** The world’s coal producers are currently planning as many as 432 new mine projects with 2.28 billion tonnes of annual output capacity, research published on Thursday showed, putting targets for slowing global climate change at risk.
** Foxconn plans to announce within the next month whether it will assemble hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles at a new Wisconsin plant.
** A cargo ship that was on fire for weeks off the coast of Sri Lanka is now sinking, sparking fears of major ecological disaster. It’s one of the worst marine accidents to hit the country.
** A massive fire broke out Wednesday night at the oil refinery serving Iran’s capital, sending thick plumes of black smoke over Tehran. The fire struck the state-owned Tondgooyan Petrochemical Co. to the south of Tehran, said Mansour Darajati, the director-general of the capital’s crisis management team.
** The Ohio Senate passes a bill that would grant local governments more authority to block wind and solar projects.
** Workers are preparing to move the capsized oil industry boat from where it capsized near Port Fourchon, Louisiana in April where 13 workers were killed.
** This week, Norway’s Equinor, ExxonMobil, and Petrogal Brasil have announced an $8 billion phase one development of Brazil’s Bacalhau oil discovery. The former two oil majors have a 40 percent stake each in Bacalhau, with Petrogal holding 20 percent.
** Several companies are partnering to make North Dakota a “hub” for hydrogen production, storage, transportation and consumption by harnessing the state’s natural gas resources.
** The Saudis brush off an International Energy Agency report that urged an end to new oil and gas investments to fight climate change by saying it was a sequel to “La La Land,” the 2016 romantic musical from Hollywood.
** Chevron’s CEO Michael Wirth says his company would consider selling its 20% stake in Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.’s Athabasca oil sands project as the firm faces investor pressure to do more to curb emissions and fight climate change.
** Coal plants, nuclear reactors and other generators will take a hit next year on the biggest U.S. power grid as payments plunge 64% to help keep the lights on from New Jersey to Illinois.
** U.S. private equity firm Arclight Capital Partners LLC, which invests the retirement savings of Maine teachers, NFL football players and Mayo Clinic doctors, lost hundreds of millions of dollars betting on a troubled Caribbean oil refinery, according to sources and documents reviewed by Reuters.
** The governor of coal-reliant western state Wyoming on Wednesday announced that small-scale nuclear reactor firm TerraPower and PacifiCorp have selected his state to be the site of the second U.S. modular nuclear reactor that will be built on the site of a retiring coal plant.
** Africa-focused Savannah Energy and Exxon Mobil Corp are in exclusive talks over the sale of Exxon’s interest in energy assets in Chad and Cameroon, the companies said on Wednesday.
