The Shale Daily Update – 7.22.2020: Yes, Joe Biden Does Want to Ban Fracking

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What You Should Know About Oil and Gas Today

The Big Story

The Philadelphia Enquirer yesterday published a completely, 100% false “fact check” by Politifact, claiming that presumptive Democrat Party nominee Joe Biden has not called for the banning of hydraulic fracturing. The truth is that he has done so on multiple occasions, and in fact gone much further than that.

During a series of Democrat Party debates held last fall and winter, Biden variously promised to a) ban fracking, b) ban the use of all oil and natural gas in the United States, and c) ban any new drilling on federal lands and waters in the U.S. He made all of those promises and more on live, national television, and you will see those statements become parts of Trump campaign ads in the general election campaign to come.

Just this week, the former Vice President in fact doubled down on those promises, telling an interviewer that he plans to seek a “worldwide ban on fossil fuels” should he be elected. You don’t have to believe me, you can go watch him make this promise for yourself at this link. That is, unless Instagram decides to take it down in their ongoing efforts to protect the Democrat Party nominee.

Mr. Biden is clearly on the record multiple times over the past year promising to ban oil, natural gas, the use of all fossil fuels and fracking. It’s all on tape, all on video, and it’s really quite amazing that the “journalists” who perform these “fact checks” have somehow managed to miss every bit of it.

But that is how our news media works in America today.

Meanwhile, in other actual news…

E&E Daily reports that levels of natural gas flaring have reached new lows this year. In part, that is due to the shutting-in of wells in response to the price bust, but it is also in part due to the work being done by the industry and regulators across the country. A spokesman for IPAA said that the biggest obstacles to progress on flaring are anti-pipeline groups, “who are ironically the loudest to complain about flaring.” That’s true, but the industry also needs to work harder to resolve a chronic issue it has failed to properly address for more than 20 years.

The Chevron acquisition of Noble Energy announced on Monday is a “sign of the times,” according to Chevron CEO Mike Wirth. “The industry is feeling pressure of pandemic, yet at same time looking to meet the challenges of future; looking to do it better,” he said. “We were positioned with a strong balance sheet for opportunities to work with other companies to strengthen our ability to weather these times and set up to be an even stronger supplier of energy in the future. We think it’s a nice fit; it’s good for the shareholders of both companies. Noble has some good assets; we can offer strength to support those assets through tough times and opportunity for their people. We see deals like this sometimes as the industry is under pressure. We worked hard on this and will work in coming weeks and months to get through the process and integrate Noble into our company.”

Tyne Morgan at AgWeb reports that the cancellation of major pipeline projects could end up costing farmers a billion dollars. Arlan Suderman of the StoneX Group says that “When we look at [what] it’s about, it’s better than a half million barrels per day, and maybe up to 600,000 barrels per day, that need to move. If you can’t move it on the pipeline, because the judge is successful on shutting it down, most of it’s going to go on rail, and that’s going to squeeze out the grain industry. “ Yikes.

Writing at RealClearEnergy, Albert Wynn, a former Democratic member of congress, says that the cancellations of these projects could also have big negative impact on low-income Americans: “While environmentalists are cheering the decision handed down in a Washington, D.C. courtroom, the millions of Americans who depend on affordable and reliable energy may not be in such a celebratory mood,” he writes. It’s a good piece that everyone should read.

World Oil Magazine reports that Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Wayne Christian is accusing Saudi Arabia and Russia of “dumping oil” in the United States.

“For much of 2019 and early 2020, Saudi Arabia shipped relatively little crude to America, with average arrivals running at about 475,000 barrels a day,” said Christian. “After the COVID-19 pandemic crippled the U.S. oil and gas industry, Saudi Arabia shipped 1.3 million barrels a day to our nation, roughly four times February’s daily volume and the highest figure since 2014.”

“Flooding the market during ongoing negotiations with President Trump and the international community is disingenuous,” continued Christian. “More than 100,000 oil and natural gas jobs in the United States have been lost according to Rystad Energy Group. Our federal government must push back against international efforts that harm American energy dominance.”

It’s a solid point.

That’s all for today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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