Other headlines of energy stories

** OPEC+ announced it’ll slash output by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) on Wednesday (Oct. 5), the biggest cut since the pandemic started in 2020. The White House’s reaction was swift, calling the decision “shortsighted” and accusing the oil cartel of “aligning with Russia.”

** President Biden on Wednesday said he would release 10 million more barrels of oil from the U.S.’ Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in November in a move to counter raising gas prices again.

** Car haulers are pushing the Biden administration and lawmakers to increase truck weight limits on U.S. highways so they can transport more heavy electric vehicles, a move fiercely opposed by the rail industry and safety advocates who say the heavier loads are significantly more dangerous.

** Los Angeles County supervisors vote to ban new oil and gas wells in unincorporated areas and phase out existing operations over the next 20 years; the city of L.A. is considering a similar ordinance.

** As California gasoline prices surged in recent days, Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed that he wanted to retaliate against oil moguls by imposing a windfall profits tax and returning the money to drivers.

** Portland, Oregon, officials approve Zenith Energy’s plan to phase out crude oil from its shipping terminal and replace it with biofuels in the next five years, saying the plan complies with city climate goals.

** A windstorm in Arizona topples utility lines, leaving 82,000 households in the Phoenix area without power.

** Berkshire Hathaway’s demonstration project to extract and process lithium from beneath the Salton Sea is facing technical hurdles and had a federal grant rescinded earlier this year, sources say.

** The Environmental Protection Agency is “falling behind” on finalizing eight key rules to slash air pollution, water pollution and planet-warming emissions from the nation’s power plants, according to a report conducted by the climate advocacy group Evergreen Action.

 

World

** Sweden’s domestic security agency said Thursday that its preliminary investigation of leaks from two Russian gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea “has strengthened the suspicions of serious sabotage” as the cause and a prosecutor said evidence at the site has been seized.

** Europe’s diesel crunch is set to worsen in the coming months as more European refineries shut down for maintenance this month, and unplanned outages reduce supply. European fuel demand will draw additional imports from other regions, tightening further already tight global refined product markets.

** The leaders of Germany and Spain raised pressure on French President Emmanuel Macron to drop his resistance to a natural gas pipeline they see as key to reducing European dependence on Russian energy supplies.

** The European Union agreed on Wednesday to place a price cap on Russian oil exports in its latest round of sanctions on Moscow as it braces for a cold winter amid dwindling oil supplies. EU leaders hope the move will deliver another blow to Moscow’s revenue streams.