When Statoil ASA acquired the last of three licenses off Greenland’s west coast in January 2012, oil at more than $110 a barrel made exploring the iceberg-ridden waters an attractive proposition.

Less than two years later, the price of oil had been cut by almost half and Norway’s Statoil, the world’s most active offshore Arctic explorer in 2014, relinquished its interest in all three licenses in December without drilling a single well, Knut Rostad, a spokesman for the state-controlled company, said by e-mail.

Full Story at FuelFix

Posted on January 13, 2015 at 5:29 pm by Jennifer A. Dlouhy

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed new requirements for testing the toxicity and effectiveness of chemical dispersants used to break up oil spills.

The move comes 14 years after the agency first announced it planned to rewrite rules governing dispersants and five years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster vividly illustrated shortcomings in existing mandates.

The proposed rule aims to strengthen the requirements dispersants must meet before they can be added to a government schedule of chemicals that may be authorized for use on spilled oil.

Full Story at FuelFix

January 7, 2015

by Jennifer A. Dlouhy

WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. John Cornyn suggested Wednesday that GOP lawmakers and the White House could negotiate a deal on Keystone XL, a day after Obama administration officials threatened to veto legislation authorizing the controversial pipeline.

“Right now, it’s real easy to say I’m not going to sign something when there’s no legislation on his desk,” said Cornyn, a Texan who serves as the Senate majority whip.

“I’ve been around this place long enough to know there’s things that the president wants and there are going to be things that the Republican congress wants,” Cornyn said. “And between those two bookends, there ought to be some room for negotiation.”

Full Story at FuelFix

David Shepardson, The Detroit News

Washington – — President Barack Obama is warning Americans that cheap gas prices won’t last indefinitely, and he’s standing by his support of small, fuel-efficient vehicles.

“I would strongly advise American consumers to continue to think about how you save money at the pump because it is good for the environment, it’s good for family pocketbooks and if you go back to old habits and suddenly gas is back at $3.50, you are going to not be real happy,” Obama said in an exclusive telephone interview with The Detroit News on Tuesday, the eve of his visit to Ford’s Michigan Assembly plant in Wayne.

Full Story at The Detroit News