April 27, 2020
The Railroad Commission of Texas assessed $1,141,580 in fines involving 212 enforcement dockets against operators and businesses at the Commissioners’ Conference this week….
April 23, 2020
Renewable energy developer Belltown Power Texas says it’s moving ahead with total 330 MWdc solar PV projects in Texas in cooperation with Rayburn County Electric Cooperative and Vistra Energy…..
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April 23, 2020
The Texas Legislature (House Bill 1818, 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017) directed the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) to develop an annual plan to assess the most effective use of its limited resources to ensure public safety and minimize damage to the environment. The RRC will never cease to strengthen its capabilities to track, measure, and analyze the effectiveness of its oil and gas monitoring and enforcement program.
The purpose of this plan is to define and communicate the Oil and Gas Division’s strategic priorities for its monitoring and enforcement efforts. The plan confirms many of the Division’s current priorities—to ensure public safety and protect the environment—as well as establishing direction for data collection, stakeholder input, and new priorities for fiscal year 2021.
House Bill 1818 directed the RRC to seek input from stakeholders in the development of this plan. We look forward to hearing from you as this planning process moves forward……
April 23, 2020
Royal DSM has a new virtual power purchase agreement with Origis Energy for renewable electricity to be generated from a planned solar project in West Texas…..
April 23, 2020
Sempra‘s Cameron LNG facility is in the final commissioning stage for Its Phase 1, three-train liqufaction-export project in Louisiana, the company says…..
April 23, 2020
Buyers have requested to cancel at least 10 liquefied natural gas cargoes loading in June from Cheniere Energy‘s Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi liquefaction plants, Bloomberg reports.
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April 22, 2020
Today Railroad Commission Chairman Wayne Christian joined Kelly Evans on CNBC’s The Exchange to discuss the continued conversation on proration and his call for the industry to establish a Blue Ribbon Task Force for oil economic recovery. You can view the interview here.
Christian and Evans began by discussing Commissioner Ryan Sitton’s potential motion to put in place proration contingent on a number of factors, including the actions of other states.
“We are working to find a solution as fast as possible because we don’t need the markets to continue to have uncertainty about what is going on with the regulation of oil and gas,” said Chairman Christian. “Texas will rise to the occasion – a hundred percent of the time we have faced hardship, America comes back stronger and so does Texas.”….
April 22, 2020
Today, the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) continued discussion on the issue of proration, ongoing relief initiatives of the agency, and the formation of a Blue Ribbon Task Force for oil economic recovery.
Chairman Christian kicked off the discussion by inviting RRC Executive Director Wei Wang to discuss the various relief and flexibility initiatives that the agency has provided to our state’s oil and gas operators, including deadline extensions for certain requirements/filings, online processing and electronic submissions, and enforcement discretions and waiver considerations. You can view the discussion here (34:30-40:03). A full list of our notice to operators can be found here.
Next Chairman Christian announced the formation of the Blue Ribbon Task Force for Oil Economic Recovery. This task force is being led by the leadership of our state’s major trade associations including the Texas Oil and Gas Association, The Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association, The Permian Basin Petroleum Association, The Panhandle Producers and Royalty Owners Association, and the Texas Pipeline Association. If you would like to join and offer your input, please reach out to: toberbeck@txoga.org…..
April 22, 2020
US crude inventories were up by 15 million barrels last week, now up to 518.6 million, a near-record high, according to the Energy Information Administration…..
April 21, 2020
Following the historic Monday 306% decline in WTI based on May contracts, June contracts on Tuesday settled on the day at its lowest in 21 years, according to analysts….
Turnout at drive-through virus testing centers are somewhat sparse…Half a million job openings are available in Texas…Details about “opening up” Texas on the way
April 21, 2020
Governor Greg Abbott said he’s been in contact regularly for “the past several weeks” with the White House about what to do about the huge oil downturn that’s have a significant effect on Texas……
April 21, 2020
President Trump says he’s told his administration staffers to “make funds available” to oil companies in the midst of the current demand crisis…..
April 21, 2020
The Railroad Commission of Texas decided against a vote on proration at a Tuesday morning meeting, but did form a task force to see what it can do to help the O&G industry…..
By Alex Mills
April 20, 2020
“Oil ain’t pork bellies.” That was a comment made during the debate in the early 1980s regarding the decline in crude oil prices and the implementation of futures trading of crude oil. The point he was trying to make is crude oil is not just a commodity, but it is a strategic commodity that has economic, military and social values.
It is such a valuable strategic commodity that governments around world have tried to manage, manipulate and fondle oil production and consumption for almost 100 years.
In 1930, a fellow by the name of “Dad” Joiner drilled a well in East Texas that started an oil boom that lasted for about 40 years. The news spread quickly and a flood of oil erupted just as the nation was coming out of the Great Depression of 1929. It created an oversupply which caused a sharp decline in price to as low as a nickel a barrel.
The Railroad Commission, which originally regulated the transportation of agriculture products by rail and later crude oil, was assigned the duty to restore order and prevent waste of this precious natural resource. What resulted was the adoption of a prorationing rule, which allocated a reduction of production for each well. The RRC encountered many problems including lack of enforcement, cheating by rogue producers, and legal defeats. The governor had to call in the National Guard and Texas Rangers at one point……
April 20, 2020
Tapstone Energy says its comprehensive financial restructuring plan has been completed and the company is raising $50 million in new equity just as the bottom drops out of WTI…..
April 20, 2020
In an act legally related to Texas oil companies’ requests for proration, an Oklahoma administrative law judge has been working on a recommendation to the state’s oil and gas regulator, allowing a declaration that oil production could constitute “economic waste.”….
April 20, 2020
A Pennsylvania court says Energy Transfer LP won’t be able to transfer a would-be class action lawsuit that claims the Dallas company misled investors…..
April 20, 2020
Range Resources has a deal with Pennsylvania officials for regulation violations, according to authorities…..
April 20, 2020
Healthcare researchers are saying they need as much computing power as possible to work out scenarios and mathematical reasoning to help find solutions to problems created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and BP says it’s contributing “significant capability” to help the effort through its Center for High-Performance Computing (CHPC) at Houston……
April 20, 2020
Yuma Energy is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a Texas court….
