** The current five-year offshore federal leasing plan expires on June 30th with no indication when another plan will be put in place. The U.S. Interior Department has said it will not proceed with any offshore lease sales without a new plan.
** Occidental Petroleum Corp. posted record quarterly profits as Russia’s war on Ukraine sent oil prices soaring to a 14-year high. The company reported a net income of $4.7 billion in the first quarter and free cash flow of $3.3 billion while paying down $3.3 billion of its debt.
** About a quarter of the roughly 400 emissions reduction-related bills states passed from 2015 to 2020 made it through Republican legislatures, presenting a possible blueprint for advancing climate legislation in Congress.
** Shares of electric vehicle startup Rivian dropped 14% Monday after reports that early investor Ford would be selling part of its stake in the company.
** Biden administration officials raise concerns about the Commerce Department’s solar panel imports probe, though Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says she has no influence over the investigation.
** Three weeks after he was hired as CEO of Chugach Electric Association, Alaska’s biggest electric utility, Hal Halpern was fired. The utility reportedly says Halpern embellished on his resume.
** The volume of crude oil flowing on pipelines from the top U.S. shale field to export hubs on the U.S. Gulf Coast could surge to pre-pandemic levels by October, analysts said, signaling the end of desperate days for some Texas oil pipeline operators.
** New homes built in California starting in 2026 need to be powered by all-electric furnaces, stoves and other appliances if California is to meet its ambitious climate change goals over the next two decades, according to a state pollution-reduction plan released Tuesday.
World
** There’s a 50-50 chance Earth’s annual temperature will spike beyond Paris Agreement goals within the next five years, a World Meteorological Organization study predicts.
** Saudi Oil Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman warned Tuesday that the world is “running out of energy capacity at all levels.”
** One of Germany’s largest natural gas importers, VNG, has opened an account with Gazprombank for payments for Russian gas under Moscow’s new terms.
** The European Union’s executive is looking to support Hungary in beefing up the eastern European state’s oil pipelines, storage and refining capacity, a spokesman said on Tuesday, as Budapest dug its heels in over a Russian oil embargo.
** Hungary hardened its public stance against a European Union embargo on Russian imports, saying it would withdraw its veto threat only if its imports via pipelines are excluded.
** Germany is set to become a liquefied natural gas powerhouse within a year as it fast-tracks new import terminals to slash its dependence on Russian fuel.