Alaska Democrats Campaign to Reinstate Sarah Palin's Tax Policies

Alaska Democrats are campaigning to have former Gov. Sarah Palin's tax policy reinstated after Palin's successor, Gov. Sean Parnell, had it repealed this year, saying that it discouraged exploration. 

But Democrats liked the way it was in the Palin years and were able to gather enough signatures to make it a ballot measure for 2014, asking that Alaska voters repeal the new plan and keep Palin's, The New York Times reported.

"She was a transformational figure in Alaska politics," said Democratic State Senator Bill Wielechowski, a leader of the repeal effort. Tax policy had not caught up to the profits being made in oil in The Last Frontier. "People realized that for decades Alaska had not gotten a fair share."

Palin ran for governor as a reform candidate in 2006 after it was learned that the oil companies in the state were buying off state legislators in exchange for votes.

However, Andrew Halcro, president of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, argues that while Palin's tax policies were popular at the time, they may have gone too far and have resulted in discouraging oil companies from drilling. 

"People were angry at the oil industry, angry at the Republican Party, angry at the lawmakers who got caught in the scandal, and she channeled that," Halcro said. "And so when she raised taxes, people were like, 'All right, you go get 'em.' But then the reality sunk in."

While Alaskan Democrats prefer Palin's tax policy, they are hesitant to solicit her support in repealing the new law because she has become a polarizing figure following her candidacy as vice president in 2008 and her resignation as governor. 

"She did the right thing. She put in a tax that was tough on the big guys," said Jack Roderick, age 87, former Democratic major of Anchorage Borough and leader of the repeal effort. But with her divisive image, including her in the campaign would "probably not be helpful."

Via: Newsmax

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Obama Weekly Address: Taking Control of America’s Energy Future, Saturday November 16, 2013

In his weekly address, President Obama discusses progress in American energy and highlights that we are now producing more oil at home than we buy from other countries for the first time in nearly two decades. We reached this milestone in part not only because we’re producing more energy, but because we’re wasting less energy, and as a result, we are also reducing our carbon emissions while growing the economy.

Via: WhiteHouse.gov

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CA Not Enjoying TX-Sized Boom in Revenues From Oil

California increased its revenues last year by $8 billion a year, through passing the Proposition 30 and Proposition 39 tax increases.

Texas has added even more to its revenues, but did so a different way. The fracking boom added $28.6 billion in revenues to the Texas state budget during the last three years, or $9.3 billion a year.

Yet it’s a Los Angeles-based oil company, Occidental Petroleum, which owns 1.2 billion barrels of oil (or its equivalent) in Texas’ Permian Basin.  Sixty percent of Oxy’s oil and gas extraction comes from carbon dioxide flooding, which is used when water injection and pumping no longer works.

Oxy has successfully used C02 hydraulic fracturing of rock — called fracking — in the Permian Basin in Texas since 2011, when the West Texas Intermediate benchmark crude oil price went over $100 per barrel. Currently, that price is $97 a barrel.

Monterey

But since 2011, Oxy has not enjoyed similar success back here in the Golden State with its development of the Monterey Shale Formation. Oxy has suffered tough permitting delays, environmental opposition, threats of a permanent fracking ban and a lengthy 10-month delay in passing the SB4 fracking law.

Oxy reports that its Monterey Shale production of a piddling 370 barrels of oil per day can’t compare to its 45,000 barrels per day from other shale oil fields in California.

A big boost to drilling in California is that many wells can be drilled vertically and stimulated with cheaper hydrofluoric acid, rather than by the horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing of rock. This is why SB4 specifically regulates hydrofluoric acid flushing.  Technically, matrix hydrofluoric acid stimulation is not fracking, but fracture acidizing is.  Occidental found that fracking was not economic in the Monterey Shale several years ago.

Both state and local politics aren’t the only impediments to Occidental and other oil producers in California.  Those holding shallower deposits have lower costs and potentially higher profits, according to Mike Edwards of Venoco Oil.

Via: California Political Review

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The Daily Bulletin - October 29, 2013 - Coal and Oil Report

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY: COAL STATES RALLY AGAINST THE EPA

The push-back from coal states will come today as coal miners descend on Washington for a“Count on Coal” rally at the Capital. Thousands are expected to participate. Meanwhile, coal state representatives – including a few Democrats – are sending letters to President Obama and EPA officials calling the new regulations “job killers.” There’s a bit of dissent elsewhere as well. Elias Hinckley, writing on The Energy Collective, points out that investing in power plants is a long-term project and the uncertain environment endangers the coal industry. Peter Glaser, an energy and environment attorney in Washington, writing in The Hill, points out that the EPA may be getting a little ahead of the technology by making everyithing but carbon capture-and-storage illegal.  And the Minot Daily News says EPA may be doing more harm than good.  Meanwhile, EPA officials embarked on a victory lap around the country this week, visiting 11 major cities to get feedback on its new campaign – but carefully avoiding coal country in the process.

GOOD THINGS COMING IN NORTH DAKOTA?

The revelation that flaring of gas in the Bakken has moved the United States back up in the top ranks of gas wasters has been a recent embarrassment. But William Tucker, on Fuel Freedom, finds that good things may be in the works. A lawsuit filed last week by property owners claiming that they are losing royalties may prove a spur to getting the oil drillers to act. Moreover, there appears to be new technology coming down the line. “Gas Technologies, a Michigan company, has just developed a conversion device that sits on the back of a trailer and can be hauled from well to well. ‘We have a patented process that reduces capital costs up to 70%,’ said CEO Walter Breidenstein. ‘If we’re using free flare gas, we can reduce the cost of producing methanol another 40-5%.’ Other companies are working on similar technologies for converting natural gas to methanol on-site. . . . Of course, Walter Breidenstein will probably find that flared gas will not be offered for free. Those Bakken property owners still want their royalties. But the North Dakota lawsuit proves a spur for on-site methanol conversion and great opportunity to highlight the role methanol could play in our transportation economy.”You know what they say, every crisis presents an opportunity.

Via: Real Clear Energy

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North Dakota's other big money-making opportunity

A handful of counties in North Dakota are churning out more oil and gas than the entire state of Alaska. Welcome to the Bakken, the jewel of The Rough Rider State.

But a look beyond the drillers working the state's Bakken field reveals many players who see another opportunity: building North Dakota's infrastructure.

In May, environmental nonprofit group Ceres released a report that drillers in the Bakken are flaring—or burning off—more than $100 million in natural gas a month. That's nearly one-third of all the gas drilled in the region, and it's a figure that has tripled in the past three years. The practice is so prolific that NASA says astronauts can see the region's flares from space.

(Read more: Good news: Gas prices are falling)

The problem? While drilling in the Bakken has increased the nation's supply of natural gas, the buildout of the pipelines that transport it has not been able to keep up. Drillers with a glut of gas are left with two options: release their excess supply into the atmosphere untreated or burn it off. They typically choose the latter.

It's not an option that the drillers like. Burning product is essentially burning money. Last week, North Dakota's mineral rights holders launched a series of class action lawsuits against the state's biggest drillers over the lost revenue.

Some pipeline builders have sensed an opportunity. Earlier this month, Energy Transfer Equity agreed to buy PVR Partners for $3.8 billion, while Crestwood Midstream announced a $750 million deal to buy privately held Arrow Midstream Holdings. Crestwood will become one of the biggest processors in the Bakken after the deal. 

Via: CNBC

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[VIDEO] US energy could be a $500 billion boon: FedEx CEO

Play Video

SAFE Conference takes aim at OPEC

Wednesday, 16 Oct 2013 | 7:37 AM ET

Retire Marine Corps Gen. James Conway and FedEx Chairman and CEO Fred Smith discuss progress on U.S. energy independence.

Developing a comprehensive plan to achieve U.S. energy independence is the "single biggest" way to boost the economy, FedEx Chairman and CEO Fred Smith told CNBC on Wednesday.

"Oil is at the center of everything we do," Smith said in a "Squawk Box" interview. "If we produce more in the U.S. and use less and develop alternatives … you allow the United States within our economy a half a trillion dollars more in GDP."

Smith opened the OPEC Oil Embargo 40 summit, sponsored by Securing America's Future Energy, in Washington on Wednesday. He's the co-chair of the advocacy group's Energy Security Leadership Council of retired generals, admirals and CEOs of oil-using companies.

(Read more: Keystone would make OPEC obsolete, says Pickens)

"When OPEC instituted the oil embargo 40 years ago … we were only importing about 35 percent of our oil," he said. "Withholding those oil supplies threw the U.S. economy into complete chaos." The U.S. now imports less than 40 percent, he added.

Less reliance on foreign oil "allows us the flexibility to conduct our international affairs and our foreign policy without regard to be hostage to these national oil companies," Smith said.

Via: CNBC

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The War between Texas and DC

George P. Mitchell died this past summer. Though not widely noted, his American ingenuity has laid siege to the fundamental injustices of the world and promised a now inevitable American economic renaissance. In the 1980s, industry experts thought his idea was "stupid." Today, Mitchell's invention is completely reversing global fortunes. His invention: Fracking.

Because of the ingenuity of this Texan, global oil and gas markets are in complete upheaval. His home state of Texas is experiencing skyrocketing production of oil and natural gas. Texas is the thirteenth largest producer of oil in the world today and production continues to rise dramatically in places like the Eagle Ford and Barnett Shale oil plays. Mitchell's invention insures that Vladimir Putin's claims to increased Russian hegemony are largely vain. The abundance of fossil fuels yielded by the Texan's genius threatens the cornerstone of Russian economic prowess: natural gas. With oil at over $100 a barrel, money is pouring into the Texas treasury and the state, already in surplus, finds itself with an improbable exponential windfall. The United Statessurpassed Saudi Arabia this past year to become the largest producer of fossil fuels. The United States is easily on track to become a fossil fuel exporter -- especially in natural gas.

European leaders recently issued warnings that European industry is at risk of an 'industrial massacre' due to industry departing the region for America because of high energy costs. The plummeting prices of oil and gas poise the United States for an unprecedented industrial renaissance. The driving cost of industrial production is energy and America is drowning in it.

Via: American Thinker

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BOMBSHELL OBAMA VETTING: 1979 NEWSPAPER ARTICLE BY VALERIE JARRETT FATHER-IN-LAW REVEALS START OF MUSLIM PURCHASE OF U.S. PRESIDENCY

Why would Muslim oil billionaires finance and develop controlling relationships with black college students? Well, like anyone else, they would do it for self-interest. And what would their self-interest be? We all know the top two answers to that question: 1. a Palestinian state and 2. the advancement of Islam in America. The idea then was to advance blacks who would facilitate these two goals to positions of power in the Federal government, preferably, of course, the Presidency. And why would the Arabs target blacks in particular for this job? Well, for the same reason the early communists chose them as their vanguard for revolution (which literally means “change”) in America. Allow me to quote Trotsky, in 1939:“The American Negroes, for centuries the most oppressed section of American society and the most discriminated against, are potentially the most revolutionary element of the population. They are designated by their historical past to be, under adequate leadership, the very vanguard of the proletarian revolution.” Substitute the word “Islam” for the words “the proletarian revolution,” and you most clearly get the picture, as Islam is a revolutionary movement just like communism is. (Trivia: it is from this very quote that communist Van Jones takes his name. Van is short for vanguard. He was born “Anthony”). In addition, long before 1979, blacks had become the vanguard of the spread of Islam in America, especially in prisons.

Interestingly, in context with the fact that this article was written by her father-in-law, Valerie Jarrett has an unusual amount of influence over Obama (along with personal security that may be even better than his, another unusual and intriguing bit of business here). And equally interesting is that Obama, who may have been a beneficiary of this Muslim money, and may now be in this Muslim debt, has aggressively pursued both of the Muslim agendas I cited above. And, also equally interesting, is that Obama has paid a king’s ransom for court ordered seals of any such records of this potential financing of his college education, and perhaps, of other of his expenses.

Via: Pat Dollard

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Data show China passing US as biggest oil importer

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China, the world's biggest oil importer

Thursday, 10 Oct 2013 | 2:00 PM ET

CNBC's Sharon Epperson discusses China as the leading oil importer.

China has achieved another world-beating status its leaders don't want: Biggest oil importer.

China passed the United States in September as the world's biggest net oil importer, driven by faster economic growth and strong auto sales, according to U.S. government data released this week.

STR | AFP | Getty Images

Trucks arrive with containers to be loaded on to a ship at the Qingdao port, in northeastern China's Shandong province.

Chinese oil consumption outstripped production by 6.3 million barrels per day, which indicates the country had to import that much to fill the gap, the Energy Information Administration said this week.

(Read more: Drillers, traders left in the lurch by DC shutdown)

"China's steady growth in oil demand has led it to become the world's largest net oil importer, exceeding the United States in September 2013,'" the agency said in a report. "EIA forecasts this trend to continue through 2014."

Via: CNBC

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OIL DROPS AS FED EUPHORIA FADES; GAS BELOW $3.50

AVERAGE PRICE IN CALIFORNIA FOR GALLON OF GAS IS OVER $4.00

NEW YORK (AP) -- The price of oil fell Thursday as excitement faded over the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to keep its monetary stimulus in place.

Benchmark oil for October delivery dropped $1.68, or 1.6 percent, to close at $106.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

A day earlier, oil rose 2.5 percent after the Fed unexpectedly maintained its stimulus for the U.S. economy and the Energy Department reported a bigger than expected drop in supplies of crude oil and gasoline.

Meanwhile, most U.S. drivers are seeing lower prices at the gas pump. The nationwide average for a gallon of gasoline dropped below $3.50 for the first time since July 9. At $3.49 a gallon, the average is down 6 cents from a week ago. However, Californians aren't sharing in the relief. They're paying about 7 cents more on average than a week ago, due to unplanned maintenance at some refineries.

Via: AP

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Sen.Manchin Says Obama's Coal Policy's Beating The Crap Out His State (Too Late Joe You Helped To Elect Him)

West Virginia knew what it was doing when it overwhelmingly voted against President Obama in the recent election, they were trying to save their jobs. The number two coal mining state in the country knew that the President's energy policy has a goal of killing the coal industry. Well not everybody in the state knew. West Virginia Democratic Senator Manchin woke up this morning and realized that the president he helped to elect is anti-Coal.

Manchin exploded over the Obama administration’s anti-coal policies during a senate hearing today. 

We’re getting the living crap beaten out of us, there has been nothing more beat up than coal.

Manchin voiced his frustrations with rules put forward by Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency which have made it more costly and difficult for coal plants and coal mines to operate. 

They just beat the living daylights out of little West Virginia, but they sure like what we produce,” Manchin added. “We could do it a lot better if we had a government working with us as a partner. 

Manchin’s remarks were made while questioning Ron Binz, Obama’s nominee to head up the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which regulates electric grids, gas pipelines, natural gas export terminals and hydroelectric power plants.

Hopefully come election time, West Virginia voters will remember that Joe Manchin helped to elect the guy who put them out of business.  Especially when one considers it is about to get much, much, worse.

This week, the EPA is expected to finally release its New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), which will set emissions standards not just for the construction of future power plants, but for existing ones also.

Via: The Lid

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Stocks Fall as Oil Reaches 18-Month High on Syria Concern

Stocks slid the most since June and oil surged to an 18-month high amid concern the U.S. will take military action against Syria. Treasuries, the yen and gold rose while Turkey’s lira and India’s rupee reached record lows.

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Japan’s Topix Index declined 0.3 percent, falling a second day. Photographer: Yuriko Nakao/Bloomberg

4:07

Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Russ Koesterich, chief investment strategist for BlackRock Inc., talks about the outlook for stocks and bonds. He speaks with Sara Eisen and Tom Keene on Bloomberg Television's "Surveillance." (Source: Bloomberg)

10:39

Via: Bloomberg

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The MSCI All-Country World Index dropped 1.4 percent as of 4:35 p.m. in New York as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 1.6 percent, the worst declines for both in two months. Dubai’s benchmark gauge plunged 7 percent. Japan’s currency appreciated versus all 31 major counterparts and government bonds of the U.S., Germany and the U.K. rallied. The lira tumbled passed 2 per dollar for the first time and the rupee sank to 66.19 versus the dollar. Crude jumped 2.9 percent to $109.01 a barrel in New York and gold rose 1.9 percent to $1,420.20 an ounce.

U.S. benchmark stock indexes erased gains in the final hour of trading yesterday as Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday that President Barack Obama believes there must be accountability for the “moral obscenity” of using chemical weapons in Syria, fanning concern unrest may disrupt Middle East oil supplies. An Ifo institute report today showed German business confidence rose for a fourth month in August, while U.S. data showed home prices increased at a slower rate andconsumer confidence held near a five-year high.