EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 7/14/22
PIPELINE NEWS
Des Moines Register: 'The risk is not worth it': Iowans ask regulators to reject proposed carbon capture pipelines
KIWA Radio: Carbon Pipeline Opponents Urge State Regulators To Reject Developers’ Eminent Domain Requests
Dakota Free Press: Iowa Prof: Economic Benefits of Government-Subsidized CO2 Pipelines Exaggerated, Fleeting
POWHR: MVP FERC Extension Comment Period Guide
Energetic City: TC Energy holds open house for Groundbirch Mainline Loop project
NBC Palm Springs: Large Natural Gas Line Ruptures in Palm Springs
The Bradford Era: Pipeline explosion sets off wildfire in Clermont on Tuesday
Seeking Alpha: Kinder Morgan's Tennessee Gas Pipeline declares force majeure
Nashville Tennessean: How does a mower cause a 4,800-barrel oil spill? Tennessee's second-largest raises questions
WVLT: Inside the cleanup of the Loudon Co. Colonial Pipeline fuel leak
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources: Full Committee Hearing On Federal Hydrogen Pipeline Regulatory Authorities
STATE UPDATES
Colorado Sun: Environmental group sues to get EPA to crack down on Colorado’s record ozone violations
Carlsbad Current-Argus: Oil and gas air pollution in Permian Basin could trigger federal restrictions on permits
Capital and Main: California Air Regulators Try to Salvage Faulty System That Permitted ‘Extreme’ Pollution
EXTRACTION
Press release: New Report Exposes Big Oil's History of Environmental Racism
Bloomberg: High oil prices pose high risk to economic recovery, IEA says
Press release: Cenovus acquiring outstanding 50% interest in Sunrise oil sands asset
Canadian Press: Mi’kmaq chiefs group joins court challenge to N.L.’s Bay du Nord oil project
Lethbridge News Now: Alberta commits $40 million to carbon capture projects
Medicine Hat News: City gets $2.5M from province for carbon capture strategy
CLIMATE FINANCE
Wall Street Journal: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Adds to Big Oil Bet
OPINION
Washington Examiner: With energy prices spiking, Biden must not shut down another pipeline
The Hill: Stop the SEC’s power grab to require emissions disclosure
PIPELINE NEWS
Des Moines Register: 'The risk is not worth it': Iowans ask regulators to reject proposed carbon capture pipelines
Donnelle Eller, 7/12/22
“Zachary Ide played a message his grandmother left him a few years ago as workers built the Dakota Access pipeline through her family's farm,” the Des Moines Register reports. “Her voice cracking, Reba McWilliams apologized to her grandson for calling him at work. But she said she had to tell someone. "Everything is tore up," McWilliams said in the recording. "They're plowing around in the mud," damage that could take years to repair. Now another pipeline company, Navigator CO2 Ventures, wants to dig through the family's Mahaska County farm, Ide said. "Your decision to allow eminent domain hurt countless farmers" with the Dakota Access pipeline, a controversial crude oil pipeline that cuts across 18 Iowa counties, carrying 750,000 barrels of crude daily from North Dakota to Illinois. About two dozen Iowans asked the Iowa Utilities Board to reject proposals from three companies that seek to build carbon capture pipelines across the state. "Now here we are again," said Ide, who was one of nearly two dozen farmers, landowners and environmentalists who pleaded with the Iowa Utilities Board on Tuesday to deny construction of three proposed carbon capture pipeline projects through Iowa. As with Dakota Access, many of the concerns voiced Tuesday centered on the possibility the pipeline developers — Navigator CO2, Summit Carbon Solutions and Archer-Daniels-Midland — could receive eminent domain powers, enabling the companies to force unwilling landowners to sell access to their land for construction. Other opponents cited concerns about the pipelines' safety and the impact construction would have on farmland and underground drainage systems used to move water from fields to improve yields… "A study by Food & Water Watch, a national environmental group with Iowa organizers, estimates that the three pipeline developers could snag $23 billion in federal tax credits for the projects over a dozen years… “James Norris, whose Montgomery County farm is in the path of Summit's pipeline, said the projects "aren't the saviors of ethanol." "If they were, every farmer would be lined up behind these projects," Norris said. "And they will have virtually no positive impact on the climate issue. If they did, climate organizations would back these projects…The ability for for-profit corporations to seize our land, while being stuffed full of cash from the American taxpayer, is criminal," Norris said.
KIWA Radio: Carbon Pipeline Opponents Urge State Regulators To Reject Developers’ Eminent Domain Requests
SAM HEYN, 7/13/22
“More than one dozen people addressed the Iowa Utilities Board yesterday, asking regulators to block the use of eminent domain by companies seeking to seize land for carbon pipelines in the state,” KIWA Radio reports. “Kathy Stockdale of Iowa Falls says two of the proposed pipeline routes go through her family’s Hardin County farm. James Norris of Red Oak says one of the proposed pipelines would pass behind his house in Montgomery County. Sherri Webb and her siblings were notified nearly a year ago that the proposed Summit pipeline would go through the farm that’s been in their family for 122 years. Jessica Wiskus lives near Lisbon and her farm is on the proposed path of the Wolf Carbon Solutions project. She raised concerns about the danger of pipeline ruptures. Johnson County Supervisor, Jon Green, spoke and called the process a “sham,” and he says what is not known is how regular Iowans will react to it. Green says there will be no public benefit and the pipelines will transfer public goods to private gains. Utilities Board officials say yesterday’s statements in the public comment time will not be part of the agency’s official record as it considers the pipeline applications, but encourage those who spoke to submit comments for the record. After speaking during the public comment period, the group of pipeline opponents formed a caravan and drove by the governor’s mansion as a form of protest.”
Dakota Free Press: Iowa Prof: Economic Benefits of Government-Subsidized CO2 Pipelines Exaggerated, Fleeting
CORY ALLEN HEIDELBERGER, 7/12/22
“Democratic candidate for Public Utilities Commission Jeff Barth has made clear that he thinks carbon dioxide pipelines are bad for South Dakota,” the Dakota Free Press reports. “Far from disqualifying him from hearings on the Iowa-Republican-driven Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline as the Iowa-Republican-driven SDGOP argues, Barth’s opposition to the CO2 pipeline shows he’s looking past the biased political pitch of its backers to review the real science and economics that say such pipelines aren’t worth stealing farmers’ land and endangering their livelihood and lives. Scientist Silvia Secchi provides a great rebuttal of Summit Carbon Solutions’ claims about the merits of its five-state carbon transportation project in the Des Moines Register. First, Dr. Secchi notes that the state has a greater interest in reviewing the merits of this project than its already great interest in reviewing oil pipelines like Keystone and Dakota Access because Summit Carbon Solutions and other CO2 traders base their entire business model on government subsidies… “Secchi dismantles an Ernst & Young study commissioned by Summit Carbon Solutions to tout the economic benefits of the CO2 pipeline. Keystone and Dakota Access didn’t make South Dakota and the other states they cross rich; Secchi says Summit Carbon Solutions’ project will produce similarly elusive and transitory economic effects… “The real economic benefits of the pipelines will be much lower than estimated by Ernst & Young because none of the pipe, valves, pumps, and so on, are manufactured in the pipeline states. And the highly skilled welders who would be employed during construction are likely to come from Louisiana, Oklahoma and other places where pipeline industries are clustered, not the Midwest… “The transitory nature of the employment benefits in particular is masked by the use of “worker years” over the life of the project instead of assessing the employment effect every year… “Ernst & Young also overestimates the effects of the pipeline on the economy by using a national model instead of one that considers only the region of construction and operation, and by using that model to estimate tax impacts. The use of the national model inflates the indirect and induced economic activity effects. These meager and fleeting economic benefits don’t justify the perpetual violation of property rights along the pipeline route, the ongoing disruption to crops and pastures and other private activity as Summit maintains and repairs its pipeline in the right-of-way it seizes by eminent domain, and the everyday health risk the pipeline will pose to communities along its route. Jeff Barth has good reason to bring those facts to the Public Utilities Commission and weigh those real costs to South Dakotans against the benefits the Iowa pipeliners are exaggerating to push their bid to take our land for their government-subsidized profit.”
POWHR: MVP FERC Extension Comment Period Guide
7/13/22
“Good News Update: After hammering them with more than 5,000 comments and emails, FERC has agreed to extend the comment period on MVP's extension request (a little) to July 29,” according to POWHR. “This means we have two more weeks to keep gathering comments before we need to deliver. Here's how to help with the new deadline: If you already sent a quick comment through our website: Now that you have more time, make your comment count by following instructions here to submit your comment through FERC's E-comment process. There are more steps, and you'll need to copy down some important info like the docket numbers, but everything you need is in the resources above, and you can watch the recording of POWHR's comment writing training if you need more help. If you haven't already sent a comment, now you have more time! Click here to use our quick comment tool (updated as of July 13) and read the info below the picture for more background. We've been telling you for years about the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), a 300+ mile long fracked-gas pipeline from fracking fields of Pennsylvania, through West Virginia & Virginia, all the way into North Carolina. The project is still years behind schedule, drowning in debt, and even their investors admit MVP has "a very low probability of pipeline completion." “...FERC has a chance to say NO to MVP's rushed request. It has the authority — and the responsibility — to protect water quality, the environment, public lands and communities. Your voice is critical. Tell FERC to deny MVP's extension request before the July 14 deadline.”
Energetic City: TC Energy holds open house for Groundbirch Mainline Loop project
Shailynn Foster, 7/13/22
“TC Energy is hosting an open house for the Groundbirch Main Loop project, specifically the Sunrise and Saturn sections, next Tuesday in Dawson Creek,” Energetic City reports. “...The Sunrise Section of the Groundbirch Mainline Loop project consists of approximately 24 kilometres of 42-inch diameter pipeline that would begin at a tie-in point near the Groundbirch East Receipt Meter Station and end near the existing Dawson Creek Receipt Meter Station… “The Saturn Section of the Groundbirch Mainline Loop project is approximately 23 kilometres of 42-inch diameter pipeline, looping an existing Nova Gas Transmission Line from the existing Saturn No. 2 Receipt Meter Station to a future valve site… “TC Energy says this project is necessary to supply growing demand in B.C. and North American markets.”
NBC Palm Springs: Large Natural Gas Line Ruptures in Palm Springs
7/13/22
“A dental office was evacuated today following the rupture of a large natural gas line due to construction activity in Palm Springs,” NBC Palm Springs reports. “Police and fire crews responded to the rupture Tuesday morning at the corner of South Sunrise Way and East Ramon Road, the police department reported. Authorities said traffic was shut down in all directions and advised people to stay out of the area. A spokesperson with the Palm Springs Police Department told City News Service that the intersection was expected to remain closed for several hours while Southern California Gas Company crews repaired the gas line. He added that only business traffic will be allowed back in. Palm Springs Fire Department spokesman Nathan Gunkel told CNS that one dental office near the leak was evacuated Tuesday morning and was expected to remain closed Tuesday afternoon.”
The Bradford Era: Pipeline explosion sets off wildfire in Clermont on Tuesday
MANDY COLOSIMO, 7/13/22
“A portion of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline, located in Clermont, reportedly exploded Tuesday evening,” The Bradford Era reports. “Information is limited as of press time, however, what is known is that McKean County Commissioner Tom Kreiner was on-scene and, at that time, reported no injuries and that the fire was under control. He also stated there was a representative from Tennessee on scene and other personnel were enroute. According to reports, calls to fire departments across the region start going out before 5:30 p.m. to an address on Wilcox Road. Stations were asked to provide manpower, UTVs, and other assistance for a “large wildfire.” The calls for assistance continued to sound throughout the evening. As of the time of this report, approximately five acres had burned in the fire. Later, after 7:45 p.m., reports were confirmed there had been an explosion along the Clermont section of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline. Calls to the parent company KinderMorgan were not returned before press time. Early reports indicate the following fire departments assisted on Tuesday: Clermont Volunteer Fire Department, Hamlin Township Volunteer Fire Department, Norwich Volunteer Fire Department, Eldred Volunteer Fire Department, Mount Jewett Volunteer Fire Department, and Smethport Volunteer Fire Department.”
Seeking Alpha: Kinder Morgan's Tennessee Gas Pipeline declares force majeure
Carl Surran, 7/13/22
“Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) declared force majeures Wednesday on natural gas supplies in Pennsylvania and Alabama after a pair of fires at its Tennessee Gas Pipeline, Bloomberg reports,” according to Seeking Alpha. “A pipeline explosion and fire was reported Tuesday night at a pipeline segment in a rural area of McKean County, Pennsylvania, which Bloomberg estimated affected up to 330K dth, and another fire reportedly was identified at a station near Hamilton, Alabama, which was said to impact up to 375K dth. The 11,900-mile Tennessee Gas Pipeline linking the northeastern U.S. to the Texas Gulf Coast is one of the largest pipeline systems in the U.S.”
Nashville Tennessean: How does a mower cause a 4,800-barrel oil spill? Tennessee's second-largest raises questions
Josh Keefe, 7/13/22
“On most days, the Mid-Valley Pipeline moves more than 100,000 barrels of crude oil from Texas to the refineries of the upper Midwest. But on June 29, a “bush hog” mower caused the suspension of that multi-state operation when it ruptured the pipeline and spilled 4,800 barrels – about 201,000 gallons – of crude oil in the West Tennessee town of Henderson,” the Nashville Tennessean reports. “The pipeline spill was the second largest ever in Tennessee and the largest in the U.S. in roughly two years, according to federal regulators. It comes just months after Gov. Bill Lee signed a law stripping local governments of the ability to block oil and gas pipeline projects over concerns about potential health and environmental impacts. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) opened an investigation into the spill, a spokesperson said. But until the investigation provides more details, experts said the fact that a mower was able to rupture a supposedly buried pipeline raises questions about how controversial fossil fuel giant Energy Transfer and its subsidiary Mid-Valley Pipeline Company have been inspecting and maintaining the line. “Who was monitoring the line and what were they looking for?’” Richard Kurpewicz, president of Accufacts Inc. and a longtime pipeline industry consultant who has testified before Congress, told the Tennessean. “People like to think ‘these are accidents.’ No, these are all preventable releases.” “...To avoid spills from exposed pipelines, federal regulators should adopt rules requiring pipeline operators to make sure their lines remain a specified distance underground after installation, Bill Caram, executive director of Pipeline Safety Trust, told the Tennessean. “If you're going to require operators to install a pipeline at a certain depth, there's obviously a reason for that,” Caram told the Tennessean. “They should be required to maintain some level of depth of coverage.” Surface exposure increases the risk machinery could damage the pipe. Exposure to the elements can also corrode and weaken the integrity of the line, which may explain why a mower impact caused a spill, Vanderbilt civil engineering professor Sanjiv Gokhole told the Tennessean. “It just seems very, very unlikely that a mere running into a steel pipeline would cause oil spillage of this nature,” Gokholetold the Tennessean.
WVLT: Inside the cleanup of the Loudon Co. Colonial Pipeline fuel leak
Ashley Bohle, 7/13/22
“Colonial Pipeline workers in the Sugarlimb Road area of Loudon County want to know what caused a valve failure that lead to more than 24,000 gallons of fuel being leaked,” WVLT reports. “An investigation is underway to determine what happened and why. “When we have an incident we fully respond. Our priorities are always fully protecting the health and safety of people in the environment. So what you see here is a testament to that,” Colonial Pipeline Public Affairs Director, Meg Blackwood, told WVLT. “It is an ongoing effort to make sure that we are protecting the health and safety of people in the environment.” The failure was at a valve above ground. It was not a failure within the pipeline which is underground, according to Blackwood. Colonial Pipeline workers and contractors dug trenches and installed underflow dams to protect the environment. They also tested water samples and air quality every day since the leak was reported on July 4. Blackwood said nothing dangerous was detected in the water. Crews were also monitoring surface waters including the Tennessee River, Hubbard Creek and any waterways in between. In the investigation, workers detected refined petroleum products eight feet outside the fence of the facility.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources: Full Committee Hearing On Federal Hydrogen Pipeline Regulatory Authorities
7/13/22
“The hearing will be held on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC. The purpose of the hearing is to examine federal regulatory authorities governing the development of interstate hydrogen pipelines, storage, import, and export facilities. The Committee will follow guidelines developed in consultation with the Office of the Attending Physician and the Senate Rules Committee to protect the health of members, staff, and the public. The hearing will be webcast live on the Committee’s website, and an archived video will be available shortly after the hearing concludes. Witness testimony will be available on the website at the start of the hearing.”
STATE UPDATES
Colorado Sun: Environmental group sues to get EPA to crack down on Colorado’s record ozone violations
Michael Booth, 7/13/22
“The Environmental Protection Agency unlawfully approved a weak ozone-reduction plan from Colorado regulators, and should do far more to limit oil and gas drilling and other pollution in the Denver metro area, according to a new lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Center for Biological Diversity,” the Colorado Sun reports. “The lawsuit demanding the EPA reject Colorado’s state implementation plan notes Denver and the counties in the north Front Range nonattainment area for ozone are violating EPA standards at a record pace in recent summers. (State air quality officials issued an ozone action alert again Tuesday afternoon warning of potentially irritating amounts, in effect through Wednesday afternoon.) The state’s plan is ineffective and has loopholes that allow for smaller sources of ozone-causing pollution, like individual drilling and fracking operations, to move forward even as ozone gets worse, the lawsuit said. “We’re never going to solve our smog problem until the EPA cracks down on Colorado allowing unlimited air pollution from drilling and fracking,” Robert Ukeiley, a senior attorney at the center, told the Sun. “If it takes a lawsuit to bring about that fix, that’s what we are going to do.” “...The Colorado Oil and Gas Association slapped back at the suit Tuesday. “As Colorado families struggle to pay to fuel their vehicles and afford their rising utility bills, this latest lawsuit from environmental activists shows just how extreme and out of touch they are with Coloradans. The majority of emissions within our region come from natural biogenic matter or they blow in from outside of Colorado,” trade association President Dan Haley said. “While Colorado’s oil and natural gas workers have cut our emissions in half, these environmental groups will continue to celebrate higher energy costs for Americans and push our energy dependence overseas.”
Carlsbad Current-Argus: Oil and gas air pollution in Permian Basin could trigger federal restrictions on permits
Adrian Hedden, 7/13/22
“Worsening air pollution tied to booming oil and gas production in southeast New Mexico’s Permian Basin region could trigger federal action to that could restrict further operations in the nation’s busiest oilfield,” the Carlsbad Current-Argus reports. “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced in June it was considering designating parts of the Permian Basin in New Mexico containing Eddy and Lea counties, along with several other counties in West Texas, as “non-attainment” regions, meaning they failed to meet federal air quality standards… “Both Eddy and Lea counties, per data from the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), exceeded the NAAQS frequently in the years since the oil and gas industry began an increase in production starting in 2017. That could mean the EPA will step in and place additional requirements on permits granted to oil and gas companies to allow them to operate in the area and could slow the process as permit applications could become more complicated, NMED Cabinet Secretary James Kenney told the Argus. This could have a drastic impact on the industry as a whole, he said, and its access to the prolific Permian Basin, specifically its busiest area known as the Delaware sub-basin that straddles the border between New Mexico and Texas… “The industry centered in the basin generates more than a third of New Mexico’s budget, providing an economic driver for the state and local communities. It’s also an area known for widespread violations of air quality regulations at the state and federal level, Kenney said, and the NMED is working with the EPA and U.S. Department of Justice to hold polluters accountable, potentially pursuing federal court actions.”
Capital and Main: California Air Regulators Try to Salvage Faulty System That Permitted ‘Extreme’ Pollution
Aaron Cantu, 7/12/22
“Amid the desert of western Kern County — the beating heart of California’s oil and gas industry — the Elk Hills gas power plant and refinery stand out as a mighty structure of steam, steel piping and turbines, surrounded by pumpjacks bobbing for oil,” Capital and Main reports. “From half a mile away on a public road, Kyle Ferrar of the FracTracker Alliance and Andrew Klooster of Earthworks use an optical gas imaging camera equipped to capture emissions invisible to the naked eye. The camera detects hydrocarbons coming from two flare devices, which appear as constant, furious streams of pollution into the sky… “The Elk Hills facility, owned by California Resources Corporation, is responsible for plumes of methane, according to data collected by a joint partnership between NASA and the state involving the use of remote sensing aircraft… “The facility has received 20 enforcement violations for leaks over the last five years from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, the local regulator that oversees compliance with state and federal air laws. A state audit also identified more than 500 methane leaks at the Elk Hills plant in 2019 that were eventually repaired… “But the district’s methods of mitigating pollution could be underestimating the impact of emissions from industry, according to residents and experts. And the gas refinery is far from the only source of major pollution in the area, which is home to many of California’s busiest oil and gas fields. Some are among the dirtiest in the world, spewing climate-warming emissions as they pull fuel from the ground. A local emissions trading system, mandated by federal law in areas that fail to meet standards for air quality, is supposed to incentivize companies to reduce overall pollution beyond what is required by regulations by rewarding them with offset credits. Companies bank credits with the San Joaquin Valley air district, and can “cash in” credits to build more polluting infrastructure while claiming net pollution isn’t rising. Every cashed-in offset credit balances out pollution that is released into the San Joaquin Valley’s air. At least on paper.”
EXTRACTION
Press release: New Report Exposes Big Oil's History of Environmental Racism
7/13//22
“Today, Accountable.us released a new report, “Dirty Discrimination: Big Oil’s History of Environmental Racism,”detailing how communities of color both domestically and internationally have disproportionately been forced to pay the price for the oil and gas industry’s environmental degradation. The release of this prescient analysis follows recent efforts by Senators Alex Padilla (CA) and Richard Durbin (IL) to fund the Department of Justice’s newly established Office of Environmental Justice. The analysis opens with a chilling example of industry callousness: In 2017, the NAACP released a study finding that Black Americans face higher levels of oil-sourced pollution than white Americans – findings even later confirmed by the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Though it initially declined to comment, Big Oil’s premier special interest lobby, the American Petroleum Institute (API), eventually called the NAACP study an “attack” on the oil industry and instead blamed what it considered to be the real problem facing Black Americans: “genetics.” [Dirty Discrimination, 2022] The report exposes the industry’s decades-long practice of using communities of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people as sites for oil and gas production, exposing them to deadly pollution linked to increased rates of cancer, heart disease, and premature death. Emissions, leaks, and oil spills can threaten communities’ air quality, water supply, food, job prospects, and ecosystem. Additionally, the report reveals that Chevron, Phillips 66, and ConocoPhillips’ operate refineries in two majority-minority cities have coincided with disproportionate cancer, asthma, and death rates. “Despite Big Oil's dubious claims of support for diversity and anti-racism, the industry continues to systematically and disproportionally pollute communities of color. For decades, oil and gas companies have forced people of color to live with potentially deadly pollution, putting their health at risk to maximize profit margins. The history of harm inflicted on these communities must be reckoned with when evaluating similarly situated industry projects. Washington must take environmental racism seriously or it will continue unabated," said Jordan Schreiber, director of energy and environment at Accountable.
Bloomberg: High oil prices pose high risk to economic recovery, IEA says
Grant Smith, 7/13/22
“Oil prices pose a high risk to the global economic recovery, with signs that fuel costs are starting to “take their toll” on demand growth, the International Energy Agency said,” Bloomberg reports. “The Paris-based adviser trimmed forecasts for oil consumption this year and next amid growing fears of a recession, warning that prices threaten stability in emerging economies. Still, the demand weakness is being offset by tightening supply as sanctions hit Russia and OPEC+’s spare capacity dwindles. “Rarely has the outlook for oil markets been more uncertain,” the agency said in its monthly market report on Wednesday. “A worsening macroeconomic outlook and fears of recession are weighing on market sentiment, while there are ongoing risks on the supply side.” Crude prices remain near $100 a barrel despite a recent pullback, as global supplies and refining infrastructure fail to keep pace with the post-pandemic rebound in fuel use… “With the softened outlook for demand, and stronger forecasts for supplies outside OPEC, world oil stockpiles ought to replenish somewhat in the second half of the year, the IEA said. At the same time, the agency has considerably scaled back its expectations for the impact on Russian supplies, which it initially expected would slump by a quarter in the initial months of the assault on Ukraine. The country’s output rose last month to 11.07 million barrels a day, or just 330,000 barrels a day below pre-conflict levels, the IEA said. Nonetheless, the agency still projects that Russian production will buckle in the months ahead as sanctions take hold, plunging by about 3 million barrels a day to 8.7 million a day by the start of next year.”
Press release: Cenovus acquiring outstanding 50% interest in Sunrise oil sands asset
7/13/22
“Cenovus Energy Inc. has reached an agreement to purchase the remaining 50% of the Sunrise oil sands project in northern Alberta from bp. Total consideration for the transaction includes $600 million in cash, a variable payment with a maximum cumulative value of $600 million expiring after two years, and Cenovus’s 35% position in the undeveloped Bay du Nord project offshore Newfoundland and Labrador. The transaction has an effective date of May 1, 2022 and is anticipated to close in the third quarter of this year, subject to closing conditions and normal purchase price adjustments. Full ownership of Sunrise further enhances Cenovus’s core strength in the oil sands. Sunrise has been operated by the company since the beginning of 2021, following the Husky Energy transaction, and Cenovus is now in the early stages of applying its oil sands operating model at this asset. Cenovus currently operates Sunrise and owns 50% of the asset through the Sunrise Oil Sands Partnership, with bp. Current production from the asset is approximately 50,000 barrels per day (bbls/d), and the company expects to achieve nameplate capacity of 60,000 bbls/d through a multi-year development program.”
Canadian Press: Mi’kmaq chiefs group joins court challenge to N.L.’s Bay du Nord oil project
7/12/22
“An organization representing eight Mi’kmaq groups in New Brunswick is joining a court challenge to the federal government’s approval of a new offshore oil project in Newfoundland,” the Canadian Press reports. “Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’tagnn Inc. tels CP a single spill from the Bay du Nord offshore oil development could harm Atlantic salmon. The group says Ottawa did not fulfil its duty to meaningfully consult with Indigenous communities about the proposed project led by Norway-based Equinor. The federal government gave Bay du Nord regulatory approval in April, and the project would be located about 500 kilometres northeast of St. John’s if Equinor decides to go ahead. Environmental law group Ecojustice filed an application on May 6 in Federal Court for a judicial review of Ottawa’s approval of Bay du Nord’s environmental assessment. The group says Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault didn’t consider the greenhouse gas emissions that would be released when the development’s estimated 500 million barrels of recoverable oil are burned as fuel.”
Lethbridge News Now: Alberta commits $40 million to carbon capture projects
7/13/22
“The Alberta Government is funding nearly one dozen initiatives aimed at reducing carbon emissions,” Lethbridge News Now reports. “$40 million has been allocated to 11 carbon capture projects through Emissions Reduction Alberta’s (ERA) Carbon Capture Kickstart Program. Environment and Parks Minister Whitney Issik says the government is helping facilities to determine if their industrial-scale projects are viable. “Alberta’s investments in homegrown technologies are good for the environment and the economy,” Issik told LNN. “This commitment is proof that Alberta and our key industries are ready to build on our long-standing global leadership on emissions reduction.” Energy Minister Sonya Savage says the aforementioned 11 projects represent a wide range of industrial sectors including power generation, cement, fertilizer, forest products, and oil and gas. “We are serious about advancing and commercializing CCUS [carbon capture, utilization and storage] technologies in this province,” Savage told LNN. “There’s a reason Alberta has been the host of several world-first commercial projects. Carbon Capture Kickstart is another important investment that will help enhance the competitiveness of our energy sector and strengthen Alberta’s position as a world leader in developing CCUS technologies.” ERA is contributing up to 50% of each project’s cost to a maximum of $5 million. To date, they have given $830 million to 230 projects worth more than $6.6 billion.”
Medicine Hat News: City gets $2.5M from province for carbon capture strategy
COLLIN GALLANT, 7/14/22
“Medicine Hat will receive $2.5 million in cash from the province to advance its carbon capture strategy and evaluate how to best reduce power plant emissions, it was announced Wednesday,” Medicine Hat News reports. “And a further grant from Ottawa is likely on the way. The provincial TIER program charges a carbon levy on the largest industrial emitters – including the city’s power plant complexes – and this week, $40 million is going to 11 projects which aim to capture, use or sequester carbon (CCUS). Electricity producers Enmax, Capital Power and Heartland Generation also received grants, as well as oilsands operations Canadian Natural Resources, fertilizer company Nutrien – recipients which will use funds to examine and test potential for upgrades at their own facilities. Local funding of $2.5 million will fold into the initial budget for complete planning of the system which would capture CO2, then process it and carry it to underground caverns for permanent disposal, city officials said Monday. The focus could be on the feasibility of power plant upgrades. If it progresses, that would eventually lower the city’s undisclosed TIER levy costs. “We certainly are exposed to rising carbon compliance costs, and we think it’s our responsibility to mitigate both to hit our targets on climate change and our customers in terms of price impacts,” Rochelle Pancoast, managing director of the city’s strategic management and analysis office, told the News. Last week, council approved early-stage work reallocating up to $11 million from cancelled or no-longer-needed gas well and oilfield work in the energy divisions toward completing pre-engineering and feasibility work on the local CCUS strategy, known as project clear horizon… “Provincial release also states that Natural Resources Canada is preparing to announce Ottawa’s own $50-million FEED fund for carbon capture projects.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Wall Street Journal: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Adds to Big Oil Bet
Akane Otani, 7/13/22
“Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is plowing more money into big oil,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The billionaire investor’s company has been ramping up its position in Occidental Petroleum Corp. since February and bought 12 million more shares over two days this month. The moves bring Berkshire’s total stake in Occidental to 18.7%. Berkshire, which is by far Occidental’s largest shareholder, is now one step closer to reaching a threshold that would allow it to include Occidental in its results—something that could give its earnings a boost. Generally accepted accounting principles recommend that investors include a proportionate share of a company’s earnings in their own results once they own at least 20% of the company’s common stock. With analysts expecting Occidental to report about $10 billion in earnings this year, Berkshire could increase its reported profit by about $2 billion if it winds up acquiring 20% of Occidental’s shares, David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, told the Journal… “Some analysts told the Journal it wouldn’t be surprising to see Berkshire continue to boost its investment in Occidental… “Besides potentially trying to acquire enough of Occidental to include it in its results, Berkshire is doing “what most astute investors would do amid rising energy prices,” increasing its exposure to the energy sector, Cathy Seifert, an analyst who covers Berkshire at CFRA Research, told the Journal. In addition to Occidental, Berkshire also has plowed money this year into Chevron Corp. , which ranked as its fourth-biggest stockholding as of the end of April. Some analysts believe Berkshire may go even further… “Mr. Buffett has spoken favorably about the U.S. oil industry, telling shareholders at Berkshire’s annual meeting that it was beneficial for the country to be able to produce more of its own oil to lessen its need for imports.”
OPINION
Washington Examiner: With energy prices spiking, Biden must not shut down another pipeline
Patrice Douglas is an attorney and former chairman of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, 7/14/22
“The average price for a gallon of gas is hovering around $5 , with some parts of the country paying upward of $6 per gallon,” Patrice Douglas writes for the Washington Examiner. “...Instead of flying halfway around the world this week, he should travel to states such as Oklahoma, Texas, and North Dakota and support their abilities to drill… “This president has not hidden his disdain for fossil fuels and on multiple occasions has promised to end their use in the economy. On Day One, Biden signed an executive order to kill the Keystone XL pipeline, a decision that ended thousands of construction jobs and froze the energy industry… “Even if a reversal on the Keystone XL pipeline decision is not on the table, Biden would be wise to embrace pipeline infrastructure, a critically important method of transporting oil and gas across the country. Without the ability to move energy efficiently and safely from oil-producing regions to refineries, the cost of gas will increase even more. Biden’s continued opposition to fossil fuel infrastructure is incredibly concerning as his administration is reviewing whether the Dakota Access pipeline should remain operational… “The operation of the Dakota Access pipeline is certainly in the best interest of our own domestic energy supply and would positively affect our allies in Europe… “Encouraging domestic energy production here at home should be common sense for this administration. Specifically, the White House should streamline the pipeline permitting process, support the Dakota Access pipeline, and encourage production in the United States. It is not too late to put our country’s energy sector back on track, but it’ll take a great deal of effort from Biden to get it done.”
The Hill: Stop the SEC’s power grab to require emissions disclosure
Ellen R. Wald is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, 7/14/22
“At the end of June, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in West Virginia v. EPA that the Environmental Protection Agency had exceeded its congressionally mandated authority when it essentially shuttered coal power plants across the country based on new regulations during the Obama administration,” Ellen R. Wald writes for The HIll. “Now, Patrick Morrisey, the attorney general of West Virginia, has written to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proceeds with a proposed regulation to require extensive disclosures on greenhouse gas emissions from publicly traded companies. Any and every step to prevent this potential SEC train wreck should be welcome. That’s why it is good news that Morrisey, and likely others, will stand up against this power grab… “The same can be said for the SEC’s desire to regulate disclosure of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by public companies. After all, the SEC was created by Congress for a different purpose… “Congress did not task the SEC in the 1930s with monitoring GHG emissions from public companies or policing environmental policies — and it has not tasked the SEC with that job since then… “Of course, that may not be enough to keep this SEC out of the business of overseeing carbon emissions by America’s corporations. So, it’s important to also note that there is no effective way for the SEC to regulate greenhouse gas emissions disclosures from publicly listed companies. The regulation would require companies to report three types of emissions, called Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3… “The new industry of greenhouse gas emissions auditors — which will not even be required to be accurate at least for Scope 3 reporting — will prosper. Whether these are existing auditors who merely expand their businesses or an altogether new cadre of environmental auditors, this rule benefits them far more than shareholders, the American public or the environment.”