Royal Dutch Shell PLC reported second-quarter earnings on a current cost of supplies (CCS) basis, excluding identified items, of $1.05 billion, down from $3.76 billion in second-quarter 2015. First-half earnings on a CCS basis, also excluding identified items, totaled $2.6 billion, down from $7.5 billion in the same period last year. Source: News
AFPM questions SEC proposal's broader disclosure requirements
The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers questioned whether it would be appropriate for the US Securities and Exchange Commission to mandate disclosure requirements for environmental, social, and governance matters, particularly related to climate change, for publicly traded companies. Source: News
Watching Government: BSEE's focus on bolts
Blowout preventers (BOP) were an initial offshore equipment focus following the 2010 Macondo deepwater oil well blowout. Lately, however, the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has paid growing attention to bolts. Source: News
GAO report criticizes DOI's efforts for methane emissions control
US Department of the Interior reporting guidance to oil and gas operators may hinder the US Bureau of Land Management’s ability to account for methane emissions on onshore federal leases, the Government Accountability Office warned. Source: News
Perils of independence
Energy independence can be perilous in a country plagued by misunderstanding of the concept. In pursuit of energy independence, a country faces two hazards. One is the wasted expenditure of public money. The other is nonchalance when the goal seems within reach. Source: News
Fair Warning
With forms for the 2016 edition of OGJ’s annual Worldwide Refining Survey now making their way onto desks of this year’s respondents, there couldn’t be a better time to pull back the curtain to offer readers and operators alike a peek at what life will be looking like for the downstream technical editor over the […]
Democratic platform takes environmental moralizing too far
Scooting ever leftward, the Democratic Party overworks an annoying habit of liberalism in the environmental section of its campaign platform. Source: News
AFPM asks EPA to move FRS’s point of obligation
The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers petitioned the US Environmental Protection Agency to move the point of obligation under the Renewable Fuel Standard to the owner of hydrocarbons at the rack, the same point at which excise taxes are collected. Source: News
Permian spearheads current, planned US rig count increases
The overall US rig count inched up a single unit for the second consecutive week during the week ended Aug. 5, again bolstered by increased drilling activity in the Permian basin of West Texas and New Mexico. Source: News
PAA, Phillips 66 partner to expand STACK crude pipeline
Plains All American Pipeline LP (PAA) and Phillips 66 Partners LP have formed the STACK Pipeline LLC joint venture to transport crude oil from the Sooner Trend, Anadarko basin, Canadian and Kingfisher counties (STACK) play in northwestern Oklahoma to Cushing. Source: News