** Stephen Chazen, an industry veteran whose career included leading Occidental Petroleum Corp. and the founding of an independent Texas oil and gas producer, died on Sept. 23 at the age of 76.
** California is committing to a plan that will make it the first US state to phase out gas-fueled furnaces and water heaters in homes, a move environmentalists are betting will provide a template for other states.
** Spiralling energy costs have forced steel makers to cut output across Europe, threatening mass plant shutdowns some warn could be permanent in a sector that employs more than 300,000 and contributes tens of billions of euros to the region’s economy.
** Tellurian Inc.’s decision to ditch a $1 billion high-yield bond issuance related to development of its Driftwood LNG export project jeopardizes initial gas deliveries slated for 2026, Tellurian Executive Chairman Charif Souki revealed in a corporate video.
** Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is looking for a way to avoid a government shutdown next week while also keeping his promise to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to pass permitting reform before October.
** Democratic Senator Joe Manchin struggled on Thursday to win the GOP backing needed for his legislation to fast-track energy projects, with some senior Republican senators declaring it dead on arrival.
**n A new report from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA), which represents the state directors of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), projects a 17.2% jump in average home heating costs this winter compared to last year, and a 42% jump in the cost of household electricity compared to the winter just before the pandemic hit.
World
** Germany is stepping up preparations for a gas emergency that would require rationing for the country’s biggest companies this winter as Russia’s squeezes flows to Europe.
** Greece has cut Russian gas imports by more than half this year thanks to increased deliveries from other producers to its sole liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal near Athens, the country’s gas grid operator said.
** European Union member states are racing to clinch a political agreement within weeks that would impose a price cap on Russian oil. The push has gained steam since President Vladimir Putin announced a “partial mobilization” of troops in an escalation of Russia’s war in Ukraine and will likely feature as part of a new package of sanctions to be proposed by the European Commission, according to people familiar with the matter. A cap would align the EU with a US effort to keep the cost of crude from soaring and to hit Moscow’s revenue.
** Volkswagen AG is exploring ways to counter a shortage in natural gas, including shifting production around its network of global facilities, signaling how the energy crisis unleashed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens to upend Europe’s industrial landscape.
** Natural gas prices in Europe headed for a fourth weekly loss, as ample supplies of liquefied natural gas help countries fill reservoirs days ahead of the start of the heating season.