** The fossil fuel industry lost about 118,000 jobs from March to July — a 15.5% drop in employment for the sector. 

** Turkey says its natural gas find in the Black Sea will likely be followed by further discoveries, altering the geopolitics of energy trade in its region. “It’s just the beginning,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said of Friday’s announcement that Turkey struck gas deep under its territorial waters. “The work will continue for exploration as well as drilling at the same time. We’re very hopeful that it will lead to other fields in the same area.”

** In a move to beef up the U.S. small drone industry, the Pentagon has cleared five models for government use.

** The state of Texas lost 12,300 private sector jobs from June to July, reversing gains from previous months, according to state and federal data released Friday.

** Offshore oil servicers are going bust at the fastest pace in three years as explorers spurn high-cost drilling to deal with a worldwide slump in commodity prices. Companies are filing for Chapter 11 at higher rate this year in part because some of them escaped the last downturn that drew onshore peers into bankruptcy.

** The Coast Guard in Corpus Christi, Texas calls off the search for two remaining crew members who went missing after a pipeline explosion.

** Environmental groups ask an Ohio appeals court to revoke drilling permits to construct large underground salt caverns to store natural gas liquids along the Ohio River.

** Developers move forward with plans for a 500 MW wind project in central North Dakota, hoping to complete it in 2022. 

** California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweets “If you don’t believe in climate change, come to California,” referencing the nearly 600 fires the state is battling.

** Colorado residents press the state to take further measures to address climate change as the state’s air quality board advances a plan to reduce haze.

** Environmental groups say upcoming Bureau of Land Management lease sales amount to a last-minute land rush for the oil and gas industry before the November election.

** The entire Democratic Senate caucus signed a letter last week urging Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to remove William Perry Pendley from his position atop the Bureau of Land Management.