Energy news in brief

** A federal judge in Alaska ruled late on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s planned auction of oil drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) could proceed as planned on Wednesday morning. The order by U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason comes after environmental groups and the indigenous people of northeastern Alaska sought a preliminary injunction to block the sale in the ecologically sensitive area.

** The New York Times reports a granddaughter of President Dwight Eisenhower, who originally set aside the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, says he would have starkly disapproved of the Trump administration’s effort to open the area to drilling.

* Italian oil and gas group Eni SpA has put on hold the sale of Australian gas assets it values at around $1 billion after they failed to attract satisfactory bids, two sources close to the matter said, confirming a press report according to Hart Energy.

** EV startup Rivian is close to raising a new round of funding from investors that would value the company at about $25 billion.

** The Space Development Agency selected SpaceX as the launch provider for its first 28 satellites, awarding the company a $150 million contract for two launches. SpaceX is expected to conduct the first launch in September 2022, according to the Dec. 31 contract announcement.

** A recent bankruptcy court ruling could spell the end of a proposed coal export terminal in Washington state reported Wyoming Public Media.

** Houston’s RES announced the acquisition of Blueway, a leading ecological mitigation solution provider in the Southeast United States. Based in Watkinsville, Georgia, Blueway has helped pioneer wetland and stream restoration in Georgia and Tennessee.

** OPEC+ talks this week to consider boosting oil supplies are being complicated by Iraq’s December increase in its output. Iraq is the organization’s largest producer and its December output grew by 4% last month.

** Exxon Mobil Corp. disclosed emissions data on customers’ use of its fuels and other products for the first time after coming under pressure from investors.

** U.S. renewable fuel credits rose on Monday to a three-year high, traders said, after the Trump administration failed for the second time to meet a deadline to propose rules on the amount of biofuels refiners must blend into their fuel mix this year.

** A senior Biden transition official told reporters achieving the incoming administration’s climate and environment goals will be a tougher slog than initially thought due to “the devastation to the government itself that this [Trump] administration has wrought.”