** The Department of Energy will offer additional US reserve crude for sale ahead of plans by the European Union to ban most Russian oil in December.
** U.S. refiners are expected to buy more Canadian oil after the Biden administration ends releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) this fall, traders said, adding this should boost the price of Canadian barrels at a time of tight global supply.
** FirstEnergy President and CEO Steven Strah retired Friday after making the decision the day before, according to the Akron, Ohio-based utility company, which is emerging from a corruption scandal. Strah, who has been FirstEnergy’s CEO since March 2021, will receive no severance payments or benefits, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
** California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a bill requiring a 3,200-foot buffer between new oil wells and parks, homes, and schools.
** The EPA declares Denver and Colorado’s northern Front Range as “severe” air quality violators, which will require drivers to use a more expensive gasoline blend to reduce emissions.
** A Puerto Rican company says Idaho Power’s policy creating a separate customer class for cryptocurrency data operations is discriminatory.
** Texas residents complain about a six-month wait for an energy company to approve rooftop solar permits, resulting in solar installations that sit unused.
** Louisiana residents still wait for federal assistance in a small town struck by Hurricane Laura more than two years ago.
** The U.S. Energy Department’s weekly inventory release showed a larger-than-expected increase in natural gas supplies. The negative inventory numbers, coupled with other factors, meant that futures fell nearly 3% week over week.
World
** German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Monday at a press conference that German natural gas supplies are in decent shape. For now.
** Portugal could face supply problems this winter if Nigeria does not deliver all the liquefied natural gas (LNG) it is due to, the European Union country’s environment and energy minister said on Monday.
** Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Saudi Arabia and meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as part of a Gulf trip, his spokesman said Monday, as Germany rushes to secure energy supplies.
** Spain will temporarily slash sales tax on natural gas from 21% to 5% to help consumers face rising energy costs this winter as Russia has cut back gas exports to Europe amid the war in Ukraine.