Major US operators entered 2017 with increased capital budgets and plans to ramp up drilling in the Lower 48’s most promising regions, namely the Permian basin and Sooner Trend Anadarko basin Canadian and Kingfisher counties (STACK) play. Source: News

US light, sweet crude prices gained slightly on Aug. 11 but settled below $49/bbl and ended the week down 1.53%—the second consecutive weekly decline. At its highest point last week, the US benchmark briefly topped $50/bbl on Aug. 10 but settled well below that. Source: News

With energy, there is no mistake so costly that some government, somewhere, won’t repeat it. Source: News

The US Department of the Interior’s Greater Sage Grouse Review Team submitted a report on Aug. 7 that Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke ordered 2 months earlier about possible ways to complement state efforts to improve the bird’s conservation on public lands while promoting economic development. Source: News

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission moved one step closer to regaining its quorum as the White House sent its nominations of Richard Glick and Kevin J. McIntyre to be FERC members to the US Senate for approval on Aug. 2. Source: News

The Trump administration appears ready to retreat from its predecessors’ financial transparency commitments at a time when a strong US effort looks more essential than ever, a speaker asserted during an Aug. 8 discussion at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Source: News

Ten years ago, officials of the US government would have thought twice about imposing sanctions on three of the world’s top 12 oil-producing countries. They would have worried about oil supply. Markets, similarly fretful, would have become nervous. The mere possibility of retaliation in the oil market would have increased prices. Source: News