** A U.S. Treasury official has ruled out secondary sanctions to enforce a price cap mechanism on Russian oil exports despite a proposal last week by U.S. senators.
** Brent oil prices could head back toward $100 a barrel as supply grows tighter in the coming months, JPMorgan said. Analysts expect oil demand to rebound by about 1.5 million a barrels in the last quarter of this year. Meanwhile, releases from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve will stop, and the EU’s partial ban on Russian oil will kick in.
** The American Petroleum Institute (API) announced that Will Hupman is returning to API as Vice President of Downstream Policy. In this role, Hupman will lead the API Downstream department and coordinate downstream issues across the organization to help advance API’s mission. Hupman replaces Ron Chittim, who is retiring after nearly 33 years of service at API, including the last three as Vice President of Downstream Policy.
** Farmers in the United States are urging their government to challenge a looming Mexican ban on genetically modified (GM) corn under a regional free trade agreement, warning of billions of dollars of economic damage to both countries.
** Sen. Joe Manchin railed last week against what he called “revenge politics,” as liberals in the House and Senate team up with Republicans to oppose his plan to speed permits for natural-gas pipelines and other energy projects.
** South Carolina solar has exploded from fewer than 3,000 installations in 2016 to more than 30,000 today, with more than 4,000 in the metro county around Charleston.
** Power has been restored to about half of the 3.1 million people in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona knocked out power to the entire island a week ago.
** Flying-car enthusiasts saw their hopes further dashed last week as Google co-founder Larry Page’s flying car startup Kittyhawk announced it was winding down.
World
** Authorities in Germany are trying to establish what caused a sudden drop in pressure in the defunct Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, with a spokesperson for the pipeline’s operator telling Reuters on Monday it could have been caused by a leak.
** As Europe heads into winter in the throes of an energy crisis, offices are getting chillier. Statues and historic buildings are going dark. Bakers who can’t afford to heat their ovens are talking about giving up, while fruit and vegetable growers face letting greenhouses stand idle.
** Soaring energy costs in Europe are shutting down businesses and threatening a bloc-wide recession. Yet not everyone accepts this fate. Some companies are moving to cheaper locations: the U.S. Steel giant ArcelorMittal said earlier this month that it would slash by half production at a steel mill in Germany and a unit at another plant, also in Germany. The company said it had based the decision on high gas prices.
** The cost of shipping goods from China has slumped to the lowest level in more than two years as the world economy stumbles, dimming prospects for container carriers that turned in record profits during the pandemic.
** Russia’s seaborne crude exports to Europe are being compressed, with the bloc’s sanctions only about two months away. Shipments in recent weeks have been little more than half pre-invasion levels and will come under increasing pressure as the import ban nears.
** France’s TotalEnergies on Saturday signed a new $1.5 billion deal to help expand Qatar’s natural gas production as Europe scrambles to find new energy sources to replace Russian supplies.