by wp_sysadmin | Aug 31, 2020 | General, News
OIL
Major Oil Projects in Alaska are MOVING FORWARD
Ed King, King Economics, August 31, 2020
We are now through the first two months of fiscal year 2021. As things stand today, we see a picture of optimism on the horizon. The worst of the storm appears to have passed. There are still tough times in the short-term forecast, but the future is starting to look a little brighter.
GAS
The Gas Industry’s Survival Plan: Make Fuel From Cow Poop
Naureen S. Malik, Bloomberg Green, August 31, 2020
Polly is a 10-year-old black-and-white Holstein cow, the oldest in a herd of about 300 on the Bar-Way Farm in Deerfield, Mass. Together they produce 2,000 gallons of milk each day. They also make enough poop to fill about two garbage trucks. The farm makes money off of both. In 2014, Bar-Way began working with Vanguard Renewables to install a biodigester, which uses specialized bacteria to convert organic material—for example, cow poop—into biogas, a versatile fuel. Once it’s purified, this biomethane, also known as renewable natural gas (RNG), is chemically identical to the main ingredient in the fossil-based natural gas that comes out of your stove or heats your water
MINING
Yukon mining industry sees opportunity in Port of Skagway
Claire Strempel, Alaska’s Energy Desk, August 28, 2020
As Skagway’s long-standing waterfront lease with tourist attraction White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad draws to a close, the municipality plans to diversify its port traffic. Yukon mining interests are paying close attention. Jonas Smith, co-project manager for the Yukon Producers’ Group — an industry group for mining and mineral exploration companies — says Skagway is essential to mining in the Yukon. “Skagway is a considerably shorter sailing from Asian markets than other Western North American ports,” he said. “So it’s very strategic and useful for accessing those international markets.”
POLITICS
America Needs Energy Policies That Won’t Harm Families, Businesses With High Costs, Less Reliability
David Holt, Real Clear Energy, August 30, 2020
As a non-partisan advocate for energy policies that help our families, farmers and small businesses by keeping energy reliable, affordable, and environmentally responsible, Consumer Energy Alliance has long supported wind, solar, oil, natural gas, nuclear and all other forms of energy. And we will continue to argue for policies that aid in our nation’s ability to keep energy abundant and decrease our dependence on countries with less robust environmental safeguards. For this reason, we reluctantly offer our strong opposition to the Democratic Party’s recently announced policy position that would eliminate future energy development on federal lands.
by Owen Phillips | Aug 28, 2020 | General, News
While telling Alaskans that he’s an independent, he’s telling donors that it’s a ruse to get elected, he plans to caucus with democrats, who are planning to stop resource development in Alaska.
‘My Values Are To The Left’: Independent Alaska Senate Candidate Tells DNC He’s With Them
Colin Anderson, Washington Free Beacon, August 22, 2020
Senate challenger Al Gross told Democratic donors behind closed doors that his run as an “independent Alaskan” is a front.
“I will caucus with the Democrats. I’ve been an independent since I was 18, but if you look at my platform, you’ll see that most of my values are to the left,” Gross said Wednesday. “I’ve met with leadership in the Senate and they are very understanding that my best pathway to win is to remain as an independent.”
The concession—which Gross made while appealing to national donors during a Democratic National Committee virtual happy hour—is at odds with his campaign’s positioning. In a July ad, Gross said he was “running for U.S. Senate as an independent Alaskan,” adding that “out here, if you can’t think for yourself, you won’t survive.”
This isn’t the first time Dr. Gross has made statements that concern us. In May we wrote about his opposition to Alaska’s current oil tax structure:
Friday Fact Check: In a recent interview with the National Journal, US Senate candidate Dr. Al Gross made statements that suggest he a) doesn’t understand the economics of the oil & gas industry in Alaska, b) doesn’t care about the economics of the oil & gas industry in Alaska or c) will say anything to anybody in order to get elected.
We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, assume he doesn’t understand the economics, and give him some help so that he doesn’t make the same mistake in the future:
- Instead of saying “I think it’s going to be clear to Alaskans that this (SB 21) was a really bad piece of legislation as it relates to them,” we suggest “Since SB 21 passed, oil companies have paid Alaska $8.7 billion in taxes and $13.8 billion in total state revenue.”
- Instead of claiming that SB 21 was “Good for special corporate interests. Bad for Alaskan families”, we suggest “Since SB 21 passed, Alaskan families – a family-owned clothing store in Kenai, a family-owned fabrication shop in Fairbanks, a family-owned engineering firm in Anchorage – have seen their business double.”
- Instead of calling SB 21 a “barrel of poison” and saying he “would like to see it replaced”, we suggest “Under SB 21, the state has received more oil and more revenue than was projected under the old tax system. Why mess with something that works?”
If Dr. Gross is serious about representing ALL Alaskans, we hope he rethinks his careless statements. One-quarter of all Alaska’s jobs are attributed to the oil and gas industry. 75% of the unrestricted state revenue from businesses to the state comes from oil and gas. Since SB 21 passed, over $2.7 billion has been deposited in the Alaska Permanent Fund. Clearly our current tax structure is good for Alaska, good for Alaskans, good for Alaskan families and doesn’t need to be replaced.
by Owen Phillips | Aug 27, 2020 | General, News
OIL
Europe faces high hurdles to make hydrogen hype reality
Nina Chestney, Kate Abbott, Reuteres, August 26, 2020
A European Union goal to boost the use of zero-carbon hydrogen is likely to be a pipe dream unless the bloc can find billions in investment and persuade member states, under strain from the pandemic hit to their economies, to give their backing. Last month, the European Commission mapped out a plan to expand the production and use of “green hydrogen” – a zero-carbon fuel made by electrolysis, using renewable power from wind and solar, that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.
GAS
U.S. LNG Exporters Are Adding Capacity Despite A Plunge In Demand
Irina Slav, OILPRICE.COM, August 26, 2020
In a world awash in LNG, any news about more production capacity sounds illogical. Nevertheless, this is what U.S. energy companies are doing: they are boosting their production and export capacity despite a plunge in exports over the past few months. Are they burying themselves in billions worth of liquefaction trains that will never return the investment, or are they cleverly playing the long game? U.S. LNG export capacity was three times that of the actual exports last month, the Energy Information Administration said earlier in August. These have been falling since February, faster and faster, to reach just 3.1 billion cu ft per day from the February record-high of 8 billion cu ft per day.
MINING
Financial robust Arctic Mine confirmed
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, August 22, 2020
A feasibility study for developing a mine at the world-class Arctic deposit in Alaska’s Ambler Mining District details a financially robust operation that would produce 1.9 billion pounds of copper, 2.3 billion lb of zinc, 388 million lb of lead, 386,000 ounces of gold, and 40.6 million oz of silver over an initial 12-year mine life. While high-grade volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits such as Arctic are typically mined from underground, the Arctic feasibility study details plans for a lower cost open-pit mine feeding a 10,000-metric-ton-per day mill.
POLITICS
Turmoil consumes Chamber of Commerce as it backs Democrats
Alex Isenstadt, Politico, August 27, 2020
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is poised to endorse nearly two dozen freshmen House Democrats for reelection, triggering a revolt within the right-leaning organization and drawing fierce pushback from the group’s powerful GOP donors. The decision represents a sharp departure for the traditionally conservative Chamber, which has spent over $100 million backing Republican candidates during the past decade, and it threatens to further complicate the party’s prospects in the November election while driving a split in the business community.
by Owen Phillips | Aug 26, 2020 | General, News
OIL
BSEE: 84.3% of current Gulf of Mexico oil production shut-in ahead of Hurricane Laura
OGJ Editors, Oil & Gas Journal, August 25, 2020
Offshore oil and gas operators in the US Gulf of Mexico continue to evacuate platforms and rigs ahead of Hurricane Laura and post Tropical Cyclone Marco. Hurricane Laura is currently expected to make landfall along the Texas-Louisiana border as a Category 3 storm late Aug. 26 or early Aug. 27.
[P]ersonnel have been evacuated from 299 production platforms, 46.5% of the 643 manned platforms in the US gulf. BSEE estimates that 84.3% of current gulf crude oil production, or 1,558,883 b/d, and 60.94% of natural gas production, or 1,651.5 MMcfd, have been shut in.
GAS
UPDATE 2-Oil Search slashes costs to position itself for growth from 2025
Sonali Paul & Pranav A K, Reuters, August 24, 2020
Oil Search Ltd aims to start producing oil in Alaska in 2025 and expand Papua New Guinea (PNG) gas exports from 2027, after slashing costs to weather weaker oil prices in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
Oil Search aims to make a final investment decision on the Alaska project in 2021, aiming to start producing in 2025.
Wulff said he was confident the $13 billion twinned PNG LNG expansion and Papua LNG project, led by partners Exxon Mobil Corp and Total SA, will go ahead in time to meet a window of demand for new LNG forecast from 2027.
MINING
Pebble Mine death grossly exaggerated
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, August 24, 2020
Much like Mark Twain, who quipped, “The report of my death was an exaggeration,” when informed of his obituary in an American newspaper, Politico’s report of the untimely demise of the Pebble Mine project in Southwest Alaska was grossly overstated.
While Politico’s sources were correct that Army Corps was planning an update on Pebble, it was not a proclamation aimed at blocking the development of a mine at the world-class copper-gold-silver-molybdenum-rhenium project. Instead, the agency heading the federal permitting for the project sent a letter to the Pebble Partnership outlining expectations for mitigation of the mine project’s wetlands impacts.
“The White House had nothing to do with the letter nor is it the show-stopper described by several in the news media over the weekend,” said Collier.
POLITICS
Absentee ballots flip some results in Alaska’s legislative primary, but more votes remain uncounted
James Brooks, ADN, August 26, 2020
Nine of the Alaska Legislature’s Republican incumbents trailed after election day, but Sens. Gary Stevens of Kodiak, John Coghill of North Pole and Natasha von Imhof of Anchorage all rebounded on Tuesday, either taking a lead or erasing most of their deficit as the Alaska Division of Elections counted thousands of absentee, questioned and early ballots. Senate President Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, continues to trail by a wide margin.
Thousands more ballots are slated to be counted later this week, and the final results will decide who will make the ballot in the Nov. 3 general election.
by Owen Phillips | Aug 24, 2020 | General, News
OIL
Offshore oil and gas production is crimped by Gulf storms
David Koenig, Associated Press, August 23, 2020
Oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico was slowed Sunday by the approach of two storms that led companies to remove workers from more than 100 offshore platforms. The Interior Department said that based on company reports at midday, 114 platforms had been evacuated. That is 18% of the staffed platforms in the Gulf, but they account for 58% of Gulf oil production and 45% of its natural gas output. Energy companies are also moving drilling rigs used to explore for oil and gas.
GAS
Contrary to the news or public opinion, fossil fuels are not going away. Natural Gas is the bridge to climate change nirvana
Oil & Gas 360, August 24, 2020
“Fossil Fuels are not going away. Natural Gas is the bridge to climate change nirvana.” – Stu Turley
There seems to be several common threads to our mixed-up world in 2020. Everyone seems to have forgotten what it means to be human, and there is a mixed message about fossil vs. renewable. Just take a look at California exemplifying the results of decades of a poorly implemented Green Energy plan. A well balanced diet of nuclear, natural gas, solar, wind, hydro, and other renewables will get us to climate change nirvana quicker with the lowest kWh for the consumer.
MINING
Northern Dynasty shares dive on reports of planned Pebble halt
Mining.Com, August 24, 2020
Shares of Canadian miner Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd plunged 47% on Monday after media reports said the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump plans to block its proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska, despite denials by the company over the weekend. The project, which has known deposits of copper, gold and other metals, is located in an area that drains into Bristol Bay, home to the world’s most productive wild salmon fishery. Bloomberg on Sunday cited a person familiar saying the Trump administration is planning to block the controversial project. The Washington Post on Saturday cited sources saying the administration would pause the permit process on grounds the company must do more to show how it will reduce environmental harm caused by the project.
POLITICS
FX Daily: Politics, hurricanes and recovery hopes
ING, August 24, 2020
US politics remains centre stage ahead of the Republican National Convention. Investors are also keeping a close eye on the course and strength of two hurricanes set to hit the Gulf of Mexico
