News of the Day:
OIL
Dakota Access pipeline can keep running amid legal fight: U.S. court
Reuters, July 15, 2020
The Dakota Access oil pipeline can continue to operate amid an ongoing court battle, a U.S. Appeals Court said on Tuesday, setting aside for now a lower court’s order earlier this month to shut and empty the line. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia granted Dakota Access, controlled by Energy Transfer LP (ET.N), an administrative stay while it considers whether the line, long opposed by local tribes and environmental activists, should be shut due to permitting issues dating to 2017.
GAS
FRINGE ACTIVISTS SEEK TO BAN OIL AND NATURAL GAS WITH NO REALISTIC REPLACEMENT PLANS
William Allison, Energy In Depth, July 13, 2020
Fringe environmental activists in Colorado and across the country continuously attempt to delay or stop completely oil and natural gas development and its related infrastructure, despite not having realistic plans to meet growing energy demand. It’s a repetitive cycle of tactics that includes pushing ill-conceived policies and then suing anyone who stands in their way regardless of what the cost might be to the economy, American workers or consumers. Case-in-point: WildEarth Guardians’ latest lawsuit against the administration of Colorado’s Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.
MINING
First rare earth firm in decade to go public in $1.5 billion deal
Reuters, July 15, 2020
US rare earths miner MP Materials will go public in a $1.47 billion deal by merging with a private-equity backed blank-check company, underscoring Wall Street’s rising interest in efforts to boost US production of the strategic minerals. The listing on the New York Stock Exchange would be the first for a U.S. rare earths company since Molycorp went public a decade ago. Molycorp filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and MP Materials bought California’s Mountain Pass mine and other Molycorp asset in 2017. The deal, announced on Wednesday, comes as President Donald Trump and other U.S. politicians push to resume domestic production and processing of rare earths, a group of 17 minerals used to build weapons and electronics. China, which owns about 10% of MP, is the world’s largest producer of these minerals.
POLITICS
Biden’s $2 trillion New Green Deal underscores the need to separate Energy Policy from politics
Oil & Gas 360, July 15, 2020
The Joe Biden presidential campaign has released a new proposal for energy and environmental policy, including plans to spend $2 trillion over a decade and a goal of achieving 100% clean electricity standard by 2035. Also promised: good union jobs, a jolt of new life to the economy, and for all children to be above average. (Stole that last from “Lake Woebegone Days”.) Without knowing the details yet, there are a lot of cautionary remarks that need to be made, not just about this plan, but about politically motivated energy policy in general.