** ConocoPhillips is suing the state of Alaska to stop it from publicly releasing well data associated with its huge Willow oil discovery, located on the western edge of the state’s North Slope oil fields.
** Gasoline prices are set to hit $6 a gallon on average in the US, says JPMorgan. Strong demand for fuel during the summertime driving season should propel prices at the pump.
** Gasoline prices climb as high as $16 per gallon in the Alaska Arctic as climate change alters shorelines and rivers, making transporting the fuel more costly.
** Reuters reported top U.S. energy companies Chevron and Schlumberger have withdrawn an application to capture carbon dioxide emissions and store them deep underground in central California, spokespeople said on Wednesday, putting the clean-energy project on hold after U.S. environmental regulators questioned it.
** A vast swath of North America from the Great Lakes to the West Coast is at risk of blackouts this summer as heat, drought, shuttered power plants and supply-chain woes strain the electric grid according to an assessment from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.
** National Grid recently filed its networked geothermal plan with state officials, a move geared to convert many of Massachusetts’ natural gas customers and potentially reduce energy costs while slashing emissions.
** U.S. spot power and natural gas prices soared on Thursday to their highest in over a year in several parts of the country as consumers cranked up air conditioners to escape an early spring heatwave.
** Wyoming oil and gas industry officials say regulatory uncertainty, labor shortages and supply chain constraints are keeping them from ramping up drilling even though commodity prices are high.
World
** French electricity prices climbed after the region’s biggest producer cut its nuclear output target for a third time this year, the latest sign that the region’s power crisis is worsening.
** Saudi Arabia’s king chaired a virtual cabinet meeting on Tuesday for the first time since being discharged from hospital this week, during which the government of one of the world’s biggest oil producers called for a balanced global energy transition.