Energy briefs

** Berkshire Hathaway Inc shareholders on Saturday overwhelmingly rejected six proposals addressing environmental and social policy issues at Warren Buffett‘s conglomerate, all of which the billionaire investor and his board opposed.

** The rupture of a Louisiana pipeline that released 107,000 gallons of carbon dioxide raises concerns about similar issues among opponents of a proposed carbon pipeline in South Dakota.

** Rivian’s announcement it will expand production at its Illinois plant fuels concern about whether the electric vehicle company will build its paused $5 billion Georgia factory.

** Missouri lawmakers advance legislation to ban eminent domain for wind and solar projects, even though the practice for seizing property has never been used to build renewable energy projects.

** Republican U.S. senators from Western states push back on the federal Bureau of Land Management’s proposed public lands solar plan, saying it could affect livestock grazing and other extractive uses. 

World

** Saudi Arabia raised the price of its flagship crude to Asia for a third consecutive month, as the kingdom tries to tighten the oil market to prevent a global surplus.

** Global petrol demand growth could halve in 2024, squeezing second-half refinery margins, analysts said, driven by a shift to electric cars in China and the United States and a return to normal consumption after last year’s bounce following COVID-19.

** Capital spending on all-new deepwater drilling is poised to hit a 12-year high next year, predicts consultancy Rystad Energy. Investment in all-new and existing deepwater fields could hit $130.7 billion in 2027, a 30% jump over 2023, it said.