Another Stupid US Energy Policy Decision

13 Comments on "Another Stupid US Energy Policy Decision"

rockman on Fri, 4th Jul 2014 6:55 am 



“But this is a giant crack opening up in an export ban that has been in place since the 1970s keeping domestic crude at home. Pioneer CEO Sheffield has been lobbying for an end to the ban as has Harold Hamm of Continental Resources (CLR) and now they have the workaround they need to avoid a Congressional battle.”

Not sure why this was posted since the story has been completely debunked here and, more importantly, by the Commerce Dept itself which clarified that it did not give authorization for Pioneer to do anything that hasn’t been legal for a very long time. What they did do was state that Pioneer was in compliance with the existing law. A law which has allowed many tens of million bbls of similar production to be exported by many companies for years.

And more to the point: Americans don’t buy oil so how much oil is or isn’t exported is not relevant to them. The American consumers buy refined products. And refined products have been legal to export forever. What matters to our citizens is what the pay for those products. And given the US export of refined product (around 3 million bbls per day) they are competing with those foreign buyers on a price basis.

Plantagenet on Fri, 4th Jul 2014 9:32 am 



The story is correct: this is another stupid decision by the Obama administration.

bobinget on Fri, 4th Jul 2014 11:04 am 



Before 2015 is out, notions of Exporting any form of
fossil fuels will be muted by geopolitical events.

bobinget on Fri, 4th Jul 2014 11:08 am 



Plant:
WASHINGTON—Explaining that he failed to hit his national growth goals for the April-June period, the White House’s Office of Personnel Management confirmed Tuesday that President Barack Obama fell just short of earning a quarterly performance bonus. “We lay out our expectations very clearly in a meeting with the president at the beginning of every fiscal quarter, and unfortunately he came up a bit shy of meeting the targets we set for him,” said White House administrator Sarah Hammond, citing a number of factors that reflected negatively on Obama’s performance evaluation, including his inability to raise GDP by the stipulated 2.75 percent or create 750,000 new jobs, benchmarks that Hammond said were “ambitious, but achievable.” “The president knew what his Q2 goals for health care sign-ups were, but he was unable to deliver the numbers we were looking for. He certainly didn’t knock it out of the park like [Secretary of Transportation] Anthony Foxx, who easily exceeded his target of 20 new highway interchanges over the same period. Now, if President Obama could achieve anything close to that next quarter, it would go a long way toward securing that $1,500 bonus.” At press time, sources confirmed that the president was somberly explaining to his wife and children that their trip to California would have to wait until next year.

rockman on Fri, 4th Jul 2014 11:24 am 



Actually the law the allows Pioneer to export that production goes back as far as 1985. All the Obama administration did was confirm that Pioneer was complying with the law. A law that was in place when the POTUS was still in college.

I know the post below takes up a lot of space. But often the discussion of US “oil exports” is just to simplistic. And believe it or not what follows isn’t the complete story: This is just one rule appearing in the Federal Register for 15 CFR 754.

(a) License requirement. As indicated by the SS notation in the “License Requirements” section of ECCN 1C981 on the CCL (Supplement No. 1 to part 774 of the EAR), a license is required for the export of crude oil to all destinations, including Canada. See paragraph (h) of this section for a License Exception permitting the export of certain oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, paragraph (i) of this section for a License Exception for certain shipments of samples, and paragraph (j) of this section for a License Exception for exports of oil transported by pipeline over right-of-way granted pursuant to section 203 of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act (43 U.S.C. 1652). “Crude oil” is defined as a mixture of hydrocarbons that existed in liquid phase in underground reservoirs and remains liquid at atmospheric pressure after passing through surface separating facilities and which has not been processed through a crude oil distillation tower. Included are reconstituted crude petroleum, and lease condensate and liquid hydrocarbons produced from tar sands, gilsonite, and oil shale. Drip gases are also included, but topped crude oil, residual oil, and other finished and unfinished oils are excluded.

(b) License policy.

(1) BIS will approve applications to export crude oil for the following kinds of transactions if BIS determines that the export is consistent with the specific requirements pertinent to that export:

(i) Exports from Alaska’s Cook Inlet (see paragraph (d) of this section);

(ii) Exports to Canada for consumption or use therein (see paragraph (e) of this section);

(iii) Exports in connection with refining or exchange of strategic petroleum reserve oil (see paragraph (f) of this section);

(iv) Exports of heavy California crude oil up to an average volume not to exceed 25 MB/D (see paragraph (g) of this section);

(v) Exports that are consistent with international agreements as described in the statutes listed in paragraph (c) of this section;

(vi) Exports that are consistent with findings made by the President under an applicable statute, including the statutes described in paragraph (c) of this section; and

(vii) Exports of foreign origin crude oil where, based on written documentation satisfactory to BIS, the exporter can demonstrate that the oil is not of U.S. origin and has not been commingled with oil of U.S. origin. See paragraph (h) of this section for the provisions of License Exception SPR permitting exports of certain crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

(2) BIS will review other applications to export crude oil on a case-by-case basis and, except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, generally will approve such applications if BIS determines that the proposed export is consistent with the national interest and the purposes of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA). Although BIS will consider all applications for approval, generally, the following kinds of transactions will be among those that BIS will determine to be in the national interest and consistent with the purposes of EPCA.

(i) The export is part of an overall transaction:

(A) That will result directly in the importation into the United States of an equal or greater quantity and an equal or better quality of crude oil or of a quantity and quality of petroleum products listed in Supplement No. 1 to this part that is not less than the quantity and quality of commodities that would be derived from the refining of the crude oil for which an export license is sought;

(B) That will take place only under contracts that may be terminated if the petroleum supplies of the United States are interrupted or seriously threatened; and

(C) In which the applicant can demonstrate that, for compelling economic or technological reasons that are beyond the control of the applicant, the crude oil cannot reasonably be marketed in the United States.

(ii) Exports involving temporary exports or exchanges that are consistent with the exceptions from the restrictions of the statutes listed in paragraph (c) of this section.

(c) Additional statutory controls.

(1) The following statutes provide controls on the export of domestically produced crude oil based on its place of origin or mode of transport. If such other statutory controls apply, an export may only be approved if the President makes the findings required by the applicable law.

(i) Section 201 ofPublic Law 104-58, entitled “Exports of Alaskan North Slope Oil,” provides for exports of domestically produced crude oil transported by pipeline over rights-of-way granted pursuant to section 203 of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act (43 U.S.C. 1652) (“TAPS crude oil”). The President made a determination on April 28, 1996.

(ii) The Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 restricts exports of domestically produced crude oil transported by pipeline over rights-of-way granted pursuant to section 28(u) of that Act (30 U.S.C. 185(u)) (“MLA”).

(iii) The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act restricts exports of crude oil produced from the outer Continental Shelf (29 U.S.C. 1354) (“OCSLA”).

(iv) The Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act restricts the export of crude oil produced from the naval petroleum reserves (10 U.S.C. 7430) (“NPRPA”).

(2) Supplement No. 3 to this part describes the relevant statutory provisions. In cases where a particular statute applies, a Presidential finding is necessary before the export can be authorized. You should note that in certain cases it is possible that more than one statute could apply to a particular export of crude oil.

(d) Exports from Alaska’s Cook Inlet. The licensing policy is to approve applications for exports of crude oil that was derived from the state-owned submerged lands of Alaska’s Cook Inlet and has not been, or will not be, transported by a pipeline over a federal right-of-way subject to the MLA or the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act. 1

——————————————————————————–
Footnote(s):
1 On November 6, 1985, the Secretary of Commerce determined that the export of crude oil derived from State waters in Alaska’s Cook Inlet is consistent with the national interest and the purposes of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act.

——————————————————————————–

(e) Exports to Canada for consumption or use therein.

(1) Except for TAPS crude oil, the licensing policy is to approve applications for exports of crude oil to Canada for consumption or use therein.

(2) The licensing policy for TAPS crude oil is to approve applications for an average of no more than 50,000 barrels of oil per day for consumption or use in Canada, subject to the following procedures and conditions:

(i) Any ocean transportation of the commodity will be made by vessels documented for United States coastwise trade under 46 U.S.C. 12106. Only barge voyages between the State of Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia, and comparable barge movements across waters between the U.S. and Canada may be excluded from this requirement. The Bureau of Industry and Security will determine, in consultation with the Maritime Administration, whether such transportation is “ocean” transportation; and

(ii) Authorization to export TAPS crude oil will be granted on a quarterly basis. Applications will be accepted by BIS no earlier than two months prior to the beginning of the calendar quarter in question, but must be received no later than the 25th day of the second month preceding the calendar quarter. For example, for the calendar quarter beginning April 1 and ending June 30, applications will be accepted beginning February 1, but must be received no later than February 25.

(iii) The quantity stated on each application must be the total number of barrels for the quarter, not a per-day rate. This quantity must not exceed 50,000 barrels times the number of calendar days in the quarter.

(iv) Each application must include support documents providing evidence that the applicant has either:

(A) Title to the quantity of barrels stated in the application; or

(B) A contract to purchase the quantity of barrels stated in the application.

(v) The quantity of barrels authorized on each license for export during the calendar quarter will be determined by the BIS as a prorated amount based on:

(A) The quantity requested on each license application; and

(B) The total number of barrels that may be exported by all license holders during the quarter (50,000 barrels per day multiplied by the number of calendar days during the quarter).

(vi) Applicants may combine their licensed quantities for as many as four consecutive calendar quarters into one or more shipments, provided that the validity period of none of the affected licenses has expired.

(vii) BIS will carry forward any portion of the 50,000 barrels per day quota that has not been allocated during a calendar quarter, except that no un-allocated portions will be carried over to a new calendar year. The un-allocated volume for a calendar quarter will be added, until expended, to the quotas available for each quarter through the end of the calendar year.

(f) Refining or exchange of Strategic Petroleum Reserve Oil.

(1) Exports of crude oil withdrawn from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) will be approved if BIS, in consultation with the Department of Energy, determines that such exports will directly result in the importation into the United States of refined petroleum products that are needed in the United States and that otherwise would not be available for importation without the export of the crude oil from the SPR.

(2) Licenses may be granted to export, for refining or exchange outside of the United States, SPR crude oil that will be sold and delivered, pursuant to a drawdown and distribution of the SPR, in connection with an arrangement for importing refined petroleum products into the United States.

(3) BIS will approve license applications subject to the following conditions:

(i) You must provide BIS evidence of the following:

(A) A title to the quantity of barrels of SPR crude stated in the application; or

(B) A contract to purchase, for importation, into the United States the quantity of barrels of SPR crude stated in the application.

(ii) The following documentation must be submitted to BIS no later than fourteen days following the date that the refined petroleum products are imported in the U.S. in exchange for the export of SPR crude:

(A) Evidence that the exporter of the SPR crude has title to or a contract to purchase refined petroleum product;

(B) A copy of the shipping manifest that identifies the refined petroleum products; and

(C) A copy of the entry documentation required by the U.S. Customs Service that show the refined petroleum products were imported into the United States, or a copy of the delivery receipt when the refined petroleum products are for delivery to the U.S. military outside of the United States.

(4) You must complete both the export of the SPR crude and the import of the refined petroleum products no later than 30 days following the issuance of the export license, except in the case of delivery to the U.S. military outside of the United States, in which case the delivery of the refined petroleum products must be completed no later than the end of the term of the contract with the Department of Defense.

(g) Exports of certain California crude oil. The export of California heavy crude oil having a gravity of 20.0 degrees API or lower, at an average volume not to exceed 25 MB/D, will be authorized as follows.

(1) Applicants must submit their applications in accordance with §§ 748.1, 748.4 and 748.6 of the EAR.

(2) The quantity stated on each application must be the total number of barrels proposed to be exported under the license—not a per-day rate. This quantity must not exceed 25 percent of the annual authorized export quota. Potential applicants may inquire of BIS as to the amount of the annual authorized export quota available.

(3) Each application shall be accompanied by a certification by the applicant that the California heavy crude oil:

(i) Has a gravity of 20.0 degrees API or lower;

(ii) Was produced within the state of California, including its submerged state lands;

(iii) Was not produced or derived from a U.S. Naval Petroleum Reserve; and

(iv) Was not produced from submerged lands of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.

(4) Each license application must be based on an order, and be accompanied by documentary evidence of such an order (e.g., a letter of intent).

(5) BIS will adhere to the following procedures for licensing exports of California heavy crude oil:

(i) BIS will issue licenses for approved applications in the order in which the applications are received, with the total quantity authorized for any one license not to exceed 25 percent of the annual authorized volume of California heavy crude oil.

(ii) BIS will approve only one application per month for each company and its affiliates.

(iii) BIS will consider the following factors (among others) when determining what action should be taken on individual license applications:

(A) The number of licenses to export California heavy crude oil that have been issued to the applicant or its affiliates during the then-current calendar year;

(B) The number of applications pending in BIS that have been submitted by applicants who have not previously been issued licenses under this section to export California heavy crude oil during the then-current calendar year; and

(C) The percentage of the total amount of California heavy crude oil authorized under other export licenses previously issued to the applicant pursuant to this section that has actually been exported by the applicant.

(iv) BIS will approve applications contingent upon the licensee providing documentation meeting the requirements of both paragraphs(g)(5)(iv)(A) and (B) of this section prior to any export under the license:

(A) Documentation showing that the applicant has or will acquire title to the quantity of barrels stated in the application. Such documentation shall be either:

(1) An accepted contract or bill of sale for the quantity of barrels stated in the application; or

(2) A contract to purchase the quantity of barrels stated in the application, which may be contingent upon issuance of an export license to the applicant.

(B) Documentation showing that the applicant has a contract to export the quantity of barrels stated in the application. The contract may be contingent upon issuance of the export license to the applicant.

(v) BIS will carry forward any portion of the 25 MB/D quota that has not been licensed, except that no unallocated portions will be carried forward more than 90 days into a new calendar year. Applications to export against any carry-forward must be filed with BIS by January 15 of the carry-forward year.

(vi) BIS will return to the available authorized export quota any portion of the 25 MB/D per day quota that has been licensed, but not shipped, during the 90-day validity period of the license.

(vii) BIS will not carry over to the next calendar year pending applications from the previous year.

(6) License holders:

(i) Have 90 calendar days from the date the license was issued to export the quantity of California heavy crude oil authorized on the license. Within 30 days of any export under the license, the exporter must provide BIS with a certified statement confirming the date and quantity of California heavy crude oil exported.

(ii) Must submit to BIS, prior to any export under the license, the documentation required by paragraph (g)(5)(iv) of this section.

(iii) May combine authorized quantities into one or more shipments, provided that the validity period of none of the affected licenses has expired.

(iv) Are prohibited from transferring the license to another party without prior written authorization from BIS.

(7) BIS will allow a 10 percent tolerance on the unshipped balance based upon the volume of barrels it has authorized. BIS will allow a 25 percent shipping tolerance on the total dollar value of the license. See § 750.11 of the EAR for an explanation of shipping tolerances.

(h) License Exception for certain shipments from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR). Subject to the requirements set forth in this paragraph, License Exception SPR may be used to export without a license foreign origin crude oil imported and owned by a foreign government or its representative which is imported for storage in, and stored in, the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserves pursuant to an appropriate agreement with the U.S. Government or an agency thereof. If such foreign origin oil is commingled with other oil in the SPR, such export is authorized under License Exception SPR only if the crude oil being exported is of the same quantity and of comparable quality as the foreign origin crude oil that was imported for storage in the SPR and the Department of Energy certifies this fact to BIS.

(1) The requirements and restrictions described in §§ 740.1 and 740.2 of the EAR that apply to all License Exceptions also apply to the use of License Exception SPR.

(2) A person exporting crude oil pursuant to this License Exception must enter on any required Shipper’s Export Declaration (SED) or Automated Export System (AES) record the letter code “SS-SPR” or the equivalent code as set forth in appendix C to 15 CFR part 30.

(i) License Exception for certain sample shipments. Subject to the requirements set forth in this paragraph, License Exception SS-SAMPLE may be used to export crude oil for analytic and testing purposes.

(1) An exporter may ship up to 10 barrels of crude oil to any one end-user annually, up to an annual cumulative limit of 100 barrels per exporter.

(2) The requirements and restrictions described in §§ 740.1 and 740.2 of the EAR that apply to all License Exceptions also apply to the use of License Exception SPR.

(3) A person exporting crude oil pursuant to this License Exception must enter on any required Shipper’s Export Declaration (SED) or Automated Export System (AES) record the letter code “SS-SAMPLE” or the equivalent code as set forth in appendix C to 15 CFR part 30.

(j) License Exception for exports of TAPS Crude Oil.

(1) License Exception TAPS may be used to export oil transported over right-of-way granted pursuant to section 203 of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act (TAPS), provided the following conditions are met:

(i) The TAPS oil is transported by a vessel documented under the laws of the United States and owned by a citizen of the United States (in accordance with section 2 of the Shipping Act, 1916 (46 U.S.C. app. 802));

(ii) All tankers involved in the TAPS export trade use the same route that they do for shipments to Hawaii until they reach a point 300 miles due south of Cape Hinchinbrook Light and then turn toward Asian destinations. After reaching that point, tankers in the TAPS oil export trade must remain outside of the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone, as defined in 16 U.S.C. 1802(6). Tankers returning from foreign ports to Valdez, Alaska must abide by the same restrictions, in reverse, on their return route. This condition shall not be construed to limit any statutory, treaty or Common Law rights and duties imposed upon and enjoyed by tankers in the TAPS oil export trade, including, but not limited to, force majeure and maritime search and rescue rules; and

(iii) The owner or operator of a tanker exporting TAPS oil shall:

(A) Adopt a mandatory program of deep water ballast exchange (i.e., at least 2,000 meters water depth). Exceptions can be made at the discretion of the captain only in order to ensure the safety of the vessel and crew. Records must be maintained in accordance with paragraph (j)(3) of this section.

(B) Be equipped with satellite-based communications systems that will enable the Coast Guard independently to determine the tanker’s location; and

(C) Maintain a Critical Area Inspection Plan for each tanker in the TAPS oil export trade in accordance with the U.S. Coast Guard’s Navigation and Inspection Circular No. 15-91 as amended, which shall include an annual internal survey of the vessel’s cargo block tanks.

(2) Recordkeeping requirements for deep water ballast exchange.

(i) As required by paragraph (j)(1)(iii)(A) of this section, the master of each vessel carrying TAPS oil under the provisions of this section shall keep records that include the following information, and provide such information to the Captain of the Port (COTP), U.S. Coast Guard, upon request:

(A) The vessel’s name, port of registry, and official number or call sign;

(B) The name of the vessel’s owner(s);

(C) Whether ballast water is being carried;

(D) The original location and salinity, if known, of ballast water taken on, before an exchange;

(E) The location, date, and time of any ballast water exchange; and

(F) The signature of the master attesting to the accuracy of the information provided and certifying compliance with the requirements of this paragraph.

(ii) The COTP or other appropriate federal agency representatives may take samples of ballast water to assess the compliance with, and the effectiveness of, the requirements of paragraph (j)(3)(i) of this section.

shortonoil on Fri, 4th Jul 2014 11:43 am 



-light ‘condensates’-

It will be interesting to see whose definition of condensate is used. The EIA for the last 60 years has defined condensate by its strict technical definition. That is, a single phase fluid from a well, it has had nothing to do with the density of the fluid. A small percentage (about 7%) of condensate production is as heavy, or heavier than gasoline. Condensate is produced from a “gas”; oil is a liquid when it comes out of the ground. The shale industry in recent years has been calling anything with an API gravity greater than 45, a condensate. This is scientifically incorrect, and negates 100 years of accepted practice.

Condensate formation is determined by the temperature/pressure of the well. That is why the northern part of the Eagle Ford produces mostly oil, and the central area condensate. The shallower dept of the northern deposit does not have a high enough temperature, pressure to produce much condensate. All oil wells produce a certain amount of condensate. Conventional wells have averaged about 3% condensate; there is always some gas that comes out along with the oil.

If the shale industry’s new definition of condensate is used there could be a flood of oil leaving the country. If the EIA definition is used, very little will be exported. If the shale industry’s definition is used, the US refining industry will take a serious hit. The below world price of crude in the US has given the refinery industry a considerable advantage in the international market for finished products. If crony capitalism wins, the US and its consumers will be the loser!

http://www.thehillsgroup.org/

rockman on Fri, 4th Jul 2014 12:38 pm 



Shorty – I would imagine the only definition that will matter is what the different state and fed agencies decide. Anyone else can make up whatever definition they like. Thus the problem with characterizing production around the globe. And if we could would equate a million bbls of 41 API Eagle Ford condensate that has a 25% gasoline yield with a million bbls of 75 API Qatar condensate?

But what about the fact that different gov’t agencies use different definitions? As I’ve pointed out before the API gravity of the oil has no bearing on the determination by the Texas Rail Road Commission…it’s solely a function of reservoir dynamics. Two wells in Texas can produce the same API gravity and have identical compositions. Yet the TRRC could classify one as oil and the other condensate. And production in Texas classified as oil might have the identical production classified as condensate in La. And I have no idea how that same production would be reported in OK, CA or Nigeria.

shortonoil on Fri, 4th Jul 2014 4:20 pm 



The definition of crude is very explicit, and the ban is on crude:

Here is the relevant section of the Federal regulations administered by the BIS part of US Code Title 15 CFR 754.2:

“Crude oil is defined as a mixture of hydrocarbons that existed in liquid phase in underground reservoirs and remains liquid at atmospheric pressure after passing through surface separating facilities and which has not been processed through a crude oil distillation tower. Included are reconstituted crude petroleum, and lease condensate, and liquid hydrocarbons produced from tar sands, gilsonite, and oil shale. Drip gases are also included, but topped crude oil, residual oil, and 20 other finished and unfinished oils are excluded.”

Personally, I don’t think that they will change that regulation, it opens a whole can of worms. This may only be a tempest in a teapot. The real problem is that field stabilizers have become so complex that they are starting to act like mini-refineries. When condensate is run through them it has almost become a refined finished product, which would then be exportable. Before we tear our eyes out, let’s wait on the BIS’s final decision on the matter.

rockman on Fri, 4th Jul 2014 4:38 pm 



Shorty – But that definition is THE point IMHO. Once produced the oil can be modified by a variety of means, such as the splitters and refining to redefine it as something other the oil. It still amazes me that some folks (not you) just doing get it: what’s the different between exporting 5 million bopd or exporting the refined products made from 5 million bbls of domestically produced oil? Other then US refiners capturing the margin it is of no difference to the American assumed. Maybe a little difference: the world market perhaps has a greater demand for US refined products the our oil. So US consumers face greater price competition.

As long as the US gov’t allows refined products to be exporter I consider the US oil export “debate” to be one of the worse red herring shoved down America’s throat.

And yes…I know I’m arguing against my on industry but the truth is still the truth.

J-Gav on Fri, 4th Jul 2014 6:32 pm 



Rockman – “Actually the law that allows Pioneer to export that production goes back as far as 1985 … etc”

Thorough job, congratulations! But do you really expect that people will read your post in its entirety? Too many words man …

Makati1 on Fri, 4th Jul 2014 8:29 pm 



The US has over 1 million laws on the books and I am not sure even a super computer could know them all. Certainly no lawyer or judge. If they want you, they can find at least one law you broke sometime in your life.

shortonoil on Sat, 5th Jul 2014 2:34 pm 



Rock you are correct in stating that oil leaves, either in the form of crude, or finished products. Yes it is still leaving! But the difference is that when the oil is processed here people find jobs, and can support themselves, and their families from those processing jobs. The US has already allowed 40% of its manufacturing base to be exported. Maybe I’m being some what nationalistic, but I’d rather see that extra value added in the US, who owns the oil, than in some foreign nation. In the post Peak world we are living in, this nation had better start worry a little more about its own welfare, and a little less about the rest of the world. In a post Peak world, becoming regional will be necessary for our very survival.

It is even vaguely possible that a few dunderheads in DC may eventually figure that out!

Davy on Sat, 5th Jul 2014 5:55 pm 



Short I agree with turning inward. We need to deal with immigration in that line if thinking. My thoughts are mearly influenced by carrying capacity. Our society will soon struggle to feed our already excessive population without adding more. At least we need to debate the subject in terms of carrying capacity and not economics.