Oil and Gas Watch

Brendan Gibbons

Trump officials mislead on fertilizer price relief in effort to ram through Louisiana ammonia plant

With farmers suffering from high global fertilizer prices due to the war in Iran, Trump Administration officials held a press conference May 19 unveiling their plan to speed up permitting for a Louisiana facility they said would help provide economic relief for the American agricultural community. The only problem? The majority of the ammonia manufactured from natural gas at the proposed Blue Point Complex near Donaldsonville will not be used to make fertilizer, but rather to ship to overseas customers and as a fuel for a power plant and a steel factory, according to corporate disclosures and announcements.

Brendan Gibbons

Permitting reform could still rise from the ashes of 'dead on arrival' House GOP energy package

With Democrats in control of the Senate and White House, most of the provisions in the energy package passed by the Republican-controlled U.S. House won’t make it into law anytime soon. But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats have signaled that they could be open to a narrower discussion on “permitting reform” to streamline the process of approving major energy projects such as pipelines, fuel export terminals, and electrical transmission lines.

Alexandra Shaykevich

American households could be left in the cold as gas exports skyrocket

The liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry is growing faster than ever. Three new projects to build or expand liquefaction capacity were announced during the first three months of 2023 alone, along with major financial milestones reached in March on another two projects. That’s on top of the 27 new or expanding LNG terminals already in the pipeline. If all these projects materialize, they would triple the sector’s liquefaction capacity to more than four times the amount that Americans used in 2022 to run gas stoves, heat and cool their homes, warm their water, and run other gas-fueled appliances.

Brendan Gibbons

West Texas home to most repeat violators detailed in illegal pollution report

An Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) report issued March 23 reveals that 17 out of the 20 worst repeat offenders in the state for air pollution released during industrial accidents or “upsets” are in the Permian Basin of West Texas, the world’s most prolific oil-producing region. Of the 17 Permian Basin sites with the worst chronic emissions, only seven of them faced fines over the six-year period studied in the EIP report.

Opening of new plastics plant brings glowing orange clouds and repeated pollution violations

Residents of a western Pennsylvania county learned that Shell's new plastics plant had begun operating from the orange glowing clouds in the night sky, illuminated by blazing flares. Community concerns about the strange lights and sounds from the new plant, which transforms natural gas into tiny pellets used to make soda bottles and other single-use plastic goods, turned out to be based on more than just appearances. State records show 34 malfunctions at the new Shell Monaca plant, and 14 violations, including for exceeding permitted levels of smog-forming air pollutants.

After East Palestine, the slow-moving train wreck of petrochemical pollution deserves more attention nationally

Following the Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical fire in East Palestine, Ohio, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz blasted President Biden for not visiting the scene of the accident. Cruz claimed that “Democrats don’t give a damn about East Palestine." He failed to mention a similar chemical catastrophe outside his own city, Houston. On Nov. 27, 2019, a series of explosions ripped through the Texas Petrochemicals Port Neches plant, spewing carcinogens into the air and requiring the evacuation of thousands of people. Cruz never demanded that then-President Trump make an appearance in Texas to show his concern for petrochemical pollution, which is a serious national issue.