Free Republic

The state of Alaska will now own more of the big Alaska LNG Project. It will have to shell out more money for it, too. Alaska's Permanent Fund may have to be put up as collateral, also. Legislators have been meeting in special session in Juneau since Oct. 24 to review Gov. Bill Walker's proposal for the state to buy out TransCanada's share of the planned $45 billion to $65 billion pipeline and liquefied gas project. On Nov. 3 and 4, the state Senate (16-3) and House (39-0) gave their approvals. The acquisition is to be effective Dec. 1, under...

WASHINGTON — The White House on Tuesday said President Obama had no intention of bowing to a request from the company behind the Keystone XL oil pipeline to delay a decision on the project, saying he wanted to take action before his tenure ends. The State Department is reviewing a request made on Monday by the company, TransCanada, to pause its yearslong evaluation of the proposed 1,179-mile pipeline, which has become part of a broader debate over Mr. Obama’s environmental agenda. Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said on Tuesday that “there’s reason to suspect that there may be...

The Canadian company behind the proposed Keystone XL pipeline on Monday asked the U.S. government to suspend review of the $8 billion project that sparked a political war between environmentalists and the oil industry, a move that could put its fate in the hands of the next U.S. president. TransCanada Corp's (TRP.TO) move was seen by many as an attempt to avert a rejection from an increasingly environmentally focused President Barack Obama and postpone the decision until after the November 2016 presidential election. Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has said she opposes the pipeline while many Republican candidates support the project...

While the last decade of oil and gas development has been largely contained to the shale regions of Pennsylvania, the next phase will tunnel through the midstate. Company men have been showing up at doorsteps throughout the region, asking for pieces of private property where pipelines can be built. After 10 years of drilling, shale operators have more natural resources than the infrastructure to deliver it. There's now more supply than demand, and pipeline builders are seizing the opportunity and submitting plans for an underground network to move through Pennsylvania. "These projects are absolutely crucial, especially given the fact that...

Donald Trump says the United States needs a “better deal” from the developer of the Keystone XL oil pipeline before the project is approved. At a Tuesday rally in Iowa, the GOP presidential front-runner complained that the United States is “not really getting anything” in return for the controversial project, which President Obama is considering whether to approve seven years after TransCanada Corp. first applied to build it, the Toronto Star reported. The new position on Keystone contrasts with Trump’s earlier comments that he would approve the Canada-to-Texas pipeline immediately upon taking office, similar to his Republican rivals.

The Canadian election Monday ousted a strong supporter of the Keystone XL pipeline. And it brought into office another strong supporter of the Keystone XL pipeline. The new Canadian premier, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau, has supported the construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline as well as TransCanada’s proposed $12 billion Energy East pipeline, both of which would carry bitumen from Alberta’s vast oil sands to ports and world markets.

As Vladimir Putin orders airstrikes against rebels of all stripes fighting Bashar al-Assad’s regime, there are important strategic economic goals behind Russia’s actions in Syria. The short term goal is easy to discern: prevent Assad’s collapse as no alternative suitable to Russian interests exists, preserve Russia’s only naval base in the Middle East at Tartus, and promote Russia both at home and abroad as a world power that counterbalances American hegemony. Much of the media has focused on Putin as a personal driver of Russian behavior. While forays into Georgia and Ukraine have accomplished the tactical goals of preventing increased...

Construction or preliminary work has begun on three new pipelines designed to flow new supplies of natural gas from Azerbaijan to consumers in Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, and Italy. For more than a decade, companies have been announcing proposals to build new natural gas pipelines to connect natural gas resources in Russia, Central Asia, and the Middle East with consumers in southern Europe. In contrast to the three new pipelines considered in this article, most of these projects have failed to advance. These three new or expanded pipelines would reach from Azerbaijan's eastern edge on the Caspian Sea to Italy's southeastern...

Going back two decades, the quaint United Arab Emirate of Fujairah, some 130km east of Dubai, started carving out its own unique place in the oil and gas industry under the benign shadow of Abu Dhabi; custodian of the world seventh-largest proven oil reserves. Fujairah had what the other six of constituents of the UAE did not – a shoreline on the Gulf of Oman and not the Persian Gulf. Any ships loaded on the latter coastline remained vulnerable to Iranian belligerence and threats to close of the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime outlet from the Persian Gulf to the...

The Fox News report that the Teamsters have decided not to endorse Hillary Clinton’s candidacy at this time, shortly after her pronouncement of her opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline, does not surprise and shows the peril of trying to be all things to all constituencies. On the one hand, there is a need to placate environmentalists and climate change true believers who oppose the pipeline from Canada. Among them is billionaire Tom Steyer, an eco-zealot who has pledged his fortune in support of Democratic candidates who want to repeal the Industrial Revolution who want us to rely on solar...

The Williams Cos. said Monday it will accept an offer from rival Energy Transfer, ending months of tortuous negotiation with a deal worth $32.9 billion. The purchase is the second-largest energy deal announced this year, behind only Royal Dutch Shell’s $70 billion acquisition of natural gas producer BG Group in April, and it’s the largest combination announced since oil prices slid from near $60 per barrel highs earlier this year. Including debt and other fees, Williams’ final price tag will climb to $37.7 billion. The new company will be the third largest energy business in North America and the fifth...

Following remarks by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that she disapproves of the Keystone XL pipeline project, the White House said on Wednesday that the State Department continues to consider the project.

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...

Four energy partners formally asked the federal government on Friday for permission to build a 564-mile natural gas pipeline in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. The 348-page application was submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline is intended to deliver cleaner burning natural gas to the Southeast as utilities move away from coal-burning power plants amid tighter federal rules on pollution that contributes to climate change. Richmond, Virginia-based Dominion Resources Inc. and Charlotte, North Carolina-based Duke Energy would have 45 percent and 40 percent ownership stakes in the pipeline, respectively. Charlotte-based Piedmont Natural...

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...

Don’t let anyone fool you: As we have detailed since 2013, sectarian strife in Syria has been engineered to provide cover for a war for access to oil and gas, and the power and money that come along with it. Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect recent Wikileaks revelations of US State Department leaks that show plans to destabilize Syria and overthrow the Syrian government as early as 2006. The leaks reveal that these plans were given to the US directly from the Israeli government and would be formalized through instigating civil strife and sectarianism through...

There’s fallout from the July 27 Houston Chronicle exposé of a trip to Azerbaijan by 10 member of the House that violated House rules. The trip was ostensibly sponsored by nonprofit groups but was actually funded by oil companies BP, Conoco Phillips and SOCAR, the national oil company of Azerbaijan. According to the New York Post today: Rep. Gregory Meeks pushed to let an Iran-backed natural-gas project dodge US sanctions — after attending an illicit junket paid for by energy companies. Also from the Post: “Congressman Meeks went on a 2013 Congressional trip to Baku, Azerbaijan, subsidized in part...

CAIRO (AFP) – Militants in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula bombed a gas pipeline to Jordan on Sunday, witnesses said, amid a surge in attacks on police and soldiers since Islamist president Mohamed Morsi's removal from office. Witnesses told AFP the blast took place near the North Sinai provincial capital of El-Arish, scene of major disturbances since Morsi's overthrow by the military on Wednesday. On Friday, armed Morsi supporters stormed the provincial headquarters, raising the black banner of Al-Qaeda-inspired militants, an AFP correspondent reported. A Jordanian government official confirmed that gas supplies to the energy-poor kingdom were cut. "The gas supplies to...

Israelis urged to return home for fear that peninsula will become launching pad for terror attacks as police abandon posts, facing increasing violence. Concern is mounting in Israel over reports that the Egyptian police force has abandoned the Sinai Peninsula in face of growing Beduin violence, and that the territory will turn into a breeding ground for global jihad. According to information that has arrived in Israel, Egyptian police authorities have abandoned dozens of police stations throughout the peninsula after they were attacked by Beduin armed with missiles and assault rifles. This concern was behind Israel’s decision two weeks ago...

Does Israel have oil? The very phrase Israel’s oil could change the game in the Middle East—and provoke all-out war. Could Israel really have oil? The Zion Oil and Gas Company has been looking for oil along the Mediterranean coast, and just south of the Sea of Galilee, for several years. Two days ago they announced that they had drilled a test well in their Joseph License lands (between Haifa and Tel Aviv) to 5900 meters. They earlier found large hydrocarbon deposits at the site, usually a good sign. In August of 2010, the Givot Olam company announced a find...