Energy news in brief

** A trade group representing some of America’s biggest baked goods companies is urging the Biden administration to ratchet back its biofuel ambitions, arguing that using fuel made from crops could raise the cost of donuts, bread and other foods.

** Exxon Mobil Corporation’s investors are due to receive a payment of US$0.87 per share on 10th of September. Based on this payment, the dividend yield will be 6.0%, which is fairly typical for the industry.

** ConocoPhillips produced an average of 1.547 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day during the second quarter, up 566,000 BOE per day from the year-ago period. Contributing to that surging output was its acquisition of Concho Resources, as well as the resumption of production from wells it shut in during earlier phases of the pandemic.

** Pioneer Natural Resources Co’s top executive said on Tuesday that U.S. shale growth was “not going to grow that much” in the coming years, as oil and gas companies continue to focus on capital discipline and shareholder returns.

** A massive methane plume detected last month over Kazakhstan occurred near a major pipeline that supplies natural gas to China. The cloud was observed roughly 62 miles) west of the largest Kazakh city of Almaty on July 24.

** Mexico’s state power utility has struck a deal with Canada’s TC Energy Corp to develop a natural gas pipeline in the country’s south and consolidate the firm’s contracts in the central region, the utility said on Sunday.

** Logistics provider DHL Express is adding electric cargo planes to its fleet, becoming the first customer for Eviation, a Seattle-based electric aviation company.

** BlackRock Inc. and other major financial institutions are working on plans to accelerate the closure of coal-fired power plants in Asia in a bid to phase out the use of the worst man-made contributors to climate change.

** LyondellBasell on Monday said it was restarting the polymers and olefins units at its La Porte, Texas, facility following an acetic acid leak last week that killed two people.

** The Environmental Protection Agency will for now not allow a radioactive byproduct of the fertilizer industry to be used to build roads — rolling back a controversial decision it made last year.

** A commission run by the wife of Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin would receive $1 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

** The Biden administration says it will review the potential climate impacts of several Trump- and Obama-era oil and gas leases on public lands in the Western U.S.

** Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon extends a deal with Japan Coal Energy Center to collaboratively research carbon capture and storage at a test center in the state.

** The proposed federal infrastructure bill includes $14.6 billion to benefit carbon capture projects and carbon dioxide pipelines in the Bakken region.