by wp_sysadmin | Feb 20, 2023 | Home, News
Restricting Domestic Oil and Natural Gas Production Leads to Negative Environmental Outcomes
Institute for Energy Research, February 15, 2023
he Institute for Energy Research has released a new report comparing the environmental quality of the major oil-producing countries.
For many years there has been a political movement centered in North America and Europe seeking to halt oil and gas production in the countries of those regions. Proponents claim this effort is justified in the name of protecting the environment and saving the earth from climate change, but this political movement has done little to eliminate the need for those products in developed countries.
Nearly every facet of modern developed economies requires petroleum products and natural gas to function and provide the comfortable lifestyles that citizens of developed countries have come to expect. These resources are necessary for agriculture, heavy industry, transportation by all modes – road, rail, air, or ship – and a great number of the products that we now take for granted. They’re ingrained in almost everything. Thus, efforts to reduce or eliminate oil and gas production in developed countries will simply shift production to other countries in order to meet ongoing global demand.
The great irony is that this political movement which purports to be about protecting the environment results in oil and natural gas production moving from countries with the highest environmental standards to countries with lower, or even functionally zero, environmental standards.
As the report notes:
“The contradictions of this approach are most apparent in the case of the United States, the largest producer of both oil and natural gas in the world. Reductions or limitations on domestic U.S. oil production must be made up for with production elsewhere in the remaining major oil producing countries, which have far lower environmental standards than the U.S. This paper quantifies that environmental gap by creating an environmental quality score, weighted by production, for oil and gas production in countries around the world using the well-known Environmental Performance Index (EPI) produced by Yale University. The results show that purely as a matter of environmental protection, replacing U.S. domestic production with foreign supply would be an overwhelmingly negative tradeoff.”
Key Facts and Figures:
- For the 20 largest oil producing countries outside the United States, the average EPI environmental score, weighted by liquid fuels production, is 39. When compared to the U.S. EPI score of 51.1, it means the average barrel of non-U.S. petroleum is produced in a country with an environmental score that is 23.6% lower than that of the U.S.
- For the 20 largest non-U.S. natural gas producers, the average EPI environmental score weighted by production is only 38.6. So compared to the 51.1 EPI score of the U.S, the average bcf of natural gas is produced in a country with an environmental score that is 24.5% lower than that of the U.S.
- The United States, the world’s largest producer of both oil and natural gas, is only outranked on environmental quality by 3 of the top 20 oil producers and 3 of the top gas producers, but none of those countries produce even one quarter of the volumes of oil or natural gas coming from the U.S. Indeed, all oil production from countries scoring higher on environmental quality amounts to only 35.7% of U.S. production, and that from gas producing countries is only 33.4% of U.S. production. The sheer size of U.S. production combined with its excellent environmental standards means that U.S. production disproportionately reduces the environmental harms of oil and gas production on a global scale.
- U.S. production of crude oil and natural gas has increased over the last 40 years, while at the same time pollution and emissions have steadily declined across sources.
- Contrary to popular media characterizations, wealth created by energy development in free economies enhances environmental performance while making people’s lives better.
READ THE FULL REPORT
by wp_sysadmin | Feb 17, 2023 | Home, News
Dash for Africa’s Minerals to Fuel the Biden Green Energy Transition
Institute for Energy Research, February 17, 2023
Africa may be an alternative to China for the critical minerals needed for electric vehicles and wind and solar technologies, especially if the Biden Administration continues to stop mining opportunities in the United States. Last year, The Biden administration opened the door to financing cobalt mining projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia to bolster the global green energy supply chain in order to meet the goals of his climate agenda, despite the DRC’s documented issues with child laborers working in the mines. Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed a memorandum of understanding with the two nations in December, indicating that the U.S. State Department and other U.S. agencies will offer technical assistance to the two countries, cooperate on feasibility studies and explore opportunities in the sector for U.S. companies.
Cobalt is not the only mineral in abundance in Africa. African countries, including Zimbabwe and Namibia, are rich in lithium and are trying to develop processing and refining industries to capture more of the profits of the global demand for the battery material. Lithium prices and demand have soared as the auto industry is transitioning towards electric vehicles spurred by proposed bans on gasoline and diesel cars. For example, the European Union just banned the sale of new internal combustion engine cars by 2035. Currently, China is the world’s top lithium refiner and a leading producer, dominating the supply chain. But, Africa could become a major player with its lithium production expected to increase from 40,000 metric tons this year to 497,000 metric tons in 2030—a factor of more than 12–with the bulk of that coming from Zimbabwe. Prices for lithium more than doubled last year as demand from the electric vehicle industry outstripped supply.
Green energy technologies like electric vehicle batteries, solar panels and wind turbines require a massive expansion of cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel, graphite, zinc and other mineral production. In fact, the International Energy Agency has estimated a typical electric car requires six times the mineral inputs of a conventional car and an onshore wind plant requires nine times more mineral resources than a gas-fired plant. The vast majority of mining and processing of such materials takes place outside the United States, making the United States more reliant on foreign minerals despite our large domestic resources. Biden is kowtowing to environmentalists by not opening critical mineral mines in the United States that would bring a massive number of jobs and wealth.
Cobalt in the DRC
In 2021, the DRC mined more than 70 percent of the global supply of cobalt in industrial and artisanal mines, compared to 0.4 percent for the United States. About 80 percent of the industrial cobalt mines in the DRC are owned or financed by Chinese companies. The DRC has an estimated 3.5 million metric tons of cobalt reserves, the largest amount in the world. Up to a fifth of the production in the DRC is generated by artisanal miners working in squalid and dangerous conditions with little if any pricing power for the ore they mine. There are about 150,000-200,000 artisanal miners working cobalt deposits in the Congo with more than a million others directly economically dependent on their activity. The artisanal cobalt sector last year produced about 18,000 metric tons of cobalt with a notional value of $800 million at current prices.
The DRC also uses child slave labor to mine cobalt and has almost zero labor and environmental standards, and those they have are not enforced. About 40,000 children are believed to work in mines in southern DRC, according to UNICEF. Many children are frequently ill, inhaling cobalt dust that can cause hard metal lung disease — a potentially fatal condition, and skin contact with cobalt that can cause dermatitis — a chronic rash. The children and other miners work with neither masks nor gloves. They endure long hours — up to 12 hours a day — working at the mines hauling loads of between 20 and 40 kilograms (44 to 88 pounds) for $1-2 per day. Many have nothing to eat all day. A 14-year-old boy, who began mining at age 12 and works underground, would often spend 24 hours down in the tunnels, arriving in the morning and leaving the following morning.
Biden’s Recent Actions against Domestic Mines
In January, the Biden administration blocked plans for a major copper, nickel and cobalt mine in northern Minnesota. The “Twin Metals Project” would have tapped the Duluth Complex within the Superior National Forest, where 95 percent of the nation’s nickel reserves and 88 percent of American cobalt reserves are found. Biden’s Department of the Interior blocked the nearly $3 billion mine over stated concerns about the safety of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness inside the national forest. Interior withdrew more than 225,000 acres of the Superior National Forest from consideration for mining operations for 20 years, ensuring the Twin Metals project’s demise for the foreseeable future.
Also in January, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency blocked the development of the proposed Pebble mine–the most significant undeveloped copper and gold resource in the world–because of stated concerns about its environmental impact on Alaska’s aquatic ecosystem. The site is located in southwest Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage. The Environmental Protection Agency issued a final determination under the Clean Water Act that bans the disposal of mine waste in part of the bay’s watershed. Determinations using the 1972 Clean Water Act are rare with only three issued in the past 30 years. The area contains deposits of precious-metal ores that are thought to be worth several hundred billion dollars, producing up to 73 million tons a year.
Other mining projects in Minnesota, Arizona, Nevada and elsewhere have been stuck in permitting delays and lawsuits from environmentalists. Unfortunately, Interior’s Superior National Forest withdrawal sets a precedent that could expedite the process of blocking other mining projects. The Superior National Forest withdrawal acts as anti-permitting reform because it precludes the need for environmental reviews required for permits that are usually followed by lengthy lawsuits. In sum, it ignores the scientific process in favor of a political one.
Conclusion
President Biden is not placing Americans first because, rather than permitting critical mineral mines in the United States, his administration is looking for ways to invest in foreign mineral mines, producing jobs abroad and helping the economies of those countries to expand. Several companies have spent decades trying to get permits in the United States to develop mines in Minnesota, Nevada, Alaska, and Arizona only to be thwarted by environmentalists and the Biden Administration.
What is most frustrating is that these minerals are needed for Biden’s energy transition with goals that he claims he wants to achieve. He is therefore making the United States much more dependent on foreign countries, particularly China, than the United States was ever dependent on the Middle East for oil. Today, the United States is the largest producer of oil and gas, has the most coal reserves in the world and the largest inventory of nuclear plants that can produce reliable power for centuries to come and yet Biden wants to throw that away for unreliable, intermittent electricity, while pushing for the electrification of everything, without developing the domestic energy mineral mines that the solar and wind technologies require.
Biden’s push for total electrification of the U.S. economy with intermittent technologies is a disaster waiting to happen, including huge transfers of wealth to foreign nations and powers, rapidly growing dependency upon China and other authoritarian regimes, and increased foreign entanglements to ensure delivery of foreign made products that could be produced by Americans here at home.
by wp_sysadmin | Feb 16, 2023 | Home, News
Today’s Key Takeaways: Alaska senators seek to open more land for mining and energy. Oil prices up on demand forecasts. Economics of Arctic mine are strong.
NEWS OF THE DAY:
Alaska senators want 28M acres open to mining, energy
Scott Streater, E & E Daily, February 14, 2023
A bill from GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan comes as the Bureau of Land Management continues to review actions taken by the Trump administration on the matter.
Alaska’s Republican senators are once again challenging the Biden administration’s 2021 decision to pause a series of Trump-era public land orders in the state that would open 28 million acres of federal lands to mining and energy development.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski recently introduced a bill, S. 175, that would codify into law the five public land orders signed in January 2021 by then-Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. The orders lifted land use protections for the 28 million acres overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. The bill is co-sponsored by fellow Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Murkowski’s bill would also essentially put the brakes on an ongoing BLM-led environmental impact statement (EIS), which began last year. BLM is evaluating what it has called legal deficiencies in the Bernhardt orders signed in the closing weeks of the Trump presidency (E&E News PM, Aug. 17, 2022).
The Biden administration in April 2021 placed the orders on a two-year moratorium to give it time to evaluate them (Greenwire, April 15, 2021).
But Murkowski said it’s long past time to lift the land use restrictions implemented decades ago that withdrew the 28 million acres from new mining claims and oil and gas leasing through the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. The law set aside large swaths of the state for conservation and other land use classifications (Greenwire, Jan. 19, 2021).
She said in a statement last week that the withdrawals “have proven to be nothing more than obsolete barriers to land access,” and that they have hampered the state’s “ability to responsibly produce and develop critical materials like oil, gas, and minerals.”
Murkowski added: “Rather than kicking the can on lifting these outdated PLOs, it’s time for the Biden administration to allow Alaskans to responsibly manage our own lands.
“Through this legislation, Secretary Bernhardt’s order to revoke the outdated PLOs — a decision informed by BLM staff, following environmental reviews — will be codified, allowing for Alaskans to rightfully access millions of acres of federal public lands.”
She and Sullivan last year sponsored an identical bill, S. 4531, that did not advance.
The current status of the EIS remains unclear. Equally unclear is when it will be completed. BLM did not respond to a request for comment.
The public land orders BLM is analyzing in the EIS collectively cover an enormous area that includes portions of the “Bay, Bering Sea-Western Interior, East Alaska, Kobuk-Seward Peninsula, and Ring of Fire planning areas,” according to the Federal Register notice announcing the start of the EIS last year.
Issues being studied include “possible failure to adequately evaluate impacts” of opening the lands to mining and drilling under the Endangered Species Act, as well as “failure to secure consent from the Department of Defense (DOD) with regard to lands under DOD administration,” and “failure to adequately analyze potential impacts on subsistence hunting and fishing,” according to the notice.
Among the potential legal issues associated with the Bernhardt orders is the fact that only one of them, PLO 7899, was published in the Federal Register, on Jan. 19, 2021. That order covered 9.7 million acres west of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska along the Arctic Ocean that would have been opened to mining and oil and gas development on April 19, 2021 (Greenwire, Feb. 17, 2021).
The other four orders — PLOs 7900, 7901, 7902 and 7903 — signed by Bernhardt on Jan. 15 and 16, 2021, “were never published in the Federal Register and have no effective date,” despite the potential impact to the management of nearly 20 million acres of public lands, BLM said last year.
Depending on the outcome of the environmental impact statement, BLM could fully or partially revoke the Bernhardt orders, or retain “some or all” of the Bernhardt withdrawals that would open the lands to development.
The issue has been a major sticking point for Murkowski and her relationship with BLM.
Murkowski focused almost entirely on the Biden administration’s two-year moratorium on the public land orders at a June 2021 Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing for Tracy Stone-Manning, who at the time was President Joe Biden’s nominee for BLM director.
Murkowski peppered Stone-Manning with questions about the delay, implying that the issue would be a determining factor in her decision whether to support the nominee’s confirmation.
“I can’t emphasize enough the significance of these public lands orders,” Murkowski said. “And if you are confirmed as director to the BLM, it’s going to fall on you to rectify this wrong.”
Stone-Manning’s nomination was confirmed, but Murkowski voted against her nomination (E&E Daily, Oct. 1, 2021).
OIL:
Oil Prices Rise On Upbeat Demand Forecasts
Irina Slav, OilPrice.Com, February 16, 2023
- Oil prices were up early on Thursday morning, with Brent nearing the $86 mark and WTI trading above $79.
- Upbeat demand forecasts from both OPEC and the IEA were enough to counter the EIA’s latest inventory report.
- The primary headwind for oil prices at the moment remains concerns that the Fed might aggressively hike interest rates and hurt oil demand.
Crude oil prices rose in Asian pre-noon trade today after OPEC and the International Energy Agency raised their demand forecasts for the year, shaking off EIA’s latest weekly inventory report that estimated a large inventory build in the United States.
In its latest Monthly Oil Market Report, OPEC revised its 2023 oil demand projections up to 2.3 million barrels daily earlier this week. That represented a 100,000-bpd change from last month’s forecast.
Of this, 2 million bpd in demand growth will come from non-OECD countries, the oil group said
A day later, the International Energy Agency forecasted oil demand this year would hit a record high of 101.9 million barrels daily, rising by 2 million bpd from last year. The IEA’s upward revision was also to the tune of 100,000 bpd from last month’s projections.
In China, the IEA said, demand for crude oil will rise by some 900,000 barrels daily.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated crude oil inventories had added 16.3 million barrels in the week to February 10, confirming the estimate of the American Petroleum Institute, published a day earlier, but topping it substantially. The API had estimated the weekly inventory build at about 10 million barrels.
After the initial drop in prices following the release of the EIA’s report, benchmarks started climbing again, pushed by the bullish demand forecasts of OPEC and the IEA.
Analysts also noted that the massive inventory build was more the result of a data adjustment than the actual accumulation of crude in storage.
“Once everyone realized the adjustment threw off the EIA data, skepticism about the big (crude storage) build crept into the market. It’s a one-off,” John Kilduff, partner at investment advisory Again Capital, told Reuters.
At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading close to $86 per barrel and WTI was changing hands for more than $79 per barrel.
Headwinds remain, led by continued concern about Fed rate hikes that would push the dollar higher, dampening appetite for crude.
MINING:
Economics of Arctic Mine remain robust
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, February 14, 2023
Trilogy Metals Inc. Feb. 14 reports that while rising costs and challenging supply chains have weighed on the economics of building and operating a mine at Arctic, an updated feasibility study shows that an open-pit copper-zinc-lead-silver-gold mine at this Northwest Alaska project continues to produce healthy financial returns.
Arctic is a high-grade volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit that is part of the district-scale Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects being advanced by Ambler Metals LLC – an equally owned joint venture between Trilogy and Australia-based South32 Ltd.
This 448,217-acre land package made up of state and Alaska Native-owned lands also hosts Bornite, a world-class copper-cobalt deposit that is expected to be the site of a second mine at UKMP, along with more than a dozen other copper-forward targets similar to the two most advanced projects.
A feasibility study finalized in 2020 outlined plans for a financially robust mine at Arctic.
While post-pandemic inflation and supply chain issues have certainly weighed on the economics of building mines over the three years since this study was completed, the primary reason for the update is to meet the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s new SK 1300 standards for mining companies listed on exchanges in the United States.
POLITICS:
From the Washington Examiner, Daily on Energy:
BATTLE IN ALASKA: Proponents of ConocoPhillips’ Willow project are stepping up their campaign for the oil field’s approval and seek to put President Joe Biden on notice about what’s at stake with the politically volatile project, especially for local Alaska native communities that would see a major financial windfall if the project is given the green light.
The message: Some Alaska native groups, and many environmentalist NGOs, are strongly opposed to the proposed expansion of oil production on the North Slope and demand the project be shot down to keep on track with Biden’s climate goals.
Its backers insist it’s outside noise and not representative of local sentiment, and they’ve sought to turn the Biden administration officials’ sympathies for giving locals more of a say in the approval of significant projects back on themselves.
“Economic development opportunities in the North Slope are limited, making prompt approval of this project invaluable to our livelihoods,” said Nagruk Harcharek, president of Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, a nonprofit based in Alaska’s North Slope representing the interests of the Iñupiat.
“The majority consensus on the North Slope is in support of the project,” Harcharek said, recalling a resolution supporting the project that the Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat’s 24 member organizations passed unanimously.
Harcharek joined Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and other local Iñupiat leaders of the North Slope, where Conoco plans to build the project, in a briefing yesterday to make the case for Willow.
Willow could generate an estimated $1.25 billion in revenue for the North Slope Borough. Similar levies on existing oil and gas operations in the North Slope have enabled the region to fund education and provide emergency services, said Taqulik Hepa, director of the borough’s Department of Wildlife Management.
Rep. Josiah Patkotak, who represents a coastal district in the North Slope in the state legislature, said the region would need the economic engine of Willow to finance alternative energy sources, such as renewable wind and solar.
“We need that local infrastructure and that ability to bond for some of those projects and all of that comes back to the economic base which development provides for us,” he said.
Refresher on Willow: Interior and the Bureau of Land Management could make a decision to approve or block the project, which is in its fifth year of the planning and permitting stage, as soon as early next month, when the comment period for the final environmental impact statement ends.
Willow’s master development plan seeks to develop five drill sites in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, as well as supporting road and bridge infrastructure, to support the ultimate production of 180,000 barrels of oil per day.
BLM’s environmental impact statement identified an alternative that provides for three drill sites vs. the proposed five, and Interior said it still has “substantial concerns” about the project and the preferred alternative.
by wp_sysadmin | Feb 15, 2023 | Home, News
Today’s Key Takeaways: Alaska Native leaders in DC to urge approval of Willow project that is a lifeline for residents of North Slope. CCUS project pipeline increased by 50% in 2022. Arctic is hot for mining EV metals. Governor Dunleavy eliminates requirement for college degree in most state jobs- emphasis on experience.
NEWS OF THE DAY:
Alaska Native leaders, US senators back major oil project
Becky Bohrer, Associated Press, February 15, 2023
Alaska’s Republican U.S. senators and several Alaska Native leaders on Tuesday urged the federal government to approve a major oil project on the petroleum-rich North Slope, casting the project as economically critical for Indigenous communities in the region and important for the nation’s energy security.
The Biden administration “damn well better not kill the project, period,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski told reporters on a video conference.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management earlier this month released an environmental review for ConocoPhillips Alaska’s Willow project that listed as a preferred alternative an option calling for up to three drill sites initially, compared to the five that had been favored by the company. It is an option project proponents, including Alaska’s bipartisan congressional delegation, have expressed support for. But Murkowski and Sen. Dan Sullivan said any further limiting of the project could kill it.
Sullivan has said Willow could be “one of the biggest, most important resource development projects in our state’s history.” He last week urged state lawmakers in Alaska’s capital to pass a resolution expressing support for the project and to get involved in litigation that is likely to arise from whatever decision is rendered by the federal government. A decision could come in early March.
Taqulik Hepa, director of the Department of Wildlife Management for the North Slope Borough, said taxes levied on oil and gas infrastructure have enabled the borough to invest in public infrastructure, support local schools and provide police, fire, and other services.
Hepa said the borough and its residents are “keenly aware of the need to balance responsible oil development and the subsistence lifestyle that has sustained us.” She said the borough has demanded this balance be achieved in its dealings with government agencies and oil companies for decades.
Nagruk Harcharek, president of the group Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, whose members include leaders from across much of the North Slope, said there is “majority consensus” in the region in favor of the project, calling Willow a “lifeline” for residents. He said there are limited economic development opportunities in the region, which makes approval of the Willow project important.
READ MORE
Related:
Biden administration can’t have it both ways by shrinking Willow project, Murkowski warns
OIL & GAS:
CCUS: 2023 will be a milestone year
Alana Tischuk, Scott Norlan, Wood Mackenzie, February 2023
Carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) isn’t a new concept – industrial-scale projects have been around for more than half a century. But it is gathering pace. The global CCUS project pipeline has increased by over 50% throughout 2022 and announcements made across all sectors show incredible momentum. But more is needed if companies and countries are to meet their net zero targets.
Will 2023 be the year that CCUS really hits the mainstream? Drawing on powerful insight from Lens CCUS, we’ve mapped out our predictions for the year ahead. Fill in the form for your complimentary copy of CCUS: 4 things to look for in 2023. And read on for an introduction.
A shift from announcement to action for CCUS projects?
The global CCUS pipeline is growing fast. 166 Mtpa of potential CO2 storage capacity will enter development throughout 2023, through a combination of standalone projects and larger hubs. However, only 98 Mtpa of capture capacity is aiming for FID, representing a significant capture-storage gap.
We expect emitters to sign up once hubs are established, although many projects won’t be online until the end of the decade.
How many projects will reach FID this year? Which regions will dominate the project count? Where are the big hubs to watch? Read the full report for our view.
Increased policy support will drive CCUS growth.
Government policy plays a major role in CCUS project economics. It has, in some cases, provided more than 50% of the spend to get projects off the ground. This will continue in 2023 – and expand to new regions.
Asia will see more policy momentum, for example, having previously lagged behind other regions. Malaysia and Indonesia will finalise regulations and incentives for CCUS, focusing first on decarbonising natural gas production. India and Japan will make headway on their respective CCUS roadmaps. Finally, Thailand and China are expected to make strides in their funding framework.
In the US, positive policy moves made in 2022 – not least the landmark Inflation Reduction Act – will enable companies to advance projects in 2023.
MINING:
For Mining EV Metals, the Arctic Is Hot
Stephen Wilmot, The Wall Street Journal, February 14, 2023
As the U.S. turns to Canada for ‘critical minerals,’ Europe might come to rely on the historic mining hub of Sweden.
The rush to secure green-energy metals is bringing new life to one of the world’s oldest mining hubs.
Like the U.S., Europe is worried that it is too reliant on China for supplies of once-obscure natural resources, such as lithium and rare-earth metals, that are seen as climate-friendly successors to oil and gas. The European Union is due to announce policies to improve its green-energy security in a “critical raw materials act” next month. Self-sufficiency targets are among the options being discussed.
The U.S. is following a similar path, most aggressively through its new electric-vehicle tax credits. Last year’s Inflation Reduction Act stipulated that half of the credits’ $7,500 value per car would depend on manufacturers sourcing a rising proportion of “critical minerals” domestically or from trade partners, though the details are still being worked out.
On both sides of the Atlantic, one of the best answers to long-simmering worries about green-energy security is to look north—often far north. Remember President Donald Trump’s interest in buying Greenland for its mineral wealth in 2019? That was far-fetched, but Canada’s mining industry is booming with projects expected to feed the U.S. EV industry. Many of them sit on the “Canadian Shield,” a vast band of rock encircling Hudson Bay.
READ MORE
POLITICS:
4-year degree no longer required for some state jobs
Joey Klecka, Elena Symmes, KTUU, February 14, 2023
Gov. Mike Dunleavy eliminated the requirement Tuesday for many state employees to hold a four-year college degree.
Dunleavy announced the change with the introduction of Administrative Order No. 343, which the governor said would open up the potential field of candidates for state jobs by looking more closely at practical experience, instead of holding all job applicants to ablanket four-year degree requirement.
This change affects “most state jobs,” Dunleavy said in a press release. It was unclear at the time of publication how many that would include.
Dunleavy’s order directs the Commissioner of the Department of Administration, Director of Personnel and Labor Relations — and encourages the Personnel Board — to “adopt, modernize, and amend the state personnel rules to place an emphasis on minimum competency requirements and allow for the broadest use of education, training, and experience in order to enhance recruitment and retention efforts in the state workforce.”
READ MORE
by wp_sysadmin | Feb 14, 2023 | Home, News
Today’s Key Takeaways: Empowering private citizens to police oil wells and pipelines– what could go wrong? OPEC encourages more global investment in oil and gas. India discovers 5.9m tons of Lithium. What’s behind potential gas shortages in Cook Inlet?
NEWS OF THE DAY:
Biden Wants Citizens to Police Oil Wells for Methane
Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Rigzone, February 14, 2023
A Biden administration plan to empower private citizens to police oil wells and pipelines for methane leaks is being blasted by industry leaders who say it sets a dangerous precedent.
Under the Super-Emitter Response Program proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, individuals who have agency-approved expertise and equipment would be authorized to monitor oil industry operations for emissions of the potent greenhouse gas and notify companies of any high-volume leaks. Operators would have five days to analyze any credible third-party methane reports and 10 days to fix most leaks.
Environmental activists have cheered the proposal, saying it boosts the incentive for oil and gas companies to stifle methane leaks. But the oil industry’s main lobbying body lashed out against it, saying it raises a raft of legal, logistical, commercial and safety risks, in addition to potentially setting a precedent of tapping private citizens to do the government’s job.
It’s “essentially delegating duties that are appropriate for a regulatory agency out to third parties,” American Petroleum Institute senior vice president Frank Macchiarola said on a conference call Monday. The plan could also “have a chilling effect on companies’ ability to work with the EPA and work with third parties” to reduce methane emissions,” he said.
READ MORE
OIL & GAS:
OPEC chief asks climate negotiators to look at ‘big picture’
Bloomberg, February 13, 2023
Prices for oil, natural gas and coal surged after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February, pushing energy security to the top of the agenda for many leaders.
OPEC’s top official urged countries to invest much more in oil to meet the world’s future energy needs and said climate policies need to be more “balanced and fair.”
“It is imperative that all parties involved in the ongoing climate negotiations pause for a moment; look at the big picture,” Haitham Al-Ghais, secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said Sunday at an energy conference in Cairo. They must “work towards an energy transition that is orderly, inclusive and helps ensure energy security for all.”
His comments came amid a shift among some Western governments and companies regarding fossil fuels. Prices for oil, natural gas and coal surged after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February, pushing energy security to the top of the agenda for many leaders.
U.S. President Joe Biden went off-script during his State of the Union speech last week and said: “We’re going to need oil for at least another decade.” In Europe, Shell PLC signaled it will stop accelerating spending on renewable energy, while BP PLC slowed its planned reduction of oil and gas output.
OPEC’s Al-Ghais said the oil industry had been “plagued by several years of chronic underinvestment.” It needs $500 billion of investment annually until 2045, he said.
The United Arab Emirates’ hosting of the COP 28 climate summit in late 2023 will “serve as a fresh opportunity to explore inclusive, sustainable and consensus-based solutions to climate change,” said the secretary-general, who’s from OPEC member Kuwait.
The UAE, also part of OPEC, has appointed Sultan Al Jaber, head of national oil and gas firm Adnoc, as president for the summit. While that’s caused some controversy, Al Jaber has said that hydrocarbon producers must be at the forefront of climate talks if the world is to transition to cleaner energy while also ensuring that fuel prices remain affordable.
Al Ghais reiterated that OPEC and its partners — known as OPEC+, the 23-nation alliance is led by Saudi Arabia and Russia — are committed to keeping the oil market stable.
Saudi Arabia and other core OPEC members are unlikely to respond to Russia’s announcement Friday of a production cut by pumping more, Bloomberg reported.
MINING:
India announces discovery of 5.9 million tonnes of lithium
Florence Jones, Mining Technology, February 13, 2023
The Indian Ministry of Mines reported the discovery of 5.9 million tonnes of inferred lithium ore on their Twitter on Thursday.
This deposit alone makes India the country with the fifth-largest lithium reserves in the world. The deposit lies in the Reasi district in the provinces of Jammu and Kashmir.
Lithium is used in the production of batteries for electronic vehicles (EVs), solar panels and electronic devices. Production of minerals necessary for the clean energy transition could increase by as much as 500% between 2020 and 2050 according to the World Bank.
According to the International Lithium Association, demand is set to increase 6-fold between 2021 and 2040, due to growing interest in EVs and renewable technologies.
This is the first major discovery of lithium in India with the only other being a small deposit of 1600 tonnes found in Karnataka two years ago.
As India seeks to become a major competitor in the development of EVs this discovery could improve their standing.
India is currently reliant on imports of lithium for its manufacturing sector, principally from Argentina, Chile and Australia. Imported lithium forms around 80% of the total lithium used in the country.
Discovery could break open the “lithium triangle.”
This discovery could draw dominance away from the “lithium triangle”, made up of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. Approximately, 75% of the world’s lithium supply lies beneath the salt flats of these three nations.
The Indian government has celebrated the discovery as part of president Modi’s movement towards “aatmanirbhar”, a slogan roughly translating to “self-reliance”.
While lithium is associated with efforts towards carbon neutrality, experts have cautioned against the environmental impacts of the mine itself. The Himalayan region between Jammu and Kashmir is an eco-sensitive region, mining could lead to a loss of biodiversity. Ecologically sensitive zones are designated by the Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change in India. In these areas, often surrounding national parks, commercial activities are restricted to ensure their protection.
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Railbelt utilities again scramble to fill expected Cook Inlet gas shortages
Sean McGuire, Anchorage Daily News, February 13, 2023
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources has forecast that under current conditions, there will be supply shortfalls of Cook Inlet gas starting around 2027. Railbelt utilities are increasingly looking at alternative options to bridge supply gaps, such as importing gas from outside Alaska.
As of 2018, more than 70% of power generated across the Railbelt came from Cook Inlet natural gas; it was also used to heat over 140,000 homes and businesses. But production from 60-year-old fields has steadily declined.
The largest Cook Inlet gas producer is Hilcorp. The Texas-based operator has indicated to the state that it would not automatically extend contracts to provide gas to Railbelt utilities as it has done in the past.
In recent years, there has been little incentive for producers to increase their output. Alaska has not exported LNG from Cook Inlet since 2015, meaning the market has been effectively fixed. Increased production means depressed prices.
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