** Exxon Mobil Corp. fell short of analysts’ expectations with a third straight drop in profit — the longest decline since the 2014-2016 oil-market crash — amid weaker natural gas prices and shrinking returns from fuel sales. ExxonMobil reported profits of $7.9 billion, down 56 percent on a 28 percent drop in revenues to $82.9 billion.
** U.S. railroad operators expect heatwaves across the northern hemisphere to reignite coal shipments as people crank up the air conditioning to beat the heat. Grid operators from Texas to California have been relying more on natural gas and renewables to generate power, but the surge in demand could push up natural gas prices and make thermal coal a viable source again, Union Pacific Corp said this week.
** The U.S. wind power market is set to double in size by 2030, but the country’s also still focused on oil drilling and production.
** America’s largest electric grid operator, PJM Interconnection has issued a Level-1 energy emergency alert as the tremendous demand for electricity increases amid an ongoing heat wave. The firm supplies power for 65 million people in all or parts of 13 states and Washington, D.C.
** The Biden administration is poised to issue a proposal ordering automakers to increase the average fuel economy of their vehicles, according to people familiar with the matter.
** Dallas-based Matador Resources is expanding its gas processing capacity in the Delaware Basin to service third-party demand and the E&P’s own development plans as it integrates assets acquired earlier this year for $1.6 billion.
** This week, a panel of energy regulators approved a rule that is expected to help more renewable energy get onto the nation’s electric grid. The rule, passed Thursday by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, seeks to cut down on the long line for new energy projects to plug into the grid.
** Opponents of offshore wind projects are suing New Jersey and the Danish wind energy developer Orsted over a lucrative tax break the state approved for the company, saying it is illegal because the law was written to benefit only one entity.
** The U.S. Treasury on Thursday said Ethan Zindler, a climate and clean energy research executive, has been named the department’s new climate counselor, charged with leading its efforts to unlock financing to achieve a net-zero carbon emissions economy.
World
** Environment ministers from G20 nations meeting in India on Friday raced against time to reach a last-minute consensus on the most contentious issues to redress the global climate crisis. No major breakthrough is expected with delegates from the Group of 20 major economies stuck on climate change adaptation finance, mitigation and peaking emissions by 2025 in hectic negotiations.
** China’s demand for petrol is likely to peak as early as next year as electric vehicle sales soar, several analysts say, bringing forward an energy transition milestone for the world’s biggest polluter and a headache for global refiners.
** South Africa is enduring massive blackouts because it agreed to be a “guinea pig” for the West’s green transition and close its coal-fired power stations, the country’s electricity minister has claimed.