** The U.S. government reported a modest weekly fall in domestic crude supplies, but said gasoline inventories climbed by more than three million barrels on the back of a decline in implied demand for the fuel.
** EVs are about to get more expensive. Toyota has sold too many electric and hybrid vehicles to qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit. Electrified Toyota and Lexus vehicles will get more expensive for consumers as the credit phases out.
** Brown County, South Dakota has approved a one-year moratorium on the construction of transmission pipelines. That includes a carbon capture pipeline proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions.
** President Joe Biden is set to announce plans to encourage offshore wind development in the Gulf of Mexico and in Atlantic waters near the Southeast US, part of a bid to prove he’s confronting the climate crisis despite a congressional logjam on the issue.
** The U.S. Postal Service plans to substantially increase the number of electric-powered vehicles it’s buying to replace its fleet of aging delivery trucks, officials said Wednesday.
World
** Europe is racing to find ways to cut gas usage. That after a new warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Speaking this week, he said there could be further cuts to supplies via a key pipeline.
** Europe is prepared to drive up the cost of everyone’s heating bills further if necessary in order to secure its supply of natural gas for the upcoming winter. According to European Union officials, whatever the world market can pay for a tanker transporting a super-cooled form of the fossil fuel across international waters, Europe will be willing to top it.
** Cash-strapped Cuba delivered the bad news to residents Monday evening that there was no end in sight to blackouts disrupting their lives and the economy.
** Libya resumed oil exports Wednesday, ending a hiatus that lasted months. The resumption came after the country restarted production at oil fields following the firing of the chairman of the state-run oil corporation by one of the country’s rival governments.
** The US and Canada said Mexico’s nationalist energy policies violate North America’s free-trade deal, with Washington requesting dispute-settlement talks under the agreement and Ottawa saying it will do the same.
** Saudi Arabia is close to maxing out its oil production capacity, sources told the Wall Street Journal. The world’s top crude exporter is pumping about 10.5 million barrels per day currently.