Energy security means different things in different places. In countries highly dependent on imported oil and gas, for example, concern about energy security tends to focus on supply.
Now the president must appease his labor constituency. In rejecting construction of an important pipeline, US President Barack Obama has foreclosed employment for thousands of workers and stalled if not killed a project hugely beneficial to energy security.
US President Barack Obama’s administration rejected the cross-border permit for the proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline, saying that a deadline imposed by Congress does not give it time to properly determine if the proposed project is in the national interest in its current state.
US refiners have enough operating or planned capacity to meet domestic demand for the foreseeable future, but the situation could change if ill-conceived proposed regulations are adopted, American Petroleum Institute officials warned.
The US should adopt an “all-in” energy strategy to meet its energy needs, according to President Barack Obama’s Jobs Council in a Jan. 17 report entitled, “Road Map to Renewal.”
The White House’s National Ocean Council issued a National Ocean Policy draft on Jan. 12 that describes actions the federal government might take to address the most pressing challenges facing oceans and US coasts, as well as the Great Lakes.
Amid gridlock caused by hyperpartisanship, the 112th US Congress nevertheless passed some bills in 2011. Many came at the 11th hour when the federal government faced imminent financial default, shutdown, or similar calamities.
Denmark’s government expressed confidence that the European Union would impose harsher sanctions on the oil and banking sectors of Iran for its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Japan’s Finance Minister Jun Azumi told US Sec. of the Treasury Timothy Geithner that his country would take “concrete steps” to reduce its oil dependency on Iran.
As much of the world heads towards increased confrontation with Iran, one of the questions that will naturally arise is whether the loss of Iran’s oil supplies can be made up elsewhere.
Preliminary data for 2011 have prompted Simmons & Co., Houston, to forecast US natural gas imports for the year will drop by 7% over 2010, a decline driven by fewer Canadian import and LNG cargoes.
While the 2012 US natural gas market will continue to be oversupplied despite increased demand, future production levels will be largely a function of this year’s capital discipline, according to an outlook from analysts at investment bank Simmons & Co. International.
