** U.S. refining companies like Valero Energy and Marathon Petroleum are set to benefit even more from a potential Venezuelan oil resurgence than drillers, as they have the equipment to process the country’s viscous crude. ** Valero Refining Company will begin laying off hundreds of workers at its Benicia refinery this spring in California. In a regulatory …
Category: Oil & Gas
Crude oil drops 4% after tensions ease in Iran
Oil’s wild ride was buffeted by geopolitical tensions involving Venezuela and Iran and led to a price drop of 4 to 5% on Thursday. The huge fall came a day after Brent crude, the world benchmark, hit a three-and-a-half-month high on Wednesday. Thursday was a different story as prices posted their biggest fall since June …
“Potential merger” by Devon Energy with Coterra Energy?
Devon Energy might be in the business of expanding through a reported possible merger with Coterra Energy. Or it could be an expansion of Coterra Energy. Reuters reported Thursday the two oil and gas firms are “exploring a potential merger” and the news agency said if it occurs, the result would be the creation of …
State of American energy “is strong” says American Petroleum Institute
The American Petroleum Institute convened its annual State of American Energy event, bringing together industry leaders, policymakers and market analysts to examine the forces shaping America’s energy future as demand accelerates at home and abroad. In his keynote address, API President and CEO Mike Sommers outlined the policy choices he said will determine whether …
Energy briefs
** A federal judge rules the Trump administration acted illegally when it canceled $7.6 billion in federal grants for clean energy projects in 16 Democratic-leaning states, including Colorado, California, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii. ** Rival carrier T-Mobile piled on as Verizon struggled through a massive nationwide outage on Wednesday, telling customers its own network …
$6 billion data center for Little Rock
A data center project proposed around Little Rock could be the state’s largest economic development project in state history with a price tag of $6 billion. Avaio Digital of Connecticut announced the project will be bilt on nearly 800 wooded acres near Interstate 530 in Pulaski County and construction could begin in the …
Crude oil prices finish lower on reported easing of Iran’s retaliation
Wednesday produced higher crude oil prices in early trading then they settled lower after President Trump eased some of the fears of disruptions to Iranian oil supplies. He indicated that killings in Iran had subsided amidst the government crackdown on civil unrest. Tensions between Tehran and Washington remained high after Iran warned U.S. allies …
Energy briefs
** Lawyers for Chevron, Texaco, and Exxon Mobil argue before the U.S. Supreme Court that localities’ lawsuits against oil companies over climate change and rising seas should be heard in federal and not state courts after a jury awarded two Louisiana parish governments $744.6 million in damages from Chevron. ** The Trump administration violated the …
EIA—Data Centers fuel strongest 4-year growth in US electricity demand
EIA forecasts strongest four-year growth in U.S. electricity demand since 2000, fueled by data centers A new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts electricity use will grow this year and next year showing such gains for the first time in 18 years. The EIA made the prediction in its its first energy-sector …
Data center non-disclosure agreements target of legislator’s transparency bill
He is known for his stance against wind farm takeovers of land in the state and green-energy projects and now Chandler Republican Rep. Jim Shaw wants more transparency from the agencies that decide the fate of such projects. While his bill makes no mention of data centers, the goal of his bill is obvious. He announced …