** Exxon Mobil Corp. has signed a preliminary agreement to provide battery metal lithium to an LG Chem Ltd. plant in the US, strengthening the oil major’s role in the domestic critical minerals supply chain. The multiyear deal will cover the supply of as much as 100,000 tons of lithium carbonate from Exxon’s planned project in the US to the South Korean company’s cathode plant in Tennessee, which broke ground last December.
** Colorado regulators temporarily block a proposed 26-well oil and gas drilling project in the northeastern part of the state and order the developer to consider locations where local residents would have more input.
** Local officials block a developer’s plan for a 2,000-acre solar project in southern Indiana following pushback from nearby residents.
** Arizona advocates and scientists call for a new environmental analysis of a uranium mine near the Grand Canyon, saying the 1986 review is outdated.
** Pending arbitration claims against liquefied natural gas exporter Venture Global LNG Inc. from several of its customers have grown to nearly $6 billion, according to a bond document seen by Bloomberg.
World
** Ford Motor Co. will look to eliminate another 4,000 positions in Europe, further retrenching within a region where the transition to electric vehicles is losing traction industrywide.
** Ford is to cut 800 jobs across Britain as its rival Nissan warned the Transport Secretary that electric vehicle (EV) targets risk “irreversible” damage to the car industry.
** Investigators are trying to crack the mystery of how two undersea internet cables in the Baltic Sea were cut within hours of each other, with European officials saying they believe the disruption was an act of sabotage and US officials suggesting it was likely an accident.
** A draft COP29 deal to scale up international climate finance to at least $1 trillion angered delegates on all sides over a lack of detail about where the money would come from. The draft agreements, presented early Thursday at United Nations climate talks by host Azerbaijan, also included scant reference to moving away from fossil fuels, which are the major cause of global warming.
** India’s plans to expand domestic manufacturing in the solar industry are coming up short. That’s according to experts, who say India is grappling with inadequate government funding and a major skills shortage.
