** Some of the top US oil refiners are throttling back operations at their facilities this quarter, adding to concerns that a global glut of crude is forming. Marathon Petroleum Corp. — owner of the largest US refinery — plans to operate its 13 plants at an average of 90% of capacity this quarter, the …
Category: EPA
Energy briefs
** Sens. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) unveiled a bill recently to delay new vessel speed limits on the Atlantic coast. Whale advocates say the legislation would doom the North Atlantic right whale to extinction. The bill, the “Protecting Whales, Human Safety, and the Economy Act of 2024,” S. 4948, was introduced Friday. ** The …
Energy briefs
** Facing the need to win battleground Pennsylvania, Vice President Kamala Harris is swearing off any prior assertion that she opposed fracking, but that hasn’t stopped Republican Donald Trump from wielding her now-abandoned position to win over voters in a state where the natural gas industry means jobs. ** Former President Donald Trump said he had “no choice” but to …
Energy briefs
** Exxon Mobil on Friday posted a better-than-expected $9.2 billion second-quarter profit based on rising oil prices and volume gains from its purchase this year of shale oil firm Pioneer Natural Resources. Exxon delivered a $2.14 per share profit that beat analysts’ estimates on oil production and pricing gains that offset refining weakness. ** A U.S. circuit …
Energy briefs
** Bipartisan legislation aimed at speeding up approvals for new energy projects advanced to the full Senate Wednesday. The legislation, put forward by Sens. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), sailed through committee in a 15-4 vote. The lawmakers who opposed the legislation were Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), reported The Hill. ** Refiner HF …
News briefs
** Power prices on the biggest US power grid are about to hit a record-high amid a wave of plant retirements and surging demand, thanks in part to new data centers being built. Generators that provide electricity to the 13-state grid that stretches from New Jersey to Illinois will get a record $269.92 per megawatt-day …
Energy briefs
** Financially troubled Stellantis might kill some of its underperforming EV brands. It’s what CEO Carlos Tavares said in response to the company’s latest earnings report which showed a net profit drop of 48%. ** Banks including Citigroup Inc. have downgraded their growth forecasts for Asia’s biggest economy, while export prices of US oil heading to …
Skipped over by the EPA, Oklahoma pushes ahead with clean air plan
Oklahoma wasn’t one of the 25 sites last week where the Environmental Protection Agency handed out another $5 billion for green energy projects favored by the Biden administration. The state applied but it was not included in the final list. As the Oklahoman reported this week, the effort still might lead to a reduction …
Energy briefs
** ArcLight Capital Partners, a major private equity buyer of power assets, launched a new unit with initial capital of $500 million to acquire and upgrade wind and solar projects that will help meet surging electricity demand from data centers. The investment vehicle, SkyVest Renewables, made its debut deal with the purchase of a 160-megawatt …
Congressman adds anti-DEI legislation on Interior Department budget bill
When the U.S. House voted last week along party lines for a reduced budget for the Department of Interior, it not only had the support of Oklahoma’s five U.S. Representatives. It also included Republican efforts to thwart DEI and environmental justice activities to be inserted by the Biden administration. The final budget bill included …