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Sen. Murkowski: Iran Oil Could Hurt U.S. Production if Prohibition on Exporting Domestic Crude Oil isn’t Lifted
Restrictions on U.S. Oil Trade Amount to “Domestic Sanctions”
 Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today drew attention to the potential impact that ending sanctions against Iran could have on U.S. production if the outdated prohibition on exporting domestic crude oil is not also lifted.
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Will Excessive Pride Hinder Governor Walker's Ability to Succeed?
by
Dave Harbour
On February 25, we expressed optimism that Alaska's new, "'All Alaska' governor has the insight, courage, wisdom and grace to be both humbled at the challenges he faces and capable enough to overcome them. We are also optimistic that Walker’s propensity to be flexible will enable him to reverse course if he sees the ship of state headed toward rocky shoals."
On February 28, our Daily Planet friend, Paul Jenkins wondered if Governor Walker is "crazy like a fox or crazy as a loon" when dealing with gas pipeline policy.
Journal of Commerce writer, Tim Bradner, on March 4, 2015, thought the Governor might be throwing a 'wrench in the works', of the AK-LNG project.
In our April 3, 2015 editorial, we expressed concern about, "Administration interference with the Ak-LNG project by even talking about government involvement in a competing project…."
* * *
At yesterday's 'press availability', a reporter asked the Governor to comment on legislative suggestions that he may be 'paranoid'. "I am not paranoid," he said.
Yet, during its due diligence stage, Walker has risked losing the most advanced, Alaska North Slope gas pipeline project in history by demonstrating he does not trust the project to guarantee commercialization of gas. To remedy that, he hopes to plow hundreds of millions in state monies into creating a competing gas transportation and marketing effort. He believes that if the major AK-LNG project fails because of marginal economics, the state should be able to advance the competing effort because it could accept a lower profit margin than the producers. (Astute observers, however, note that major Alaska producers are capable of financing a gas pipeline whereas Governor Walker does not have ready access to such financing.)
Yesterday's Senate Resources Committee hearing focused on the very dangerous effects of having the state create a gas pipeline project to compete with another gas pipeline project in which it is also invested. (We were embarrassed that East Anchorage Senator Bill Wielechowski tried to interrogate Legislative consultants on what the Legislature was paying them, etc…obviously attempting to divert the discussion from merits of proposed policies to irrelevant matters.)
Today, the Governor issued a news release commenting on his decision to withdraw his proclamation, calling on the Legislature to meet in joint session this morning to act on his appointees.
Walker appears to not trust the Legislature to do its job of voting on his appointments, fearing all the appointments could be made void should the session end this week without appointee confirmations.
Today's release below damns the Legislature by faint praise. It suggests that he was successful in forcing the Legislature to provide him with a guarantee they would meet and act.
He goes on to suggest that this guarantee will improve relations between the Legislature and himself, that now he
"trusts them". This is delusionary and prideful.
Then, late today (Friday), as we were completing this commentary, he vetoed the bill designed to keep him from using state resources to compete against the state's investment in the main gas pipeline project.
We believe that Alaska's new governor could be honest and well intentioned. That said, we also believe that, at best, he has a very sophomoric approach to professional relationships with high level public officials and corporate executives.
You don't ask sophisticated companies or elected officials to give you guarantees on matters that are best assured by simple, honest, effective communications and negotiated agreements.
Walker has established himself as a person who lacks the personal self confidence to communicate professionally and successfully with either Legislative or Corporate leaders.
Simply put, he is out of his league and Alaska will pay for his juvenile performance.
The two examples cited above demonstrate that Alaska could have a governor who may or may not be "crazy," nor has it been shown that his actions are free of paranoid motivations.
As we have often said, we wish Alaska's new governor well but now believe his unjustified sense of self pride may be a major factor in whether he will be a successful state governor.
-dh
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“If sanctions on Iran are lifted, Tehran will be able to make money by selling their oil to our friends and may use that money to destabilize our allies,” Murkowski said. “If we lift the current sanctions on Iran while keeping in place our own domestic sanctions on crude oil exports, America’s ability to increase its domestic energy security and that of our allies will suffer.”
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Adam Sieminski, administrator of the Energy Information Administration (EIA), testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday that sanction relief could result in as much as 1 million barrels a day of Iranian oil flooding the global market. Meanwhile, most U.S. oil production is blocked from competing on the world market by regulations leftover from the 1970s.
Murkowski, chairman of the energy committee, stressed the strategic benefits to the United States of rising domestic oil production, including providing flexibility in dealing with trouble spots such as Iran. “It doesn’t make sense that American producers are blocked by U.S. law from selling to the same markets that Iran could reach once the sanctions are lifted,” Murkowski said.
“It is important for us to recognize that if these sanctions on Iran are lifted and we in fact keep our own domestic sanctions in place it effectively ends up being a liability for us,” Murkowski said. “U.S. producers should be allowed to compete directly with Iran in the global market.”
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EIA Administrator Sieminski said rising U.S. oil production – currently at 9.2 million barrels a day, its highest level since 1972 – has helped stabilize world markets and keep prices in check.
“The impact of U.S. production goes beyond just the Iranian sanctions issue,” Sieminski said. “Back in 2012 and 2013, there were some really serious interruptions in oil production in countries like Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Syria, and others. They add up to a huge amount of oil – over 2 million barrels a day, at one point approaching 3 million barrels a day. If it hadn’t been for the growth in shale production in the U.S. and production in a few other countries, including Canada, the price of oil would have been a lot higher. Obviously that would have been a benefit to producers but the overall impact on the economy could have been pretty devastating. The growth in production in the U.S. played an important role in stabilizing the global oil markets.”
Murkowski has long called for modernizing U.S. energy and trade policy to end the ban on crude oil exports. In March, she held a hearing looking at the economic and strategic benefits of ending the outdated export prohibition. Murkowski released a report last year on the need to liberalize America’s energy trade policies.
Chairman Murkowski opening statement is available on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee website. The EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook is available here.
The end of week Consumer Energy Alliance energy links:
The Wall Street Journal: Obama Administration Proposes New Offshore Drilling Rules
The Obama administration on Monday proposed new offshore oil and natural-gas drilling regulations aimed at preventing the kind of explosion that erupted nearly five years ago on BP PLC’s Deepwater Horizon rig, including provisions the industry has already adopted.
The Wall Street Journal: The Dirty Secret of Obama’s Carbon Plan
Americans don’t give much thought to whether their electricity will be there when they need it. You flip a switch, the lights go on. Your phone charges up. The medical equipment in the emergency room does its job. Yet electric reliability, long a bedrock of this country’s prosperity and high standard of living, does not come as easily as its steady presence might suggest.
CNBC: What shuttering coal plants means for energy jobs
With new environmental rules looming this week, coal-driven power plants are closing all over the United States, and jobs are going with them. Utilities have been shuttering plants almost since regulatory changes were announced back in December 2011, but the number of closures has spiked recently, and several more plants are scheduled to close in the next few years.
Reuters: U.S. shale oil output to fall in May, first drop in 4 years
Oil production from the fastest-growing U.S. shale plays is set to fall some 45,000 barrels per day to 4.98 million bpd in May from April, the first monthly decline in over four years, projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed on Monday.
CNBC: OPEC slams oil producers with 'go-it-alone' attitudes
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries published a stinging critique on Monday of oil-producing countries that had refused to follow its lead in holding back supply in an effort to boost prices.
The Washington Post: What environmentalists get wrong when they use the California drought to attack fracking
With the continual worsening of California’s drought, an odd argument — in some ways as much meme as argument — has arisen. It’s the notion that in the context of the drought, it’s important to cut back on the water used in industrial hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” operations in the state.
The Dallas Morning News: A new era for nuclear power?
For decades the U.S. nuclear power industry has stood at a virtual standstill, a victim of economics and fears over safety. But as President Barack Obama prepares to roll out new carbon emission regulations targeting the power industry, nuclear companies are hoping a new era is upon them.
MarketWatch: Natural-gas market is ready to rally
Winter demand for natural gas has ended, but the fuel’s prospects for a price rally are just beginning. The U.S. natural-gas market has seen enough supply over the past year to “greatly reduce” the large storage deficit that followed last year, but there has also been enough cold weather to keep storage levels slightly below the five-year average, Tim Evans, energy futures specialist at Citi Futures, said in a weekly report issuedMonday.
The Hill: States outpacing feds in safety regs for fracking
The Department of the Interior recently introduced a rule to regulate hydraulic fracturing on federal lands to much fanfare. Stating the need to update 30-year-old regulations, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell characterized Interior’s action as taking the lead and giving the states an example to follow.
The Hill: EPA blasts GOP’s bill to change climate rule
The top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee joined the Environmental Protection Agency Monday in criticizing the House GOP’s efforts to weaken the Obama administration’s climate rule for power plants.
Gallup: Americans Choose the Environment over Energy Development
About half of Americans (49%) say that protection of environment should be given priority, even at the risk of limiting the amount of energy supplies, virtually unchanged from their sentiment last year. Fewer than four in 10 (39%) prioritize the development of U.S. energy supplies even if the environment suffers to some extent.
E&E Publishing: Both sides ready arguments for case that could scotch EPA power plant rule
Energy companies and 15 predominantly Republican-led states will press federal judges this week to halt President Obama's greenhouse gas standards for power plants.
Forbes: Upstart Siluria Technologies Turns Shale Gas into Plastics and Gasoline
San Francisco-based startup Siluria Technologies has attracted $120 million in venture capital from the likes of Saudi Aramco on the promise that it has discovered a Holy Grail of the petrochemicals industry. Last month Siluria unveiled its new plant tucked in among dozens of giant petrochemical complexes on the Houston Ship Channel.
FuelFix: Oil firms may have to cut deeper than $126B, report says
The next round of oil-company earnings might show investors just how much firms still need to cut, even after executives stripped $126 billion from annual spending plans this year, a new report says.
FuelFix: As costs fall, companies may start completing wells again
Oil companies keeping thousands of barrels of crude off the market by drilling but not completing wells may soon start flooding the market again.
The Hill: Tribes say no to Keystone
Native Americans are pressuring the Obama administration to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, warning the project could infringe on their water rights, harm sacred land and violate America’s treaty obligations. Tribes sent more than 100 pages of letters to the Interior Department earlier this year raising concerns about the project, which would carry oil sands from Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast.
Billings Gazette: Safety is TransCanada's top pipeline priority
I am writing on behalf of TransCanada to address concerns over the Keystone XL pipeline plans raised in an article appearing on your website on April 5 titled "After two Montana breaks, scrutiny builds over federal pipeline regs". TransCanada has worked with PHMSA in planning Keystone XL, and has voluntarily agreed to 59 new safety procedures. Among these, river crossing precautions have been paramount.
Associated Press: Texas House set to vote on bill banning local fracking bans
The Texas Legislature is poised to take a major step toward wiping out a highly-publicized local ban on hydraulic fracturing approved by a college town near Dallas — and ensuring that other communities don't follow suit.
Durango Herald: Frackers average at least two violations a day
Fracking companies average more than 2½ violations a day, according to a study of just a small portion of the public record. The Natural Resources Defense Council studied online reports for Colorado, Pennsylvania and West Virginia covering five years.
Akron Beakon Journal: Medina County group pushing community rights charter vote
A Medina County grass-roots group is launching a drive to adopt a new county charter with a community rights that might be used to block a planned natural gas pipeline.
The Wheeling Intelligencer: ‘Nuisance Oil’ Term in Contract Annoys Belmont County Landowner
Curtis Wallner is not sure what "nuisance oil" extracted via fracking is. Neither is a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which oversees mineral extraction in the Buckeye State.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Governor Wolf appoints business recruiter to advise on energy and manufacturing
Gov. Tom Wolf has tapped Democrat and lawyer-lobbyist David Sweet to fill a new advisory position the governor says he established to stimulate growth and competition in Pennsylvania's energy and manufacturing industries.
The Bradford Era: Trailblazing classes: Shale gas emergency training held in Smethport
History was made over the weekend in training classes at the Tri-County Fire School Inc. in Smethport. The two-day, 16-hour class, “Firefighting at Shale Gas Emergencies,” was conducted for the first time in Pennsylvania, noted Jack Fowler, president of the school, which this year marks its 50th anniversary of providing fire training to area volunteer and industrial firefighters.
Huntington News: Fracking Waste Chemicals Allegedly Found in WV Near Drinking Water Inputs
Dr Gupta, this open letter is to ask for your participation in the upcoming public hearing held by the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for the permitting of two Lochgelly horizontal hydrofracturing (frack) waste injection wells that have been operating out of compliance, and unpermitted, for over a year, and to apprise you of the surrounding issue.
News & Record: Proposed bill puts limit on fracking
A Piedmont Triad legislator has filed a bill that would prevent companies from being able to drill for natural gas on a person’s property without the landowner’s consent.
Maine Public Broadcasting: Maine Governor Wants Nuclear Power Back on Energy Table
Maine Gov. Paul LePage has submitted legislation that would make it easier to site a small nuclear plant in Maine. The administration says it's time to update the law that governs siting of nuclear plants in the state.
Capital New York: Fracking protesters turn attention to Port Ambrose project
New York State's successful anti-fracking movement has found a new cause: Port Ambrose. The planned liquefied natural gas facility, to be built 19 miles off the coast of Long Island, has already generated vocal opposition from activists, residents and elected officials at rallies, hearings and in official correspondence.
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