Trump Administration News

The Biden administration said it would not renew a license set to expire early on Thursday that had broadly eased Venezuela oil sanctions, moving to reimpose punitive measures in response to President Nicolas Maduro’s failure to meet his election commitments.Just hours before the deadline, the U.S. Treasury Department announced on its website that it had issued a replacement license giving companies 45 days to “wind down” their business and transactions in the OPEC country's oil…

U.S. President Joe Biden hoped to present a firm international response to Yemen's Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping by launching a new maritime force, but a week after its launch many allies don't want to be associated with it, publicly, or at all.Two of America's European allies who were listed as contributors to Operation Prosperity Guardian - Italy and Spain - issued statements appearing to distance themselves from the maritime force.The Pentagon says the force is a defensive…

Canceled offshore wind projects, imperiled solar factories, and fading demand for electric vehiclesA year after the passage of the largest climate change legislation in U.S. history, meant to touch off a boom in American clean energy development, economic realities are fraying President Joe Biden’s agenda.Soaring financing and materials costs, unreliable supply chains, delayed rulemaking in Washington and sluggish permitting have wrought havoc ranging from offshore wind developer Orsted’s project cancellations in the U.S.

The United States is reviewing "potential terrorist designations" for Yemen's Houthi rebel group in response to its seizure of a cargo ship, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday.Kirby's comment was significant because one of the Biden administration's first acts after taking office in January 2021 was revoking terrorist designations of the Houthis over fears the sanctions they carried could worsen Yemen's humanitarian crisis.The Iran-backed Houthis…

U.S. Department of Energy reviews for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export permits have lengthened under President Joe Biden's administration to 11 months or more, from seven weeks, according to government data.The delay could mean nearly completed LNG projects may not being able to supply big European buyers because of a lack of the permit. Increasing LNG exports is opposed by some U.S. industries who fear it could raise domestic prices, while environmental groups have raised concerns about continued expansion of a fossil fuel industry.Big swaths of U.S.

The Biden administration's plan to slash offshore oil and gas leasing drew fire from both the fossil fuel industry and environmentalists on Friday, with energy companies saying it will raise fuel prices and greens saying it undermines efforts to stop global warming. The criticism from both sides reflects the difficulty Biden's White House has had in dealing with U.S. oil extraction policies, as it seeks to balance national energy security with the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions to fight climate change.

The Biden administration on Friday unveiled a plan to phase down oil and gas auctions in federal waters with the release of a long-awaited leasing schedule that includes a maximum of three sales in the Gulf of Mexico through 2029.The Interior Department's plan includes by far the lowest number of sales since the agency began producing Congressionally-mandated five-year oil and gas leasing schedules in 1980. Previous programs have ranged between 11 and 41 sales, according to Interior's U.S.

The Biden administration's five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing will not include any sales in 2024 and will feature the lowest number of auctions in the history of the program in the four years to follow, according to three sources familiar with the matter.The schedule for leasing in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska for 2024-2028 is due on Friday following several delays and months of battling between environmentalists and drilling advocates over what the policy should…

Iranian oil exports hit new highs in the last two months of 2022 and are making a strong start to 2023 despite U.S. sanctions, according to companies that track the flows, on higher shipments to China and Venezuela.Tehran's oil exports have been limited since former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018 exited a 2015 nuclear accord and reimposed sanctions aimed at curbing oil exports and the associated revenue to Iran's government.Exports have risen during the term of his successor President Joe Biden, who had sought to revive the nuclear deal, and hit the highest since 2019 on some estimates.

Norwegian Cruise Line must pay $110 million in damages for use of a port that Cuba's government confiscated in 1960, a U.S. judge ruled on Friday, a milestone for Cuban-Americans seeking compensation for Cold-War era asset seizures.The decision by U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom in Miami follows her March ruling that the use of the Havana Cruise Port Terminal constituted trafficking in confiscated property owned by the plaintiff, Delaware-registered Havana Docks Corp."Judgment is entered in favor of Plaintiff Havana Docks Corporation and against Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings…

The Biden administration on Monday proposed offshore drilling safety measures that it said would help prevent oil spills and protect workers and the environment.The proposal aims to restore safety provisions put in place by the Obama administration in 2016 following the fatal 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon spill, the worst in United States history.The Trump administration had revised the rules in 2019 to reduce what the oil and gas industry said was a financial burden.The Interior Department…

President Joe Biden's administration on Friday unveiled a five-year proposal for offshore oil and gas development in areas of existing production, and said the final plan may have anywhere from zero to 11 lease sales.The range of options, between two auctions a year and none at all, sought to balance the administration's efforts to fight climate change with its calls to increase oil and gas supplies in the face of soaring fuel prices.The proposed plan includes no more than 10 possible sales in the Gulf of Mexico and one in the Cook Inlet off the coast of Alaska…

Iranian oil exports have risen to more than 1 million barrels per day for the first time in almost three years, based on estimates from companies that track the flows, reflecting increased shipments to China.Tehran's oil exports have been limited since former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018 exited a 2015 nuclear accord and reimposed sanctions aimed at curbing oil exports and the associated revenue to Iran's government.Iran has kept some exports flowing despite sanctions as intermediaries find ways to disguise the origin of the imports.

The U.S. trade deficit surged to a record high in 2021 as imports increased sharply amid the restocking of shelves by businesses to meet robust domestic demand.The sharp widening in the trade gap reported by the Commerce Department on Tuesday mostly reflected a shift in spending towards goods from services during the COVID-19 pandemic. With businesses eager to rebuild depleted inventories against the backdrop of stretched global supply chains, the deficit is unlikely to shrink much this year…

U.S. officials have told members of Congress they have an understanding with Germany about shutting down the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline if Russia invades Ukraine, a senior congressional aide told Reuters on Tuesday.The White House said Germany had made commitments about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that runs from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea in the event of aggressive acts by Russia.U.S. President Joe Biden told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday the West…

The Biden administration's auction of oil drilling rights in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico generated more than $190 million in high bids, bringing in more money for taxpayers than any government offshore lease sale since early 2019.The Department of Interior auction came days after the U.S. joined a global agreement that for the first time asked governments to accelerate emissions cuts by phasing down coal and fossil fuel subsidies.It was the first auction under President Joe Biden, whose administration paused drilling sales under a promise to end development on federal properties.

The Biden administration on Wednesday will auction oil drilling rights to 80 million acres in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico days after joining a global agreement that for the first time targeted fossil fuels as the main driver of global warming.The sale by the Department of Interior will be the first under President Joe Biden, whose administration paused drilling sales under a promise to end development on federal properties. But Biden lost a court fight to oil-producing states that…

The Biden administration has announced ambitious plans to scale up leasing for offshore wind energy projects along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts. In an announcement released on Oct. 13, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Interior stated that it will “use the best available science as well as knowledge from ocean users and other stakeholders to minimize conflict with existing uses and marine life.” University of Massachusetts Boston public policy scholar David W. Cash, who worked at senior levels in state government for a decade…

Democratic members of Congress from California seized on the oil spill off the state's coast to promote federal legislation to ban all offshore oil drilling, as investigators searched for what caused the pipeline to burst.About 3,000 barrels (126,000 gallons) of crude oil spilled into the Pacific Ocean, killing wildlife, soiling the coastline, and forcing officials to close beaches in several cities in Orange County, just south of Los Angeles. The spill follows dozens of incidents in the Gulf of Mexico following Hurricane Ida, which slammed into the U.S.

U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rick Scott (R-FL) introduced the American Shores Protection Act to codify the moratorium on oil and gas drilling off the coasts of Florida that was put in place by September 8, 2020, Executive Order by then-President Trump. Under the legislation, the moratorium would be in place for the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic until 2032.Congressman Michael Waltz (R-FL) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel failed on Thursday to settle their dispute over Russia's Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline but said they agreed that Moscow must not be allowed to use energy as a weapon to coerce its neighbors."Good friends can disagree," Biden told reporters after two meetings with Merkel at the White House, adding that both leaders had asked their teams to look at practical measures they could take together if Russia's actions posed a…

The U.S. government on Monday authorized shipments to Venezuela of liquefied petroleum gas, mainly used in the OPEC nation as cooking fuel and currently in short supply, causing people to burn large amounts of wood.The U.S. Treasury Department authorized through July 8, 2022, some exports and re-exports of the gas, known as LPG, to Venezuela that had not been permitted by executive orders in 2018 and 2019 during the Trump administration.The Office of Foreign Assets Control, part of the Treasury Department…

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has the power to stymie oil and gas development on government-controlled lands and waters, industry and environmental experts said, even though a court decision ended his freeze on federal drilling auctions.Some options, they said, include offering sparse acreage or imposing more time-consuming permitting requirements."We lived through the Obama administration, and they did a lot of things to constrain leasing and other activity on federal lands…