A train with 102 cars of crude oil from North Dakota derailed when leaving Seattle last week, heading to a Washington refinery. A locomotive, a car loaded with sand and three oil tanker cars left the track but did not roll over. The incident occurred when the locomotive pulled out of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) yard, traveling approximately
On June 17, the Canadian federal government approved the pipeline portion of Enbridge Incorporated’s (ticker: ENB) Northern Gateway Project, a $6.1 billion crude oil and condensate pipeline and marine terminal that was proposed in 2010. Canada’s petroleum producers are eager to find an alternative to the nearly six-year delayed approval of the Keystone XL project. At the Canadian American Business’ conference on June
In a ruling Thursday that overturned the city of Longmont’s ban on hydraulic fracture stimulation, a Boulder County, Colorado judge—and the case itself—illustrated the power that Proposition 89 would convey to municipalities and other local governments statewide. Boulder Judge D.D. Mallard said on Thursday that Longmont’s charter amendment “clearly conflicted with the state’s regulations and its interest in the efficient
During his introductory comments on the Noble Energy (ticker: NBL) Q2 earnings call today, Noble Chairman and CEO Charles Davidson said: “I wanted to spend a couple of minutes discussing the regulatory environment for oil and gas development in Colorado, which is certainly gathering a lot of attention right now. As many of you are aware, certain initiatives have been
On January 17, 2008, President Obama said, “If someone wants to build a coal power plant, they can, it’s just that it will bankrupt them…” That promise is coming into fruition now. Last month, the EPA revealed its Clean Power Plan, which aims to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 30% by 2030, in relation to levels from 2005. The
Note: this is Part Two of a two-part series looking at the rapid pace of oil and gas development in Weld County in 2014. Click here to read Part One: Will Voters Kill Colorado’s Golden Goose? 2013 was a record year for oil production in Colorado: 64 million barrels were produced in the state. Weld County extracted 52 million of those
During the EIA Energy Conference last week, July 14 to July 15, Michigan’s Representative Fred Upton (R) gave a speech about his ideal energy future. He called his plan the “Architecture of Abundance.” It is a plan with five pillars: By Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) Modernizing infrastructure Maintaining diverse electricity generation Permitting a manufacturing renaissance Harnessing
August 4 is the deadline for two citizens’ groups that are attempting to collect the signatures required to land two statewide ballot proposals on the November ballot. If successful, they would give voters the power to inhibit Colorado’s future oil and gas development. By Bevo Beaven, Editor, Oil & Gas 360 NOTE: This is the first of a two-part series
Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its proposed Clean Power Plan, which plans to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 30% by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. The U.S. levels in 2013 were 10% below those of 2005 – a growth of 2% from 2012 levels. The EPA said that the combustion of fossil fuels to generate electricity was
The U.S. Department of the Interior estimates the GOM has 48 billion BOE yet to be discovered. Royal Dutch Shell (ticker: RDS.B) announced its third major oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) on July 15, 2014, and expects it to yield 100 MMBOE of reserves. The company has now discovered a total of 700 MMBOE of GOM reserves, according
A ballot initiative that would have given communities the power to regulate local oil and gas operations was pulled Monday for a lack of supporting signatures, according to a report by the Denver Post Tuesday. “Initiative 75 would have added the so-called Community Rights Amendment to the state constitution, but to get it on the ballot required 86,105 valid signatures
The Jones Act is the nickname for a 94-year-old law entitled the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 that allows only U.S.-made, U.S.-manned, and U.S.-flagged ships to transfer goods or passengers between U.S. ports. Although it was meant to protect domestic U.S. seaborne commerce from foreign competition, in today’s global economy, it has the effect of making shipping oil between U.S. ports,
