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Oil, gas behind on cybersecurity; BP seen as natural fit for BHP shale assets

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Oil, gas behind on cybersecurity; BP seen as natural fit for BHP shale assets

Top News

US electricity sector to push gas producers to boost environmental performance

Public and shareholder pressure to make electric utilities more environmentally sustainable is raising expectations for the power sector's natural gas suppliers, industry members said June 6.

Refining executive: Oil, gas industry behind on cybersecurity risks

As the world becomes more digitally dependent, the oil and gas industry may be facing a dangerous situation where it is playing catch-up on cybersecurity, according to executives at one of the nation's top refining companies.

BP seen as natural fit for BHP Billiton's US shale assets

London-based BP PLC could emerge as the winning buyer for BHP Billiton Group's 800,000 net acres in the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford, Haynesville and Fayetteville shales.

Growing US coal company looking for even more opportunities to expand footprint

A company that scooped up coal mines in a recent downturn of the sector says it has lowered production costs, grown its operational footprint and is considering further acquisition opportunities while taking advantage of improved markets for metallurgical coal.

Quoted

"The implications of something going wrong is no longer loss of property, it's loss of life," Andeavor Chief Information Security Officer Jed Young said, speaking at KPMG's Global Energy Conference in Houston, on the cybersecurity risks facing the U.S. energy industry.

Power

* Georgia regulatory staffers on June 6 upgraded their overall outlook on the Vogtle nuclear plant expansion but warned the project could again be considered uneconomic if it falls behind schedule by just two months.

* U.S. Sens. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., introduced a bill to repeal President Donald Trump's decision to impose up to 30% tariffs on imported solar cells and panels. The bipartisan bill also calls for reverting back to previous rates and allowing companies to receive retroactive reimbursement.

* In a major push to electrify transportation, U.S. utilities, carmakers and states have committed billions of dollars to expanding the nation's emerging network of electric vehicle charging stations, along with the underlying grid infrastructure needed to deliver gigawatt-hours of additional demand in coming years.

* Illinois-based Middle River Power is preparing a proposal to acquire the 2,250-MW Navajo coal-fired plant in Arizona, according to POWER Engineering magazine. Middle River Power is an affiliate of New York-based investment firm Avenue Capital Group LLC.

* Kansas utility regulators have allowed the Sierra Club and Vote Solar to intervene in Westar Energy Inc.'s proposed $17.6 million rate increase in 2019 for customers installing solar panels on their homes, the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World reported.

* Idaho Power Co. is asking a federal court to require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to act on a 2012 request by the state of Idaho to modify water temperature standards in the Snake River below the Hells Canyon Complex, The Associated Press reported.

* The EPA will explore new methods for considering the costs and benefits of regulatory actions, including the consideration of co-benefits to justify a regulation.

Natural gas

* A relatively new TransCanada Corp. transmission pipeline in West Virginia ruptured in the early hours of June 7, disrupting an estimated 1.3 MMDth of firm service and damaging 10 acres of forest.

* The government of Quebec announced new measures that will ban fracking for shale gas across in lakes and rivers Quebec and tighten policies for oil and gas exploration, extraction and storage, according to Global News.

* Storage operators put a net 92 Bcf into natural gas inventories in the Lower 48 during the week to June 1, trailing the five-year-average injection of 104 Bcf, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported.

* The Swedish government approved an application by Nordstream 2 to build gas pipelines through the country's economic zone in the Baltic Sea to deliver Russian gas to Germany, Reuters reported. The project is estimated to cost about $11.24 billion.

* The U.S. Bureau of Land Management sold 59 parcels totaling 50,573 acres for about $1.4 million in Colorado at its June 7 quarterly oil and gas lease sale. The combined bids will be distributed between the federal government and Colorado.

Oil

* Global oil majors' moves in recent years points to an "agnostic" future of energy production that could conceivably include owning or investing in battery minerals extraction companies which would be "small CapEx" compared to their usual spend and well within their capabilities, Deloitte's global LNG leader said.

* Brazil raised approximately $808 million from its auction of offshore oil drilling rights. The Latin American country also would get between 16% and 75% of the oil companies, including Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Equinor ASA, formerly known as Statoil ASA, produce, The New York Times reported.

* Ohio data for May showed the number of well permits in the Utica Shale continued to be lower year on year, but the number remained in line with the lower levels of activity since January.

Coal

* Uncertainty lingers in the metallurgical coal market as China considers plans to increase U.S. coal imports in order to reduce the significant trade deficits between the two economies, sources said.

* During its early days, the Trump administration received six suggested executive orders from Murray Energy Corp. CEO Bob Murray to stop or roll back environmental regulations, of which none were signed, The Hill in Washington, D.C., reported.

* Fueled by strong export and domestic demand for metallurgical coal, Bluestone Coal Corp. is reopening an underground mine in West Virginia in July and hiring 250 employees for all of its metallurgical coal operations in the state, CEO Jay Justice said in a June 7 interview with S&P Global Platts.

ChartWatch

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Xcel Energy Inc. says that it will use wind, solar and battery storage to supply the majority of the electricity needs of its Colorado customers by 2026.

New from RRA

* In testimony filed June 5 with the Illinois Commerce Commission, the commission's staff recommends that Ameren Corp. subsidiary Ameren Illinois Co. be authorized a $42.5 million, or 10.6%, gas distribution base rate increase premised upon a 9.87% return on equity (50% of capital) and a 7.14% return on an average rate base valued at $1.609 billion for a test year ending Dec. 31, 2019.

The day ahead

* Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. equity markets. To view more SNL equity market indexes, click here. To view more SNL Energy commodities prices, click here.

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