** An oil tanker off Saudi Arabia’s port city of Jiddah suffered an explosion early Monday after being hit by “an external source,” a shipping company said, suggesting another vessel has come under attack off the kingdom amid its yearslong war in Yemen reported the Associated Press. The Singapore-flagged BW Rhine saw all 22 sailors on board escape without injury, the BW Group said in a statement.
** Reuters reported firefighters have contained most of a blaze that broke out after a pipeline carrying crude oil to Iran’s second-largest refinery ruptured on Sunday because of a landslide, the head of the state company in charge of oil pipelines said.
** Ndros, a crude tanker booked by the National Iranian Oil Company, arrived at the Venezuelan coast and is expected to load crude as ties between the two countries sanctioned by the U.S. get deeper, according to document seen by Bloomberg News.
** Jordan’s majority state-owned National Petroleum Company (NPC) has discovered “promising” new quantities of natural gas in the Risha gas field along its eastern border with Iraq, the energy minister said on Sunday reported Reuters.
** Bank of China Ltd. has sued BP Plc in Singapore over its alleged role in fabricating oil deals with collapsed trader Hin Leong, in the latest effort by a creditor to recover losses after one of the biggest trading scandals in decades reported Bloomberg.
** Axios reports that Morgan Stanley analysts see electric vehicle sales surging next year, and they’re not alone. Global EV sales are projected to grow by 50% or more next year, compared to 2%-5% for internal combustion vehicles, they said in a note Friday.
** The Financial Times reports that an alliance of Daimler, Scania, Man, Volvo, Daf, Iveco and Ford in Europe signed a pledge to phase out traditional combustion engines for commercial trucks by 2040.
** Entergy Texas proposes to lease gas-powered backup generators to commercial and industrial customers that would also be used by the utility during times of high demand reports the Beaumont Enterprise.
** A prototype of Amazon’s new electric delivery van has been spotted testing near the company’s Irvine, California facility according to Electrek.
** A St. Louis-area natural gas company looks to increase rates to continue building off $1 billion in recent infrastructure improvements reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
** More than 70 world leaders took part in Saturday’s U.N.-led virtual summit aimed at squeezing countries for bigger climate pledges reports POLITICO.
