Daily Energy Standup Episode #266 – Weekly Recap: Unpacking EPA Regulations, COP28 Hypocrisy, and Texas Commissioner’s Stand Against Onerous Rules

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EPA’s Final Rule for Oil and Natural Gas Operations Will Sharply Reduce Methane and Other Harmful Pollution.

Highlights of the Podcast

00:00 – Intro01:35 – EPA’s Final Rule for Oil and Natural Gas Operations Will Sharply Reduce Methane and Other Harmful Pollution.06:45 – US commits to shutting down its coal plants during COP28 – US Consumers Thrown Out With The Bath Water09:15 – COP28 president claims there is ‘no science’ behind calls to phase out fossil fuels – Guardian10:57 – Chevron, Exxon opt out of funding COP28 methane-reduction fund13:35 – Oil CEO says blaming the energy industry for the climate crisis ‘like blaming farmers for obesity’15:18 – Loud fart sound erupts during John Kerry’s speech at climate panel16:46 – Texas commissioner slams Biden’s “onerous” methane rules that increase oil, gas prices18:58 – Outro

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Video Transcription edited for grammar. We disavow any errors unless they make us look better or smarter.

Michael Tanner: [00:00:07] What is going on, everybody? Welcome into a special edition of the Daily Energy News Beat Stand up here on this gorgeous Saturday, December 9th, 2023. As always, I’m your humble correspondent, Michael Tanner, coming to you from an undisclosed location here in Dallas, Texas, joined by the executive producer of the show, the purveyor of the show, and the director and publisher of the world’s greatest website, EnergyNewsBeat.com, Stuart Turley. My man, how are we doing today? [00:00:28][21.4]

Stuart Turley: [00:00:29] It’s a beautiful day in bear country. How are you? [00:00:31][1.8]

Michael Tanner: [00:00:31] It’s been a long week, Stu. We’ve got a great weekly recap lined up. A lot of good stories. Cop 28 kind of drove the news. [00:00:37][6.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:00:37] Oh, from. [00:00:39][1.2]

Michael Tanner: [00:00:39] A bunch of us. We got John Kerry relieving himself on stage, so. Absolutely Wild week, guys. We won’t take up too much of your time. But before we do that, as always, guys, remember, news and analysis you’re about to hear is brought to you by the world’s greatest Web site. Energy News Beat the best place for all your energy news. Doing the team do a tremendous job of keeping that website up to speed on everything you need to know to stay at the tip of the spear when it comes to the energy in the oil and gas business. You can follow the show, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts at Energy News beat on YouTube. Great way to go ahead and support the show. Hit the description below on podcast or YouTube. You can check out links and timestamps to all the articles. Jump ahead here. What you mean? Dashboard.EnergyNewsBeat.com kind of our data news combo. You can email the show questions@energynewsbeat.com But Stu, I’m out of breath. I’m kicking it over to the team. Here’s a little weekly recap. We’ll see you on Monday, folks. [00:01:30][51.3]

Stuart Turley: [00:01:31] EPA’s final rule for oil and natural gas operations will sharply reduce methane and other harmful pollution from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA. What a bunch of chatter heads. This was released at 3 a.m. Friday night or Saturday morning. It is absolutely abysmal. I have I spent hours going through this thing and it is disgusting. From the ESG university on Substack, one of our favorite substack guys that I like. Random dude on Substack. They went into it a little bit more in the 3 a.m. rollout was timed to coincide with the ongoing Cop 28. This is absolutely despicable. Here’s a quote in here The Biden administration war on oil and gas has created another round of regulations that directs the marketplace to shut down American energy protection. The crude line founder, Jason’s Buy said it is very unfortunate that political and energy leadership do not take Biden’s war on oil and gas more seriously. It is it is overstepping their bounds. Michael, down here further on, you can see that the the are the the whole thing is based off of the Clean Air Act and they have just blown it up. It’s going to go even further. Will sharply they they say it will sharply reduce methane. But what they’re going to do is any oil and gas firm and anybody. Here’s where it is. The final rule, rule leverage is the latest cost effective, innovative technologies and proven solutions on an estimated 58 million tons of methane emissions from 2024 to 2038, 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. Okay. They’re going to have to spend gigantic bucks. Okay. I’m all about fixing a lot of this stuff. But they’re imposing regulations that the market would do anyway. When you take a look at layering the great oil and gas empire, operators in Texas got rid of flaring. And you know, if you let the market do it, these companies are interested in doing this. ESG investing is failing. Why? Because BlackRock says they’re going to start investing in oil and gas. And then also, Bill Gates came out and said, oh, climate change is a joke. So now you have these the U.S. is doubling down and tripling down on stupid in order to increase the price of natural gas. Unbelievable. [00:04:37][186.1]

Michael Tanner: [00:04:39] Yeah. I mean, here’s the thing. What they do is they just say we’re going to do stuff to reduce climate and reduce these volatile. Well, what I find is it’s really hard to actually figure out exactly what they’re doing. I mean, have you been in you know, and this is what I think every listener would want to know, what exactly did the EPA, they’re going to reduce methane emissions. How what are they actually going to do. [00:05:03][23.7]

Stuart Turley: [00:05:03] In an after? I spent 2 or 3 hours going through it. It is a mind numbing experience. And I’m I’ve got in here that I’m going to be writing some updates to it. What the problem Michael is going to be is that they are requiring carbon capture. They’re requiring detection systems. They’re requiring enhancements to the Clean Air Act, which have already been proven that it’s beyond the scope of the Environmental Protection Agency. All right. They’ve already crossed the line. [00:05:44][40.9]

Michael Tanner: [00:05:45] So here’s the first one. So here we go. One, This rule provides a two year phase in period for eliminating routine flaring of natural gas that is emitted from new oil wells. I’ll tell you what. I’ll tell you what, who loves this new. Every Bitcoin mining company loves this rule. [00:06:01][16.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:06:02] Absolutely. [00:06:02][0.0]

Michael Tanner: [00:06:02] Every Bitcoin mining company loves. And you know what? I’m not necessarily against that. You know how much energy we’ve wasted in flaring because we’re too lazy to build pipelines. We don’t have infrastructure set up. We can. [00:06:15][12.9]

Stuart Turley: [00:06:16] Imagine. Which came first, the permit or the getting. Because once you drill a well and you have no takeaway, you either store it, which is expensive or you flare it or you tie it to a pipeline and we can’t get pipelines done. So the Mickey Mouse bullcrap that this administration is doing is absolutely going, you’re going to do this. You know what their number one goal is, Michael, Remember, don’t raise the price of energy across the board. [00:06:51][35.0]

Michael Tanner: [00:06:52] Absolutely. They want to make it extremely expensive to operate oil and gas. That’s exactly what these rules will do. We will be diving into it. No wonder they dropped this at 3 a.m.. [00:07:01][8.9]

Stuart Turley: [00:07:02] Yeah, it was so that our large could go up there and say some things like okay, let’s go to us. Commits to shutting down its coal plants during Cop 28. Wait a minute. Did you hear that thump? Somebody just thumped a quarter on lurches face since he’s had the last facelift. This man makes me airsick. Okay. The Biden administration at 28 China. Michael. Can you guess how much China’s carbon footprint has increased this past year? [00:07:42][39.9]

Michael Tanner: [00:07:43] I’m sure it’s twofold. [00:07:44][1.4]

Stuart Turley: [00:07:46] 220%. They have over 400 coal plants approved. Their regulatory agency is very simple. Yes. Yes. See? Yes, that’s their approved. Approved. You get coal plant for you. Boom. Okay. Guess how much they lowered ours. Last year, the U.S. lowered it 20%. You know how. [00:08:19][33.1]

Michael Tanner: [00:08:20] Never go to natural gas. [00:08:23][2.2]

Stuart Turley: [00:08:24] Exactly. But an orderly fashion. We will do it now. Who’s the number one polluter in the world, Michael? [00:08:32][8.0]

Michael Tanner: [00:08:33] China. [00:08:33][0.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:08:34] China. Guess who keeps getting uglier? [00:08:35][1.6]

Michael Tanner: [00:08:36] China. [00:08:36][0.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:08:37] And guess who keeps getting fatter? It’s in the food, dammit. They all the Chinese people are eating American food and getting fatter. This is ridiculous. I’m sorry for getting worked up, dude. I just. I’m going to go put my head in the toilet just so I can calm down. [00:08:52][15.1]

Michael Tanner: [00:08:53] Well, yeah. Well, your favorite politician. U.S. special envoy for Climate, John Kerry. What did he actually do? He announced that at the U.N. Annual Climate summit, a.k.a. Cop 28, that we are not building new coal plants and will be phasing out existing bugs. And we were probably already doing. That’s what’s funny. We got to send John Kerry Heinz, 57, on his private jet, over to cop 28 to attempt to tell us we’re shutting down the coal plant. It’s not his plane, though, Stu, so we can’t get mad and remember. [00:09:25][32.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:09:25] Oh, no, It’s. [00:09:26][0.5]

Michael Tanner: [00:09:26] It’s his wife. Plane. His plane. His plane. [00:09:29][3.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:09:30] Video net zero. He went on an Air Force jet. Don’t kid yourself. Look, Lurch with a face lift that would dodged a bullet. I mean, he’s got a bulletproof face, and you can thump a quarter on it. I guarantee you a drill sergeant, when they come up and they thump a quarter on the bed and it bounces, they’re good. A drill sergeant could thump a quarter of his face. Okay, let’s go to Cop 28 here. The thread, the ENB thread on these stories got me so worked up. I’ve got to go Get on the bike and ride for five hours. Cop 28 President Ride Claims There is no science behind Calls to phase out fossil fuels. The Guardian Michael. Here’s where it’s a lot of fun being a fly or a booger on the wall, whichever one you want to call it. It’s got to be pretty funny because you have the head of Exxon, you have the head of Saudi Arabia there. And then you have the head of Saudi Aramco there. And then there were 100 and 110 oil companies there. Okay. Wow. There’s 70,000 of your closest friends there. I have an appointment with. Grace Stankey again. She is live in Dubai. And we’re going to talk. It’s going to be 11:00 my time. And we’re going to do a podcast to get an update on what’s going on with the nuclear. We have committed to doing more nuclear. I’m thrilled about that. So this listen to this. We are an absolute crisis that is hurting women and children more than anyone else because we have not yet committing out fossil fuels. Robinson, who chairs The Elders, a London based human rights environmental NGO, was quoted as the Garden. One said, decision at Cop 28 can take in many ways because you’re the head of eggnog. You could actually take it with more credibility. That guy needs to put his head in the toilet. [00:11:40][130.2]

Michael Tanner: [00:11:42] Is wherever wherever John Kerry’s going. This is where we need this guy. [00:11:46][4.4]

Stuart Turley: [00:11:47] Oh, absolutely. Just flap his ears, you know? Hey, let’s get rolling over there. Buddies over there. Chevron and Exxon opt out of funding at Cop 28 Methane Reduction Fund. Michael, this is an absolute who? Ursula, our good buddy over there who’s in charge of the EU, made a comment that there this fund is going to be into the billions there that the commitments have been about $100 billion over cop is their target. She says that’s not enough. We need trillions. I think that might have been the trigger for Exxon and Chevron to go, No, our checkbook is not that big. Let’s go through this here. A global flaring and methane reduction partnership that will run by the World Bank with initially 255 million earmarked to help developing countries and their oil companies stifle leaks on that potent greenhouse gas. Okay. I can understand why Exxon and Chevron later. Now, in the article they say, we’re not sure we want to donate to a fund that’s going to be controlled by our competitors. I applaud them for that decision. That’s pretty crazy. And so when you sit back and think you have BP in I Equinor, Occidental, Shell, Total and UAE, all of that was 100 million u.s. put in 2 million. Germany put in 1.5 and Norway was one. Wow. [00:13:31][104.5]

In climate finance, we have to move from billions to trillions.

To get there, we need new sources of revenues.

New levies, green bonds and of course – carbon pricing.

And we need, more than ever, strong partnerships, like with Global Gateway.

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 2, 2023

Michael Tanner: [00:13:33] Yeah. I mean, if you’re Exxon or Chevron, I think the you know, from their perspective, they’re doing all they I mean, if you don’t think Exxon and Chevron are not trying to on their own reduce emissions because they understand that if they make it that if they reduce emissions and produce sustainable oil and gas, it’s the best of both worlds. They’re probably spending more than 25 million to lower their emissions. So the fact that they have to now put it up is probably where they’re like, well, we don’t need you know, we don’t just need to just lose 25 million when we’re already doing it. [00:14:09][35.7]

Stuart Turley: [00:14:09] I applaud them for that. Absolutely. And where I they were in there and Exxon said they join the pledge, but we’re going to give our expertise and what we’re already doing, Michael. I applaud them for standing up. We‘ve got to have more of that kind of thing in our great. Chevron and Exxon are doing better than my buddy Putin, you know, and you sit back and kind of go, eh, you know, Gazprom is leaking like a sieve. I mean, that’s like me in a Speedo. I’m leaking everywhere. [00:14:42][32.9]

Michael Tanner: [00:14:44] Okay, That’s on that lovely note. [00:14:45][2.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:14:46] That oil CEO’s blaming the energy industry for climate crisis is like blaming farmers for obesity. I love it. The oil companies are fighting back. I think this is great. The chief executive of the UAE based energy firm Crescent Petroleum said Tuesday that blaming the oil and gas industry for the climate crisis is like blaming farmers for obesity. I got really to go through. It is when you sit back and take a look at Dubai. He goes, here’s a quote out of it. Now, we need we still need oil and gas throughout the transition. And there’s no scenario or even the most ambitious scenario that that does not include that. They are right. The secretary general, Antonio Guterres, announcement that it was a step in the right direction. Again, you’ve heard me say this a lot. Saudi Arabia is investing billions in hydrogen. They’re you know, they’re trying to go green, but they’re funding it with oil and gas. What happened about Texas? We got more solar and wind than anybody else. We’re half the price. If you want to do it, you got to have oil and gas. [00:16:10][84.2]

Michael Tanner: [00:16:11] Yeah, absolutely. But but remember, our friends over at the International Energy Agency, the IEA, remember they said last month that the fossil fuel industry faces a, quote, moment of truth about their role in the global energy system and climate crisis. So I don’t know what this moment of truth is doing. Maybe we might have we might have a moment of silence for this moment of truth. Well, that’s okay. That’s that’s about as seriously as they took it with everything. You copy? Oh, yeah. I hate to say it. We got to do this next article, Stu. [00:16:40][28.8]

Stuart Turley: [00:16:41] Oh, I know. This is absolutely a hoot when. When you play this, we’re going to have our Ms.. Producer pull this in. And I had it here just a second in the world. [00:16:54][13.0]

Video Clip: [00:16:54] I find myself getting more and more militant because I do not understand how adults who are in position of responsibility can be avoiding responsibility for taking away those that are killing people on a daily basis. [00:17:07][12.7]

Stuart Turley: [00:17:08] And and the reality is here. [00:17:10][1.8]

Michael Tanner: [00:17:11] How do we claim. [00:17:12][1.4]

Video Clip: [00:17:12] A crisis and health crisis. [00:17:14][1.4]

Stuart Turley: [00:17:15] And we. [00:17:16][0.5]

Michael Tanner: [00:17:16] Don’t know who it is? Well, we can only imagine. You probably had a little bit of mayo, and it’s not gonna leave me, are you? Be the judge. [00:17:22][5.7]

Stuart Turley: [00:17:22] Listen, o adults who are in. [00:17:24][1.6]

Video Clip: [00:17:24] Positions of responsibility going to be avoiding responsibility for taking away those things that are killing people on a daily basis. And the reality is. [00:17:33][9.7]

Stuart Turley: [00:17:34] You heard it right. That’s 34 seconds and the funniest thing I have heard it. Yeah, that’s 34 seconds, Michael. The funniest thing I’ve heard a long time and then you see it. I swear it looked like Ursula, but it was not. It was somebody that just they cut to a girl and she goes, Yeah. It’s Texas Commissioner slams Biden’s onerous methane rules that Increase Oil and gas. Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian I’m going to reach out to him and get him on here. Issued a statement regarding the methane rules, those methane rules we covered in this week already, and that was based off of the Clean Air Act. And they are onerous in on the presently horrible you know, the listen to this. While the cost for a hardworking Americans are up $11,000 this year from the gas pump to the grocery store. His Biden’s solution to inflation is increased regulations that will make it even more expensive, says Christian Petroleum, helps make more than 96% of everyday consumer items are. [00:19:00][86.4]

Michael Tanner: [00:19:02] I again with every rule. Chevron and Exxon would never admit this, but they love when the EPA does stuff like this because it makes it drives all of their competitors out of business because they are one of the few companies that have the scale to be able to handle owners regulations. Big business loves regulation. Don’t remember that when they do this, they’re only hurting the small producers. [00:19:28][25.5]

Stuart Turley: [00:19:29] That’s 50% of the oil produced in the U.S. is with the small producers, though. [00:19:35][5.8]

Michael Tanner: [00:19:36] Hey, that’s my point. So they’re there. They’re going they’re doing the kill shot. Exxon’s going to be fine. We’ll cover them later. They’re going to be fine. But you got to spend a little bit more on mathematics. They’ll be fine. You know who won’t be fine? Like you said, the other 50%. So it’s clear this the second order effects as we talk about. They’re not thinking about. [00:19:55][19.1]

Stuart Turley: [00:19:56] No. So anyway, that one kind of got me a little worked up to I’m with Christianson. [00:20:02][6.1]

Michael Tanner: [00:20:03] Good for Wayne Christianson. I, you know, am I, you know, do I think he’s the you know, I I’ve heard some stuff on him specifically that he he too may be in bed to close with big business. So, you know, I’ll ask he will ask him will ask him. I’ve you know, we got to get him on the podcast here. But at least he’s attempting here to stand up. Good for Wayne Christian for. [00:20:03][0.0][1155.2]

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