Exxon wins; Chevron moves forward
Exxon prevails in climate suit
ExxonMobil prevailed Tuesday in its muchwatched legal battle with the state of New York, beating back claims that it misled investors for years in how it calculated the financial risks of climate change. The high-profile trial, which saw testimony from former ExxonMobil chief executive and former secretary of state Rex Tillerson, marked the culmination of a morethan-three-year probe under three different New York attorneys general, during which Exxon handed over millions of documents about its internal dealings.
Chevron approves $5.7B Gulf project
Chevron said it will move forward with the massive Anchor project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico that carries an initial development cost of $5.7 billion. The California energy major authorized the Gulf's next big platform project while describing it as the first-ever, high-pressure development in the deepwater Gulf. The Anchor project will drill wells at 5,000 feet of depth with the capability of handing pressures of 20,000 pounds per square inch. The highpressure technology is expected to open up other avenues of growth within the Gulf, Chevron said.
Baker Hughes goes green in Texas
Houston oil field services company Baker Hughes has joined a growing list of companies such as AT&T, Ikea, Google and Amazon that get their power from wind, solar and other renewable energy sources. Baker Hughes executives signed a 10-year power-purchase agreement with the French company EDF Energy to get all of the electricity for its 170 facilities in Texas from renewables. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal will remove the equivalent to 1.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, or about 12 percent of Baker Hughes’ global carbon emission over 10 years.
Chevron to keep ’20 budget flat
Chevron will hold its 2020 capital and exploration budget flat at $20 billion while recording more than $10 billion in impairment charges on assets that have lost value primarily from weak natural gas prices, the California energy giant.
Chevron will allocate more money to oil projects in West Texas' booming Permian Basin, the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and the massive Tengiz oilfield in Kazakhstan, while cutting funding to natural gas projects, including the planned Kitimat liquefied natural gas project in Canada.
Deal for offshore terminal reached
Houston pipeline operator Enterprise Products Partners and Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge have signed an agreement to develop an offshore crude oil export terminal in the Gulf of Mexico about 30 miles south of Brazoria County. The companies agreed to jointly develop Enterprise's proposed Sea Port Oil Terminal, an offshore export terminal that will be able to accommodate supertankers known as Very Large Crude Carriers, or VLCCs, capable of hauling 2 million barrels in a single shipment.
Coal jobs fall
The closing of coal fired-power plants in Texas and other states has resulted in job losses in coal mining, according to a report by the Department of Energy. Coal mining employment nationwide has fallen to 54,000 workers in 2018, down from the industry's employment peak in 2011, when 92,000 workers toiled in the nation's coal mines. Annual coal production peaked in 2008, when the U.S. produced 1.2 billion tons of coal from nearly 1,500 mines.