Headlines of other energy stories

** One of the Alamo City’s more influential business leaders and philanthropists, Bill Greehey, is stepping down as chairman of San Antonio-based NuStar Energy Inc., effective immediately. Brad Barron will succeed Greehey, who has been named chairman emeritus of the San Antonio-based company.

** A new report by the environmental nonprofit Greenpeace released on Monday finds that the vast majority of plastic waste produced by U.S. households is not recycled.

** The receding waters along the Mississippi river continue to reveal new and old treasures, including an old casino riverboat. If the water level does not go up in November to improve barge traffic, farmers are will feel the impacts, especially upstream across the Midwest.

** President Joe Biden signed an international agreement that compels the United States and other countries to limit use of hydrofluorocarbons, highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigeration and air conditioning that are far more powerful than carbon dioxide.

** President Joe Biden criticized record energy company profits after Shell Plc announced its second-highest earnings ever while raising its dividend and expanding buybacks.

 

World

** An oil refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands that the Environmental Protection Agency shut down in spring 2021 now poses the risk of a fire, explosion or other “catastrophic” releases of “extremely hazardous substances,” the agency found in a report released this week.

** Second line of Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline probably destroyed by explosions, Germany says.“It’s very likely that the act of sabotage with huge explosions has affected both lines of the pipeline, and therefore basic technical availability is no longer provided,” the German federal government said.

** Fossil fuel consumption is expected to peak or plateau within this decade, accelerated by the policy and trade flow shifts following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.

** In a move reminiscent of the Hugo Chavez years when Venezuela nationalized its oil industry, stripping by default many foreign oil companies of their assets, oil companies are once again preparing to abandon operations in the nation that houses the largest oil reserves on the planet.