LNG Trailblazer Eisbrenner Dies at 58
Kathleen M. Eisbrenner, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry pioneer and Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors at US based LNG development company NextDecade Corporation, has passed away at the age of 58.Eisbrenner enjoyed a remarkable career, and was widely viewed as one of the foremost female executives in the global LNG industry. She founded NextDecade in 2010 and led the company to its listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market in July 2017. She served jointly as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer until February 2018…
US Coal Firms Plead for West Coast Export Terminals
The ailing U.S. coal industry is ramping up its political and legal offensive to win approval for West Coast export terminals that could provide a lifeline to lucrative Asia markets. Coal producers filed two recent lawsuits against governments in Washington state and California challenging local decisions to block port projects on environmental grounds. The industry is also lobbying the Trump administration to override the local bans. The fight reflects the sector’s desperation to boost exports as U.S.
Op-Ed: Alaska's Golden Offshore Opportunity
Offshore energy presents a golden opportunity for Alaska and the United States. As we enter the final quarter of the year, one of the last and most pressing pieces of business facing the Interior Department is to finalize its next offshore leasing program, which will specify exactly which parts of the United States’ Outer Continental Shelf will be open to oil and gas development between 2017 and 2022. Having already cut the Atlantic from its proposed program back in March, the…
NOIA Commends Shell’s Efforts Offshore Alaska
“NOIA commends Shell’s efforts in the Chukchi Sea and recognizes the great expense of this endeavor. Their ability to drill without incident this season demonstrates that the Arctic can be safely explored. Shell’s multi-year campaign shows their commitment to providing domestic oil and natural gas to the U.S. and willingness to invest in U.S. jobs. “It is disappointing on a number of fronts that due to a variety of factors, including regulatory constraints and cost issues, Shell has decided to halt their offshore drilling campaign in Alaska. First, the U.S. will lack energy source diversification for the foreseeable future since low oil prices and high drilling costs in the Arctic will likely impact future exploration activity in the Alaskan OCS.
How Do You Lose 100 Million Barrels of Oil?
Oil-market watchers are struggling to reconcile the large estimated oversupply in the market with the much smaller buildup of reported inventories and narrowing contango in futures prices. Some blame the barrel counters who compile official statistics on supply, demand and stocks. But the truth is that information on the world oil market is incomplete and it is easy for hundreds of millions of barrels of oil to disappear from the supply chain without being counted. According to the three main statistical agencies, the global market has been oversupplied by between 1.5 million and 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) since the start of the year. Stockpiles should have increased by between 200 million and 350 million barrels, according to the International Energy Agency, OPEC and the U.S.
USA Urged Not to Delay Arctic Drilling
The U.S. should immediately begin a push to exploit its enormous trove of oil in the Arctic waters off of Alaska, or risk a renewed reliance on imported oil in the future, reports AP. The US Arctic potentially contains enough oil and gas to allow it to be a significant contributor to the country’s future energy needs, filling the hole left by expected declines in production of shale and other domestic sources of oil. The U.S. has drastically cut imports and transformed itself into the world’s biggest producer of oil and natural gas by tapping huge reserves in shale rock formations. But the government predicts that the shale boom won’t last much beyond the next decade. A U.S. Energy Department advisory council study released Friday says that in order for the U.S.
Natural Gas Economy Declining
On the brink of the 21st century, a group of energy experts peered into the future of natural gas, and what they saw was quite promising. To satisfy growing demand, producers could crank out a third more natural gas over the next decade at "competitive prices." It could power the economy for decades to come. Or so said the National Petroleum Council in its 1999 report. But natural gas prices soon headed skyward, with prices charged by producers spiking late last year at nearly five times 1999 levels. This past winter, though starting off warm, saw the average gas-heating household spend a record $867, a 17 percent increase, according to federal data. As for that predicted robust supply, the country's annual gas output has strangely slipped by 3 percent over the past six years.
