Energy Department News

Carbon dioxide emissions from U.S. liquefied natural gas facilities have jumped to 18 million tons per year, up 81% since 2019, adding a volume of greenhouse gas to the atmosphere equivalent to that produced by several big coal plants, according to United States government data.They could more than double to 45 million tons per year by the end of the decade as new facilities, encouraged by soaring overseas demand for the super-cooled fuel, come online, according to company projections provided to the U.S.

Political pressure is building within the European Union to tackle the daunting challenge of closing a loophole in its efforts to stop using Russian fossil fuels: liquefied natural gas (LNG).In the year since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the EU has placed sanctions on seaborne oil and coal imports from Russia.It has drastically cut reliance on Russian pipeline gas, despite not imposing sanctions on the fuel. But at the same time, EU countries have increased their overall purchases of Russian LNG…

Canada and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are among the first countries to back a new initiative aiming to advance the production, export and import of low-carbon fuels for shipping.The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), along with the CEO-led Clean Energy Maritime Taskforce, unveiled the ‘Clean Energy Marine Hubs Initiative’ on Friday at the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) in Pittsburgh. The Initiative will be a convening platform for public and private senior-level stakeholders from the ports…

The Biden administration on Thursday unveiled a plan to accelerate development of next-generation floating offshore wind farms by slashing the cost of the technology by 70% and setting a goal for it to power 5 million U.S. homes by 2035.The announcement was the latest in the White House's push to bolster the nation's fledgling offshore wind industry as part of its climate-change agenda.Wind turbines that float on the ocean's surface are an emerging technology necessary for projects off the coasts of California…

A tanker of U.S. sour crude was delivered at Germany's port of Rostock last week for the first time ever, according to sources, analysts and vessel tracking data, as local refiners test alternatives to Russian oil.The European Union plans an almost-complete embargo of Russian barrels by year-end, and is trying to wean itself off Russian crude imports, which have fed inland refineries in Germany, Poland and other central European nations via pipeline.Refiners plan to replace Russian oil with seaborne Norwegian, Saudi Arabian, British and U.S. crude grades. Russia has already shown through its natural gas exports that it is willing to cut off European destinations in a tit-for-tat over the EU's financial sanctions that followed Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February.

The U.S. Department of Energy intends to commit $2.25 billion for projects to store carbon dioxide underground and help fight climate change, it said on Thursday.The funding for carbon storage validation and testing over the next five years will come from the bipartisan infrastructure bill signed by President Joe Biden last year."The goal here is that at the end of the day, you do actually have commercially available facilities for storage," said Emily Grubert, deputy assistant…

U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell about 8% last month, according to preliminary Refinitiv vessel tracking data on Monday, but Europe remained the top importer as the continent secures alternate supply following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.U.S. LNG exports to all destinations came to about 7.10 million tonnes (MT) last month, according to Refinitiv, down from a record high 7.67 MT in March.Europe was the top importer of U.S. LNG for a fifth straight month, taking about 64% of U.S. exports, according to the data.

Flex LNG announced on Friday that Cheniere has declared it option to employ a fifth liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier under a time charter deal announced in April 2021. Flex Aurora will commence a 3.5-year time charter during third quarter of 2022.Earlier this month the U.S. Energy Department authorized additional LNG exports from Cheniere's Sabine Pass, La. and Corpus Christi, Texas terminals In addition, Cheniere and Flex LNG agreed that Flex Volunteer will be the fourth ship under the agreement and that this ship will be delivered to Cheniere mid-April 2022 rather than during third quarter of 2022 as originally agreed. The 3.5-year time charter has therefore been extended by about 2.5 months to facilitate early delivery.Last year…

Early White House efforts to boost U.S. liquefied natural gas exports and cut Europe's reliance on gas from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine are proceeding slowly, because of concerns about climate change impacts, government and industry sources said.The Ukraine crisis has underscored Europe's dependence on Russia, which supplies about 40% of its natural gas used to heat homes and generate electricity, and the Biden administration has promised its allies it will help break…

- Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Company (AG&P) said on Monday its Philippines subsidiary has received the green light to develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import and regasification terminal in Batangas Bay, south of Manila.The firm, part owned by Osaka Gas and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, said the Philippines' energy department has issued it a notice to proceed to develop the terminal, known as Philippines LNG, which will provide the fuel to power plant, industrial…

The U.S. Department of Energy on Thursday issued a rule to exclude environmental reviews for marine transport of liquefied natural gas (LNG), as the Trump administration unleashes last minute rules supporting the fossil fuel industry.The rule, which the Energy Department issued in a pre-publication notice in the Federal Register, frees LNG transport license applications from including environmental reviews that have been required under a bedrock environmental law, the National…

The United States has increased oil supply to Europe in July for the first month since May, making up for output cuts from OPEC+ members, according to traders and Refinitiv Eikon data.U.S. crude supply to Europe reached nearly 31 million barrels in July, according to Refinitiv Eikon data as of July 24. With crude prices back above $40 a barrel, U.S. producers have rushed to claim market share while the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, is still cutting supply drastically.U.S.

The U.S. Energy Department on Monday approved the export of up to 1 billion cubic feet per day of liquefied natural gas from a proposed terminal in Oregon, a move it said would ease U.S. sales of the fuel to Asian markets.The approval advances efforts by President Donald Trump's administration to increase U.S. fossil fuel shipments around the globe at a time big projects are increasingly under strain from environmental protests and lawsuits.“Today’s export authorization for Jordan Cove, the first U.S West Coast LNG project, will ease access to further position the U.S.

The minimal impact on oil prices from a global deal for record output cuts showed that oil producers have a mountain to climb if they are to restore market balance as the coronavirus shreds demand and sends stockpiles soaring, industry watchers said.After several days of discussions, oil producing and consuming countries aim to remove nearly 20 million barrels per day (bpd) or 20% of global supply from the market, Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Monday.The oil market has barely shrugged, however: Brent crude gained 1.5% on Monday, while U.S. crude ended the day lower. The move underscores what both…

Luxembourg-based maritime construction engineering company Jan De Nul announced its decision to opt for 100% renewable fuels."Jan De Nul Group carries out dredging work in the Benelux with 100% renewable fuel. With this, the world player is further committing itself to immediately and considerably reducing its CO₂ emissions," said a release.Trailing suction hopper dredger Alexander von Humboldt will from now on sail on renewable biofuel from certified and sustainable waste streams.The choice of 100% renewable fuel is part of the ambitious CO₂ reduction objectives of the Jan De Nul Group. In this context, Jan De Nul also wants to collaborate…

Jan De Nul Group carries out dredging work in the Benelux with 100% renewable fuel. With this, the world player is further committing itself to immediately and considerably reducing its CO₂ emissions. Trailing suction hopper dredger Alexander von Humboldt will from now on sail on renewable biofuel from certified and sustainable waste streams.The choice of 100% renewable fuel is part of the ambitious CO₂ reduction objectives of the Jan De Nul Group. In this context, Jan De Nul…

Oil prices settled 2.2% higher on Thursday after attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman stoked concerns of reduced crude trade flows through one of the world's key shipping routes.The attacks near Iran and the Strait of Hormuz reignited worries about an impact to flows from the Middle East if insurance companies begin to reduce coverage for voyages through the region and additional shipping companies suspend new bookings, analysts said.Such a disruption "could further exacerbate the supply problem…

Exxon Mobil Corp expects high-sulfur fuel oil demand to fall 25 percent by 2025, as a new set of emission regulations from the International Maritime Organization capping sulfur content in shipping fuel at 0.5% kicks in in 2020, a top-level official at the U.S. oil and gas company said on Monday.The International Energy Agency has forecast high-sulfur fuel oil demand to fall 60 percent next year, while marine gas oil demand to more than double.Exxon's forecast comes as its refining business is struggling to find enough heavy crude to make fuel oil and other distillates, in the face of U.S.

The United States last week exported more crude oil and fuel than it imported for the first time on record, underscoring the nation's growing influence as a supplier of oil to the world.Exports of crude surged in the week to Nov. 30 to more than 3.2 million barrels per day, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Thursday.When adding in all imports and exports of crude and refined products, for the week the U.S. exported a net 211,000 bpd – the first time that has happened, according to U.S.

In an address to Western Dredging Association (WEDA) stakeholders, William P. Doyle, CEO & Executive Director Dredging Contractors of America told his audience: It all starts with dredging. Good Morning, and thank you for inviting me here today to open-up the conference. This is my first time addressing the Western Dredging Association (WEDA), and I am honored to be here. It all starts with dredging, and President Donald J. Trump is backing it up with critical legislative measures. As I will address later in my remarks– the U.S. dredging companies are truly American companies, spending billions of dollars building all of our ships in American shipyards and staffing our ships with American officers a crew.

SEA\LNG, the multi-sector industry coalition aiming to accelerate the widespread adoption of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel, today announced that it has welcomed Exeno Yamamizu Corporation (Yamamizu) & Fearnleys AS as the first shipbroking companies to join its membership coalition. The coalition whose membership currently stands at 33 organisations, is committed to uniting knowledge and expertise from across the LNG value chain, including shipping companies, ports, major LNG suppliers, classification societies, downstream companies, infrastructure providers, shipyards, financial institutions, OEMs, and most recently shipbrokers.

Beijing surprised oil markets with threats to levy tariffs on imports of U.S. crude oil, natural gas and other energy products on Friday, just as China has risen to the top of the list of importers of oil from the United States.China responded to $50 billion in tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump with a similar amount of levies on a variety of U.S. goods. But China also said it would impose tariffs on U.S. energy products, which analysts considered a surprise as previous tariff threats had centered on agricultural goods and automobiles."This is a big deal.

Imagine a settlement over falsifying emission levels in another transportation sector dropping money onto your deck. Who knew? But it’s true. The $2.9 billion settlement fund Volkswagen agreed to capitalize for distribution across all 50 states, tribal lands and Puerto Rico, as a result of “dieselgate,” its criminal dodging of required auto emission levels, presents an unparalleled opportunity to maritime companies that want to move their noxious diesel engines up a couple of EPA notches, and stick someone else with close to half the bill or more.