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Ayesha Rascoe News

03 Mar 2017

Speaking at Newport News, Trump Calls for Navy Buildup

Image: Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations, Mike Petters, HII president and CEO and President Donald Trump touring Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)  (CREDIT: HII)

President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants a U.S. military buildup of more ships and planes to "project American power in distant lands," making his case for a proposed $54 billion increase in defense spending that has U.S. lawmakers squabbling. Wearing an olive military jacket and hat aboard a new aircraft carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, in Newport News, Virginia, Trump said he wanted the U.S. military to have the finest equipment in the world. Trump this week proposed a $54 billion increase over last year in defense spending…

26 Aug 2016

White House: Iranian Ships' Actions in Gulf Increase Risk of Miscalculation

Actions by Iranian vessels in several encounters with U.S. warships in the Gulf this week are cause for concern and increase risks of miscalculation, the White House said on Friday.   The intentions of the Iranian vessels in the incidents is not clear, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a news briefing, but the behavior is unacceptable and "in a compressed space like the Strait of Hormuz it increases the risk associated with possible miscalculations."   (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Writing by Mohammad Zargham)

10 Nov 2014

Senate Panel Ponders Expedited LNG Export Reviews

Senator John Hoeven

U.S. lawmakers on the Senate Energy Committee will vote on a bill this week aimed at speeding up the Department of Energy's review of liquefied natural gas export applications. The panel will weigh a bill introduced by Senator John Hoeven, Republican of North Dakota, over the summer that would require the DOE to issue a decision on gas export projects within 45 days after companies have filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. While the bill may be able to pass the committee…

29 Oct 2014

US Natgas Exports Would Raise Energy Prices but Boost Economy

Expanded U.S. liquefied natural gas exports would mean a modest price increase for domestic consumers, but the higher costs would be offset by a boost to the economy, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Residential natural gas prices would likely be 5 percent higher than otherwise would be the case between 2015 and 2040 if U.S. LNG exports rose to 20 billion cubic feet per day, said the EIA report. Growth of LNG exports would be supported mainly by more shale gas production, according to the report, which was commissioned by the U.S. Energy Department. "Increased energy production spurs investment, which more than offsets the adverse impact of somewhat higher energy prices," the EIA said.

08 Oct 2014

Cheniere's LNG Export Project Clears Enviro Hurdle

Cheniere's Corpus Christi, Texas liquefied natural gas export project will not significantly affect the environment, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said in a report on Wednesday. With a favorable environmental review, the project will likely receive a construction license from FERC near the end of the year. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)

10 Sep 2014

US Shippers Seek Role in LNG, Oil Exports

Congressman Hunter

The U.S. government should ensure that international trade of U.S. natural gas, and potentially crude oil, will offer opportunities for the domestic shipping industry, maritime groups said on Wednesday. Booming shale gas production has put the United States on track to become a major exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the next few years. While it would take time for U.S. shipyards to scale up to produce to the vessels needed to transport LNG overseas, shipping industry…

10 Sep 2014

US Approves LNG Exports from Sempra, Carib Energy Projects

The U.S. Energy Department on Wednesday approved liquefied natural gas exports from two projects, as lawmakers pressed the administration to move quickly to clear a backlog of applications to ship gas abroad. Sempra Energy's Cameron LNG facility in Louisiana and Carib Energy's small-scale export project in Florida are the first projects to receive final permits from the department to export gas to non-free-trade-agreement countries since Cheniere's Sabine Pass project was approved in 2012. Until now Sabine Pass was the only project fully permitted at the federal level. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted the $10 billion Cameron project a construction license in June after it was issued a conditional export permit by the Energy Department earlier in the year.

18 Aug 2014

US to Release Reports on Crude Oil Export Issues

The U.S. Energy Information Administration plans to release two reports in September examining some of the issues surrounding a potential end to the nation's decades-old ban on most crude oil exports, the EIA's chief said on Monday. Some lawmakers have pressed the EIA, the statistical arm of the Department of Energy, to provide analysis on the implications of relaxing or abolishing the ban, as debate over the future of the moratorium has intensified. The EIA's upcoming reports will focus on the impact to U.S. gasoline prices at the pump from changing domestic and global oil markets, and on the costs of building different types of crude oil refining units in the United States.

14 Aug 2014

US Finalizes Overhaul of Natural Gas Export Reviews

The U.S. Energy Department has finalized a plan to revamp its process for approving liquefied natural gas exports, and as originally proposed the changes eliminate conditional approvals for LNG projects. Beginning Thursday, the department will only issue final rulings on whether exports are in the public interest after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or another authorized agency, has completed an environmental review of the project. The move will likely shift focus from the Energy Department, which has been criticized for moving too slowly, to the more costly FERC process, which assesses the safety and environmental impacts of LNG export facilities.

07 Aug 2014

US Should Lift Crude Oil Export Ban - Washington Post

The United States should lift its nearly four-decade ban on crude oil exports to help encourage domestic production, the Washington Post said in an editorial on Thursday. Booming shale oil production has led to an intense debate over the moratorium, which was imposed by Congress in 1975 in the wake of the Arab oil embargo. Allowing crude oil exports would help address a mismatch between rising light crude output from U.S. shale formations and Gulf Coast refineries better suited to handle heavy crude, the Post argued in an editorial. "The export ban was a desperate ploy in the 1970s to control commodities markets amid spikes in oil prices induced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries," the newspaper said. Earlier this summer, the U.S.

31 Jul 2014

FERC Approves Freeport LNG Export Project

U.S. federal regulators on Wednesday approved construction of Freeport LNG Development LP's liquefied natural gas export project in Texas. Freeport is the third U.S. LNG export project to get the green light to begin construction from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The planned project would have the capacity to export up to 1.8 billion cubic feet a day of LNG once operational. With domestic gas production booming, U.S. companies have lined up to ship the nation's abundant shale gas abroad. FERC approved construction of Sempra Energy's Cameron LNG export terminal in Louisiana last month. Companies need approval from both the Energy Department…

18 Jul 2014

US Approves Plan to Open Atlantic to Oil Reserve Surveys

The Obama administration on Friday approved a plan that would allow companies to assess oil resources off the Atlantic Coast, angering environmental groups that worried the plan will harm marine life and open the door to offshore drilling. First outlined by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in February, the plan lays out the mitigation measures companies would be required to undertake before conducting seismic testing to gauge the oil reserves in the Atlantic Ocean. "We are taking every step we think is reasonable to take to try and put those protections in place, while still allowing surveys to occur," Acting BOEM Director Walter Cruickshank said on a press call.

25 Jun 2014

US Bill Passed to Speed up LNG Export Decisions

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved legislation that would set a deadline for Energy Department reviews of liquefied natural gas export applications, in a move aimed at securing swifter approvals for shipping gas overseas. The legislation, mostly backed by Republicans, would require the department to issue a decision 30 days after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has completed its environmental analysis of an LNG export project. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by James Dalgleish)

19 Jun 2014

US FERC Approves Sempra LNG Export Project

U.S. regulators on Thursday approved Sempra Energy's bid to build a liquefied natural gas export terminal in Louisiana, opening the door to a significant expansion of the American role in global gas trade. Sempra's Cameron LNG facility was the second gas export project to get the green light to begin construction from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the first since 2012, when FERC permitted Cheniere's Sabine Pass project. With the FERC approval in hand, Cameron will likely soon receive its final permit from the Energy Department allowing the facility to export gas to all countries, which would make it the only project outside of Sabine Pass fully licensed at the federal level.

29 May 2014

Overhaul Of U.S. Natural Gas Export Review Process

The Obama administration on Thursday announced a major overhaul of its review process for U.S. liquefied natural gas exports, a change that would benefit companies with strong financial backing for their projects. Under the proposal, the Department of Energy would no longer issue conditional approvals of projects. Instead, the department would decide whether an LNG export project is in the national interest only after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or another agency, had issued a final environmental review. The action would shift emphasis from the department's conditional approval, placing the onus on FERC. The department said that by waiting until the environmental review is completed…

28 May 2014

U.S. Energy Panel Plans More Oversight Of Gasoline Reserve

U.S. House Republicans will continue delving into the Obama administration's creation of an emergency gasoline reserve in the Northeast, after a briefing by the Department of Energy failed to quell concerns about the stockpile, a committee aide said on Tuesday. Senior members of the House Energy Committee asked for the briefing after the DOE earlier this year held the first test sale of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) since 1990, and later announced plans to create a million-barrel gasoline reserve in the Northeast. The briefing was held on Friday, but the energy panel "continues to have questions about the current and future status of the SPR," a committee aide said. The aide requested anonymity in discussing a briefing that was not open to the public.

15 May 2014

Dominion LNG Export Project Earns Positive Environmental Review

Dominion Resources' bid to export liquefied natural gas from the coast of Maryland cleared a critical hurdle on Thursday after it received a favorable environmental review from federal regulators. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's review of Dominion's Cove Point found that the project would not have a significant impact on the environment. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe)

02 May 2014

US Senate Democrats Press For Speedier LNG Export Permits

The Obama administration must speed up approvals of liquefied natural gas exports to help boost global supplies and help U.S. allies, five Senate Democrats said on Friday. The lawmakers, all from natural gas-producing states, urged the Energy Department to place additional weight on national security matters in its review of LNG export applications. The Democrats said they wanted to show the White House that there is significant Democratic support for speeding up gas exports, even though Republicans typically lead the chorus. "Our allies have emphasized that a strong market signal from the United States that it is a willing future supplier of LNG…

16 Apr 2014

US: $4B in Loan Aid for Renewable Energy

Are increased use of offshore wind farms in the future for the U.S.?

The U.S. Energy Department on Wednesday unveiled a plan for up to $4 billion in loan aid for renewable energy companies to help rejuvenate a program that faced harsh political attacks over past failures of federally subsidized projects. The Obama administration's draft plan would provide loan guarantees for innovative projects that limit or avoid greenhouse gas emissions. It will specifically focus on advanced electric grid technology and storage, biofuels for conventional vehicles, energy from waste products and energy efficiency.

14 Apr 2014

US Renews ConocoPhillips' Permit for Alaska LNG Export

Photo courtesy ConocoPhillips

The U.S. Energy Department on Monday renewed ConocoPhillips' permit allowing the company to export liquefied natural gas from Kenai, Alaska to all countries. The approval was expected. The U.S. government has allowed LNG exports from Alaska's Kenai terminal for the past 47 years. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe)

12 Mar 2014

US to Hold Test Sale from Emergency Crude Oil Reserve

Reuters  - The U.S. Energy Department said on Wednesday it would conduct a test drawdown and sale of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The department will offer up to five million barrels of sour crude oil for sale, with bids due by March 14. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe and Timothy Gardner)

09 Apr 2014

U.S. House Bill Approving LNG Exports

A U.S. House subcommittee voted on Wednesday to advance a bill that would eliminate the need for government approval of U.S. liquefied natural gas exports to countries that belong to the World Trade Organization.   The legislation, which will be considered by the full House energy committee, would essentially end the Energy Department's review of LNG export applications. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

09 Apr 2014

US LNG Export Bill Clears Hurdle

A U.S. House subcommittee voted on Wednesday to advance a bill that would eliminate the need for government approval of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to countries that belong to the World Trade Organization. The legislation, which will be considered by the full House energy committee, would essentially end the Energy Department's review of LNG export applications by giving companies permission to sell gas to any of the more than 159 countries that belong to the WTO. The bill passed by a vote of 15 to 11, along party lines in the Republican-led chamber. Concerns about energy security in Europe and Ukraine have escalated since Russian forces seized control of the Crimean peninsula last month. Moscow has in years past cut gas supplies during regional disputes.