Headlines of other energy stories

**  Schlumberger followed its rivals in reporting disappointing third-quarter earnings results this week, as the world’s biggest oilfield contractor failed to grow as fast as analysts expected.

** As Democrats try to salvage what’s left of President Joe Biden’s climate policy, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin signals that he’ll only sign on to wind and solar credits if they preserve up to $121 billion in fossil fuel subsidies.

** General Motors Co is more than halfway through shipping newly-assembled pickups that it had parked due to a shortage of semiconductor chips, a top executive at the No. 1 U.S. automaker said on Friday.

** President Joe Biden said Thursday night that Americans should expect high gasoline prices to continue into next year because of policies by OPEC and other foreign oil producers.

** Exxon Mobil said it plans to expand carbon capture and storage (CCS) at its LaBarge, Wyoming facility and had started the process for engineering, procurement and construction contracts for the project.

** California’s oil and gas regulator proposed that the state ban new oil drilling within 3,200 feet of schools, homes and hospitals to protect public health in what would be the nation’s largest buffer zone between oil wells and communities.

** Top executives from Exxon Mobil Corp, BP America, Chevron Corp and Shell Oil will testify on Oct. 28 at a congressional hearing examining whether the fossil fuel industry led an effort to mislead the public and prevent action to curb climate change warming, a House panel said on Friday.

** Environmental groups sue Montana regulators for failing to consider climate change when issuing a permit for NorthWestern Energy’s proposed natural gas plant.

** U.S. electric vehicle sales have increased 83% this year compared to the same period in 2020, though most of the growth is attributed to California residents purchasing Teslas.

 

World

** Two decades of mismanagement, malfeasance, and corruption coupled with ever harsher U.S. sanctions have caused Venezuela’s once-mighty oil industry, which saw the OPEC member become a leading world oil exporter, to implode. In the space of just over two decades, petroleum output has plunged from over three million barrels per day to an average of 527,000 barrels for September 2021, according to the latest OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report.

** President Xi Jinping told oil workers that China must secure its own energy supply, signaling a continued role for fossil fuels in the nation’s efforts to meet power demands.

** Europe’s heading into winter facing an unprecedented energy squeeze, and politicians are trying to figure out how to stop their citizens freezing. If the shortages worsen, European governments could resort to curbing sales of natural gas and power to other regions.

** Britain’s energy market faces an absolute massacre that could force at least 20 suppliers into bankruptcy in the next month alone unless the government reviews the energy price cap, Scottish Power Chief Executive Keith Anderson said on Thursday.