** About 3,000 white-collar workers at Ford Motor Co. will lose their jobs as the company cuts costs to help make the long transition from internal combustion vehicles to those powered by batteries.
** In the U.S. Lower 48 states, electric power generated by natural gas-fired power plants reached 6.37 million megawatthours on July 21, 2022, according to our Hourly Electric Grid Monitor. Despite relatively high natural gas prices, demand for natural gas for electricity generation has been strong throughout July as a result of above-normal temperatures, reduced coal-fired electricity generation, and recent natural gas-fired capacity additions.
** Knik Arm Services, a small real estate and leasing firm, is giving up its lease in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, leaving an Alaska agency as the lone leaseholder seeking to pursue controversial plans to explore for oil and gas in the refuge’s coastal plain.
** Warren Buffet’s company has FERC clearance to increase its 20% stake in Occidental Petroleum to as much as 50% but Berkshire Hathaway has yet to indicate if it will increase its shares. Some reports on Tuesday suggested there won’t be an increase.
** The US’s strategic petroleum reserves have dropped to their lowest level since 1985. Stockpiles have fallen to 453 million barrels after President Joe Biden ordered a record release to ease gas prices.
** White House Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Sunday said the U.S. will see “record” oil production starting next year and that Biden has moved in “dramatic ways ” to increase supplies — making up for the loss of Russian oil.
** Electric-vehicle makers are choosing steel over aluminum as the preferred metal for automotive bodies, says the top executive at the largest steel provider to the US car industry.
** US crude flows have seen an uptick in deliveries to Asia, Bloomberg data shows. Buyers in China, India and South Korea have scooped up more than 20 million barrels this month, per the report.
** New proposal challenges California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $1.4 billion plan to keep Diablo Canyon open.
** At least 10 Ohio counties have passed resolutions blocking commercial wind and solar projects in all or part of their jurisdictions since a state law last year gave communities veto power over projects.
World
** Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said “extreme” volatility and lack of liquidity mean the futures market is increasingly disconnected from fundamentals and OPEC+ may be forced to cut production.
** Pain in Europe worsens with natural gas prices up nearly 20% as Russia readies to shut down vital pipeline again.
** South Korean clean-energy companies are major foreign winners from Washington’s landmark climate law as they benefit from tax credits and a turn away from China.
** Germany’s Uniper plans to restart a coal-fired power plant for electricity generation.
** Iran will soon begin the development of the Esfandiar oil field, which it shares with Saudi Arabia, which calls it Lulu, Iranian media have reported, citing the managing director of the Iranian Offshore Oil Company.
** Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would be willing to consider easing the regulatory burden on new gas export facilities to Europe, while indicating the business case for investments may be a difficult one.
** Europe’s energy crisis has claimed another victim in the power-hungry metals industry, after Norsk Hydro said it planned to shutter an aluminum smelter in Slovakia at the end of next month, Bloomberg reports.
