** More than 1.3 million customers in Puerto Rico are without power after Hurricane Fiona slammed into the island over the weekend as a Category 1 storm, bringing heavy rains and flooding that led to evacuations and rescues.
** An appeals court sides with the Delaware River Basin Commission and its fracking ban in some parts of Pennsylvania in a court case brought by Republican state legislators looking to overturn it.
** Oil dipped as the dollar strengthened ahead of central-bank meetings this week that are expected to lead to further monetary tightening, heightening concern among traders that economies could weaken.
** U.S. shale drillers are struggling to meet strong demand for gas from domestic generators as well as customers in Europe and Asia scrambling for replacement supplies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
** U.S. climate envoy John Kerry warned African nations last week not to rely too heavily on natural gas in their efforts to modernize and bring electricity to millions.
** President Joe Biden declared the Covid-19 pandemic “over” and said Americans would gain “control” of inflation, outlining a rosy view for the US economy in an interview less than two months before crucial midterm elections.
World
** Carbon Tracker and Global Energy Monitor said on Monday they had launched the first global registry of oil and gas reserves, production and emissions with data for more than 50,000 fields.
** Russian President Vladimir Putin denied Russian responsibility for Europe’s energy crisis and said the EU can simply turn on the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline if it wants more natural gas from his country.
** A dozen environmental groups are starting legal challenges against the European Union’s executive branch in a bid to stop the inclusion of natural gas and nuclear power generation in the bloc’s list of sustainable activities.
** Several European countries are suffering scarcity and soaring prices for a fuel of last resort: firewood. Thieves, sensing opportunity, are stealing logs from truck beds; scammers are setting up fake websites, posing as wood sellers to con desperate consumers. Wood-burning ovens and furnaces in several countries have almost completely sold out.
** Poland’s top leaders celebrated the opening Saturday of a new — albeit unfinished — canal that they say will mean ships no longer must secure Russia’s permission to sail from the Baltic Sea to the ports of the Vistula Lagoon.