** The Energy Information Administration at the U.S. Department of Energy believes the price of petroleum products (crude oil, gasoline and diesel) will decline 5% to 10% this year from its previous predictions. EIA’s forecast crude oil will average $77 per barrel in 2023, which is $11 less than its previous prediction of $86.
** U.S. natural gas futures jumped about 7% on Monday from a 19-month low in the prior session on forecasts for colder weather and higher heating demand over the next two weeks than previously expected.
** California data show 18.8% of the 1.8 million new cars sold in the state last year were electric vehicles.
** Malfunctions and a fire at an oil refinery in Colorado may have caused the facility to release illegally high levels of carcinogenic benzene into an adjacent waterway.
** A North Carolina lawmaker will introduce legislation to require power companies to provide security systems at electrical substations after gunfire knocked out power for more than 45,000 customers last month.
** Freeport LNG, the second-largest U.S. liquefied natural gas exporter, on Monday said it had completed repairs to its Texas plant and asked U.S. regulators for permission to take early steps to restart the fire-idled facility.
** Texas state Rep. Brooks Landgraf says the Biden administration and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission have delayed the reopening of the big Freeport LNG Development export plant to keep natural gas prices artificially low through the winter.
**
World
** Russian crude oil shipments from its key export terminals slumped by 22%, or by 820,000 barrels per day (bpd), last week, compared to the previous week, according to tanker tracking data monitored by Bloomberg.
** In Canada’s western oil patch, controversy is raging over federal government legislation intended to help the fossil fuel labour force transition to a greener economy, but union and community leaders are warning politicization of the Just Transition bill obscures the needs of workers.
** Puerto Rico should install rooftop solar panels in locations such as airports and industrial areas to reach national renewable energy goals, a federal office said in a study published Monday.
** Most of Pakistan was left without power Monday as an energy-saving measure by the government backfired. The outage spread panic and raised questions about the cash-strapped government’s handling of the country’s economic crisis.
** The UK’s grid operator asked three reserve coal units to be ready to supply power and consumers to curb demand on Tuesday, as it tries for a second consecutive day to plug the gap left by a dearth of wind generation.