** TotalEnergies says it will cut gasoline prices by 10% in a move it says is an alternative to a windfall tax.
** The first of 100,000 delivery EVs can now be seen in Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Nashville, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, St. Louis and other cities.
** Top Western energy companies are expected to unleash billions in returns to shareholders when they announce what is set be a second-straight quarter of record-breaking profits, lifted by stellar refining margins and high oil and gas prices.
** Schlumberger Ltd. shares jumped 2.7% in premarket trade Friday, after the French oil major posted stronger-than-expected earnings for the second quarter amid high oil prices and raised its full-year guidance.
** Amid soaring gasoline prices in the second quarter, the eight biggest independent U.S. refiners are set to report later this month a huge 652% sequential jump in their average earnings per share (EPS), according to estimates from investment bank Tudor Pickering Holt & Co cited by The Wall Street Journal.
** The 2021 shutdown of the Indian Point nuclear power plant led to near-total dependence on fossil fuels to produce electricity in New York’s energy-hungry downstate region, and surging amounts of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the air.
** Xcel Energy details plans for a $500 million, 140-mile transmission line to help move renewable energy through Minnesota.
** Shell hires an investment bank as it looks to sell its stake in two Gulf of Mexico oil fields for $1.5 billion.
World
** Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke by phone and underlined the importance of further cooperation within the OPEC+ group of oil producers, the Kremlin said.
** The European Union’s plan to reduce the bloc’s natural gas use by 15% to prepare for a potential cutoff by Russia this winter received sharp skepticism from the governments of Spain and Portugal, which are usually big supporters of the bloc.
** Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador denied his energy policies breached a regional trade agreement after Canada challenged them, and said that he had reached agreement with a host of American investors in the sector.
** A government pipeline carrying natural gas exploded, caught fire and sent flames hundreds of feet in the air, forcing the evacuation of over 250 residents in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz.
** Germany, as one of the countries most heavily dependent on Russian gas, is leading the charge with a nationwide campaign to save gas so that Europe’s largest economy has enough to get it through the winter, although energy experts say additional measures are needed to achieve energy security.