** While US gasoline prices have come down from the highs seen this summer, they’re clearly still weighing on President Joe Biden, who on Monday repeated demands for oil companies to charge less.
** VAALCO Energy, Inc. in Houston announced that the Government of Equatorial Guinea has approved the Venus – Block P Plan of Development . VAALCO has an 80% participation interest in the project and is the operator. Upon the execution of final documents, VAALCO will proceed directly to project execution which targets first oil in 2026.
** The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is launching a new office focused on civil rights in an effort to take on environmental challenges in historically underserved communities. EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced the creation of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights on Saturday in Warren County, N.C.
** Senate Republican leaders are urging their GOP colleagues to stay unified against a permitting reform bill sponsored by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) and to support instead a competing bill sponsored by his home-state colleague, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).
** More than 80 congressional Democrats on Monday called on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan to back the agency’s union in contract negotiations. The American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, the biggest union representing EPA members, is in negotiations with agency management for a new contract, with its current contract set to expire in 2024.
** The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying a team to investigate the accidental release event that occurred at approximately 9:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday September 20, 2022, at the BP Toledo Refinery in Oregon, OH. The incident involved an explosion and fire that resulted in two fatalities, the release of sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, and significant property damage.
World
** Germany suspects the damage to the Nord Stream pipeline system used to transport Russian gas to Europe was the result of sabotage.
** European countries on Tuesday raced to investigate unexplained leaks in two Russian gas pipelines running under the Baltic Sea near Sweden and Denmark, infrastructure at the heart of an energy crisis since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
** Europe has been importing record volumes of LNG this year to replace pipeline gas from Russia, and LNG supply will go a long way in ensuring most of the lost Russian supply is replaced, popular hedge fund manager Pierre Andurand told Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast.
** Tens of thousands of solar panels are sitting unused in warehouses across Europe just as the continent struggles with an unprecedented energy crisis. The spike in electricity prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is making the case for a speedier transition to renewable power.