Today’s Key Takeaways: AK’s first steps toward carbon capture storage program. Massive sanctions to halt Arctic LNG 2 project. Interest in AK antimony after China limits worldwide sales. Permitting reform possible in lame duck session.
OIL:
Alaska oil and gas regulator takes first step toward carbon storage program
James Brooks, Anchorage Daily News, August 22, 2024
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has begun planning for the state’s new carbon sequestration program.
The program, approved by state lawmakers and Gov. Mike Dunleavy this year, will eventually see the state license pipelines and injection wells that allow companies to store carbon dioxide deep underground.
Storage programs, already in use by other states, are seen as a way to avert the environmental consequences of fossil fuel use. They’ve exploded in popularity since Congress and President Joe Biden approved significant tax incentives.
In a public notice published Tuesday, the AOGCC said it is taking public comments on possible regulations for the state program.
As part of the program, the state will assume regulatory authority over carbon injection wells, taking it from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Under federal law, the state must implement drinking-water protections that are no weaker than those currently used by the EPA.
No specific rules have yet been published, and the agency is collecting the public’s thoughts on what should be included. A public hearing has been scheduled for 10 a.m. on Nov. 7.
Written comments may also be submitted to the AOGCC at 333 West 7th Ave., Anchorage, AK 99501 or aogcc.ccus@alaska.gov.
GAS:
LNG entities under US sanctions to curb Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project
Reuters, August 26, 2024
The United States imposed sanctions on over 400 entities and individuals for supporting Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, the State Department said on Friday, including companies supporting the development of Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project and its shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as other future energy projects.
The Arctic LNG 2 project by Russia’s Novatek (NVTK.MM), opens new tab is subject to Western sanctions over Russia’s conflict with Ukraine. The project had been due to become Russia’s largest LNG plant with eventual output of 19.8 million metric tons per year of LNG from three trains.
Novatek may be forced to scale back the project following the sanctions, but a tanker under U.S. sanctions that picked up a cargo from Arctic LNG 2 has been found to be carrying out a ship-to-ship transfer, suggesting Moscow is managing to continue some exports from the project.
MINING:
US Antimony company stakes Alaska claims
Shane Lasley, August 22, 2024
USAC stakes road-accessible copper property; investigating other critical mineral projects in underexplored state.
United States Antimony Corp. Aug. 21 announced that it has staked 69 state claims covering prospective high-grade copper showings in Alaska.
The critical minerals-focused company that owns an antimony refinery in Montana has yet to reveal the location of this 11,040-acre property in Alaska.
“The State of Alaska is under-explored, and we are considering other mining opportunities located in Alaska,” said Joe Bardswich, co-CEO of United States Antimony. “We are currently having initial discussions with other claim holders within the area of interest regarding possible acquisitions, options or joint ventures. Due to these other activities which are ongoing, we are not yet disclosing the exact location of these new mining claims announced today.”
The company, however, did say a geologist can walk to the copper outcrops on its newly staked claims from a 10-mile road leading from one of Alaska’s few highways.
An eight-foot- (2.4 meters) thick outcropping quartz vein with very high copper values is a prime target covered by the claims staked by United States Antimony. Assay values of 13 samples collected from this outcropping vein by state geologists average 16.5% copper with 0.076 ounce per ton (2.6 grams per metric ton) gold and 2.21 oz/t (71.8 g/t) silver.
United States Antimony said it was attracted to this project due to the recommendation of a consulting geologist with many years of experience in Alaska, as well as its own study of historical geological reconnaissance, mapping, sampling, and assaying reports from the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical surveys.
The company’s interest in copper is due to the importance of this metal to the transition to low-carbon energy and transportation. Last year, the U.S. Department of Energy listed copper on its list of materials critical to energy technologies.
“With the recent decision by China to curtail worldwide sales of antimony, we are better understanding the importance of immediate access to critical minerals necessary not only for our military in munitions, but for everyday necessities such as batteries, fire retardants, computer chips, etc.” United States Antimony penned in a statement to its shareholders. “We are not in a free market when China controls so much of these materials around the world and then dictates when and how they will be sold.”
The staking of the Alaska copper property comes one week after United States Antimony finalized a deal to acquire a critical minerals project in Ontario covering high-grade cobalt, nickel, copper, and bismuth outcrops with minor silver and gold values.
“Similar to our recent acquisition of mining claims with high grades of critical minerals located in Ontario, Canada, announced last week, these Alaskan properties continue to expand our in-house strategic mineral reserve options,” said Bardswich.
POLITICS:
Democratic convention abuzz about permitting
Emma Dumain, E & E News, August 22, 2024 (subscription required)
Much like on Capitol Hill, the chatter among energy policy wonks here at the Democratic National Convention this week has been finding a path for legislation on permitting and the grid.
Lawmakers and energy industry leaders have been talking up the prospects for passing an overhaul of the approval process for projects like transmission and solar farms by the end of the year.
“Certainly I think it could happen,” Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas), who represents a district in the energy-rich Houston area, said at a panel discussion Wednesday hosted by Punchbowl News.
Fletcher said she believed the lame-duck session of Congress represents the best opportunity for a bipartisan compromise to hitch a ride in a must-pass bill, like an omnibus package.
“We have an actual shot,” agreed Jason Grumet, president of the American Clean Power Association, during a separate Punchbowl-hosted event.
Some members, like Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), have been making the rounds at various receptions and events to reinforce the importance of compromise in any permitting deal between environmental groups and oil and gas interests.
“People who think we’re going to get a deal that gets 60 votes [in the Senate] without dealing with natural gas, I think, are just being unrealistic,” Peters told POLITICO’s E&E News during the mainstream environmental movement’s big off-site celebration Tuesday afternoon.
The renewed interest in a permitting overhaul deal comes almost a month after Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and ranking member John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) unveiled S. 4753, the “Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024.”
Most progressive activists and Democratic congressional climate hawks only want to streamline the process for transmission lines and renewable generation, while many Republicans are only interested in clearing the way for more oil and gas projects. Manchin and Barrasso’s bill would do both, something many moderate lawmakers consider a breakthrough. It sailed through committee before the August recess