Oil & Energy News
Reports on oil drilling, pipelines, and energy policy debates. Conservative analysis and commentary included from The Daily Signal.
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news
Data Center Tax Break Under Fire
Virginia is the worldwide leader in data centers, and it has been since the dawn of the modern information age. There are at least 674 data centers in Virginia, and more are on the drawing board. For example, the Hanover County Planning Commission voted last week to allow the development of a technology park that… -
news
Data Center Backlash Brings Thousands of Projects to a Screeching Halt
THE DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Americans’ growing opposition to the prevalence of data centers has led many politicians to limit or pause their increase altogether. Lawmakers in New York and Texas, for example, have effected stoppages of data center projects, while other states, such as Pennsylvania, have issued more restrictions on data center construction. Americans’ support… -
opinion
Victor Davis Hanson: What Is Actually Happening in Iran
Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s video from Daily Signal senior contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more of his videos. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for the Daily Signal. What’s going on with Iran, or rather, what’s next with Iran? We’ve gone through six or… -
opinion
US-Saudi 123 Agreement Is Good for Energy Security, Nonproliferation, and Nuclear Safety
Like nearly every other country on Earth, Saudi Arabia is facing massive electricity demand growth. One estimate projects that the kingdom’s power demand will grow at least 27% by 2030 from 2023 levels. Similarly, like many other countries, it is looking to secure nuclear energy to help meet that demand. Saudi Arabia has never built… -
opinion
High Electric Bills Are a Choice—and Pennsylvania Must Choose Wisely
Pennsylvania legislators have prioritized electricity affordability this year. First, they exited the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the multistate carbon-tax compact. Then, with the newly passed state budget, they defeated Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Lightning Plan, which would have layered an additional in-state carbon tax and expanded Pennsylvania’s clean-energy mandate. But Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard remains on the books, unexamined… -
news
US Reaches Nuclear Power Deal With Saudi Arabia
July 22 (Reuters)—The U.S. and Saudi Arabia reached an agreement on civil nuclear power, letting the kingdom enrich uranium and build nuclear reactors using U.S. technology, without requiring the snap U.N. inspections that Washington has previously demanded from Iran. A civil nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia has been in the works for years during both… -
news
Ohio’s National Forest Moves Closer to Being Opened Up for Fracking
Wayne National Forest, located in southeast Ohio, will likely see fracking opportunities thanks to a lease sale recently announced by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. According to Signal Ohio, the lease sale scheduled for Sept. 15 includes 41 parcels of land totaling 2,840 acres. The BLM announcement makes it that much more likely that… -
news
Trump Threatens Iranian Infrastructure After Houthis Block Red Sea Artery
DUBAI/MANILA, July 22 (Reuters)—U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday to destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant every time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, raising the stakes after Iranian-allied Houthis in Yemen threatened a second vital energy route. Seven tankers have changed course in the Red Sea to avoid… -
opinion
Canadian Wildfires Prove That Proper Forest Management Beats ‘Green’ Plans
It’s the same every fire season: Armchair experts and green campaigners confuse poor forest management with climate change, and then they use that confusion to justify their plans to remake the economy and control your energy use. Just as they did in 2023, true believers are claiming that the Canadian wildfires that last week darkened the… -
news
Data Center Opponents Stage 142 Protests Across 42 States
Opponents of the rapid buildout of data centers held 142 protests across 42 states on Saturday in the first nationwide effort to channel anger at the AI infrastructure expansion that has ramped up over the past year and roiled local politics. The protests were coordinated by HumansFirst, co-founded by a former leader of the modern-day Tea… -
opinion
Why Lower Gas Costs Take Time to Reach the Pump
When crude oil prices drop sharply, why do drivers have to wait for relief at the pump? The answer follows a convoluted and policy-constrained path from drill rigs to local gas stations. The prices we encounter at the pump result from this complex chain, which begins with global crude and passes through refining, wholesale, independent… -
news
White House to Rally Utilities, Data Centers for AI Power Cost Pledge, Sources Say
WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters)—The White House plans to bring together utility companies and data center developers to make a voluntary pledge designed to ensure that rapid growth in electricity demand from artificial intelligence does not drive-up power bills for households and businesses, according to three people familiar with the plans. An event to announce the… -
opinion
The Grid Is Failing: Let’s Fix It and Secure Our Electricity
When the lights stay on, most Americans assume the electricity system is working. It is not. Beneath the surface, the markets that produce and price your power are manufacturing a reliability crisis. The organizations running those markets have already admitted they cannot solve it under the current rules. The result? A market that over-rewards weather-dependent… -
opinion
Trump Just Upended China’s Illicit Petroleum Network
Per the terms of the recent U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, the U.S. Treasury had waived sanctions on some Iranian crude oil exports for 60 days. That move quickly sent American gas prices downward. Then, on July 6, Iran renewed attacks on shipping that got the waiver revoked. But for China, there seems to be little… -
opinion
Atlas Didn’t Shrug
In Ayn Rand’s novel “Atlas Shrugged,” the men and women who keep the world running finally get fed up and walk away. The factories go dark, the trains stop, and the people who spent their lives building things vanish into a hidden valley to let the looters discover what life looks like without them. It’s a… -
opinion
Alaska’s Senate Wants to Raise Your Cost of Energy—Again
The Iran war has taught us that America needs even more oil and natural gas production to protect consumers from events overseas, but Alaska’s Senate seems intent on reducing production. Lawmakers took a tax reform bill and turned it into a tax hike that risks wrecking investment in the oil and gas industry and ultimately… -
news
US Will Hit Iran ‘Very Hard’ Tonight
DUBAI/WASHINGTON, June 11 (Reuters)—President Donald Trump said on Thursday the United States would hit Iran “very hard tonight” and wanted eventually to take Iran’s oil infrastructure hub Kharg Island, after tit-for-tat strikes in the Gulf that have undermined a shaky ceasefire. Iranian sources and Western officials said indirect U.S.-Iranian talks on a preliminary peace deal… -
news
Exxon Wins Shareholder Backing for Legal Move to Texas
HOUSTON, May 27 (Reuters)—Exxon Mobil shareholders on Wednesday approved the company’s plan to redomicile in Texas, marking a win for the top U.S. oil producer after two leading proxy advisory firms advised investors to strike down the proposal. The oil producer is incorporated in New Jersey, but the company has been headquartered in Texas since… -
news
One Biden-Era Policy Reversal Helped Unlock a Record US Oil Lease Sale
A May report from the Department of the Interior announced the largest onshore lease sale in history of more than 33,000 premium acres in the Permian Basin, generating over $4 billion. Republicans credit the new possibility of American energy dominance to the Trump administration reversing Biden-era energy policy with the “One Big, Beautiful Bill.” “This… -
exclusive
‘There’s No Question Prices Are Elevated’: Trump Official Addresses Small Businesses’ Economic Pain
Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler acknowledged that Americans are facing increased prices but promised that the economy will improve after the military operation in Iran ends. “There’s no question in recent weeks, prices have bumped up because of rising gas prices due to the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz now,” Loeffler told the…