** A large coalition of more than 30 fossil fuel industry associations is raising the alarm over an expected White House decision to delay permitting for key natural gas export facilities over their potential climate impacts.
** Multinational energy developer Orsted unexpectedly withdrew from agreements with the State of Maryland to develop two offshore wind projects, citing worsening economic conditions.
** The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) finalized their strategy on the protection of endangered North Atlantic right whales in the offshore wind power development process.
** Environmentalists seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions backed legislation intended to scale back natural gas expansion, but the business community warned that consumers would have fewer choices and Maine’s economy would be damaged.
** Denmark’s Orsted said on Thursday it had submitted a new proposal with Eversource for Sunrise Wind in response to New York’s latest offshore wind solicitation.
** Pacific Gas & Electric agrees to pay a $45 million penalty for its involvement in the 2021 Dixie Fire, which destroyed nearly 1,300 homes.
World
** Ukraine appears to be targeting Russia’s oil and gas industry with small, cheap drones as it seeks to disrupt Russian supply lines.
** Chinese officials have asked their Iranian counterparts to help rein in attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis, or risk harming business relations with Beijing, four Iranian sources and a diplomat familiar with the matter said.
** Freight going through the Suez Canal has dropped by 45% in the two months since attacks by Yemen’s Houthis led shipping groups to divert freight, disrupting already strained maritime trading routes, according to UN agency UNCTAD.
** Big oil is trying to make Europe “the excuse” for an unnecessary and planet-heating expansion in gas exports, 60 members of the European Parliament wrote in a Tuesday letter to President Biden.
** Canada’s Trans Mountain Corp will begin adding crude oil to its long-delayed pipeline expansion in February and expects it to start operating in the second quarter, an executive said.
** Multiple Ukrainian state agencies, including the state-owned energy company, reported cyberattacks or technical disruptions on Thursday that were affecting their IT systems and ability to communicate with the public.