according to the survey of oil executives from Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico… “Still, executives lamented they are facing "unprecedented" supply chain and labor shortages that are affecting their ability to expand output and add employees despite sharply higher oil and gas prices… "The supply-chain issues and shortage of materials are unprecedented," one respondent said, adding, "We are also facing serious workforce issues because a meaningful portion of the labor force left the industry during the downturn and due to the vilification of the oil and gas industry."
S&P Global: Occidental to spend 5% of 2022 capital on Permian carbon removal plant
Bill Holland, 3/23/22
“U.S. oil and gas producer Occidental Petroleum Corp. will spend roughly 5% of its 2022 capital budget to start construction of an industrial-scale direct air carbon capture plant in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico,” S&P Global reports. “The company will combine decades of experience in using carbon dioxide to boost oil production with new technology and chemistry that will pluck carbon directly from the atmosphere and store it underground… “The company plans to spend between $100 million and $300 million this year on the plant, which it estimated will eventually cost roughly $800 million. President and CEO Vicki Hollub told analysts that tax credits in the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that President Joe Biden signed Nov. 15, 2021, plus the evolution of voluntary and involuntary carbon offsets have created an opportunity for Occidental. The company expects the voluntary carbon reduction market to reach $50 billion by 2030… “The Permian Basin direct air capture plant will be hooked into Occidental's existing network of carbon dioxide pipes and storage caverns. This could establish a carbon removal hub that can be replicated across the world, executives said… “Occidental is looking outside the Permian Basin for a location for its second carbon hub. It would like to build more than 70 direct air capture plants around the world, executives said.” “..."We see strong potential for Occidental to secure meaningful government funding for the project, particularly given the focus on carbon capture and storage initiatives and direct air capture specifically, in the recently passed infrastructure bill," Truist Securities Inc. analyst Neal Dingmann wrote in a note.”
Wall Street Journal: High Gasoline Prices Have Consumers Thinking Electric
Scott Patterson, 3/23/22
“With gasoline prices setting records across the U.S. and oil topping $100 a barrel, consumer interest in electric vehicles and other clean energy technologies is speeding up,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Gasoline prices, which hit a nationwide average record high of $4.33 on March 11, are about $1.35 higher than they were a year ago, according to AAA. Every dollar of higher gasoline prices adds more than a $50 increase in households’ monthly expenses, according to Northern Trust. That has more consumers looking for an alternative to the gas-chuggers that make up most U.S. sales. In the week that ended March 13, one-quarter of shoppers on Edmunds.com considered a hybrid, plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle, a 39% increase from the previous week and an 84% surge from the same week in February. More than two-thirds of Americans surveyed by consumer-tracker Piplsay said in a report last week that they are nervous about rising fuel prices, and 49% said the running cost of a gasoline-powered vehicle isn’t affordable. Nearly half of those surveyed said EVs could provide a viable alternative to internal-combustion-engine cars, Piplsay found.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
ACRE: Vanguard’s Empty Promises: How Vanguard Funds Harm and Fuels Extractive Industry
3/24/22
“Pennsylvania based asset manager, Vanguard, is the world’s second largest asset manager, with over $8 trillion in assets under management. Vanguard is referred to as a “universal owner,” with ownership stake in over 10,000 corporations,” according to ACRE. “...Asset managers have largely ignored calls for divestment from extractive industries. Asset managers, like Vanguard, have failed to include a robust racial and environmental justice orientation in their business practices. In turn, they flood extractive industries with capital. Industries like the carceral and fossil fuel industries use those investments to extract from low-income and BIPOC communities. Despite Vanguard’s public commitments, in the wake of a national uprising against racialized police violence and an ever present climate crisis, our analysis shows that Vanguard has not taken adequate steps to move the needle toward racial or environmental justice. This report (1) critiques Vanguard’s governance practices and charitable giving vehicles and (2) highlights how Vanguard’s loose definitions of social justice and inadequate screening tools allow capital to be deployed to extractive industries via funds touted as both environmentally and socially responsible. While frontline BIPOC communities have been demanding divestment from extractive industries for years, Vanguard’s investment vehicles remain financial drivers of harmful industry.”
OPINION
Cape Gazette: Pipeline expansion is everything we don’t need
Greg Layton, Delaware organizer, Food & Water Watch, 3/24/22
“This week, the Sussex County Council disregarded public opposition and approved a proposal to expand capacity of the Eastern Shore Natural Gas pipeline near Bridgeville,” Greg Layton writes for the Cape Gazette. “Expanding this dirty fuel pipeline is everything we don’t need – and then some. It is abundantly clear that Delaware needs to move away from fossil fuel infrastructure and factory farms, not double down on them. And it should be obvious that Sussex County children and educators don’t need an expanded hazardous pipeline next door to an elementary school. The Sussex County Council was wrong to approve this dangerous scheme. Here’s why: First: Dirty fuels. While the United Nations calls for an immediate transition off of fossil fuels to stave off the worst of the growing climate crisis, Delaware remains utterly reliant on polluting gas… “Second: Factory farms. This pipeline expansion would accept gas from the proposed Bioenergy DevCo methane refinery near Seaford, and possibly other factory farm gas projects, thereby propping up our region’s highly polluting factory farm system… “Third: Environmental justice. Historically, projects like this one have been placed in vulnerable communities that lack the resources to fight back… “Last but not least: Safety. The pipeline expansion would receive and compress as many as 18 heavy truckloads of gas each day – 330 feet from a home, 1,100 feet from a playground and 1,300 feet from Phillis Wheatley Elementary School… “Now that our local leaders have abdicated responsibility to protect the public and our climate from this dangerous proposal, the project will move into federal permitting via the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Sussex County residents are united in our opposition to dirty fuels in Delaware, and will continue fighting proposals to bring dirty factory farm biogas into our community.”
Forbes: Purchase Oil From Canada, Not Venezuela
Diana Furchtgott-Roth, 3/24/22
“Gasoline prices are reaching record highs and Russian oil imports are ending. As the Biden Administration makes overtures to Venezuela to request more oil, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney asks why the Administration doesn’t contact him,” Diana Furchtgott-Roth writes for Forbes. “Canada’s province of Alberta is home to 165 billion barrels of oil, the world’s largest after Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. That’s plenty of oil in Alberta to replace Russian imports. “It’s inexplicable that the Administration is going to Venezuela rather than Canada,” Mr. Kenney told me in a phone conversation. “We don’t finance the bombing of innocents.” “...Completing the Keystone XL pipeline, which President Biden cancelled on his first day in office, could add another 830,000 barrels per day. That would more than replace lost Russian oil. TC Energy, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, abandoned Keystone XL last year, walking away from an investment of $7 billion. But Mr. Kenney believes that with today’s high prices for oil, restarting the project is feasible, because the engineering plans and regulations are completed. The pipeline could be operating in a year. Mr. Kenney told me that completing Keystone XL is not simple. It would take an act of political will between President Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, and the governments would have to bear some of the risk to restart the project. Then, owners of the Keystone XL pipeline assets would be able to seek bids to sell to a new entity… “Environmentalists are against Keystone XL and Canadian imports. However, Venezuelan oil, produced with more lenient regulations and transported by tanker, would be more damaging to the environment than oil from Canada.”
Troy Media: Canada’s oil sands represent U.S. energy security
Deborah Jaremko is director of content for the Canadian Energy Centre, an Alberta government corporation funded in part by taxes paid by industry on carbon emissions, 3/24/22
“The growing global energy security crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine highlights the unique value of Canada’s oil sands to North America,”Deborah Jaremko writes for Troy Media. “Along with the sector’s stable, reliable supply is the joint commitment by virtually all oil sands producers to reduce total emissions and reach net zero by 2050 to help fight climate change… “The vast majority of U.S. oil imports come from Canada. But with government actions like cancelling the Keystone XL pipeline, that could change. The Biden administration is in talks with nations like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran, rather than Canada, to increase production to replace banned barrels from Russia… “In Canada, the Pathways alliance has released progressively intensifying targets to reduce emissions to the equivalent of zero, meaning that any emissions from production will be balanced by emissions removed from the atmosphere. At the heart of the strategy is carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, where emissions that would have otherwise entered the atmosphere are captured and stored deep underground.”