President Obama will enact tougher regulation for energy companies during his next term, according to Reuters. Key initiatives in his plan include the rollback of subsidies for oil companies and reducing our reliance on oil by mandating production of more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Obama’s likely list of new regulations for the energy industry will cover:
- Tougher rules governing energy exploration, possibly adding billions in costs for oil and gas companies.
- Restrictions for companies drilling on federal lands.
- Eliminating $46 billion in subsidies for fossil fuel companies.
- New rules governing water management and methane emissions, potentially driving up costs on hydraulic fracturing drillers, such as Chesapeake Energy and Exxon Mobil.
- Continuing his “war on coal” through stricter EPA regulations. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce pointed to estimates that up to 33 gigawatts of coal-fired electricity generation are due to be retired.
- Implementing controversial emissions regulations for industrial boilers that are commonly used for chemical producers, known as the Boiler MACT. The EPA is expected to issue rules in December.
However, approval of the TransCanada’s XL pipeline is expected after the administration put it on hold, which will increase the flow of cheaper crude oil from Canada to refineries in the Gulf Coast and Port Arthur, Texas. This will benefit ExxonMobil, Valero Energy, Shell and France’s Total, who have refineries there.
To view the entire Reuters article referenced in this article, click here