Energy

The energy industry was able to heave a collective sigh of relief based on the treatment of energy transactions under the so-called Swap Product Rule¹ jointly adopted on August 13, 2012, by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and, in particular, the forward contract exclusion² contained in the rule.

On 24 April 2012, the European Commission adopted a formal decision generally exempting from the EU procurement rules all public companies active in the production and wholesale of conventional electricity in Germany. The exemption covers all contracts for the purchase, construction, operation and maintenance of conventional power plants—e.g., gas and coal-fired ones—as well as related support activities such as combined heat and power plants (CHP).

A year has passed since the publication, in April 2011, by the European Commission (EC) of its Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 2003/96/EC (the Proposal), restructuring the European Community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity (the Energy Taxation Directive). The purpose of this short contribution is to briefly discuss what the Proposal is seeking to achieve and provide some insights on where the process actually stands.

Vietnam’s declining oil production and growing energy needs will require the nation to intensify exploration and development of its deepwater resources. Continued reform of regulations governing oil exploration is necessary to attract foreign investors, who bring with them the technology and expertise necessary to undertake complex deepwater drilling projects.

Article also appeared in Commodities Now.

Washington, DC Tax Transactions partner Jeff Davis quoted on President Barack Obama’s goal to obtain 80 percent of America’s electricity from clean energy sources by 2035.

*Article also appeared on Power Engineering magazine’s “Up in the Air” blog.