Texas sues Biden Administration over lizards' endangered status, citing oil industry threat
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration Monday, claiming that the decision to declare the dunes sagebrush Lizard as an endangered species could harm property owners or energy production. Paxton, who is a Republican, claimed that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service based its final rule, adopted on May 20, on inaccurate data and arbitrary assumptions regarding the future of the lizard. He said that the move would threaten the ability of private landowners to conduct business…
Texas sued for anti-ESG laws
Texas was sued on Thursday by a nonprofit whose members support environmentally-friendly policies, and which seeks to block a state law targeting businesses that support reduced reliance on fossil fuels. The American Sustainable Business Council claimed that the 2021 law, known as Senate Bill 13, violates the free speech rights of its members by prohibiting Texas from investing or contracting in businesses which, according to the state, "boycott" oil and gas. Texas is one of the most important Republican-led states that cracks down on companies whose policies are anti-environmental…
US Judge Rejects Exxon, Shell Nigeria Case
A U.S. judge on Wednesday rejected Exxon Mobil Corp's and Royal Dutch Shell Plc's effort to revive a $1.8 billion arbitration award against Nigeria's state-run oil company, which stemmed from a dispute over a 1993 contract to extract oil near the African country's coastline.U.S. District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan cited public policy and due process considerations in deciding not to enforce the October 2011 award against Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC), which was subsequently…
Vestas, GE Settle U.S. Patent Dispute
Vestas Wind Systems A/S and GE Renewable Energy have settled all disputes related to multiple claims of patent infringement, said a joint announcement."The settlement of all disputes related to multiple patent infringement claims in the U.S., result in the discontinuation of the case pending in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California as well as all other pending proceedings related to the patents-in-suit," said the announcement.GE had initially filed a patent dispute in California against Vestas in 2017…
Government Shutdown: Atlantic Seismic Permitting Blocked by Judge
A federal court judge on Friday ruled that the federal government cannot process seismic testing permits for offshore oil drilling during the ongoing government shutdown, dealing a blow Trump administration's energy agenda.Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court in South Carolina issued the decision in response to a motion filed by a range of conservation and business groups and coastal cities opposed to the adminstration's efforts to expand U.S. offshore drilling.The Justice…
U.S. Court Dismisses Climate Change Lawsuits Against Oil Majors
A California federal court dismissed climate change lawsuits against five oil companies by the cities of San Francisco and Oakland, saying the complaints required foreign and domestic policy decisions that were outside the purview of courts, Chevron Corp said on Monday. The cities of San Francisco and Oakland, California sued Chevron, Exxon Mobil Corp, ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, and BP Plc last year, seeking an abatement fund to help the cities address flooding they say is a result of climate change.
Sinopec Sues PDVSA as Relations Fray
Sinopec USA, a subsidiary of Chinese oil and gas conglomerate Sinopec, has sued Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA in a U.S. court, claiming it never received full payment for an order of steel rebar. The lawsuit asks for $23.7 million for breach of contract and conspiracy to defraud. The legal action signals a split with another of Venezuela's biggest backers as the cash-strapped country seeks to restructure some $60 billion in debt in a landscape of low oil prices and production.
SBM Offshore to Pay $238 Mln in US Bribery Case
SBM Offshore NV, a Netherlands-based maker of offshore oil drilling equipment, and its U.S. subsidiary, SBM Offshore USA Inc, agreed to settle criminal charges of bribing officials in five countries and pay a $238 million penalty, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday. The companies agreed to settle charges related to schemes lasting more than a decade involving bribery of foreign officials in Brazil, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan and Iraq, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Justice Department said in a statement.
Barclays, US FERC Near Settlement of Market Manipulation Lawsuit
British bank Barclays Plc and the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) made "substantial progress" toward a settlement of FERC's proposed $435 million fine against the bank for alleged power market manipulation, according to court documents. The Barclays penalty, if there is one, could be the biggest FERC has collected since the Energy Policy Act of 2005 significantly increased the penalties the agency can impose, boosting them up to $1 million per day per violation from a prior cap of $10,000 per day.
Sierra Club sues US Energy Department
Environmental group the Sierra Club sued the U.S. Energy Department on Monday in hopes of forcing it to reveal the groups it has consulted in conducting an eagerly awaited study on the electricity grid. It was the latest push-back on the department’s study from backers of renewable energy such as wind and solar power who fear it could be used by the Trump administration to form policies that could slow growth in the industry. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who commissioned the 60-day study in April…
Monroe Energy Says BP Violated Its Contract
BP PLC violated its supply contract when it sold oil to refiner Monroe Energy that was a blend of lower-valued Texas crude with premium varieties, Monroe alleged in a federal court filing last week. Monroe Energy, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines that owns a 185,000 barrel-per-day refinery outside of Philadelphia, said the blending of lower quality crudes is prohibited under the supply contract. The company asked a U.S. District Court judge in New York on June 7 to dismiss BP's April lawsuit alleging Monroe wrongfully severed the deal. The motion for dismissal has not been previously reported.
Oil & Gas Stakeholders Drop Climate Change Case
Two fossil fuel industry groups dropped their attempts to intervene in a court case over climate change this week after failing to reach an agreement on a unified legal position on climate science, court filings show. The American Petroleum Institute (API) and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), prominent trade groups in the oil and gas industry, along with the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), intervened in a federal case in which a group of teenagers sued the U.S. government for violating their constitutional rights by causing climate change.
BP Accuses Former Analyst of Stealing Trade Secrets
BP Plc has sued a former U.S. oil analyst for allegedly stealing trade secrets and other confidential information, according to court filings. BP's oil trading division alleged that Joseph Giljum, a crude oil analyst who left the company in April, compiled over 950 business files containing confidential and valuable information and uploaded the files to his personal Amazon Cloud Drive. Giljum did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The British oil major said that Giljum…
Conservationists Sue to Halt Fracking in Ohio National Forest
Four conservation groups on Tuesday sued the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management in an attempt to halt fracking plans in a portion of Ohio's only national forest. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus, argues that the federal agencies failed to sufficiently analyze risks to watersheds, public health, climate and endangered species including Indiana bats, before auctioning 670 acres (270 hectares) in December of the Wayne National Forest in southeast Ohio for eventual hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of underground shale.
US Top Court Sides with Venezuela over Oil Rigs Claim
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday tossed out a lower court's ruling that had allowed an American oil drilling company to sue Venezuela over the seizure of 11 drilling rigs in 2010 but allowed the business another chance to press its claims. Siding with Venezuela, the justices ruled 8-0 that a lower court that had given the go-ahead for the suit must reconsider whether claims made by Oklahoma-based Helmerich & Payne International Drilling Company can proceed. Writing for the court, Justice Stephen Breyer said the U.S.
Texas Judge Kicks Exxon Climate Case to NY
A federal judge in Texas on Wednesday kicked an Exxon Mobil Corp lawsuit seeking to thwart two states from pursuing a fraud case over climate change to a Manhattan court, saying his court wasn't the best place to resolve the dispute. A group of state attorneys general, led by New York's Eric Schneiderman, brought a securities fraud suit against the world's largest publicly traded oil company in 2015 claiming it misled investors by soft-pedaling the dangers of climate change. Exxon…
Judge Denies Latest Bid to Block Dakota Pipeline
A U.S. federal judge denied a request by Native American tribes seeking a halt to construction of the final link in the Dakota Access Pipeline on Monday, the controversial project that has sparked months of protests from tribal activists seeking to halt the 1,170-mile line. Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., at a hearing, rejected the request from the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes, who had argued that the project will prevent them from practicing religious ceremonies at a lake they say is surrounded by sacred ground. The U.S.
Tribes Urge Judge to Block Dakota Pipeline
Native American tribes seeking a halt to construction of the final link in the Dakota Access Pipeline will argue in federal court on Monday that the project will prevent them from practicing religious ceremonies at a lake they say is surrounded by sacred ground. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week granted a final easement to Energy Transfer Partners LP, the company building the $3.8-billion Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), after President Donald Trump issued an order to advance the pipeline days after he took office in January.
Tauber Settles Allegations of Selling Unregistered Fuel Additive
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a settlement with Tauber Oil Company, resolving alleged Clean Air Act violations stemming from the company's sale of a fuel additive that was not registered with the EPA. Tauber stopped selling the unregistered fuel additive and will pay a $700,000 civil penalty. The settlement resolves claims that Tauber produced a fuel additive called Mixed Alcohol by blending together various alcohol streams, then sold approximately 1.9…
PDVSA Seeks Compensation in 'Staggering' US Bribe Case
A unit of Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA has asked a U.S. court to order two businessmen to compensate it for carrying out a "staggering" bribery scheme that cost the company $600 million in losses. A motion filed last Wednesday in federal court in Houston marked the first time PDVSA had formally intervened in the case, part of a U.S. Justice Department investigation into bribery of company officials. PDVSA subsidiary Bariven SA complained in court papers that prosecutors…
