** Two U.S. senators, Republican Ted Cruz of Texas and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire are considering drafting further sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline if Moscow goes ahead and finishes laying pipes, in another blow to a project which has already faced delays. U.S. sanctions legislation originally sponsored by the two in December halted work by Swiss-Dutch company Allseas on the pipeline that aims to boost Russia’s gas exports under the Baltic Sea to Germany.
** Texas lost more than 26,000 oil and gas industry jobs in April due to the coronavirus pandemic.
** Louisiana poured $20 million into restoring a coastal island damaged by oil and gas infrastructure before cutting its losses and cancelling the project.
** Halliburton Company will host a conference call on Monday, July 20, 2020, to discuss its second quarter 2020 financial results. The call will begin at 8:00 AM Central Time. The Company will issue a press release regarding the second quarter 2020 earnings prior to the conference call.
** New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo endorses a transmission line under development for several years that would deliver Canadian hydropower to New York City.
** Pennsylvania natural gas production grew 6.8% in the first quarter compared to a year earlier, the lowest rate since 2017.
** The “Scoop-Stack Shale in the US, 2020 – Oil and Gas Shale Market Analysis and Outlook to 2024” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering. Cost? $1,000.
** St. Louis adopted an ambitious policy this month to cut energy use from buildings, while across the state in Kansas City an effort to improve building energy code again faces opposition from homebuilders.
** A group of 23 states file a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s rollback of Obama-era fuel efficiency standards.
** Iowa regulators approve a segment of the controversial Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line that extends into Wisconsin.
** Utilities across 15 Midwest states “exploited power market loopholes” in operating coal plants that cost customers $350 million in 2018, the Union of Concerned Scientists says in a new report.
** The oil and gas industry continues to be a major player in shaping New Mexico’s legislature, having poured $1.1 million into the state’s 2020 primary election since last October.
** A Wyoming county’s planning and zoning commission is set to review the county’s wind energy regulations because of opposition to a facility south of Laramie.
** The Energy Department awards $1.25 million to a New Mexico startup to test how well its newly developed “MetZilla” paste can protect solar systems against cracking and degradation.
** PG&E wants a federal judge to reject an environmental cleanup lawsuit over pollution left behind by coal gasification plants in San Francisco a century ago.
** The collapse of oil prices and coronavirus pandemic are devastating the budgets of Western states that have become dependent on oil revenue. Wyoming lawmakers this week were warned of a projected $1.5 billion drop in revenue, leading to a general fund shortfall of nearly $900 million—roughly one third of the state’s budget—by June 2022.