Oil Below $80: The First Shoes Drop
We’re beginning to see the effects that the low oil prices of the past few months is having on America’s domestic energy boom. On Thursday, ConocoPhillips became the first major producer to announce it plans to scale back drilling in some of the hottest U.S. oil plays, such as the Rocky Mountains and the Permian Basin of West Texas.
While ConocoPhillips still expects to boost production from other areas, chief executive Ryan Lance told reporters the company also may cut exploration spending. Oil prices on the world market have fallen more than 25 percent since June, and the price of West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, is now trading at a three-year low of $76 a barrel, down from more than $107....
... In contrast to the caution exhibited by ConocoPhillips and Shell, independent producers have said they expect to continue their fracking operations unabated. Many smaller companies have lower cost structures and can still make money fracking at current prices.....
Burnaby Mountain: Latest wall of opposition against tar sands
....Although media emphasis has been on People's Climate Marches or symbolic arrest actions, it is sustained grassroots blockades like the one at Burnaby Mountain that are affecting companies' profit margins (Kinder Morgan has said that project delays due to opposition cost the company $88 million every month). While these diverse strategies are not mutually exclusive, grassroots communities work a lot harder to "prove" themselves before they garner support from the mainstream climate movement and corporate media."Mainstream media will never admit that grassroots actions are winning the fight against the extractive industries," explains Freda Huson, spokesperson of the Unist'ot'en Camp. The Unist'ot'en Camp is at the forefront of land defence struggles in the country, with families living in cabins in the pathway of 10 proposed pipelines, including the Enbridge Northern Gateway and Pacific Trails fracked gas pipeline. As a result of the Camp's tenacious stand, all of the original investors pulled out of the Pacific Trails Pipeline. "We need more people to trust in their intuitions and go and bravely help out in the frontlines," Huson urges.....
Locals say their health concerns over wells and waste pits are ignored by oil and gas companies and state authorities
November 4, 2014
How Fossil Fuel Money Plays in Northwest Elections
A look at industry contributions in five key races.
Eric de Place and Nick Abraham November 4, 2014 Sightline