Congressional hearings this week focusing on the EPA Renewable Fuel Standard bring together impassioned speakers representing the US biofuel constituency, traditional fossil fuel interests, major food companies and other stakeholders. With so many business interests involved, there is clearly a lot at stake – thousands of jobs and billions of dollars for starters – but… Keep reading →
The Northeast has joined Texas as a hotbed for energy lawyers, driven by our nation’s insatiable demand for energy and the lack of a coherent national energy policy. In addition, the industry is moving from a time-worn regulated monopoly model to free-market competition – complicated by climate change concerns on the one hand and the… Keep reading →
It sounds counterintuitive, but Texas’ energy boom its taxing its energy capacity. “Many municipalities and businesses are bracing for big surcharges this year, after having been hit hard last summer, as energy use by oil drilling and production equipment outpaces the capacity of the region’s power grid.” [Wall Street Journal] India’s oil imports from Iran… Keep reading →
Those solar zones that the Obama administration has created on public lands in the West, they’re for solar. No mining allowed. The Bureau of Land Management made this temporary ban a long-term thing earlier this month, putting 475 square miles in six western states off-limits to new mining claims for the next 20 years. It’s a move… Keep reading →
By Sri Jegarajah The risk of a disorderly decline in benchmark U.S. crude futures is growing after a four-week rally sent prices to 16-month highs and money managers amassed record bullish bets, defying an economic slowdown in China and the North American shale energy supply boom. WTI (West Texas Intermediate, the oil grade underpinning the U.S. crude futures… Keep reading →
Opec countries’ oil export revenues – excluding Iran – reached $982 billion last year, up by 5% over the previous year, according to Energy Information Administration estimates. This marks a record for EIA estimates covering the 1975-2012 time period, with Saudi Arabia accounting for 32% of the total. But revenues are projected to fall this year and… Keep reading →
The battle over the Renewable Fuel Standard is getting ugly, as congressional hearings take place today and tomorrow, representatives from each side of the ethanol/biofuel debate release their verbal attack dogs. “Let me be clear, AFPM is not anti-ethanol or anti-biofuels, both can play an important role in the fuel mix, provided they are safely… Keep reading →
The US federal government has long had a hand in guiding development of the country’s energy sector. In some cases, such as the Department of Energy’s role in the early stages of research and development that helped usher in the shale boom, this has been hailed as a success. In others, such as the highly-publicized… Keep reading →
As the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard is discussed at hearings on Capital Hill this week, the two sides of the debate are taking to the airwaves to promote their agendas. The refiners and oil companies want RFS repealed because they say it’s broken and dangerous, while the renewable fuels folks say Big Oil is just… Keep reading →
A high frequency energy trading firm is being charged by federal regulators Monday with manipulating markets through “spoofing,” an increasingly frequent scheme in which false bids are submitted and then pulled back, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission said. The civil action against Panther Energy Trading of Red Bank, N.J., and owner Michael J. Coscia, is… Keep reading →
