Oslo - U.S. oil firm Chevron (CVX.N) (click here) will become the first oil major to formally exit the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) as it transfers its last stake in an exploration license, according to a government letter.
Oil majors, including Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), BP (BP.L) and Shell (RDSa.AS), have scaled down their presence in Norway by selling or merging their assets in the mature region to focus on new growth opportunities elsewhere....
All these changes would seem radical to Americans, but, they are not to allies. This has been a shift in their society and economies over time and they are very successful. Then there is this mess in the USA.
October 10, 2018
By Darrell Proctor
Colorado-based Westmoreland Co, with the company reporting more than $1.4 billion in debt. The company in its annual financial report in April of this year said it was considering bankruptcy in an effort to protect it from creditors.
Westmoreland, which has operated for 164 years, is the oldest independent U.S. coal company. It is the fourth major U.S. coal producer to file for bankruptcy protection in the past three years. Alpha Natural Resources went into bankruptcy in 2015, and Arch Coal and Peabody Energy filed bankruptcy petitions the following year....
The reason the USA is so very far behind in eliminating carbon based fuels from it's economy is that of political corruption. The USA taxpayer is chronically taken advantage of in spending that is primarily unknown to most consumers.
This is government corruption. There is no other name for it. Consumers WANT alternative energies and want to eliminate carbon emissions, HOWEVER, political cronies that pour millions if not billions into Republican pockets get their way and violate the trust of the American people. In this case it is Murray, but, Koch is still yet another Republican crony seeking special treatment.
It has to stop and the only way it is going to stop is to put Republicans out of office. Just that simple. I am sorry it is always politics that is the answer to such MORAL issues, but, Americans didn't make energy political, the industries and right wing media did. End the carbon pollution by the USA and get rid of Republicans.
September 6, 2018
By Benjamin Storrow
Coal plant closures (click here) have become routine in 2018. American utilities plan to close roughly 13.5 gigawatts of coal capacity this year, the second-highest annual total on record.
But even by that standard, the announcement by FirstEnergy Solutions that it intends to disconnect its last two coal plants was particularly notable (Greenwire, Aug. 30).
Few power companies have had a greater impact on the national debate around coal.
FirstEnergy Solutions, the power plant division of FirstEnergy Corp., filed for bankruptcy protection in April. The company has aggressively lobbied Washington for a federal lifeline for its ailing coal and nuclear facilities, which have been weighed down by low wholesale power prices and stiff competition from natural gas.
The proposed plant retirements of Bruce Mansfield in Pennsylvania and W.H. Sammis in Ohio add fuel to the debate surrounding coal plant closures. The massive facilities are in politically important states, and they buy coal from Murray Energy Corp., an Ohio mining company led by a Trump confidant. The political backdrop prompted some analysts to wonder if last week's announcement was designed to prompt a response from the Department of Energy, which is considering a plan to head off premature closures by subsidizing the use of coal.
"One way to read the announcement is that it's designed to force the hands of policymakers and regulators to think about a more concrete timeline for action to support baseload generation," said Joseph Aldina, who tracks the industry at S&P Global. "It may be a signal to policymakers and regulators."...
