24 May 2021 | 19:02 UTC The future of the 570,000 b/d Dakota Access Pipeline is still at risk, but the primary crude artery out of the Bakken Shale is in a much stronger position after a federal court ruling kept the oil flowing and the Biden administration opted against intervening on an existing pipeline
MORE »News » Oil
Dakota Access Still Faces Existential Threats Despite Court Win, Bloomberg Law ($)
Ellen M. Gilmer • May 24, 2021, 5:31 AM It’s familiar territory for the embattled Energy Transfer LP project that seems perpetually unable to shake off legal and political hazards. A federal district court last week refused to halt the oil pipeline—an important win for Dakota Access—but an appeal or agency action could change its fate. “I
MORE »In the climate change fight, the Interior Department becomes a battlefield, Washington Post ($)
Administration’s review of the federal oil and gas program, personnel decisions have sparked pushback. By Juliet Eilperin and Joshua Partlow • April 16 2021 at 5:35 p.m. EDT In the weeks after President Biden’s inauguration, as the oil industry was facing a far less welcoming White House, a ConocoPhillips executive went pheasant hunting with the
MORE »US federal appeals court denies DAPL rehearing request, S&P Global ($)
23 Apr 2021 | 15:39 UTC Houston — A federal appeals court quickly denied a rehearing request for the vacating of necessary permitting for the Dakota Access Pipeline, still leaving the fate of a potential shutdown of the Bakken Shale crude oil artery up to the federal judge who previously ordered the pipeline shuttered. MORE
MORE »Future of ‘Broken’ Oil Program Under Review, Interior Head Says, BNN Bloomberg
Jennifer A. Dlouhy • Bloomberg News • Apr 2, 2021 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. government program for selling drilling rights on federal land is so “fundamentally broken” that changes could be needed to address climate change and ensure taxpayers get a greater value from extracted oil and gas, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said Friday. “The
MORE »Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will cost Canadians billions, SFU study shows, Globe and Mail ($)
Emma Graney • Energy Reporter • Published April 1, 2021 EDMONTON The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion stands to lose Canada between $3.2-billion and $18.5-billion, according to a new benefit-cost analysis study from a group of British Columbia researchers. Researchers from Simon Fraser University examined close to 20 business scenarios for the pipeline expansion, but didn’t find any in which it generates a net
MORE »Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will lead to $11.9B in losses for Canada, study says, CBC
SFU team says several factors mean project should be shelved but industry expert disagrees Bethany Lindsay · CBC News · Posted: Mar 31, 2021 1:00 AM PT | Last Updated: April 1 A new study from researchers in B.C. estimates that Canada will lose $11.9 billion because of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, but some industry experts question
MORE »Deb Haaland Becomes First Native American Cabinet Secretary, New York Times ($)
The Senate confirmed Ms. Haaland to lead the Interior Department. She’ll be charged with essentially reversing the agency’s course over the past four years. By Coral Davenport • March 15, 2021 WASHINGTON — Representative Deb Haaland of New Mexico made history on Monday when the Senate confirmed her as President Biden’s secretary of the Interior, making her the
MORE »Biden, Emphasizing Job Creation, Signs Sweeping Climate Actions, New York Times ($)
The array of directives — touching on international relations, drilling policy, employment and national security, among other things — elevate climate change across every level of the federal government. By Lisa Friedman, Coral Davenport and Christopher Flavelle • Published Jan. 27, 2021 | Updated Feb. 2, 2021 WASHINGTON — President Biden on Wednesday signed a sweeping series of executive actions —
MORE »Biden Cancels Keystone XL Pipeline and Rejoins Paris Climate Agreement, New York Times ($)
In a burst of climate orders, the president also ordered federal agencies to begin the process of reinstating environmental regulations reversed under the Trump administration. By Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman • Published Jan. 20, 2021 Updated Feb. 19, 2021 WASHINGTON — President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Wednesday recommitted the United States to the Paris climate agreement, the international accord
MORE »Biden to Cancel Keystone XL Pipeline in Inauguration Day Executive Order, New York Times ($)
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. is expected to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline permit on his first day in office, quickly reversing his predecessor’s approval of a project to move oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico long opposed by environmentalists, according to a person familiar with Mr. Biden’s plans. Opponents of the nearly
MORE »Trans Mountain project remains on safety stand down, Kamloops This Week
In addition to an Oct. 27 death in Edmonton and a Dec. 15 serious injury in Burnaby, there have been 91 confirmed cases of COVID-19 along the construction route, with 12 of those cases being active as of Dec. 28. Christopher Foulds / Kamloops This Week When the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project shut down earlier than
MORE »B.C. restricts pipeline, dam restarts due to COVID-19 risk, Northern Sentinel
Tom Fletcher • Coastal GasLink, Trans Mountain, Rio Tinto, Site C slowed for holidays B.C. public health officials are extending a holiday season slowdown on major northern B.C. construction projects to break the cycle of COVID-19 infections at large work camps. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has posted a new order setting out a
MORE »The Trans Mountain project faces a year of challenges and opportunity, CBC News
Safety concerns, Keystone XL uncertainties and unresolved Indigenous ownership questions linger over pipeline David Thurton • CBC News After a hiatus of about two weeks, construction on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is expected to resume today, but with a restricted workforce. The return to work marks the beginning of a critical year for the federal government-owned pipeline. In 2021,
MORE »Another Bomb Train Accident Highlights Regulatory Failures, DeSmog
By Justin Mikulka • Dec 23, 2020 @ 15:03 PST A train carrying over 100 cars of volatile Bakken oil derailed in Washington state, causing the evacuation of the town of Custer. At least two of the train cars ruptured and the oil ignited and burned — reminding us once again why these dangerous trains are known
MORE »Investigation continues around oil-train derailment, fire in Custer, Whatcom County, Seattle Times ($)
By Elise Takahama , Ron Judd and Lynda V. Mapes • Dec. 22, 2020 at 12:46 pm | Updated Dec. 22, 2020 at 9:44 pm Jenny Reich was preparing to open her glass shop in Custer, Whatcom County, on Tuesday afternoon when there was a loud noise and suddenly “everything was shaking.” Reich, a longtime Custer resident, said she is so
MORE »U.S. nets $46,000 on Trump’s California oil, gas drilling auction, Reuters
By Nichola Groom (Reuters) -U.S. taxpayers netted less than $50,000 on Thursday in bids for oil and gas leases in California as the Trump administration held the first federal drilling auction since 2012 in the Democratic and environmentally minded state. The auction for drilling rights on seven parcels covering 4,100 acres (16.6 square kilometers) generated $46,148.64,
MORE »Trump administration rushes sale of California oil leases despite certain legal battle, LA Times ($)
By Anna M. Phillips Staff Writer • Dec. 9, 2020 6 AM PTWASHINGTON The Trump administration on Thursday plans to hold the first oil lease sale in California in eight years, part of a last-minute rush to auction off as much federal land as possible before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in. The Bureau of
MORE »Canada Energy Regulator projects there may be no need for Trans Mountain expansion or Keystone XL, Financial Post ($)
Report says if more climate policies put in place, oil output will grow until 2039, but only enough to need Line 3 Mia Rabson • The Canadian Press • Nov 24, 2020 • 3 minute read OTTAWA — A new report from the Canada Energy Regulator projects that if Canada strengthens its climate policies to cut more
MORE »Canada Energy Regulator projects there may be no need for Trans Mountain expansion or Keystone XL, Financial Post ($)
Report says if more climate policies put in place, oil output will grow until 2039, but only enough to need Line 3 Mia Rabson • Nov 24, 2020 OTTAWA — A new report from the Canada Energy Regulator projects that if Canada strengthens its climate policies to cut more greenhouse-gas emissions, neither the Trans Mountain
MORE »The Trump Administration Is Reversing More Than 100 Environmental Rules. Here’s the Full List, New York Times ($)
By Nadja Popovich, Livia Albeck-ripka and Kendra Pierre-louis • Updated Jan. 20, 2021 Over four years, the Trump administration dismantled major climate policies and rolled back many more rules governing clean air, water, wildlife and toxic chemicals. In all, a New York Times analysis, based on research from Harvard Law School, Columbia Law School and other sources, counts
MORE »Energy Transfer pushing ahead on Dakota Access expansion, bullish on litigation, S&P Global ($)
Author: Jordan Blum • 04 Nov 2020 | 23:47 UTC Houston Houston — Energy Transfer executives said Nov. 4 they still plan to expand the controversial Dakota Access crude pipeline in 2021 — the same day that plaintiffs argued in a federal appeals court for shuttering the 570,000 b/d pipeline entirely. The Dallas pipeline operator is
MORE »Federal Judge Denies Bid to Halt Work on Keystone XL, Pipeline & Gas Journal
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge has denied a request by Native American tribes to halt construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada over worries about potential spills and damage to cultural sites. Work started this spring on the long-stalled pipeline that would carry oil sands crude from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska.
MORE »Kamala Harris’s Fracking Record Scares Big Oil But Attracts the Left, Bloomberg ($)
Less than two hours after Kamala Harris was named Joe Biden’s running mate, President Donald Trump had cast the California Democrat as an oil industry and fracking foe. “She is against fracking. She’s against petroleum products,” Trump said at a White House news conference Tuesday. “I mean, how do you do that and go into
MORE »Trans Mountain pipeline expansion could be at least two months late, National Observer ($)
By E. McIntosh | News, Energy, Politics, Ottawa Insider Last week, Trans Mountain said its pipeline expansion project is on schedule to be done by the end of 2022. But the environmental non-profit Wilderness Committee says it appears Trans Mountain has missed its window to start key construction work in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, meaning the project is at
MORE »California Plans to Ban Sales of New Gas-Powered Cars in 15 Years, New York Times ($)
The proposal would speed up the state’s efforts to fight global warming at a time when California is being battered by wildfires, heat waves and other consequences of climate change. By Brad Plumer and Jill Cowan California plans to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars statewide by 2035, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday, in a sweeping move
MORE »In a decarbonizing world, does it still make sense to spend taxpayer dollars on oil pipelines? Globe and Mail ($)
Thomas Gunton, Carolyn Fischer and David Wheeler • Published September 22, 2020 | Updated September 30, 2020 Thomas Gunton is professor and director of the Resource and Environmental Planning Program at Simon Fraser University. Carolyn Fischer holds the Canada 150 Research Chair in Climate Economics, Innovation, and Policy at the University of Ottawa. David Wheeler
MORE »Trans Mountain pipeline expansion on schedule, on budget: CEO, Global News
By Dan Healing • The Canadian Press A year after construction was allowed to restart on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, its chief executive says the project is on budget and on schedule for completion by the end of 2022. The project is advancing as expected despite challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, a global slump in demand for fuel, a $5.2-billion
MORE »FEATURE: Dakota Access Pipeline fight will heat up again in two federal courts, S&P Global ($)
Author: Jordan Blum • 20 Aug 2020 | 18:07 UTC Houston Houston — The Dakota Access Pipeline will continue to flow crude oil for now, but the legal battle heats back up again soon as the fight to shutter the pipeline continues in two separate federal courts. A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals
MORE »20 states sue over Trump rule limiting states from blocking pipeline projects, The Hill
By Rebecca Beitsch • 07/21/20 03:31 PM EDT A coalition of 20 states is suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over a rule that weakens states’ ability to block pipelines and other controversial projects that cross their waterways. The Clean Water Act previously allowed states to halt projects that risk hurting their water quality, but that
MORE »Is This the End of New Pipelines? New York Times ($)
Defeats at three projects reflect increasingly sophisticated legal challenges, shifting economics and growing demands by states to fight climate change. By Hiroko Tabuchi and Brad Plumer • Published July 8, 2020 | Updated Jan. 18, 2021 They are among the nation’s most significant infrastructure projects: More than 9,000 miles of oil and gas pipelines in the United States are currently
MORE »Supreme Court Won’t Block Ruling to Halt Work on Keystone XL Pipeline, New York Times ($)
But the justices stayed the rest of a federal trial judge’s ruling striking down a permit program, allowing construction of other pipelines around the nation. By Adam Liptak • July 6, 2020 WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request from the Trump administration to allow construction of parts of the Keystone XL oil pipeline that
MORE »Dakota Access Pipeline to Shut Down Pending Review, Federal Judge Rules, New York Times ($)
The ruling, a victory for the Native American and environmentalist groups who oppose the pipeline, said that it must be emptied of oil by Aug. 5. By Jacey Fortin and Lisa Friedman The Dakota Access Pipeline, an oil route from North Dakota to Illinois that has inspired intense protests and legal battles, must shut down pending an environmental
MORE »Supreme Court Won’t Block Ruling to Halt Work on Keystone XL Pipeline, New York Times ($)
But the justices stayed the rest of a federal trial judge’s ruling striking down a permit program, allowing construction of other pipelines around the nation. By Adam Liptak • Published July 6, 2020 | Updated Jan. 18, 2021 WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request from the Trump administration to allow construction of parts of the Keystone XL
MORE »Supreme Court Reinstates Permit 12 but Excludes Keystone XL, Pipeline & Gas Journal
By Jeff Awalt, Executive Editor HOUSTON (P&GJ) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday reinstated the Army Corps of Engineers’ use of Nationwide Permit 12 but refused to let TC Energy resume construction of its Keystone XL pipeline under the fast-track permit. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris of Montana ruled in April that the Corps violated federal law
MORE »Trump Weakens Major Conservation Law to Speed Construction Permits, New York Times ($)
By Lisa Friedman • Published July 15, 2020 | Updated Aug. 4, 2020 WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday unilaterally weakened one of the nation’s bedrock conservation laws, the National Environmental Policy Act, limiting public review of federal infrastructure projects to speed up the permitting of freeways, power plants and pipelines. In doing so, the Trump administration claimed it would save
MORE »What you need to know about Trans Mountain expansion, Globe and Mail ($)
Darryl Dyck • The Canadian Press The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion has been cast as the saviour of Alberta’s energy sector – the single project that can lift the province’s economy out of a persistent slump and send oil prices rebounding. For Ottawa, it is a key test of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s long-standing promise
MORE »Meet the judge at the heart of the West’s top energy battles, E&E News
Meet the judge at the heart of the West’s top energy battles Niina H. Farah, E&E News reporter • Published: Friday, May 29, 2020 Brian Morris has had a very busy few weeks. The chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, one of three active jurists on the bench, has
MORE »Alberta gears up for another legal battle over Keystone XL after Biden vows to pull permissions, Financial Post ($)
Next U.S. president has the power to force TC Energy to dig up the pipeline, says one legal scholar By Geoffrey Morgan Published May 19, 2020 CALGARY — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said he is prepared to go to court anf file a free-trade lawsuit alongside TC Energy Corp. if Joe Biden becomes president and
MORE »Joe Biden vows to cancel Keystone XL if he wins presidency, National Post ($)
Alberta’s Jason Kenney has already committed to $1.1 billion on the project The Canadian Press WASHINGTON — Joe Biden’s campaign says the former vice-president will rip up President Donald Trump’s approvals for the Keystone XL pipeline if he takes over the White House next year. Campaign officials made Biden’s first policy pronouncements on the controversial
MORE »Biden says he’d cancel Keystone XL pipeline permit if elected, CBC
Alexander Panetta, Katie Simpson • CBC News • May 18, 2020 2:17 PM ET | Last Updated: May 18 Joe Biden will cancel the Keystone XL pipeline if he’s elected president of the United States, his campaign said Monday in a potential death blow for the delay-plagued Canada-U.S. oil project. His staff said he would withdraw the permit
MORE »Montana judge blocks Keystone XL permit for river crossings, Bloomberg Green ($)
By Tom Korosec and Kevin Orland • April 15, 2020, 6:02 PM EDT | Updated on April 16, 2020, 2:20 PM EDT Montana judge invalidates Army Corps river crossing permit TC Energy missed 2019 construction season due to legal issues TC Energy Corp.’s Keystone XL oil-sands pipeline was a dealt a setback with a judge’s ruling that the U.S. Army
MORE »New California Well Stimulation Permits Approved Following Reviews, Natural Gas Intelligence ($)
California on Monday issued its first permits for well stimulation following a third-party review mandated as part of an oil and gas permitting audit process. By Rich Nemec The California Geologic Energy Management (CalGEM) Division has approved 24 permits including for Aera Energy LLC in Kern County near Bakersfield. “These are the first permits issued
MORE »Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Wins a Victory in Dakota Access Pipeline Case, New York Times ($)
By Lisa Friedman WASHINGTON — In a significant victory for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, a federal judge on Wednesday ordered a sweeping new environmental review of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The pipeline, which runs from North Dakota to Illinois, has been carrying oil for nearly three years and has been contested by environmental groups and Native
MORE »To stop Trump fracking plans, California is going to court, LA Times ($)
By Phil Willon • Jan. 17 2020SACRAMENTO California took legal action Friday to block the Trump administration’s plans to open federal lands in California to oil and gas drilling, including the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing. The federal lawsuit announced by state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra comes after President Trump’s administration announced details of its
MORE »Newsom Freezes New Fracking Permits in California, Courthouse News Service
Citing the need for enhanced studies on the environmental impacts caused by two popular oil and gas drilling techniques, California officials announced Tuesday the state is suspending new permits for fracking and high-pressure steam operations. Nick Cahill • November 19, 2019 SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) – Citing the need for enhanced studies on the environmental impacts
MORE »California Governor Cracks Down On Fracking, Requires Audits And Scientific Review, NPR
November 19, 20199:08 PM ET RICHARD GONZALES California Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed new regulations Tuesday on hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, and curbed steam-injected oil drilling in his state, extractive methods long opposed by environmentalists. Under the new initiatives: New permits for fracking will be subject to independent scientific review by experts at the Lawrence
MORE »Millions of Gallons Of Oily Water Have Surfaced In A Kern County Oil Field, And More Keeps Coming, Valley Public Radio, NPR for Central California
By Kerry Klein • Nov 15, 2019 Juan Flores remembers sitting in a meeting in July when his phone started blowing up. He’s a community organizer with the non-profit advocacy group Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment. “A fellow colleague in environmental justice work, he literally called me three times,” he says. Not wanting
MORE »Conservationists Sue to Block Federal Oil and Gas Leases in California, Courthouse News Service
Nick Cahill • October 30, 2019 (CN) – California environmental groups sued the Trump administration Wednesday to thwart plans to auction over 700,000 acres to the fossil fuel industry, calling the potential of new fracking operations a threat to the San Francisco Bay Area’s wildlife and aquifers. Filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and
MORE »California fines Chevron over Kern County oil leaks, LA Times ($)
By Associated PressBAKERSFIELD California regulators have fined Chevron $2.7 million for violations at a facility in Kern County where there have been multiple oil leaks. The Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources said Wednesday that Chevron illegally allowed uncontrolled oil releases at Cymric oil field. The seep out of the ground
MORE »