Oregon’s most populous county, and home to Portland, sued more than a dozen oil, gas, and coal companies for over $50 million in damages related to a 2021 “heat dome” the county alleges was caused by the defendants’...more
El gobierno de Colombia había anunciado, en noviembre del año pasado, que publicaría el documento con los pasos, plazos y barreras para realizar la transición energética el 10 de mayo de 2023. Sin embargo, en el mes de mayo...more
Today, the US Environmental Protection Agency released its long-awaited proposal for New Source Performance Standards for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating...more
The International Energy Agency has released its 2022 Coal analysis and forecast. It is sobering. By the time 2022 is over, world-wide coal consumption will have exceeded 8 billons tonnes for the first time. In other words,...more
In June 2022, the Contracting Parties to the Energy Charter Treaty ("ECT") announced an agreement in principle on the text of a modernized treaty. This modernization may have material consequences for state regulation and...more
Blocking funding for gas energy projects in Africa may seem like sensible climate policy. But is it? Although the generally accepted ultimate goal is to replace fossil fuels entirely, there is a strong case for starting by...more
Two new developments of enormous significance passed under the radar last week, buried by the growing threat of an outright Russia/Ukraine war and governmental encroachment on democracy in Canada. These developments, however,...more
With an attendance of more than 190 world leaders, the long-awaited twenty-sixth Conference of the Parties (COP26) concluded with agreement on the Glasglow Climate Pact and the Paris Rulebook. Amid mixed views of whether...more
If 2020 was the year of the great energy disconnect, 2021 was the year the people carrying out the energy debate appeared to be living on different planets, floating aimlessly through time and space and never intersecting...more
California AG Rob Bonta, New Mexico AG Hector Balderas, New York AG Letitia James, and Washington AG Bob Ferguson sent a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) urging it to consider the full social and...more
A Bad Day for Big Oil - "ExxonMobil, Chevron lose key shareholder votes and Dutch court orders Shell to cut emissions faster." Why this is important: Issues related to climate change embroiled three oil companies this...more
U.S. Congress Launches Probe Into Multibillion-Dollar 'Clean Coal' Tax Credit - "The U.S. Congress is investigating a multibillion-dollar subsidy for chemically treated coal that is meant to reduce smokestack pollution,...more
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf Floats Natural Gas Tax to Pay for $3 Billion Pandemic Recovery Plan - "Long a proponent of an extraction tax, Wolf said it could pay for improvements to workforce training and support, remove...more
Welcome to Currents, our weekly publication providing insights to the latest energy news and U.S. EIA statistics. Currents is different from other e-newsletters in that it not only provides current energy articles, but it...more
West Virginia Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Horizontal Drilling Taxation Case Involving Antero - "At issue is a consumer sales tax assessment of around $1 million the West Virginia State Tax Department has levied on...more
Noble Energy Shareholders OK $4.1B Sale to Chevron - "The addition of Noble will boost Chevron's U.S. shale oil holdings, making it the No. 2 producer behind EOG Resources, according to data from Rystad Energy." Why this is...more
More Federal Permits Handed Down as MVP Presses FERC for Construction Restart - "The Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC told FERC that it has received a series of key federal waterbody crossing permits, bolstering its case to...more
U.S. Shale Producers Race for Federal Permits Ahead of Presidential Election - "Federal permitting in the largest U.S. oilfield in the Permian Basin, located in Texas and New Mexico, is up 80 percent in about the last three...more
Chevron’s Patience Pays Off with Bargain Deal for Noble Energy - "Like Anadarko, Noble is also a major player in the oil-rich DJ Basin of Colorado, as well as the oil-rich southwestern piece of the Eagle Ford Shale region." ...more
Big Oil repeatedly remanded to state courts - will SCOTUS come to the rescue? "Oil companies facing suits by state and local governments that want them to bear a share of the cost of responding to the consequences of...more
It is generally understood that the shift from coal to gas has helped, at least in the short run, to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. It is certainly true that combustion of natural gas releases less CO2 per unit of...more
Industry Expert Insights - We reached out to one of our Lex Mundi partners and a well-known expert in the Netherlands in the energy and legal industries to get his thoughts on the current energy climate. Marc van...more
Coronavirus Throws EU Climate Plans into Disarray - "Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said last week that the EU should 'forget about' the Green Deal for now while it focuses on Coronavirus." Why this is important: ...more
Massive New Bipartisan Senate Energy Legislative Package Could See Vote as Early as Next Week - "The 555 page legislative package combines almost all the 50 energy bills that were reported to the Senate in 2019, and is...more
Cancelled Teck Oil Sands Project Underscores Global Climate-Energy Policy Tension - "The Frontier project became the latest casualty in oil-producing countries with robust environmental movements agitating to cut...more