.The Texas Energy Report

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.The Texas Energy Report

Fire “Under Control” Late Tuesday at Texas Co.’s San Francisco Fuel Storage Area

San Francisco-area fire officials said Tuesday night they did not immediately know the cause of the fire or whether there might be any connection to a 4.5-magnitude earthquake Monday night centered north of Oakland in the Bay area … A Contra Costa County official said Tuesday that the earthquake caused two malfunctions at two oil refineries run by Marathon and Shell, with some equipment at the Shell facility “temporarily affected,”

 

October 15, 2019

Local agencies say a fire caused by an explosion is under control on Tuesday night at a fuel storage facility in the San Francisco Bay area managed by Texas-based NuStar Energy LP….
 

Gasoline, electricity prices expected to decline

By Alex Mills

 

October 11, 2019

Consumers can expect a slight decline in energy prices the remainder of this year and into 2020, according to projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Gasoline and electricity prices will follow declining prices for crude and natural gas. West Texas Intermediate is expected to average $56.26 in 2019 down from $65.06 ($9.80) in 2018, and decline another $1.83 to average $54.43 in 2020, according to EIA. Natural gas, the largest generator of electricity in the U.S., will average $2.43 per million British thermal units (Btu) during the fourth quarter of this year, which is a decline from $2.56 average in September.

While EIA forecasts softer commodity prices, it is expecting supplies to remain strong.

U.S. crude oil production averaged 11.8 million barrels per day (b/d) in July (the most recent month for which data are available), down 0.3 million b/d from June, according to EIA. Declining production was a result of Hurricane Barry, which disrupted crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. The slowing rate of growth in tight oil production reflects relatively flat crude oil price levels and slowing growth in well-level productivity in the Lower 48 states. However, EIA expects growth to pick up in the fourth quarter as production returns in the Gulf of Mexico and pipelines in the Permian Basin come online to link production areas in West Texas and New Mexico to refining and export centers on the Gulf Coast. U.S. crude oil production will average 12.3 million b/d in 2019, up 1.3 million from the 2018 level, and will rise by 0.9 million b/d in 2020 to an annual average of 13.2 million b/d……
 

Rick Perry Subpoenaed; Men Arrested, Ordered to Produce Pete Sessions Documents: Reports

October 10, 2019

UPDATE: This evening, former Rep. Pete Sessions stated, “[I]f I am ‘Congressman One’ I could not have had any knowledge of the scheme described in the indictment or have involvement or coordination of it.”

The Wall Street Journal and now other publications have indicated that Rep. Sessions is the vague “Congressman One” mentioned in the indictment of two men implicated in an alleged Ukraine oil and gas scheme, as explained in the story below.

“I was first approached by these individuals for a meeting about the strategic need for Ukraine to become energy independent,” Sessions added.

“There was no request in that meeting and I took no action. Over time, I recall that there were a couple additional meetings. Again, at no time did I take any official action after these meetings.”

The Hill noted this evening that Sessions wrote a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in May 2018 calling for the removal of a US ambassador, but he said in the statement that he did so because he had heard that she had been disparaging Trump privately.

The story, filed at 4:33 pm 10/10/19:

Former Texas Governor and current Energy Secretary Rick Perry has been subpoenaed to appear before US House Democrats conducting an impeachment inquiry, while two men who were alleged to have been part of an effort to influence the Ukrainian government — partly in connection with the state oil and gas company — have been indicted, arrested and have now been ordered to produce documents related to a meeting with former Texas US Representative Pete Sessions……..
 

Sierra Club Argues in Federal Court for Texas to Clean Up the Air in San Antonio and Surrounding Communities: News Release

 

October 9, 2019

New Orleans, LA — Today in federal court, counsel for the Sierra Club and the Environmental Defense Fund argued against a State of Texas appeal on the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to declare Bexar County, Texas as nonattainment with the 2015 ozone standard. In addition, the Sierra Club argued to include additional Texas counties (Atascosa, Comal, and Guadalupe) in the nonattainment area.

In July 2018, EPA recognized that Bexar County’s failing air quality required action under the law, and finally took the tardy and necessary step towards protecting San Antonians from dangerous ozone (smog) pollution by designating the area as being in nonattainment, or violating, public health safeguards. EPA failed, however, to address significant pollution impacts from all the surrounding counties, which will frustrate efforts in actually cleaning up the harmful levels of pollution affecting San Antonio. Shortly after the designation, the State of Texas sued EPA in hopes of overturning this decision.

A nonattainment designation for ozone is an important step in ensuring that local, county, and state agencies work together to clean up the air in Bexar and surrounding counties. Ozone pollution is formed when pollutants from different sources like power plants, oil and gas fracking, cars, and cement kilns react with sunlight and other chemicals in the atmosphere to produce smog. Long-term exposure to smog pollution is linked to chronic respiratory diseases like asthma attacks, reproductive and developmental harm, and even premature death. In San Antonio, high levels of smog pollution disproportionately impact our most vulnerable populations, which includes children, the elderly, and those who spend time outside for long periods of time.

Just after the hearing, Josh Smith, Senior Attorney for the Sierra Club, released the following statement:

“It is truly counter to the mission of environmental agencies like the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to look the other way and ignore public health data and the hard and fast requirements of the Clean Air Act. TCEQ’s own air quality monitoring data shows indisputably that air quality in San Antonio fails to meet federal public health protections for smog, and is unsafe to breathe. TCEQ’s own data similarly shows that very large power plants and oil and gas fracking facilities in the counties surrounding San Antonio contribute to the city’s smog problems, and need to reduce their share of the harmful pollution affecting San Antonio. Instead of fighting public health safeguards and continuing to ignore San Antonio’s worsening air quality, TCEQ should be working with local, state, and federal partners to clean up the air.”

….
 

NM Governor Thanks O&G Association, Wants Regulation Officials To Work With Energy Sector

October 8, 2019

The governor of New Mexico is telling oil and gas executives she appreciates their contributions to her state and is asking for help in drafting methane emissions regulations, despite backing efforts earlier this year to increase O&G royalties and promoting reduced reliance on fossil fuels…..
 

Attorney For Energy Mogul Calls Rick Perry-Related Associated Press Report “Inaccurate”

Energy executive questions veracity of AP story, says story’s single named source cannot have first-hand knowledge of CERA Week dinner that ties executive to controversial Ukraine “case” tied to impeachment efforts — and questions motives of that source

 

October 8, 2019

Reports from an Associated Press (AP) news story linking Florida energy company CEO Harry Sargeant III to former Texas Governor Rick Perry, President Trump‘s attorney Rudolph Giuliani and several Ukranian businessmen “unfairly and inaccurately” portray Mr. Sargeant, according to his attorney…..
 

UT Associate Professor Op Ed Calls for Vote to Remove Republican Backers of Critical Infrastructure Law

October 7, 2019

University of Texas at Austin Associate Professor of English Heather Houser in Saturday editions of the Abilene Reporter News decried, in an Op-Ed column, Texas’ new “Critical Infrastructure Law” and calls for voters to unseat some of the Republicans who supported the law’s original HB 3557…….
 

Houston Energy Company CEO, Former Governor, Others Claimed In Rick Perry Attempts to Sell LNG to Ukraine: TER Texas-Related Summary

September 7, 2019

Texas Energy Report Partial Summary of Washington Post Story, AP sources: Trump allies pressed Ukraine over gas firm:

In Associated Press reporting, three out of four sources remain anonymous with regard to this story.

Two Soviet-born Florida real estate entrepreneurs, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, and an oil magnate from Boca Raton, Florida, named Harry Sargeant III, a heavy Republican donor, approached Nafogaz senior executive Andrew Favorov at a Houston energy convention with a plan for Favorov to become their partner in a firm to ship up to 100 shipments per year of LNG Ukraine, Sargeant allegedly claiming to have regular access to President Trump. …
 

Texas RRC commissioners assess more than $300,000 in penalties: RRC

October 6, 2019

The Railroad Commission of Texas assessed $319,693 in fines involving 175 enforcement dockets against operators and businesses at the Commissioners’ conference this week. The Commission has primary oversight and enforcement of the state’s oil and gas industry and intrastate pipeline safety.

Seven dockets involved $53,767 in penalties after operators failed to appear at Commission enforcement proceedings. Details on these Master Default Orders can be found on the RRC website…..