OIL
Oil companies win some tax relief
Views and News from Norway, June 8, 2020
The leaders of Norway’s three largest opposition parties in Parliament finally struck a compromise with the government on Monday that offers some tax relief to oil companies on the Norwegian continental shelf, but not as much as they wanted. The goal is to preserve jobs, even as the country works to reduce its economic dependence on oil.
Report – Breaking the climate-finance doom loop
Finance Watch, June 8, 2020
On 8 June 2020, Finance Watch published a report to show how banking prudential regulation can tackle the link between climate change and financial instability. The report calls for immediate regulatory action to end the climate-finance doom loop, in which fossil fuel finance enables climate change, and climate change threatens financial stability in unpredictable ways.
GAS
Lights may all go out in Massachusetts as first US state to have LNG looks at phasing out natural gas
LNG journal.com, June 5, 2020
The state Attorney General of the northeast US state of Massachusetts has asked the public utilities regulator to investigate if there is a future for the natural gas industry as the state wants to stop burning fossil fuels because of climate change. The Everett LNG import terminal in Boston is the longest-serving in the US, having started imports in 1971 to help the northeast avoid power cuts and natural gas shortages during the high-demand winter season when New England relies on gas for much of its power generation and heating.
MINING
Alaska is rich in critical rare earths
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, June 5, 2020
Alaska is rich in rare earth, a unique group of elements that are so distinctive that most are placed in their own separate section at the bottom of the periodic table. While scientist have long realized that rare earths possessed distinctive characteristics that set them apart from their fellow elements, it wasn’t until the advent of the color television in the 1960s that these unique properties had any sort of widespread practical application.
POLITICS
Energy Industry Jilts Trump With Curb on Campaign Donations
Jeffrey Taylor & Bill Allison, Bloomberg, June 8, 2020
The oil and gas industry, long one of the most reliable sources of campaign cash for Republican candidates at all levels, is turning a cold shoulder to President Donald Trump. Reeling from the worst oil-price crash on record and wary of Trump at the best of times, energy companies and their employees are donating far less to his re-election campaign than they did to his first run, and also much less than they’ve showered on Republican presidential candidates in the past.