The highly controversial Keystone XL pipeline project – that would move Canadian oil sands crude from Alberta to the US Gulf Coast – took a step forward in the drawn-out approval process today when the State Department released its Final Environmental Impact Statement. The statement is mostly favorable – the executive summary is included below.… Keep reading →
The writing has been on the wall since the disastrous train derailment last July near Lac-Megantic in Quebec and subsequent incidents involving the release of flammable liquids during railroad accidents. The issue of rail safety has also gotten a lot of press recently, as crude oil shipments by rail reportedly increased 400% since 2005. Now… Keep reading →
The U.S. energy revolution continues to reshape America’s energy outlook for the better. Thanks largely to shale energy reserves and advanced hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2014 Annual Energy Outlook estimates domestic oil production will approach 9.6 million barrels per day by 2016 – a level of output not seen since 1970.… Keep reading →
It can be hard to maintain a sense of humor while keeping up with all the fast-moving energy business trends unfolding so far this year, but maybe this will help. Toronto resident Josh Culling connected the long-awaited Keystone XL Pipeline decision with news of pop icon and misbehaving teen heart throb Justin Bieber’s inebriated drag-racing… Keep reading →
An article in The New Yorker features an interview with John Podesta, a newly appointed White House Advisor on energy and climate issues, who claims Republican lobbying efforts against the Keystone XL Pipeline backfired. Podesta said the pipeline was “rolling toward approval,” but strong-arm tactics led by API slowed the approval process long enough for… Keep reading →
As new infrastructure is constructed to move oil in and out of the US storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, the volume and quality of the crude stored at any given time is becoming increasingly difficult to calculate, confounding traders of benchmark WTI. [Reuters] Former EPA chief Lisa Jackson took a job promoting energy efficiency at… Keep reading →
