News of the Day: The true cost of renewable energy – is anybody listening?
Instead of a push towards renewable energy, the world should be focused on a push towards clean energy. Those two terms are often used interchangeably especially when green energy advocacy groups are pressuring policymakers to campaign for the use of wind, solar, and electric vehicles. But as the world pushes towards clean energy during the green revolution and begins the transition to renewables, we must ask ourselves: with the shift away from fossil fuels, what is the true cost of clean, green, renewable energy?
OIL
The Cowboy State Looks To Stimulate Oil Drilling With Tax Cuts
Charles Kennedy, OilPrice.Com, July 30, 2020
Wyoming regulators look to stimulate oil production in the state with a new tax relief proposal that calls for a tax exemption until the price of WTI reaches $45 per barrel The Wyoming legislature’s Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee has sponsored a bill proposing tax relief for oil and gas companies in a bid to stimulate an increase in production. The bill calls for a tax exemption once the price of West Texas Intermediate reaches $45 per barrel for light sweet crude and $38 per barrel for sour grades produced in the state. While the tax exemption will only be temporary, to be in effect no longer than 12 months after the benchmark price of oil reaches the necessary threshold, its sponsors believe it could have a positive effect on the oil and gas industry in Wyoming.
GAS
Trump says export terms for liquefied natural gas extended until 2050
Rachel Frazin, The Hill, July 29, 2020
President Trump announced Wednesday that export authorizations for liquefied natural gas (LNG) will go through 2050 and signed four permits for pipeline and rail transport of fossil fuels. The administration had already proposed extending LNG export terms through 2050, though it finalized the policy on Wednesday. The export terms previously lasted 20 years.
MINING
US appoints coordinator for Arctic policy as mineral race heats up
Reuters, July 29, 2020
The Trump administration appointed a coordinator for policy in the Arctic on Wednesday, as Washington prepares to compete with Russia and China on resource extraction in a region quickly melting due to climate change. The State Department said Jim DeHart, a 28-year diplomat who most recently served as a senior adviser in South Korea, is now US coordinator for the Arctic region. Washington has not had a top policy maker for the Arctic since Robert Papp, a retired Coast Guard admiral, served as the first US special representative from 2014 until early 2017.
POLITICS
What Would A Joe Biden Win Mean For Oil And Gas?
Wood Mackenzie, Forbes, July 28, 2020
As Biden nudges ahead in the polls, the US oil and gas industry should prepare for far-reaching potential changes, says Wood Mackenzie’s Justin Rostant. Much can change between now and the election in November. But Biden’s broader clean energy plans could be a watershed moment for US energy, and his agenda could have a profound and direct impact on offshore oil and gas production.
The most eye-catching of his proposals for the offshore industry is a promise to ban “new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters.” He also plans new protections for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other areas President Trump has sought to open up for oil and gas development, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Operators and the administration itself will need to think carefully about the implications of what could be one of the most far-reaching changes in the US offshore industry’s history.