** The U.S. Forest Service has finalized a rule restoring protections rolled back under the Trump administration for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, the largest such forest in the U.S.
** Data from the Bureau of Land Management shows that President Biden approved more oil and gas drilling permits in his first two years in office than former President Donald Trump.
** Texas state Sen. Drew Springer has a new bill that would create setback limits for wind turbines, giving jurisdiction to county and district courts for enforcement through lawsuit adjudication. The Dallas-area Republican’s SB 154 calls for wind turbine generators to be placed at a minimum of 3,000 feet from the property lines of adjacent properties reported The Texas Energy Report.
** A committee of the Virginia Senate on Tuesday defeated a bill backed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) that would withdraw the state from a regional carbon-trading initiative.
** A Texas legislator has reintroduced a bill aimed at drawing money from electric vehicle (EV) owners for registration fees to go toward paying for Texas roads and highways.
** Baker Hughes announced that the Baker Hughes Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $.19 per share of Class A common stock payable on Feb. 17, 2023 to holders of record on Feb. 6, 2023.
** U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR), along with Senators Jim Risch (R-ID) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) reintroduced legislation to protect privately owned waters from being seized by the federal government.
** The Justice Department is investigating Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. GT 0.09%increase; green up pointing triangle for its handling of a recalled tire that has been linked to eight deaths and dozens of injuries, according to people with knowledge of the matter and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
** Halliburton Co. reported a 21% hike in quarterly net income to $656 million on Jan. 24, beating analysts’ estimates with earnings per share (EPS) of $0.72—double that of the same period in 2021.
** The U.S. EPA on Wednesday denied six coal plants’ requests to keep dumping toxic ash into unlined or inadequately lined pits, signaling the agency’s commitment to enforce the 2015 federal coal ash rules that had been widely flouted by companies and ignored by regulators.
World
** European gas storage has hit an all time high for this time of year while natural gas prices have fallen for a third day as ample supplies and the return of milder weather deal a blow to Vladimir Putin.
** Puerto Rico privatized its electricity production on Wednesday, selecting Genera PR to take over the operation and maintenance of state power generation units in the U.S. territory as part of an initial $22.5 million annual contract.
** On Monday, almost the entirety of Pakistan was left without power when a misguided energy saving strategy by the government backfired.
** The European Union will ban imports of Russian oil products early next month, in a move to further punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, but one that could lead to tighter global supplies and higher prices for products such as diesel.
** Chevron Corp. plans to buy back $75 billion of shares and increase dividend payouts after a year of record profits that evoked angry denunciations from politicians around the world as soaring energy prices squeezed consumers.
