U.S. Rep. Debra Haaland (D-NM) is president-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees land management, ocean energy management, wildlife management and science, and geological sciences. Haaland, 60, is a graduate of Highland High School in Albuquerque and University of New Mexico and a former chair of the […]

IHS Markit vice chairman Daniel Yergin said recently that global oil demand likely will take at least another year to return to pre-pandemic levels. Shale production will remain relatively unchanged at about 11 million b/d until late 2021 before it starts rising, IHS Markit said, and it will increase at a much more moderate pace. […]

Texas and Oklahoma were the only major producing states that added oil and gas drilling rigs in the final week of 2020. Baker Hughes said as of Dec. 31 there were 175 rigs in Permian Basin (173 previous week), 161 rigs in Texas (159 previous week), 65 rigs in New Mexico (unchanged) and 351 rigs […]

New Mexico’s oil conservation commission began two weeks of public testimony Monday in an online hearing on proposed rules for managing venting and flaring. Upon taking office in January 2019, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said her administration would adopt some of the nation’s toughest rules for curtailing methane and other emissions. EnergyWire from E&E News […]

Houston-based Kinder Morgan said this week its $2 billion Permian Highway natural gas pipeline from Permian Basin to Katy entered full service Jan. 1. Gas has been flowing for weeks during the commissioning process. Energy traders told Reuters those flows boosted prices recently at Waha hub in west Texas. Kinder Morgan said Monday that Permian […]

The largest wind farm in New Mexico was scheduled to go online about Jan. 1, 2021, as work on the project near the Texas-New Mexico border was completed. Associated Press reported Dec. 16 that Xcel Energy installed 240 turbines on Sagamore wind project in a $900 million project that spans 100,000 acres. It will be […]

Commissioners of Port of Corpus Christi last month approved an agreement with Bluewater Texas Terminal, joint venture of Phillips 66 and Trafigura, to operate an oil export terminal capable of loading 16 VLCCs per month with crude oil from Permian Basin and Eagle Ford. The agreement allows Bluewater to build offices and monitoring station on […]

Permian Basin’s streak of nine straight weeks of adding active oil and gas drilling rigs came to an end last week when its count fell by 1 to 173 rigs. U.S. and Texas counts increased. Baker Hughes said as of Dec. 23 there were 159 rigs in Texas (158 previous week), 65 rigs in New […]

U.S. Department of Energy said last month it has extended the terms of seven LNG export authorizations through 2050, including Golden Pass facility under construction in Sabine Pass and Texas LNG project proposed for Brownsville. “Critical to our nation’s energy independence are the prospects presented by these long-term LNG export extensions,” Mark Menezes, U.S. deputy […]

The Woodlands-based Earthstone Energy said Dec. 17 it is acquiring Independent Resources Management and its Midland Basin assets. Purchase price is $185.9 million, including $135.2 million in cash (as of Nov. 30) and 12.7 million shares of Earthstone Class A common stock valued at $50.8 million (as of Dec. 16). Transaction is expected to close […]