** Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) on Sunday pushed for more oil drilling in the U.S., saying the nation needs to be “energy independent” as gas prices rise. Cuellar, a moderate Democrat facing a May 24 runoff primary challenge in his Texas district, also said President Biden’s administration is “not helping Democrats.”
** Union Pacific (UNP) reported better than expected earnings on thanks to surging coal demand. The railroad’s revenue just from shipping coal and renewables jumped 49% year-over-year while overall revenue rose 17% to $5.86 billion, higher than the $5.75 billion Wall Street analysts expected.
** Exxon is banning the LGBTQ pride flag from being flown outside its Houston corporate office during pride month in June.The company updated guidance on acceptable flags which can be displayed outside offices, which included banning “external position flags,” including the pride flag and Black Lives Matter flag, according to the new policy obtained by Bloomberg News.
** Indonesia, the world’s top palm-oil producer announced that it will ban exports of the commodity starting Thursday, sending the prices of edible oils soaring. It accounts for nearly half of the world’s supply of palm oil which is the most widely used vegetable oil.
World
** Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s top economic adviser has said Ukraine will prosecute companies that continue to trade in Russian oil and gas.
** A major fire broke out at fuel storage tanks next to Russia’s most important oil export pipeline, the Ministry of Emergency Situations said in the small hours of Monday morning. The fire, visible from miles away according to unverified social media footage, also hit diesel storage tanks in Bryansk, western Russia.
** There is insufficient support from European Union member states for a complete embargo or punitive tariff on Russian oil and gas imports, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell was quoted as saying by German newspaper Die Welt on Monday.
** India has bought more than twice as much crude oil from Russia in the two months since its invasion of Ukraine as it did in the whole of 2021, according to Reuters calculations, as Indian refiners snapped up discounted oil that others have shunned.
** Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion campaigners blocked a tanker from delivering Russian oil to Norway on Monday, chaining one of their boats to the giant vessel in a protest against the war in Ukraine, Greenpeace said.
** Charred bodies were left scattered among burnt palms, cars and vans on Sunday after a weekend explosion which killed more than 100 people at an illegal oil refining depot on the border of Nigeria’s Rivers and Imo states.
