Foreign Oil Imports News

Exhaustive studies by The National Waterways Foundation (NWF), a center for research and learning where industry leaders address public policy issues related to America’s inland waterways system, conclude that inland waterways transport generates fewer emissions of particulate matter, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide than rail or truck on a per ton mile moved basis. But, it’s one thing to claim that metric, and another altogether to prove it to shippers and other freight stakeholders. The time to do that, says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is now. Since 2011, the EPA has fostered an initiative to protect…

The American Waterways Operators, a 350-member trade association representing the U.S. tugboat, towboat and barge industry, announced today that it joined the SmartWay Transport Partnership, an innovative collaboration between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and stakeholders in the transportation industry that provides a framework to assess and improve environmental and energy efficiency of goods movement within supply chains. Since 2004, nearly 3,000 partnering organizations have slashed their collective fuel costs by $16.8 billion…

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today held Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 233, which offered 20.7 million acres and attracted $102,351,712 in high bids for 53 tracts covering 301,006 acres on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore Texas. A total of 12 offshore energy companies submitted 61 bids. The Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale builds on the first two auctions in the current Five Year Program – a 39-million-acre Central Gulf offering held in March, which netted almost $1.2 billion high bids and a 20-million-acre Western Gulf offering held last November that netted nearly $134 million.

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau announced that BOEM will hold a lease sale tomorrow that will make nearly 21 million acres offshore Texas available for oil and natural gas exploration and development. BOEM estimates that Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 233 could lead to the production of up to 200 million barrels of oil and 938 billion cubic feet of natural gas. During tomorrow’s lease sale, BOEM will open 61 bids submitted by 12 companies on 53 offshore blocks. “Safe and responsible development of the Gulf of Mexico’s vital energy resources will continue to help power our nation and drive our economy…

As part of President Obama’s comprehensive plan to move our economy toward domestic clean energy sources and cut carbon pollution, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau has held the nation’s first-ever competitive lease sale for renewable energy in federal waters. The provisional winner of the lease sale, which auctioned two leases for a Wind Energy Area of 164,750 acres offshore Rhode Island and Massachusetts for wind energy development, is Deepwater Wind New England, LLC. When built, these areas could generate enough combined energy to power more than one million homes. “When you think about the enormous energy potential that Atlantic wind holds, this is a major milestone for our nation,” said Secretary Jewell.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) completed its required evaluation to ensure that the public receives fair market value for tracts leased as part of Central Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 227, which was held on March 20, 2013. After extensive economic analysis, BOEM has awarded 307 leases on tracts covering 1,648,831 acres to the successful high bidders who participated in the sale, which made 7,299 unleased blocks covering about 38.6 million acres available offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The accepted high bids are valued at $1,199,052,037. The terms of Sale 227 continued a range of incentives to encourage diligent development and ensure a fair return to taxpayers — including an increased minimum bid for deepwater tracts…

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand domestic energy production, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau announced that Interior will offer more than 21 million acres offshore Texas for oil and gas exploration and development in a lease sale that will include all available unleased areas in the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. Proposed Lease Sale 233, scheduled to take place in New Orleans in August, will be the third offshore auction under the Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 (Five Year Program).

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management released a Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for proposed oil and gas Lease Sales 233 and 231, the third and fourth sales scheduled in the current 2012-2017 five-year program. As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, domestic oil and gas production has grown each year the President has been in office, with domestic oil production currently higher than any time in two decades and natural gas production at its highest level ever. Renewable electricity generation from wind, solar, and geothermal sources has doubled and foreign oil imports now account for less than 40% of the oil consumed in America – the lowest level since 1988.

As part of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s (BSEE) commitment to promoting offshore safety at all levels, at all times, Director Jim Watson has announced another step in a series of efforts to further identify, address and manage operational safety hazards and impacts, with the goal of enhancing both human safety and environmental protection on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. This step is also in line with the Administration’s focus on expanding safe and responsible development of our oil and gas resources…

Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale Yields $133.8 Million in High Bids on Over 652,520 Acres, Only Latest in a Series of Recent Major Offshore Oil and Gas Sales. As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today held Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 229, which offered over 20 millions acres and attracted $133,767,074 in high bids for 116 tracts covering 652,522 acres on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore Texas. A total of 13 offshore energy companies submitted 131 bids.

Public Hearings Scheduled to provide opportunities for public input. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has completed a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), providing updated environmental and socioeconomic analysis to support two proposed lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico. Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 233 is tentatively scheduled for 2013 in the Western Planning Area (WPA), offshore Texas; and Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 231 is scheduled for 2014 in the Central Planning Area (CPA), offshore the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. BOEM will hold public hearings to provide an opportunity for interested citizens and organizations to comment on the environmental impact statement. Comments will be used to prepare the final SEIS.

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau released the final details for an oil and gas lease sale that will offer more than 20 million acres offshore and will make available all unleased areas in the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 229, which will be held on November 28, 2012, in New Orleans, will build on two major Gulf of Mexico lease sales in the past year—a 21 million acre sale held last December and a 39 million acre sale held in June—and supports the Administration’s goal of continuing to increase domestic oil and gas production…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in conjunction with the Coalition for Responsible Transportation and the Environmental Defense Fund, is launching a new initiative to protect public health and the environment and promote sustainable economic growth by reducing pollution from thousands of short-haul trucks that service the nation’s ports. The new EPA SmartWay initiative will green the nation’s supply chain by reducing harmful diesel emissions from dray trucks – large diesel trucks that are widely used in port facilities to haul freight from cargo ships to nearby local distribution points. “U.S. ports generate jobs and are critical to our nation’s economy,” said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.

Santa Maria Shipowning & Trading, based in Santa Rosa, California, is looking to purchase or lease a 15 or more acre industrial site with 600 feet of waterfront property and a minimum shoreline depth of 15 feet. The site will be used to build and launch a fleet of fuel-efficient, ocean-going container ships as part of the proposed Marine Highway Initiative (MHI) that will remove 20,000 daily truckloads off U.S. highways, transferring the cargo onto 66 new American-built ships. The proposal also calls for cargo-handling financing for new ports and terminals as well as creating 2,000 jobs for mariners. The site must be located within the Continental United States, Alaska or Hawaii and be available for immediate use for steel fabrication and ship construction.

The incoming Bush administration warned on Friday that an oil production cut by OPEC next week would lead to higher energy prices for U.S. consumers. OPEC members will gather Jan. 17 in Vienna, where they are expected to agree to a roughly 1.5 million barrel-per-day reduction in the cartel's oil production levels. "Anything that lessens (oil) supply at a time of high demand means higher prices for American consumers," a Bush transition spokesman said. President-elect George Bush has made increasing domestic oil production a top priority. U.S. oil output is at its lowest level in half a century and foreign oil imports account for about 55 percent of domestic petroleum supplies. Low petroleum supplies have led to high prices for crude oil, gasoline and heating oil.

The White House is confident its plans to open an Alaskan wildlife refuge to oil and natural gas production will win approval in the Senate in September, an administration official said on Wednesday. The area in question, a remote area in northeast Alaska called the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), is ground zero for President George W. Bush's energy package to boost domestic production and wean Americans from some of their dependence on foreign oil imports. "This administration is confident that it can move this package in its entirety," Karen Knutson, deputy director of Vice President Dick Cheney's national energy policy taskforce, said at a panel hosted by a conservative think-tank.