By July 7, 2017 Read More →

US news brief July 7: Trump urges eastern Europe to buy US natural gas

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President Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Interior speeds up permitting on federal lands, Texas wants federal regulations handed to States, Enbridge suspends New England gas pipeline

Trump urges eastern Europe to by US natural gas, loosen energy ties with Russia

Bloomberg – President Donald Trump encouraged eastern European leaders worried about their dependence on Russian energy to buy U.S. gas instead.

Donald Trump“If one of you need energy, just give us a call,” Trump told a gathering in Warsaw on Thursday.

“The United States will never use energy to coerce your nations, and we cannot allow others to do so,” he said in an apparent slight to Russia, which has sometimes cut off gas shipments to its neighbors over pricing disputes.

Increased reliance on America’s fast-growing gas supplies would help lessen the impact of Russia, the source of about 75% of eastern Europe’s fuel, of using energy as a political weapon. Poland, the European Union’s largest eastern member, received its first shipment of American liquefied natural gas last month.

Trump was in Warsaw to attend a meeting of the Three Seas Initiative, a project started last year that aims to strengthen trade, infrastructure, energy and political co-operation among 12 countries bordering the Adriatic, the Baltic and the Black Sea.

During a joint news conference with Trump, Polish President Andrzej Duda told reporters he’s hoping to sign a long-term supply agreement with U.S. companies “soon.”

The U.S. leader replied that he can sign a deal “in 15 minutes” if needed, later reiterating that eastern Europe should never be “held hostage” to a single supplier.

API applauds Interior’s commitment to speed up oil/gas permitting on federal lands

The American Petroleum Institute welcomes Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s order to expedite the oil and gas permitting process on federal lands. Streamlining permitting processes and decisions will improve confidence to invest in federal energy projects that will create jobs and benefit consumers.

“We applaud the administration’s steps to help strengthen the United States’ energy position,” said API Upstream and Industry Operations Group Director Erik Milito. “A key component of a successful policy is repairing the federal permitting process so that companies have the confidence to invest and see their projects move forward.”

U.S. production of natural gas on private and state lands was up 55 percent from 2010-2015, and crude oil production on private and state lands rose 113 percent during that same time period, according to the Congressional Research Service.

However, on federal lands, production was essentially flat or declining. Crude oil production was up only 1 percent while natural gas production was down 27 percent during the same period.

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Texas Legislature resolution supporting delegation of “harmful” federal energy regulations to States

The Texas House of Representatives has passed a resolution urging the federal government to work with Texas to unravel the “overreaching regulations” of the past eight years, which were largely aimed at negatively impacting the oil and gas industry.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 26, authored by Senate Natural Resources Chairman Craig Estes and sponsored by House Energy Resources Chairman Drew Darby, has also been approved by the Senate and will now head to the Governor’s desk for signature.

“The Texas Alliance of Energy Producers applauds the passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 26, which sends a strong message to the federal government and the new presidential administration. Now is the time to work together to reverse some of the harmful regulations that have stunted the growth of our industry for far too long,” said Alliance Chairman Bob Osborne.

SCR 26 is a critical component in a larger overall effort to seek delegation over energy regulations from the federal government and return power to the hands of the state, an initiative spearheaded by the Alliance in conjunction with other oil and gas industry associations through the Federal Regulatory Energy Delegation (FRED) committee.

Enbridge suspends New England gas pipeline project because lacks financing options

PLATT – Enbridge has pulled its proposed Access Northeast natural gas pipeline in New England from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission review.

Enbridge says the project could be revived if the region develops policies supporting natural gas pipelines to serve power plants.

The $3.2 billion Access Northeast  project called for bolstering the Algonquin Gas Transmission system in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts and included an expanded liquefied natural gas facility near Boston.

Eversource Energy and National Grid backed Access Northeast (designed to deliver 925,000 Dt to power plants totaling about 5,000 MW).

New England governors, ISO New England and others have been pressing for more gas pipeline capacity to supply the region, which is increasingly reliant on gas-fired power plants. There have been price spikes in the winter, when generators compete for gas with homes and businesses that use gas for heating.

“New England continues to lack a uniform energy policy necessary to achieve full regional support of natural gas infrastructure for electric generation,” the company said.

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