International Trade

Feds Approve Quebec-to-NY Power Line

By Todd Griset | PretiFlaherty

Bedouins Of The Negev Desert

A proposed electric transmission line connecting Quebec to New York will receive a key federal approval, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The Energy Department’s decision to issue a Presidential permit to Champlain Hudson Power Express, Inc. focuses attention on the nation’s international trade in electricity, and may suggest increased reliance on power imports.

Pursuant to two Executive Orders — EO 10485 (September 9, 1953), as amended by EO 12038 (February 7, 1978) — no electricity transmission facilities may be constructed, operated, maintained, or connected at the U.S. border without first obtaining a Presidential permit from the Department of Energy. In 2010, Champlain Hudson Power Express, Inc. applied to DOE for a Presidential permit to construct, operate, maintain, and connect a 1,000-megawatt (MW), high-voltage direct current (HVDC) merchant electric power transmission system across the U.S./Canada border.

 /  Published October 2, 2014 at 4:00 PM

Achieving Justice And Human Rights In An Era Of Climate Disruption – New IBA Report

By Gauthier van Thuyne | Allen & Overy LLP

Youth Rally For Change In Energy, Climate And Economic Policy

On 22 September 2014, the International Bar’s Association task force on Climate Change Justice and Human Rights released its new report Achieving Justice and Human Rights in an Era of Climate Disruption in the wake of the UN Climate Summit 2014.

The Report can be consulted here.

The publication of the report marks the end of a research effort initiated in November 2012 and constitutes an important recognition by the global legal profession that climate change has an important human rights dimension. It presents a comprehensive survey of existing legal frameworks relevant to climate change, and identifies, using a justice-centred perspective, opportunities for legal reforms.

 /  Published September 30, 2014 at 4:00 PM

Update on U.S. Sanctions Relating to Ukraine

By Daniel Gerkin, Donald Smith, Jerome Zaucha | K&L Gates LLP

UN-US-NKOREA

Please find below a summary of recent development regarding U.S. sanctions against Russia and a summary of the U.S. sanctions to date.

U.S. Sanctions
On September 12, the United States, in coordination with the EU, imposed additional sanctions against Russia in connection with events in Ukraine. Specifically,

the Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of the Treasury (“OFAC”): (i) placed additional Russian persons on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (“SDN”) list; (ii) placed additional Russian persons on OFAC’s Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List (“SSIL”); (iii) amended the bar on activities by U.S. persons relating to debt of SSIL-listed persons from the Russian financial services sector to cover new debt of more than 30 days maturity (previously the bar related to debt of 90 days or longer); (iv) imposed a bar on activities by U.S. persons relating to new debt of more than 30 days maturity of SSIL-listed persons from the Russian defense and related materiel sector; and (v) imposed a bar on activities by U.S. persons in support of deepwater, Arctic offshore, or shale exploration or production projects that have the potential to produce oil in Russia and that involve any person designated on the SSIL in connection with the bar; and
the Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce (“BIS”): (i) added five entities from the Russian defense or related material sector to the BIS Entity List; (ii) added five entities from the Russian energy sector to the BIS Entity List, which are now subject to an export licensing requirement for certain energy projects; and (iii) imposed an export licensing requirement on certain Commerce Control List items known to be destined to Russia for a military end use or user (expanding the current licensing requirement for such exports to China to also cover Russia).

 /  Published September 23, 2014 at 4:00 PM

U.S., EU Impose Sector-Specific Sanctions Against Russia

By Christine Savage, Iain MacVay, Mark Wasden, Jane Cohen, Sajid Ahmed, Shannon Doyle Barna, Clint Long | King & Spalding

Moscow Travel Destination

Recently the United States and the EU imposed additional targeted sanctions against Russia in response to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Although previous sanctions issued by the U.S. and EU since March 2014 affect various sectors of the Russian economy, including Russia’s military industrial complex, the most recent sanctions target Russia’s financial and energy sectors.

U.S. Sanctions

Since March 2014, the United States has imposed visa bans on certain government officials and blocked property and interests in property of certain persons and entities that are stated to contribute to the situation in Ukraine. The most recent sanctions imposed restrictions on exports and re-exports of oil- and gas-related items for deepwater, Arctic offshore, or shale projects in Russia. These sanctions have been imposed primarily by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”).

 /  Published September 11, 2014 at 4:00 PM

Solar Market’s Latest Hiccup: India’s Antidumping Move

By Pete Danko

Aleo Produces Solar Panels

In a way, it’s new: A U.S.-based company is among those charged with dumping solar products (instead of doing the charging). But India’s move toward imposing duties on First Solar and more than 20 other solar companies that sell products in the country is really just the latest dose of uncertainty added to the solar… Keep reading →

 /  Published May 16, 2014 at 12:00 PM

Energy Quote of the Day: Putin Holds Back on Sanctions Retaliation, For Now

By

2014 Paralympic Winter Games - Opening Ceremony

President Obama upped the ante yesterday in the burgeoning trade war with Russia over the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine when he announced an executive order that authorized sanctioning Russian economic sectors. The first round of sanctions targeted individual Russian officials, but now enterprises involved in Russia’s energy sector – including banks, trading houses and… Keep reading →

 /  Published March 21, 2014 at 3:30 PM

Energy News Roundup: Four Traders Claim to Have Proof that BP, Statoil, Shell & Morgan Stanley Manipulated Oil Prices

By

Oil Drops To $96 A Barrel As Energy Prices Decline 1.4 Percent In April

Four oil traders are claiming in a lawsuit that they can prove that BP, Statoil and Shell conspired with Morgan Stanley and trading firms such as Vitol to manipulate Brent crude prices. The traders say that the three oil companies placed orders to move markets, rather than buy crude. “Platts’ methodology ‘can be easily gamed… Keep reading →

 /  Published November 7, 2013 at 9:30 AM
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