** President Joe Biden is weighing the possibility of a federal gas-tax holiday as millions of Americans continue to face pain at the pump. “I hope to have a decision based on the data I’m looking for by the end of the week,” Biden told reporters Monday in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, according to CNN.
** Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US and its allies are discussing a price cap on Russian oil. One aim is to “push down the price of Russian oil and depress Putin’s revenues,” she said Monday.
** A flood of U.S. renewable diesel plants set to come online in the next three years will not be enough to offset the loss of petroleum diesel refining capacity from plant closings since 2019, a Reuters analysis of federal data shows.
** Consumers must be prepared to endure up to five years of turbulent oil markets, the head of ExxonMobil said Tuesday, citing under-investment and the coronavirus pandemic.
** Honeywell International Inc. has launched its Carbon and Energy Management system to go beyond measuring emissions for buildings and on to providing ways to decarbonize operations.
** American Airlines will eliminate service for three cities following the Labor Day holiday weekend as a result of staffing shortages, marking the latest hiccup for the airline industry amid thousands of cancellations and cuts in recent months.
** In what sounds like the automotive equivalent of The Walking Dead, a Tesla Model S caught fire three weeks after it was involved in an accident and sent to a junkyard in Sacramento, California. Firefighters had a difficult time putting out the blaze, and they ended up having to submerge the battery.
** Automakers are making a furious last-ditch effort to convince Congress to approve an extension of EV incentives before Republicans, who are largely opposed to doling out EV subsidies, could potentially take over both houses of Congress next year.
** North Dakota officials work to generate interest from potential developers of a cross-state natural gas pipeline that would be backed by $150 million in state funding.
** The Internal Revenue Service is increasing the federal mileage rate for business use of a vehicle. With gas prices soaring at the pumps, the IRS has increased the standard business travel reimbursement rate to 62.5 cents per mile, up 4 cents from the rate of 58.5 cents that went into effect in January.
World
** Following on from the recent signing by Qatar of a declaration of intent on energy cooperation with Germany aimed at becoming its key supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) going forward, the Emirate has now signed separate partnership deals with France’s TotalEnergies and Italy’s Eni for the US$30 billion North Field (or ‘Dome’) Expansion of the world’s biggest LNG project.
** Germany’s government will not agree to European Union plans to effectively ban the sale of new cars with combustion engines from 2035, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Tuesday.
** Russia has reclaimed its position as China’s biggest oil supplier, overtaking Saudi Arabia in May as Beijing cashed in on discounted Russian energy.
** Europe’s resolve to stop buying Russian crude may be starting to ebb. The continent’s oil refineries took 1.84 million barrels a day of crude from Russia last week, according to tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
** Egypt’s state-owned gas company and U.S.-based Chevron Corp on Monday signed a preliminary agreement to explore sending natural gas from offshore Mediterranean fields to Egypt for processing and export.
