Free Republic

The Iranian government is earning more from tax than oil for the first time in almost half a century as the country shifts its traditional reliance on crude to taxation revenues in the face of plummeting oil prices. President Hassan Rouhani’s economic strategy is to significantly reduce the government’s dependency on oil and instead collect tax more systematically, according to Ali Kardor, the deputy managing director of the national Iranian oil company (NIOC). “For the first time in 50 years, the government’s share of the oil revenue is less than what it is earning from tax, including VAT,” he told...

Guyana's president said Saturday he's willing to meet with Venezuela's leader on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly — and the U.N. chief has arranged just that. Ban Ki-moon's Sunday schedule now shows a joint meeting with the two leaders embroiled in a border dispute. But in an interview with The Associated Press, Guyana's President David Granger also reiterated his belief that the International Court of Justice is the only answer to the countries' territorial squabble. Granger said the U.N. court in the Netherlands should mediate the matter. Any attempt by him and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to negotiate...

Listen to Jacki's interview with Scott Tinker, Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology at University of Texas in Austin. Scott Tinker, University of Texas in Austin

This show is from February, was this guest correct? listen in to find out! Jim Lacamp, Sr. VP of Investments at UBS talks about declining oil prices and likely price trends in 2015.

Col. West and Mr. Bentsen discuss current trends in energy and the work of the NCPA.

Oil field services giant Halliburton is planning more cuts to its workforce, including management positions in North America where the crude slump has been particularly brutal, on top of thousands of layoffs already announced this year. In an internal memo from the company that was posted on the website of an Austin-based consultant, Halliburton laid out a plan to “flatten” its North American business by eliminating multiple layers of management — a decision that will undoubtedly affect Houston-area employees where the company is headquartered. Halliburton also said it will pursue additional cuts to its headcount as oil patch activity continues...

The outlook for diesel looks grim after U.S regulators found that the world’s second biggest car manufacturer cheated on its emission tests. Last Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported that Volkswagen violated the U.S Clean Air Act. The German auto maker deliberately rigged the so called emission control systems in several models of their cars in order to reduce nitrogen-oxide emissions when tested in the lab. However, when tested on the road, the size of the ‘diesel deception’ proved to be bigger than many could have imagined. Bloomberg reported on September 22 that on an open road test both...

The Interior Department said Tuesday that the greater sage grouse, a ground-dwelling bird whose vast range spans 11 Western states, does not need federal protections ... The fight over whether to list the bird as endangered or threatened recalled the battle over the spotted owl 25 years ago, where federal protection greatly impeded the logging economy. ... could help defuse a potential political liability for Democrats heading into the 2016 election; ... House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop said Tuesday's announcement was a "cynical ploy" intended to mask the fact that the Obama administration has imposed limits on development...

The worst could be over for oil prices, if the whims of a growing number of speculators are anything to go by. Hedge funds are taking their most bullish position on crude oil prices in two months. New data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission shows that net-long positions on crude oil increased by 14,821 contracts, reaching a two-month high of 147,678 positions. These swings in investor sentiment can move the price of crude. In recent weeks, we had seen an inordinately pessimistic view of crude oil, with short positions hitting their highest levels in years. Short betting pushed WTI...

How’s this for American exceptionalism: It has now officially taken longer for the federal government to review the Keystone XL pipeline’s permit application than it did to build the entire transcontinental railroad 150 years ago. Yes, you read that right. Today marks the seven-year anniversary of what has become one of the most embarrassing examples of bureaucratic You’ve no doubt heard of the Keystone XL pipeline by now. On September 19, 2008, the company planning to build it filed a routine permit application with the State Department. The pipeline would transport up to 830,000 barrels of oil from Canada and...

Vance Ginn, Ph.D., is an Economist in the Center for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation in Austin, TX, one of the top free market, state-level think tanks in the nation. Prior to joining the Foundation in September 2013, Vance was a Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow at TPPF in 2011 and anxiously awaited his return to fight for liberty. In 2006, he interned for a U.S. Texas Congressman in Washington, D.C. and received his B.B.A. in Economics and Accounting with minors in Political Science and Mathematics before earning his Ph.D. in Economics from Texas Tech University in...

We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. - Benjamin Franklin, at the signing of the U.S. Declaration of Independence- The previous article in this series on Saudi oil policies asked what the Saudis planned to do as their encore in 2016 after sacrificing approximately $100 billion in crude oil export revenue in 2015 in pursuit of market share. This article provides the author’s answer: the Saudis must alter course, seek a consensus on prices and volumes with their fellow OPEC members, coordinate with Russia, and reduce output from 2015’s average (approx. 10.5 mmbbl/d) to signal...

In Segment 1, Dr. Ireland explains the benefits of lifting the decades-old ban on exporting U.S. crude oil. In Segment 2, Dr. Ireland explains the benefits of building the Keystone XL pipeline.

Dr. Daniel Fine, associate director of the New Mexico Center for Energy Policy, explains how an oil price war led by Saudi Arabia impacts the prospects for drilling off the N.C. coast

Texas Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick Discusses the Future of Fracking in Texas

Mrs. Clinton has refused to say whether she supports building the pipeline, saying it would be wrong to weigh in because she was involved in the deliberations when she was in the administration. The White House has yet to announce a decision even though the issue has been pending for years. Asked again about the matter at a town hall Thursday, she said she has deferred because she thought it was “right thing to do.” But she said she thought it would have been decided by now and would give her view soon even if the issue remains unsettled. “I...

Economist Ed Ireland who Chairs the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council shares his expertise on hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” and why we should not fear that it is possible for the U.S. to run short on energy if we export. Exports would be a boom for job creation and wealth creation for the middle class.

That low oil prices are squeezing out oil sands producers is not breaking news. But in spite of a grim oil price outlook, production out of Calgary has continued to grow, defying both expectations and logic. The implications are serious, not just for the future of Canada’s energy industry and economy, but also North American energy relations. In June 2015, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) revised down its 2030 production forecast to 5.3 million barrels per day (mbd). A year earlier the group predicted Canada would be able to produce 6.4 mbd by 2030. This is compared to...

The flow of crude from what had been the country’s fastest-growing oil and gas regions, like Texas’ Eagle Ford shale, is declining rapidly, according to new data released by the federal government this week. The Energy Information Administration reports that across the country’s seven largest shale deposits oil production is expected to fall to 5.2 million barrels a day next month, the sixth consecutive month of decline and a six percent drop since April. The fall marks a dramatic turnaround for a U.S. oil industry that had almost doubled its production since 2010. Through the use of advanced hydraulic fracturing...

Unveiling the AntiFracking Movement & How Fracking Brings Manufacturing Boom 9/14/15