“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.”-George Washington
Remembering, honoring, and appreciating all of our Veterans on this day. We thank you for your service and sacrifice for America.
News of the Day:
Dan Sullivan Wins Reelection, Giving Republicans 50 Senate Seats
OIL
Biden Presidency Imperils Key Oil Pipelines
Rebecca Elliott, Vipal Monga, The Wall Street Journal, November 11, 2020
President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign promise to phase out oil probably signals the end of the long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline and threatens the future of Dakota Access, another major crude conduit. Obstructing pipeline projects is one-way Mr. Biden could accelerate America’s shift toward renewable energy, by making oil more difficult and expensive to move around. Other policies that require legislative signoff would be more challenging to implement unless Democrats won control of the Senate.
Oil Prices Continue Their Rally. And Market Watchers Think There’s Room to Run.
Avi Salzman, Barron’s, November 10, 2020
Oil prices were rising again Tuesday, continuing the momentum from their Monday surge on positive vaccine news. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, rose 2.2% to $43.33. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 2.2% to $41.17. They had risen 7% and 8%, respectively, on Monday.
GAS
Wildcat drilling at it’s best – Gas discovery southwest of the Skarv field in the Norwegian Sea
Oil & Gas 360, November 11, 2020
ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS, operator of production licence 1009, has concluded the drilling of wildcat well 6507/4-1. The well was drilled about 27 kilometres southwest of the Skarv field in the central part of the Norwegian Sea and 240 kilometres northwest of Brønnøysund.
The primary and secondary exploration targets for the well were to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks from the Albian and Aptian Ages respectively, in the Early Cretaceous (Intra Lange Formation sandstones). In the primary exploration target, the well encountered a 27-metre gas column in sandstone layers in the Lange Formation, with moderate but uncertain reservoir quality. The gas/water contact was not encountered. No reservoir rocks were encountered in the secondary target.
MINING
Murkowski’s latest Pebble action disappoints mine opponents
Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media, November 10, 2020
Opponents of the Pebble Mine are underwhelmed by Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s latest bill to fund federal resource agencies. Murkowski has an opportunity to erect hurdles for Pebble, as chair of the Appropriations subcommittee that writes the annual bills to sustain Interior and environmental agencies.
She released the bill Tuesday, and she included a 240-word passage on Pebble in the report that interprets the spending bill. “I just hope that there’s more to come from the senator,” said SalmonState director Tim Bristol.
He said Murkowski appears to have passed up a chance to demonstrate that she really meant what she said in October, when she called it the wrong mine in the wrong place.
“I think if we would’ve seen something that essentially recommended no spending be allowed in the next fiscal year to move forward with the Pebble project, that would’ve been a little more reassuring. But this doesn’t do that,” Bristol said. “It just seems to sort of describe the situation as it is right now.”
POLITICS
From the Washington Examiner, Daily on Energy:
MEET BIDEN’S AGENCY TRANSITION TEAMS: The Biden-Harris transition teams focusing on key energy and environment agencies are packed with Obama administration alums, prominent environmentalists, and clean energy experts.
Leading the transition team for the Department of Energy is Arun Majumdar, the first director of APRA-E (the Energy Department’s advanced energy research hub) who is also rumored to be on Biden’s short list to lead the department. This team will also oversee transitions at FERC and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The Interior team is led by Kevin Washburn, who served as assistant secretary of Indian Affairs during the Obama administration’s second term. He currently is the dean of the University of Iowa’s College of Law.
Heading up the EPA transition team is Patrice Simms, vice president of healthy communities at EarthJustice, which has spearheaded many of the legal challenges against Trump-era rollbacks of climate and environmental regulations. Simms has worked at the EPA, and he served as deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s environment division during the Obama administration.
Then Cecilia Martinez, executive director of the Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy, will lead the Council on Environmental Quality’s transition team. Martinez also served on the Biden-Sanders unity task force that helped craft Biden’s more aggressive climate plan unveiled in July.
Check out the full transition team lists here.
CLIMATE CHANGE CONVERSATIONS
The 39 Things Biden Should Do First on Climate Change
Jack Taylor, Bloomberg Green, November 10, 2020
Joe Biden’s victory gives the people who dream up big climate ideas something they haven’t experienced in years: an opportunity to wield power in U.S. and shape the future of the world’s second-biggest source of greenhouse gases.
The president-elect will take office having made unprecedented commitments to address global warming, and with a 15-year plan to create carbon-neutral electricity across the U.S. on the way to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Biden has promised to spend $2 trillion on a sweeping climate-and-job agenda. Getting that done wouldn’t be easy, especially with control of the Senate poised on a knife’s edge. And the U.S. will be playing catchup, after falling far behind other leading economies on climate goals.