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BP to exit Alaska; insurers hold billions in coal-exposed investments

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BP to exit Alaska; insurers hold billions in coal-exposed investments

Top News

BP's move to sell Alaskan assets leaves 2 entities producing 72% of state's oil

BP PLC's pending $5.6 billion sale of its Alaskan assets to Hilcorp Energy Co. is a major shift for the Alaskan oil and gas industry that sees two companies controlling 72% of the state's oil production.

FERC, NERC staff propose to disclose utilities that breach reliability standards

In a bid to improve transparency, staff with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and North American Electric Reliability Corp. proposed in a joint white paper to publicly disclose the names of bulk power system asset owners that have violated mandatory critical infrastructure protection reliability standards.

Natural gas infrastructure reviews to lose climate-focused voice next month

FERC could soon see a shift in how it issues permits for natural gas infrastructure projects, especially the role that climate plays in those evaluations, when Commissioner and former Chairman Cheryl LaFleur departs the agency at the end of August.

Amid climate change pressure, insurers hold billions in coal-exposed investments

While some prominent insurance companies are disassociating from coal, an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis of U.S. regulatory data found that many insurers hold significant investments in companies that depend on coal as a source of revenue.

Quoted

"[Exxon Mobil Corp.] may be next to follow BP, Anadarko, [Pioneer Natural Resources Co.], and [Marathon Oil Corp.] in the list of companies having sold out of Alaska," said Wood Mackenzie analyst Rowena Gunn, responding to BP's pending $5.6 billion sale of its Alaskan assets to Hilcorp Energy.

Power

* A few environmental and other interests have sued New Mexico regulators and the Public Service Co. of New Mexico to keep the utility from issuing securitized bonds in order to close the San Juan coal-fired power plant in 2022.

* Scientists have come out in opposition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "secret science" proposal that would stop the agency from depending on studies that rely on information that is not made available to the public, The Hill in Washington, D.C., reported.

* FERC on Aug. 26 reversed an administrative law judge's earlier finding that the PJM Interconnection's processing of system impact studies for transmission upgrade requests made by Transource LLC was nontransparent and unduly discriminatory.

* Warren Buffett's Rocky Mountain Power is working with Royal Dutch Shell PLC's battery maker unit sonnen GmbH to power the 600-unit Soleil Lofts apartment complex in Utah with cheapest electricity from a solar-plus-storage system, Bloomberg News reported. The project involves a 5.2-MW solar system and a 12.6-MWh battery storage system.

* South African electricity public utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. could sell some of its coal-fired plants through a series of auctions to raise about $29 billion, Bloomberg News reported, citing an economic policy paper from the country's National Treasury.

* Pivot Energy and Standard Solar Inc. are expanding their partnership to co-develop five more community solar projects with a total combined capacity of about 8.9 MW in Colorado. The projects are scheduled to enter operations by summer 2020.

Natural gas

* Tallgrass Energy LP received an offer from Blackstone Group Inc.'s infrastructure arm to take the energy midstream company private by acquiring its shares the private equity firm does not already own.

* Institutional investors continued to abandon pure-play Appalachian shale gas stocks in the second quarter, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis of Form 13-F filings detailing the holdings of large investors.

* New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered state regulators to broaden their investigation of National Grid USA's gas moratorium in parts of downstate New York, raising the possibility that the gas utility could be replaced in its service territories.

* The Mexican government struck an agreement with energy companies that would resolve ongoing conflicts over natural gas pipeline contracts, Reuters reported.

* Wood Mackenzie expects China to double its gas production to 325 billion cubic meters in 2040 from 149 billion cubic meters in 2018, a projection that is 39 billion cubic meters lower than the firm's previous outlook. Despite a surge in its domestic production, Wood Mackenzie sees China's imports growing in the long term.

Oil

* Suncor Energy Inc. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC have joined a chorus of Canadian oil companies asking the country to halt Enbridge Inc.'s ongoing open season for contracted space on its mainline system.

* The Canada Energy Regulator, known formerly as Canada's National Energy Board, announced a fast-track process to gather comment by mid-September on Enbridge's plan to overhaul shipping contracts on its Mainline system, Reuters reported. The regulator's move came in response to several oil companies' requests to intervene in the matter.

* Plains All American Pipeline LP shelved a proposal to impose a surcharge on its Cactus II Pipeline LLC system to offset the cost of the Trump administration's steel tariffs after Permian Basin players ConocoPhillips and Encana Corp.'s marketing subsidiary asked federal regulators to reject the fee.

* Noble Energy Inc. has discovered a new oil well in Block 1 offshore Equatorial Guinea, Reuters reported, citing Equatorial Guinea's oil minister.

Coal

* A magistrate judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia recommended granting former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship's motion to vacate, set aside or correct the coal executive's conviction on counts of conspiracy stemming from an investigation into the explosion of the Upper Big Branch coal mine that resulted in the deaths of 29 coal miners.

* Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the government an Oct. 31 deadline to review a mineral extraction tax for the Russian coal industry, Reuters reported Aug. 24, citing instructions published by the Kremlin.

* The Montana Department of Environmental Quality released a draft environmental impact statement for a major expansion at the Spring Creek coal mine northeast of Decker, beginning a 30-day public comment period.

ChartWatch

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The share of U.S. natural gas-fired electricity increased year over year in June, while the share of other fuels declined.

New from RRA

* From 2010 through 2018, regulated retail residential electricity prices nationwide increased by 11.3%, notably more than the 6.8% and 9.1% increases for commercial and industrial customers, respectively.

The day ahead

* The U.S. Energy Information Administration petroleum status report is due out today.

* Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher 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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