Energy briefs

** Chevron has achieved a technological breakthrough, producing first oil from a U.S. Gulf of Mexico field under extreme subsea pressures, the energy company said on Monday.

** Volvo’s all-electric semi trucks have reached the landmark of driving 50 million miles, making work safer and quieter for drivers. According to Electrek, Volvo said that if its vehicles had gone 50 million miles with diesel-powered engines, the trucks would have used more than “25 million liters [6.6 million gallons] of diesel fuel and more than 68,000 tons” of toxic gases.

** The U.S. Air Force is claiming that it cannot depollute drinking water that it contaminated with dangerous forever chemicals because the U.S. Supreme Court has stripped federal regulators of the authority to make it clean it up.

** Spirit AeroSystems CEO Patrick Shanahan will receive a payout of $28.5 million after the 737 MAX fuselage supplier completes its merger with Boeing, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.

** Ford and Mazda are warning the owners of more than 475,000 older vehicles in the U.S. not to drive them because they have dangerous Takata air bag inflators that have not been replaced.

** A firm pauses a proposed hydrogen production hub in Washington state, citing uncertainty over tax incentives and a lack of affordable renewable energy. 

** California lawmakers pass a bill requiring expanded air monitoring around oil and biofuel refineries.

World

** Beijing has admitted that a Chinese-owned ship damaged a critical Baltic Sea gas pipeline running between Estonia and Finland last October, but says it was an accident.

** Global sales of fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles rose by a yearly 21% in July, thanks to China’s strongest growth this year and despite dropping demand in Europe, market research firm Rho Motion said Monday.

** Mercedes-Benz Korea released the names of its electric vehicle battery suppliers on Tuesday, bowing to public outrage after one of its cars burst into flame in a parking lot earlier this month. The August 1 fire damaged hundreds of vehicles and created a national panic, with car parks across South Korea imposing a wave of adhoc restrictions amid growing calls for transparency on battery supply chains.