** Limetree Bay Refining LLC filed for bankruptcy on Monday seeking creditor protection after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency halted its operations earlier this year. The St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands-based refinery, said in a statement that it plans to use the court protection process in Houston to negotiate with creditors and equity holders and weigh options including asset sales.
** German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday that she doubts the dispute between her country and the United States over a nearly completed gas pipeline from Russia will be fully resolved at a meeting with President Joe Biden this week.
** Approvals for companies to drill for oil and gas on U.S. public lands are on pace this year to reach their highest level since George W. Bush was president, underscoring President Joe Biden’s reluctance to more forcefully curb petroleum production in the face of industry and Republican resistance.
** Oil demand surged last month as rising vaccination rates helped underpin robust economic activity, but with OPEC+ nations pumping less than needed prices are set to be volatile until it reaches a deal to raise output, the IEA warned on Tuesday.
** Elon Musk appeared in court Monday to defend Tesla’s 2016 acquisition of SolarCity. Musk said Tesla’s solar energy division underperformed because it had focused on Model 3 production. After the Model 3 went to market, Musk said the solar division ran up against the pandemic.
** Electrify America, an electric vehicle charging network funded with money paid by Volkswagen as punishment for its emissions cheating scandal, says it plans to more than double its number of charging stations throughout the United States and Canada.
** The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is investigating a drilling fluid spill that occurred on the Willow River in Aitkin County at one of Enbridge’s construction sites for its new Line 3 oil pipeline.
** Automaker Volkswagen’s electric vehicle (EV) charging unit, Electrify America, said on Tuesday it planned to more than double its charging infrastructure in the United States and Canada over the next four years.
** Airport officials facing jet fuel shortages are concerned they’ll have to wave off planes and helicopters that drop fire retardants during what could be a ferocious wildfire season, potentially endangering surrounding communities. Sporadic shortages at some tanker bases in Oregon and Utah have already been reported.
** The fees imposed by the Alabama Power company on customers who generate their own electricity with rooftop or on-site solar panels are now the subject of a federal lawsuit against the state’s regulators.