** Divers at the site of an ongoing oil spill that appeared in the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Ida have identified the apparent source as one-foot diameter pipeline displaced from a trench on the ocean floor and broken open. Talos Energy, the Houston-based company currently paying for the cleanup, said in a statement issued Sunday evening that the busted pipeline does not belong to them.
** The Biden administration’s plan to open tens of millions of acres in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas exploration drew a lawsuit from the environmental group Earthjustice on behalf of dour environmental groups. The lawsuit says the environmental analysis is flawed and violated federal law.
** Hurricane Ida’s damage to the Port Fourchon in Louisiana wasn’t as great as initially feared. The hub supports the Gulf of Mexico’s deepwater offshore oil and gas industry and is expected to be back in operation in the near future.
** Ohio lawmakers might soon follow in the foot-steps of Oklahoma’s legislature in targeting and fining railroad companies for blocking railroad crossings in the state. Some Ohio legislators propose legislation to file rail companies as much as $10,000.
** Chevron Corp is preparing to defend itself against a potential challenge from activist investors and met with representatives of the pro-environment fund at the center of similar events at Exxon earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
** New York Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blames West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin for some of the flooding deaths in New York City caused by Tropical Storm Ida. She accused him of meeting with Exxon to write “bipartisan” fossil fuel bills.
** Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is calling for a “pause” in senior Democrats’ plan to move a $3.5 trillion package that would include major clean energy and climate measures.
** The worldwide chip shortage prompted GM to pause pickup truck production at 8 of its 15 North American assembly plants over the next two weeks. Ford is doing the same at its Kansas City Assembly Plant and reducing shifts at two other truck plants in Michigan and Kentucky.
** The United States secured a victory at the World Trade Organization in a case brought by China over U.S. measures to limit the import of solar panel cells. A three-person WTO panel rejected all four of China’s claims and said that the measures did not breach global trade rules.
** The last section of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has been welded into place, its operator said on Monday, meaning the two long stretches of the pipe can now be joined to complete the Baltic subsea link.
** Britain has fired up two coal units at one of its power plants to help keep up with energy supply demands.
** France’s Total will build four giant energy projects in southern Iraq under a $27 billion deal signed in Baghdad on Sunday, the country’s oil minister said. The company will start with an initial investment of $10 billion, CEO Patrick Pouyanne said at the signing ceremony, adding that engineering work will start “immediately”.