Solar Panel Maker Qcells Furloughs 1,300 Workers
Solar panel maker Qcells announces it will furlough 1,000 workers and 300 staffing agency employees at its Georgia factories. U.S. customs officials detained shipments of solar cells at U.S. ports because of a 2021 law banning imports from a region of China. These detentions disrupt manufacturing continuity. Qcells depends on uninterrupted solar cell feedstock to maintain production. This situation hits U.S. industrial solar deployment scale. Analysts said this could also delay utility interconnections. The 2021 law attempts to protect forced labor compliance. However, it also creates massive volatility inside the U.S. energy manufacturing expansion cycle.
FAA Orders Immediate MD-11 Inspections
The FAA has ordered immediate inspections of all McDonnell-Douglas MD-11s before further flight. The order mandates a voluntary grounding already in place based on Boeing recommendations. The agency wants more clarity while more is learned about the Nov. 4 UPS MD-11 fatal accident. The FAA sees potential structural risk exposure across certain aircraft subtypes. The agency wants rapid root cause analysis. The MD-11 platform maintains a crucial cargo lane role inside U.S. energy supply chain aviation.
Federal Court Allows Nuclear Plant Wastewater Discharge in New York
A federal court has ruled that a nuclear plant in New York can dump radioactive waste into the Hudson River. This decision overrides a 2023 ban on releasing treated wastewater into the river. Nuclear plant operators said this reduces storage backlog. This ruling ignites aggressive environmental backlash. However, courts emphasize legal jurisdiction and statutory override. The ruling could also become new national case law precedent inside future energy waste management litigation.
Florida Lawmakers Study Advanced Nuclear Tech for Demand Growth
Florida lawmakers meet to discuss how the state might accommodate advanced nuclear technologies. They want new ways to meet surging energy demand. States now evaluate reactor siting and federal preemption. Legislators want scalable baseload that avoids price shock. Also lawmakers want clear cost allocation frameworks before adoption.
World
Lukoil Declares Force Majeure and Bulgaria Moves to Seize Refinery
Lukoil declared force majeure at its Iraqi oil field, sources told Reuters Monday. Bulgaria was poised to seize its Burgas refinery. The Russian company sees international operations buckle under the strain of U.S. sanctions. This creates downstream instability inside global energy freight markets.
Ukraine Strengthens Network Defense Amid Attacks
Ukraine’s Kyivstar is ramping up measures to keep its network online as Russian strikes strain the country’s power grid. Russia intensified attacks on energy infrastructure in Ukraine. On Saturday, a barrage of drones and missiles hit nuclear substations, killing seven people. State-owned energy company Tsentrenergo called this the largest attack on its facilities since the start of the war in 2022.
Chad Bets Its Future on Beijing
Battered by declining production and the departure of Western partners, Chad’s oil industry is betting its future on Beijing. In a high-stakes diplomatic pivot, the landlocked central African country has aimed to double its current output of 150,000 barrels per day. Chad relies on China and UAE allies to revive its energy sector.
Brazil, Guyana and Argentina Lead South America Oil Surge
Countries across South America are ramping up oil extraction. Brazil, Guyana and Argentina are at the forefront. They rank among the top five drivers of global oil growth outside OPEC. Off the coast of Guyana, companies already pump around 650,000 barrels of oil a day from a huge deep-water reservoir discovered in 2015. This becomes a massive swing factor in global energy supply balancing.
Two Indian Refiners Purchase U.S., Iraq and UAE Crude
Two Indian refiners bought a total of 5 million barrels of crude oil from the United States, Iraq and the UAE on the spot market. Reuters reported Hindustan Petroleum Corp bought 2 million barrels of West Texas Intermediate and 2 million barrels of Murban crude for delivery in January. Analysts said this underscores spot energy procurement flexibility.