** Environmentalists celebrated Wednesday as Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., admitted defeat in his effort to attach a measure that would make it easier to build energy infrastructure to must-pass government funding legislation.
** The US urged energy infrastructure operators, including LNG carriers heading for Europe, to be on high alert after suspected sabotage hit gas pipelines connecting Russia and Germany.
** A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday called on President Joe Biden to issue an executive order to boost oversight of investments by U.S. companies and individuals in China and other countries.
** An environmental group sues the Biden administration to force it to halt new offshore oil and gas drilling along southern California’s coast and review safety plans for existing rigs after a spill last year sullied water and beaches.
** A Republican U.S. congressman from Alaska introduces a bill that would mandate federal oil and gas lease sales and speed permitting, offering an indication of the party’s agenda if it takes control of Congress in November.
** BP and car rental company Hertz plan to develop a national electric vehicle charging network with tens of thousands of chargers over the coming decade.
** Entergy Louisiana recently completed the longest underground project in company history, crews undergrounded approximately eight miles of distribution powerlines along Louisiana Highway 1 from Leeville to Grand Isle.
World
** A new leak has been discovered on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, bringing the total number of ruptures to four, according to the Swedish Coast Guard’s Command Center.
** The German government says the Nord Stream pipeline might be lost forever if repairs are not quickly made. According to some sources, if the damaged lines are not repaired swiftly, the pipeline can be destroyed by a large amount of salt water, which will cause corrosion.
** U.S. and European officials are increasingly pointing toward sabotage as the cause of two explosions that caused massive leaks from natural gas pipelines out of Russia — and gauging whether the incidents are a new warning from Moscow about the continent’s energy supplies heading into winter.
** Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM and Shell plc SHEL initiated a sale of their offshore natural gas assets in the southern U.K. and Dutch North Sea, per a Reuters report. The companies hired an investment bank, Jefferies, to conduct the sale. The divestment could fetch the integrated oil majors more than $2 billion.
** OPEC+ has begun discussions about cutting oil output when it meets next week, as a fragile global economy continues to pressure crude prices. The size of the potential supply reduction is still under consideration, said a delegate, asking not to be identified as the talks are private.