Yesterday: LNG Prospects Lower.  Now: Hawaii, NOT a Prospective Customer For BC and Alaska

Yes, Low Oil Prices Also Affect Service Industries and Their Thousands of Employees and Sub Contractors!

EPA Alert

Calgary's New "Tell It Like It Is Leader"

Big OCS News Today: New Moratorium!


Reader Commentary, Below, and Our Reaction

Commentary, "Telling it like it is" carries with it a responsibility for diligence and judgment: We are honored to receive so many calls and emails every week, over many years, from readers throughout the world.  We hardly ever make public note of such moving messages, but we have archived a few here.  

We are deeply grateful for our reader interaction and wish to highlight these two examples (i.e. left column) today out of respect and appreciation for all faithful readers.

Such support keeps us going strong.  We know that industry cannot often "tell it like it is," for it is natural to fear that criticizing a local, state or federal regulator can produce retribution and shareholder losses.  This in a country wherein government has grown to not fear the people, as the Constitution envisioned.  

Ordinary citizens can't often take the time to study and communicate their reaction to complex energy issues; they just don't like the general result.

News media stories and editorials are pretty much sanitized by management.

So, it falls to independents like us to try to connect the dots and keep our readers informed via links, associations and commentary.  And we want you to know that we know our credibility rests upon our sense of responsibility and judgment.

With your continued support, we will not be deterred from performing this duty as responsibly and with as much good judgment as possible.  -dh 

 …glad you provide this information.   It keeps us IN THE LOOP!  Have a GREAT WEEK, DAVE!  Bunny and Al Chong


… Most importantly you add such wealth of Knowledge on our energy  and industrial and political business news in Alaska. 

You are read by many and are the only news letter that covers all the economic and environmental concerns that occur in Alaska and DC as well as sister energy States like North Dakota and Wyoming. 

I do not know why others do not more aggressively cover the government and especially the "Political Industry"….  Thanks, Dave.   Paul Richards


Comment: Way to go, Marcella Munro!  Could Canada be thirsting as much for anti-PC, "tell it like it is" truth-telling leaders as the U.S.?!!!

Calgary Herald by Don Braid.  Marcella Munro, Premier Rachel Notley’s suddenly controversial new hire at McDougall Centre, has a surprising answer when asked if she’s against pipelines and the oilsands.

“Me? My BMW 325i is my favourite possession. There is no planet on which I could try to argue against the oilsands. I love all the good things petroleum does for me — including driving too fast on Highway 2.”

Notley’s new Calgary “outreach” director certainly isn’t hiding under the stairs at McDougall after being fiercely attacked by the Wildrose and PCs.

EPA ALERT: Let's mark our Thursday calendars.  We would bet EPA will swiftly change tactics from apologizing for incompetence to avoiding blame and liability (i.e. Lawyer talk: "We are sorry for the inconvenience but were just doing our job to clean up industry's mess."  -dh)

Committee on Natural Resources and Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to Hold Joint Hearing on the EPA’s Animas Spill.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, September 17, 2015, at 10:00 AM, in Room 2167 Rayburn House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a joint oversight hearing titled, “EPA’s Animas Spill.”

WHAT:

Committee on Natural Resources and Committee on Oversight and Government Reform joint oversight hearing titled, “EPA’s Animas Spill”

WHEN: Thursday, September 17, 10:00 AM 

WHERE: 2167 Rayburn House Office Building

Visit the Committee Calendar for additional information, once it is made available. The meeting is open to the public and a live video stream will be broadcast at House Committee on Natural Resources.  


LNG Prospects

The Asia Pacific Resilience Summit kicked off this morning, an event that showcases clean tech solutions for island grids, communities, and military applications across the Pacific. The opening keynote speaker, Governor David Ige, wasted no time in making major headlines, stating, for the first time publicly, a strong opposition to proposed LNG projects.


 

Yes, Low Oil Prices Also Affect Support Industries!  

Just as oil and gas producers and taxing governments are affected by low oil prices, so are the support industries and their thousands of employees, subcontractors and shareholders.  Today, we bring you a few words from our respected, anonymous energy consultant friend from the Mid Atlantic region.  -dh

"We have continually pointed out that the business models of the private equity companies and the E&P industry could hardly be more antithetical to each other. Cash flow back to the investor is a necessary part of the PE investment strategy, while E&Ps think positive cash flows are for sissies and big, dumb integrated oil companies. But the flood of money into the market and low interest rates have brought them together.  Can this marriage be salvaged?

"One ancillary thought: Given the cash shortage for E&Ps for 2016, the Service Companies may get hit worse.

"Here are some thoughts from Wunderlich Securities on the prospects:"

Below the surface of the energy market, we believe that there exists a confluence of factors ready to bubble up and impact E&Ps, OFS, and MLPs. With continually low natural gas prices, abysmal NGL prices, very weak oil prices, and no V-shaped recovery in sight…

…structural shifts in the energy landscape…. Private equity continues to have a considerable interest in the space … some banks may look to reduce their exposure…. the amount of funds in the space could remain very high. However, the cost of those funds could also be rising as funding from private equity replaces more conventional sources. …with commodity prices making new lows and fewer hedges in 2016 than in 2015, we think there is a confluence of factors that could alter the energy landscape in the coming 3-6 months….


Big OCS News Today

Obama Administration’s Regulatory Agenda will Result in Virtual Moratorium on Gulf Offshore Energy Development

Administration’s Policies “Undermine Safety, Rather Than Enhance It”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources held an oversight hearing in New Orleans, LA, on the current state of offshore oil and gas activity in the Gulf of Mexico.  The panel received testimony from U.S. Senators David Vitter (R-LA) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), industry representatives, and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

The hearing focused on the impact of federal policies on energy development in the Gulf, including DOI’s proposed well control rule, and what actions can be taken to promote the responsible development of outer Continental Shelf (OCS) resources.

"Federal regulations such as the proposed well-control threaten another moratorium by shutting down the majority of the Gulf rig fleet.  Some provisions of this rule could actually undermine safety, rather than enhance it," stated Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT). "Other federal measures, such as the crude export ban, limit new market opportunities and U.S. production potential. We should encourage the production of affordable energy, not continue decades-old policies that force companies to shut-in those resources because they are not economic to bring to market."

"This administration's energy policy appears to have two objectives: cause Louisianans to lose their jobs and continue our dependence on foreign oil,” stated Rep. Garrett Graves (R-LA). “We have already been through the moratorium and permitorium where the federal government shutdown the Gulf of Mexico's energy fields. These new illogical regulations on the offshore industry –  conceived in a vacuum with insufficient stakeholder input – will not ensure safe exploration and production operations,  but they will result in less production, more supply boats tied up and more people losing their energy jobs."

“The Obama Administration was held in contempt of court over its previous moratorium in the Gulf, so now President Obama is seeking through regulation to create a new moratorium by making it prohibitively expensive to drill in the Gulf,” stated Water, Power and Oceans Subcommittee Chairman John Fleming (R-LA). “I’m glad the BSEE will finally be sitting down with industry experts, but it’s a shame they didn’t do that from the start."