** New York state will fine fossil fuel companies a total of $75 billion over the next 25 years to pay for damage caused to the climate under a bill Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law on Thursday. The law is intended to shift some of the recovery and adaptation costs of climate change from individual taxpayers to oil, gas and coal companies that the law says are liable.
** Despite recent actions that would suggest General Motors is losing faith in its electric vehicle output, the company’s CEO has reaffirmed its commitment to ditching the internal combustion engine. In a conversation with The New York Times, Mary Barra said GM still intends to reach its goal of making all of the brand’s cars electric-powered by 2035.
** US crude exports to China plunged by almost half this year as shifts in the nation’s economy weighed on demand and it bought more barrels from other countries including Russia and Iran reported Bloomberg. Exports of US oil to China plunged to 81.9 million barrels over the course of the year, down 46% from 150.6 million barrels last year, according to data from Kpler. That knocked China down to the sixth-largest buyer of US crude, from second last year.
** Martin Midstream Partners L.P. based in Kilgore, Texas announced the termination of its previously announced merger with Martin Resource management Corporation.
World
** Finnish authorities on Thursday seized a ship carrying Russian oil in the Baltic Sea on suspicion it caused the outage of an undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia a day earlier, and that it also damaged or broke four internet lines.
** The EU has threatened further sanctions on Russia after Finland seized a Kremlin-linked ship suspected of sabotaging an undersea power cable on Christmas Day.
** The Eagle S – a tanker ship carrying Russian oil and suspected of severing the Estlink 2 power cable running under the Baltic Sea between Finland and Estonia – was reportedly brimming with spy equipment. After being seized by Finnish Police, the Eagle S was found to be “kitted out with special transmitting and receiving devices that were used to monitor naval activity, according to a source with direct involvement in the ship,” Lloyds List reported.
** China has approved the construction of what will be the world’s largest hydropower dam, which will be located in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River. It could produce 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, according to an estimate provided by the Power Construction Corp of China in 2020.
** Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest oil producer, is planning to cut the amount of gas it burns off unproductively to about 20% next year in an attempt to meet rising demand and reduce imports.
** Electric vehicle sales in China are set to eclipse the sale of traditional vehicles for the first time next year, putting the country ahead of the West in a critical part of the clean energy transition, according to a new report.