Other energy news headlines for Monday

** The Biden administration has ordered U.S. government agencies to immediately stop financing new carbon-intensive fossil fuel projects overseas and prioritize global collaborations to deploy clean energy technology, according to U.S. diplomatic cables.

** South Dakota utility regulators gave the go-ahead for NorthWestern Energy to partner with BrightMark Full Circle RNG to develop the state’s first renewable natural gas pipeline, reports KELO. A dairy farm near Sioux Falls could become the state’s first RNG supplier.

** Purdue University is one of the five institutions to receive funding from the Federal Aviation Administration for creating sustainable aviation fuel innovations. Purdue will receive $350,000 for a study of land use impacts of sustainable aviation fuels on greenhouse gas emissions.

** The Energy Information Administration predicts U.S. dry natural gas production will increase from 95.1 billion cubic feet a day as of October 2021 to 97.5 billion by this month. It could break the previous record of 97l2 Bcf/d set in November 2019.

** Arizona regulators are set to vote this week on standards requiring utilities to get 100% of their power from carbon-free sources by 2070.

** The University of Montana’s faculty calls on the school’s retirement fund to divest from all fossil fuel stocks.

** The U.S. EPA orders a halt to waste deliveries to a Utah uranium mill after a magazine photo reveals the waste was handled improperly.

** California  regulators on Thursday voted to crack down on heavy duty trucks weighing more than 14,000 pounds. New rules will require these big trucks, including ones from other states passing through Califonria — to be tested at least four times per year to make sure they meet the state’s standards for particulate matter and ozone pollution.

** A coalition of Exxon Mobil Corp investors wants the oil company to replace its chief executive officer and move more aggressively to slash greenhouse gas emissions, saying its newly appointed board members and management team have not done enough to transition to clean energy or overhaul spending.

** North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a bill Thursday that would have prevented local governments from banning natural gas in new construction and limited public information about drinking water.

 

World

** ExxonMobil and partner Qatar Energy expanded their stake in potential oil and gas deposits off Cyprus by signing a deal with the east Mediterranean island nation Friday for a second exploration license in waters that Turkey partly claims.

** A subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) recently made a major oil discovery at the Blacktip North prospect in the Alaminos Canyon block 336 in the deep-water U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM).

**  The gamble taken by OPEC and its allies, under pressure from top oil consumer the United States, to raise oil output in January despite its own forecasts of oversupply, appears to be paying off as prices stabilise.

** A gas condensate pipeline at a gas refinery in southwestern Iran exploded on Thursday after being hit by an excavator, but there were no casualties and the line was shut off, Iranian news agencies reported.

** The European Union has passed the first part of its rulebook on climate friendly investments, which from next year will define which activities can be labelled as green in sectors including transport and buildings.