Regulatory – Page 78 – Oil & Gas 360

Court Tosses out Longmont, Colo. Frac Ban–But Ballot Initiatives Targeting Oil & Gas Operations are Likely to Make November Ballot

July 25, 2014

In a ruling Thursday that overturned the city of Longmont’s ban on hydraulic fracture stimulation, a Boulder County, Colorado judge—and the case itself—illustrated the power that Proposition 89 would convey to municipalities and other local governments statewide. Boulder Judge D.D. Mallard said on Thursday that Longmont’s charter amendment “clearly conflicted with the state’s regulations and its interest in the efficient

CEOs Closely Watching Colorado Ballot Initiatives

July 24, 2014

During his introductory comments on the Noble Energy (ticker: NBL) Q2 earnings call today, Noble Chairman and CEO Charles Davidson said: “I wanted to spend a couple of minutes discussing the regulatory environment for oil and gas development in Colorado, which is certainly gathering a lot of attention right now. As many of you are aware, certain initiatives have been

The Consequences of EPA’s CO2 Restrictions – Part Two

July 24, 2014

On January 17, 2008, President Obama said, “If someone wants to build a coal power plant, they can, it’s just that it will bankrupt them…” That promise is coming into fruition now. Last month, the EPA revealed its Clean Power Plan, which aims to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 30% by 2030, in relation to levels from 2005. The

Will Political Windstorm Bring Wattenberg Development to a Halt?

July 22, 2014

Note: this is Part Two of a two-part series looking at the rapid pace of oil and gas development in Weld County in 2014. Click here to read Part One: Will Voters Kill Colorado’s Golden Goose? 2013 was a record year for oil production in Colorado: 64 million barrels were produced in the state. Weld County extracted 52 million of those

Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Upton’s “Architecture of Abundance”

July 21, 2014

During the EIA Energy Conference last week, July 14 to July 15, Michigan’s Representative Fred Upton (R) gave a speech about his ideal energy future. He called his plan the “Architecture of Abundance.” It is a plan with five pillars: By Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) Modernizing infrastructure Maintaining diverse electricity generation Permitting a manufacturing renaissance Harnessing

Will Voters Kill Colorado’s Golden Goose?

July 21, 2014

August 4 is the deadline for two citizens’ groups that are attempting to collect the signatures required to land two statewide ballot proposals on the November ballot. If successful, they would give voters the power to inhibit Colorado’s future oil and gas development. By Bevo Beaven, Editor, Oil & Gas 360 NOTE: This is the first of a two-part series

The EPA’s CO2 Rules: More Gas-Fired Generation Plants, Other Remedies

July 17, 2014

Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its proposed Clean Power Plan, which plans to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 30% by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. The U.S. levels in 2013 were 10% below those of 2005 – a growth of 2% from 2012 levels. The EPA said that the combustion of fossil fuels to generate electricity was

GOM: Companies Prep for Deepwater Development

July 17, 2014

The U.S. Department of the Interior estimates the GOM has 48 billion BOE yet to be discovered. Royal Dutch Shell (ticker: RDS.B) announced its third major oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) on July 15, 2014, and expects it to yield 100 MMBOE of reserves. The company has now discovered a total of 700 MMBOE of GOM reserves, according

Community Control Ballot Initiative Dies from Lack of Signatures in Colorado, Governor Abandons Compromise Bill Push

July 16, 2014

A ballot initiative that would have given communities the power to regulate local oil and gas operations was pulled Monday for a lack of supporting signatures, according to a report by the Denver Post Tuesday. “Initiative 75 would have added the so-called Community Rights Amendment to the state constitution, but to get it on the ballot required 86,105 valid signatures

Jones Act Changes Could Limit LNG’s Export Effect

July 14, 2014

The Jones Act is the nickname for a 94-year-old law entitled the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 that allows only U.S.-made, U.S.-manned, and U.S.-flagged ships to transfer goods or passengers between U.S. ports. Although it was meant to protect domestic U.S. seaborne commerce from foreign competition, in today’s global economy, it has the effect of making shipping oil between U.S. ports,

Keystone XL: 2,119 Days and Counting

July 9, 2014

20,000 U.S. Jobs, $7B Project Stuck in Limbo As of July 9, the Keystone Project has been studied for 2,119 days, according to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. No other pipeline has taken so long to gain approval. On July 8, 44 diverse organizations, from businesses to labor unions, sent a letter supporting the speedy approval of TransCanada’s Keystone

Coal to Gas: China and U.S. to Share Energy Technologies

July 9, 2014

In the context of a new climate change summit in Beijing, the U.S. and China have signed eight partnership pacts to promote the exchange of research and technology for greenhouse gas-cutting initiatives, the International Business Times reported. “In one of the agreements, China’s Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute, a subsidiary of the state-owned utility China Huaneng Group (ticker: HNGZ:CH), agreed

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