Energy
Wind energy firm pleads guilty to eagle deaths
…Duke Energy’s renewables arm to pay $1 million fine for killing 14 eagles and 149 other birds.
WASHINGTON — The government for the first time has enforced environmental laws protecting birds against wind energy facilities, winning a $1 million settlement from a power company that pleaded guilty to killing 14 eagles and 149 other birds at two Wyoming wind farms.
The Obama administration has championed pollution-free wind power and used the same law against oil companies and power companies for drowning and electrocuting birds. The case against Duke Energy and its renewable energy arm was the first prosecuted under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act against a wind energy company.
“In this plea agreement, Duke Energy Renewables acknowledges that it constructed these wind projects in a manner it knew beforehand would likely result in avian deaths,” Robert G. Dreher, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, said in a statement Friday.
An investigation by The Associated Press in May revealed dozens of eagle deaths from wind energy facilities, including at Duke’s Top of the World farm outside Casper, Wyo., the deadliest for eagles of 15 such facilities that Duke operates nationwide. The other wind farm included in the settlement, Campbell Hill, is northwest of Casper.
The Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke has a market capitalization of nearly $50 billion.
“We deeply regret the impacts of golden eagles at two of our wind facilities,” said Greg Wolf, president of Duke Energy Renewables, in a statement. “Our goal is to provide the benefits of wind energy in the most environmentally responsible way possible.”
A study in September by federal biologists found that wind turbines had killed at least 67 bald and golden eagles since 2008. That did not include deaths at Altamont Pass, an area in northern California where wind farms kill an estimated 60 eagles a year.
Until Friday’s announcement, not a single wind energy company had been prosecuted for a death of an eagle or other protected bird — even though each death is a violation of federal law.
In 2009, Exxon Mobil pleaded guilty and paid $600,000 for killing 85 birds in five states. The BP oil company was fined $100 million for killing and harming migratory birds during the 2010 Gulf oil spill. And PacifiCorp, which operates coal plants, paid more than $10.5 million in 2009 for electrocuting 232 eagles along power lines and at its substations.
Wind farms are clusters of turbines as tall as 30-story buildings, with spinning rotors as wide as a passenger jet’s wingspan. Though the blades appear to move slowly, they can reach speeds up to 170 mph at the tips, creating tornado-like vortexes.
Flying eagles behave like drivers texting on their cellphones; they don’t look up. As they scan for food, they don’t notice the industrial turbine blades until it’s too late.
The wind farms in Friday’s settlement came on line before the Obama administration drafted voluntary guidelines encouraging wind energy companies to work with the Fish and Wildlife Service to avoid locations that would impact wildlife. Companies that choose to cooperate get rewarded, because prosecutors take it into consideration before pursuing prosecution.
Once a wind farm is built, there is little a company can do to stop the deaths. Some firms have tried using radar to detect birds and to shut down the turbines when they get too close. Others have used human spotters to warn when birds are flying too close to the blades. Another tactic has been to remove vegetation to reduce the prey the birds like to eat.
As part of the agreement, Duke will continue to use field biologists to identify eagles and shut down turbines when they get too close. It will install new radar technology, similar to what is used in Afghanistan to track missiles. And it will continue to voluntarily report all eagle and bird deaths to the government.
While the settlement with Duke is a first, there could be more enforcement. The Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating 18 bird-death cases involving wind-power facilities, and about a half dozen have been referred to the Justice Department.
Winners of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round have 90 days from receiving their offer letters to either meet all award conditions or forfeit the assets.
Chief Executive of NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, disclosed this aspect of the terms on Tuesday in Abuja, at the opening of the Commercial Bid Conference for the round.
According to her, being named a winner does not automatically mean a Petroleum Prospecting Licence (PPL) has been granted.
She maintained that winners must still provide guarantees, pay a signature bonus and first-year rent, then sign contractual documents before a licence is issued.
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She disclosed that any bidder who misses the 90-day deadline loses the asset and the NUPRC will then offer it to the next-ranked bidder on its reserve list.
Eyesan said the Commission has no interest in acreage sitting idle in the hands of non-performing companies.
“The government is not seeking speculative holders of acreage; it is seeking partners with the capacity, discipline and commitment to deliver measurable production and economic value,” she said.
She put it more bluntly for the winning bidders: an award “is not a trophy to be held,” but an obligation to invest, drill, develop and produce. Her message to them was simple — “drill or drop.”
The exercise drew interest from about 300 companies for 50 available assets. Of these, 196 companies cleared prequalification, and 143 firms went on to submit 200 technical and commercial bids covering 37 assets.
Eyesan said the assets could add roughly 500 million barrels to Nigeria’s crude oil and condensate reserves, which currently stand at 37.01 billion barrels, plus access to gas reserves of 215.19 trillion cubic feet. Fully developed, the fields could add at least 300,000 barrels per day of crude and condensate production within three years — output NUPRC is counting toward Nigeria’s goal of 3 million barrels a day by 2030.
Beyond output, she said the projects would mean higher government revenue, stronger foreign exchange earnings, more jobs, deeper local content, and technology transfer.
Eyesan said NUPRC would judge the round’s success not by how many winners are named, but by how fast those awards turn into real activity — from paperwork to seismic surveys, to drilling, to development, to production.
In return for requiring performance, she said the Commission would offer operators a stable environment: clear guidance, predictable regulatory decisions, and quick intervention when genuine problems arise.
The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) monitored key stages of the process, which Eyesan said was carried out in line with President Bola Tinubu’s directive that it meet international best practices.
She also confirmed that Tinubu has approved a new licensing round for 2026, and encouraged companies that did not win assets this time to stay engaged, as NUPRC plans to keep running rounds regularly to sustain exploration and replenish reserves.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has declared that the Petroleum Industry Act has ended the discretionary allocation of oil blocks in Nigeria.
He expressed the view on Tuesday in Abuja during the 2025 Licensing Round, marked by the successful conclusion of the commercial bid conference. “The PIA, unfortunately for some people, has prevented discretionary allocation of oil blocks,” he said jokingly.
He stressed that the law guarantees fairness and credibility, assuring investors that no one knows the content of commercial bids before they are officially opened. Lokpobiri also warned successful bidders against treating licences as speculative assets.
“In the past, I have seen people go round conferences across the world carrying licences and looking for partners who never came. Those days must be over. The licences issued today must translate into actual field development and production,” he said.
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Also speaking, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, said the licensing round reflected the Federal Government’s commitment to transparency, competitiveness and credibility.
“The Federal Government remains firmly committed to creating an enabling environment that attracts investment, accelerates exploration and production, and unlocks the full value of Nigeria’s hydrocarbon resources,” Ekpo said.
Fuel marketers have resumed loading petrol and diesel from private depots after an almost one-week disruption triggered by recent price adjustments in the downstream petroleum sector.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, told a correspondent on Tuesday that private depots had resumed selling petroleum products to marketers, dismissing fears of an imminent fuel scarcity.
Although some filling stations did not dispense petrol on Monday and Tuesday, Ukadike said marketers were only being cautious because of the prevailing volatility in fuel prices, particularly amid the ongoing Middle East crisis.
He explained that depot owners temporarily suspended loading operations to adjust prices and request top-up payments from marketers who had already paid for products before the latest price increase. Ukadike, however, noted that depot owners do not refund marketers when prices fall below the amount previously paid for products.
Speaking on the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s newly introduced dollar-for-fuel policy, Ukadike said he could not confirm whether marketers had started paying in dollars for products loaded through the refinery’s gantry in Lekki, Lagos.
“Marketers have started loading in other depots. You know, once there is a price change, they will stop and take their stock, then reset their prices around the rest of them. Then also look at the tickets they have sold before and see how they will do top-up. What we call top-up is the differential of the former price, so they can buy at the current price. These are the exercises that are ongoing. And once they are ongoing, you cannot load,” he said.
He added, “I know that Dangote has fixed its price in dollars, but no marketer has ever informed me that they have paid in dollars, especially those loading from the gantry. But for offshore loading or coastal loading, I can assure you that it will be paid in dollars. But for gantry loading, I don’t know. By tomorrow, I will confirm.”
Meanwhile, petrol loading prices rose further across major private depots in Lagos on Tuesday, with marketers paying up to N1,275 per litre amid continued uncertainty in the downstream petroleum market following the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s transition to dollar-denominated transactions.
Depot price data obtained by The PUNCH from Petroleumprice.ng showed that loading prices in Lagos increased by N25 per litre at most depots. African Terminal, ASCON, Gulf Treasure, Integrated, Matrix, NIPCO, Pinnacle, Sahara and T.Time all raised their ex-depot prices from N1,250 to N1,275 per litre.
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However, prices were mixed in other parts of the country, as some depots retained their previous rates while others recorded marginal reductions.
In Port Harcourt, Bulk Strategic and Masters retained their petrol prices at N1,265 per litre. Liquid Bulk reduced its price by N3 from N1,268 to N1,265 per litre, while Matrix cut its loading price by N15 from N1,280 to N1,265 per litre. Sigmund also sold petrol at N1,265 per litre.
In Calabar, Hong Petroleum reduced its price by N15 from N1,270 to N1,255 per litre, while Sobaz increased its loading price by N10 to N1,265 per litre.
In Warri, Matrix increased its depot price by N5 to N1,265 per litre, while Optima raised its price by N10 to N1,270 per litre. Rain Oil retained its price at N1,270 per litre, while Prudent sold the product at N1,270 per litre.
Diesel prices also edged higher at some depots. In Lagos, African Terminal, Duport, Gulf Treasure, Ibachem and Wosbab increased their diesel prices by N10 to N1,600 per litre, while Ibeto retained its price at N1,590 per litre. Integrated quoted N1,600 per litre.
In Port Harcourt, Sigmund increased its diesel price by N5 from N1,615 to N1,620 per litre, while Sahara sold the product at N1,600 per litre. In Warri, Prudent raised its diesel price by N10 to N1,610 per litre, NIPCO retained its price at N1,680 per litre, while Rain Oil sold diesel at N1,600 per litre.
The latest price adjustments highlight the persistent volatility in the downstream petroleum market following the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s decision to sell petrol to marketers in dollars, a development that continues to influence depot prices across the country.
While loading activities at the Dangote refinery were said to be low-key, fuel importers appeared to be taking advantage of the situation, even as consumers continued to bear the burden of higher pump prices nationwide.
Courtesy – The Punch
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