The Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it had hit a Texas-based exploration company with a $2,250 fine for violating requirements for spill prevention at two of its oil production facilities.  More »

The American Petroleum Institute filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming that the government is requiring refiners and gasoline importers to purchase renewable fuels that don’t exist.  More »

The Coast Guard has approved Shell’s request to change the standards for evaluating an emergency response ship for the company’s planned Arctic oil drilling, but Shell is still rebounding from two setbacks in its Arctic quest.  More »

Yesterday the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issues a stinging rebuke to state and industry challengers’ petition to prohibit the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, and extending that regulation to prevention of significant detioration for major stationary sources. The unanimous decision stated that the EPA’s endangerment [...]  More »

“The fact that Dr. Armendariz was just blocks away and still refused to testify at our hearing raises even more questions. If he had time on his schedule to meet with the Sierra Club, it is even less clear why he was unable to fulfill his prior commitment to testify,” said Rep. Fred Upton.  More »

Al Armendariz, the ex-chief of the EPA region that covers Texas, failed to appear at a congressional hearing Wednesday about energy disputes in the state.  More »

Exxon Mobil Corp. is planning a multibillion petrochemical expansion at its Baytown complex to take advantage of the country’s increasing supplies of natural gas.  More »

Mandating bio-fuels and trading credits doesn’t lower refiners’ production costs, nor does it create opportunity for their businesses through risk and reward. Instead, it’s establishing a disincentive designed to change behavior even though it isn’t in refiners’ economic interests.  More »

Automakers and the oil industry released a report today that casts doubt on the safety of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol and shows that at least some engines running the fuel suffered damage during recent testing.  More »

Giving into energy industry demands, the federal government is set to announce today that it will give companies extra time to install new equipment to capture pollution from natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing operations nationwide.  More »

Two weeks ago the Fifth Circuit released its opinion in Luminant v. EPA, (5th Cir. No. 10-60891, filed March 26, 2012) finding that the EPA’s decision to disapprove Texas Administrative Code 116.617 governing standard permits for pollution control equipment that “reduce or maintain currently authorized emission rates for facilities authorized by permit” was arbitrary and [...]  More »

The oil industry’s leading trade group today implored federal regulators for more time to comply with a looming rule that will pare air pollution from hydraulic fracturing and natural gas wells.  More »