**Royal Dutch Shell Plc is gearing up to restart oil pipelines off the U.S. Gulf Coast, potentially moving the region’s top driller one step closer to restoring some production shut by Hurricane Ida. Most of the pipelines will be ready to operate within a week, according to a person familiar with the matter.
**OPEC could revise down its forecasts for global oil demand in 2022, in view of the increased uncertainty with the Delta variant, two OPEC+ sources told Reuters on Friday. OPEC is scheduled to release its closely-watched Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) on Monday, in which it could cut its oil demand estimates for next year
** As part of a White House roundtable to launch the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Grand Challenge to decarbonize the aviation sector by 2050, the U.S. Department of Energy announced $64.7 million in funding for projects focused on producing cost-effective, low-carbon biofuels.
** The Biden administration announced a goal of replacing all jet fuel with sustainable alternatives by 2050, setting forth a plan to dramatically boost production of fuels made from waste or plants to drive down the environmental cost of flying.
** Russia says it has completed the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany. And that could set the stage for fresh tensions with the U.S. Washington strongly opposes the pipeline, saying it could leave Europe overly dependent on energy supplies controlled by Moscow.
** Global computer usage produces twice the greenhouse gases as the aviation industry, new analysis suggests. Figures from Lancaster University reveal emissions from computing account for almost four per cent of all greenhouse gases spewed into the atmosphere, compared to two per cent for air travel.
** Federal and state lawyers will meet in North Dakota next week to negotiate a settlement for money that the state claims it spent on policing protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline.
** House Democrats have decided to keep natural gas out of the “Clean Electricity Payment Program,” the centerpiece climate policy of their $3.5 trillion infrastructure and social spending reconciliation package, delivering a big win for environmental activists.
** U.S. Democratic lawmakers on Friday proposed an expansion of tax credits for electric vehicles that includes significantly higher subsidies for union-made zero emission models assembled in the United States.
** U.S. energy firms this week added oil and natural gas rigs for a fifth time in six weeks as offshore oil units in the Gulf of Mexico slowly started to return after Hurricane Ida slammed into the coast.
** A second defendant has been convicted of sabotaging railroad tracks near the U.S.-Canada border in Washington state just before a train carrying crude oil was due to pass through — apparently part of a campaign to protest construction of a pipeline across British Columbia.
** U.S oil major Chevron Corp and renewable energy firm Gevo Inc will jointly invest in building and operating one or more facilities that would process corn to produce sustainable aviation fuel, the companies said on Thursday.
** BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager brought in about $1 billion from Chinese investors just after billionaire financier George Soros warned that doing so would be a “tragic mistake.”
** The U.S. Energy Department approved an emergency order that will allow the California grid operator to quickly connect additional natural-gas fired generators by relaxing air-pollution requirements in an effort to avoid blackouts as the state faces extreme weather.
** The federal Bureau of Land Management begins the bidding process to lease 4,800 acres in Utah for solar development.
** The U.S. Energy Department approves a second loan of 1.5 million barrels of oil to Exxon Mobil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.