Murkowski

Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee, is urging the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) to publish data on oil storage capacity as a warning indicator of potential shut-in oil production.

James Danly, President Trump’s nominee to fill one of the two vacant seats at FERC, received a mostly warm welcome at a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Tuesday, but lawmakers weren’t as happy with the White House’s inability to fill the agency’s fifth seat.

Department of Interior Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt is said to be on the short list to take over after embattled Interior chief Ryan Zinke, who is facing a litany of congressional investigations, told President Trump over the weekend that he is stepping down.

None of the five commissioners appointed to FERC believe the kind of emergency exists that would warrant a federal directive typically reserved for wartime and severe grid impairments to bail out faltering coal and nuclear plants. The commissioners’ views emerged during an oversight hearing Tuesday before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

A freewheeling discussion Friday morning uncorked rare criticism of President Trump by GOP Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who expressed concerns about the new tariffs and the potential makeover of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on the final day of CERAWeek by IHS Markit.

Tasked with finding ways to save at least $1 billion over the next decade, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a marathon hearing Thursday to discuss the controversial idea of opening a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling.

The U.S. Senate confirmed Howard “Skip” Elliott to serve as administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Thursday, but a motion to confirm Kevin McIntyre and Richard Glick to FERC was set aside after one senator objected.

The U.S. Senate confirmed Howard “Skip” Elliott to serve as administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Thursday, but a motion to confirm Kevin McIntyre and Richard Glick to FERC was set aside after one senator objected.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, believes a quartet of Trump administration nominees to FERC and the Department of Interior (DOI) are likely to be confirmed — but when that will be is still unclear.