** Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was chased from an event in Baltimore on Tuesday evening after left-wing climate activists stormed the stage and demanded he stop fossil fuel infrastructure projects.
** Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04) introduced legislation which would withdraw the National Park Service (NPS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed 10(j) rule and the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Draft Grizzly Bear Restoration Plan.
** The Biden administration is set to announce new measures to raise the cost of Russia’s attempts to skirt a limit set on the price for its oil, a senior administration official told CNN, as the West aims to enforce more strictly a price cap first introduced nearly a year ago.
** California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs legislation aimed at strengthening enforcement of oil and gas regulations and increasing penalties for violations.
** The federal Bureau of Land Management plans to auction geothermal leases on 45 parcels covering 135,000 acres in Nevada.
** The U.S. Energy Department finalizes a $3 billion loan guarantee to a solar company with a requirement that at least 10% be issued in Puerto Rico, which has struggled with an unreliable grid, high energy prices, and destructive storms.
** A new report suggests Austin, Texas, could reach its net-zero carbon emission goals by increasing housing density and relying more on mass transit.
World
** The International Energy Agency said on Thursday the risk of oil supply disruptions due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas is limited but that it stands ready to intervene in markets if necessary.
** Israel told Chevron to shut down a major natural gas field, and it’s threatening to further spike prices of the fuel. The world’s natural gas market has already been rocked by the war in Ukraine and threats of a strike in Australia.
** Russian President overplayed his hand by trying to use Gazprom PJSC to bring Europe to its knees, and now his efforts to bolster the state-controlled gas giant are at the mercy of China.
** Saudi Arabia and Russia reaffirmed their close cooperation in the oil market with a public show of unity at a major industry event in Moscow. “This market cannot be left unattended, we need to take all precautionary measures,” Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said, comparing the global oil situation to a yo-yo toy, given the recent rise and fall in prices.
** The independent shale drillers that undermined OPEC’s decades-long grip on global oil markets soon will be a thing of the past as international giants swallow them up, according to one of the industry’s founding members.
** Finnish investigators said that a gas pipeline in the Gulf of Finland was most likely ruptured by a deliberate act of force rather than an explosion.
** China is scouring the globe for wheat, with annual imports on track to hit record levels, as buyers scoop up cheap supplies after heavy rains damaged the domestic crop.
