Regulatory

The Biden administration has finalized rules to slash 90% of emissions from new natural gas-fired power plants, designed in part to encourage the use of more carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).   The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) strengthened New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for newly built gas-fired combustion turbines. Guidelines also were established to curb…

A move to force more scrutiny of Kinder Morgan Inc.’s Evangeline Pass natural gas pipeline expansion in Louisiana was struck down Tuesday by a federal appeals court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit tossed a petition to halt the Evangeline Pass Expansion underway by Kinder’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC. …

Mexico’s reliance on U.S. natural gas imports is likely to increase if Claudia Sheinbaum, who is expected to win Mexico’s June 2 presidential election, maintains the state-centric approach of outgoing President Andrés Manual López Obrador, aka AMLO, according to analyst Carlos Ramírez Fuentes. Ramírez, a political and economic risk consultant at Mexico City-based Integralia Consultores,…

Click here to listen to the latest episode of NGI’s Hub & Flow podcast. Neil Chatterjee, a former FERC chairman and commissioner, joins NGI’s Jamison Cocklin, managing editor of LNG, to discuss the political and regulatory aspects of President Biden’s pause on authorizing new liquefied natural gas export projects. Chatterjee, an environmental and energy attorney…

The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) has ordered Delfin LNG LLC to submit an updated application to build and operate its proposed export project in the Gulf of Mexico. Seven years after the agency granted Delfin a record of decision (ROD) for the more than 13 million metric tons/year (mmty) capacity project offshore Louisiana, MARAD staff…

The Biden administration earlier this month finalized revamped onshore natural gas and oil leasing rules, increasing the royalty rates and, for the first time in 60 years, bumping up the cost for bonding requirements. The Department of Interior’s Fluid Mineral Leases and Leasing Process final rule revised regulations under the purview of the Bureau of…

Mexico’s presidential frontrunner Claudia Sheinbaum of the ruling Morena party would continue the nation’s buildout of natural gas-fired power if she were to win the June 2 election. Speaking to business leaders in Mexico City on Monday evening, Sheinbaum highlighted that 3.250 GW of new generation, 91% of which was natural-gas fired combined cycle, were…

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has fined Equitrans Midstream Corp. $1.1 million for a storage well that leaked 1 Bcf of natural gas into the atmosphere for more than 10 days in November 2022.  In all, 223 tons of carbon dioxide, 27,040 tons of methane and 106 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOC)…

European Union (EU) lawmakers approved new rules that would allow member countries to limit LNG imports from Russia as cargoes continue to hit Europe’s ports in record numbers. Under the new gas market regulations, countries could legally block Russian exporters from being able to bid on liquefied natural gas import or storage capacity. “We have…