News
About
Oil & Gas Watch
Environmental Integrity Project
Contact
Brendan Gibbons
/
March 27, 2024
Thousands of abandoned wells in Louisiana threaten to leak carbon dioxide from storage projects
Louisiana is one of the hotspots int he U.S. for sequestration projects that trap carbon dioxide (CO2) underground to protect the climate. Companies are planning 58 storage wells at 24 sites across the state. However, experts say a century of oil and gas drilling has left thousands of pathways for CO2 to squeeze its way back out into the atmosphere, potentially eroding any climate benefits and creating a safety threat for nearby residents in the event of a massive rupture or leak. Two recent reports examine the threat from the more than 186,000 abandoned oil and gas wells in Louisiana.
Tom Pelton
/
March 21, 2024
Texas plastics factory shows how companies take public subsidies while breaking pollution laws
The Formosa Point Comfort plastics manufacturing plant on the Texas Gulf Coast, which makes plastics and other chemicals out of oil and gas, received nearly $69 million in school district tax breaks over a decade. But despite the public support, the plant has routinely violated water and air pollution control laws – without ever losing its subsidies, as a consequence. In a new report, the Environmental Integrity Project examined 50 plastics plants built or expanded in the U.S. since 2012 and found that 64 percent of them received taxpayer subsidies worth a total of almost $9 billion over a decade.
Ari Phillips
/
March 14, 2024
EPA’s new rule will slash planet-warming methane emissions from oil and gas industry, but it could be stronger
According to the EPA, the final rule will avoid an estimated 58 million tons of methane emissions from 2024 to 2038. That’s nearly 80 percent less than projected methane emissions without the rule. But the EPA could have been stronger in requiring oil and gas flares to destroy 98 percent of emissions, rather than the 95 percent destruction rate included in the final rule. It also also failed to require relatively low-cost monitoring needed to make sure that flares are burning cleanly and efficiently.
Brendan Gibbons
/
March 6, 2024
World’s largest ammonia complex would make fertilizer from natural gas in West Virginia coalfields
The world’s largest nitrogen fertilizer plant, which would make ammonia out of natural gas, could be headed for a former coal mining site in rural West Virginia. TransGas Systems, a New York-based company, is seeking an air quality permit for a facility in Mingo County with six ammonia manufacturing units capable of producing up to 6,000 metric tons per day – a total of more than 13 million metric tons per year. The proposed plant is part of a wave of new and expanding fertilizer factories being built across the country.
Brendan Gibbons
/
February 28, 2024
New York is suing Pepsi over oil- and gas-based plastic pollution
When staff from the environmental protection bureau of the New York Attorney General’s office decided to use their authority to address oil- and gas-based-based plastic waste on the Buffalo River, they never intended to go after Pepsi, specifically. But after scientists with the office inventoried piles of trash that volunteers had pulled from the river in western New York, they found that Pepsi’s products made up 17 percent of the plastic waste they found. The lawsuit is the first in the U.S. involving a state suing a company over plastic pollution.
Brendan Gibbons
/
February 22, 2024
As Mountain Valley Pipeline races to completion, construction leaves muddy mess in Virginia waterways
As construction crews rush to complete the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline in Virginia, advocates are calling on state and federal authorities to stop work on the project, citing evidence that the company has again caused erosion that polluted springs and waterways with sediment. One recent example includes a spring in Giles County, west of Roanoke, that began flowing with muddy water after the company's construction work nearby.
Brendan Gibbons
/
February 6, 2024
Biden’s LNG pause won’t slow the flow of U.S. natural gas abroad
The Biden Administration's decision to temporarily halt a review of new liquified natural gas (LNG) export permits will do little in the short term to stop the U.S.'s export boom. It will not block exports from the seven LNG terminals currently exporting from the U.S., nor the 16 projects that have already been authorized or are under construction—including 12 new terminals and four major expansions at existing plants.
Ari Phillips
/
January 25, 2024
Biden Administration proposes climate guidelines for billions going into hydrogen power
In an effort to nudge the growing hydrogen industry in a climate-friendly direction, the U.S. Treasury Department recently released proposed rules for clean hydrogen subsidies included in the Inflation Reduction Act. The guidelines, which cover the distribution of tens of billions of dollars of tax credits, surprised many with their commitment to hydrogen produced with clean energy, not fossil fuels. So far, only two of seven hydrogen “hubs” approved by the administration use only renewable energy, with a majority using natural gas.
1 / 12
Next
Explore the database
Oil and Gas Watch Database
Subscribe To our NEWSLETTER
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Project Updates
Updates for the week of March 25, 2024
Grand Isle LNG withdraws deepwater port application off Louisiana coast
Union Carbide plans to more than double wastewater discharge from Texas plant
Public meeting planned April 23 on proposed Lake Charles, Louisiana, methanol plant
April 25 public meeting planned on Plaquemines LNG wastewater permit
Company applies to expand natural gas storage site near Jackson, Mississippi
Reports
The surprising reasons why Big Oil may not want a second Trump term
March 26, 2024
When natural gas prices cool, flares burn in the Permian Basin
March 26, 2024
Environmental ruling threatens Wyoming oil and gas drilling leases
March 25, 2024
Carbon capture and storage in Texas
October 25, 2023
The Fertilizer Boom: America's Rapidly Growing Nitrogen and Fertilizer Industry and its Impact on the Environment and Public Safety
April 17, 2023
The Polluter's Playbook: How Loopholes and Lax Enforcement Harm Air Quality in Texas
March 23, 2023
Oil's Unchecked Outfalls
January 27, 2023
Playing with Fire: The Climate Impact of the Rapid Growth of LNG
June 9, 2022
Benzene Pollution at Oil Refinery Fencelines
May 12, 2022
The Advocate’s Guide to Effective Participation in Environmental Permit Proceedings
April 22, 2022
Recent Media
The surprising reasons why Big Oil may not want a second Trump term
March 26, 2024
When natural gas prices cool, flares burn in the Permian Basin
March 26, 2024
Environmental ruling threatens Wyoming oil and gas drilling leases
March 25, 2024
Carbon capture and storage in Texas
October 25, 2023
The Fertilizer Boom: America's Rapidly Growing Nitrogen and Fertilizer Industry and its Impact on the Environment and Public Safety
April 17, 2023
The Polluter's Playbook: How Loopholes and Lax Enforcement Harm Air Quality in Texas
March 23, 2023
Oil's Unchecked Outfalls
January 27, 2023
Playing with Fire: The Climate Impact of the Rapid Growth of LNG
June 9, 2022
Benzene Pollution at Oil Refinery Fencelines
May 12, 2022
The Advocate’s Guide to Effective Participation in Environmental Permit Proceedings
April 22, 2022
authors
Brendan Gibbons
Oil & Gas Watch Reporter
Ari Phillips
Senior Writer and Editor
Tom Pelton
Director of Communications
Alexandra Shaykevich
Oil & Gas Research Manager
Lottie Mitchell
Research Analyst
tags
Air Quality
Chemical Feedstocks
Climate
Energy Markets
LNG
Natural Gas Liquids
Oil Refineries
Pipelines
Water Quality
Natural gas
Ammonia
Hydrogen
Wildlife
Carbon Sequestration
Oil
Environmental Justice
Politics
Plastics
Oil and Gas Watch
Newsletter
Articles
News Roundup
Project Updates
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.