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Government and Politics

Article, Corporations, Energy, Government and Politics, Utilities and Providers

Loveless: Battle over big energy infrastructure heats up

March 29, 2016

That was the case for an independent transmission company called Clean Line Energy and its proposal to ship wind power from Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle across Arkansas to the southeastern U.S. Five years ago, regulators in Arkansas turned down the so-called Plains & Eastern project, saying Clean Line Energy didn’t qualify as a public utility serving the state’s electricity consumers. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Consumer, Economy / Finance, Energy, Government and Politics, Technology

Clean-energy effort avoids D.C. dystopia

March 7, 2016

Democrats and Republicans agree on little when it comes to government policy, including how Washington should influence the ways that Americans produce and use energy. But one exception is a relatively small program at the U.S. Department of Energy that invests in early-stage technologies with the potential to provide new forms of low- or no-carbon energy efficiently, economically and satisfactorily. Established with bipartisan support in Congress in 2007 and first funded two years later, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy has awarded $1.3 billion to more than 475 projects formed by teams from academia, private industry and national laboratories with ideas for technologies in such fields as biofuels, energy storage, superconducting wires, and solar and wind systems.

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Economy / Finance, Energy, Government and Politics

Oil, gas production ramping up in the Gulf: Here’s why

March 2, 2016

The U.S. government will open nearly 45 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and natural gas development later this month, at a time when low prices are forcing producers to cut back sharply on their exploration budgets. But the industry’s troubles have had little impact so far on oil output in the region. In fact, unlike onshore production, which has been tapering off as oil prices decline, Gulf of Mexico production is on its way to setting a record in 2017. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Energy, Government and Politics, International, Podcast

Columbia Energy Exchange podcast: Outlook for Russian oil, gas

February 11, 2016

On this episode of Columbia Energy Exchange, Tatiana Mitrova, Head of the Oil and Gas Department at The Energy Research Institute in the Russian Academy of Sciences, discussed Russia’s energy outlook with host Bill Loveless. Their conversation touched on topics ranging from the impact of the oil price drop on Russia’s budget and investment strategy, to the role of sanctions in the domestic economy, to the response of Gazprom to changing global natural gas markets, among others. (Listen Here)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Economy / Finance, Government and Politics

8 states take a big budget hit due to falling oil prices

February 7, 2016

It’s no surprise that the slump in oil prices, now 20 months old, is taking its toll on states that are particularly dependent on oil production to balance their budgets. But the impact is becoming clearer than ever, especially when you factor in steep declines in natural gas and coal prices over the same period. A new report from the Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York suggests growing trouble for the eight states where oil, gas and mining account for 10% or more of gross domestic product. (Read More)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Economy / Finance, Energy, Government and Politics

‘Worst is over’ on oil plunge, CEO says

January 13, 2016

When it comes to putting the best foot forward in difficult times, Harold Hamm does so as surely as anyone in the U.S. oil industry. Since oil prices began spiraling down last year, the CEO of Continental Resources has predicted a recovery sooner than many analysts would venture, and he’s sticking to that point of view even now as the cost of a barrel of crude has sunk to 12-year lows. “The worst is over, I believe,” Hamm said the other day as oil markets struggled to take account of the escalation in tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran and turmoil in the Chinese economy. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Consumer, Corporations, Economy / Finance, Energy, Government and Politics, Utilities and Providers

Cheap gas, oil craters: 2015 rocked energy sector

January 3, 2016

The year 2015 has been a tumultuous one for energy throughout the world, including in the U.S. A new era of abundant supplies is emerging here, bringing with it low prices, at least for now. All this comes as the U.S. and other nations take stock of climate change, and the role that producing and using energy plays in the phenomenon. With that in mind, here’s a look back at 10 big developments in energy in the U.S. in 2015. (Read More)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Defense, Energy, Government and Politics, International

After Paris, new worries over electrical grid attack

November 22, 2015

The potential for a devastating attack on the U.S. electricity grid remains high on the minds of utility and government leaders, especially in light of the deadly terrorist actions in Paris on Nov. 13. Just days after the carnage in the French capital, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) conducted a massive exercise simulating coordinated assaults on the grid in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, one that involved cyber and physical attacks that left millions of people without electricity for an extended period of time. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless