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MORNING ENERGY NEWS  |  10.22.2019
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New York is looking to compete with California as a leader in energy poverty.


New York Post (10/21/19) reports: "How do you know Gov. Andrew Cuomo has realized a policy is a political loser? Watch for him to start claiming someone else is responsible. Thus his comment in an interview last week about how the 'political decision' of OK’ing a pipeline to ease the Brooklyn and Long Island natural gas shortage 'will probably come down to the state Legislature.' Bull: It’s Cuomo’s Department of Environmental Conservation that blocked the Williams pipeline on spurious water quality grounds. (Yes, spurious: It would run next to another pipeline, built years ago with less advanced technology, that plainly didn’t poison New York’s water.) Even if lawmakers changed how the DEC is to make such decisions, it’d still be the DEC’s call — and the DEC would still be doing exactly what the governor ordered. Cuomo has plainly ordered up a near-total ban on new pipelines to win the favor of extreme greens. But that leaves businesses and homes stuck without access to natural gas and having to rely on higher-carbon fuels. First, the gov blamed the relevant utility, National Grid; now he’s fingering the Legislature. If only he could find a way to pin the blame on Mayor Bill de Blasio."

"My hunch is that the lifelines Washington keeps tossing to the wind and solar industry have been more curse than blessing. Subsidies can be as addictive as heroin. A cold turkey cut off of taxpayer aid would force the renewable industry to adopt strategies and innovations that would make them viable competitors in energy markets."

 

– Stephen Moore, FreedomWorks

Nothing roaring about these 20's: California politicians bring about a new dark age.


Wall Street Journal (10/18/19) reports: "PG&E’s chief executive said Friday that it could take as long as 10 years for the company to improve its electric system enough to significantly diminish the need to pull the plug on customers to reduce the risk of sparking fires. Bill Johnson, who joined the company in May, made the disclosure at a California Public Utilities Commission hearing where the panel’s president, Marybel Batjer, sharply criticized the company’s 'inadequate execution' of a shut-off in which it turned off power to large portions of Northern California for more than two days last week...For now, the shut-offs will continue as PG&E scrambles to trim trees near power lines and upgrade equipment across its 70,000-square-mile service territory, after a protracted drought this decade turned millions of acres of forest into a tinderbox...Mr. Johnson said the utility is working to limit the scope of future shut-offs by trimming more trees and installing technology to enable the shutdown of smaller, more targeted portions of the grid. But he estimated it will take as long as a decade before its shut-offs will have 'ratcheted down significantly.' 'I think they’ll decrease in size and scope every year,” he said. 'But at the same time we’re doing this the risk is not static, it’s dynamic and it goes up every year.'"

Someone get this over to the "party of science."


Western Wire (10/18/19) blog: "The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) released a highly-anticipated report on Thursday that showed there are not serious, long-term health impacts to residents living near oil and gas operations including no links to cancer. The report was outsourced by the state to consulting firm ICF International and builds on previous work done by Colorado State University and state officials from the past four years. It was originally intended to be released in the summer of 2018 ahead of a contentious election that featured the Prop 112 ballot initiative and a busy legislative session in the spring of 2019 that saw the passage of SB 181. Western Wire has previously covered the continued delays by the state in releasing the report. Anti-oil and gas political leaders and activists did jump on one section of the report that stated there is a low risk for short-term health effects for residents living near operations. But it was quickly clarified those risks might be elevated only during a very specific combination of events involving extreme conditions and under worst-case scenarios during the final stage of operations. A previous study from CDPHE found 'all measured air concentrations were below short- and long-term "safe" levels of exposure for non-cancer health effects, even for sensitive populations. Overall, available air monitoring data suggest low risk of harmful health effects from combined exposure to all substances.'"

America should ban fracking because - after all - the age of oil is over.


Forbes (10/17/19) Column: "Everybody knows that China has been leading the world in new oil and natural gas demand, except for last year when the U.S. did it. But, what is not so commonly known is that China is now the largest oil and natural gas importer. This is a really big deal for other consumers: oil and gas supply over 60% of the world’s energy.  China has 1.4 billion people, a government obsessed with economic growth, energy usage that accounts for 25% of the world’s total, and an ever-extending global reach that has procuring energy supplies at its core, namely oil and gas in any area, any country at any time. Oil and gas constitute a rising 30% of China’s total energy demand. Since 2013 alone, China’s oil production has fallen nearly 15%, while its oil demand has risen 30% to ~13.8 million b/d. In turn, China relies on imports for around 75% of its total oil usage. China also likes to buy crude when prices are low to stockpile its security inventories, a 'rainy day' supply that could currently cover about 80 days of imports. September crude imports were up 11% YoY. Up from basically zero a decade ago, China’s natural gas import reliance is a rising 45% – despite a doubling in domestic production." 

Hey Elon, if you're looking for a celebrity spokesperson for the Chinese market I might know a guy...


Business Insider (10/21/19) reports: "China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology added Tesla to a list of approved automakers, clearing the electric vehicle (EV) maker to begin production in the country, according to Reuters. Tesla is currently building a $2 billion Gigafactory near Shanghai that will begin producing vehicles by April 2020. Tesla will be able to sell its domestically produced EVs in the country at a much lower price than those it currently imports, as it can avoid pricey import duties and shipping costs...Tesla is focused on establishing itself in China as the country is — and will continue to be — the world's largest EV market. In 2018, China accounted for nearly 1.1 million EV sales, and with 2.3 million units, it owned almost half of the world's EV stock, according to the International Energy Agency. China is expected to continue to be the leading market for EVs, as annual EV sales are expected to reach nearly 5.5 million units in 2025."

Energy Markets

 
WTI Crude Oil: ↑ $53.57
Natural Gas: ↑ $2.25
Gasoline: ↓ $2.64
Diesel: ↑ $2.99
Heating Oil: ↑ $194.23
Brent Crude Oil: ↑ $59.18
US Rig Count: ↓ 858

 
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