.The Texas Energy Report

17 Years Bringing You News from the Energy Capital of the Planet
 
.The Texas Energy Report

Energy Wins In U.S.-China Trade Agreement

By Alex Mills

 

President Trump signed an agreement with China this week that will increase trade between the two countries in many sectors of the economy especially for agriculture, manufacturing and energy.

During the signing ceremony at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said the deal will mean some $200 billion dollars to U.S. economy. U.S. energy exports will increase $18.5 in 2020 and $33.9 billion in 2021 from current levels, according to the agreement.

China already imports a variety of hydrocarbons from the U.S., and its potential is much larger because of its growing economy and lack of production in China. China imported 84 million barrels of oil from the U.S. in 2018, which is 11 percent of total U.S. oil exports, according to the Energy Information Administration. The largest importers were Canada with 160 million barrels and South Korea with 88 million barrels.

Opening of new international markets would benefit U.S. producers in general and Texas producers specifically. Texas is the largest producer in the U.S. and it is located relatively close to export terminals on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Refiners and transporters would see business increase, also…..
 

Exclusive: Testing, Progress Underway Puts Texas At Center of New Carbon Capture Tech

Work among Houston companies, Permian projects and UT Austin keep the Lone Star State at the cutting edge of carbon capture and storage R&D

 

January 10, 2020

Texas remains one of the hot spots for research and development of carbon capture technologies, with academic and field activities continuing daily.

Most recently, Houston’s Occidental Petroleum has joined with France’s Total for a carbon-capture project at a Colorado location for possible use in the Lone Star State, while Houston’s Fluor Corp. will take part in a US Dept. of Energy-funded project aimed at eventually retrofitting power plants with carbon-capture tech.

This, even as UT Austin continues research into capture techniques and a new program is underway in West Texas to test an experimental design.

Lawmakers and scientists have for years looked to carbon capture and sequestration as a promising technology for reducing emissions, even as the practical capability for capture and storage has progressed very slowly and technical costs have remained high.

Never mind that the Petra Nova facility, a coal-fired power plant near Houston, is one of only two already operating power plants with carbon capture and storage in the world, and is the only such facility in the US..

Oxy Petroleum and Total now say they are targeting the possible capture of nearly a quarter-million metric tons of carbon each year a the Holcim Portland, Colorado, cement plant, according to the company, with Oxy buying and using the resulting carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery that could include West Texas as well as Colorado…….