Posts

Russian Flag

EU Agrees On Partial Ban Of Russian Oil Imports

/in , /by

According to European Council president Charles Michel, the European Union has agreed to enact a partial ban of as much as 90% of Russian crude oil imports and petroleum products delivered into member states over the next six months.

Michel announced the news on Twitter. “This immediately covers more than 2/3 of oil imports from Russia, cutting a huge source of financing for its war machine. Maximum pressure on Russia to end the war,” he said.

According to Michel, the package also includes de-swifting Russia largest bank, Sberbank, banning three more Russian state-owned broadcasters, and sanctioning individuals responsible for war crimes in Ukraine.

Embed from Getty Images

As the Associated Press notes, this kind of action against Russia was unthinkable months ago. World leaders have worked to increase the difficulty of the Kremlin’s ability to finance the war by targeting Russian officials and oligarchs.

However, the energy industry was seen as a last resort and the hardest to conquer, since the European bloc relies on Russia for 25% of its oil and 40% of its natural gas. Some countries, like Germany, rely on Russia for nearly half of its gas needs. According to Ukraine, the sanction could cost Russia tens of billions of dollars.

Oil prices saw jumps following the agreements. U.S. crude features rose to $119.42 per barrel, a 12-week high. Brent crude oils rose up 1.44% at $123.42 (a change of +1.34%), while WTI crude jumped 1.72% to $116.18 (a change of +1.49%).

This sanctions package is now the sixth levied by the EU against the Kremlin as the invasion of Ukraine enters its 96th day with no signs of a resolution in sight. The attack has resulted in at least 46,000 deaths and 13,000 non-fatal injuries, while displacing 15 million Ukrainians.

Meeting at a summit in Brussels, EU leaders had previously failed to find common ground on an oil ban Sunday before reconvening Monday. Doubt that a deal would be reached by the summit’s end was expressed by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

Embed from Getty Images

The package needed the approval of all 27 EU members, and has yet to be formally ratified. A press release by the EU stated that an exception to the oil ban would be crude oil delivered by pipeline so that Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic can continue to receive crucial fuel.

The European Council will revert to the issue of the exemption “as soon as possible.” Given the magnitude of the role Russian oil plays in the bloc, emergency measures will be enacted to ensure a security of supply in the event of “sudden interruptions of supply.”

“This is a topic where we will come back to and where we will still have to work on, but this is a big step forward, what we did today,” von der Leyen said. In response to the ban, Russia — the world’s third-largest oil producer behind the U.S. and Saudi Arabia — has promised to find other importers for its oil.

“As [von der Leyen] rightly said yesterday, #Russia will find other importers. Noteworthy that now she contradicts her own yesterday’s statement. Very quick change of the mindset indicates that the #EU is not in a good shape,” Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, said on Twitter.

Massive Oil Spill Threatens Wildlife, Forces California’s Huntington Beach To Close

/in , /by

A devastating 126,000 gallon (476,910 liters), 13 square-mile oil spill from a pipeline off the California coast has forced Huntington Beach to close for what could end up being weeks or months.

Huntington Beach, affectionately referred to by its locals as “Surf City,” had to cancel planned weekend events and immediately took action against the spill, which occurred around five miles off the beach’s shore on Saturday morning.

Officials have confirmed that the pipeline has been capped, and is no longer leaking. However, Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley explained in an ABC News interview that the pipes are old, and the true extent of the damage is not known.

Embed from Getty Images

The cause of the leak has yet to be determined, although investigations are currently ongoing. The pipeline that has unleashed nearly 3,000 barrels of oil slick into the environment is connected to an offshore oil platform known as “Elly.”

Beta Offshore, a division of Amplify Energy Corp. and one of the largest oil producers in the state, is responsible for the leak. Amplify Energy has since halted their production and pipeline operations, and has sent a remotely operated vehicle to confirm and investigate the spill.

A press release stated that 105 government agency personnel conducted shoreside response, and that a 1,000 yard safety zone was enforced by three U.S. Coast Guard boats around the oil spill.

Additionally, four aircrafts performed overflight assessments while fourteen boats conducted recovery operations on Sunday afternoon.

The U.S. Coast Guard has since removed 3,150 gallons (11,922 liters) from the water in a 24/7 effort while deploying 5,360 feet of boom, a floating barrier that is used to contain spills from further spread.

It will be one of the largest spills seen by California in recent memory, and Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr called the incident a “potential ecological disaster.” In an MSNBC interview, Carr discussed the undetermined amount of time a clean up and beach opening will take to develop:

“We don’t know at this time, and we’re assessing that day by day, hour by hour. Really, once we get a better understanding of exactly how that flow is going to hit the shoreline, then we’ll be better to assess exactly how long this beach clean up will take.”

Carr’s eco-disaster statement is ringing true, as the spill is already causing massive ecological repercussions to the area. Dead fish and birds have begun washing to shore, while oil has begun spilling into protected, sensitive preserves such as the Talbert Marsh, a 25-acre coastal wetlands that houses numerous species, some of which are endangered.

Embed from Getty Images

On Twitter, Foley said she spoke with Newport Beach Mayor Brad Avery, who saw Dolphins swimming through the oil. Foley called for repair and accountability, and stressed the importance of cleanup in order to prevent the situation from causing further destruction to the coast.

Speaking with ABC News, Foley believes that the fallout from the oil spill cannot be undone, and that Huntington Beach and its delicate ecosystem could be looking at years of unintended but deadly consequences.

“You can’t get wildlife back that are killed in this process, and some of the habitat, the plant species, they’re going to be impacted for years to come.”

Foley also expressed her concerns about the impact the spill will have on the air, which could harm beach-goers and residents. The popular beach brings in nearly eight million visitors a year due to its surfing reputation and scenic views.

According to the City of Huntington Beach, the Oiled Wildlife Care Center has already begun the rescue and cleaning of wildlife that have been affected by the spill. Officials have urged residents to not interfere with any oil-covered wildlife, and instead contact the OWCN via their hotline.

However, the clean-up and wildlife rescue efforts will require additional help, as Foley explained the need for equipment such as cardboard carrying boxes, tyvec suits, feeding tools, and N-95 masks.

Shell Chief Executive Receives 40% Pay Cut Due To Covid-19 Pandemic

/in , /by

Royal Dutch Shell has cut the pay of its chief executive by more than 40% in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic which dramatically dropped the demand for oil in the world; 2020 is regarded as the year with the steepest decline in demand for oil. Shell reported a loss of about $20 billion for 2020 due to this lack of demand.

Ben Van Beurden, the CEO, took a cut of around $5.8 million in 2020, and the year before he received a cut of around $10 million, marking the second consecutive year in which the chief executive received a major pay cut. His salary was completely halved back in 2019.

Van Beurden also was reportedly forced to cut Shell’s dividend for the first time since World War 2. It’s expected that the company will be cutting 7,000-9,000 staff members across their global businesses as well. These cuts are also the result of the massive financial loss the company is experiencing due to a lack of need for oil and other fossil fuels, as well as the growing need to live a greener lifestyle.

Embed from Getty Images

Shell also announced that its chairman, Chad Holliday, will be stepping down after six years with the company. He will be replaced by the former BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie, who also spent six years at his former company. His time with BHP was defined by his coworkers as an “ambitious turnaround in which we were able to streamline operations.”

“Right now it’s a pivotal time for the industry and wider society. I plan to profitably accelerate Shell’s transition into a net zero emissions energy business that would continue to generate substantial value for shareholders, customers and communities alike,” Mackenzie explained. Van Beurden also recently claimed that he was looking forward to working closely with Mackenzie.

“We are emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic with a clear and distinct strategy that I believe will enable us to seize the opportunities presented by the energy transition. I cannot think of anyone better than Andrew to take this role,” he said.

Embed from Getty Images

Oil prices have dropped dramatically since March of last year when the pandemic began. This was initially due to traders adjusting their prospects to cope with the lower demand. Shell cut its spending which lowered its pricing and future pricing as well.

Van Beurden refused to take an annual bonus last year, however, he still received one of about $3.7 million due to his long-term incentive plan which initially gave him a bonus of $8 million before his major pay cut back in 2019.

Oil prices have begun recovering in the early parts of 2021 due to dramatic cuts in production, as well as a rollout of multiple vaccine programs throughout the world that is helping stimulate the economy and return the world to a greater sense of normalcy.

Swan

600 Gallon Oil Spill In The Galapagos Is ‘Under Control’

/in , /by

Over 600 gallons of oil is currently being contained off the coast of the Galapagos Islands after a cargo vessel was overturned this past Sunday morning, December 22nd. The ship was docked and being loaded with containers when it overturned and spilled the massive amounts of oil. The Galapagos are an extremely unique and important ecosystem on our planet. Charles Darwin first brought attention to the islands with his theory of evolution that exploited the island for its hundreds of species that are, as far as we know, exclusive to the Galapagos. 

Ever since its initial discovery scientists, conservationists, environmentalists, and research teams have worked together to protect the islands at all cost from human interference in order to further research the many rare qualities that the island possesses to be able to support such a diverse amount of species. 

As unique as the ecosystem on the Galapagos is, it’s also extremely fragile. As one of the only places on Earth that’s not permanently inhabited by humans, its survival is extremely important for environmentalists to study and learn from. A major long term goal for many researchers is to use the Galapagos as a model to improve other places on the planet currently suffering from the detrimental effects of climate change.

Embed from Getty Images

On Sunday Morning a large shipping container holding cylinders of oil was being loaded onto a cargo vessel via crane. The crane ended up falling over and succumbing to the weight of the container, causing both to fall directly onto the vessel’s dock. Once the crane and container fell over the vessel capsized, causing the workers on the ship to jump; luckily, no one was harmed during the whole ordeal. 

The Galapagos are technically a part of Ecuador, despite being located hundreds of miles from the coast. Luckily, the Ecuadorian Coast Guard has certain emergency protocols when situations like this occur.

“Galapagos National Park authorities and the Ecuadorian Navy implemented emergency measures to contain the spill, setting up protective barriers and oil absorbent clothes around the oil patch. The situation is under control, and a series of actions have been deployed to mitigate the possible effects,” the Ecuadorian presidential communications office said in a statement.

Embed from Getty Images

The incident happened at a dock located on San Cristobal Island, which is the easternmost of all the islands that make up the Galapagos. The island is also known for inhabiting some of the most recognizable species to the islands such as ring-tailed lemurs, giant tortoises, and of course, finches. 

The emergency plan to contain the oil spill has been successful so far, however, some of the damage had already been done. Photos from the scene have begun circulating around the internet, causing people to compare it to the devastating 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. While this spill wasn’t nearly as damaging, and was able to be contained in a quick and organized matter, conservationists are raising their voices against yet another man-made operation that’s destroying the planet. 

SOS Galapagos is an online advocacy group who has been speaking up against the damaging operations occurring on the islands that are only further harming our planet. They were one of the first groups to post pictures of the oil spill, claiming that it was a result of “illegal and dangerous” operations. The group is also, in general, based on the claim that over-tourism is destroying many ecosystems within the island. While individuals can’t stay on the island, there are many tourist attractions that allow people to sail to the island and get a glance at all the unique wildlife within it. After Sunday, SOS Galapagos and conservationist groups everywhere are calling on the public to leave the island alone to prevent even further spills/damage. 

Oil and Gas Plant

How Oil and Gas Companies are Grappling with Climate Change

/in , /by

Climate change presents a major problem for nearly every industry in the world, but the oil and gas industry is perhaps the most directly affected one. As the burning of fossil fuels is the most significant contributor to the greenhouse gas effect, oil and gas companies remain the target of blame for the crisis around the world. As such, these companies are faced with the challenge of reconciling their responsibility to the planet with their obligation to generate profits. Although the science on climate change and the activities that contribute to it has been settled for a long time, it has only been in the past few years that oil and gas companies have come to an agreement about the nature and urgency of the crisis. How they are adapting to a near-global consensus about the need to reduce carbon emissions, however, is more disparate, with some companies investing in alternative energy solutions and others focusing on improving the efficiency of oil and gas consumption.

Embed from Getty Images

Perhaps the most striking example of the oil and gas industry’s involvement in shaping the future of energy consumption is the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, which was formed by many of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, and whose members include BP, Shell, Exxon Mobil, and Chevron, to name just a few. The initiative’s stated goal is to “deliver solutions for a sustainable low-emissions future,” and their member companies are “dedicated to the ambition of the Paris Agreement to progress to net zero emissions in the second half of this century.” The initiative’s plan for reaching this goal includes three components: reducing the energy value chain footprint, accelerating low-carbon solutions, and embracing a circular carbon model.

The first objective refers to reducing the amount of methane released into the atmosphere during each stage of the process of energy production, from transport and distribution to usage by final customers. Of all of the greenhouse gases, methane traps the most amount of heat in the atmosphere, making its release a primary concern for oil and gas companies looking to reduce their impact on climate change. The second objective refers to optimizing the efficiency of fossil fuel use by investing in technologies that are more energy efficient and researching new low-emissions pathways for the mid and long-term. The last objective refers to capturing carbon emissions and storing them safely or using carbon in products, and then neutralizing any remaining carbon.

Embed from Getty Images

While the Oil and Gas Initiative is certainly a step in the right direction, the organization has plenty of room for improvement. Though many of the world’s major players in the oil and gas space are represented by the initiative, the organization accounts for only 30% of the world’s oil and gas production. And the initiative is mostly focused on making existing fossil fuel consumption methods more efficient rather than switching over to renewable energy platforms, like wind and solar, though they consider renewable energy as a necessary component of the future of energy production. 

Many critics, however, suggest that the approach taken by oil and gas companies is inadequate, and insist that the transition to the energy economy of the future necessitates intervention from governments around the world. These critics, which include organizations like the Climate Action Network, blame the oil and gas industry for suppressing research about the effects of carbon emissions, and claim that major political change is necessary, as meaningful change will not come from oil and gas companies acting alone. The Climate Action Network, as well as other environmental organizations around the world, call for policies like a carbon tax, government investment in renewable energy, and an elimination of subsidies on oil and gas. That being said, global demand for energy, and specifically fossil fuels, is higher now than it’s ever been, and even the most ambitious plans for reducing carbon emissions still recognize that fossil fuel use must continue in some capacity for decades to come.

Climate

EPA Rollbacks Threaten to Accelerate Climate Change

/in , /by

On Thursday, the EPA is set to announce rollbacks on regulations on methane emissions, which are a major contributor to climate change. As it stands, oil and gas companies are required by federal regulations to install and maintain technology that inspects and fixes wells, pipelines, and storage facilities with the potential to leak methane. With these regulations gone, companies would have no legal requirement to ensure that excess methane is not released into the air.

Although these changes are required by law to undergo a period of public comment and review, this process is unlikely to change the outcome of the rollback. (In 2017, 99.7% of public comments opposed rolling back net neutrality regulations; the FCC dismantled these regulations anyway, suggesting that governmental agencies’ public comment periods can have little to no impact on their ultimate decisions.) Notably, several companies in the oil and gas industry oppose this regulatory change. While the American Petroleum Institute praised the proposed change in rules, calling it “a smarter way of targeting methane emissions,” Exxon, BP, and Shell have urged the Trump administration to maintain key elements of the regulation.

Embed from Getty Images

While it may seem counter-intuitive for these companies to oppose loosening restrictions on the emission of greenhouse gases, oil and gas companies have given several reasons for supporting environmental regulations. One reason has to do with messaging: as the arguments favoring the belief that climate change is both man-made and potentially disastrous become increasingly irrefutable, oil and gas companies are re-branding themselves as favoring renewable sources of energy. As such, it would be hypocritical for them to oppose environmental regulations. Additionally, the view that natural gas is a cleaner source of energy than oil requires that methane emissions are curtailed as much as possible, as the process of extracting and refining natural gas has a strong potential to cause methane leaks if not handled carefully.

This is not the only case where companies have opposed the Trump administration’s rolling back of environmental regulations that impact their business. This summer, Ford, Volkswagen, Honda, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz teamed up with the state of California to oppose auto emissions rollbacks. These rollbacks, which have not yet been implemented, would reverse a rule requiring automobiles to reach an average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, lowering the standard to just 37 miles per gallon. However, 13 states, including California, have vowed to continue to enforce the regulation, leading to a potential disparity in regulations between states and a splintering of the automobile market. As such, some auto manufacturers have sided with California over the Trump administration, seeking to abide by standards that would allow them to continue producing a single fleet of vehicles for all 50 states.

Embed from Getty Images

Additionally, the Trump administration has sought to roll back regulations on mercury emissions that were instituted by the Obama administration in 2011. As human exposure to mercury leads to serious health problems, the regulations on the permissible amount of mercury in the environment were strict, and as a result of these regulations mercury pollution has fallen by 70 percent. Although coal companies such as Duke Energy opposed the regulation, due to the substantial financial burden of installing the technology necessary for compliance, they now oppose rolling back the regulation, as they fear that the money they spent will go to waste if they are not obligated to continue monitoring and reducing mercury emissions.

While somewhat surprising, the shift of oil, gas, and automotive companies towards a more environmentally friendly and consumer-oriented approach is part of a larger trend created by the vacuum of leadership in government combined with worsening environmental and economic conditions. Recently, Business Roundtable announced that many of the world’s major CEOs would shift their focus away from prioritizing shareholders to prioritizing stakeholders in an effort to ensure a healthier and more inclusive economy. This announcement was made in the context of tax cuts that benefited the wealthy at the expense of the middle and lower classes; fearful that the rise of income inequality would lead to an unstable economic situation, the free market reacted by reorganizing its priorities to support a growth in consumer’s spending power. A similar philosophy is driving energy companies such as BP to focus on “green” solutions for harnessing energy. The long-term viability of this practice of self-regulation remains to be seen.