** The world’s largest nitrogen fertilizer plant, which would make ammonia out of natural gas, could be headed for a former coal mining site in rural West Virginia. TransGas Development Systems, a New York-based company, is seeking an air quality permit for a facility in Mingo County with six ammonia manufacturing units capable of producing up to 6,000 metric tons per day – a total of more than 13 million metric tons per year.
** A company plans to demolish Alaska’s only coal loading facility, likely permanently ending the state’s coal export industry.
** Electric and hybrid vehicles are booming on the West coast but seeing slower growth throughout the rest of the country.
** Oregon lawmakers pass a bill that would divest the state’s public employee retirement fund from nearly $1 billion in coal-related investments.
** A Virginia county board votes to at least temporarily halt approvals for solar projects after a large crowd rails against the industry at a meeting.
** North Dakota regulators approve two projects totaling nearly 50 miles of new transmission lines that aim to help relieve grid congestion in the Bakken region.
** Bayou Bend CCS LLC has started drilling an offshore and an onshore stratigraphic well for carbon sequestration, Talos Energy revealed in its latest results statement. This is a joint venture (JV) between the company, Chevron and Equinor to develop a carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility in southeast Texas.
World
** Arsonists calling themselves the Volcano Group left Tesla’s German factory without electricity on Tuesday, leading to damages the company claims could approach $1 billion.
** Russia’s February oil and gas revenues last month jumped by more than 80% from a year ago. The revenues increased despite sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
** Refiners in India are reportedly cooling to the prospect of long-term deals with Russian oil firms, Bloomberg reported. Three Indian refiners were in talks to receive 500,000 barrels a day from Rosneft.
** Chinese bookings for tankers carrying crude oil from the Persian Gulf have risen in recent days, adding to signs that the biggest importer is sourcing more from the area amid shipping disruptions in the Red Sea.
** A fire at an oil refinery in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas killed at least one person and injured three, state media said Thursday. A furnace at the refinery caught fire as it was being repaired at about 11 a.m local time, state TV reports.
