** The ongoing conflict between oil giant Exxon and environmental groups has escalated amid a new lawsuit against California’s attorney general. Exxon Mobil has sued Attorney General Rob Bonta as well as environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, for allegedly conspiring to defame and hinder the company’s business, per reports by the New York Times.
** Crescent Energy Company announced the closing of its acquisition of Central Eagle Ford assets from Ridgemar Energy for upfront consideration of $905 million, consisting of $830 million in cash and 5,454,546 shares of Class A common stock, plus future oil price contingent consideration, subject to customary purchase price adjustments.
** Phillips 66 announced it had fourth quarter earnings of $80 million or $0.02 per share and an adjusted loss of $61 million or 15 cents a share. It also returned $1.1 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.
** Chevron Corporation reported earnings of $3.2 billion ($1.84 per share – diluted) for fourth quarter 2024, compared with $2.3 billion ($1.22 per share – diluted) in fourth quarter 2023. Included in the quarter were severance charges of $715 million and impairment charges of $400 million.
** ExxonMobil announced that it had $33.7 billion in earnings and $55.0 billion in cash flow from operations – third best year in a decade. It also Achieved record production in Permian and Guyana, and record sales volumes of high-value products and distributed $36.0 billion to shareholders – more than all but five companies in the S&P 500.
** An electric vehicle lithium-ion battery company plans to establish a 40,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Reno, Nevada.
World
** Ukraine struck energy facilities in southern Russia with dozens of drones launched on Monday, triggering fires at a major oil refinery and gas processing plant and disrupting flights from the Volga to the Caucasus Mountains, Russian and Ukrainian officials said.
** Police in Norway said Friday they had released a Russian-crewed cargo ship seized over suspected involvement in damage to a fibre-optic cable in the Baltic Sea, having found no evidence linking it to the incident.
** The collapse of Norway’s government this week brings into focus the hundreds of cables transporting electricity across borders in Europe and how they’re being transformed into political weapons.