The U.S. government sued nearly two dozen of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s coal companies Tuesday to get them to pay roughly $4.8 million in unpaid mine safety fines. The civil lawsuit was filed by federal prosecutors in Virginia on behalf of the U.S. Department of Labor and the Mine Safety and Health Administration, The Associated
Read More...Iraq is planning a $53 billion megaproject with global energy giants ExxonMobil and PetroChina to use seawater from the Persian Gulf to boost oil production, Iraqi prime minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi announced Tuesday, Kallanish Energy finds. The project would boost output from Iraq’s southern oilfields, and includes plans to capture natural gas, which is currently being
Read More...Gibraltar on Monday opened a liquefied natural gas regasification terminal, moving the British territory away from diesel-fuel power, Kallanish Energy reports. The project comes as part of Gibraltar’s effort to power its homes and businesses with cleaner energy. The 80-megawatt power plant was built by Anglo-Dutch giant Shell and its fully owned subsidiary Gasnor, which is also
Read More...Iran’s oil minister last week warned Opec is “likely to collapse” because some members of the 14-nation group are working against their fellow producers, Kallanish Energy learns. It’s not hard to figure out the comments referred to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. When U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo first announced sanction waivers
Read More...Crude oil prices inched up Friday, as strong U.S. economic data boosted demand feelings, and as production drops in sanctions-hit Iran and Venezuela tightened the market, Kallanish Energy reports. Oil futures posted weekly declines on a jump in U.S. crude inventories reported recently. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled 13 cents higher, at $61.94 per
Read More...The Goose Creek Wind Project, which would include up to 120 turbines producing as much as 200 megawatts of power in northern Piatt County, Illinois, has been proposed by Virginia-based Apex Clean Energy, Kallanish Energy reports. Apex hopes to have the wind farm project online by the end of 2021, the Piatt County Journal-Republican newspaper
Read More...United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney was sworn in Tuesday as the 18th premier of Canada’s largest crude-producing province, Alberta, and named a cabinet he says will go to bat for the energy sector, Kallanish Energy reports. Kenney, a former conservative federal cabinet minister, won the election in a landslide victory against Rachel Notley’s New
Read More...Welcome to this week’s edition of The Buzz, a weekly feature where Kallanish Energy editors select the quartet of stories this past week we feel were the most important – have the chance to make the biggest impact on the oil and gas industry — and energy as a whole. This week’s selections include: Venezuela bypasses U.S. sanctions
Read More...Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is moving cash from Venezuelan oil sales through Russian state energy giant Rosneft, as he looks to evade U.S. sanctions designed to oust him from power, according to sources and documents reviewed by Reuters. The sales are the latest sign of Venezuela’s growing dependence on Russia, as the U.S. tightens sanctions on Maduro,
Read More...President Trump today will sign an executive order designed to prevent states from blocking pipelines and other energy infrastructure by using authority they feel is afforded them under the federal Clean Water Act, Kallanish Energy reports. Under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, companies must obtain certifications from a state before they can build federally-approved
Read More...Orders for Saudi Aramco’s debut international bonds topped $100 billion, a strong vote of market confidence for the world’s largest oil company, Kallanish Energy reports. State-owned Aramco raised roughly $12 billion from the deal, which was to be priced late Tuesday and is seen as a gauge of potential investor interest in the Saudi company’s eventual initial
Read More...Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) agreed to sell its 90% stake in a Brazilian natural gas pipeline company to France’s Engie SA and Canadian pension fund Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec for $8.6 billion. Engie and Caisse won the bidding war for the unit, Transportadora Associada de Gas, known as Tag, beating out Australia’s Macquarie
Read More...The U.S. Friday added two companies which ship crude oil from Venezuela to Cuba, along with 34 ships, to a financial sanctions list aimed at increasing pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down and turn over power to his opposition. A Treasury Department statement announcing the designation identified one of the companies as Ballito Bay
Read More...Power failures that kept Venezuela in darkness for much of March also briefly slashed the country’s crude production by 50%, people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg. Rolling blackouts across much of the country that started on March 7 temporarily paralyzed most of the country’s oil industry, Kallanish Energy finds. Oil output averaged less than
Read More...Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has signed legislation funding an examination of the state’s natural gas distribution system, a move prompted by recent gas pipeline explosions, Kallanish Energy reports. In September, gas explosions and resulting fires in the state’s Merrimack Valley killed one person, injured at least 24, and damaged or destroyed more than 100 homes,
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