Funding

The Biden administration is planning to invest $660 million to clean up orphaned natural gas and oil wells, with most of the funds earmarked for the energy producing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. The goal is for the states to receive “economic growth and revitalization,” Department of Interior (DOI) officials said. The program would…

Private equity (PE) continues to pour into the North American oil and natural gas patch amid higher commodity prices and capital discipline by publicly traded companies. Privately held exploration and production (E&P) firm Sabalo Energy II said Wednesday it has closed a $300 million equity commitment from EnCap Investments LP. The objective “is to build,…

A bipartisan group of House members from Texas is seeking to boost capital for a binational financial institution that ultimately could have authority to fund cross-border energy distribution and consumption projects aimed at enhancing the energy security of the United States and Mexico.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy is offering up to $88 million total in research and development grants for projects to improve enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and unconventional oil and natural gas production.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has earmarked an additional $59 million for the Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project (CIP) in South Texas in its fiscal year 2019 work plan, bringing total federal appropriations to $95 million. The CIP is to include dredging to expand the ship channel to 54 feet from 47 feet and widen it to 530 feet to accommodate larger vessels and allow for more efficient traffic flows. The Port of Corpus Christi also has a feasibility study underway to dredge to a depth of 75 feet, which would allow very large crude carriers to be fully loaded, allowing more U.S. oil to be exported.

House lawmakers passed a $1.2 trillion package of appropriations bills for the next fiscal year on Thursday, but not before Republicans successfully added four amendments targeting Obama-era rules, including those governing methane emissions and the “social cost of carbon.”

House lawmakers last week postponed debate over an appropriations bill to fund the Department of Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the next fiscal year, but not until after Republican lawmakers successfully tacked on a pair of amendments targeting two controversial Obama-era rules.

The Senate Committee on Appropriations has scheduled a hearing Thursday to consider a $38.4 billion measure to fund the Department of Energy (DOE) and Army Corps of Engineers, which would be a significant increase from the Trump administration’sfunding request.

An omnibus spending bill to fund the federal government through the end of September calls for a 1% cut in funding and no staff cuts at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a far cry from budget and staffing cuts the Trump administration proposed for the agency in the next fiscal year (FY).