The Audubon Society is upset with a US Department of Interior decision to allow wind farm operators to obtain permit extensions allowing accidental bird death or injury for up to 30 years. Interior says the permit extensions provide regulatory certainty to wind developers, but Audubon thinks the move fails to balance “the need for conservation… Keep reading →
Is investing in energy efficiency cost-prohibitive for developing countries? The US and other developed countries have made huge strides in using energy more efficiently. But the bulk of energy demand growth over the next few decades is projected to come from the developing world, where per capita energy intensity is expected to rise dramatically before… Keep reading →
ExxonMobil is the one of the world’s largest energy companies. But while the firm identifies its two primary priorities as producing energy and “reducing our emissions profile while we do it” – according to vice-president of government affairs Ken Cohen – energy, in this case, refers almost exclusively to oil and gas. ExxonMobil does have… Keep reading →
We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and ate far too much yesterday… PetroChina has agreed to buy 25% of the West Qurna oil field in Iraq from ExxonMobil for an undisclosed sum. An analyst at Sanford Bernstein previously estimated the value of ExxonMobil’s 60% interest in the field at $3 billion. [Bloomberg] An easing… Keep reading →
Iran has agreed to an initial nuclear deal that will involving the country dialing back its nuclear program in exchange for six months of sanctions relief. Iran will gain access to over $4 billion in frozen oil revenues, as well as a suspension of sanctions on petrochemical exports. [Bloomberg] The deal will also “eas[e] of the… Keep reading →
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway bought 40.1MM shares of ExxonMobil for $3.45bln, and now holds about 0.9% of the company’s stock. UK’s BG has sold additional interests in its Queensland Curtis LNG project in Australia to China National Offshore Oil Corp. for $1.93 billion, and to supply the state-controlled Chinese firm with an additional 5 million tons per year of LNG… Keep reading →
The oil and gas industry builds some of the world’s largest, most technically-challenging and expensive projects, especially now as companies are pushed further offshore, into the Arctic and into unconventional resource opportunities. As such, capital expenditure is closely watched by investors and there is consistent discourse around how much cash should be deployed to increase… Keep reading →
ExxonMobil is famously tight-lipped and conservative, and its quarterly earnings calls rarely produce much in the way of stunning news or salacious gossip. But the company’s discussions of ongoing operations at important projects – such as massive oil sands investments, Russian gas export facilities and Alaskan infrastructure targets – touch on some of the trickiest and… Keep reading →
Coal and oil and gas producer Consol has agreed to sell its Consolidation Coal Company subsidiary, which holds five West Virginia coal mines, to Murray Energy for $3.5 billion. Consol aims to whittle its assets down to growth markets – natural gas production and coal for export – as the future of US power generation veers more… Keep reading →
Neat and messy, conservative and spendthrift, no we’re not talking about Felix and Oscar, but former ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond and former Chesapeake Chairman and CEO Aubrey McClendon, who have teamed up to run a shale gas venture focused on Ohio’s Utica Shale. “It may be the U.S. energy industry’s oddest couple: Lee Raymond, who… Keep reading →
