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Commentary: Could falling oil prices spark a financial crisis?

Green Car Congress

The oil and gas boom in the United States was made possible by the extensive credit afforded to drillers. As is the nature of the junk-bond market, lots of money flowed to companies with much riskier drilling prospects than, say, the oil majors. The situation will compound itself if oil prices stay low.

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National Academies’ Gulf Research Program awards $10.8M to address systemic risk in offshore oil and gas operations

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million to six new projects to develop new technologies, processes, or procedures that could result in improved understanding and management of systemic risk in offshore oil and gas operations. Oklahoma State University. The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is awarding $10.8

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Transcanada restarts Keystone oil sands pipeline operations

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TransCanada Corporation said that its 590,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) capacity Keystone Pipeline system resumed transporting oil sands crude on Sunday, 5 June, after a shutdown 29 May following an above-ground spill at a pump station in Kansas involving less than 10 barrels of oil. —PHMSA Corrective Action Order. Click to enlarge.

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Study Finds Biodiesel Easily Susceptible to Anaerobic Biodegradation, With Resulting Accelerated Biocorrosion of Metal

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A study by researchers from the University of Oklahoma and the US Naval Research Laboratory has found that biodiesel is easily susceptible to biological degradation by anaerobic bacteria. In a fuel environment, anaerobic conditions prevail whenever heterotrophic microbial respiration consumes oxygen at a rate that exceeds diffusion.

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USDA and DOE award $12.2M to 10 research projects to accelerate bioenergy crop production and spur economic impact

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Overall, the USDA and DOE projects are designed to improve special crops to be grown for biofuels—including selected trees and grasses—by increasing their yield, quality and ability to adapt to extreme environments. Bartley, University of Oklahoma, Norman. x giganteus (M. sinensis x M. sacchariflorus).

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DOE to award more than $27M to 12 plastics recycling R&D projects

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The BOTTLE: Bio-Optimized Technologies to Keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment funding opportunity is jointly funded by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office and Advanced Manufacturing Office. Partners include Allonia and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

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America’s lithium laws fail to keep pace with rapid development – ET Auto

Baua Electric

REGULATORY RISKS In Oklahoma, which has several brine deposits, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission – which oversees oil and gas development – said it has no jurisdiction over lithium production and royalties, and referred comment to the state’s Department of Mines, which said it also does not oversee lithium.