Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein penned a letter to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx this week urging the need for stricter oil tank car regulations, an issue some business have been pushing back against. Production from unconventional resource plays has overwhelmed existing oil transportation infrastructure – particularly pipelines – forcing producers to use railroads to get their… Keep reading →
In an overt admission that western-led sanctions agasint Russia’s energy sector are impacting offshore resource development, the country’s top state-controlled oil & gas enterprises are pushing for legislative changes meant to entice western companies – and their technology – into the sector. The proposed subsoil legislation modifications would apparently allow foreign companies to take expanded… Keep reading →
As US- and EU-led economic sanctions against Russian energy players crank up, the degree to which Western interests could be collaterally damaged is again being called into question. The EU has shied away from sanctioning Russian gas industry participants because the bloc is so reliant on Russian gas supply, but oil market pressure could also… Keep reading →
A new report from Brookings’ Energy Security Initiative adds more scholarly weight to the analytical case for lifting America’s decades-old ban on crude oil exports. Echoing earlier studies by IHS and ICF International, the Brookings research finds that allowing the export of domestic crude would stimulate more oil production here at home, provide broad economic benefits and strengthen U.S. energy… Keep reading →
Major oil and gas companies’ recent record of bringing large projects on stream within projected timeframes and budgets leaves much to be desired. Ernst & Young analyzed the performance of 365 megaprojects – those costing over $1 billion – and found 64% face cost overruns and 73% face delays. See Kashagan in Kazakhstan as one… Keep reading →
Here’s an interesting look at the Los Angeles region’s long oil production history. One surprising photo shows drilling rigs lining the Long Beach oceanfront in the 1950’s, a level of industrial development that would be anathema today. However, local communities adapted over time to oil development infrastructure in their midst and the still-producing reservoirs now… Keep reading →
The hits keep on coming for companies invested in the North Caspian Operating Company, the consortium developing Kazakhstan’s giant Kashagan oil field. One of the world’s largest and most complex oil field development projects, Kashagan has been plagued by delays and cost overruns for years. The project briefly came on stream late last year only… Keep reading →
The impending restructuring of Mexico’s national oil company – Pemex – from a state-owned monopoly to a public-private entity will have a profound effect on the energy security and economy of Mexico. It may also have far reaching implications for its North American neighbors, the United States and Canada, who are both experiencing what has… Keep reading →
Billionaire activist Tom Steyer came under the microscope last week when the New York Times profiled his role in managing a fund that invested heavily in Australian coal. Now a climate change mitigation crusader and democratic funder, some have called Steyer’s former Wall Street activity his Achilles’ heel, but many in the environmental community rushed… Keep reading →
It’s called “Energetic Bear” and some experts believe elements of the Russian government are behind a string of malware infections that reportedly compromised hundreds of industrial control systems. Originally thought to be used as a form of espionage, experts believe the technology can gain control of energy infrastructure and “cripple physical systems such as wind… Keep reading →
