** Oil and gas should not be demonised in the medium-term, Elon Musk, the founder of electric car maker Tesla, said on Saturday, but he also said it was important to reduce carbon emissions to preserve the planet.
** Asset manager BlackRock Inc has bowed out of talks to acquire Exxon Mobil Corp ‘s majority stake in Italy’s main liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, three people with knowledge of the matter said.
** California’s utilities regulator on Thursday granted a five-year extension to operate Pacific Gas and Electric’s Diablo Canyon power plant, the state’s only nuclear facility, to avoid electricity shortages during extreme weather events.
** The US Department of Transportation fined Southwest Airlines Co. $140 million for violating consumer protection laws, nearly a year after a late December meltdown of its operations during a storm stranded more than 2 million passengers.
** U.S. supermajor Chevron Corporation CVX is making significant cutbacks in its oil-refinery investments in California, citing what it deems as “adversarial” policies toward fossil fuels in the state. The San Francisco Bay area-based oil giant has cut spending in California by “hundreds of millions of dollars since 2022,” according to comments submitted to the California Energy Commission.
World
** Oil and natural gas prices rose sharply Monday after BP (BP) said it would pause all shipments through the Red Sea because of increased attacks on commercial vessels by Houthi militants in Yemen. “In light of the deteriorating security situation for shipping in the Red Sea, BP has decided to temporarily pause all transits through the Red Sea,” the company said in a statement.
** Nippon Steel Corp. agreed to buy United States Steel Corp. for $14.1 billion in cash, in a deal to end months of uncertainty about the future of the historic American metal producer.
** Canada expects to announce this week that all new cars will have to be zero emissions by 2035, a senior government source said, as Ottawa is set to unveil new regulations in the latest example of countries around the world pushing for electrification.
** ** Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said his country is working to resolve “exploration issues” in the South China Sea so it could start new energy exploration projects in the resource-rich waterway to meet his nation’s energy needs.
** Goldman Sachs trimmed its price expectation for Brent crude in 2024 by $10 per barrel to between $70 and $90, saying strong production from the United States would moderate any upside in oil prices.
** Philippine jeepney drivers started a 12-day strike on Monday to protest the phaseout of the iconic public transportation that would give way to carbon-free mini buses.
** Iran’s Oil Minister Javad Owji said cyber attacks disrupted fuel supply at gasoline stations in multiple provinces across the Islamic Republic, blaming Israel, the US and the ongoing war in Gaza.