Texas processes drilling permits at a record pace; Encana formalizes its plan to leave Canada; Norway's finance minister says the oil era isn't over; Total hires Maersk Drilling for a record-setting well offshore West Africa

Texas processes drilling permits at a record pace; Encana formalizes its plan to leave Canada; Norway's finance minister says the oil era isn't over; Total hires Maersk Drilling for a record-setting well offshore West Africa

We look at the influence gasoline prices can have on U.S. elections, a hedge fund that won big shorting shale is bullish on Canada, and the EU makes a trillion-euro climate commitment.

Oxy conducts sweeping layoffs; no matter what Trump says, the U.S. needs Middle East oil; China offers access to foreign companies to its oil and gas fields, and more

Today's topics include:- The recent oil rally is cooling, after Iran's foreign minister said they are not seeking an escalation or war following last night's strikes on U.S. bases in Iraq;- OPEC seeks to reassure the oil markets amid spiking Mideast tensions;- With Vladimir Putin standing at his side, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan offers to diffuse the U.S.-Iran standoff

Today's topics include:- Apache and Total make a significant discovery offshore Suriname;- BP is reshaping its UK North Sea portfolio with a 626 million dollar asset sale;- Oil producers are locking in price gains in the wake of Middle East tensions;- The American Petroleum Institute is taking on Democrats’ climate plans in a new TV ad campaign.

As mentioned on today's show, below is a link to check out the first TV spot in API's new PR campaign:https://youtu.be/87ObTFn68ic

Today's topics include:- Oxy seeks to spin off its Western Midstream Partners unit to reduce balance sheet debt;- Equinor makes significant emissions-reductions pledges for its Norwegian operations;- Brent crude briefly touches $70 as fears of an oil supply disruption grow.David Russell, VP of Content Strategy at TradeStation in Chicago joins the show today as well, to talk about how markets are reacting to recent actions in the Middle East, and observes which trends are having the most impact on global stock markets.

Also, as referenced in today's show, below is a link to a story on WorldOil.com that may shed some additional light on Oxy's timing of its Western spinoff:https://www.worldoil.com/news/2020/1/3/permian-pipeline-competition-accelerates-as-capacity-exceeds-supply (https://www.worldoil.com/news/2020/1/3/permian-pipeline-competition-accelerates-as-capacity-exceeds-supply)

Oil soars to near $70/bbl on escalating Iran tensions; Hess bucks the market with its Guyana project; Pemex goes back to the drawing board on priority drilling projects, and more

Today's topics include:

* According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, the Texas oil sector continues contracting amid ‘challenging’ conditions;

* Trump’s sanctions have led Allseas to halt its work on Putin’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline;

* ExxonMobil and its partners have made another major oil discovery in the Stabroek block offshore Guyana;

* Apache and Total have formed a joint venture to explore offshore Suriname;

* Analysts see few surprises in 2020 as OPEC+ cuts trim the global oil surplus.

Topics on today's show include:

* Shale pioneer Harold Hamm has invited Senator Elizabeth Warren to tour shale sites in her home state of Oklahoma;

* Schlumberger has committed to meeting the U.N. Paris Agreement’s emission-reduction targets;

* Norway’s financial regulator says ‘green’ investing has a dark side;

* And finally today, the U.S. Department of Energy has won the dubious distinction of coining the worst phrase of 2019.

Also for the last two weeks of December, we'll do a weekly recap episode on December 27th and January 3rd. Daily episodes will resume on Monday, January 6th.