Oil and Gas Watch

10/31/2025

All U.S. LNG terminals active in 2024 violated air pollution limits over last 5 years

Since Venture Global opened its Calcasieu Pass LNG terminal near the mouth of Louisiana’s Calcasieu River in 2022, the facility’s neighbor, John Allaire, has had to live with its pollution.

Flames roar from the flares and plumes of inky smoke streak across the sky from the terminal that exports fracked liquefied natural gas (LNG) to other countries. The noise and pollution have shattered the peace for Allaire, a former oil and gas engineer who owns a home near the terminal.

“Frequently they flare, sometimes with black smoke; and sometimes I can hear the plant’s alarms, all the way over here,” Allaire said.

Calcasieu Pass LNG spent 12 quarters over the last three years out of compliance with federal Clean Air Act regulations and has been the subject of two enforcement orders, according to state records.

These violations are part of a larger pattern of failure to comply with environmental laws at U.S. LNG terminals, according to “Terminal Trouble,” a new report released this week by the Environmental Integrity Project.

All seven of the LNG export terminals that were fully operational at the end of 2024 violated the Clean Air Act at least once over the last five years, the group found.

Read the full story here: https://news.oilandgaswatch.org/post/report-environmental-violations-found-at-every-operating-u-s-lng-terminal-in-2024

10/30/2025

Company seeks permits for new gas-fired power plant in LA

On Oct. 1, Entergy Louisiana applied for initial air permits to construct a new gas-fired power plant in Westlake, on the site of the existing Roy S Nelson Generating Station. If approved, the 750-MW plant will consist of one combined cycle generating unit.

https://oilandgaswatch.org/alert/rec_d3pcl3o7l7g4fps6plj0

For a Better Bayou , The Vessel Project of Louisiana , Healthy Gulf , Louisiana Bucket Brigade , Louisiana Environmental Action Network

10/29/2025

Public hearing scheduled Dec. 4 on draft air permit for TX ammonia plant

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will hold a virtual hearing at 10 a.m. Dec. 4 on a challenge to the proposed Enbridge Ingleside Blue Ammonia plant in San Patricio County. The hearing will address the draft air construction permits proposed on Aug. 26, 2024. The permits would authorize construction of two units that produce ammonia from natural gas.

https://oilandgaswatch.org/alert/rec_d3t2ihrou48otnl0uhbg

Coastal Watch Association , Chispa TX , Texas Campaign for the Environment , For The Greater Good , Corpus Christi Caller-Times , KRIS 6 News , KIII 3 News , Inside Climate News

10/29/2025

10/29/2025

ExxonMobil granted permits for carbon storage project in East Texas

On Oct. 21, the EPA issued final permits authorizing three wells as part of ExxonMobil’s Rose Carbon Storage Hub, planned for rural farmland southwest of Beaumont. The permits allow Exxon to store up to 53 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) over a 13-year period. ExxonMobil plans to store carbon dioxide emissions captured from industrial sources, such as hydrogen or ammonia plants, direct-reduced iron plants, and natural gas treatment facilities. The CO2 will be transported via pipeline and injected underground for long-term storage.

https://news.oilandgaswatch.org/template/brief/exxonmobil-granted-permits-for-carbon-storage-project-in-east-texas

Commission Shift , Port Arthur Community Action Network , Air Alliance Houston , Texas Campaign for the Environment , Environment Texas

10/28/2025

Public meeting scheduled Nov. 20 on draft air permit for LA ammonia plant

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality will hold a public meeting on draft air permits for the Blue Point Complex in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. The facility would be capable of producing over 1.6 million tons of ammonia from natural gas every year. The meeting will be 6 p.m. on Nov. 20 at the Lemann Center Gymnasium, 1100 Clay St., Donaldsonville, LA 70346. The agency is accepting comments until Nov. 21.

https://oilandgaswatch.org/alert/rec_d3nsp1o1p8308fr3mh6g

Rural Roots Louisiana Louisiana Bucket Brigade , RISE ST. JAMES , The Descendants Project WBRZ Channel 2 , WAFB Channel 9 , Gonzales Weekly Citizen Review

10/28/2025

Louisiana judge nixes permit for LNG export terminal

A state judge in Louisiana ruled that a state agency erred in its analysis of environmental impacts when it issued a permit for the Commonwealth LNG facility. The court found that state officials violated the Louisiana Constitution by failing to consider the environmental impacts on the surrounding communities of color and low-income communities, alongside the climate change impacts and cumulative impacts with other export facilities already in the area.

https://news.oilandgaswatch.org/template/brief/louisiana-judge-nixes-permit-for-lng-export-terminal

For a Better Bayou , The Vessel Project of Louisiana micah 6:8 mission , FISH - Fishermen Involved in Sustaining our Heritage , Healthy Gulf , Louisiana Bucket Brigade

10/27/2025

Public comment period open until Oct. 30 on LNG terminal, pipeline in TX, LA

Citing President Donald Trump’s energy “emergency,” the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced a shortened public comment period ending Oct. 30 on Sabine Pass LNG's application for a wetlands permit. The permit would allow impacts to nearly 600 acres of wetlands as part of an expansion of the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal and Sabine Crossing Pipeline in eastern Texas and western Louisiana.

https://oilandgaswatch.org/alert/rec_d3sg9djou48otnl0qsg0

Healthy Gulf , Louisiana Bucket Brigade , Port Arthur Community Action Network , For a Better Bayou , micah 6:8 mission , Turtle Island Restoration Network , FISH - Fishermen Involved in Sustaining our Heritage , Inside Climate News , The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA) , NOLA.com

10/27/2025

Report: Friction builds between Trump, Energy Secretary

Citing interviews with 10 anonymous sources, Politico reported last week on tension building between President Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. Wright, a former fracking company CEO, was “too slow to loop in” the White House on plans to eliminate $30 billion in clean energy grants, the outlet reported. It also cited Wright’s willingness to listen to industry leaders who wanted to continue some of those grants as a source of tension with Trump, who wants to upend former President Joe Biden’s clean energy agenda.

https://news.oilandgaswatch.org/template/brief/report-friction-builds-between-trump-energy-secretary

Sierra Club , NRDC , Earthjustice , Earthworks , 350.org , League of Conservation Voters , Citizens Climate Lobby

10/24/2025

The U.S. is facing a boom in data centers, which is triggering a surge in the proposed construction of gas-fired power plants.

This growth is being driven by the race to develop artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency, as well as the ever-increasing demand for cloud-based storage.

These servers require vast amounts of electricity. In 2023, U.S. data centers (not including those used for cryptocurrency) consumed approximately 176 terawatt-hours of power – about 4.4 percent of the country’s electricity use that year, up from 1.9 percent in 2018. That amount of electricity could power around 16 million homes.

By 2028, power demand from data centers could swell to make up anywhere from 6.7 to 12 percent of total U.S. energy consumption. That means new power plants, many fueled by natural gas, with ChatGPT developer OpenAI’s CEO admitting in a May Senate hearing that the short-term future of powering his industry “probably looks more like natural gas” than other power sources.

The wave of new data centers and related gas plants are raising concerns about the potential greenhouse gas impact of the boom. And utility officials are worried about their ability to provide electricity to so many new large customers.

Read the full story here: https://news.oilandgaswatch.org/post/u-s-data-center-boom-as-part-of-ai-race-brings-wave-of-new-gas-fired-power-plant-proposals

Tucker United , Appalachian Mountain Advocates , SELC World Resources Institute , CHIPS Communities United , American Clean Power Association , Clean Energy States Alliance , American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) , Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

10/23/2025

Public hearing scheduled Nov. 19 on coastal use permit for oil pipeline in TX, LA

The Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy will hold a hearing on a permit to build a 37-mile pipeline associated with the proposed Blue Marlin Offshore Port. The pipeline would carry crude oil from the existing terminal in Nederland, Texas to Cameron Parish, Louisiana for export. The public hearing will be 3 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury Meeting Room, 1015 Pithon St., Lake Charles, LA 70602.

https://oilandgaswatch.org/alert/rec_d3ns6gd0cdem84jup4l0

Healthy Gulf , For a Better Bayou , The Vessel Project of Louisiana , micah 6:8 mission , Louisiana Bucket Brigade , FISH - Fishermen Involved in Sustaining our Heritage

10/22/2025

Public meeting scheduled Nov. 18 on new gas-fired power plant in northern LA

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality will hold a public hearing on draft air construction and operating permits proposed for Entergy's Franklin Farms Power Station in Richland Parish. The hearing will be at 6 p.m. on Nov. 18 at the Rayville Civic Center at 827 Louisa Street in Rayville, LA 71269.

https://oilandgaswatch.org/alert/rec_d3nsljo1p8308fr3mg30

Louisiana Bucket Brigade , Louisiana Environmental Action Network , Deep South Center for Environmental Justice , SELC