OPINION: Drowning in Oil, Regulatory Measures to Keep Prices Afloat
These days history seems to be in the making on a daily basis. On April 20, 2020, the price of the NYMEX West Texas Intermediate Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures contract for May delivery plunged into the negative, forcing sellers to actually pay customers for taking the crude oil off the sellers’ hands. The historic drop came a little over a month after Russia and Saudi Arabia initiated crude oil price war, and it has left many wondering if certain regulatory measures are needed to help boost oil prices in the United States.
U.S. Ingenuity Will Solve Climate Challenge: US DOE
The United States can tackle threats to the climate through technological advances as fossil fuels will remain a priority for the U.S. government and business, the assistant secretary for fossil energy said on Tuesday.The world should look to the United States' ability to reduce its emissions, the Department of Energy's Steven Winberg said at an oil conference in South Africa a day after the Trump administration formally moved to exit the Paris Agreement."We can solve any climate issue with technology development, one thing you see back in U.S.
Big Corn, Big Oil Unhappy with Fed's Biofuel Plan
Corn farmers, ethanol producers, refinery representatives, energy traders and state and local officials from the Midwest all blasted away at the Trump administration's proposed biofuels plan for next year during a public hearing on Wednesday hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).The hearing in Ann Arbor, Michigan, marks the second public meeting on the topic in as many days, airing the grievances of the opposing oil and corn constituencies President Donald Trump…
Bids for Small Refinery Waivers Flood into EPA
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has received 37 applications for small refinery waivers for 2018 from the U.S.
ExxonMobil Boosts Ultra-low Sulfur Fuels Production
ExxonMobil said today that a new unit at its integrated Beaumont, Texas facility has started operations, increasing production of ultra-low sulfur fuels by about 45,000 barrels per day. The new unit relies on a proprietary catalyst system developed by ExxonMobil to remove sulfur and meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency specifications while minimizing octane loss.The addition of the new unit is ExxonMobil’s second major investment in Beaumont in less than two years. In 2016, the company increased the capacity of an existing crude unit by 20…
EPA Scraps Plan to Force US Refiners to Blend More Biofuels
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ditched a detailed plan that would have forced refiners to blend more biofuels into their gasoline and diesel in 2019 to compensate for volumes likely to be exempted under the agency's small refinery hardship waiver program, according to newly released EPA documents.The plan would have boosted the renewable fuel blending obligation for the refining industry to 11.76 percent from 10.88 percent to offset volumes lost under the waiver program…
U.S. EPA Chief Pruitt Resigns
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, who pleased President Donald Trump by rolling back environmental regulations but came under fire for travel and security expenses and a condo arrangement, has resigned, Trump said on Thursday. "I have accepted the resignation of Scott Pruitt as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency," Trump said on Twitter. He said EPA Deputy Administrator Andrew Wheeler would become acting chief of the agency on Monday. Reporting by Eric Beech
EPA Proposes 2019 Biofuel Requirements
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed setting a 19.88 billion gallon biofuels blending mandate for 2019 under the Renewable Fuel Standard, according to a statement seen by Reuters. That total would be up from a 2018 requirement of 19.29 billion gallons. The EPA proposal would leave the target for conventional biofuel, which is traditionally corn-based ethanol, at 15 billion gallons, said the agency. The agency proposed an advanced fuel requirement at 4.88 billion gallons for 2019 and a biodiesel mandate of 2.43 billion gallons for 2020.
EPA Announces Funding to Reduce Diesel Emissions
Preference given to fleets in areas facing air quality challenges. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of grant funding to modernize the nation’s diesel fleet by retrofitting or replacing vehicles with cleaner, more efficient diesel engines. EPA anticipates awarding approximately $40 million in Diesel Emission Reduction Program (DERA) grant funding to eligible applicants, subject to the availability of funds. “These grants will incentivize improvements to aging diesel fleets and improve air quality throughout the country,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
Pennsylvania says Bankrupt Refiner Owes $3.8 bln in Taxes
The state of Pennsylvania wants a federal judge to halt the bankruptcy of Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), arguing the refiner owes an estimated $3.8 billion in fuel taxes, according to a court filing on Friday. The state's Department of Revenue said the refiner must make several changes to the proposed restructuring plan to ensure the taxes are paid before it can support the plan. The $3.8 billion figure is significant for a refiner that had just $43 million in cash on hand when it filed for bankruptcy protection in January.
Biofuel Credits Continue Free Fall in Wake of Refiner Settlement
Renewable fuel credits for 2018 continued their sharp decline on Tuesday after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency granted a bankrupt Philadelphia refiner significant relief from its biofuel obligations. Prices for renewable fuel (D6) credits for 2018 traded at 35 cents on Tuesday morning, traders said, down from 38.5 cents on Monday and roughly 40 percent lower than just two weeks ago. The EPA and the Carlyle Group-backed Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery agreed on Monday…
U.S. Refinery Workers Push Biofuels Reform
A delegation of workers from U.S. oil refining companies that oppose the nation's biofuels policy will converge on Washington on Wednesday to try to convince lawmakers to find a way to lessen the regulation's costs without hurting corn farmers. The trip, organized by the United Steelworkers union, marks the latest move in a battle between Big Oil and Big Corn over the fate of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard - a law requiring corn-based ethanol in gasoline that the refining industry says is costing it hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Trump Wades Deeper into Biofuel Debate
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday will gather rivals from the oil and corn industries for the second time this week as the administration seeks elusive common ground on reforms to the nation's controversial biofuels law. The meetings come amid rising concern in the White House over the current state of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a law requiring refiners to mix biofuels such as corn-based ethanol into their fuel, which has increasingly divided two of Trump's most important constituencies.
US Biofuel Credits Hit 2-month High
The most popular form of biofuel credits hit a two-month high in early trading on Friday on news the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was backing down on price-cutting reforms to the nation's renewable fuel program, traders said. Prices of renewable fuel (D6) credits traded between 87 and 90 cents in early trading Friday, traders said, up from 81.5 and 82 cents each on Thursday. That's the highest price since late August, according to Oil Price Information Service Data. Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw
EPA Abandons Biofuel Program Changes
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has backed off a series of proposed changes to the nation's biofuels policy after a massive backlash from corn-state lawmakers worried the moves would undercut ethanol demand, according to a letter from the agency to lawmakers seen by Reuters. The letter could end uncertainty about the future of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard under the administration of President Donald Trump that has roiled commodity and energy markets for months. The program…
Philadelphia-Area Refiners Push Biofuels Program Reform
Oil refinery workers, executives and local politicians gathered near Philadelphia on Monday to urge the White House revamp the nation's renewable fuels program, arguing the future of their plants are at stake. The U.S. renewable fuel program requires higher levels of ethanol and other biofuels to be blended into the nation's fuel pool, a requirement pitting the oil industry against the powerful farm lobby. President Donald Trump has promised corn growers he would protect the program, while also signaling that he sympathizes with U.S. refiners who bear its costs.
EPA Chief to Withdraw USA from Clean Power Plan
The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Monday he would sign a proposed rule on Tuesday withdrawing from the Clean Power Plan, former President Barack Obama's centerpiece regulation to fight climate change. "That rule really was about picking winners and losers," EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said, telling a crowd in Hazard, Kentucky, the previous administration had used regulators to tip the scales in the competition to generate electricity in the United States. "Regulatory power should not be used by any regulatory body to pick winners and losers," he said.
EPA May Not Replace Obama-era Climate Regs After Repeal
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has not decided whether it will replace the Clean Power Plan - the centerpiece Obama-era climate change regulation - after it moves to repeal it, according to a draft of the proposal seen by Reuters on Friday. In the 43-page document, the EPA said the rule, introduced by former President Barack Obama in 2015 to curtail greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, was illegal. It aimed to cut emissions by 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
T/S Nate Kills 22 in Central America, Bears Down on U.S. GoM
Tropical Storm Nate killed at least 22 people in Central America on Thursday as it pummeled the region with heavy rain while heading toward Mexico's Caribbean resorts and the U.S. Gulf Coast, where it could strike as a hurricane this weekend. In Nicaragua, at least 11 people died, seven others were reported missing and thousands had to evacuate homes because of flooding, said the country's vice president Rosario Murillo. Emergency officials in Costa Rica reported that at least eight people were killed due to the lashing rain, including two children.
Senators Object to EPA's Planned Biofuel Changes
A group of 38 U.S. senators asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday to abandon plans to lower biofuels requirements for oil refiners in 2018, according to a letter made public by the office of Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. The senators, including Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, said in the letter that the EPA should restructure its proposal for the 2018 version of a rule that each year forces producers of oil-based fuels to include renewable fuels like ethanol in their products.
