Watching Government: Forecasting amid uncertainty

Adam Sieminski has led the US Energy Information Administration long enough to know the initial Annual Energy Outlook of the new year can be difficult. Source: News

Adjusting to BTA

As expectations grow that oil exporters actually might cut production to support the price of crude, a new complication emerges. It attaches to a proposal gaining political momentum in the US: tax reform. Last June, congressional Republicans embraced a border tax adjustment (BTA) as a way to encourage exports and discourage imports. The mechanism increasingly […]

TRC's name questioned

Foiled efforts so far to rename the Texas Railroad Commission remind this OGJ editor of a state antilitter campaign: “Don’t mess with Texas.” TRC may have the most colorful history of any state agency. Source: News

MARKET WATCH: NYMEX crude oil price settles below $53/bbl

Crude oil benchmarks traded moderately lower on Jan. 13, ending a 2-day rally driven by some major producers cutting production, especially Saudi Arabia. Light, sweet crude prices settled above $52/bbl on the New York market while Brent crude settled above $53 on the London market. Source: News

PHMSA issues final rule aimed at improving liquids pipeline safety

The US Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration completed one of its top priority rulemakings for 2016 as Administrator Marie Therese Dominguez signed long-awaited safety requirements for onshore hazardous materials pipelines. The final rule makes critical safety improvements, PHMSA said. An American Petroleum Institute official said it still falls short of what is needed. […]

ConocoPhillips Alaska makes oil discovery in NPR-A

ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. reported making an oil discovery in the Greater Mooses Tooth (GMT) Unit in the northeast section of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). Source: News

WPX grabs more Delaware basin acreage in $775-million deal

WPX Energy Inc., Tulsa, has agreed to acquire 18,100 net acres in Reeves, Loving, Ward, and Winkler counties in Texas from private equity backed firms Panther Energy Co. II LLC and Carrier Energy Partners LLC for $775 million in cash. Source: News

API official lists policy areas for upcoming confirmation hearings

US senators considering nominees to lead the US Departments of the Interior and Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency should ask about ways policies can be improved to create jobs, benefit consumers, and improve the general economy and domestic energy security, an American Petroleum Institute official said days before scheduled hearings. Source: News