EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 8/18/22
PIPELINE NEWS
E&E News: N.J. pipeline project could shake up FERC gas reviews
VPM: Activists continue fight against Mountain Valley Pipeline
AgWeek: Dakotafest audience hears carbon pipeline critics, proponents
Des Moines Register: Polk County supervisors consider joining 36 other counties that oppose carbon capture pipelines
Axios: Polk County will vote to oppose Iowa pipeline project
Bismarck Tribune: Landowner concerns still surround proposed CO2 pipeline; developer forging ahead
Reuters: Phillips 66 offers to buy pipeline operator DCP Midstream
Brenham Banner: Natural gas pipeline to pass through Washington County
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Court clears path for Biden oil and gas leasing pause
E&E News: Climate law may undermine Biden court win on oil leasing
TIME: Biden Just Signed the Inflation Reduction Act. Now the Hard Work on Climate Really Begins
Politico: FERC staff asks Texas LNG facility owner to detail environmental justice impacts
Alaska Public Media: Congress directs Interior to hold Cook Inlet lease sale this year
Politico: White House reviewing EPA methane rule supplement
STATE UPDATES
Anchorage Daily News: Oil companies say they’ll move ahead to develop giant Pikka oil project on Alaska’s North Slope
Reuters: Marathon gets more time to build LNG import project in Alaska
EXTRACTION
Canadian Press: Releasing oilsands tailings into river is just 1 among several options: Guilbeault
CLIMATE FINANCE
E&E News: Red states decry ‘woke left’ SEC proposal for ESG investing
Press release: US oil and gas independents seek investor favor, return $18.1 billion to shareholders in 2021
Forbes: Oil’s New Bible-Thumping, Biden-Bashing Billionaire
Bloomberg: Caisse’s Emond Has No Regrets About Exiting Oil Stocks Early
OPINION
Los Angeles Times: Editorial: L.A. is right to phase out oil drilling, but communities can’t wait 20 years
The American Prospect: A Methane Fee Won’t Work If It Doesn’t Count All the Methane
PIPELINE NEWS
E&E News: N.J. pipeline project could shake up FERC gas reviews
Niina H. Farah, Miranda Willson, 8/17/22
“A proposed Northeast pipeline expansion could test the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approach to scrutinizing demand for new natural gas infrastructure at a time when a slew of states are trying to use less of the fossil fuel,” E&E News reports. “The Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project is designed to support growing demand for natural gas in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland, according to developer Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC. New Jersey state officials, however, have told FERC that the Garden State doesn’t need more gas, in part because of the state’s climate policies and energy efficiency goals. The tension offers an unusual opportunity for the commission to consider a state’s climate targets before signing off on a pipeline project, according to some legal experts. At the same time, it exposes a key question for the commissioners as they contemplate new approaches to natural gas reviews: What evidence and perspectives should carry the most weight? “We finally get to see what FERC will do now that they have these data from the state showing that we don’t need more gas capacity,” Jennifer Danis, a senior staff attorney at the Niskanen Center, a libertarian-leaning think tank that is representing the New Jersey Conservation Foundation opposing the project before the commission, told E&E. In a potential first for a pipeline proceeding, the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) have presented FERC with an independent study on the state’s natural gas capacity. Conducted by the consulting firm London Economics International for the BPU last year, the analysis concluded that New Jersey was “well-positioned with available interstate supply beyond 2030,” contrary to gas utilities’ claims of potential shortfalls… “We don’t need additional pipelines going either into or bringing gas into New Jersey,” Brian Lipman, director of the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel, which represents consumers on utility issues, told E&E. “We’re concerned about overbuilding gas pipelines, especially during this transition period where we’re not really sure what role natural gas will be playing within the next five to 10 years.”
VPM: Activists continue fight against Mountain Valley Pipeline
Sheden Tesfaldet, 8/17/22
“Gazing up from a park in Southwest Virginia, a lush forest sits atop the surrounding mountain range. The view is interrupted by a strip of land dug out to make room for the Mountain Valley Pipeline,” VPM reports. “Dozens gathered this past weekend in a picnic shelter at Elliston’s Eastern Montgomery Park to protest the pipeline project in what was called a “Circle of Protection.” “We're here to celebrate each other and this incredible resistance community that's here,” Deborah Kushner, of Staunton, told VPM. “And we're also here to kind of gather our energies for the next round, which proves to be even more difficult.” The collection of activists, faith leaders, musicians and community members provided a space for those affected by the pipeline’s construction to voice their concerns and offer testimonies. The hourlong event was hosted by the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights Coalition, an interstate environmental coalition focused on preventing harm caused by the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure — including the MVP… “Russell Chisholm, co-chairperson of POWHR, called the Circle of Protection a “movement-building and solidarity effort,” as well as an opportunity to heal during stressful times for those fighting against the MVP construction. “Especially through the pandemic, a lot of people who work in the service industry lost their jobs or they lost wages or they got sick and they have no health care,” Chisholm told VPM. “So, for us — for people who are very active organizing against this pipeline — it is a way to uplift some of those other struggles and uplift the people who are trying to address some of those struggles.” Chisholm lives in the nearby rural town of Newport and can’t reach his home without driving through the construction area around MVP — and its blast and incineration zones. These zones are where MVP plans to detonate explosives to clear a path for construction.”
AgWeek: Dakotafest audience hears carbon pipeline critics, proponents
8/17/22
“The prospect of a web of pipelines to carry excess carbon dioxide from ethanol plants in the Midwest to a permanent burial field in North Dakota has the corn ethanol industry excited but landowners and farmers worried,” AgWeek reports. “The South Dakota Farm Bureau hosted an educational panel on the first day of the Dakotafest farm show in Mitchell, South Dakota, on the topic of the proposed Summit Pipeline… “A good sized crowd of about 200 people attend an educational panel on a controversial carbon dioxide pipeline in South Dakota, at the Dakotafest farm show… “Jim Pirolli, chief commercial officer for Summit Carbon Solutions, the major pipeline system in the state of South Dakota, said he would not have anything to do with a project that would run roughshod over farm rights… “Pirolli noted that each of the ethanol plants must invest in a $25 million to $30 million project to capture the carbon dioxide — compressing and dehydrating it to be injected into a pipeline… “A packed audience of farmers applauded loudest after the measured but concerned comments from Jay Poindexter, a cattleman and farmer from from Ree Heights, South Dakota. The Farm Bureau added Poindexter to the program after landowners had expressed concerns that opposition to the pipeline was being excluded… “Poindexter said some land agents have told some landowners they would take the land by eminent domain, where the government expropriates private property for public use, with payment of compensation. “They should be working on finding willing sellers, not resigning sellers,” he said… “Poindexter said the state needs better eminent domain laws to protect citizen landowners. He said local zoning laws must be updated because he noted one friend who has a pipeline within 300 feet of his home and a feedlot. Poindexter worried about safety issues, including explosions, and he said there should be proper setbacks from schools, nursing homes and hospitals… “Jim Seurer is chief executive officer of Glacial Lakes Energy, a farmer-owned cooperative based in Watertown, South Dakota. Seurer said his company needs the pipeline and its market incentives available in markets like California and Canada, each representing 40 million people. The markets help make sure corn ethanol stays “relevant” in a world that is leaning into electric cars and away from petroleum, which is blended with ethanol.”
Des Moines Register: Polk County supervisors consider joining 36 other counties that oppose carbon capture pipelines
Donnelle Eller, 8/18/22
“Polk County supervisors are considering opposing Navigator CO2 Ventures' proposed carbon capture pipeline through the county's northeast corner, potentially joining three dozen other Iowa counties that are fighting similar projects,” the Des Moines Register reports. “Polk County Administrator John Norris told the Register Wednesday he's drafting a resolution that supervisors will consider presenting at a September public meeting on the project… “So far, supervisors in 36 of the 56 counties the pipelines propose to pass through in Iowa have filed objections with state regulators, according to the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club. Among the concerns Norris said Polk County supervisors will consider: Navigator's possible use of eminent domain to force landowners to sell access rights for the project, the "long-term destruction of farmland" and whether it makes sense for the federal government to spend billions of dollars to support carbon-capture projects… “Navigator, Summit and Wolf could collect $40 billion over 12 years, based on the companies' estimates for carbon capture, according to Washington, D.C.-based Food & Water Watch, one of the environmental groups that opposes the proposed pipelines… "Could there not be a much wiser use of those taxpayer dollars to mitigate climate change?" Norris, who has spoken out against the project as a private citizen, told the Register.”
Axios: Polk County will vote to oppose Iowa pipeline project
Jason Clayworth, 8/17/22
“Polk County Supervisors are drafting a letter to object to Navigator CO2 Venture's proposed 1,300-mile pipeline project, multiple supervisors tell Axios. “...Why it matters: It's a showdown between property owner rights and a business that contends its project offers widespread economic and environmental benefits to the public… “Polk plans to join about two dozen other Iowa counties in objecting to the project in a letter to the IUB prior to next month's meeting, supervisor’s chairperson Angela Connolly told Axios. The driving concern is the use of eminent domain but there's also worry about its impact on soil quality, supervisor Matt McCoy told Axios. Of note: City officials have fielded many questions about the project, including concerns about landowner rights, Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie said in a statement to Axios Tuesday. It was unclear whether the DSM City Council might follow Polk's lead.”
Bismarck Tribune: Landowner concerns still surround proposed CO2 pipeline; developer forging ahead
JACKIE JAHFETSON, 8/16/22
“Landowner concerns continue to grow over a proposed pipeline that would pick up carbon dioxide emissions from ethanol plants in several Midwestern states and transport them to North Dakota for permanent storage, the Bismarck Tribune reports. “...A group of landowners and representatives from the Dakota Resource Council environmental group discussed Summit's proposed $4.5 billion Midwest Carbon Express pipeline during a meeting Tuesday night at the Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public Library… “For many landowners whose properties lie within the project area, the potential use of eminent domain remains a concern. Eminent domain would involve the seizure of land for the project if property owners can’t reach an agreement with the company; those landowners would still be compensated but likely not at the level they sought. Kurt Swenson, who lives on an Oliver County farm that has been in his wife’s family for 111 years, has been vocal about his concerns regarding the project since the developer sought to inject carbon dioxide emissions below his land. “Our landowner group is really wanting for Summit to respect the rights of private property owners,” Swenson told the Tribune… “Boeshans told the Tribune most landowners when they sit down with Summit “understand that this project is material to the future of agriculture and the future of energy in our state.” However, “Not everybody’s sold on the concept of capturing and storing CO2,” he told the Tribune, adding that it’s a battle with those opposed to traditional energy and modern agriculture… “Commissions in six North Dakota counties have passed resolutions opposing the potential use of eminent domain for the pipeline, according to Summit: Burleigh, Emmons, Sargent, Richland, Dickey and McIntosh. During Tuesday's landowner meeting, attorney Brian Jorde noted that such resolutions are not binding… “Art Rode, who lives 5 miles outside of Bismarck, said he succeeded in the spring in getting the proposed pipeline route off his property. However, he still believes the pipeline is too close to an expanding Bismarck. “Do we need this close to Bismarck? Where is Bismarck going to be in 70 years? Do we want a 2-foot diameter CO2 line running through residential areas around Bismarck?” Rode told the Tribune, suggesting that the project would be better placed in a more rural area. “We've got one chance to do this right," he told the Tribune. "If we screw it up, we’re going to live with it for the rest of our lives.”
Reuters: Phillips 66 offers to buy pipeline operator DCP Midstream
Arathy Somasekhar, 8/17/22
“U.S. refiner Phillips 66 (PSX.N) on Wednesday offered to acquire the public units of DCP Midstream (DCP.N) in a deal that would value the pipeline operator at $7.2 billion deal and bulk up Phillip's natural gas liquids business,” Reuters reports. “A deal would mark the first major move by Mark Lashier, who took over as the chief executive officer of Phillips 66 last month. Earlier this year, the company acquired the public units in transportation and storage business Phillips 66 Partners. Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge (ENB.TO), which owned 50% of DCP's general partner, said it would reduce its stake in the company to 13.2% from 28.3%. It received a $400 million cash payment from Phillips 66 as part of the deal. Enbridge will, in turn, take over as operator and more than double its stake in Grey Oak pipeline, previously operated by Phillips 66. The Grey Oak pipeline transport crude oil from West Texas to the Gulf Coast.”
Brenham Banner: Natural gas pipeline to pass through Washington County
Jason May, 8/17/22
“The Matterhorn Express Pipeline Project is an approximately 580 mile, intrastate pipeline, designed to transport up to 2.5 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from the Permian Basin in West Texas and Southeast New Mexico to the Katy Area of Texas,” the Brenham Banner reports. “The pipeline will pass through Southwest Washington County, and construction is expected to begin in June of 2023, and completed by the second half of 2024. During construction, the Matterhorn Express Pipeline will employ 3,500 skilled workers, and 50 permanent jobs will be created in Texas by the project.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Court clears path for Biden oil and gas leasing pause
Niina H. Farah, 8/17/22
“Federal judges today struck down a court order that had barred the Biden administration from pausing new oil and gas leasing on public lands and federal waters,” E&E News reports. “The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found this morning that the order requiring the Interior Department to resume lease sale offerings “lacked specificity.” But the appeals court did not decide on the substance of the Biden administration’s arguments that it had the authority to stop new sales. “We cannot reach the merits of the Government’s challenge when we cannot ascertain from the record what conduct — an unwritten agency policy, a written policy outside of the Executive Order, or the Executive Order itself — is enjoined,” wrote Senior Judge Patrick Higginbotham in the 5th Circuit opinion. The court sent the matter back to the judge — Terry Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana — who last year issued the preliminary injunction against Interior… “Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) led a coalition of 12 other Republican-led states in a legal challenge against the pause, and in June 2021, Doughty, a Trump appointee, had issued an injunction requiring lease sales to restart.”
E&E News: Climate law may undermine Biden court win on oil leasing
Niina H. Farah, 8/18/22
“A court ruling yesterday cleared the way for President Joe Biden to once again pursue one of his earliest climate actions: A pause on federal oil and gas leasing designed to give the government time to study the program’s contributions to planet-warming emissions. But can a new ban actually be implemented?” E&E News reports. “Not likely, observers tell E&E, because yesterday’s decision from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came one day after the president signed the Inflation Reduction Act, a major climate law committing the federal government to millions of acres of new onshore and offshore lease sales. The act is a “legislative mandate that now needs to be followed by [the Department of the] Interior,” Kyle Tisdel, climate and energy director at the Western Environmental Law Center, told E&E. He added: “At least for the next 10 years, how [Interior] manages its leasing program is sort of a done deal.” Among the provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act is a requirement that the Interior Department revive the massive and controversial Lease Sale 257 in the Gulf of Mexico, which another court previously rejected for inadequate environmental analysis… “Nicholas Bryner, a law professor at Louisiana State University, told E&E the 5th Circuit ruling didn’t appear likely to change much on the ground when it comes to leasing, especially after the passage of the new climate law.”
TIME: Biden Just Signed the Inflation Reduction Act. Now the Hard Work on Climate Really Begins
JUSTIN WORLAND, 8/16/22
“After 30 years of failed attempts to enact bold climate legislation, the U.S. entered a new era when President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act on Tuesday,” TIME reports. ”...Now, the fight begins to fill in the gaps… “It avoids taxes on emissions, which have drawn ire from some in the business community in the past, and instead relies on carrots that incentivize companies to decarbonize. To keep activists on board, it includes tens of billions of dollars in environmental justice provisions to invest in vulnerable communities. And it sidesteps the thorny problem of how to slow the fossil fuel industry, an interest group that holds sway with members of both parties. In short, it sets an ambitious direction for the future of U.S. climate policy and provides incentives to get there, but leaves may of the details to be determined… “Beginning in 2025, any method of generating electricity that does not emit carbon would qualify for a zero-emissions tax incentive. It’s safe to assume that will mean a lot more wind and solar power than without the incentive. But it could also mean a continuation of more hotly contested power sources like nuclear and fossil fuels, provided that power producers capture the carbon. How investors read these signals—a combination of the incentives in the law and the costs of various energy sources—and then deploy their capital will in large part determine both how much we decarbonize as well which technologies we use to get there… “The Inflation Reduction Act contains $60 billion to advance environmental justice priorities in the form of grants to these communities, but activists argue the provisions are insufficient and take particular issue with the measures that allow the fossil fuel industry a continued place in the energy mix. For this reason, as companies look to take advantage of the incentives, the fight over the future of fossil fuels will only grow as activists take on new pipelines, export terminals, and refineries. “We can stop the build out,” Jane Kleeb, founder of Bold Nebraska, a group that fights fossil fuel pipelines, told TIME. “It’s going to take all the legal avenues that we currently have on the ground.”
Politico: FERC staff asks Texas LNG facility owner to detail environmental justice impacts
CATHERINE MOREHOUSE, 8/16/22
“FERC staff is asking the owner of a planned liquefied natural gas facility in Texas, for more information about how it will impact low-income communities and communities of color as the agency works to comply with a federal court's directive to redo the project's permit,” Politico reports. “Staff on Tuesday asked representatives from the Texas Brownsville LNG project, which if approved again by FERC would export up to 200.75 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year over a 25 year period, to provide “racial, ethnic, and poverty statistics” in the neighborhoods surrounding the proposed facility’s construction area. FERC staff also asked about mitigation efforts the company would take to minimize negative impacts of construction. The request comes as Washington heats up over Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) permitting deal with top Democrats that could pave the way for quicker pipeline and LNG assessments from federal agencies. Progressive Democrats have vowed to fight the agreement.”
Alaska Public Media: Congress directs Interior to hold Cook Inlet lease sale this year
Laura Philion, 8/16/22
“The U.S. Department of the Interior will be required to hold an oil and gas lease sale in Cook Inlet before the end of the year. That’s according to a section of the new Inflation Reduction Act, passed by the U.S. House on Friday,” Alaska Public Media reports. “...But the act also requires the Interior Department to hold several oil and gas lease sales this year — including a long-contested sale in Cook Inlet. Previous plans for Cook Inlet lease sales have always come with the qualifier that they could be canceled due to lack of industry interest. And they have been, repeatedly — most recently this year, as well as in 2006, 2008 and 2010. But the new act said the lease sale must go forward before Dec. 31, 2022. That means the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management, which oversees the offshore program, can’t change or cancel the sale regardless of whether they think they’ll get bids, Liz Mering, advocacy director for Cook Inletkeeper, told APM. “However, just because BOEM holds a sale, doesn’t actually mean anyone will show up to bid,” she told APM. The lease sale requirement was added into the act by Sen. Lisa Murkowski and West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin, Murkowski spokesperson Hannah Ray told APM. Ray told APM the goal of the provision is to remedy the decision earlier this year to cancel the sale and to make sure that won’t happen again. Before it can put out a request for bids, the bureau has to release a final environmental impact statement, as well as a final plan and a record of decision. “It means that BOEM will kind of have to act expeditiously in order to start complying with the steps that are directed,” Mering told APM.
Politico: White House reviewing EPA methane rule supplement
Alex Guillén, 8/16/22
“The White House has begun reviewing a supplement to EPA's proposed methane rule for the oil and gas sector, one of the Biden administration's top climate regulatory actions,” Politico reports. “The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs began an interagency review of the supplement, Reg. 2060-AV16, on Monday, according to its website. It remains unclear exactly what is in the supplement. Background: EPA’s proposal last fall would expand the scope of Obama-era methane limits on new oil and gas sector sources and for the first-time proposed standards for existing sources, including wells, compression stations and storage, transmission and processing equipment. But EPA at the time said it would need to issue a supplemental proposal this year addressing certain issues. They included potentially expanding the scope to cover more sources, such as abandoned wells, plus stronger requirements on the operation of control devices. It may also touch on enforcement issues related to community-based monitoring, EPA’s top air official, Joe Goffman, said at the time.”
STATE UPDATES
Anchorage Daily News: Oil companies say they’ll move ahead to develop giant Pikka oil project on Alaska’s North Slope
Alex DeMarban, 8/17/22
“Global oil and gas companies Santos and Repsol said Tuesday that they will invest $2.6 billion to move ahead with development of a huge oil field on Alaska’s North Slope,” the Anchorage Daily News reports. “The money will cover the initial phase of development at what’s called the Pikka field, with 80,000 barrels of oil daily expected to begin flowing in 2026, Australia-based Santos said in a statement… “Pikka is one of two major oil prospects on the North Slope. The other, ConocoPhillips’ Willow project, has been delayed by litigation and a new Biden administration environmental review. Santos has a 51% stake in the project. The company said in a statement Tuesday that its investment will be $1.3 billion. Santos acquired Oil Search of Papua New Guinea last year, which had been working to advance the project. Santos’ partner in the project is Spanish oil company Repsol… “But Pikka’s prospects were recently challenged by a slew of financial institutions announcing they would not back oil developments in the Arctic, due to concerns about climate change.”
Reuters: Marathon gets more time to build LNG import project in Alaska
8/16/22
“Marathon Petroleum Corp's Trans-Foreland Pipeline Co unit received more time to convert the Kenai liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Alaska into an import terminal, U.S. energy regulators said on Tuesday,” Reuters reports. “The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Trans-Foreland's request for an extension to complete the project until December 2025… “Trans-Foreland said it has yet to make a final investment decision (FID) to build the project because the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have worsened economic and logistical conditions. "Uncertainty and volatility in the global LNG market have made it difficult for Trans-Foreland to secure a suitable supply arrangement that would provide the financial certainty necessary for the project," Trans-Foreland said in an earlier filing… “Once Trans-Foreland makes commercial arrangements for suitable supply, the company said it anticipates making its FID and moving forward with the project.”
EXTRACTION
Canadian Press: Releasing oilsands tailings into river is just 1 among several options: Guilbeault
Bob Weber, 8/17/22
“Releasing treated oilsands tailings into the environment isn’t the only solution being considered to clean up the massive toxic ponds in northern Alberta, federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says,” the Canadian Press reports. “Guilbeault told CP Wednesday that even though his government is developing regulations on how the tailings could be drained into the Athabasca River, other solutions are under review. “We’ve never said that this is the only solution we’re contemplating,” he told CP. “We haven’t ruled out the possibility of finding technical solutions to tailings ponds issues.” Guilbeault’s comments came as investigators from UNESCO arrived in Alberta to consider threats to Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada’s largest. The investigators are to assess whether federal and provincial efforts to stop the park’s environmental slide are enough to prevent the UN agency from placing the park on its list of World Heritage Sites In Danger — a move the body has already called “likely.” One of those threats is the tailings ponds, adjacent to the Athabasca River that flows into the park and the vast freshwater delta it protects. First Nations and environmental groups worry that the Alberta and federal governments have already decided that treating and releasing the water into that river is the way to go. Not so, Guilbeault told CP… “The government is developing regulations in case releasing treating water is found to be the best answer. Regulations take time to develop, and Guilbeault told CP something has to be ready by 2025 when the current ponds will run out of capacity. Any releases would have to be of drinking-water quality, he told CP.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
E&E News: Red states decry ‘woke left’ SEC proposal for ESG investing
Lesley Clark, 8/18/22
“West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has signaled that he plans to take a page from his recent Supreme Court climate win to challenge the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed rule for funds that are marketed as socially and environmentally responsible,” E&E News reports. “In formal comments filed yesterday with the SEC, 21 Republican state legal officers led by Morrisey argued that the agency is trying to transform itself from the federal overseer of securities “into the regulator of broader social ills.” And they say SEC’s move runs afoul of West Virginia v. EPA, the landmark Supreme Court decision that curbed the federal government’s authority to regulate carbon emissions from power plants. “The woke left is going full throttle in their mission to change every facet of American life … and erode our democratic institutions to suit their liberal agenda,” Morrisey told E&E. “The Biden administration wants to radically transform the SEC and other agencies run by unelected bureaucrats and make them champions of climate change, regardless of what those agencies’ functions are — Biden is creating a federal bureaucracy to suit his agenda.” At issue is an SEC proposal that would require firms to prove that investments that purport to be green or socially aware live up to those claims. While the rule cannot be challenged in court until it is finalized, the letter from West Virginia and other states provides an early look at the claims opponents are likely to raise… “Republicans have accused major banks, money managers, and agencies including the SEC and the Federal Reserve of attempting to bankrupt the fossil fuel industry. They have said regulators need to focus on financial returns and stability above all else. Morrisey in June led a coalition of attorneys general in filing formal comments regarding the SEC proposal to require companies to provide investors with information about their contributions to climate change and the risks they face from a warmer planet.”
Press release: US oil and gas independents seek investor favor, return $18.1 billion to shareholders in 2021
8/17/22
“US oil and gas producers recovered and reset in 2021, posting increased profits of $73.7 billion and $211.9 billion in revenues, with significant deal activity that drove $144.1 billion in capital expenditures (capex), according to the EY US oil and gas reserves, production and ESG benchmarking study… “Higher commodity prices and increased pressure from investors for returns led independents to increase their share repurchases and dividend payments by 122% from $8.1 billion in 2020 to $18.1 billion in 2021. This trend in capital allocation was reinforced when reviewing development and exploration costs, which, as a percentage of netback (revenues less production costs), decreased from 64% in 2020 to 32% in 2021, according to the study. The integrated oil and gas companies (integrateds) in the study acted similarly, while also demonstrating a focus on decarbonization via their asset strategy, shifting assets to the larger independents… "The energy transition and focus on managing emissions have caused oil and gas companies to rethink their portfolios," said David Johnston, EY US-West Region Strategy and Transactions Energy Leader. "The diversity of opinion about the future of oil and gas is evident by the three divergent strategies that are emerging. Working to rebalance their portfolio toward lower-carbon businesses, the integrated companies were big sellers, while smaller independents sold assets due to pressures from capital providers. The buyers have been the large independents looking for value and doubling down on the reality that oil and gas will be needed for decades to come."
Forbes: Oil’s New Bible-Thumping, Biden-Bashing Billionaire
Christopher Helman, 8/18/22
“Tim Dunn’s CrownRock kept the pedal to the metal throughout the pandemic and doubled its output in time for oil’s spike to $100. Now the new billionaire is pumping his opportunistic windfall into his church and his state— but not his government,” Forbes reports. “...Oil is going to get more expensive,” he says simply. “We are reaching the end of where we can keep increasing supply.” “...Two years ago, Wall Street was telling us ‘We don’t need you, we’re going to run everything off sun and wind and reindeer and unicorns,’ ” Lee Dunn scoffs. Tim Dunn knew better. He had an unshakable belief that prices wouldn’t stay low for long, and he knew that equipment and workers are cheap when demand dries up. So he kept investing. This sort of persistence by producers like Dunn has led to the trebling of U.S. oil production to 11 million barrels per day in just a decade… “Not that it has garnered them any love in Washington. As prices rebounded—West Texas Intermediate is up 40% over the last 12 months—energy producers have become convenient political targets. In June President Biden said that the profits being made by oil companies “in a time of war” were “not acceptable.” “...Dunn himself is doing far better. Thanks to the oil price surge, CrownRock will likely earn upward of $1.5 billion on revenue surpassing $3.5 billion in 2022. If it were a publicly traded company, the operation would have an enterprise value on the order of $8.3 billion. After accounting for debt, the Dunn family’s roughly 20% stake is now worth about $1.2 billion, double what it could have fetched 18 months ago.”
Bloomberg: Caisse’s Emond Has No Regrets About Exiting Oil Stocks Early
Mathieu Dion, 8/17/22
“The head of Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec says he has had no second thoughts about its decision to divest from oil producers, arguing the fund is already profiting from a long-term shift toward renewable energy and cleaner fuels,” Bloomberg reports. “The C$392 billion ($304 billion) pension manager decided to sell its remaining shares in oil producers and increase investments in renewable power and technologies that help industrial polluters reduce their carbon footprint… “Regulatory filings show the pension manager sold its entire stake in oil-sands majors Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Suncor Energy Inc. in the first half of this year. Caisse officials said they’ve now nearly completed the process of selling all oil-company stocks. During a press conference, Emond said the decision to reduce oil exposure was made in 2018 and the money was redeployed elsewhere to “do the right thing for the planet.” “...I wouldn’t like to give the impression to the population that we have experienced losses” from selling out of oil stocks, he said. He estimated that has cost the fund about C$1 billion since the Caisse began to cut its crude holdings. “The return is eight times that in renewable energy,” he told Bloomberg. “For me, our depositors are not losers. They are winners.” Caisse remains a large owner of Canadian pipeline companies Enbridge Inc. and TC Energy Corp., holding $380 million in shares of the two companies, according to regulatory filings compiled by Bloomberg.”
OPINION
Los Angeles Times: Editorial: L.A. is right to phase out oil drilling, but communities can’t wait 20 years
TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD, 8/15/22
“Los Angeles last week took a big step toward ending oil and gas drilling in the city by releasing a 20-year phaseout plan that could be enacted by year’s end. This is a laudable measure in the fight against climate change and environmental injustice, but without additional action it is too slow to bring meaningful relief to residents close to working wells,” the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board writes. “The ordinance would use the city’s land-use authority to immediately prohibit new drilling and require all existing wells to cease operations within two decades… “That’s why it’s important that the city work to shorten the timeline for the shutdown of existing wells. It could be more meaningful to residents than an end date in the 2040s… “Those living near wells can’t wait two more decades for cleaner air and safer neighborhoods. L.A. probably would not be on this path if not for the persistence of environmental justice and community groups that have spent more than a decade advocating for restrictions on urban oil drilling… “Although the oil industry will likely sue to try to block the phaseout of its operations, officials need to work with urgency to ensure most wells are shut down as soon as possible… “L.A. also has the opportunity to help raise the bar for the rest of California, and the nation, in ending harmful fossil fuel extraction… “People in L.A. and across the state need more than a far-off promise. They need these harmful drilling operations shut down as soon as possible.”
The American Prospect: A Methane Fee Won’t Work If It Doesn’t Count All the Methane
ROBERT HITT, 8/16/22
“Most of the Inflation Reduction Act’s energy measures involve carrots to industry to build new green technologies to reduce carbon emissions. But there’s one major stick intended to prevent one of the most harmful greenhouse gases. A historic new measure empowers the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to charge oil and gas companies for excess methane emissions,” Robert Hitt writes for The American Prospect. “...But there are two major problems with the fee. It only covers 40 percent of the methane emissions produced by the oil and gas industry, and the companies that are covered report their own emissions. Many firms already undercount their emissions to greenwash their operations; the fee gives them another reason to fudge numbers… “Companies that are subject to the new regulation must pay $900 for every ton in excess of a threshold set by the EPA, incrementally rising to $1,500 by 2026. However, under EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), its current method of tabulating emissions, companies are not required to directly measure methane leaks and venting; rather, emissions are calculated through a convoluted series of equations that are largely based on equipment used… “With differences in equipment and operating conditions, and ways for companies to fiddle with the numbers, results of these calculations are known to be inaccurate. In fact, very inaccurate… “Many firms already undercount their emissions to greenwash their operations; the fee gives them another reason to fudge numbers… “If the EPA rule changes can be paired with measures that strengthen the methane fee, and improve oversight on smaller facilities like marginal wells, the changes could really affect the release of methane into the atmosphere. In any case, we’ll know if measurements are being kept accurately by whether the touted emission reductions actually happen.”