** The Biden administration has issued more permits for oil and gas drilling on public land per month than the Trump administration did in its first three years, according to a new analysis of federal data. The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen found that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has approved an average of 333 drilling permits …
Category: EPA
EPA’s latest move for ethanol blending requirements
The Biden administration moved this week to put up another roadblock to small refinery operators such as the Wynnewood Refinery in Oklahoma to obtain exemptions from the EPA’s annual production requirements for ethanol and other biofuels. The Biden administration lowered the requirements to account for reduced demand as a result of the coronavirus pandemic …
$15 million fine over North Dakota spill
A North Dakota federal judge this week fined Summit Midstream $15 million over a discharge of 29 million gallons of produced water in 2014. The action by U.S. District Court Judge Daniel M. Traynor in Williston, North Dakota also included a three-year period of probation for the midstream company. It came after Summit Midstream …
Wednesday energy news headlines
** Halliburton CEO Jeff Miller told the World Petroleum Congress this week in Houston that oil, gas underinvestment is bringing about period of market scarcity. ** Despite the company’s good year so far, Exxon’s coming pay raises for employees will come in below inflation, new reports suggest. Salaries are going to rise about 3.6% for employees who deserve …
Energy news headlines on Monday
** Virginia panel denies air permit to Mountain Valley Pipeline extension. The 75-mile extention had been expected to be completed and in service sometime in 2023, a year after the hoped-for operation date of the larger Mountain Valley Pipeline. ** Helium prospecting is picking up in north-central Montana with Canadian companies expanding south after years of development in …
Oil refiners to face expanded biofuels mandates?
The Biden Administration’s EPA could announce this week an expansion of the kinds of renewable fuel production processes eligible to get credits under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard program. Reuters reports the highly anticipated proposal will also mandate the amount of biofuels that oil refiners will have to blend into their fuel mix. …
Questions raised about EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard
A research scientist at the University of Michigan contends the U.S. biofuel mandate certainly helps American farmers but does little for energy security and actually harms the environment. It’s the contention of John DeCisso, Research Professor Emeritus who argues the Renewable Fuel Standard, one that came into focus in an unsuccessful lawsuit involving an …
Friday’s energy news headlines
** POLITICO says two Republicans on the Federal Trade Commission are asking the White House for any proof of illegal activity by the oil and gas industry to raise gasoline prices, which Biden asked FTC Chair Lina Khan to investigate last week. Commissioners Noah Phillips and Christine Wilson requested evidence “so that we might consider …
New Mexico Environment Dept releases assessment report
The New Mexico Environment Department released a first-of-its kind performance assessment report that offers the public, stakeholders, and legislators the opportunity to track the Department’s progress in protecting public health and the environment. The new report, developed by NMED’s Office of Strategic Initiatives, is the first installment in reporting on 47 performance measures over five …
EPA flunks Colorado oil hub with new smog rules
Weld County, the most prolific oil-producing county in the state of Colorado was declared out of compliance by the Environmental Protection Agency with the agency’s 2015 ground-level ozone standards. All of the county that is north of Denver next to the state line. E & E News reported the declaration came after a federal …