Energy Tomorrow Blog
Energy Tax Hikes, Impacts and the Great White Whale
intangible drilling costs tax increases lifo job losses energy production
Mark Green
Posted November 22, 2013
Today we offer three charts – all associated with the latest congressional bid to raise revenue for the federal government by hiking taxes on oil and natural gas companies.
U.S. Sen. Max Baucus has proposed delaying industry’s ability to write off intangible drilling costs (IDCs) and doing away with the “last-in, last-out” accounting method (LIFO) used by a number of energy companies. More on LIFO below. Here are three charts from Wood Mackenzie’s recent study on the impacts of delaying IDC deductions.
EPA's Ethanol Proposal and More Reasons for Energy Optimism
ethanol renewable fuel standard epa proposal oil sands shale drilling
Mark Green
Posted November 18, 2013
Big Ethanol Finally Loses
Wall Street Journal (editorial): It's not often that the ethanol lobby suffers a policy setback in Washington, but it got its head handed to it Friday. The Environmental Protection Agency announced that for the first time it is lowering the federal mandate that dictates how much ethanol must be blended into the nation's gasoline. It's about time. It's been about time from the moment the ethanol mandate came to life in the 1970s.
The 16% reduction is a modest pullback, which EPA says will hold ethanol blends in gasoline at the standard 10% (E10). But we hope this is a precedent-setting victory. After 35 years of exaggerations about the benefits of renewable fuels, the industry has lost credibility.
Renewable Mandates Examined, Offshore Drilling Takes Off and Shale's Continued Growth
ethanol renewable fuel standard offshore drilling shale energy
Mark Green
Posted November 12, 2013
Ethanol Investigation: The Dirty Cost of the Green Power Push
Associated Press: CORYDON, Iowa — The hills of southern Iowa bear the scars of America's push for green energy: The brown gashes where rain has washed away the soil. The polluted streams that dump fertilizer into the water supply.
Even the cemetery that disappeared like an apparition into a cornfield.
It wasn't supposed to be this way.
With the Iowa political caucuses on the horizon in 2007, presidential candidate Barack Obama made homegrown corn a centerpiece of his plan to slow global warming. And when President George W. Bush signed a law that year requiring oil companies to add billions of gallons of ethanol to their gasoline each year, Bush predicted it would make the country "stronger, cleaner and more secure."
But the ethanol era has proven far more damaging to the environment than politicians promised and much worse than the government admits today.
Fracking and Innovation
hydraulic fracturing fracking horizontal drilling shale energy
Mark Green
Posted November 4, 2013
In his New York Times review of Gregory Zuckerman’s new book, “The Frackers,” which tells the story of the Oklahoma and Texas entrepreneurs behind the modern hydraulic fracturing/energy revolution, Bryan Burrough leads with:
One could argue that, except for the Internet, the most important technological advance of the last two decades has been hydraulic fracturing, widely known as fracking. Practically overnight, it seems, this drilling technique has produced so much oil and gas beneath American soil that we are at the brink of something once thought unattainable: true energy independence. And its repercussions, for geopolitics, the environment and other areas, are only now being grasped.
Keeping Up with the U.S. Shale Energy Revolution
pipeline expansion drilling oil and natural gas
Mary Schaper
Posted October 30, 2013
Marcellus Natural Gas Pipeline Projects Will Primarily Benefit New York and New Jersey
EIA Today in Energy: Multiple pipeline expansion projects are expected to begin service this winter to increase natural gas takeaway capacity from the Appalachian Basin's Marcellus Shale play, where production has increased significantly over the past two years. These new projects are largely focused on transporting gas to the New York/New Jersey and Mid-Atlantic regions and would have limited benefit for consumers in New England, where price spikes during periods of peak winter demand appear likely to persist.
Video Update: Anadarko's Lucius Spar Positioned in Gulf
technology innovation gulf energy production offshore drilling oil and natural gas energy
Mark Green
Posted October 28, 2013
This summer we posted on Anadarko’s Lucius spar, the 605-foot-long steel tube that would support the company’s newest Gulf of Mexico production platform. Now Anadarko has released three videos of operations to tow the 23,000-ton spar 340 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, where it was erected in more than 7,000 feet of water and will be fitted with its topsides – the platform the company expects will begin producing oil the second half of next year. This is must-see video.
Lots of Shale Output, Lots of Well-Paying Jobs
shale gas drilling shale jobs petroleum engineering hydraulic fracturing
Mark Green
Posted October 23, 2013
Understanding Fracking
fracking hydraulic fracturing natural gas from shale oil drilling standards
Mark Green
Posted October 18, 2013
A recent University of Texas poll points up an interesting disconnect in Americans: While more than 80 percent of those surveyed said they support natural gas development, they’re much less enthusiastic about the process that has made possible America’s energy resurgence: hydraulic fracturing. ...
No doubt, this results from misinformation and confusion spread by opponents of natural gas development. By its nature scaremongering attracts attention, and the poll indicates many Americans need more information about the process that has made possible the ongoing U.S. energy renaissance – natural gas and oil. ...
No problem. When it comes to hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling – the twinned processes that have unlocked America’s shale energy wealth – facts aren’t in short supply.
East Coast Voters Look Offshore for Energy
Mark Green
Posted October 17, 2013
Three more polls, three more states where strong majorities support oil and natural gas drilling off America’s coasts – for jobs, a stronger economy and a more-secure energy future.
Harris Interactive surveys conducted in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina found support for offshore drilling among registered voters ranged from 64 percent (Florida) to 77 percent (South Carolina). As was true earlier this week in a poll of Virginia voters on offshore drilling, developing offshore energy goes along with the belief that more access to U.S. energy reserves and more drilling will lead to significant economic benefits and increased U.S. energy security.
Virginia: Yes to Offshore Drilling, More Energy
domestic energy access offshore drilling regulation
Mark Green
Posted October 15, 2013
Virginia is among Mid-Atlantic states under federal consideration for offshore seismic surveying for oil and natural gas. Policymakers should be mindful of a new poll showing that a wide majority of Virginians – 67 percent – favor offshore drilling, as well as increased production of domestic oil and natural gas overall.