thedailycaller--2019-05-04--Unrest In Venezuela Used To Roil Oil Markets Heres Why This Time Its Different

Unrest In Venezuela Used To Roil Oil Markets. Here’s Why This Time It’s Different

When Juan Guaido launched his coup attempt, oil markets didn’t do what they typically do in the face of supply threats. Instead, markets largely shrugged off Venezuelan unrest instead of sending prices soaring.  That’s because of two factors: mismanagement by Venezuela’s socialist government and the U.S. energy boom.  At the turn of the century, Venezuela’s daily oil production was around 3 million barrels per day, but output dramatically declined during the reign of former President Hugo Chavez, a former military officer who took control in 1999. Venezuela sits atop the world’s largest proven oil reserves.  “Venezuela’s oil production has collapsed in recent years,” Juan Carlos Hidalgo, a policy analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute who specializes in Latin America, told The Daily Caller News Foundation.  “Years of mismanagement, corruption and underinvestment are taking a toll,” Hidalgo said. “Oil has long been a terribly distorting factor in Venezuela’s political system.”  Chavez, who essentially ruled as a socialist dictator, took several actions early on that crippled Venezuela’s long-term oil prospects, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, including firing thousands of experiences oil workers and subsidizing oil shipments to Cuba and other countries.  Venezuela was also burdened by high inflation, corruption and rampant crime. Things went into freefall in 2014 when global oil prices collapsed amid booming U.S. shale production and the refusal of Saudi Arabia to cut output.  President Nicolas Maduro came to power in 2013, but mismanagement of Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), the state-owned oil company, did not stop. Venezuela’s oil output continued to decline, and that’s something experts don’t see stopping anytime soon. (RELATED: A ‘War’ On Warming? Britain Is In The Grip Of A Climate Change Panic)  “Production will continue to decline while Maduro remains in power,” Jorge Salazar-Carrillo, an economist at Florida International University, told TheDCNF.  That’s also because of sanctions the Trump administration placed on Venezuelan oil in January. Since then, Venezuela’s oil exports have fallen 40 percent and petroleum imports have been cut as well.  U.S. President Donald Trump’s goal is to force Maduro from power and usher in opposition leader Guiado, who the U.S. and its allies consider to be the country’s rightful leader. Maduro, however, refused to step down, precipitating a coup attempt by Guaido and supporters on Tuesday.  So far, Guaido has failed to oust Maduro, but the coup attempt has also failed to have a major impact on global oil prices. That’s where American energy comes into the picture.  Combined with sanctions against Iran, Venezuelan unrest would have sent prices soaring, but prices oil fell “amid signs of a sharp increase in U.S. crude inventories,” Bloomberg reported.  U.S. oil output hit a record high of 12.3 million per day, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration weekly production data. Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling has unleashed U.S. oil and natural gas production over the last decade.  The Trump administration made “energy dominance” a major part of its foreign policy, and in this case, it’s thus far proven effective. Venezuela’s oil economy is in shambles without having much impact on gas pump prices.  U.S. oil and gas production is expected to rise throughout the year while Venezuela’s production is set to dwindle even further — some analysts believe production could be driven down to zero because of sanctions.  But even if Guaido is able to oust Maduro, the problems plaguing Venezuela’s will not disappear without serious reforms, Cato’s Hidalgo said.  “Reversing this situation will take years and requires an institutional framework that guarantees property rights over oil concessions and welcomes foreign investment,” Hidalgo said. “As long as oil remains in the hands of politicians, the temptation is for corruption, cronyism and patronage.”  Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.


theduran--2019-09-18--Oil at 100 per barrel Attack on Saudi refineries could shake oil market further

Oil at $100 per barrel? Attack on Saudi refineries could shake oil market further

The drone strike on key Saudi oil facilities could stoke already-flaring tensions in the Middle East, driving crude prices higher amid growing fears of supply shortages, market and industry experts believe.  The devastating attack on major Saudi oil refineries at Abqaiq and Khurais slashed the kingdom’s output by 50 percent and knocked out more than five percent of global daily production. The consequences of the strikes led to uncertainty in the oil market as it’s unclear when the oil giant can restore operations to normal.  Analysts warn that it will take longer than had initially been thought to reopen the refineries, which were shut down after the strikes triggered massive fires there. Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, believes several months will pass before the entire plants are back to normal, but production may actually be resumed earlier than that.  While Saudi Aramco facilities are offline, concerns of supply shortages are only rising. Crude prices are poised to soar, but by how much has experts divided.  “I’m anticipating that oil prices in the near term are going to rise an additional $3 to $5 a barrel, due to the increased amount of geopolitical tensions that we’ve seen since this attack occurred,” Lipow told RT.  However, not everyone agrees that squeezed output can push crude prices to $100. Market analyst David Madden of CMC markets argues that such a surge “is highly unlikely,” but still expects oil futures to trade higher.  “Maybe for Brent crude oil back up towards $72 or $75 [per barrel], perhaps, or West Texas Intermediate (WTI) up to between $63-65 [per barrel] in the next few weeks is likely,” Madden said in a phone interview.  Saudi Arabia is the de-facto leader of OPEC, and other members of the oil cartel can offset the kingdom’s shortages if they come to an agreement on it with allied states, according to the analysts. Kuwait, the UAE and non-member Russia can use their spare capacities for it.  However, entities relying on Saudi imports can start seeking alternative supply sources, Abdessamad al-Azani, associate professor at the business and economics department of Qatar University, told Ria Novosti. In this way the US may become the main beneficiary of Saudi oil troubles.  “The US can become such an alternative, [US President Donald] Trump made it clear when he wrote that the shipments of oil from the Middle East are not necessary,” al-Azani said.


thenewyorktimes--2019-04-15--US Risks Roiling Oil Markets in Trying to Tighten Sanctions

U.S. Risks Roiling Oil Markets in Trying to Tighten Sanctions

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has reached a critical juncture in its efforts to tighten United States oil sanctions against Iran and Venezuela.  By pressuring China and India to end or sharply reduce oil purchases from Iran and Venezuela, American officials are seeking to cut off a key economic lifeline for what the administration considers to be two rogue nations that threaten the stability of the Middle East and Latin America.  But they must do that without roiling global markets, further straining relations with China and India or raising gasoline prices in the United States.  The dilemma has led to a fierce debate within the Trump administration, which is set to decide by May 2 whether to extend waivers allowing China, India and three other nations to buy Iranian oil. A halt of oil shipments would constrict global oil supplies and increase costs at a time when much of the world economy is slowing.


thenewyorktimes--2019-04-16--US Risks Roiling Oil Markets in Trying to Tighten Sanctions


thenewyorktimes--2019-09-16--After Saudi Attack Oil Market Is on Edge What if the Other Shoe Drops

After Saudi Attack, Oil Market Is on Edge: ‘What if the Other Shoe Drops?’

HOUSTON — Fixing the damage done by the drone attack on the Saudi oil processing plant may be the easy part. The hard part will be calming energy markets, where oil prices have jumped faster than at any time in over a decade.  The attack on a Saudi Arabian plant that accounts for 5 percent of global oil supplies and a nearby facility took 5.7 million barrels a day of production off line for at least a few days. It also revealed the significant danger that drones pose to the Persian Gulf’s sprawling processing plants, pipelines and refineries.  “The psyche has been altered,” said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for Oil Price Information Service. “Now you have the thought, `What if the other shoe drops and we have a wider conflict?’”  For years, American and Saudi security analysts have worried about the Abqaiq processing facility, which removes sulfur impurities and makes crude oil less volatile so it can be safely exported on tankers. Without the plant, much of the oil that Saudi Arabia produces at its giant Ghawar and Shaybah oil fields would have nowhere to go.


unian--2019-01-03--Reuters Oil prices fall on demand fears market volatility

Reuters: Oil prices fall on demand fears, market volatility

U.S. crude production stood at a record 11.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in late 2018, making America the world's biggest oil producer.  Oil prices fell by 1 to 2 percent on Thursday amid volatile currency and stock markets, and on concerns that an economic slowdown in 2019 will cut into fuel demand just as crude supplies are surging.  U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures dropped by 2.2 percent, or $1.01, from their last settlement to $45.53 by 0550 GMT, Reuters said.  International Brent crude futures were down 1.4 percent, or 76 cents, at $54.15 a barrel.  Read alsoReuters: Oil opens 2019 with losses on surging supply, signs of economic slowdown  In physical oil markets, top exporter Saudi Arabia is expected to cut February prices for heavier crude grades sold to Asia by up to 50 cents a barrel due to weaker fuel oil margins, respondents to a Reuters survey said on Thursday.  More fundamentally, oil markets have come under pressure from a surge in supply just as demand growth is expected to slow amid the market turmoil.  U.S. crude production stood at a record 11.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in late 2018, making America the world's biggest oil producer.  Others are not sitting idle, with Russian output reaching a record of more than 11 million bpd in 2018.  Supply from Iraq, the number two producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is also up, with December exports at 3.73 million bpd, up from 3.37 million bpd in November.


unian--2019-04-09--Reuters Oil prices hover near five-month highs as global markets tighten

Reuters: Oil prices hover near five-month highs as global markets tighten

Brent and WTI futures have risen by 40 percent and 30 percent respectively since the start of the year.  Oil prices rose to fresh 5-month highs on Tuesday as markets tightened amid OPEC-led supply cuts, U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, and escalating violence in Libya.  International benchmark Brent futures hit their strongest level since last November at $71.34 per barrel, before easing to $71.18 per barrel by 0452 GMT, still 8 cents, or 0.1 percent, above their last close, as reported by Reuters.  U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures also hit a November 2018 high, at $64.77 per barrel, before easing to $64.53, up 13 cents, or 0.2 percent.  Oil markets have tightened this year as the United States imposed sanctions on oil exporters Iran and Venezuela while the producer club of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has been withholding supply to prop up prices.  Brent and WTI futures have risen by 40 percent and 30 percent respectively since the start of the year.  Goldman Sachs said an oil supply deficit had opened up early this year.  "We expect the drivers of this deficit to persist through 2Q19" due to a "shock and awe implementation of the OPEC cuts ... further tightening of U.S. oil sanctions and an only moderate increase in shale production for now," the U.S. bank said in a note.  Goldman said it expected Brent to average $72.50 per barrel during the second quarter, up from a previous forecast of $65 per barrel.  Prices have been further lifted this week by escalating violence in Libya, a significant supplier of oil to Europe, which produced around 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude in March.  Eastern forces on Monday were advancing on the Libyan capital Tripoli in the latest of a cycle of warfare since Muammar Gaddafi's fall in 2011, with a warplane attacking the city's only functioning airport.  Yet despite generally bullish oil markets, concerns that an economic slowdown this year will hit fuel consumption have been preventing crude prices from rising even higher, traders said.  And while fears of a global recession ebbed following strong U.S. jobs figures and improved Chinese manufacturing data late last week, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said there was still a "significant slowing in growth globally" in 2019.  The bank said it expected Brent and WTI to average $70 per barrel and $59 per barrel respectively in 2019, and $65 per barrel and $60 per barrel in 2020.  Goldman Sachs also said oil prices "will decline gradually from this summer as shale and OPEC production increases."  Russia, not an OPEC-member but a reluctant participant in the supply cuts, signaled on Monday it wanted to raise output when it meets with OPEC in June because of falling stockpiles.  In the United States, crude oil production has risen by more than 2 million bpd since early 2018, to a record 12.2 million bpd, with many analysts expecting output to exceed 13 million bpd soon.


unian--2019-05-07--Reuters Oil mixed as US-China trade dispute weighs but sanctions keep market tense

Reuters: Oil mixed as U.S.-China trade dispute weighs, but sanctions keep market tense

Traders said prices weighed by stalling trade talks between the United States and China would weigh on global economic growth and dent fuel consumption.  Oil prices were mixed on Tuesday, pressured by concerns the escalating Sino-U.S. trade dispute could slow the global economy, while U.S. sanctions on crude exporters Iran and Venezuela helped keep the market on edge.  Brent crude oil futures were at $71.28 per barrel at 0443 GMT, 4 cents above their last close, Reuters said.  U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $62.44 per barrel, 18 cents, or 0.3 percent above their last settlement.  Traders said prices weighed by stalling trade talks between the United States and China would weigh on global economic growth and dent fuel consumption.  Read alsoReuters: Oil tumbles after Trump threatens new tariffs on Chinese goods  Talks between the world's two biggest economies hit a wall over the weekend, when U.S. President Donald Trump announced a raft of new import tariffs on Chinese goods.  Tanker brokerage Eastport said in a note that "worsening trade friction between Washington and Beijing poses a downside risk to our forecasts" for petroleum products.  On the supply-side, oil markets remain tense as the United States tightens sanctions on Iranian oil exports, saying on Monday it was boosting its military presence in the Middle East.  Iran has threatened "reciprocal actions" against U.S. sanctions, which could mean restarting some of its nuclear program.  The U.S. sanctions have already halved Iranian crude oil exports over the past year to below 1 million barrels per day (bpd), and shipments to customers are expected to drop to as low as 500,000 bpd in May as sanctions tighten.  Beyond Iran, Washington has also placed sanctions on the Venezuelan government under President Nicolas Maduro, disrupting supplies from the country, a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).


unian--2019-08-27--Reuters Oil rises as US-China trade comments calm markets

Reuters: Oil rises as U.S.-China trade comments calm markets

Oil prices have fallen around 20% from a 2019 high reached in April, in part because of worries that the U.S.-China trade conflict is hurting the global economy, which could dent demand for oil.  Oil prices rose on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump predicted a trade deal with China after positive comments by Beijing, calming nerves after a round of tit-for-tat tariff hikes had sent markets reeling.  Brent crude LCOc1 was up by 25 cents, or 0.4%, at $58.95 a barrel by 0214 GMT, after falling 1% in the previous session, dropping for a third day in a row, as reported by Reuters.  U.S. crude CLc1 was up by 30 cents or 0.6% at $53.94 a barrel, having also dropped 1% on Monday for a fourth day of declines.  Trump on Monday said he believed China was sincere about wanting to reach a deal, while Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said China was willing to resolve the dispute through "calm" negotiations, settling global markets.  "For now, the street is in thrall to the President's comments, with financial markets doing abrupt changes of direction on his words that wouldn't look out of place in Fast and the Furious film," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.  Oil prices have fallen around 20% from a 2019 high reached in April, in part because of worries that the U.S.-China trade conflict is hurting the global economy, which could dent demand for oil.  China's Commerce Ministry said last week it would impose additional tariffs of 5% or 10% on a total of 5,078 products originating from the United States, including crude oil, agricultural products and small aircraft.  In retaliation, Trump said he was ordering U.S. companies to look at ways to close operations in China and make products in the United States.  "Unless you believe a trade deal will happen the slowdown in the global economy continues... and earnings all over the globe will be under pressure," said Greg McKenna, strategist at McKenna Macro.  The measures are prompting reactions from Chinese companies, with Sinopec seeking a tariff exemption for importing U.S. oil in the coming months, sources told Reuters.  Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil and gasoline inventories likely fell last week, while distillate stockpiles rose, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.  Five analysts polled by Reuters estimated, on average, that crude inventories fell 2.1 million barrels in the week to Aug. 23.


unian--2019-12-06--Reuters: Oil drops as market awaits ratification of OPEC+ supply cut

A panel of ministers representing OPEC and non-OPEC producers led by Russia recommended the cuts.  Oil slipped in early Asian trade on Friday, with U.S. crude moving further away from a two-month high after OPEC agreed to increase output curbs in early 2020 but failed to promise further steps after March.  Brent futures LCOc1 were down 21 cents, or 0.3%, at $63.18 by 0258 GMT, Reuters said.  West Texas Intermediate oil futures CLc1 fell 14 cents, or 0.2%, to $58.29 a barrel. They hit $59.12 a barrel on Thursday, the highest since the end of September.  The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia - a grouping known as OPEC+ - agreed to more output cuts to avert oversupply early next year as economic growth stagnates amid the U.S.-China trade war.  The agreement, which needs to be formally adopted later on Friday, will cut an extra 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) of production, through tighter compliance and some adjustments. The group has been withholding 1.2 million bpd and the increased amount represents about 1.7% of global oil output.  The "decision seems to be more of a housekeeping move that will narrow the gap between their current target and the over-compliance we have seen from the alliance," said Edward Moya senior market analyst at OANDA.  A panel of ministers representing OPEC and non-OPEC producers led by Russia recommended the cuts, according to Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak on Thursday.  Details need to be hammered out at an OPEC+ meeting that starts later on Friday in Vienna.  Any price gains from the OPEC+ output cut are likely to benefit American producers not party to any supply curbing agreement. American drillers have been breaking production records even as they cut the number of oil rigs in operation, filling gaps in global supplies.


veteranstoday--2019-04-04--Duff on Press TV Oil Sanctions Iran Waivers and Market Manipulation

Duff on Press TV:  Oil Sanctions, Iran Waivers and Market Manipulation

The US special representative for Iran says Washington is not looking to grant any further waivers to countries importing Iranian oil. Brian Hook says three of the eight countries that had been granted exemptions have already cut their imports to zero.  Hook did not specify the countries in question. He stressed that oil market conditions are now prepared for the U-S to ramp up pressure on Iran’s oil sector. The threats come as the International Atomic Energy Agency once again reaffirms Iran’s compliance with the country’s 20-15 nuclear deal, known as the J-C-P-O-A.  The agency says its inspectors have full access to all the sites they need to visit in Iran. Last May, United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, re-imposing sanctions that had been lifted following the accord.


zerohedge--2019-11-26--Two Factors To Upend Oil Markets In 2020

The major forecasters see an oil supply surplus next year, but those bearish outlooks largely depend on the health of U.S. shale growth in 2020, an assumption that is looking increasingly fanciful.  Financial struggles are well-known, but the dominoes continue to fall. As Bloomberg reported, some drillers have recently seen their credit lines reduced, limiting their access to fresh capital. Twice a year in the spring and fall, banks reassess their credit lines to shale drillers, and decide how much they will authorize companies to borrow. This time around is expected to be the first time in roughly three years that lenders tighten up lending capacities.  The curtailment in lending comes at a time when scrutiny on shale finances is increasing. Share prices have fallen sharply this year as investors lose interest. The industry continues to burn cash, and lenders and investors shunning the industry.  Of course, if drillers cannot borrow to cover their financing gaps, they may be forced into bankruptcy. The cutting of the borrowing base “can be a good precursor to potential bankruptcy because as capital markets stay closed off for these companies, the borrowing base serves as the only source of liquidity,” Billy Bailey, Saltstone Capital Management LLC portfolio manager, told Bloomberg.  Not every company is entirely cut off from capital markets. As Liam Denning points out, Diamondback Energy was able to issue $3 billion in new bonds at low interest rates, which highlights the case of “haves and have nots” within the industry.  But the financial stress helps explain the slowdown in U.S. oil production this year. The U.S. added about 2 million barrels per day (mb/d) between January 2018 and the end of last year; but output is only up a few hundred thousand barrels per day in 2019 from January through August.  Confusingly, the IEA still forecasts a substantial increase in U.S. oil production in 2020 at 1.2 mb/d, but not everyone agrees with that optimistic outlook. The credit crunch and financial stress in the shale sector could lead to a disappointment in 2020.  It is against this bewildering backdrop that OPEC+ must decide its next move. The IEA says that OPEC+ is in for some trouble as a supply glut looms – in large part because of shale growth. Others agree, to be sure. Commerzbank said that OPEC’s efforts to focus on laggards such as Iraq and Nigeria will be insufficient. “It is a mystery why OPEC should believe that it can avoid this oversupply by making just a few cosmetic adjustments,” the investment bank said. “By early next year at the latest OPEC thus risks being rudely awakened.”  However, at the same time, the physical market is showing some slightly bullish signs. In the oil futures market, front-month contracts for Brent are trading at a premium to longer-dated ones. The six-month premium rose to $3.50 per barrel recently, up from $1.90 last month, Reuters reports. A large premium is typically associated with a tighter market.  Moreover, there is a chance of a thaw in the U.S.-China trade war, which could provide some tailwinds to the global economy. It’s become impossible to trust the daily rumors coming from Washington and Beijing, but the two sides have shown some desire to at least call a truce and not step up the tariffs.  Still, the economy has slowed. The OECD warned that global GDP will decelerate to just 2.9 percent this year, and remain within a 2.9-3.0 percent range through 2021. This is the weakest rate of growth in a decade, and is down sharply from the 3.8 percent seen last year. “Two years of escalating conflict over tariffs, principally between the US and China, has hit trade, is undermining business investment and is putting jobs at risk,” the OECD said.  The U.S. and China, then, have a great deal of influence over the near-term prospects for oil. As mentioned, there is still a wide range of opinions on the magnitude of the oil supply surplus in 2020, but a breakthrough in the trade war would immediately shift growth projections, oil demand trajectories, and, importantly, sentiment. Even the mere expectation of an economic rebound would send oil prices rising, at least for a little while.  On the other hand, the thaw in the trade war is far from inevitable. The two sides have shown little evidence, if any, that they are actually making progress on some of the structural issues at hand. There is still the possibility that the talks fall apart and the trade war marches on, or even grows worse.  Because it is generally assumed that the oil market has already factored in some degree of optimism around tariff reduction, which has likely added a few dollars to the barrel of oil, a reassessment to the downside would surely send oil prices tumbling.


sottnet--2019-03-30--Washington demands foreign firms cut oil trade with Venezuela

Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn't fit in with the core belief.


sottnet--2019-06-03--Chinas oil industry prepares for worst-case trade war scenario in response to US sanctions

China's oil industry prepares for worst-case trade war scenario in response to US sanctions

"It only happens when both countries are going into war. Cutting off oil supplies to China to some extent is equal to a declaration of war,"  As the U.S.-China trade war continues to escalate , Beijing and its energy giants appear to be bracing for a worst-case scenario where the spat would drag on for years and possibly result in Chinese foreign oil supply stifled.The idea that the world's top oil importer could see some of its overseas crude supply blocked has always been an unthinkable notion, but now some analysts and Chinese industry executives suggest that China should prepare for the very worst of the worst, such as its oil supply impacted by a lengthy trade dispute.Laban Yu, an analyst with Jefferies Group LLC in Hong Kong, told Bloomberg Yu added.Chinese oil industry executives said this past week that China's oil industry must have a contingency plan in case the trade war takes another turn for the worse.According to Bloomberg, Wang Yilin, chairman of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), told employees to prepare for a "protracted" trade conflict, while Fu Chengyu, former chairman at Sinopec, said that China should be ready for the extreme and far-fetched case that its oil supply could be blocked in the short term.Industry executives also stressed the need that China should work to achieve 'energy self-sufficiency', which, according to Fu, has become an "urgent reality."Over the past year, China's biggest energy producers have started to tap more tight oil and gas wells, aiming to increase domestic oil and natural gas production at the world's largest crude oil importer.A PetroChina test oil well at a shale field in western China could finally mean a strong commercial potential for shale oil for the first time in the world's top crude importer, Morgan Stanley said earlier this year. The shale boom in China, however, would be just a fraction of the U.S. shale revolution - Morgan Stanley expects Chinese shale oil production could reach between 100,000 bpd and 200,000 bpd by 2025, which is nothing compared to the millions of barrels of oil pumped in the United States every day.According to analysts at S&P Global Platts Analytics and Wood Mackenzie, China is set to miss its 2020 shale gas production targets, due to complex geology, low well productivity, marginal economics, and infrastructure constraints.'Energy independence' is still a far-fetched idea in China's case.Equally far-fetched is the idea that the fallout from the trade war could result in stifling Chinese oil imports, according to Neil Beveridge, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co in Hong Kong.Beveridge told Bloomberg.China, however, appears to be filling in its strategic petroleum reserves in recent months, as it has been boosting oil imports by 10 percent while refining output has been growing at 5 percent, according to the analyst.Due to the trade spat, over the past few months China has also only sporadically bought crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States - a sharp reversal from the booming Chinese imports of American energy at this time last year. There were even some months where China purchased no U.S. crude oil at all, according to EIA data . It has also drastically reduced LNG imports from the U.S. as China has a 10 - percent import tariff on American LNG - a tariff set to rise to 25 percent on June 1. Even those Chinese buyers that have continued to purchase U.S. LNG are now looking to swap American cargoes for cargoes from nations not subject to tariffs, traders with knowledge of the plans told Bloomberg earlier in May., Jefferies Group's Yu told Bloomberg.


sputnik--2019-07-03--India Says It Wont Stop Trading With Iran Despite Modis Announcement of Reduced Oil Imports

India Says It Won't Stop Trading With Iran Despite Modi's Announcement of Reduced Oil Imports

India's Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muralidharan said India's relations with Iran remain unchanged and are "not influenced by relations with a third country". Last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pointed out that "although Iran supplies 11% of our energy; India had reduced oil imports from Iran."  The cabinet minister said there is no specific government-to-government agreement on the import of crude from Iran. "Such imports are based on commercial contracts between companies," the minister added.  During his bilateral meet with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of G-20 in Japan, Modi had said India had reduced the import of crude from Iran and that despite "the effect it had on the Indian economy we had been able to sustain this position".  Earlier on Tuesday, Iranian Ambassador to India Ali Chegeni asserted that his country can provide "affordability, accessibility and security" in the energy sector to India.  "We expect from a friend...that we understand each other, follow our national interest, and Iran is ready to be the protector of the energy security of India," the ambassdor said while adding that oil imports may have been stopped but Iran had not got any "negative signal" from India that they would do so in future.  Amabassador Chegeni spoke to the media on the sidelines of an Iran-India cultural event in New Delhi.  "India is a friend forever. We understand that India will act according to its national interest. As we understand from Jaishankar's statement that India will follow its national interest. That is acceptable for everybody," he added.  India had initially opted to bow to the US sanctions after the Trump administration decided to end the waivers on 2 May that it granted to eight of Iran’s top oil customers — China, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Greece and Turkey, which had been issued last November.


unian--2019-01-04--Reuters Oil edges higher on upcoming China-US trade talks OPEC cuts

Reuters: Oil edges higher on upcoming China-U.S. trade talks, OPEC cuts

Despite the global market turmoil, traders said oil prices are expected to receive some support.  Oil prices edged up on Friday, shaking off previous losses after China said it would hold talks with the U.S. government on January 7-8 to look for solutions to the trade disputes between the world's two biggest economies.  International Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $56.12 per barrel at 0542 GMT, up 17 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close, Reuters said.  U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures CLc1 were at $47.25 per barrel, up 16 cents, or 0.3 percent.  Both crude benchmarks were down earlier in the session on concerns that the Sino-American trade war would lead to a global economic slowdown.  Traders said the firmer prices came after China's commerce ministry said on Friday that it would hold vice ministerial level trade talks with U.S. counterparts in Beijing on January 7-8, as the two sides look to end a dispute that is inflicting increasing pain on both economies and roiling global financial markets.  The two nations have been locked in a trade war for much of the past year, disrupting the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods and stoking fears of a global economic slowdown.  Data for December from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Thursday showed the broadest U.S. slowdown in growth for more than a decade, as the trade conflict with China, falling equity prices and increasing uncertainty started to take a toll on the world's biggest economy.  Leading economies in Asia and Europe have already reported a fall in manufacturing activity.  Despite the global market turmoil, traders said oil prices are expected to receive some support as supply cuts announced late last year by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) start to kick in.  OPEC oil supply fell by 460,000 barrels per day (bpd) between November and December, to 32.68 million bpd, a Reuters survey found on Thursday, as top exporter Saudi Arabia made an early start to a supply-limiting accord, while Iran and Libya posted involuntary declines.


unian--2019-02-11--Reuters Oil prices fall as US rig count rise trade concerns

Reuters: Oil prices fall as U.S. rig count rise, trade concerns

OPEC and its allies will meet in Vienna on April 17 and April 18 to review the pact.  Oil prices fell by around 1 percent on Monday as drilling activity in the United States, the world's largest oil producer, picked up and financial markets were pulled down by trade concerns.  A refinery fire in the U.S. state of Illinois, which resulted in the shutdown of a large crude distillation unit, that could cause crude demand to fall also weighed on prices, traders said, Reuters reported.  U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $52.09 per barrel at 0347 GMT, down 63 cents, or 1.2 percent, from their last settlement.  International Brent crude oil futures were down 49 cents, or 0.8 percent, at $61.61 a barrel.  In the United States, energy firms last week increased the number of oil rigs operating for the second time in three weeks, a weekly report by Baker Hughes said on Friday.  Companies added seven oil rigs in the week to February 8, bringing the total count to 854, pointing to a further rise in U.S. crude production, which already stands at a record 11.9 million bpd.  WTI prices were also weighed down by the closure of a 120,000-barrels-per-day (bpd) crude distillation unit (CDU) at Phillips 66's Wood River, Illinois, refinery following a fire on Sunday.  Elsewhere, the head of Russian oil giant Rosneft, Igor Sechin, has written to the Russian President Vladimir Putin saying Moscow's deal with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to withhold output is a strategic threat and plays into the hands of the United States.  The so-called OPEC+ deal has been in place since 2017, aimed at reining in a global supply overhang. It has been extended several times and, under the latest deal, participants are cutting output by 1.2 million bpd until the end of June.  OPEC and its allies will meet in Vienna on April 17 and April 18 to review the pact.


unian--2019-11-15--Russia-occupied Crimea may face irreversible environmental damage over lack of fresh water

It is impossible to solve the water problem by extracting groundwater.  Russia-occupied Crimea may face irreversible environmental damage over the lack of fresh water, since large rivers of the peninsula have dried up.  Water reserves in the Chornorichensk water reservoir have decreased to 30 million cubic meters, which is less than half of its volume, RFE/RL's media project Krym/Realii reports.  Read alsoUkraine probing into illegal pollution of Black Sea with toxic waste in occupied Crimea (Photo)  It is noted the main water reserve in Crimea consists of reservoirs of natural runoff, with a total volume of 188 million cubic meters of water. However, due to the dry autumn, today the reservoirs are filled with about 70-75 million cubic meters of water. The worst situation is with the Ayan reservoir, which partially supplies water to Simferopol, since it is filled with less than half a million cubic meters of water.  The upper reaches of the Alma River, which fills the Partisan water reservoir that supplies water to Simferopol, are almost completely dry. The Chornaya River whose waters flow into the Chornorichensk water reservoir used by Sevastopol also has little water. In addition, the small rivers of the towns of Alushta, Sudak and Feodosia dried up.  The remaining water in the Balanovo water reservoir was redirected by a water pipeline to the village of Perevalne where Russian military units are stationed.  It is impossible to solve the water problem by extracting groundwater, since groundwater resources get depleted day by day. In addition, uncontrolled pumping of water from underground horizons has affected the peninsula's hydrobalance and led to the high mineralization of fresh water. As a result, the excess share of salts has been already recorded in the central part of Crimea.


naturalnews--2019-01-17--Fracking gas wells linked to migraines fatigue and chronic nasal problems are people being mass

Fracking gas wells linked to migraines, fatigue and chronic nasal problems... are people being mass poisoned by airborne chemicals?

(Natural News) Hydraulic fracturing – more commonly known as fracking – causes much more damage than just the unwanted noise it creates; it may pose a real threat to public safety, a study revealed. Living in areas where fracking activities take place may increase the risk of migraines, severe fatigue and chronic nasal and sinus conditions, according to a study published in Environmental Health Perspectives.  Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health surveyed 7,785 adult patients of the Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania and found that 23 percent of respondents reported suffering migraines, while 25 percent reported experiencing severe fatigue and 24 percent reported having chronic rhinosinusitis.  Researchers also found that respondents who met the criteria for two or more health concerns were twice as likely to live in areas that were nearer to a higher number or larger wells.  Researchers said exposure to allergens, secondhand smoke and toxic chemicals can trigger nasal and sinus conditions, while noise pollution, bad smells and stress may contribute to migraine attacks. Sleep deprivation and psychosocial stressors play key roles in the development of severe fatigue, researchers added.  “These three health conditions can have debilitating impacts on people’s lives. In addition, they cost the health care system a lot of money. Our data suggest these symptoms are associated with proximity to the fracking industry,” said study author Aaron W. Tustin, who is a resident doctor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Bloomberg School at Johns Hopkins.  100% organic essential oil sets now available for your home and personal care, including Rosemary, Oregano, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Clary Sage and more, all 100% organic and laboratory tested for safety. A multitude of uses, from stress reduction to topical first aid. See the complete listing here, and help support this news site.  Senior author Brian Schwartz added that currently researchers “…don’t know specifically why people in close proximity to these larger wells are more likely to be sick. We need to find a way to better understand the correlation and, hopefully, do something to protect the health of these people.”  Pennsylvania’s hydraulic fracturing industry is teeming, with more than 9,000 fracking wells already in place. Fracking has also become a prominent industry in other states including Wyoming and West Virginia. New York, on the other hand, has banned the activity, while Maryland placed a moratorium to delay fracking.  Another study found that unconventional oil and gas operations and fracking negatively impacts air quality, and thus pose a health risk to infants and young children. The analysis revealed that at least five chemicals used in unconventional fracking activities – including silica dust, formaldehyde, particulate matter, tropospheric ozone and benzene – were associated with lung inflammation, reduced lung and pulmonary function and reduced resistance to infection. These chemicals were also linked to chest discomfort, breathing difficulties and other serious conditions among infants and young children. These chemicals were also recognized as air pollutants by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the CDC and Environmental Protection Agency, as well as Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Institutes of Health.  Researchers said the highly industrial activities that occur during the fracking process sends air pollutants and chemicals in the air, which then results in adverse health effects in younger patients. Infants and children are particularly vulnerable to these pollutants and chemicals as their respiratory systems are still developing. Study authors recommend measures to cut methane emission and calls for more stringent policies on disclosure and transparency of chemical use during fracking. These findings were published in the journal Reviews on Environmental Health.  An animal study carried out by researchers at the University of Missouri in Columbia further elaborated the adverse effects of chemicals used in fracking. Study data revealed that female mice exposed to unconventional fracking chemicals showed increased body weight, increased heart weight, collagen deposition and other adverse conditions. Male mice exposed to the same chemicals showed reduced sperm count, researchers said. Lead author Susan C. Nagel said the results suggest that exposure to fracking chemicals may pose developmental and reproductive risks to humans and animals.  Visit FrackingWatch.com to know more about the setbacks of fracking.


tass--2019-12-10--Kremlin says Russia, Ukraine have not yet reached solution of gas transit problem

MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/. Russia and Ukraine have not yet managed to find a solution for the problem of gas transit agreement extension and settlement of claims in the Stockholm Arbitration, press secretary to the Russian President Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.  "The gas topic was indeed on the agenda of summit talks - talks between [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and [President of Ukraine Vladimir] Zelensky [in Paris on December 9]. [Gazprom CEO Alexei] Miller and his Ukrainian counterpart attended the meeting; approaches of the parties were presented indeed," Peskov said. "Final agreements have not yet been managed to be reached," he noted. "Positions of the parties were put together; they are well known and consistent, as regards the position of the Russian side," the press secretary said.  "It was agreed that chief executives of gas companies and relevant ministers will continue their communication," Peskov said. "Short-term communication at the expert level took place even late at night yesterday," he said. "At the same time, it cannot be said that the solution for the problem of the transit agreement renewal and settlement of the issue of claims in the Stockholm Arbitration was managed to be reached," the Kremlin’s spokesperson said.


thesun--2019-02-01--Can gas pipes freeze What to do if your area has gas supply problems and the British Gas breakdown

Can gas pipes freeze? What to do if your area has gas supply problems and the British Gas breakdown contact number

MANY of us are familiar with the headache of a frozen water pipe, but can it happen to your gas supply too?  Luckily it's a very rare occurrence. Here are the possible causes - and how you can take action.  The simple answer is no, it is highly unlikely that your gas pipes can freeze over.  This is because gas is delivered to homes highly pressurised and very dry meaning even the coldest of temperatures will not affect it.  The only way a gas pipe could freeze is if it was installed or repaired incorrectly.  If water managed to get in during work on the pipes then this could potentially freeze in cold weather and cause disruption to your supply.  But even then, this scenario is incredibly rare.  What may occur is waste pipes coming from your boiler can freeze, like the white condensate pipe that takes waste water from the system.  A simple trick is to heat up some water and pour it on the pipe.  How to get a boiler for free REPLACING or repairing a boiler can be expensive. But there is help out there which can help you cut the cost. The Government's Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme will replace old, inefficent boilers for low-income families either completely free of charge or with a big discount. The rules to qualify for the scheme are quite complicated. Your boiler must be at least five years old and receive Pension Credit or Child Tax Credits and have an income of below £16,010. You might also be eligible if you receive benefits like Job Seekers Allowance and Income Support AND at least one other benefit such as Disability Living Allowance or have children under 16 or under 20 if there not in higher education. It isn't available to those in council owned properties - and if you are a private tenant you must have permission from the landlord. Contact the Energy Saving Advice Service on 0300 123 1234 to see if you qualify.  If you are not getting the right supply of gas you may have a leak.  You should all the gas emergency number on 0800 111 999 immediately if you smell gas or suspect a leak.  Open all windows in your home, do not touch electrical equipment and turn off your gas meter.  If you do not smell gas and do not suspect a leak, there may be a more general problem with your supply or your boiler.  Signs that your boiler is faulty include finding soot around it, a weak yellow flame instead of a blue flame, and the pilot light blowing out easily.  In such cases you should contact your gas supplier. If you live in a rented property, contact your landlord.  Even if you are not a British Gas customer, the company can carry out home boiler repairs.  For a repair and ongoing cover, British Gas charges £99 plus 12 monthly payments of £23.  The company also does one-off repairs at:  The difference in price rates is dependant on where you live.  Contact British Gas on 0333 202 9818 for a one-off repair or visit the website to set up an ongoing cover arrangement.  We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.


birminghammail--2019-01-16--This is how Solihull plans to reduce air pollution

Pressure to do something about air pollution is growing at both a national and local level.  Solihull Council's draft clean air strategy, to be discussed later this week, describes high levels of harmful substances in the air we breathe as "a significant public health issue".  The five-year action plan acknowledges that poor air quality can increase the risk of life-threatening conditions including cancer and heart disease and aggravate asthma and related respiratory disorders.  A summary which accompanies the dossier said: "It disproportionately affects those who live in more deprived and congested areas, and those who are more vulnerable to the effects of air pollution such as children, older people, and those with existing medical conditions."  The draft strategy outlines plans and policies to reduce levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter - two pollutants which cause particular concern.  The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) looks at some of the steps already being taken and measures which are set to be introduced.  Traffic clogging up roads during the school run has been a headache for residents for many years.  But there are increasing concerns that the number of vehicles pumping out exhaust fumes is harmful to pupils, who are more susceptible to the effects of air pollution.  Solihull last week agreed to look at options for expanding its School Streets scheme, which bans traffic from certain roads at the busier times of the day.  Plans are also being drawn up to build on the work being done to educate children about air quality in the classroom.  There has already been a concerted effort to support the move towards electric vehicles, which are considered better for the environment than those powered by petrol or diesel.  Charging points have been installed in the council's main town centre car parks and the local authority has introduced its own electric vehicle scheme.  Residents can expect activity to increase in the coming years, with an emphasis on electric taxis and buses in future.  Work will also be done to support the combined authority's bike hire scheme, promote cycle routes and encourage more businesses to introduce initiatives such as car-sharing.  Thinking about the air pollution implications during the planning process can reduce the need for more costly mitigation measures in future.  The council wants to ensure that new housing developments do not leave residents heavily reliant on cars.  This follows concerns that Dickens Heath, which has seen rapid expansion in recent years, has a very limited bus service.  Planners will also be urged to avoid allowing the likes of schools or care homes to be built in areas where there are air quality risks.  The council is aware that the HS2 rail link - a massive civil engineering project - will bring huge numbers of construction vehicles onto Solihull's roads.  The draft strategy stresses the importance of haul routes to keep the traffic away from local residents.  Planting trees near air pollution "hotspots" - such as key junctions or traffic lights, where engines are often idling - could help draw harmful fumes out of the atmosphere.  Creating more hedges and "green walls" can also clean up the environment, with scientific studies suggesting that the leaves trap air pollution particles.  One of the most high-profile initiatives currently underway in Solihull is the proposal to create an underground heat network to serve the town centre.  A trial bore dole is being dug in Tudor Grange Park this month, to assess the scheme's viability.  Public health officer Sangeeta Leahy had told councillors last year that a dramatic increase in press coverage had pushed air pollution up the agenda.  But the council wants to continue to raise public awareness throughout the year, extending beyond the annual publicity drive on Clean Air Day.  Campaigns could promote the council's work generally and also focus in on specific issues.  For example, encouraging people to leave the car at home on certain days or think about the impact of wood burning devices during the winter months.  The draft strategy will be discussed at the economic development and managed growth scrutiny board this Thursday. The document is then set to go to cabinet, to be finalised, next month.


abcnews--2019-12-11--Nearly $226M to restore open Gulf after 2010 BP oil spill

NEW ORLEANS -- Federal agencies have approved nearly $226 million for 18 projects to restore open ocean and marine habitats that were decimated in the Gulf of Mexico by the 2010 BP oil spill.  The projects range from $52.6 million to study deep-sea habitats to $290,000 to find ways to keep sea turtles from swallowing or getting snagged on hooks or tangled in lines set out for miles along reefs.  They are described in a 490-page report released Tuesday.  The nonprofit Ocean Conservancy said it's “the world’s first plan to restore the open ocean and deep-sea environment from a major oil disaster.”  “Ocean Conservancy welcomes this major conservation milestone for the Gulf of Mexico,” CEO Janis Searles Jones said in a news release.  The explosion April 20, 2010, on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig killed 11 workers. The well spewed 210 million gallons (795 million liters) of oil before it was capped 87 days later.  The open ocean recovery plan was drawn up by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with help from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  The money is from BP's $8.8 billion settlement for natural resources damage, said NOAA Deepwater Horizon program manager Rachel Sweeney.  The projects, expected to run two to 15 years, were chosen from about 1,600 submitted by the public, non-governmental organizations, as well as local, state and federal agencies.  The plan includes $126.2 million to study habitats in deep water and water between 100 feet (30 meters) and more than 490 feet (150 meters) deep. That includes $35.9 million for high-resolution mapping and analysis and $52.6 million to analyze damaged and undamaged habitats at those depths, learning more about the corals. Another $20.7 million would manage and protect corals and $16.9 million would develop techniques to grow and transplant them.  The longest-running program would spend $5.7 million to create a sea turtle atlas indicating where and when species found in the Gulf would most likely be found, and how they use various habitats. It's among six programs, totaling $18.9 million, for sea turtles. All five species found in the Gulf are threatened or endangered.  About $22.9 million is dedicated to four programs to protect whales and dolphins.  “We will develop and implement tools and techniques to reduce risks to marine mammals from vessel collisions, ocean noise, and human-caused and natural disasters,” Laurie Rounds, of NOAA's Office of Habitat Conservation said during a news teleconference Tuesday.  Another $57.7 million would protect fish, including $30 million for a program to distribute and promote devices that let deep-sea fish released by anglers be returned gradually to the depths where they live.  When deepwater fish are brought rapidly to the surface, gases in their organs and tissues expand. That also makes it hard for them to swim back down, making them easy prey, the report said.  “Supplying fishermen with the tools and knowledge to minimize barotrauma-related mortality would result in increased survival of fish released during recreational fishing activities,” it said.


birminghammail--2019-09-18--Driver moves 600 yards in 90 minutes amid M5 oil spill chaos

Drivers faced long delays on the M5 after an oil spill caused travel chaos.  There were major delays around junction four, at Bromsgrove, after the incident earlier on Wednesday afternoon, September 18.  Two lanes were closed at the junction roundabout, causing delays of least 30 minutes.  Highways England tweeted: "Two lanes, of four, remain closed on the roundabout. This is causing very long delays on ALL approaches to the roundabout, including A491 south (Sandy Lane), A38 south (Birmingham Road) and A38 north (Halesowen Road).  It earlier tweeted: "Please be aware there are long delay s of at least 30 mins with slow traffic on M5 north from J4a and south from J3.  "Please allow plenty of extra time and consider alternative routes (if possible). Also long delays on the A491 and A38 approaches to #LydiateAsh roundabout.  The agency had earlier posted a tweet saying it was working to 'clear up' the liquid.  But as the delays grew, patience began to wear thin.  Lee Parker tweeted Highways England to ask: "How does it take five hours to clear a spillage? I’ve been stuck on A38 for an hour and a half leading up to junction I’ve moved 600 yards."


breitbart--2019-12-17--Lawyer Accused of Defrauding BP Oil Spill Settlement Hosts Biden Fundraiser

Joe Biden attended a fundraiser hosted by a high-profile trial lawyer, once accused of defrauding the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill recovery effort, during a recent campaign swing through Texas.  The former vice president traveled to the Lone Star State on Friday for a series of events meant to bolster his standing ahead of Super Tuesday. Among the scheduled rallies and town halls was a little noticed fundraiser in San Antonio, Texas, with Democrat power brokers. The event, attended by a bevy of special interests, was hosted by Mikal Watts, a well connected trial lawyer.  Watts, who unsuccessfully sought the Democrat nomination for U.S. Senate in 2008 on a pro-life and anti-gay marriage platform, is a prolific campaign donor. Since 1992, Watts has steered more than a million to Democrat candidates and causes. Included on the list of elected officials he has backed are President Barack Obama, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Warren, in particular, benefited from a $25,000 donation the trial lawyer gave to a federal PAC supporting her reelection campaign in 2018.  Apart from being known as top-dollar political donor, Watts is also one of the country’s most sought after trial lawyers. Watts has fought and won numerous multi-million-dollar settlements against the giants of corporate America, like Ford Motor Company and TransUnion. One of those cases, however, nearly ended with the trial lawyer, himself, behind bars.  In September 2015, Watts was indicted by federal prosecutors on 66 charges of mail fraud, wire fraud, and identity theft. Along with his brother and several associates, Watts was accused of “fabricating” thousands of clients when filing a damages suit against BP in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The allegations stemmed back to 2013 when the oil company accused Watts in federal court of fraudulently conspiring to drive up settlement costs related to the spill.  The New York Times reported on BP’s claims when they were first made 2013:  BP’s initial lawsuit led to the Secret Service raiding Watts’ law office in San Antonio in search of proof of widespread fraud. The raid and further investigation led to Watts’ indictment in 2016. When announcing their case, prosecutors alleged a significant portion of the 41,000 fisherman Watts claimed to represent along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas were either made up or had their identities stolen for the suit.   When the indictment was first released, it drew public notice because one of the clients Watts purportedly represented, a fisherman named “Lucy Lu,” was in actuality a dog.  In making their case, prosecutors cited that fact and emails Watts’ brother sent him in 2010 indicating there were irregularities in the personal information provided by their clients. Prosecutors argued Watts ignored such troubling signs because he was motivated by greed, especially the desire to receive an appointment to the steering committee of lawyers that would represent all the oil spill victims in court. Securing the post would make Watts eligible to receive a cut of the final settlement.  Regardless if he knew his client list was inflated, Watts was appointed to the steering committee, partially because he represented a sizable chunk of the overall plaintiffs. In 2012, the steering committee negotiated a settlement worth $2.3 billion with BP. It is uncertain how much Watts netted from the suit, although the cut of each lawyer on the steering committee is estimated to have been upwards of $40 million.  Despite the appearance of wrongdoing, Watts and his associates were acquitted by a jury in August 2016. The jury’s decision came after Watts argued the government was unable to prove he had knowingly submitted false client names. Watts further claimed his firm had outsourced finding clients for the BP suit to a group from Mississippi, which he claimed had misspent resources.  After being acquitted, Watts returned to his law practice and his life as a top political donor. Before supporting Biden, the trial lawyer was a strong backer of Beto O’Rourke’s failed presidential candidacy.  It is unclear if Biden knew about Watts’ history before allowing him to host a fundraiser on his behalf. As vice president, Biden was a key player in the cleanup efforts surrounding the BP oil spill.


drudgereport--2019-11-01--Keystone pipeline shut after spilling 9,000 barrels of oil in NDakota...

Oct 31 (Reuters) - An estimated 9,120 barrels of oil have spilled from TC Energy Corp's Keystone crude pipeline in North Dakota, state authorities said on Thursday, a major leak at a time of increased regulatory scrutiny of oil pipeline expansions.  The initial estimate makes it one of the biggest onshore crude spills in the past decade and the largest for Keystone, according to U.S. Pipeline Hazardous Materials and Safety Administration (PHMSA) data back to 2010.  The cause of the rupture has not been disclosed.  Pipeline operator TC Energy is seeking to expand its pipelines linking Western Canadian oil fields to U.S. refineries with its proposed Keystone XL project. The $6 billion project has faced regulatory and environmental hurdles despite backing by U.S. President Donald Trump.  A nearly 10-year legal fight between TC Energy, formerly called TransCanada, and environmental activists has delayed development of the line that would run from Alberta, Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast. A Nebraska court in August affirmed an alternative route through the state, raising hopes the project might proceed and provide badly needed transport for Alberta's crude.  Western Canada Select heavy oil traded on Thursday at $20 per barrel less than U.S. benchmark WTI, the biggest discount in 11 months, according to Net Energy Exchange.  On Wednesday, TC Energy said its 590,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Keystone pipeline system to the United States was shut after a drop in pressure was detected. It said there were no injuries and it was investigating the cause of the breach near Edinburg, North Dakota.  The company has not said when pipeline operations would restart, but told shippers that service to U.S. Midwest refiners would remain shut during the outage. The line could remain shut for at least a week, according to market sources on Thursday.  TC Energy has begun using backhoes and vacuum trucks to recover the spilled oil, said Brent Nelson, an emergency response manager for Walsh County who visited the site.  "At this time I would estimate 50 – 75 persons on site working between two shifts ... they are focusing on oil recovery at this time and will then move to making repairs," he said.  The exact amount of oil released will not be available until recovery has been completed, TC Energy said in a statement on Thursday.  In 2017, a Keystone crude pipeline leak in rural South Dakota spilled nearly 6,600 barrels, the PHMSA data showed. Earlier this year, Keystone was partially shut after leaking 43 barrels of crude in Missouri.  The latest release also affected a wetland area, a statement from the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality said.  "They've had a few spills ... more than you would hope to have on a line that's still fairly new," said Carl Weimer, executive director of the Pipeline Safety Trust in Bellingham, Washington, a nonprofit promoting pipeline safety.  Keystone has leaked substantially more oil, and more often, in the United States than the company indicated to regulators in risk assessments before operations began in 2010, according to a Reuters review in 2017.  The Keystone outage also disrupted flows on the Marketlink pipeline out of the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub, roiling oil prices at the delivery point for U.S. crude futures. (Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York, Additional reporting by Eileen Soreng and Sathya Narayanan in Bengaluru, Laila Kearney and Scott DiSavino in New York, Rod Nickel in Winnipeg; Editing by Diane Craft and Stephen Coates)


eveningstandard--2019-12-11--The business stories of the decade, including the BP oil spill, the Libor scandal and Cambridge Anal

The business stories of the decade, including the BP oil spill, the Libor scandal and Cambridge Analytica

What happened? The largest marine oil spill in history caused by an explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, which killed 11 workers. The well took nearly three months to cap.  Impact? Tony Hayward, then chief executive of BP, became US public enemy number one after a series of PR gaffes. The fallout cost him his job, frayed relations between the UK and the Obama administration and threatened the future of the 101-year-old company. BP has paid more than $65 billion in compensation.  What happened? Founded in 2003 to create effective electric cars and sell them to the masses. Elon Musk arrived a year later and gave much of the initial capital support to run it before its float in 2010.  Impact? It has changed the landscape of the car industry and influenced what kinds of cars its rivals make, what they look like and their tech features. But there have been problems, and Tesla has never had a profitable year.  What happened? It started quietly, but by the end at least 10 regulators across the globe were investigating if Libor was fixed. The London Interbank Offered Rate was a nominal fee banks charged each other to lend money for short periods. As the financial crisis bit, banks panicked. Libor jumped. It was alleged bank chiefs and some central banks conspired to make Libor look lower than it really was.  Impact? The British Bankers’ Association handed oversight of Libor to more formal watchdogs. Litigation continues.  What happened? Pfizer’s £69.4 billion aggressive pursuit of AstraZeneca triggered huge fees for bankers, a mud-slinging battle from investors, union condemnation, sparring from US and UK politicians — but ultimately, no deal. Arguments that Pfizer’s hunger for Astra was inspired by corporate tax manoeuvring, rather than innovation, and fears over British jobs and the UK science base led to a strong campaign to keep AstraZeneca independent.  Impact? It was all about money. Had Pfizer’s final offer of £55 per share hit £60, it would likely have had its appetite satisfied. As it is, today Astra’s shares stand considerably higher at £72. Boss Pascal Soriot can fairly claim vindication; he’s successfully resuscitated Astra’s once-dwindling R&D, and last year presided over the drugmaker’s return to growth for the first time since 2014.  What happened? In one of the largest corporate scandals of all time Volkswagen was found by the US Environmental Protection Agency to have installed software in cars that lowered harmful emissions of nitrogen compounds under test conditions. Volkswagen admitted to manipulating 11 million vehicles worldwide to fool tests.  Impact? The scandal led to a slump in car sales across Europe. It deeply hurt the German economy and led to mistrust in its executives. Chief executive Herbert Diess, chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch and former chief exec Martin Winterkorn have all been charged with stock market manipulation for their alleged failure to reveal the scandal.  What happened? High Street retailer BHS sensationally collapsed into administration with a huge pensions deficit in April 2016, costing around 9,000 jobs. That came 13 months after tycoon Sir Philip Green sold BHS for £1 to a firm led by serial bankrupt Dominic Chappell.  Impact? All the chain’s 164 shops closed. A lengthy probe by MPs followed and concluded Green had chosen to rush a sale of the chain to a buyer who was “manifestly unsuitable”. Green faced calls to be stripped of his knighthood and had a dust-up with Sky News while on holiday in Greece. However, pressure on him seemingly softened when he made a voluntary contribution of up to £363 million to rescue the BHS pension scheme. Chappell was last month banned from being a director for 10 years. Green has since faced allegations of sexual harassment, which he denies.  What happened? The sale of Rupert Murdoch’s satellite TV empire to US cable company Comcast for £30 billion was the near end of an empire. He no longer bestrides UK media as he had done for decades. Murdoch originally planned to sell Sky to Disney, until Comcast arrived. A bidding war took the price from £20 billion to £30 billion.  Impact? Hard to gauge yet. Sky remains the key broadcaster of movies and sport in the UK. But it is likely to face intense future competition from Netflix, Amazon and perhaps Facebook.  What happened? In 2018, revelations of Facebook’s involvement with data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica shed light on the darker side of people-snooping. It emerged Cambridge Analytica, hired by Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign, had gained access to private data on more than 50 million Facebook users, as well as making tools to help firms target users with personalised political ads.  Impact? The scandal soon widened — especially when it emerged that Facebook had known about the data breach since 2015, but only suspended the firm from its site three years later. Allegations arose about Vote Leave, Facebook and a linked Cambridge Analytica firm too. “We’re sorry!” claimed ads put out by Facebook; it also vowed to investigate other apps’ data use. But a #DeleteFacebook campaign saw billions of dollars knocked off Facebook’s stock market valuation.  What happened? Construction giant Carillion went into liquidation in January 2018. The government contractor had been on a knife-edge since a profit warning six months prior shocked the City with huge write-offs on major contracts. Despite talks with lenders and government, no rescue deal could be agreed and Carillion crumbled under debts of £1.5 billion. It employed around 20,000 people in the UK.  Impact? Almost 12,000 subcontractors worked directly for Carillion when it went under, and scores of firms faced the prospect of going unpaid. There has been increased scrutiny on government outsourcing and auditor work since.  What happened? Star fund manager Neil Woodford, recipient of billions through platforms like Hargreaves Lansdown, was forced to block people from withdrawing cash from his flagship equity fund. Regulators revealed Woodford breached requirements on unlisted stocks, provoking a public backlash. Woodford wound up the fund after failing to reopen.  Impact? The scandal shook public trust in fund management and raised questions over platforms like Hargreaves and fund administrator Link. Woodford had been promoted by Hargreaves despite offering armchair savers an ill-suited risky, illiquid fund. Link was also under fire for failing to clamp down on Woodford’s excesses listing shares on illiquid markets. This month M&G was also forced to gate its illiquid property fund.


france24--2019-03-16--France begins clean-up operation after cargo ship oil spill

Handout | MARINE NATIONALE | AFP Ongoing clean-up operations from a ship fitted with anti-pollution gear, after the Italian cargo ship Grande America burned and sank in the Gascogne Gulf, off the western French coast, on March 15, 2019.  French authorities began a clean-up operation on Friday after the Italian container ship “Grande America” sank off the French Atlantic Coast while carrying 2,200 tonnes of heavy fuel.  Despite poor weather conditions, four ships began a clean-up operation on Friday afternoon. The 214-metre-long vessel sank on Tuesday, 300 kilometres west of the French town of La Rochelle, carrying 2,200 tonnes of heavy fuel.  “Their efficiency totally depends on the weather,” said French maritime authorities.  While two oil slicks had already been spotted on Wednesday and Thursday, a new one was spotted on Friday during a surveillance flight. The new slick was observed near the area where the vessel sank and "seems to confirm that there is still a release of heavy fuel oil from the wreck", which lies at a depth of 4,600 metres, French maritime authorities added.  Forecasts show fragments of the slick reaching parts of the Atlantic coast by Sunday or Monday.  The ship was sailing from Hamburg, Germany, to Casablanca, Morocco, when a fire broke out on Sunday.  In addition to 2,200 tonnes of heavy fuel the "Grande America" had on board, it was also transporting 2,000 cars and 365 shipping containers, 45 of which held dangerous materials, including a hundred tonnes of hydrochloric acid and 70 tonnes of sulphuric acid.  All 27 people on board were safely evacuated before the vessel sank.  "[This shipwreck] is problematic," said Christian Buchet, director of the Centre of Ocean Studies at the Catholic Institute of Paris, in an interview with RTL.  "Everything that burned -- the containers, the drums of hydrochloric and sulphuric acid -- that doesn't disappear. It goes up into the atmosphere."  The cause of the fire is unknown, but it is believed to have broken out on the car deck before spreading to a container, according to Jean-Louis Lozier, head of the regional maritime authority.  "Dilution in the ocean would not have serious consequences for the environment," Lozier said.  He added that the pollution risk posed by the chemicals "would be very localised".  But not everyone agrees.  "The major threat for the ocean is acidification," explained Buchet. "The ocean absorbs our pollution and it is dying because of it."  The French environmental campaign group Robin des Bois (Robin Hood) said it intended to file a criminal complaint over the environmental damage.  "Two thousand vehicles -- it's a car crash at the bottom of the sea, representing hundreds of tonnes of toxic materials in an area very rich in fish, plankton and marine animals," said the NGO's spokesman Jacky Bonnemains, adding he also feared coastal pollution.  But Yannick Jadot, a French member of the European Parliament and environmental activist, believes that not enough has been done to prevent such disasters.  "It's tragic, the laxity that often exists regarding maritime transport," Jadot said, adding that the oil slick would be "tragic for the French coast".  The last spill off the French coast occurred in December 2011, when the cargo ship TK Bremen ran aground in northwest France, losing an estimated 70 tonnes of fuel.


france24--2019-11-19--Local residents left to clean up beaches after Brazil's worst oil spill

Local residents left to clean up beaches after Brazil's worst oil spill  Brazil is in the midst of the worst oil spill in its history. Since the end of August, oil has covered coasts across the northeast, a poor region that depends on tourism and fishing. Despite the scale of the disaster, authorities have been slow to respond, leaving locals scraping off the oil in a bid to keep the beaches attractive to holidaymakers. Our correspondents report from Porto Sauipe.


freedombunker--2019-01-28--50 Years after the Santa Barbara Oil Spill Leviathan Is Slick as Ever

50 Years after the Santa Barbara Oil Spill, Leviathan Is Slick as Ever

Fifty years ago, on January 28, 1969, an oil blowout off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, spilled an estimated three million gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean. The oil slick, 35 miles long, killed thousands of birds, fish and sea mammals. Reporters called it the spill that launched the green revolution, and the response is still worthy of note.  An environmentalist named Peter Douglas took note of the spill and co-wrote Proposition 20, a 1972 ballot measure to create a temporary state commission to deal with the coast. That done, Douglas authored the Coastal Act of 1976, which made the Commission permanent. The next year, Douglas became deputy director and in 1985 executive director of the commission he conceived. With this regulatory zealot at the helm, the unelected Commission trumped the elected city and county governments on the coast and rode roughshod over the property rights of coastal residents who were not responsible for the oil spill.  No trace of the spill remains, but fifty years later the Coastal Commission is extending its power, levying fines directly, and still overriding elected governments. It was a classic example of leviathan expanding through crisis, and a temporary agency becoming permanent. Oil continues to seep naturally from the ocean floor, but the Commission is powerless to stop it.  Meanwhile, a blast of arctic air has temperatures plunging across the Midwest. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, the wind chill may approach -50 degrees, and across the Great Lakes, according to forecasters, “numerous temperature records will be threatened.” This happens almost every winter, but climate alarmists are not eager to harmonize the record low temperatures with global warming theory.


globalresearch--2019-11-01--Keystone Pipeline Does as Experts Predicted, Spills 383,000 Gallons of Oil in North Dakota

Yesterday, the Keystone pipeline leaked an estimated 383,000 gallons (9,120 barrels) of oil into wetlands in North Dakota. The leak is already the eighth-largest pipeline oil spill of the last decade. The tar sands oil transported through the Keystone pipeline is particularly hard to clean up because, unlike crude oil, it sinks in water.  Keystone operator TC Energy’s (formerly TransCanada) alarming spill and safety record has come under scrutiny as it attempts to build the controversial and much larger Keystone XL pipeline through the midwestern United States and Indigenous treaty lands.  “I wish I could say I was shocked, but a major spill from the Keystone pipeline is exactly what multiple experts predicted would happen. In fact, this is the fourth significant spill from the Keystone pipeline in less than ten years of operation. History has shown us time and again that there is no safe way to transport fossil fuels, and pipelines are no exception. In the last ten years, US pipeline spills have led to 20 fatalities, 35 injuries, $2.6 billion in costs, and more than 34 million gallons spilled. New pipelines are locking us into carbon emissions that will push our climate past safe limits. That is not the future I want for my children. “In the past decade, every proposed tar sands pipeline — including the Keystone XL pipeline — has been stopped or delayed by a powerful movement fighting for Indigenous rights, a clean energy economy, and our environment. It is past time to leave fossil fuels in the ground and begin a just transition to a Green New Deal and 100 percent renewable energy.”  Greenpeace analysis from 2017 estimates that, if completed, the Keystone XL pipeline could expect 59 significant spills over a 50-year lifetime. With this latest spill, TC Energy has seen a total of 20 spills from its US pipeline network since 2010, which have released 696,276 gallons (16,578 barrels) of oil and hazardous liquids into the environment.  While Donald Trump moved to “fast-track” the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines in his first month in office, multiple Democratic frontrunners have already come out against the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure.  Note to readers: please click the share buttons above or below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.  Ryan Schleeter is a senior communications specialist with Greenpeace USA covering climate and energy. His writing has appeared in National Geographic, Grist, GreenBiz, EcoWatch, and more. Find him on Twitter @ryschlee.


jerusalempost--2019-12-30--Northeast beach in Brazil hit by second oil spill

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latimes--2019-07-17--A major Kern County oil spill in environmentally conscious California

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Wednesday, July 17, and I’m writing from Los Angeles.  California as a paragon of environmentalism is a loud narrative — one that has shaped headlines and stereotypes and even attitudes, especially in the big cities. The state has been a pioneer on vehicle emissions standards, air pollution legislation and efficiency standards, to name just a few areas of national leadership.  But oil has also played an integral role in the California narrative for nearly a century and a half, since the state’s first real oil well struck “black gold” in 1876. That black gold shaped early 20th-century Southern California, powering the growth of Los Angeles and making fortunes for many of the families whose names still adorn streets and buildings around the state. And that importance is far from confined to history books.  State oil production has been steadily arcing downward since the mid-1980s, but California remains one of the nation’s top petroleum-producing — and gasoline-consuming — states. Until recently, we still produced more oil than any other state but Texas and North Dakota (the Golden State has since slipped to sixth place). Oil and gas companies are also potent political forces that wield major influence in the state Capitol.  [See also: The Center for Investigative Reporting’s 2017 look at “Big Oil’s grip on California”]  The duality of the “two Californias” is a shopworn cliché, but, like many clichés, it prevails for a reason. There is the California of electric cars, kitchen compost bins and vocal opposition to President Trump’s climate policies. Then there is the California of Kern County, where oil and gas production remain a pillar of the local economy and more than 70% of California’s oil and natural gas is produced. The reach of that latter California extends far beyond the southern tip of the San Joaquin Valley — in the first quarter of 2019, the top two spenders on lobbying at the statehouse were Chevron and the broader trade group that represents oil companies.  The constant push-and-pull between California environmentalism and its oil fields came to a public head late last week. On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom fired the state’s top oil regulator after learning that fracking permits had doubled without his knowledge since he became governor, and some of the supervisors tasked with regulating the industry owned shares in major oil companies.  On Friday, news broke that a Chevron oil well in Kern County had leaked nearly 800,000 gallons of crude petroleum and water into a dry creek bed about 35 miles west of Bakersfield over the past two months. The mixture was about one-third oil and two-thirds water, and the flow has since ceased, according to the state Department of Conservation. The seep occurred in an oil field where Chevron uses a process called steam injection to extract underground crude oil.  Ted Goldberg, an editor at KQED News who often reports on Bay Area refineries, uncovered the spill while searching a government database for updates on an entirely separate incident at Chevron’s Richmond refinery in Northern California. “In May, Chevron officials began noticing that oil and water started coming up from the ground when it shouldn’t,” Goldberg explained. “It lasted for a little while and then it stopped. And then on two other occasions since then, it started [again]. The agency that’s responsible for regulating this stuff has been criticized, basically, for doing not an aggressive job in general.”  [Read “Chevron Well at Center of Major Oil Spill in Kern County Oil Field” by Ted Goldberg in KQED]  “Chevron and the state agency that regulates oil and gas and the state water regulators have all emphasized that there’s no drinking water supplies in the area, that there’s no harm to wildlife,” Goldberg said. “And as you can probably expect, environmentalists disagree with that.”  Hollin Kretzmann, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit environmental group, said the damage potentially caused by the spill “still remains to be seen.” Kretzmann characterized the spill as a larger failure of government regulation, calling it “the end result of regulations that are completely inadequate to prevent these accidents from happening and protect the public and the environment.”  “We can’t be a leader in climate change and protecting the environment if we’re one of the biggest oil and gas producers in the country,” Kretzmann said, touching on the two competing visions of California at play.  The long-term future of oil and gas production in the state remains to be seen. Many environmental groups have been hopeful that Newsom may move to curtail it. The state budget that the new governor signed last month did include a $1.5-million item to study ways to reduce petroleum supply and demand, which certainly seems promising to their cause. But nothing — especially in California — is ever black and white, and an environmentalist victory would also probably deliver deep economic blows to the oil towns of Kern.  And now, here’s what’s happening across California:  How many students cheated to get into USC? The university has launched its own investigation to find out. Shortly after federal authorities took down a in March, officials at USC sent emails to dozens of students. The school wanted to know whether the 33 students — all of whom were linked to William “Rick” Singer, the confessed leader of the admissions con — had lied on their applications.  USC officials told students that decisions would come within weeks, according to lawyers representing several of the students. But the probe has turned into a protracted, fraught push by USC to clear its ranks of any students who were complicit. Los Angeles Times  A coal plant in rural Utah has been L.A.’s single-largest power source for three decades, supplying between one-fifth and one-third of the city’s electricity in recent years. It’s scheduled to shut down in 2025, ending California’s reliance on the dirtiest fossil fuel. But Los Angeles is preparing to build a natural gas-fired power plant at the Utah site, even as the city works to shut down three gas plants in its own backyard . Los Angeles Times  Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has died at 99. Though he joined the court as a centrist Republican, he emerged in his later years as the leading voice of its liberal bloc. Los Angeles Times  Women at an L.A. County jail endured group strip searches. Now, the county must pay $53 million to settle a lawsuit on the matter. Los Angeles Times  Plus: The Times Editorial Board weighs in on the matter: “The same toxic culture that led to brutality against inmates of both sexes persists. The same ignorance of women and their particular needs continues.” Los Angeles Times  Metro’s proposal to run a rapid bus line down Colorado Boulevard drew hundreds of Eagle Rock residents to a tense public meeting. LAist  HBO dominated the 2019 Emmy nominations, thanks to the final season of long-running hit “Game of Thrones” and second-year comedy “Barry.” The network snagged 137 nominations, the most of any network and topping streaming rival Netflix. Los Angeles Times  “The earth’s crust played the ultimate heckler” for this L.A. comedian, who was mid-set when the 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake struck earlier this month. And yes, it was captured on video. Los Angeles Magazine  Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times.  A deported Marine Corps veteran was denied entry to the U.S. for a scheduled citizenship interview. San Diego Union-Tribune  The U.S. House voted to condemn President Trump’s tweets as racist. The House was briefly thrown into chaos before the vote when Republicans objected to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-San Francisco) use of the word “racist” to describe Trump’s words, which violates the chamber’s rules of decorum. Democrats voted to restore Pelosi’s right to speak in the chamber again before proceeding to the measure condemning Trump. Los Angeles Times  L.A. County’s child welfare chief faced sharp questioning over why a 4-year-old Palmdale boy, under what authorities call suspicious circumstances, wasn’t removed from his parents’ home amid abuse claims — despite a recent court order. Los Angeles Times  Alleged MS-13 gang members from L.A. have been charged in a string of grisly killings. Los Angeles Times  A pair of earthquakes shook the East Bay on Tuesday afternoon. San Francisco Chronicle  A new study shows that heat waves are likely to become longer and more intense — even in the Bay Area. San Francisco’s famously cool summers (as immortalized in a certain oft-referenced and possibly apocryphal Mark Twain quip) could soon come to resemble the warmer East Bay as temperatures rise. San Francisco Chronicle  The Central Valley could also see more dangerously hot days due to climate change, according to the same report. Sacramento Bee  Nuclear fuel transfer from wet to dry storage will resume this week at the closed San Onofre nuclear power plant in Orange County. The process was halted for nearly a year after an incident last summer. Orange County Register  Santa Cruz County has the second-highest child poverty rate in the state, as the high cost of living and lower wages put many families in a bind. Mercury News  BART will be adding new bike straps to all trains. San Francisco Chronicle  Flint’s — a legendary name in Oakland barbecue — is being resurrected as a pop-up helmed by the founder’s granddaughter. Mercury News  Here are 20 “non-touristy” spots to see Sonoma County like a local. Santa Rosa Press Democrat  Four of the seven Google employees who organized an international walkout in November have since resigned from the company, including two women who alleged that Google retaliated against them for their organizing. Wired  A mystery submarine spotted in Monterey Bay belongs to the former child actor who played the youngest son on “Home Improvement.” KSBW  Los Angeles: partly sunny, 81. San Diego: partly sunny, 71. San Francisco: partly sunny, 71. San Jose: partly sunny, 83. Sacramento: sunny, 95. More weather is here.  If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)  Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints, ideas and unrelated book recommendations to Julia Wick. Follow her on Twitter @Sherlyholmes.


latimes--2019-07-19--After 800000-gallon spill Chevron site is still leaking oil

After 800,000-gallon spill, Chevron site is still leaking oil

On the same day Sen. Dianne Feinstein chastised Chevron Corp. for keeping an 800,000-gallon spill outside Bakersfield “under wraps,” California officials confirmed Thursday that the site was once again seeping a hazardous mix of oil and water.  The new leakage occurred in a surface expression vent in the Cymric oil field, near the Kern County town of McKittrick, according to the state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources. The vent is one of the locations where three previous leaks released about 800,000 gallons of oil and water.  Field inspectors from the agency identified the latest seepage at 3 p.m. Wednesday and released information about the latest spill Thursday. The agency is working to address what they are describing as a large oil release. The leak potentially resulted from a high-intensity steam injection intended to release oil.  According to the agency, the first leak occurred on May 10 and was stopped that day. New seepage occurred on June 8 and continued to flow intermittently for a span of five days. The persistent seepage was again recorded June 23 and Wednesday, the agency said.  On Thursday, Feinstein (D-Calif.) issued a news release accusing Chevron of failing to inform the public about the leak.  “This is something the public should have been alerted to earlier,” she said. “Proper oversight can’t occur if incidents like these are kept under wraps.”  Feinstein said that although the company said it had recovered most of the oil, “the full toll to the area is not yet known.” She said it was fortunate that the leak did not occur “during a rainy period or the effects on our environment and wildlife would have been even more tragic.”  A Chevron representative could not be reached for comment Thursday.  According to Michelle Corson, public relations officer for the Kern County Public Health Services Department, Chevron is required to report incidents to local jurisdictions, and it reported the leak to the county two months ago.  “We are absolutely aware of the situation,” Corson said.  The Kern County Environmental Health Services Department reports that the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources is the lead agency addressing the spill. Kern County Public Health is not legally permitted to enter the site until it is deemed safe. After that time, the county will work alongside appropriate agencies to begin the cleanup.  “I’m not aware of residents contacting the department,” said Corson, who noted that the majority of calls have been from news outlets.  Corson said that the site is cordoned off and not accessible to the public, and that sound devices to deter wildlife from the area have been installed around the site.  “This is not the time for Chevron to keep details about this destructive oil spill from the public,” said Damon Nagami, the council’s senior attorney. “Time and time again, we’ve seen the devastating effects of oil spills on our wildlife, water and communities. Multiple notices of violation signal that is a serious problem, and we expect DOGGR to hold Chevron fully accountable.”  According to the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, the agency’s acting supervisor, Jason Marshall, issued a formal order to Chevron on July 12 demanding it take a series of actions to address the spill.  The agency said Tuesday that preparations to remove contaminated soil from the site were underway and that vacuum trucks were on-site to remove accumulated oil and water.  The spill mixture was about one-third oil and two-thirds water, the agency said.