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REPUBLICAN E&C BILLS: Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are debating nearly two dozen Republican-led bills and resolutions today, most of which are designed to thwart President Joe Biden’s energy policy agenda or otherwise preempt administrative actions his administration has teased in some fashion.
Some notable items:
Inflation Reduction Act repeals: A bill introduced by new E&C member Rep. August Pfluger would repeal the new methane fee Congress passed in the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden’s signature legislative achievement to date.
Biden pledged to limit methane emissions, making it a central condition to his plan to increase LNG exports to Europe, and EPA is advancing its own regulatory updates to that end.
Still another bill would repeal the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a $27 billion creation of the IRA that hands grant dollars to states and institutions to reduce emissions.
Export restrictions: Lawmakers are debating a resolution that would declare export restrictions on crude oil and refined products contrary to U.S. policy.
The Biden administration flirted with petroleum export restrictions last year among its “tools” to lower retail fuel prices, although it never went through with any measure. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm bemoaned low regional refined product inventories and demanded the sector channel more fuel toward stocks and ease up on exports to bring prices down.
Fracking: Biden pledged to restrict oil and gas development on federal lands during his 2020 campaign, saying also on the debate stage that he opposed “new fracking,” an issue that has little status anymore in the larger debate over fossil fuel production compared to three or four years ago.
The Protecting American Energy Production Act would prohibit the president from declaring a moratorium on fracking, something Biden flirted with but never formally supported in 2020 via his campaign platform.
Other items on the table include a resolution disapproving of Biden’s cancellation of the Keystone Pipeline and another that would prohibit the EPA from imposing regulations under the Clean Air Act that effectively phase out production of gasoline.
Republican leadership pledged to use its majority to take on Biden’s energy and environmental policies that favor renewable energy and have added new regulations to traditional fossil fuel sources.
Ranking Member Frank Pallone, who led the committee for the previous four years, dismissed the legislative proposals as favors to the oil industry and criticized leadership for not permitting consideration of any Democratic bills.
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100K CLEAN ENERGY JOBS SINCE AUGUST, NEW STUDY FINDS: U.S. companies have announced 101,306 new clean energy jobs in 31 states since Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law last August, according to a new analysis from the environmental nonprofit group Climate Power.
The group also identified more than 90 new clean energy projects created since the IRA was signed into law, totaling $89.5 billion in new investments.
The seven U.S. states with the most new projects were Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, according to the report, with the majority of new jobs seen in wind, solar, and EV and battery manufacturing.
PIPELINE OPERATIONS RESUME IN TURKEY, BUT KEY OIL PORT REMAINS OFFLINE: Oil began pumping again today on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline linking Iraq and Turkey, officials said today, one day after its flows were halted by the devastating earthquakes that struck the country’s southeast and northern Syria. Damage is still being assessed on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
Meanwhile, Turkey was forced to extend its suspension of operations at the key oil export terminal of Ceyhan for a second day due to adverse weather conditions that prohibited officials from determining whether damage was sustained, according to CNBC.
If no damage is found and weather conditions improve, operations could resume as early as today. The Ceyhan export terminal is a crucial hub for oil sales from northern Iraq and Azerbaijan, and exported roughly 1% of total global oil supplies last month.
RUSSIA TURNS TO IRAN’S GHOST FLEET IN ITS EFFORT TO EVADE SANCTIONS: At least 16 tankers in Iran’s so-called “ghost fleet,” or network of unregistered ships that help countries evade sanctions, have switched to carrying Russian oil supplies in the two months since the G7-backed Russian oil price cap took effect, allowing Moscow to evade Western sanctions on at least some of its crude exports.
According to data from the Financial Times, Russian ghost fleet shipments have increased from less than 3 million barrels in November to more than 9 million barrels in January, the first full month since the crude oil price cap came into force.
Shipbrokers told the outlet that Russia has been “enticing” the ghost fleet tanker owners and operators with premium rates in an effort to secure their sanctions-evading services. “We’ve seen a number of vessels involved in Russian trade that previously did Iranian barrels,” said EA Gibson tanker analyst Svetlana Lobaciova. “The premium for Russian trade is at least 50 per cent above the normal market rates and could be even more than 100 per cent in some instances, making the economics even more attractive than shipping Iranian oil.”
Under the price cap mechanism, Western service providers are prohibited from providing insurance, trading, or other services to ship Russian oil above the capped price, which currently stands at $60 per barrel for crude and $100 per barrel for refined premium petroleum products, such as diesel fuel. The effort is designed to keep Russian supplies on the market while also cutting into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war chest.
Shipbrokers also view the sanctions on Iran and Venezuela as more stringent than the ones targeting Russia, providing yet another incentive for ship owners and operators to start doing business with Moscow instead.
NORD STREAM BLAST UPDATE FROM GERMANY: German investigators have no evidence that Russia was behind last year’s explosions carried out on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, German Attorney General Peter Frank said in an interview Sunday, though he added that it is too early to draw any conclusions since the investigation is ongoing.
Speaking to the German newspaper Die Welt, Frank said Germany has obtained water and soil samples from the four blast sites, as well as the remains of the two gas pipelines. Investigators have “comprehensively” documented the crime scene, and are in the process of evaluating all the evidence forensically.
Both Swedish and Danish investigators have said the blasts, which were carried out last September in their exclusive economic zones, were a deliberate act of “sabotage,” though neither has named a culprit. “[We] are in contact” with both countries, Frank said of Germany’s investigation.
But Frank stopped short of the sabotage characterization used by several Western officials, including Biden, telling Die Welt: “[What] I can say is that the suspicion that this was a foreign sabotage action has not yet been substantiated.”
FRENCH STRIKES DISRUPT POWER AND GAS DELIVERIES: Massive planned strikes in France reduced the country’s power supply and disrupted gas deliveries today, as workers continued to rail against new planned pension reforms that raise the country’s retirement age by two years.
The strikes prompted a reduction in output from the country’s nuclear reactors, which fell by 1.8 GW, and at thermal and hydropower plants, according to French energy provider EDF. In total, the strikes caused power supply to fall by about 6.3% nationwide.
At least 30% of EDF employees took part in the strike, contributing to the disruptions. Meanwhile, 56% of TotalEnergies employees participated, as well as employees at Exxon subsidiary Esso, interrupting the delivery of gas supplies.
NEWSOM REQUESTS FERC-LED PROBE OF CALIFORNIA GAS MARKET: Gov. Gavin Newsom wants FERC to investigate California’s wholesale natural gas market to determine why prices there are higher than other regions of the country.
Prices spiked in December during the winter storm that dropped feet of snow on parts of the state. West Coast spot prices there reached as high as $55 per MMBtu, rivaling prices Europe faced much of last year due to its supply crisis.
Prices have since fallen substantially but remained above $15 per MMBtu last week at multiple delivery points in California. By comparison, Henry Hub prices have been consistently below $3 per MMBtu.
Newsom said he was worried about high utility bills in a letter to FERC Acting Chair Willie Phillips yesterday. The letter acknowledged the impact of cold weather earlier during the winter but said that “cannot explain the extent and longevity of the price spike.”
The request follows Newsom’s targeted campaign against oil refiners over the high cost of gasoline in California, which he has attributed to price gouging. Refiners have generally blamed California’s regulatory and tax regime for constraining refining capacity.
The California Energy Commission meets today to hear from experts about what’s driving the high natural gas prices, as it did to investigate high refined products prices in November.
The Rundown
Washington Post Heat pumps boom in Maine, despite frigid cold and oil industry pushback
Reuters EV batteries getting second life on California power grid
The Guardian Pink dolphins and reformed Colombian rebels turn no-go zone into ecotourism hit
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | FEBRUARY 8
10 am. 2167 Rayburn. The House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment will hold a hearing to examine stakeholder perspectives on the impacts of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. Learn more here.
