** U.S. crude oil production is down 100,000 barrels per day from last week, to 12.2 million bpd, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. The agency also calculated crude production is down 800,000 bpd from the end of March.
** Almost three dozen oil tankers carrying 20 million barrels of oil are gathered off California’s coast, with nowhere to unload.
** Two Alaskan U.S. Senators sign a letter to the Treasury Secretary and Federal Reserve Chairman advocating for loans for the oil and gas industry.
** Enbridge asks the Michigan Public Service Commission to declare that the company doesn’t need a state permit to build an underground tunnel for the Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac.
** Ohio startup Lordstown Motors still plans to debut its electric pickup truck this summer.
** Illinois regulators join a lawsuit against a recent FERC decision they claim will increase costs to customers and discriminate against renewable energy.
** Federal officials investigate as Grand Forks, North Dakota, becomes a COVID-19 hotspot following positive cases linked to a wind turbine manufacturer.
** A fire at a North Dakota saltwater disposal well causes more than 23,000 gallons of brine to spill.
** A Colorado state senator says prioritizing climate change will be key to the state recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
** Bloomberg reports: “The U.S. is investigating whether traders with inside information on Russia’s negotiations with other oil producing nations made hundreds of millions of dollars from illegal wagers on crude price swings, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.”
** The multinational oil giant Equinor said Thursday that it’s sharply cutting its first quarter dividend payouts by 67% compared to the prior quarter, citing “unprecedented market conditions and uncertainties.”
** The oil and gas industry held 9,950 unused drilling permits on federal lands as of the end of 2019, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Wednesday.