** Employees of ConocoPhillips face more layoffs after the oil company’s merger with Marathon Oil, which triggered sweeping job cuts in Houston last year, reported the Houston Chronicle. A spokesman for the Houston oil giant confirmed Friday that the company had informed employees about additional layoffs, but declined to specify how many or when the layoffs would take place.
** Alaska Gasline Development Corp. asks state lawmakers to allocate $800 million toward a proposed liquefied natural gas pipeline and export terminal, and the Trump administration steps up pressure on Japan and South Korea to invest in the $44 billion project.
** Federal prosecutors charge a Washington man with sabotaging six substations the western part of the state in 2022, but found no link to neo-Nazi or other extremist organizations.
** A Jeff Bezos-backed startup unveils its low-cost electric truck starting at $20,000 after federal EV incentives.
** The government reports underground storage of natural gas in the U.S. reached its least amount since 2022 with inventories 4% lower than the previous five-year period.
** More than 3,500 employees — about a fifth of the U.S. Energy Department — are expected to leave in the near future, E&E News reported this week. In addition to those accepting resignation offers, 280 staffers who work in the U.S. EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights are on the chopping block.
** Hyundai begins supplying its electric vehicles with lithium battery packs made by SK Battery at a Georgia factory, making them eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit now that more than 60% of their components are made domestically.
World
** India and Saudi Arabia have agreed to deepen their energy partnership by reaching an accord to set up two oil refineries in India. The announcement follows a meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jeddah.
** At least 25 people have reportedly been killed and around 1000 injured amid a massive explosion at a port facility in southern Iran. The blast occurred at the Shahid Rajaee port in Bandar Abbas on Saturday, April 26, and is believed to have been set off by hazardous chemical materials stored in the port area, Iranian news agency IRNA, CNN and Reuters reported.
