** High gasoline prices are already impacting demand, according to one energy expert. “Above $4 per gallon, you do see the American public change their driving habits. And we do actively see demand destruction,” Regina Mayor, global head of energy at KPMG, told Yahoo Finance Live.
** The White House is still trying to find a plan to lower gasoline prices in the U.S. White House officials have said all options are on the table: a gasoline tax holiday or gas cards that would provide rebates to consumers; potential deals to remove sanctions on Iranian and Venezuelan crude exports; and possible relaxation of the Jones Act, a law requiring domestic cargo to be carried on American-made tankers using union labor.
** One year after Wells Fargo & Co. became one of the last big U.S. banks to make a net-zero promise, the bank has become the biggest fossil fuel lender: Wells Fargo’s 2021 tally in the sector topped $28 billion, racking up $188 billion in oil and gas loans since late 2015. Last year alone, banks organized ~$555 billion of bonds and loans for the oil, gas, and coal sectors.
** U.S. energy company New Fortress Energy Inc’s contentious liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Pennsylvania has been placed on hold, environmental groups opposed to the plant said on Monday.
** Exxon Mobil Corp. on Tuesday appointed Dan Ammann, former president of automaker General Motors, to lead the oil company’s energy transition business effective May 1.
** Halliburton Company announced Energean, an independent E&P company focused on developing resources in the Mediterranean and the North Sea, awarded it a study to assess carbon storage potential of the Prinos basin in Greece.
** North Carolina considers suspending its gas tax, which at 39 cents per gallon is higher than any of its neighboring states.
World
** The signing of a new JCPOA and the subsequent removal of all sanctions against Iran would unleash the enormous oil production and export potential of the country once again, with both short-term and longer-term bearish effects on global oil prices. Iran could see an 80 percent recovery of full production within six months and a 100 percent recovery within 12 months.
** Canada on Thursday will outline plans to increase oil exports to help alleviate the tight global market following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the hike will not undermine Ottawa’s long-term climate commitments, a government source said.
** One of Britain’s best-known fund managers, Richard Buxton of Jupiter Asset Management, has accused City investors of “sleepwalking us into an energy crisis” by refusing to back North Sea oil on so-called ethical grounds.
** The European Union is moving toward the joint purchase of natural gas and ensuring its storage facilities are nearly full to try to avoid another crisis tied to its dependency on Russian energy, officials said Tuesday.
** French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies is gradually suspending its operations in Russia and will not put new capital into projects in the country, the company announced Tuesday reported POLITICO.