Free Republic

The federal government's failure to secure the Texas-Mexico border continues to put critical oil and gas infrastructure in the state at risk, Texas Railroad Commission Chairman David Porter said in a Nov. 16 letter to the Homeland Security Department. Citing several news articles, Porter said ISIS has attacked against oil and gas pipelines in the Middle East, and to do so in Texas could be part of the terror group's plans. In 2013, the Yemeni oil minister said the destruction resulted in almost $1 billion in lost revenue. Porter was echoing sentiments he expressed in a letter last year to...

The Keystone XL Pipeline is officially dead. Last week, President Barack Obama rejected the proposed pipeline, wrapping things up after years of staying firmly undecided on the issue. "The State Department has decided that the Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the national interest of the United States," Obama said during a 10-minute press conference. "I agree with that decision." Of course, environmentalists hailed the decision as a major environmental victory. The Sierra Club thanked Obama "for taking courageous action" in his decision to finally, finally shut down any hope that the pipeline would ever be approved. But the thing...

President Obama said Monday that the Keystone pipeline and other such fossil-fuel development projects would make Earth "uninhabitable." "We've got to lead by example, because ultimately, if we're going to prevent large parts of the Earth from becoming not only inhospitable but uninhabitable, then we're going to have to keep some fossil fuels in the ground rather than burn them," Mr. Obama told cheering grassroots supporters at a gathering in Washington.

They've shooed pipeline surveyors from their pastures, made anti-pipeline signs for a protest at the county courthouse and at appearances by the Virginia governor. They've also kept up pressure on local officials. As the leader in this multigenerational band of family activists, Carolyn Reilly has found the experience exhilarating and bruising. "There are days when I am in tears in frustration and exhaustion," she said. "Then there are days when I'm fired up and ready to fight." From New England to North Carolina, scattered insurgencies have formed in opposition to a spider web of pipelines up and down the Eastern...

President Obama has junked the Keystone XL pipeline. His stated reason: The U.S. needs to lead the "serious action to fight climate change." His real reason is different. 'America," Obama said, is "now a global leader" in the climate war, "and frankly, approving this project would have undercut that global leadership." He insists now is the time to "protect the one planet we've got while we still can." Though his rhetoric will resonate with those who want to hear that sort of bunkum, the rest of us recognize its vast emptiness. Obama's decision Friday was based on nothing more than...

WASHINGTON — President Obama announced on Friday that he had rejected the request from a Canadian company to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline, ending a seven-year review that had become a symbol of the debate over his climate policies. Mr. Obama’s denial of the proposed 1,179-mile pipeline, which would have carried 800,000 barrels a day of carbon-heavy petroleum from the Canadian oil sands to the Gulf Coast, comes as he seeks to build an ambitious legacy on climate change. “America is now a global leader when it comes to taking serious action to fight climate change,” Mr. Obama said...

Issues statement on Obama Administration’s rejection of Keystone XL Pipeline WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) issued the following statement after the Obama Administration rejected the Keystone XL Pipeline:“Today, President Obama once again confirmed what most of us already knew: he does not care about American jobs or the American economy. He remains controlled by a radical environmentalist agenda, which seeks the elimination of whole segments of our economy.“It’s also notable that President Obama’s decision today is in direct contravention to the wishes of Congress, not to mention the recommendation of his own State Department. The State...

Dakota Access Pipeline, LLC has awarded Michels Pipeline Construction, a Division of Michels Corporation, and Precision Pipeline, LLC construction contracts for multiple segments along the 1,134-mile Dakota Access Pipeline. Once completed, the project will transport light sweet crude oil from the Bakken and Three Forks production areas in North Dakota to Patoka, IL where shippers will be able to access multiple markets, including Midwest, East Coast and Gulf Coast regions. Michels and Precision will each construct pipeline segments in North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa. Ultimately, Dakota Access will sign construction contracts with up to five union contractors. As part...

Barack Obama went to Oklahoma to promote the Keystone pipeline in 2012. Obama said he was “making the pipeline a priority.” But it was just another lie. Obama also took credit for the oil boom in America.

Ending a review process that lasted nearly seven years, President Obama on Friday rejected the Keystone XL oil pipeline, siding firmly with environmental activists and drawing the ire of business and labor groups who say the administration is willfully standing in the way of economic growth, job creation and energy security. In a speech at the White House, Mr. Obama, flanked by Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joseph R. Biden, formally announced they'll block construction of Keystone. "The State Department has decided the Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the national interests of the United States. I...

In recognition that its campaign is heading for near certain failure, TransCanada hopes to delay the review process of its proposed Keystone XL pipeline until the next administration. TransCanada sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry asking for a “pause” in the review process. The letter is a last ditch effort on behalf of the company to save the project, presumably hoping for a Republican in the White House in 2017. Environmental groups hailed the move as a win, but want U.S. President Barack Obama to administer a coup de grace by rejecting the pipeline outright. They may...

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...