Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract ending

Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by dsfyu404ed on Monday April 20, 2020 @11:03AM (#22924405)

The producers aren't gonna dump it (at least not in the US) because that is a surefire way to not only have the EPA bend them over but to have the EPA bend them over with the blessing of public opinion. Nobody wants to have their company be associated with pictures of oil soaked wildlife.

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Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by zozbot234 on Monday April 20, 2020 @12:38PM (#22925550)

If you're an oil producer, you don't need to "dump" oil in the surrounding environment. You can just pump it back into the oilfield you've been extracting it from.

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Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by JamesBarney on Monday April 20, 2020 @05:38PM (#22928888)

This isn't really possible in the near term. You can't just hook up oil into your water injection system.

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Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by dd36 on Monday April 20, 2020 @11:05AM (#22924427)

EPA isn’t enforcing right now.

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Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by koheripbal on Monday April 20, 2020 @12:14PM (#22925257)

This is obviously wrong. You cannot dump oil, and anyone found to be dumping will be prosecuted.

READ THE EPA STATEMENT..

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2020-03/documents...

> The enforcement discretion described in this temporary policy do not apply to any criminal violations or conditions of probation in criminal sentences.

...

> This policy does not apply to imports.

They are relaxing REPORTING requirements - not giving a free pass to anyone dumping whatever they want. Obviously.

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Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by dang on Monday April 20, 2020 @01:56PM (#22926472)

It's good to provide accurate information but please don't use allcaps for emphasis. This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.

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Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by xnyan on Monday April 20, 2020 @12:25PM (#22925400)

This is obviously wrong. The EPA has explicitly stated they will not be enforcing regulation. Source: https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/489753-epa-sus...

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Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by singlow on Monday April 20, 2020 @12:49PM (#22925667)

From the memo that generated the news story you linked:

> IV. Accidental Releases Nothing in this temporary policy relieves any entity from the responsibility to prevent, respond to, or report accidental releases of oil, hazardous substances, hazardous chemicals, hazardous waste, and other pollutants, as required by federal law, or should be read as a willingness to exercise enforcement discretion in the wake of such a release.

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Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by tzs on Monday April 20, 2020 @01:28PM (#22926115)

If one wished to be nit-picky, one might note that the part you quote is explicitly about "accidental" releases, so arguably does not apply to the deliberate release that the originator of this thread branch was talking about. :-)

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Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by dragonwriter on Monday April 20, 2020 @05:18PM (#22928682)

There is a separate note about criminal violations not facing “enforcement discretion”, which unless I'm mistaken covers pretty much any intentional release.

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Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by koheripbal on Monday April 20, 2020 @12:44PM (#22925606)

READ THE EPA STATEMENT..

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2020-03/documents...

> The enforcement discretion described in this temporary policy do not apply to any criminal violations or conditions of probation in criminal sentences.

...

> This policy does not apply to imports.

They are relaxing REPORTING requirements - not giving a free pass to anyone dumping whatever they want. Obviously.

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Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by kcolford on Monday April 20, 2020 @11:35AM (#22924790)

Doesn't matter when they enforce, no one's taking the risk of a change in administration.

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Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by btian on Monday April 20, 2020 @12:46PM (#22925634)

What if Trump loses?

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