April 29, 2020

Former Texas House District 146 Democratic Representative Al Edwards has died, according to Houston’s mayor….
 

Operator and petroleum engineer becomes first woman to chair a major Texas oil and gas trade association

April 29, 2020

Cye Wagner of Fort Worth-based Cooper Oil & Gas Inc. has become Chair of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers’ Board of Directors. ….
 

By Alex Mills

April 27, 2020

“Classic supply and demand imbalance.” “Perfect storm.” “Insane.” That’s how government and oil industry officials described the historic collapse of crude oil prices this week.

On Friday of last week (April 17), oil closed at $18.27 per barrel for May delivery, but when markets opened on Monday the selloff began and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil closed at -$37.63. It is the first time oil traded in negative territory.

Crude oil is traded, bought, sold all over the world, and the price varies from day-to-day and location-to-location. Most news sources report the futures price quoted for “front month” delivery, also called 30-day delivery, from the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). However, speculators can put contracts on “forward months” going 60 days, 90 days, or even a year into the future. When the price for these contracts is higher than the front month speculators are betting that prices will be higher in the future than currently. This is called “contango.” Traders have been calling the current situation a “super contango.”….
 

April 27, 2020

More than 70 Democratic lawmakers from both chambers have joined a suit challenging the Trump administration for rolling back Obama-era power plant regulations….
 

April 27, 2020

Global oil supplies will likely fall by more than 6% over the next ten years because of delays in investment by oil companies according to Rystad Energy…..
 

April 27, 2020

Governor Greg Abbott is reopening Texas in phases beginning Friday, he said at a news conference at the Capitol Monday afternoon, with half of the state’s counties reopening to a greater extent than counties hit hard by the novel coronavirus…..
 

April 27, 2020

Oil and gas inspectors at the Railroad Commission of Texas have already surpassed annual inspection targets, even with more than four months remaining in the fiscal year…..
 

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, 85^th 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…..