Occidental Petroleum to Split Off California Business

Posted on by February 14, 2014

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) announced on Friday that it will separate its California operations into an independent, separately traded company. The new California company, whose name was not announced, will have 8,000 employees and contractors and will establish its headquarters in the state.

Occidental said the new company will be California’s largest natural gas producer and the state’s largest oil and gas producer on a gross-operated barrels of oil equivalent basis. It will be the largest holder of oil and gas mineral acreage in the state, with approximately 2.3 million acres and major operations in Los Angeles, San Joaquin, Ventura and Sacramento. Continue reading →

Obama On Energy Policy

Posted on by February 3, 2014

By Olman Valverde

President Obama’s references to energy policy during Tuesday evening’s State of the Union speech indicated that he remains committed to an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy policy. The President offered words of support for environmentalists, climate activists, the natural gas industry and solar.

For the oil industry, however, the President called for a change to tax policy that would reduce support for fossil fuel production, that is not being well received by industry. It is also far from clear that there is political support for this proposed change.

The President acknowledged the benefits to the U.S. economy from the production of natural gas. At the same time, it was clear from his comments that climate change will continue to dominate the discussion of fossil fuel energy.

One potential positive sign for the oil industry was that President Obama did not mention or directly attack hydraulic fracturing, the key reason for the growth in domestic energy and its consequent significant benefit to the American economy. However, his reference to “if extracted safely” indicates an awareness of the concerns of environmentalists.

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U.S. Oil Production Up Nearly 1M BPD

Posted on by January 24, 2014

January 24, 2014 – Oil production in the United States rose by 992,000 barrels per day in 2013, a record increase, according to the International Energy Agency.

Production averaged 7.5 million barrels per day through the year, rising to over 8 million barrels daily in November and December, according to the Paris-based research organization. The increase was mainly due to production from shale plays. The IEA said it expects production to continue to rise in 2014, to 8.3 million BPD. Continue reading →

Fracking Is Focus of Panel at “Green” Conference

Posted on by January 14, 2014

Dennis Luna To Join WSPA President Catherine Reheis-Boyd
On “Fracking” Panel at Green Tech Conference

Dennis R. Luna, Managing Partner of the Luna & Glushon law firm and Editor in Chief of the California Oil and Gas Report, will join a distinguished panel January 27th at the 7th Annual VerdExchange Conference on the topic, “To Frack or Not To Frack?” The panel will also discuss the impact of newly abundant natural gas on the “cleantech” market.

Others on the panel will include: Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President, Western States Petroleum Association; Anthony Eggert, Former Commissioner, California Energy Commission; and George Minter, Director, Policy and Environment, Southern California Gas Company. Bill Allen, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), will moderate.

The panel is part of the three-day VerdeXchange Conference, January 26-28, 2014, at the LA Hotel Downtown, 333 South Figueroa St. Now in its seventh year, the conference provides a forum to directly address the challenge of building a cleantech economy. Continue reading →

WSPA President Responds To Severance Tax Proposal

Posted on by January 9, 2014

Editor’s note:  Tom Steyer, a hedge fund billionaire, is funding efforts to impose a severance tax on oil production in California. The following is a response from the President of Western States Petroleum Association

By Catherine Reheis-Boyd

Tom Steyer, the San Francisco billionaire environmentalist, has launched a campaign to increase taxes on energy production in California. He thinks oil companies are allowed to “siphon California resources without providing any meaningful return to Californians.” Beginning an education campaign on inaccurate claims doesn’t bode well for the quality of the educational experience.

To claim Californians receive no meaningful return for the oilwe produce is puzzling. Oil companies in California generate $6 billion in tax revenues for state and local governments, according to an analysis by Purvin & Gertz in 2011.

While it’s true California does not have an oil severance tax per se, California taxes oil companies and oil production in a variety of other ways.

Continue reading →

Proposed SB4 Interim Regulations Posted

Posted on by December 11, 2013

The California Department of Conservation (DOC) on December 11 gave public notice of proposed emergency rulemaking to establish interim regulations governing oil and gas well stimulation under SB4. The DOC expects the interim regulations to be effective January 1, 2014.

Industry and the public will have an opportunity to submit comments on the proposed rules later this month. Continue reading →