American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2024 - 14

IndustryDigest
Lawmakers Push Court
To Reevaluate LNG Case
WASHINGTON-A bipartisan
coalition of lawmakers has filed an
amicus brief on the side of companies
pursuing construction projects in a
federal lawsuit over the fate of the Rio
Grande LNG and Texas LNG terminals
in Cameron County Tx., as well as the
Rio Bravo Pipeline that seeks to
connect with them.
The brief calls for a rehearing in the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit for the City of Port
Isabel v. Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission decision. In August, the court
said FERC should have included a
supplemental environmental impact
statement for new construction on the
LNG projects (AOGR, Sept. 2024, pg. 14).
The brief, which was filed on Oct.
28, was signed by senators John
Barrasso, R-Wy.; Bill Cassidy, R-La.;
John Cornyn, R-Tx.; Ted Cruz, R-Tx.;
John Kennedy, R-La.; and Dan Sullivan,
R-Ak.; and representatives Brian Babin,
R-Tx.; Michael Burgess, R-Tx.; Dan
Crenshaw, R-Tx.; Henry Cuellar, D-Tx.;
Vicente Gonzalez, D-Tx.; Wesley Hunt,
R-Tx.; August Pfluger, R-Tx. and
Randy Weber, R-Tx.
The brief opens by asserting that the
D.C. Circuit panel has diverged from its
previous jurisprudence on a critically
important matter in a way that
undermines Congress' determination
through the Natural Gas Act that
constructing LNG terminals is in the
public interest (see story, page 70). ❒
Purchase Puts SPR
20 Million Barrels Above
2022 Pre-Sale Levels
WASHINGTON-The U.S.
Department of Energy announced on
Nov. 8 that 200 million barrels of crude
oil had been delivered at an average price
of $74.75 following the closure of the
most recent solicitation to acquire 2.4
MMbbl of crude oil for the country's
Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The
department indicates the buyback strategy
has yielded 20 MMbbl more than the 180
MMbbl sold under the emergency
declaration President Biden authorized in
2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.
DOE says it has purchased 59
MMbbl of oil for the SPR at a price that
14 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
averages less than $76 a barrel, about
$20 a barrel lower than the $95/bbl
average sales price for 2022's
emergency sales. In addition, DOE
notes, it worked with Congress to
cancel 140 MMbbl in sales that had
been mandated to fall between fiscal
2024 and 2026.
" With the awarding of these
contracts, DOE has fully utilized all
funding allocated for crude oil
purchases following the sale of 180
MMbbl in response to the Russian
invasion of Ukraine and secured 20
MMbbl more at a good price for
taxpayers, " says U.S. Secretary of
Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.
According to DOE, all $16.95
billion in emergency revenue made
from the 2022 sale was used to secure
these barrels, except for the $2.05
billion Congress rescinded for deficit
offset. Additionally, it accelerated
approximately 5 MMbbl in exchange
returns to further support the SPR
refill and ensure it had taken
advantage of all available windows for
efficient replenishment.
The contracts awarded in early
November are for deliveries totaling 2.4
million barrels to the Bryan Mound site
in Freeport, Tx. The deliveries are
scheduled to take place from April 1,
2025, through May 31, 2025. ❒
Data Centers' Energy Use
To Cause Demand Jump
NEW YORK-Increasing energy
demands from data centers across the
United States will boost natural gas
demand by as much as 6.0 billion cubic
feet a day by 2030, from a starting point
of almost zero today, S&P Global
Ratings predicts. It says low-risk
manageable capital expenditure projects
that expand capacity have the potential
to meet this demand, especially in gas
fields near data center growth hubs in
Virginia, Texas and the Southeast.
The report notes data center
expansion is central to the expanding
fields of cloud computing and artificial
intelligence. It foresees that the
continued sustained growth in data
center capacity will require significant
amounts of new energy that renewable
sources cannot meet.
" North American midstream energy
suppliers are already benefitting from
increased revenues due to geopolitical
energy security concerns, " S&P Global
Ratings writes. " Additional demand
from data centers should contribute to at
least a decade of supply growth that
should be supportive of midstream
sector credit quality, though the benefits
will accrue most to operators in gas
fields near data center hotspots. "
Precisely how significant the demand
for gas will prove to be remains a subject
of debate and widely varying forecasts,
the report points out. Much of that
uncertainty is attributable to potential
variation in data center demand, which is
nascent and subject to a host of physical
and logistical constraints, including
economic incentives to promote new
generation and transmission
infrastructure that will influence the
extent of its growth, S&P Global Ratings
says (see story, page 73). ❒
Wisconsin DNR Approves
Enbridge's Line 5 Permit
MADISON, WI.-The Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources has
issued a permit allowing Enbridge Inc.
to relocate a segment of its 645-mile
Line 5 liquid petroleum pipeline in
Ashland and Iron counties.
Line 5 runs from Superior, Wi., to
Michigan's Upper Peninsula through the
Straits of Mackinac and lower peninsula
to Canada. Fossil fuel opponents and
elected officials in Michigan have taken
step to shut it down, which has even has
prompted the Canadian government to
invoke a 1977 treaty between the two
countries (AOGR, November 2021, pg.
17). The department says Enbridge is
proposing to reroute the line around the
Bad River Reservation, following the
Bad River Band's decision to not renew
the company's easement on land within
the reservation.
According to DNR, Enbridge will
replace a 41-mile portion of its Line 5
pipeline with 30-inch diameter pipe.
The construction corridor would include
a permanent 50-foot right of way.
The wetland and waterway permit
authorizes the company to conduct
specific construction-related activities
that impact navigable waterways and
wetlands, DNR says, adding it contains
more than 200 conditions to ensure
compliance with state standards.
Enbridge also has applied for a U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers permit to
American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2024
