When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, it lost access to many world markets, including much of Europe. Countries like Germany, which for years had relied on Russian gas and oil, now turned sharply away and sought to...more
One wild card of the Middle East equation has been Hezbollah, the Iranian-inspired Shiite terror group /political party in Lebanon. Considered the most fully armed non-state actor in the world, Hezbollah possesses an arsenal...more
Over 50 years ago, on October 6, 1973, the Arab armies of Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel during Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
Almost exactly 50 years later, on October 7, 2023,...more
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took a strong, uncompromising pro-Hamas stance in the latter’s military conflict with Israel last week. In so doing, he torpedoed any potential in the near future for possible joint...more
The explosion and fire of a tanker truck just north of Center City Philadelphia, leading to the collapse of sections of Interstate 95, one of the most heavily traveled roads in the United States and the chief highway...more
Last week saw scenes of chaos never before seen in the Middle East, which is saying something given the history of that region.
In Israel, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to demonstrate, block roads,...more
Now less than one month before Election Day, the New York Governor's race is far closer than most had anticipated. Incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul, who succeeded Andrew Cuomo following his resignation, is being pressed by...more
10/19/2022
/ Boycotts ,
Clean Water Act ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Exports ,
Fracking ,
Gas Prices ,
Natural Gas ,
New York ,
Oil & Gas ,
OPEC ,
Pennsylvania ,
Pipelines ,
Political Campaigns ,
Russia ,
Shale Gas
With energy markets already in tumult partly because of events in Ukraine and Iran, not to mention the OPEC production cut, another area of the world is now being convulsed by energy issues, with the prospect of natural gas...more
10/19/2022
/ Anti-Terrorism Financing ,
Egypt ,
Energy Market ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Greece ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Israel ,
Lebanon ,
Libya ,
Military Conflict ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
OPEC ,
Terrorist Organizations ,
Turkey
The best statesmen understand what less worldly and less experienced people often overlook: Wars are mainly political and economic endeavors, and they involve the use of brute force to obtain political and/or economic...more
Over the last two weeks, while news coverage in America has been fixated on the FBI’s raid on Donald Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago, and later on the death of Queen Elizabeth II, there have been important news stories not widely...more
9/12/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
China ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FERC ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greece ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Russia ,
Turkey ,
Ukraine ,
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
Less than two years after a catastrophic explosion nearly leveled whole parts of Lebanon's capital, Beirut, plunging the country into economic disrepair and social despair, the Ukraine war and natural gas gave Lebanon a...more
Since the execution of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 that led to the establishment of the Euro single currency, different European Union countries have faced issues meeting the Treaty’s requirements to maintain the currency,...more
7/21/2022
/ Embargo ,
Energy Sector ,
EU ,
European Central Bank ,
Food Supply ,
Fossil Fuel ,
GDP ,
Germany ,
Greece ,
International Monetary Fund ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
Just north of Philadelphia International Airport and south of the Philadelphia sports Stadium complex lies the Port of Philadelphia, one of the largest freshwater ports in the world. So strategically located is the Port of...more
Two new developments of enormous significance passed under the radar last week, buried by the growing threat of an outright Russia/Ukraine war and governmental encroachment on democracy in Canada. These developments, however,...more
3/14/2022
/ China ,
Climate Change ,
Coal ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
EU ,
FERC ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
NATO ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Russia ,
Shale Gas ,
Ukraine
Shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday, February 23, President Biden reinstated the sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that he had waived only last year. Depending on what side of the political divide you...more
3/14/2022
/ China ,
Climate Change ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Fracking ,
Germany ,
Joe Biden ,
Marcellus Shale ,
NATO ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paris Agreement ,
Pipelines ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
When Vladimir Putin sent his troops into Ukraine to go conquer that democracy, all of the abstract concepts about energy ended. While not quite a Pearl Harbor moment in terms of instantaneous ideological shift, Putin's...more
3/14/2022
/ Bad Actors ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Exports ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Marcellus Shale ,
Natural Gas ,
Nuclear Weapons ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
Last week, President Joe Biden warned Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky that a Russian invasion of Ukraine might be imminent. While Zelensky does not seem to share that assessment, full scale war in Eastern Europe seems...more
1/31/2022
/ Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Fracking ,
Germany ,
Marcellus Shale ,
NATO ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pennsylvania ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
During a press briefing on Friday afternoon, State Department spokesman Ned Price abruptly changed the subject from the disastrous pullout in Afghanistan to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
A Russian ship, the Ostap Sheremeta,...more
8/30/2021
/ Afghanistan ,
Biden Administration ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Germany ,
Keystone XL Pipeline ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
OPEC ,
Pipelines ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
On Wednesday, June 29, the United States Supreme Court handed down one of its most important decisions in years. In the case of PennEast Pipeline Company, LLC v. New Jersey, et al., by a narrow 5-4 margin, the Court affirmed...more
For nearly a month, Enbridge, Inc., a Canadian oil and gas pipeline company, has been operating its Line 5 pipeline in defiance of an order from Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to shut down Line 5’s operations effective...more
May 26, 2021 was the day the energy world changed.
On the same day that a Dutch court in The Hague ruled that Royal Dutch Shell could be held liable for climate change and ordered it to reduce its greenhouse gas...more
The drive to litigate public policy over climate change took some hits the last two weeks in the United States Supreme Court. First, last Monday in the case of Mayor and City Council of Baltimore v. BP P. L. C. et al.,...more
5/26/2021
/ Appeals ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FERC ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Material Adverse Effects ,
Oil & Gas ,
Public Policy ,
SCOTUS
The dispute over the controversial oil and gas pipeline known as “Nord Stream 2” ended on Wednesday when the United States Department of State announced that the Biden administration was waiving sanctions against the...more
On Wednesday, April 28, a major component of the legal battle in the fight over interstate oil and gas pipelines will reach a climax. In Washington, D.C., the United States Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the case...more
Last week, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear the legal dispute that has stymied completion of the proposed $1 Billion PennEast Pipeline from the Marcellus Shale gas fields of Northeastern Pennsylvania to Central...more