Don't miss out on the latest business and technology news for chemical engineers, featuring select items in relation to Fuels & Petrochemicals.
US shale could be next victim of US-China trade war
China could deal a hard blow to the US shale sector if it decides to levy tariffs on petrochemicals and liquefied propane and restrict imports of US crude and liquefied natural gas in retaliation for President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on Chinese goods. China is the biggest regional importer of US crude and LNG, with US oil net exports to China more than doubling from 2016 to about 435,000 barrels per day last year while LNG exports averaged about 750 million cubic feet per day in the fourth quarter of 2017.
US export boom gives rise to new challenges to pipeline projects
In the past, US pipeline companies could pursue land takings by saying their projects were in the public interest, but as US energy exports boom and more pipelines are needed to ship product to export terminals, pipeline opponents are finding innovative ways to fight eminent domain takings. Property rights advocates and environmentalists now argue that exporting energy shrinks domestic supplies and raises costs for consumers, and therefore, pipeline projects carrying fuel for export should not be allowed to take land using eminent domain because they don't act in the best interest of the US public.
Federal judge rules in favor of drillers in case over methane waste rule
A federal judge in Wyoming has ruled that oil and natural gas companies don't have to comply with an Obama-era methane waste regulation while the Bureau of Land Management works to revise parts of the rule. "The waste, inefficiency, and futility associated with a ping-ponging regulatory regime is self-evident and in no party's interest," Judge Scott Skavdahl wrote.
EPA faces lawsuit over methane emission standards
Fourteen states have sued the Environmental Protection Agency, saying it has violated the Clean Air Act by failing to enact rules to control methane emissions from oil and natural gas operations. "The EPA has a clear legal duty to control methane pollution from oil and gas operations," said New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
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