Today’s Key Takeaways: BLM backs down on promise to Alaska. Industry groups react to permitting legislation. Pipeline for importing natural gas to AK receives RCA approval. California green group “all in” for Harris.
NEWS OF THE DAY:
Alaska officials accuse BLM of reneging on land promise
Heather Richards, Scott Streater, E & E News, July 19, 2024 (subscription)
Alaska state leaders say the Bureau of Land Management earlier this year abruptly broke a commitment to consider lifting land-use restrictions along a highway important to the state’s oil industry, sparking their latest rift with the federal agency over public land management policies.
The issue involves a public land order covering more than 2 million acres along a significant stretch of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and a highway used by the oil industry. The state wants those lands, which are critical to the future of its oil economy, turned over to Alaska as part of its ongoing efforts to gain title to millions of acres of land currently under federal ownership.
Until this spring, BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning had assured representatives with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources that her agency was poised to launch an environmental review to potentially lift the land order, which would then open the possibility of transferring some land to the state, officials said.
And then BLM slammed on the brakes.
OIL:
Industry Groups React to New Bipartisan Energy Legislation
Andreas Exarheas, Rigzone, July 24, 2024
U.S. Senators Joe Manchin and John Barrasso, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (SENRC), respectively, recently launched the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, a SENRC release posted on the organization’s website revealed.
In response to the introduction of the act, Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) COO and EVP Dan Naatz said in a statement sent to Rigzone, “IPAA applauds Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Manchin and Ranking Member Barrasso for their collaborative effort in producing the bipartisan Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024”.
“After listening to the concerns and frustrations of users of multiple-use lands across the industry, Senators Manchin and Barrasso worked together to help reduce much of the unnecessary red tape that hampers independent producers operating on federal onshore and offshore lands,” Naatz added.
“They have put forward a permitting reform package that will improve coordination, reduce permitting wait times, remove the LNG export ban, and restore certainty to the Gulf of Mexico leasing process. This legislation increases American energy security and IPAA appreciates the Senators’ thoughtful approach to these important issues,” he continued.
In another statement sent to Rigzone commenting on the act, American Exploration & Production Council (AXPC) CEO Anne Bradbury said, “in order for the American economy to compete on the global stage in the twenty-first century, we need to develop infrastructure projects that support the rising demand for energy.”
GAS:
Alaska regulators back Enstar’s plan to build $57 million pipeline to import natural gas
Alex DeMarban, Anchorage Daily News, July 23, 2024
Alaska regulators have conditionally approved a request by Southcentral Alaska’s natural gas utility to build a pipeline that could potentially import natural gas into Alaska, as future supplies of the resource wane in the Cook Inlet basin.
The decision by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska supports a request by Alaska Pipeline Co., an affiliate of Enstar Natural Gas, to expand its service area and extend a 16-mile pipeline to Port MacKenzie to receive the imported gas. Port MacKenzie is about 5 miles north of Anchorage, across Knik Arm.
The companies requested the $57 million extension in May, in a precautionary step in case imports are needed. The pipeline would extend from the Alaska Pipeline Co. network of pipes that moves Enstar gas.
POLITICS:
CALIFORNIA GREEN GROUP GOES ALL IN FOR HARRIS: The first California green group has formally endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential run, as she looks to cement support from environmental groups and beyond.
California Environmental Voters, or EnviroVoters, which had also endorsed President Joe Biden, issued a letter Monday touting Harris’ environmental work in California.
“Her track record in California proves exactly what kind of leader she will be, and, building on her unprecedented progress with President Biden nationally, it’s clear she is the right leader for our nation in the climate fight for our future,” Mary Creasman, the chief executive officer of the group, said in a statement.
The group highlighted Harris’ work going back as far as 2005, where she created the San Francisco District Attorney Office’s first environmental justice unit and sued the Southern California Gas Company over a large gas leak. The group also touted her work in opposing Chevron’s refinery expansion in Richmond and introducing the Climate Equity Act, which was meant to boost environmental justice efforts.
Who else is supporting her? The League of Conservation Voters Action Fund – EnviroVoters’ national organization – along with the National Resources Defense Council Action Fund, the Sierra Club, and the Clean Energy for America Action endorsed Harris on Monday.
Why this is important: Harris being able to secure support from climate groups – especially younger climate voters – will be crucial leading up to November. Biden received a lot of flak from younger climate groups for not bowing out of the race sooner, his support for Israel’s war on Gaza, and for boosting fossil fuels after promising to divest from the industry. But Harris does stand to the left of Biden on fossil fuels – which could mean shoring up support in ways that Biden could not. Be on the lookout if Harris is able to secure support from groups like Climate Defiance and the Sunrise movement.
But: Keep in mind how her stances play with moderates. Republicans have already started circulating her previous stances on fracking during a 2019 town hall.
From the Washington Examiner Daily On Energy, July 23, 2024
Related: Harris Presidency Will Be Bad News for Oil