** The Supreme Court is on the verge of restricting the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. The court’s conservative majority appears likely to side with Republican-controlled states and coal companies in West Virginia v. EPA, for which the court heard oral arguments on Feb. 28 and is expected to issue a ruling in June.
** Louisiana’s Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry said that he plans to ask the Supreme Court to stop the Biden administration from using a key metric in climate regulation.
** Natural gas prices hit a fresh 13-year and closed at the highs foreshadowing higher prices. Target resistance is seen near the July 2008 highs at 13.68. Support is seen near the 10-day moving average at 6.20.
** Wind power made a huge milestone in March, as it produced more electricity than both coal and nuclear energy for the first time ever in U.S. history.
** BMW Chief Executive Officer Oliver Zipse said companies must be careful not to become too dependent on a select few countries by focusing only on electric vehicles, adding that there was still a market for combustion engine cars.
** New York Attorney General Letitia James is investigating whether the oil industry has engaged in gas price gouging, a representative from her office said on Thursday.
** CF Industries Holdings Inc. said reductions in rail service along Union Pacific Corp. lines will delay fertilizer shipments in parts of the U.S., threatening to reduce supply for farmers during the planting season.
** Top U.S. liquefied natural gas producer Cheniere Energy on Thursday said surging U.S. natural gas prices reflect past underinvestment followed by “a demand shock” as Europe seeks to wean itself from Russian gas, and that high prices will spur more production that will benefit consumers.
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Italy is planning to turn to Egyptian gas to help reduce its dependence on Russian supplies. Eni, the Italian oil and gas giant, signed a framework agreement with state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS).
** Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Friday they had seized a vessel in Gulf waters loaded with 250,000 litres of smuggled fuel, the Iranian state news agency IRNA reported.
** With U.S. gasoline prices averaging more than $4 a gallon, consumers are cutting back, and that’s affecting the trans-Atlantic fuel trade. Shipments from Europe have dropped to 346,000 barrels a day in the first ten days of this month — 23% below the level observed for all of April 2021 — tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show.