During the past two months of COVID-19 “lockdown”, the United States has watched 30 million jobs evaporate, incurred an additional $2 trillion dollars of debt, seen our national debt exceed the GDP, and still not fixed our...more
March 2020 will be the month the western world changed. As March began, there was relative normalcy except in China and isolated places in east Asia. By month’s end, much of the west – indeed, the entire world – was in...more
The shockwaves to both worldwide civilization and the international economy of the coronavirus, COVID-19, continue to escalate, with energy being the latest front.
China, the world’s largest oil importer, has drastically...more
3/12/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Economic Downturn ,
Energy Sector ,
Exploration and Production Assets ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Relations ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
Saudi Arabia
The latest battlefield in the American pipeline wars is one of the most celebrated, venerable and scenic places in the United States - the Appalachian Trail. Stretching about 2,200 miles from Maine to Georgia, the Appalachian...more
3/5/2020
/ Canada ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Policies ,
Federal Land ,
Forest Service ,
Land Developers ,
National Park Service ,
National Parks ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Tribal Lands
People in the United States who wonder how far pipeline protests can go, and how disruptive they can be, need only look north to Canada. As this article is written, much of the national Canadian rail system has been shut down...more
2/20/2020
/ Canada ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Native American Issues ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Protests ,
Railways ,
Tribal Lands
While the eyes of the world have been on the impeachment of President Trump, Brexit, the coronavirus and the new American peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians, the seeds for the next war perhaps are being sown in the...more
Oracle founder and billionaire Larry Ellison already owns about 98% of Lanai, a small Hawaiian island with approximately 3,000 residents nine miles from and politically part of Maui. Two weeks ago, the island announced that...more
General Qassem Soleimani, the Commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC), was killed by a United States drone strike this morning in Baghdad. Soleimani was the second most powerful man in Iran,...more
2019 was the year in which reality smacked the Marcellus Shale Basin in the face. Long held assumptions about asset valuation and infrastructure development fell apart. By year’s end, some of the most famous names in the...more
The Middle East turned on its axis last week. Thanks in large part to the shale revolution, few Americans heard about it – and most did not care who did.
Originally published on Forbes.com November 5, 2019....more
11/7/2019
/ Energy Sector ,
Foreign Policy ,
Hong Kong ,
Iraq ,
Lebanon ,
Middle East ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Protests ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Shale Gas ,
Syria ,
Turkey
Two of the legal worlds that I straddle – energy and aviation – collided last week in the Mediterranean Sea. The implications for these two disciplines, as well as world security, could be enormous.
Originally published on...more
11/7/2019
/ Cyprus ,
Drones ,
Energy Sector ,
Greece ,
Israel ,
Middle East ,
Natural Gas ,
Offshore Drilling ,
Oil & Gas ,
Syria ,
Turkey
Pacific Gas and Electric provided its customers in northern California with a glimpse of the future last week. Due to extremely dry conditions coupled with the prospect of strong winds, and cognizant of last year’s massive...more
11/6/2019
/ Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
CPUC ,
Energy Sector ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
PG&E ,
Pipelines ,
Renewable Energy ,
Utilities Sector ,
Wildfires
Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) announced this week that it is establishing a microgrid to supply power at the airport, connected to the main electrical power grid in case of emergency but otherwise separate from...more
11/6/2019
/ Airports ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Marcellus Shale ,
Microgrids ,
National Security ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Renewable Energy ,
Solar Panels ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Projects ,
Utilities Sector
Only one part of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s policy statement known as the Green New Deal actually deals with the environment. Most of the statement seeks to promote more jobs-oriented policies such as...more
8/1/2019
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Energy ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
FERC ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Power Grid ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Renewable Energy
Two attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz have sent the energy world, and the world at large, on edge. It also shows the folly of the unilateral energy disarmament being practiced on the West Coast and in New...more
6/17/2019
/ Exports ,
Global Disputes ,
Imports ,
Iran ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Marcellus Shale ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oman ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Trump Administration ,
Yemen
By a vote of 17-11, the Oregon State Senate last week just passed a five-year moratorium on fracking in that State. The Senate bill cut in half a 10-year moratorium passed in March by the Oregon House of Representatives, but...more
At 8:30 p.m. yesterday, the State of New York Department of Environmental Conservation rejected Williams Corporation’s proposal for the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) natural gas pipeline. Citing potential water...more
While little noticed outside of the energy industry, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is about to make one of the seminal decisions of his tenure. Before May 16, 2019, Governor Cuomo must decide whether to allow the New York...more
5/1/2019
/ Certifications ,
Department of Environmental Conservation ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
FERC ,
Fracking ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Marcellus Shale ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines
President Trump joined the pipeline battle last week by issuing two Executive Orders aiming at limiting the power of state officials to determine federal policy. One Order calls on the Environmental Protection Agency to...more
4/15/2019
/ Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Oil & Gas ,
Renewable Energy ,
Trump Administration
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice made one of the most curious gubernatorial moves in recent years recently, when he vetoed a bill that would have directed money to plug the Mountain State’s approximately 4,000 abandoned gas...more
Residents of the Siberian town of Pervouralsk have been horrified by a sight they never expected – green colored snow. Vladimir Putin’s Russia, in the same way as the Communist Soviet Union, industrializes with little regard...more
3/11/2019
/ Canada ,
Eminent Domain ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Hydropower ,
Marcellus Shale ,
Natural Gas ,
Offshore Wind ,
Oil & Gas ,
Private Property ,
Russia
While President Trump and House Speaker Pelosi bicker about nonsense, two very important parts of the world are on a hair trigger today....more
1/24/2019
/ Energy Sector ,
Foreign Relations ,
Government Shutdown ,
Imports ,
Iran ,
Israel ,
Obama Administration ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
Shale Gas ,
Syria ,
Trump Administration ,
Venezuela
Last week, New York City area utility Consolidated Edison notified regulators that, as of March 15, it would accept no new natural gas customers in Westchester County due to supply shortages. It is possible that cutoffs in...more
1/23/2019
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Gas Prices ,
Governor Brown ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Local Ordinance ,
Marcellus Shale ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Political Parties ,
Renewable Energy ,
Shale Gas ,
Venezuela
2018 began with the United States producing immense amounts of oil and natural gas; pipeline companies struggling to build out the national pipeline system but not being transparent about how they are doing it; Europe, led by...more
12/28/2018
/ Coal ,
Energy Costs ,
EU ,
Explosions ,
FERC ,
Gas Royalties ,
Germany ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Governor Wolf ,
Land Owners ,
Land-Use Permits ,
Marcellus Shale ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Political Parties ,
Renewable Energy ,
Russia ,
Severance Tax ,
Solar Energy ,
State Legislatures ,
Transparency ,
Wind Power ,
WV Supreme Court
The simmering dispute over waterway rights between Ukraine and Russia broke into armed conflict this week. Its implications are enormous both for the energy world as a whole and especially for us in the Marcellus Shale...more
11/29/2018
/ Energy Sector ,
EU ,
Germany ,
Inland Waterways ,
Marcellus Shale ,
Military Conflict ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Popular ,
Ports ,
Russia ,
Trump Administration ,
Ukraine ,
Water Rights