** The Biden administration has asked U.S. oil and gas producers to drill more as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed gasoline prices higher. But, at the same time, it has taken a somewhat hostile tone, blaming the industry for not bringing prices down quickly enough.
** Should oil prices explode to $200 a barrel as some experts have warned, Goldman Sachs thinks the U.S. economy would probably enter a recession (or already be in one).
** During a meeting of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin touted a tax credit for clean energy manufacturing, known as 48C, and legislation that would replace fossil fuel generation with advanced nuclear power.
** Oregon’s regulated gas utilities, including Portland-based NW Natural, are making their own bid to derail the state’s new Climate Protection Program. “Petitioners challenge the authority of (the Environmental Quality Commission) to adopt the rule,” the gas companies said in their filing.
** The U.S. Postal Service said Thursday it placed an initial $2.98 billion order for 50,000 next-generation delivery vehicles from Oshkosh Corp and will double its initial planned EV purchases.
** Fresno County leaders on Tuesday urged state leaders to increase domestic oil production in light of rising gas prices for consumers, farmers, and other leading industries in California’s central San Joaquin Valley.
** Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell called on federal regulators to kill new requirements to consider the greenhouse gas emissions of natural gas pipelines before approving construction, saying the rule hinders gas exports to Europe at time that European allies need it most.
World
** Dozens of nations, including the United States and much of Europe, say they are united in seeking to “radically” reduce imports of Russian oil and gas after its invasion of Ukraine, while ensuring those efforts don’t fuel climate change.
** The Biden administration and European Union are close to a deal aimed at slashing Europe’s dependence on Russian energy sources, as the U.S. and its allies seek to further isolate and punish Moscow for the Ukraine war.
** OPEC officials believe a possible European Union ban on oil from its partner Russia over the invasion of Ukraine would hurt consumers and the group has conveyed its concerns to Brussels, OPEC sources said.
** The CEOs of three leading commodity trading companies said Tuesday at the Financial Times’ annual Commodities Global Summit in Switzerland that Europe might be facing an unprecedented diesel shortage because of disrupted trade flows with Russia.
** Carbon dioxide emissions increased by almost 5% last year, meaning that the world now has a two-in-three chance of reaching 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming over pre-industrial levels within the decade, according to a new study published in the online journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment.
** Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia will insist that “unfriendly countries” pay for Russian natural gas exports only in rubles going forward, according to reports.
