June 2, 2023 — The Railroad Commission of Texas issued a total of 805 original drilling permits in May 2023. The total includes 702 to drill new oil or gas wells, 11 to …
June 2, 2023 — Texas PUC Chairman Peter Lake has resigned effective July 1st, Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Friday, with Chairman Lake drawing praise for his tumultuous tenure while the Governor said he would name a replacement.
Mr. Lake took over the agency just two months after Winter Storm Uri knocked out power in much of the state, providing a steady hand during a restructuring of ERCOT and new staffing at the PUC, while working to reassure electricity customers that work is underway to restore reliability to the system.
He’s been a major mover in trying to implement the Performance Credit Mechanism (PCM), an attempt to meet the requirements of the 87th Legislature‘s Senate Bill 3, requiring the PUC to create grid reliability standards.
The PCM plan was adopted in January by the PUC, but legislators in the 88th Legislature made changes in the proposed system.
The PCM was intended to provide electric reliability by utilizing “performance credits,” directing…
Public Utility Commission Chairman Peter Lake has resigned — Gov. Abbott says Mr. Lake is leaving the agency July 1st
Gov. Abbott on Friday signed HB 591, introducing severance tax exemptions for well and pipeline companies that put to use on-site natural gas that would otherwise be normally vented or flared, including use for powering bitcoin mining data centers — authority is granted to the RRC, the law becomes effective Sept. 1st
And he signed SB 786, removing the TCEQ from jurisdiction over closed-loop geothermal injection wells, placing them entirely under the regulatory authority of the RRC
Mr. Abbott also signed SB 246, shifting some of the duties of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation — including the removal of TDLR’s regulation authority over LPG, among other things
Gov. Abbott on Friday signed SB 1364, changing the amount by which a vehicle primarily powered by a natural gas engine may exceed a statutory weight limitation on the Interstate Highway System
And the Governor has signed HB 3390, allowing the PUC to create its own protocols requiring distributed generation operators to provide information that ERCOT “determines is necessary for maintaining system reliability” by Sept. 1st of this year — the new law includes storage facilities
Finally, Gov. Abbott also on Friday signed SB 1860, requiring Texas legislative approval of a proposed municipal climate charter (such as has been proposed for El Paso) before the municipality may hold an election on the charter, effective Sept. 1st
Houston driller Diamond Offshore is moving its headquarters toward the end of the year — the new offices in the Energy Corridor will be more compact but will remain in the One Eldridge building, according to Granite Properties
May 31, 2023 — The possibility of moving up to 250 million tons of CO2 from sources along the Gulf Coast to a destination station will be studied by San Antonio’s Howard Energy …
This Texas Energy Report database is published each quarter and is updated as earnings are released throughout the reporting period.
Click on the name of the company for more information about the quarterly earnings report, usually from the company’s own press release
American Electric Power (Nasdaq: AEP) today reported first-quarter 2023 earnings, prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), of $397 million or $0.77 per share, compared with GAAP earnings of $715 million or $1.41 per share in first-quarter 2022. Operating earnings for first-quarter 2023 were $572 million or $1.11 per share, compared with operating earnings of $616 million or $1.22 per share in first-quarter 2022.
Operating earnings is a non-GAAP measure representing GAAP earnings excluding special items. The difference between 2023 GAAP and operating earnings for the quarter was largely due to the mark-to-market impact of commodity prices on economic hedging activities and charges related to the anticipated sale of the unregulated contracted renewables portfolio. A full reconciliation of GAAP earnings to operating earnings for the quarter is included in the tables at the end of this news release.
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Baytex Energy (Canada, active in Eagle Ford)
On February 28, 2023, Baytex announced the acquisition of Ranger, a pure play Eagle Ford operator.
The Texas Legislature has weighed in and the PCM is a go — for now May 30, 2023 — After several close calls in which they almost didn’t make deadlines, a number of …
May 30, 2023 — Oil and natural gas bills quietly passed the Texas Legislature with new laws affecting mineral contracts and forward-thinking concepts like turning orphaned wells into geothermal energy projects, but the …
May 30, 2023 — We’re closely watching more than 83 bills making their way through the Texas Legislature. We list them here along with excerpts of reaction from Texas news media and op-eds. Also listed are a number of bills that are not moving. We are working to include a few bills that have been left out.
This list is being continually updated. HB = House of Representatives bill SB = Senate bill HJR = House Joint Resolution SJR = Senate Joint Resolution Companion bills (bills that are the same or very similar, one in the House, the other in the Senate) are grouped together
Looking for a certain bill number? On computer, please use your “find on page”
OIL AND GAS BILLS THAT HAVE PASSED
Texas Energy Independence Act
HB 33 — identical companion bill SB 470 by Springer — aimed at fending off implementation of any new federal regulations on oil or natural gas production in Texas — filed Nov. 14th, sent to House Energy Resources committee Feb. 23rd, public hearing March 27th, passed by the House May 5th, sent to the Senate Natural Resources & Economic Development committee May 9th, public hearing May 18th, substitute bill adopted May 19th, passed by the Senate May 22nd, reconciled May 25th, awaiting the Governor’s signature
SB 470 — companion bill HB 33 — filed Jan. 13th, sent to the Senate Natural Resources & Economic Development committee Feb. 17th
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Landmen & land services
SB 604 — companion bill HB 1915 by Hefner — land services performed by a landman — “the practice of law does not include engaging in land services … the acts are performed by a person who does not hold out the person as an attorney license to practice law in this state” — in Senate Natural Resources & Economic Development committee February 17th, public hearing March 22nd, committee substitute April 4th, passed the Senate April 12th, received in the House April 12th, sent to Senate Energy Resources committee April 14th, reported without amendments May 2nd, amended May 6th, passed by the Senate May 8th, Senate concurs with House amendment May 11th, signed and sent to the Governor May 12th, signed by the Governor May 24th
HB 1915 — companion bill SB 1915 — land services performed by a landman — “the practice of law does not include engaging in land services … the acts are performed by a person who does not hold out the person as an attorney license to practice law in this state” — in House Energy Resources committee March 8th, public hearing March 27th & April 3rd, substituted April 3rd, placed on general calendar, then postponed May 3rd, left on the table subject to call May 5th
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Orphaned well designation: Effective September 1st
SB 1210 — identical companion bill HB 3131 by Guerra — authority for the Railroad Commission of Texas to designate certain persons as the operator of an orphaned oil or gas well — filed Feb. 24th, referred to Senate Natural Resources & Economic Development committee March 9th, public testimony taken March 29th, substitute bill made April 11th, placed on local & uncontested calendar April 20th, passed the Senate April 20th and sent to the House, referred to the House Energy Resources committee April 21st, reported without amendments May 2nd, sent to Calendars May 4th, passed by the House May 5th, signed by the Governor May 19th
HB 3131 — companion bill is SB 1210 — authority for the Railroad Commission of Texas to designate certain persons as the operator of an orphaned oil or gas well — filed March 14th, sent to House Energy Resources committee March 14th, public hearing April 10th, committee substitute April 18th as CSHB 3131, sent to House Calendars April 24th, placed on general state calendar May 1st, postponed May 4th, left on the table subject to call
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Texas Produced Water Consortium: Effective Immediately
SB 1047 — funding and activities of the Texas Produced Water Consortium by Perry — in Water, Agriculture & Rural Affairs committee March 3rd, pubic hearing April 17th, placed on intent calendar April 19th, passed Senate April 20th, received in the House April 21st, referred to House Natural Resources committee April 24th, laid out in lieu of companion April 27th, passed House April 28th, sent to the Governor May 2nd, signed by the Governor May 13th, effective immediately
HB 2757 — funding and activities of the Texas Produced Water Consortium by Tepper (identical companion bill SB 1047) — now CCHB 2757 — see the bill analysis here — in House Natural Resources committee March 13th, public hearing March 21st, amendments added March 23rd, committee report sent to the House March 30th, placed on general state calendar April 26th, considered then postponed in favor of companion bill SB 1047
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O&G Royalty Interest: Becomes law Sept. 1st
HB 450 (final version) — from Rep. Tom Craddick and Burrows et al — companion bill SB 501 — cause of action for the bad faith washout of an overriding royalty interest in an oil and gas lease — in House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence committee February 23rd, public hearing March 15th, sent to full House March 21st, passed the House and sent to the Senate April 11th, public hearing April 18th in Administration committee, placed on local and uncontested calendar April 19th to go to the governor, then removed April 20th, returned to local & uncontested calendar & passed by the Senate April 27th, sent to the governor May 2nd, filed without the governor’s signature May 13th
SB 501 — companion bill HB 450 — cause of action for the bad faith washout of an overriding royalty interest in an oil and gas lease — in Senate Natural Resources & Economic Development committee February 17th, public hearing March 29th, left committee April 4th, placed on local & uncontested calendar April 12th, removed from calendar April 12th
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“The Ch. 313 replacement”
HB 5 — Establishing a tax incentive program aimed at creating jobs and bringing business to Texas — widely seen as an attempt to replace the Chapter 313 tax incentive program that expired at the end of last year, but would not include “grid reliability” projects, including some O&G projects, from much of the provisions — Houston Chronicle analysis here — see public comments here — see the Chronicle’s Chris Tomlinson’s critique here — filed Feb. 28th, sent to House Ways & Means committee March 1st, public hearing April 10th, another public hearing then committee substitute adopted April 24th, to Calendars May 2nd, considered by the full House, amendments offered but not adopted May 4th, passed by the House May 4th, received by the Senate May 8th, referred to Senate Business & Commerce committee May 9th, set for public hearing May 18th, substituted May 22nd, passed the Senate May 24th, signed by Legislature and sent to the Governor May 29th
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Renewal of TCEQ under Sunset
SB 1397 — companion bill HB 1505 — renewal of the TCEQ under the state Sunset guidelines, would increase penalties that can be …
May 29, 2023 –Governor Greg Abbott about 9 Monday night officially called a special session of the Texas Legislature to take up only border security and property taxes — but he called it “special session #1,” indicating the first in a series of special summer sessions.
Gov. Abbott said the session begins immediately — at 9 pm Monday; like, now. (See the full proclamation below.)
Earlier in the evening, three energy-related suggestions were made by the Texas Lieutenant Governor for legislative action in a likely special session of the state legislature….
May 29, 2023 — The 88th Texas Legislature ended Monday evening on an uncertain note, without the “must-pass” property tax cuts and with a special session certain and imminent; details are expected as soon as tonight, with Aug. 28th set as the deadline.
Texas Energy Report is preparing a session wrap-up report to appear Tuesday morning.
— In case you missed it, the lead story in this morning’s TER NewsClips is ConocoPhillips‘ 50% stake buy-in (for about $3 billion) in the Surmont oil facility held by TotalEnergies’ Canadian subsidiary
— The Texas Senate‘s impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton is expected sometime this summer.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will set trial date and all the Senate must convene, must accept charges made by the House, and a two-thirds vote is required to remove Mr. Paxton from office.
The impeachment committee that will prosecute Attorney General Paxton was named on Monday, with the prosecution committee from the House made up of Rep. Andrew Murr (R) as chairman, Rep. Ann Johnson (D) as vice chair; and “managers” will be Reps. Charlie Geren (R); Joe Moody (D); Jeff Leach (R); Terry Canales (D); Briscoe Cain (R); Oscar Longoria (D); Morgan Meyer (R); Cody Vasut (R); Erin Gámez (D); and David Spiller (R)
A Senate panel of seven people will suggest procedure for the trial, with Sen. Brian Birdwell (R) as chairman, Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D) as vice chair; Sens. Brandon Creighton (R); Royce West (D); Pete Flores (R); Joan Huffman (R) and Phil King (R) filling out that panel.
May 29, 2023 — The Texas Legislature finally agreed on several energy-related bills on the eve of Memorial Day, the final official day of the 2023 session.
As it started to get dark, a compromise was reached on Senate Bill 2627 (Conference committee report) regarding low interest (or even no-interest) state funding for new or enhanced power plants and an agreement released from the conference committee, backdated.
The latest version of the bill, which is headed to Governor Greg Abbott‘s desk, still includes budgeting $5 billion to pay for bonuses to those entities getting plants ready and connected to the grid by June 1st, 2026 ($120,000 per megawatt of capacity) or June 1st, 2029 ($80,000 per megawatt capacity).
The enabling legislation, SJR 93 (amended), for a constitutional amendment and public vote for the creation of the Texas energy fund, has passed conference and is headed to the Governor.
The bill agreement was reached more than 18 hours after the legislative deadline of midnight Saturday night, but is considered okay to move forward.
Also better late than never was…
May 27, 2023 — The Texas House on Saturday afternoon voted to impeach Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, removing him from office at least temporarily while he awaits a trial in the state …
By Alex Mills
Retail gasoline prices are more than $1 per gallon lower this Memorial Day weekend than last year, and AAA expects more traffic on the highways.
AAA expects 6% more Memorial Day weekend road trips in 2023 than in 2022.
Even though U.S. retail gasoline prices are lower than 2022, prices are relatively high compared to previous years according to a report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
“Heading into Memorial Day weekend 2023, the U.S. retail gasoline price averaged $3.53 per gallon, or $1.24 (26%) lower than the inflation-adjusted price one year ago,” EIA stated in its report issued on Wednesday.
“Despite this price decrease, retail gasoline prices remain relatively high. This year’s price is higher than the inflation-adjusted prices of $3.38 in 2019, $2.22 in 2020 (when responses to the COVID-19 pandemic decreased demand for petroleum products), and $3.41 in 2021,” EIA stated.
Gasoline prices follow crude oil prices closely. When market conditions for both commodities are tight prices tend to follow. In recent years, a global pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have played key roles in energy prices….
May 25, 2023 — The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against the Environmental Protection Agency in a dispute over its authority to regulate certain wetlands under the Clean Water Act, long seen as a key tool to protect waterways from pollution…
May 25, 2023 — A bill passed by the Texas Legislature to continue the Texas Produced Water Consortium has been signed by Governor Greg Abbott, to go into effect immediately. The Texas Senate …
May 25, 2023 — The Railroad Commission of Texas will have the authority to designate the operators of orphaned oil or natural gas wells under a bill signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott over the weekend.
SB 1210, from District 29 Sen. César Blanco, would allow a geothermal operator to adopt such wells in order to convert the well into geothermal electricity production….
May 25, 2023 — The Texas Legislature has passed the PUC Sunset Bill in modified form and is preparing to send the bill to the Governor. There were a number of amendments to …
May 25, 2023 — The Texas Legislature has passed and sent to the Governor a bill to put off new federal regulations on state O&G production.
HB 33, which author Rep. Brooks Landgraf calls the “Texas Energy Independence Act,” was passed by the House May 5th and by the Senate May 22nd, and would take effect September 1st.
The bill keeps Texas state agencies and officials from contracting with or even offering assistance to federal agencies or officials on the enforcement of federal statutes, rules, regulations or orders regulating O&G operations if the regulation does not already exist.
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In the EIA’s Issues in Focus: Effects of Liquefied Natural Gas Exports on the U.S. Natural Gas Market supplement to their Annual Energy Outlook 2023 (AEO2023), they find that the volumes of liquefied natural gas exports (LNG) do affect average U.S. natural gas prices. However, the resulting range in natural gas prices in our new cases was narrower than the price range in recent history and the AEO2023 side cases despite a wide variety of U.S. LNG export volumes.
In the EIA’s AEO2023, they explore long-term energy trends in the United States and present an outlook for energy markets through 2050. The Issues in Focus articles based on the AEO provide in-depth discussions on topics of special significance, such as LNG exports. This Issues in Focus presents three additional side cases to the AEO2023 that explore how LNG exports volumes affect domestic natural gas prices….
May 24, 2023 — A new bill ready to be signed by Governor Greg Abbott would eliminate the need for yearly non-commercial vehicle inspections of the horn, brakes, lights and all the rest …