Last month EPA implemented new gasoline regulations requiring the last microscopic bits of sulfur to be removed from fuel. The Tier 3 standard is likely to hit consumers and burden the economy while providing, at best, negligible benefit. Writing for the Jefferson Policy Journal, Paul Driessen makes a number of important points about the potentially onerous effects of… Keep reading →
By Bryan Borzykowski Last June, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway surprised a number of investors by sinking more than $500 million into Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU), one of Canada’s largest oil-and-gas companies. To Americans, it may have seemed like just another one of the Oracle’s undervalued plays, but it got a lot of long-suffering Canadian energy… Keep reading →
US refiners have had a tough 25 years, Pioneer Natural Resources Chairman and CEO Scott Sheffield said during a lunch keynote presentation at the Independent Petroleum Association of America Oil & Gas Investment Symposium in New York today. East Coast refiners face a competitive disadvantage to those located on the Gulf Coast because Eastern plants… Keep reading →
First, BP dropped plans to invest in a refinery in Qinzhou. Then PetroChina delayed plans for it’s Kunming refinery, part of a larger plan that includes a pipeline linking Southwestern China to the Bay of Benegal through Myanmar (bypassing the Malacca Straits). Now, two of the largest Chinese national oil companies (NOCs) are paring back… Keep reading →
The US Department of Energy is conducting a test sale of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Five million barrels of sour crude are being offered for April, 2014 delivery from the West Hackberry and Big Hill sites on the US Gulf Coast. The sale is reportedly timed to coincide with US refiners’ annual… Keep reading →
A new Washington Post/ABC News poll on the Keystone XL pipeline adds to the drumbeat of strong public support for building the pipeline. The Post/ABC survey shows a nearly 3 to 1 margin, with 65 percent saying Keystone XL should be approved. Details of the poll show why: 85 percent say the pipeline will create a significant number of… Keep reading →
EPA’s finalized Tier 3 vehicle emissions and fuel standards will lower gasoline sulfur content by more than 60 percent in 2017. On March 3, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its Tier 3 Vehicle Emissions and Fuel Standards program, reducing gasoline sulfur levels by more than 60 percent – from 30 to 10… Keep reading →
The largest US nuclear plant owner Exelon said it may shut nuclear facilities to shore up its balance sheet if profits do not improve this year. Historically low natural gas prices and renewable energy sources have decreased the price the utility receives for the power it sells. “Exelon owns 10 nuclear power plants, six of… Keep reading →
In recent years we’ve regularly disagreed with the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) because its ethanol mandates could harm consumers and the broader economy. The conversation with Big Ethanol has been, well, spirited. That said, hats off to RFA for including an oil and natural gas industry executive as one of the keynote… Keep reading →
We featured it in today’s “News Roundup,” but the articulate and impassioned Financial Times editorial calling for reform of Nigeria’s national oil company – NNPC – is worth repeating. For a country so well endowed with natural resources, its overall energy situation is arguably in shambles. Despite ample refining capacity, the country is forced to… Keep reading →
