Regulatory

A failure for state agencies to conduct integrated planning and miscalculating natural gas supplies contributed to California’s rolling power blackouts during a severe heat storm last August, according to a multi-agency report. The California Independent System Operator (CAISO), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and California Energy Commission (CEC) in the report called for expanded oversight…

Allete Inc. subsidiary Minnesota Power on Tuesday announced a goal to deliver 100% carbon-free energy to customers by the year 2050. Utilizing its EnergyForward strategy, Minnesota Power was the state’s first utility to provide 50% renewable energy to its customers and seeks to build upon that as it transitions to “clean energy.”  The upcoming Integrated…

Lifted by revenue pulled from the Permian Basin in West Texas, the state’s oil and natural gas industry paid $13.9 billion in taxes and royalties in fiscal 2020, or around $38 million/day,  according to a top industry group. Data compiled by the Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) indicated state energy industry taxes and royalties…

Federal regulators have approved the start of construction on all but a small portion of Summit Midstream Partners LP’s 135-mile Double E natural gas pipeline that would connect Permian Basin supplies to the Gulf Coast. Summit CEO Heath Deneke touted the “efficiency with which this project has achieved its key milestones” and confirmed the pipeline’s…

The leader of the nation’s top oil and gas lobbying group didn’t mince words in condemning the actions of protesters who stormed the Capitol building on Jan. 6, and he made clear Wednesday that last week’s events would influence the industry’s decisions about political giving moving forward. Following the American Petroleum Institute (API) annual State…

Construction schedules are under review in British Columbia (BC) for its entry into the global natural gas export market as a result of labor force limits that provincial public health authorities adopted to counter the impacts from the pandemic. “Long-term impacts to the overall schedule continue to be assessed,” said TC Energy Corp. Vice President…

Massachusetts is ready to follow in California’s footsteps as it moves toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and looks to ban gasoline-fueled vehicles in a bill that was passed earlier this month. Under a program that has been in the works for months, the overall goal is to reduce carbon emissions by 2030 to 45% below…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) on Monday published a final rule in the Federal Register that relaxes inspection and reporting requirements for natural gas pipeline operators. The rule is meant “to ease regulatory burdens on the construction, operation and maintenance of gas transmission, distribution, and gathering pipeline…

Mexico’s upstream oil and gas regulator Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos (CNH) on Tuesday approved three exploration and production (E&P) work plans for 2021 that entail combined investment of $115.7 million. Servicios Múltiples de Burgos, S.A. de C.V. (SMB), a 50/50 joint venture between Tecpetrol SA and Industrial Perforadora de Campeche (IPC), obtained the green light…