WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Wednesday, readers! We’re in the thick of October baseball, which means Maydeen will be spending her evening stressfully rooting for her Dodgers to get a win over the Milwaukee Brewers tonight.
In other news, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin says the agency is days away from proposing new methane standards for oil and gas producers and operators.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
EPA REMAINS CLOSE TO PROPOSING NEW RULES FOR OIL AND GAS OPERATORS:
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said the agency is “in the stretch of days, not weeks” of releasing a proposal to roll back the Biden administration methane standards for the oil and gas sector.
Zeldin last week in New Mexico noted that the EPA was close to proposing a rule to reconsider the Biden administration’s 2024 oil and natural gas rules, also known as OOOOb/c.
At an EPA event today, Zeldin said the proposal would address concerns raised by smaller gas and oil producers. He argued that the existing rule insufficiently distinguishes between small operators and major companies.
“The average person in the country might just think, ‘okay, it’s appropriate to lump everyone together, and with the mindset of they’re all Exxon or Chevron,’” Zeldin said. “But that’s just not the case.”
What will the EPA propose? The agency said last week that it would propose two options for regulating marginal wells, with separate standards for different types of wells. Marginal wells account for less than 5% of the country’s oil and gas supply, but the EPA has noted that these wells contribute to nearly 50% of the industry’s methane emissions.
The agency would also propose to rescind the Super Emitter Program and split standards for covers and closed vent systems.
“I would just note that the Super Emitter aspect of it is one that has been presented to me as less controversial as far as whether or not it’s easy to interpret from a legal standpoint as relates to the authority,” Zeldin said.
The EPA said it would also revisit the overall approach to regulating associated gas from oil wells. It will also propose technical changes to flame monitoring data deviations, control device alerts, and visible emissions test conditions.
The administrator noted that the agency would follow its statutory obligations and use what he called the “single best reading” of federal law. Zeldin noted that he still needs to read the final proposal and a final decision will be made after that.
All the rest:
HIGH ENERGY PRICES FUEL INFLATION: Surging energy prices drove up inflation in September, with higher gasoline and fuel oil prices putting a strain on Americans’ wallets.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released an update to the consumer price index this morning, reporting that energy prices overall were up by 5.2% in September compared to the previous month, and up 20.4% year-over-year.
Fuel oil – which is used for power, transportation and home and commercial heating – led the rise in energy prices, jumping by 15.3% month-over-month. For the year ending in September, fuel oil prices surged by 74.2%.
Gasoline prices were the second highest for the month, rising by 9.1% from August. Year-over-year, gasoline prices jumped by 34.2%.
Electricity prices also continued to rise, ticking up 4.4% for the year, up 0.2% month-over-month.
The only monthly decline reported by BLS today was for utility gas service prices, which dropped 0.3%. BLS did not report any yearly dips for energy prices.
PERMITTING REFORM LATEST – SUGGESTED CHANGES AND A PUSH: The Senate won’t officially take up the bipartisan permitting deal, known as BAAJA, and consider amendments to the legislation until after the midterm elections. However, Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz has revealed at least one change some Democrats will likely push.
During an interview with the Washington Sun’s “Sun Cast” podcast, Schatz said he would like to see adjustments made in the text that address concerns from tribal nations and organizations.
In recent days, tribal nations specifically called on Congress to remove provisions reforming part of the National Historic Preservation Act. They argue the changes would reduce tribal participation in key federal decisions and impose inappropriate federal oversight on Tribal Historic Preservation Officers and limit the ability for tribes to seek judicial review over projects.
Schatz said he is “working through the amendment process” addressing those concerns.
While some groups have called for the bipartisan text to be scrapped completely — see yesterday’s edition of Daily on Energy — Schatz offered some skepticism over whether a better deal can be reached in the next Congress.
“The likelihood that something better would pass in the next Congress, I – someone would have to prove that to me,” he said. “I don’t think you can…get a better deal.”
Manufacturers up pressure: More than 100 manufacturing and business groups have sent a letter to the Senate urging a swift passage of the BAAJA. The letter, spearheaded by the National Association of Manufacturers, said permitting delays currently cost the industry at least $8 billion a year.
You can read the full letter here.
GREENLAND AND TRUMP CLASH OVER DRILLING CLAIMS: In the middle of the night, President Donald Trump claimed that “massive” oil and mineral exploration activities were about to start in Greenland. If true, this would mark a major win for the president, as he has sought to exert control over the Danish territory.
However, Greenland officials are pushing back.
Deputy mining minister Jørgen Hammeken-Holm told CNN today that, while there are U.S. mining activities on the island, “we are very far away from ‘massive’ exploration.”
“There are many smaller explorations underway but these could take years to become operational,” he said.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DEFENDS RECONSIDERATION OF RHODE ISLAND WIND FARM: In yesterday’s Daily on Energy newsletter, we touched on how the Trump administration is seeking to remand a permit issued for the Revolution Wind farm located off the coast of Rhode Island.
News of the administration’s latest attempt to kill the project sparked massive backlash on social media, with some suggesting that the move could threaten the bipartisan permitting deal that – if passed – would block future administrations from rolling back such a permit.
“Frankly, we need to get permitting certainty in law, and this proves it,” Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Martin Heinrich said in a joint statement. “In the meantime, the administration needs to start showing good faith progress on wind permits.”
The administration, however, is standing firm in its decision.
Jarrod Agen, executive director of the National Energy Dominance Council, clarified in a social media post that the request to remand the permit was made as part of a local lawsuit opposing the project.
“This is an old lawsuit brought by the local community—who had serious concerns about this project—against the Biden Administration!” Agen wrote, adding that the White House maintains support for permitting reform.
“The media should stop their attempts to blow up a GREAT deal for the American people!” he added.
What old lawsuit? In early 2024, anti-wind group Green Oceans filed a lawsuit challenging Revolution Wind and its sister project South Fork Wind, alleging that federal approvals had violated several laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act. Their claims were shot down twice in federal court.
REGULATORS UPDATE APPROVAL FOR LARGE NUCLEAR REACTORS: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has updated and renewed the certification for Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactor design – a step that will make it easier to build massive nuclear power plants capable of generating enough electricity to power more than 750,000 homes.
The updated design certification now incorporates “lessons” from the construction and operation of Vogtle Units 3 and 4 in Georgia, the most recently built large nuclear reactors in the U.S. During the construction and startup of these reactors, the NRC evaluated and approved nearly 200 license amendments, the agency said.
Federal regulators are hoping the new certification will reduce duplicative regulatory reviews, as new applicants looking to build an AP1000 can reference the updated design, rather than seeking approval for changes that the NRC reviewed years ago.
In addition to updating the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design, the NRC renewed its certification, making it valid through 2066. Previously, the certification was set to expire in the mid- 2040s.
It’s important to note that updated certification does not authorize the siting, construction or operation of any reactor.
DIESEL SHORTAGE COULD LAST INTO NEXT YEAR, IEA SAYS: The International Energy Agency warned that the global diesel shortage could last into 2027.
The agency said the combined net exports of diesel from the Middle East and Russia fell by 1.3 million barrels per day to 820,000 barrels per day in September.
“Record diesel prices are already having broad economic consequences by raising the cost of goods and impacting real incomes, economic activity, and inflation,” IEA said.
As global oil reserves continue to diminish and conflicts in the Middle East remain unresolved, oil markets may experience more turmoil in the next few months before any eventual surplus emerges in 2027.
The IEA’s warning comes just a day before it is set to meet to discuss the scale and timing for releasing emergency reserves to ease fuel prices.
TAIWAN INVESTING IN ALASKA LNG PROJECT: The Taiwanese economic affairs ministry yesterday said the country has made progress on plans to purchase and invest in a liquefied natural gas pipeline project in Alaska, Reuters reports.
Taiwan’s state-owned oil and gas firm CPC Corporation signed a letter of intent last March on the natural gas project in Alaska. The economic ministry said CPC has made significant progress with the project developer after nearly a year and a half of negotiations and evaluation.
The company has planned to purchase 6 million metric tons of LNG annually once production begins and has been expected to invest up to $4.4 billion in the project.
Trump has claimed that Taiwan actually plans to invest far more in the pipeline. In a Truth Social post uploaded this afternoon, the president said his administration secured an offtake commitment from Taiwan of between $70 billion to $80 billion for the pipeline.
“That is 30% of the Pipeline for the next 20 years,” Trump said, claiming it marks the largest offtake agreement in history.
ICYMI – TRUMP OFFICIAL TRIED TO KILL REPORT ON SUSPICIOUS OIL TRADES: Earlier this year, staff within the Commodity Futures Trading Commission began to take actions that could lead to an investigation into whether insider trading took place in March, when billions of dollars worth of bets were placed on oil prices falling just minutes before Trump abandoned a set of strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure.
But then a Trump administration official got involved.
Bloomberg reported yesterday that the CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight flagged the perfectly timed contracts, and filed a referral to the agency’s Division of Enforcement. This office is responsible for launching formal investigations into potential insider trading.
However, not long after, a senior adviser to the CFTC’s Trump-appointed chairman Michael Selig told the market oversight office to withdraw the referral.
The adviser, identified as Mel Gunewardena, had reportedly joined the agency just a few weeks prior. Sources familiar with the matter told the outlet that he was seeking to oversee the gathering of the trading data himself.
An official with the CFTC told Bloomberg that the agency has continued to probe the trading activity from March, and has also looked at April.
Some reaction: Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, has said both Selig and Gunewardena should answer to Congress about the status of the investigations and potential enforcement actions.
“It is disturbing that a senior advisor to Chairman Selig may have intervened in efforts by agency career staff to do their jobs and investigate potentially billions of dollars worth of insider trading,” Warren said.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
