** Analysts anticipate the volume of crude oil flowing from the Permian Basin to Gulf Coast export hubs could jump to pre-pandemic levels by October, although still falling short of pipeline capacity.
** In January 2022, natural gas consumed for electric power in the United States averaged 31.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), the highest January average on record and the highest amount for any winter month. Natural gas consumed for electric power this past January was higher than in previous Januaries because of high demand for electricity throughout a colder-than-average January combined with less coal-fired electric power generation.
** Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday went after the nation’s largest oil companies, accusing the industry of “exploiting” consumers with sky-high gas prices even as the same companies are reporting record profits this year.
** The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) spent $7 million in funds from President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package on a program to replace diesel school buses with electric ones in underserved communities.
** Nissan executives expect to build a third electric vehicle manufacturing plant in the U.S. to meet demand in the coming years.
** The owner of a Nebraska warehouse is suing the operator of a now-defunct ethanol plant after it failed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent and utilities.
** South Korean automaker Hyundai is expected to announce next week during President Joe Biden’s visit to South Korea that it’s building a new electric vehicle plant in Georgia.
** ExxonMobil asks a federal court to overturn a California county’s denial of a temporary permit for trucking oil from offshore rigs.
World
** Saudi Aramco has overtaken tech titan Apple as the world’s most valuable company, after a surge in the oil producer’s shares vaulted it above $2.4 trillion. Apple’s market cap fell to $2.37 trillion after its share price tanked 5.2% on Wednesday amid a rout in technology stocks.
** An oily time bomb floats off the west coast of Yemen. The FSO Safer, a derelict oil tanker, is in grave danger of disintegrating and releasing its 1.14 million barrels of crude oil into the Red Sea. The aging tanker has held oil for the past 30 years.
** Some European Union nations are saying it may be time to consider delaying a push to ban Russian oil so they can proceed with the rest of a proposed sanctions package if the bloc can’t persuade Hungary to back the embargo.
