Sen. Barack Obama has made a “windfall profits tax” on major oil companies a plank on his energy policy for some time, with plans to use proceeds as rebates to Americans weighted down by high energy prices or to fund alternative energy research. These guys have bigger things to worry about: BP Chairman/President Robert Malone, [...]  More »

A majority of Texas voters, 78 percent, favor the current competitive structure of the Texas electricity market, according to a poll commissioned by a power industry trade group. Surprised? So were the folks who sponsored the survey: “So much has been written and said about rising fuel prices, the electric market and government regulation, we [...]  More »

VP candidate Sarah Palin made an energy-only policy speech Wednesday at an Ohio solar panel company, so we thought it might be a good time to revisit the McCain/Obama energy positions…. or rather revisit others spelling out the differences between the two. What’s really separating the two candidates when it comes to energy policy? Many [...]  More »

Items on Chron.com and elsewhere related to energy: • Mexico Congress allows investment in national oil co. • BP’s Texas City refinery to run at full tilt soon • Two banks resist Huntsman deal • Gazprom invited to explore Alaska Chukchi, reports say • Exelon says proposed NRG merger would create up to $3-bil ‘value’ [...]  More »

California-based Commerce Energy has sold its 60,000 Texas retail electric customers to Dallas-based Ambit Energy for $14.8 million. While the customers — a mix of residential and commercial — aren’t supposed to see any change in their current contracts according to the companies, it’s still a troubling sign for Texas’ deregulated electricity markets. More than [...]  More »

Items on Chron.com and elsewhere related to energy: • Billionaire ups stake in LNG player Cheniere • BP profit up, may seek acquisitions • Banks throw wrench in Huntsman deal • Cut and run: OPEC seems desperate. • US MMS nets $537 million in Gulf of Mexico RIK gas sale • Carbon pricing works! Doesn’t! [...]  More »

Independent oil and gas producer Hess Corp. issued an urgent plea for technology sharing this afternoon at World Trade Group’s E&P Summit. “We’re all chasing the same technologies. We’ve got to change our mindset and collaborate to create all the technology that we need,” Scott Heck, senior vice president of exploration and production technology for [...]  More »

During this morning’s sessions at the E&P Technology Summit downtown the talk was squarely focused on the dramatic rise of North American oil shale plays. But the palpable undercurrent in the room from audience members was all about economic limits. While the benchmark price of crude oil has fallen below $65 a barrel, prices to [...]  More »

Items on Chron.com and elsewhere related to energy: • What happened to $150 oil? • Gas pipeline bursts at Prudhoe: Corrosion might have struck again. • U.S. expands geothermal energy plan • Texas electric co-op sets 30% renewable energy goal by 2020 • Notes from the Austin Alt Car conference: Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle opportunities [...]  More »

Exelon Energy’s bid to buy NRG Energy (including its highly profitable fleet of Houston-area power plants) met mixed reactions from analysts this past week. Some thought it was a stretch, that the price offered for NRG was too low and that the Princeton, N.J.-based firm can wait for a better deal. Others thought the huge [...]  More »

The American Wind Energy Association’s 3rd quarter market report notes Texas continued on its wind turbine construction tear, adding 693 megawatts of capacity and moving into 4th place in the world for wind capacity behind Germany, India and Spain. Map of Texas wind power potential (State Energy Conservation Office) The U.S. wind energy industry installed [...]  More »

Wouldn’t this be easier underground? Lineman Shawn Rasmussen works on replacing a power pole in northeast Houston. ( Steve Campbell / Houston Chronicle) Following many days of darkness post-Hurricane Ike, many Houstonians have asked “Why don’t we just bury all the power lines and avoid this big hassle next time?” We tried to answer that [...]  More »