** A stranded Japanese-owned oil tanker, sailing under the Panamanian flag, has breached and is flooding waters of the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius with fuel. The MV Wakashio ran aground on July 25 and cracks have since emerged in the hull after strong winds battered the ship. Some of its 4,000-ton load has leaked into the ocean.
** The world’s five largest oil companies collectively cut the value of their assets by nearly $50 billion in the second quarter, and slashed production rates as the coronavirus pandemic caused a drastic fall in fuel prices and demand. The dramatic reductions in asset valuations and decline in output show the depth of the pain in the second quarter.
** The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Alpha Technical Services (ATS) – doing business as Quala Rail and Specialty in Pasadena, Texas – for exposing employees to confined space hazards after two employees were fatally overcome by fumes while cleaning a tank trailer. The company faces $497,920 in penalties.
** A five-week horizontal drilling permit drought has ended in the Barnett Shale of North Texas with a flood. French oil major Total is seeking permission from the Railroad Commission of Texas to drill 16 new horizontal wells spread across 10 leases in Tarrant County.
** Permian Basin heavyweight Pioneer Natural Resources Co. is raising its 2020 oil production guidance by 2.5%, but it is keeping most of the oil volumes curtailed during the second quarter offline until commodity prices improve, management said.
** New analysis from the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) shows the oil and gas industry represented 321,455 direct jobs in the state of Texas during the first six months of 2020, a decrease of nearly 40,000 jobs compared to the previous year.
** General Motors considers spinning off its electric vehicle operations as investors look to put money into electric vehicles but not legacy companies.
** A court-ordered review of the environmental impacts of the Dakota Access pipeline may directly conflict with the Trump administration’s overhaul of the National Environmental Policy Act, legal experts say.
** A North Dakota ethanol company co-located with a major coal plant scheduled to close in 2022 explores biomass as its next potential fuel source.
** Two central Florida solar projects, part of a partnership between Florida Municipal Power Agency and 16 public utilities, are now operational.
** PacifiCorp says its 114-turbine 240 MW wind farm project in Montana is on track to be completed by the end of the year.
** A federal judge imposes new wildfire prevention requirements on PG&E’s probation resulting from the deadly San Bruno gas pipeline explosion in 2010.
** The BLM announces approval for the development of up to 4,250 oil and gas wells for a Wyoming project that could generate $375.5 million in royalties and taxes annually.
** Former Vice President Joe Biden catapulted two mining issues to the 2020 race over the weekend by opposing the proposed Pebble Mine and uranium mining near the Grand Canyon.
** State oil giant Saudi Aramco earned $6.6 billion in the second quarter of this year, the company said Sunday, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic — marking a 73 percent drop from the $24.7 billion it earned in the second quarter of 2019.