Greenhouse-Gas Emission Rules for U.S. Refineries Delayed by EPA - Bloomberg

The Obama administration will miss a mid-December deadline to set rules limiting greenhouse gases from refineries, after failing to set standards for power-plant emissions and shelving tougher limits for ozone. Republicans and some Democrats in Congress have said the the emission standards threaten the economy and are seeking to postpone or block them. Environmental groups such as Clean Air Watch said the administration is caving in to such criticism as President Barack Obama runs for re-election. “It is one more delay of a promised environmental standard,” Frank O’Donnell, president of the Washington-based group, said yesterday in an e-mail. “It’s confirmation of the oil industry’s political clout and the White House’s pre- election timidity.”

Oil Abundance in Canada Provokes Anxiety Over Fossil Fuel Lust - Bloomberg

The helicopter swooping over once- pristine spruce forests provides a close-up view of why the province of Alberta, Canada, is among the planet’s most coveted -- and contested -- petroleum hot spots.

North of Fort McMurray, a boomtown serving tens of thousands of migrant workers, Syncrude Canada Ltd.’s oil-sands mine stretches 74 square miles.

Rivals Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (386) each have bought a piece of Syncrude, one of the dozens of companies that are blasting, digging and steaming soil laden with 143 billion barrels of molasseslike crude called bitumen, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its January issue. Only Saudi Arabia, with 264 billion barrels, and Venezuela, with 211 billion, enjoy greater proven reserves, a BP Plc energy review found in June.

Abu Dhabi’s Masdar Cuts Jobs, Keeps Renewable Energy Goals - Bloomberg

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Masdar, the Abu Dhabi government- owned renewable energy company, cut 9 percent of its workforce after an annual business review.

The venture, a unit of government-run Mubadala Development Co., will maintain its “long-term strategic vision” and “core objectives,” a Masdar official, who declined to be identified in line with company policy, said today in an e-mailed response to questions. The official declined to specify the size of the workforce or the number of jobs cut.

Abu Dhabi, the capital and largest sheikhdom in the United Arab Emirates, wants to generate at least 7 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. It holds almost all of the country’s oil reserves and is expanding use of solar and wind power in an effort to become a regional hub for renewable energy. Masdar is a prominent part of the strategy.