** The average new car sold for $47,148 last month—close to December’s peak.
** U.S. oil producers profiting from sky-high prices are doling out billions to shareholders and building cash reserves, a strategy irking lawmakers and voters struggling with record fuel prices while winning over Wall Street.
** Tesla competitor Electric Last Mile says it can no longer compete and plans to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
** Toyota said to be within weeks of starting construction of its electric-vehicle battery plant near at the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite.
** President Joe Biden privately complained that his administration’s plan to focus on ethanol and biofuels as a means of lowering gas prices would be unproductive, the Washington Post reported on Monday.
** Major automakers are asking Congress to lift the cap on how many people can receive tax credits for buying a hybrid or fully electric vehicle. Currently the number of tax credits allowed is capped at 200,000 per company. General Motors and Tesla have already reached the cap and Toyota is close to it.
World
** Russian President Vladimir Putin said it’ll be several years before the West can stop using Russian oil and gas, Interfax reported, citing a meeting between the leader and young entrepreneurs on Thursday.
** India and other Asian nations are becoming an increasingly vital source of oil revenues for Moscow despite strong pressure from the U.S. not to increase their purchases, as the European Union and other allies cut off energy imports from Russia in line with sanctions over its war on Ukraine.
** Libya’s oil production has almost fully halted as a political crisis leads to more shutdowns of ports and fields.
** Residents in Australia’s Queensland state faced the risk of blackouts on Monday night as the nation’s power crisis shows no signs of abating.
** The German government is preparing to lend billions to rescue a former arm of Gazprom PJSC now under the control of the country’s energy regulator, according to people familiar with the matter.
