Thursday, 1 October 2026

President Donald Trump plans to unveil a USD 200 billion investment package from South Korea, with USD 54 billion directed at a liquefied natural gas project in Alaska, according to Event Registry.

The commitment would mark the first capital drawn down under a bilateral trade pact that bound Seoul to USD 350 billion in total investments, according to Event Registry.

Glenfarne Group, the privately held developer, is building the Alaska LNG project named in the pledge, according to Event Registry. The project would move natural gas along an 800-mile pipeline running from Alaska's North Slope to the state's southern coast, targeting export to Asian markets.

Ukraine and the EBRD are implementing 13 energy-sector projects with a total portfolio exceeding EUR 3 billion, according to Ukrinform.

Ukrainian energy companies require EUR 600 million in financing to stabilize the balancing market, Ukrinform reported.

A meeting between the president of Ukraine and the EBRD president focused primarily on preparations for the winter and support for Ukraine's energy sector, according to the report carried by GlobalSecurity.org.

Odile Renaud-Basso, president of the EBRD, said the main focus is on expanding generation and renewable energy, decentralizing the system and protecting it.

Spain's latest measures will limit October's regulated gas tariff increase to about 15%, according to Hurriyet Daily News. Without intervention, the increase would have exceeded 45%.

More than 3 million consumers use the regulated gas tariff.

The measures also cap the price of a butane cylinder at EUR 19.55 until June 30, 2027.

Fly ash slurry from the Mettur Thermal Power Station in Salem entered agricultural fields behind the plant, according to The New Indian Express.

The slurry inundated nearly 10 acres of agricultural land, the outlet reported.

Farmers said the slurry affected standing maize, onion and cotton crops after it entered the fields.

Nigeria does not have a gas shortage but a gas conversion problem, according to Rabiu Umar, Authority Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

Umar called for increased investment in infrastructure and domestic gas use to unlock the economic value of Nigeria's gas resources.

The NMDPRA will run a digital licensing round for gas distribution areas before the end of 2026, following a nationwide gas-grid mapping exercise expected in October, according to Vanguard.

Umar said the initiative is part of efforts to move Nigeria from a fragmented gas-access system to an open-access regime that would let more participants use existing infrastructure.

Energy-sector shares fell slightly as oil prices stayed near elevated wartime levels, according to MarketScreener.

WTI crude oil rose 30% in the third quarter and has gained 57% year-to-date, according to data from FactSet cited by MarketScreener. Brent crude advanced further, gaining 42% in the quarter and 70% year-to-date.

The elevated crude prices are supporting Suncor Energy's profitability, according to Kalkine Media.

California Governor Gavin Newsom suspended the state's seasonal summer-blend gasoline requirement for the remainder of the season, according to Event Registry.

Newsom ended the summer fuel requirement Monday, citing a recent state law that requires a reevaluation of regulations when retail gasoline prices rise substantially, according to ABC7 News.

He directed state agencies to take steps allowing winter-blend gasoline to be manufactured, imported, distributed and sold in California immediately, according to Event Registry.

Centrica has signed a non-binding heads of agreement for 1 million tonnes per year of LNG supply, according to Argus. The agreement commits the parent company behind British Gas to buy 1 million tonnes of LNG per year for 20 years, according to the Delta Optimist.

The deal brings Ksi Lisims LNG's allotted volume to 9 million tonnes per year, or 75% of its nameplate capacity, according to Argus. The project is working toward a final investment decision by the end of the year, Argus reported.

New York's Energy Affordability Program received 21,586 household applications during the first two weeks of a statewide enrollment campaign, according to information released by Governor Kathy Hochul's administration.

The campaign began on September 15, 2026, and was designed to raise awareness of assistance available to eligible households facing electricity and natural gas costs.

Applications ran at 12,694 in the week ending September 21 and 8,892 in the week ending September 28, bringing the total to 21,586.

Eligible homeowners with a heat pump application already in progress will automatically receive an additional boiler scrappage grant of EUR 2,000. The uplift is added automatically for those who qualify.

Combined with current grants for heat pump installations and related system upgrades, homeowners could access total support reaching EUR 14,500, according to The Journal.

U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 0.922 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) as reported by Investing.com. The build ran counter to market forecasts, which had anticipated a draw of 0.700 million barrels.

The latest reading marked a slower pace of accumulation than the prior week. The previous inventory report recorded an increase of 2.969 million barrels, according to Investing.com.

Cheniere Marketing, LLC has signed a long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) sale and purchase agreement with Petrobras, according to Cheniere Energy, Inc.

Under the deal, Petrobras agreed to purchase about 0.8 million tonnes of LNG per year from Cheniere Marketing, the company said. The agreement runs for 22 years and is structured on a free-on-board basis.

India's cabinet approved a renewable energy program valued at INR 1.86 trillion, or USD 19.42 billion, to upgrade existing grids and add storage capacity, according to the country's information minister cited by Investing.com.

The package includes an INR 1.36 trillion plan to strengthen transmission systems within Indian states, according to a government statement reported by Investing.com. That transmission work will enable the evacuation of up to 135 GW of clean energy.

India also announced an INR 500 billion incentive plan to install 50 GWh of battery energy storage systems, according to Investing.com.

A lawyers' group has pressed for urgent action in Bille Kingdom, Rivers, after Joy Amos died from burns she suffered in a gas explosion at her home, according to the Niger Delta Environmental Justice Lawyers' Network (NDEJLN). Amos sustained severe burns in the September 3, 2026 blast at Bille, Degema Local Government Area.

The network blamed government agencies and oil operators for ignoring repeated warnings about hazardous gas seepages in the community.

NDEJLN wants an independent forensic investigation into Amos' death, with a full medical autopsy, to pin down how the explosion happened and who is liable.

The group asked authorities to send in specialised technical teams to find, contain and permanently seal the source of the seepage.

A leaked Alberta government document sets out draft rules that would require data centers to generate their electricity from natural gas, at least for now, as part of a broader plan to raise production and demand for the resource.

The document lists recommended proposals that include bringing all natural gas pipelines in Alberta under provincial jurisdiction and passing legislation allowing the government to create two Crown corporations.

In a recent interview with The Hub, the Alberta government argued that bottlenecks in the natural gas pipeline network impede efforts to attract and build more data centers, one of the reasons it wants to incentivize or force pipeline expansions.

Goldman Sachs said physical oil prices near USD 120 a barrel reflect a large risk premium driven by supply escalation risks and record-low global inventories, according to Investing.com.

Explaining why benchmarks such as dated Brent held near USD 120 a barrel, Goldman pointed to downside risks to supply from escalation that threatens long-term oil production, record-low global stocks excluding OECD commercial stocks, and the resulting push to rebuild inventories quickly given those escalation risks.

Brent crude stayed anchored near pre-conflict levels despite a material improvement in vessel flows, according to Sunday Guardian. Traders kept substantial geopolitical risk premiums because of doubts about the ceasefire's durability.

Nigeria's Federal Government is establishing a standing Off-Grid Coordination Secretariat to track commitments and risks, convene working groups and develop shared market intelligence, according to Business Post and Sweet Crude Reports.

The push follows calls from renewable-energy stakeholders for stronger coordination among government agencies, state governments, development partners and private-sector operators to curb project duplication, reduce waste and accelerate investment in the country's off-grid electricity market, Business Post reported.

Poor coordination has become a major challenge in the power sector, resulting in overlapping projects and inefficient use of scarce financial resources, according to REA chief executive Abba Abubakar Aliyu.

The secretariat will track commitments and risks, convene issue-based working groups and develop shared market intelligence, Sweet Crude Reports said.

Aliyu said a centralised sector-data platform would help stakeholders identify existing projects, prevent duplication and establish where new interventions are required.

CITGO is preparing to move gasoline from its Lemont Refinery in Illinois to customers in New York in early October, according to oilprice.com.

The delivery marks the first shipment on Buckeye Partners' new bi-directional service along the Laurel Pipeline, oilprice.com reported.

The route creates another outlet for Midwest-produced refined products to reach East Coast markets.

NNPCL retail outlets across parts of Abuja and its environs sold petrol at NGN 1,370 per litre on September 30, according to a market survey reported by Lindaikejisblog.

The pump price fell by NGN 25 per litre at those outlets, according to the same survey.

The reduction followed a NGN 25 cut in the gantry price of petrol by the Dangote Refinery, Lindaikejisblog reported.

The opening of the East African oil pipeline has been pushed to June 2027, according to apanews.net. The Petroleum Authority of Uganda blamed the delay on disruptions to equipment deliveries caused by the Middle East war, including parts for metering, electrical instrumentation, and telecom systems.

Earlier plans had put the first export cargo from EACOP in October 2026, apanews.net reported. Government officials now say the 1,443-kilometre pipeline will be ready to receive crude by mid-December, with first commercial oil production expected before the end of June 2027.

The heavy-duty gas turbine at the center of the AI buildout, the engine that burns natural gas to generate hundreds of megawatts, is effectively sold out, according to The Washington Times.

Goldman Sachs projects U.S. data center power demand rising from 31 GW in 2025 to 41 GW in 2026 and 66 GW in 2027, according to The Washington Times.

Emissions from data centre electricity use are forecast to reach more than 300 million tonnes by 2035, according to The Economic Times.

AI deployment is accelerating energy demand and carbon emissions, making energy governance critical, according to The Economic Times.

Four Olkaria geothermal plants draw their cooling water from Lake Naivasha in Nakuru County, Kenya, and together they hold nearly half of the country's geothermal capacity, according to the IEA's National Climate Resilience Assessment for Kenya.

Geothermal supplied 43% of Kenya's electricity in 2024, the IEA reports.

Most Kenyan geothermal plants cool with wet towers, according to the IEA, a design that holds output steady when air temperatures swing but ties generation to water supply.

A fire broke out on Sept. 18 at the Vistra battery energy storage facility in Moss Landing, according to TPG Online Daily. Authorities issued a shelter-in-place warning for residents near the facility.

The fire burned in the same facility damaged by the Jan. 16, 2025 fire, where cleanup and removal of lithium-ion batteries had been underway under oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The cause of the fire remained under investigation as of Sept. 23.

Vestas announced a new wind turbine order in Japan as part of its third-quarter order intake, according to Windkraft-Journal.

The company booked 7.85 GW in the first half of 2026 and had announced approximately 1.3 GW of third-quarter orders by September 29, according to GreentechLead.

Among the three major Western wind turbine manufacturers, Vestas had the strongest publicly disclosed order momentum in 2026, GreentechLead reported.

Crude and refined-product loadings have restarted at the Red Sea port of Yanbu after Saudi Arabia brought its East-West Pipeline back online, reopening an export route that a drone attack had cut earlier in the month, Reuters reported.

The pipeline went offline on September 11 after drone strikes that Saudi Arabia blamed on Iraqi militias. Flows resumed on September 22, letting the country rebuild crude deliveries to its Red Sea export terminals.

Vessel-tracking firm TankerTrackers, citing European Space Agency satellite imagery from September 27, said nearly 10 million barrels of crude were loading at Yanbu and the nearby Al Muajjiz terminal.

Throughput on the pipeline now runs at about 2 million barrels per day by industry estimates, against roughly 2.65 million barrels per day measured by Kpler, Reuters reported.

Maruti Suzuki has commissioned a 300 kW green hydrogen electrolyser at its Manesar plant in Haryana.

The pilot converts spare solar power into hydrogen, which is blended with natural gas as a process fuel. The unit draws on solar output generated during factory holidays that would otherwise go unused, and stores the hydrogen until it is needed.

Maruti Suzuki said the project will serve as a learning platform for wider deployment of green hydrogen technology across its manufacturing facilities in Haryana and Gujarat.

Delhi's Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) electricity losses fell from about 50% in 2002 to under 10% by the mid-2010s and to roughly 5% today, according to top10.dev.

The metric combines line loss with billing and collection failure.

The decline did not come from falling demand. Delhi's peak electricity load nearly tripled over the same period, from approximately 2.9 GW to more than 8 GW, according to top10.dev.

The Republic of Korea announced a power grid innovation plan intended to raise renewable energy capacity to over 100 GW by 2030, according to the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment on Sept. 29.

The plan, presented at a Cabinet meeting, aims to redesign the power grid system to accommodate the higher renewable capacity target.

In Guangdong, renewable energy capacity surpassed coal power capacity for the first time, according to a progress report on building its new energy system.

India's cabinet approved a 1.86 trillion rupee (USD 19.42 billion) renewable energy programme to improve existing grids and add storage, the country's information minister said on Wednesday, according to MarketScreener.

A 1.36 trillion rupee scheme within the programme will strengthen the transmission system within states to enable evacuation of up to 135 GW of clean energy, the government said in a statement.

The country also announced a 500 billion rupee incentive scheme to install 50 GWh of battery energy storage systems, according to MarketScreener. The measure addresses a lack of adequate storage to save clean energy generated during the day.

India's crude oil import bill rose 48% in April-August 2026 against the same period a year earlier, even though import volumes were almost unchanged, according to IEEFA.

The pattern extended to gas. IEEFA found India's LNG import bill climbed 24% in April-July 2026 compared with 2025, while import volumes rose 5.3%, meaning the country paid more for each unit of gas.

Energy prices drove India's retail inflation to a 20-month high of 4.82% in August 2026, IEEFA said.

The group pointed to earlier volatility to illustrate how demand responds to price swings. India's LNG imports fell 17% in 2022 when prices rose, then rebounded only 9% in 2023 after supply eased.

IEEFA identified increasing renewable energy as India's best hedge against recurring energy shocks.

Seismos has opened an applied acoustics research center in Jarrell, Texas, built around a 2,349-ft full-scale flow loop, according to World Oil. The site is set up to test acoustic sensing, closed-loop well stimulation and real-time completion optimization.

The center measures 87,120 sq ft and lets operators, technology partners and researchers recreate wellbore and pipeline conditions to build and test measurement technologies, World Oil reported.

One stated area of work is closed-loop stimulation, which reads real-time physical measurements during a hydraulic fracturing stage to judge treatment performance and adjust operations as pumping runs.

World Oil said the facility is open for joint work with oil and gas operators, technology partners, universities and national laboratories.

A desalination plant planned for Aqaba, Jordan, will take no more than 27% of its electricity from a purpose-built solar farm in the desert near the site, with the rest drawn from a grid powered mostly by fossil gas, according to Climate Home News.

The plant will double the power needs of Jordan's water sector, Climate Home News reported.

The project received USD 295 million in support from the UN's Green Climate Fund (GCF), according to Climate Home News.

Annual emissions from producing the plant's non-renewable power would be equivalent to running 160,000 petrol-run cars for a year, based on an analysis by Climate Home News of figures the project's developers supplied to the GCF.

DEME has placed the 68th and final monopile at Vattenfall's 980 MW Nordlicht I offshore wind farm in the German North Sea, closing out the foundation campaign, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

Offshore Engineer OEDigital also reports that Siemens Energy picked EST-Floattech to deliver a battery system rated at more than 1 MWh for Marco Polo Marine's new CSOV Plus.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued TVA a construction permit for Clinch River Unit 1, a 300 MW GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy BWRX-300 small boiling-water modular reactor near Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

TVA is the first U.S. utility permitted to construct the BWRX-300, according to Neutron Bytes.

The permit is the second advanced reactor construction permit ever issued in the United States, according to Neutron Bytes.

Antora Energy has agreed to deliver a 5.8 GWh multi-day thermal energy storage project for Pratt Energy in Kansas, according to ESS News.

The storage will be deployed at Pratt Energy's biorefinery in Pratt, Kansas. Antora will supply energy to Pratt Energy under a long-term heat offtake agreement.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners led third-party equity financing for the thermal battery project, ESS News reported. Grok Ventures and University Pension Plan Ontario also participated in the financing.

CleanChoice Energy secured over USD 166 million in financing for two solar projects, according to a GlobeNewswire release.

The portfolio covers the roughly 27 MWdc Dolan solar project in New York and the roughly 28 MWdc Kylertown project in Pennsylvania.

Investec Bank served as lead arranger and agent for a USD 105 million construction loan facility supporting the projects. Advantage Capital committed USD 61 million in tax equity for the portfolio.

Norwegian battery materials specialist Vianode is looking for a partner to support its next expansion phase, according to electrive.

The company is weighing options that range from a partnership to a full acquisition, electrive reported.

Vianode has engaged JP Morgan to assist with the partner-search process, according to electrive.

Vianode hopes to secure a partner by the end of this year, electrive reported.

Hensel Phelps, Sustainability Partners and the State of Hawai'i Department of Transportation (HDOT) have broken ground on two microgrid projects in Hawaii, according to Solar Builder.

The projects sit on O'ahu and Kaua'i, Solar Builder reported. Each combines solar canopies, battery storage systems and EV charging stations.

Officials expect the two microgrids to generate 2.2 MWh of renewable energy daily, according to Solar Builder. The projects will include two 1 MW battery systems.

European cell production will be sufficient by 2027 to cover all demand for funded company cars and a significant portion of demand for funded private cars, according to a study reported by electrive.

By 2030, both funded company cars and funded private cars could have enough European battery cells, provided that projects with a medium probability of implementation are completed, the study said.

For the Made in EU requirements, electrive reported, the production location of battery cells matters rather than the manufacturer's country of origin.

South Korea will swap fixed caps on grid connections for a system built around curtailable access, battery storage and competitive allocation of connection rights, a shift the government ties to a target of more than 100 GW of renewable capacity by 2030, according to pv magazine.

The redesigned regime lets a project hook up past the normal hosting limit of a grid section, accepting that its output gets trimmed whenever local generation runs ahead of what the network can carry, pv magazine reported.

In the Honam region, the rule change alone is estimated to open room for 2.6 GW of extra solar without any new grid construction, according to pv magazine.

Storage sits at the center of the near-term plan. By 2030, the energy ministry aims to link 3 GW of additional solar in saturated areas through storage on distribution networks, plus another 1.6 GW through storage sited at substations, pv magazine reported.

Revised connection studies, according to the ministry, should clear the way for 20 GW of additional renewable capacity across the country by 2030.

Taken together, the ministry projects national transmission-level hosting capacity climbing from 119 GW to 171 GW by 2030, with distribution-level capacity rising from 84 GW to 110 GW, pv magazine reported.

The Iran war has served as a proving ground for Abu Dhabi oil giant ADNOC's investment in artificial intelligence, according to Semafor Net Zero.

AIQ CEO Dennis Jol told Semafor that the firm has become a source of crucial real-time insight into drilling, production, and facilities management for ADNOC since the conflict began. Jol said AIQ moved from a nice-to-have before the conflict to a critical supplier during it.

ADNOC is AIQ's largest customer and shareholder, according to Semafor.

Saudi Arabia's Finance Ministry now forecasts a government budget deficit equal to 4.9% of GDP this year, according to Semafor Net Zero. That marks an increase from the 3.3% the ministry predicted late last year.

The kingdom expects wider budget deficits for several years as it increases spending to support growth amid regional conflict, Semafor Net Zero reported.

Higher oil prices have largely offset lower export volumes and lifted revenue above prewar estimates. Even so, spending is set to rise faster than revenue, according to Semafor Net Zero.

Researchers in Russia have built a two-stage route that pulls silicon carbide out of end-of-life solar panels, according to pv magazine.

The first stage runs pyrolysis at 500 C, pv magazine reported, followed by electric arc treatment pushed above 1,800 C. Under those conditions the solid output reached as much as 61% silicon carbide, a feedstock for power electronics and refractory ceramics.

Carbon loading drove the yield. Lifting the carbon share of the input mixture from 0% to 30% pushed the silicon carbide fraction in the solid from 46% to 61%, according to pv magazine.

Vermont Gas (VGS) and Dandelion Energy are installing geothermal heating and cooling at the Riggs Meadow development in Hinesburg, Vermont, according to Electrek.

The utility will pay the upfront cost for the underground ground loops and retain ownership of them, Electrek reported.

Riggs Meadow will include 44 townhomes and apartments for low- and moderate-income renters and owners, according to Electrek.

Geothermal will serve four multifamily buildings containing 36 of the homes, with each building given its own ground loop, VGS said in its April announcement, as reported by Electrek.

Spanish research center CIC energiGUNE completed 10,000 charge-discharge cycles on an iron-lead redox flow battery, according to ESS News and PV Magazine.

The design draws on abundant materials and targets several-hour stationary electricity storage. Its single-electrolyte-loop design aims to simplify conventional flow battery architecture while cutting system costs and dependence on critical raw materials.

The researchers plan to develop kilowatt-scale modules next, combining simulation, system design and experimental validation.

The first solar farm built under the Irish government's Small-Scale Renewable Energy Support Scheme (SRESS) has been energized in County Cork, according to pv magazine.

The Meadhill Solar farm has a capacity of 650 kW and was developed by Cork farmer Sean Keating, pv magazine reported.

The project generates enough energy to power around 150 homes in the area, according to pv magazine.

Keating has signed a 15-year power purchase agreement with Flogas, pv magazine reported.

IWS Fleet has ordered four Skywalker-class commissioning service operation vessels for a combined firm yard price of about USD 301 million, equivalent to EUR 260 million, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The order expands IWS Fleet's owned fleet from six to 10 CSOVs, per Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

Nantong Rainbow Offshore & Engineering Equipment will build the four vessels under fixed-price turnkey contracts, with deliveries set for 2029 and 2030. Each vessel is priced at around USD 75 million, or EUR 65 million, according to the same report.

IWS Fleet also secured options for another four vessels at the same firm prices, with deliveries scheduled for 2030 and 2031, subject to adjustments for foreign exchange rates and key sub-suppliers, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

Juniper Green Energy added 100 MWh of battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity at its Bikaner-II project in Rajasthan, India, according to ESS News. The expansion brings the site's commissioned storage capacity to 201 MWh.

The additional capacity was commissioned through the company's wholly owned subsidiary, Juniper Green Cosmic, within the project's existing grid connectivity, ESS News reported.

Juniper Green said recently issued regulatory clarity from the Central Transmission Utility of India Ltd. allows storage capacity to be added without increasing the grid connectivity quantum, ensuring fuller use of existing transmission infrastructure.

The added capacity will initially operate on a merchant basis, letting Juniper Green participate in India's energy storage market and capture value from demand for flexibility and grid balancing.

Borr Drilling has booked fresh work for three jack-up rigs, with a three-well award off West Africa, an exercised option in Nigeria and an accommodation job in the UK, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

An unnamed operator handed the Norve rig a binding letter of award for three wells off West Africa, work estimated to run for a firm 245 days, OEDigital reported.

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) took up a one-well option on the Natt rig, according to OEDigital.

The Joro rig drew a UK accommodation contract from an undisclosed operator, OEDigital reported. Work is set to begin in mid-October 2026 and run a firm 60 days, keeping the rig busy into December.

Indian photovoltaic manufacturer Vishakha Renewables has filed for an initial public offering, according to pv magazine.

The offering pairs a fresh equity issue of up to INR 1,250 crore (USD 129.9 million) with an offer for sale of up to 1.82 crore shares from selling shareholders, pv magazine reported.

The company said it may also undertake a pre-IPO placement of up to INR 250 crore, which would cut the size of the fresh issue if completed, per pv magazine.

Vishakha Renewables proposes to use INR 900 crore of the net proceeds to repay or prepay certain borrowings, with the remainder going to general corporate purposes, according to pv magazine.

Northern Lights has signed Öresundskraft as its second Swedish carbon capture and storage customer, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital. The agreement follows the storage provider's earlier deal with Stockholm Exergi.

The addition brings Northern Lights' portfolio to seven industrial customers across four countries, OEDigital reported. The deal remains subject to certain agreed requirements.

Two solar projects in Chile now owned by Colombia's Promigas won environmental approval for a combined 2.22 GWh of battery storage, according to ESS News.

The two solar-plus-storage projects carry a combined declared investment of USD 569 million, ESS News reported.

One of the projects, Pampino, sits in Chile's Tarapacá region and pairs 170 MW of solar capacity with 1,020 MWh of storage, according to ESS News.

The second, Monterrico Solar, is located in Chile's Ñuble region and combines 248.73 MWp of solar with a 200 MW/1,200 MWh lithium-ion battery providing six hours of storage, ESS News reported.

Ranchers across Colorado have urged the Supreme Court to side with Boulder in its climate case against Suncor and Exxon Mobil, according to Grist.

The ranchers argued that local governments cannot keep absorbing rising costs from worsening heat, drought, fires, and flooding while still providing disaster relief, grants, and infrastructure repairs to keep ranchers in business, Grist reported.

Some conservative legal scholars contend that nothing in federal law or the Constitution would prevent Boulder's lawsuit from proceeding in Colorado state court, according to Grist. Proponents of that argument include Jonathan Adler, an environmental law professor at William & Mary Law School, Grist reported. Two former heads of the EPA under Republican presidents, Christine Todd Whitman and William Reilly, are also identified as prominent proponents of allowing the case to move forward in state court.

Brazil's Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) has set annual capacity reserve auctions for the second halves of 2027, 2028 and 2029, with battery storage listed among the eligible technologies, pending system studies, ESS News reported.

Alongside electrochemical batteries, the auctions can draw on hydraulic energy storage, hydropower and thermal plants.

Each auction hinges on annual assessments from the Energy Research Office (EPE) and the National Electric System Operator (ONS), which have an April 30 deadline to file their findings with the MME, according to ESS News.

A coalition of 170 European energy-sector companies has asked the European Commission to maintain binding Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBO) hydrogen mandates for transport and industry beyond 2030, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

The companies warned that rolling back the mandates would undermine investment and risk stalling hydrogen infrastructure and production plans, Hydrogen Fuel News reported.

The effort was led by Hydrogen Europe, a Brussels-based association that represents more than 600 participants in the hydrogen and fuel-cell value chain, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

On Sept. 30 the U.S. Senate passed the License to Drill Act by unanimous vote, with the House having cleared it in June, according to the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) and Western Energy Alliance. The measure renews a federal oil and natural gas permitting program for another decade, keeping in place an industry-funded system tied to drilling permit reviews on federal lands.

At the center of the bill is the Permitting Processing Improvement Fund (PPIF), which the legislation reauthorizes. The fund channels fees paid on oil and gas drilling permit applications to priority Bureau of Land Management (BLM) field offices.

The bill next goes to President Donald Trump for his signature.

Former investors in Argentina's state oil company YPF SA asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower-court ruling that overturned a USD 16 billion judgment in their favor, according to World Oil.

The investors characterized the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling as "egregiously wrong, wholly unprecedented, and extremely consequential," World Oil reported.

The federal appeals court said the judge who ordered Argentina to pay the judgment had misinterpreted Argentine law by allowing the case to proceed.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill opening the door to small plug-in solar, known as balcony solar, on September 30, according to Electrek. He signed it alongside two laws aimed at getting more from home energy devices and the existing grid.

The balcony solar law covers systems with a combined output of up to 1,200 W AC per household, Electrek reported.

Qualifying devices must comply with electrical codes and carry certification from Underwriters Laboratories or an equivalent testing lab. They must also include protection to stop them from feeding electricity into the grid during an outage.

Petronas said on September 30 that it had temporarily shut the Songkhla Export Pipeline after identifying an issue during a routine inspection, according to a company statement. The pipeline is operated by Trans Thai-Malaysia (Thailand), the company's joint venture with Thailand's PTT.

Petronas described the shutdown as a precautionary measure to protect the integrity of the pipeline and ensure safe operations.

The pipeline will resume operations only after it has been confirmed safe to do so, Petronas said.

U.S. grid planners are preparing for annual electricity demand growth of about 0.9% to 1.6% through 2050, according to Power Magazine.

Data centers could account for as much as 17% of U.S. electricity demand by 2030, Power Magazine reported, citing the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).

ABS granted approval in principle to two Korean floating data center designs, according to Offshore Magazine.

One design belongs to HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, which won clearance for a 100 MW-class barge-mounted power plant built to feed data centers from the water, Offshore Magazine reported.

Before issuing that approval, ABS examined the plant's basic concept, its electrical single-line diagram and a stability assessment, and found the design technically feasible and compliant with regulations.

Toyota Motor North America, including Lexus, sold 633,233 vehicles in the third quarter of 2026, according to Electrek. The total was up 0.6% from the same quarter of 2025.

Toyota said electrified vehicles, including EVs, plug-in hybrids, and hybrids, accounted for 57.4% of its total third-quarter sales volume.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill allowing state residents to adopt balcony solar technology, according to Grist.

State Senator Scott Wiener said the measure eliminates the requirement for plug-in solar users to negotiate an interconnection agreement with their utility, including Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Wiener described that negotiation as the main barrier to using plug-in solar.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer would not commit to imposing recently enacted Russian sanctions, telling Semafor and two other outlets that the decision belongs to President Donald Trump.

The sanctions legislation gives the administration until Oct. 18 to decide whether to penalize countries by up to 100% over their use of Russian oil and gas, according to Semafor.

Greer said officials must produce a report and name names within 30 days, while the president will decide what action to take. Officials plan to name names this month, he told the outlets, though it is ultimately Trump's decision whether to enact the levies.

Greer made the comments in an interview on the sidelines of the G20 trade ministerial, according to Semafor.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced an annual funding opportunity of up to USD 400 million for research to advance scientific knowledge and support future technologies and innovation, according to the DOE.

The funding will support research across the DOE Office of Science, according to the DOE. That spans advanced scientific computing, basic energy sciences, biological and environmental research, fusion energy sciences, high-energy physics, nuclear physics, and isotope research, development and production.

The notice of funding opportunity, informally known as the Open Call, is issued annually at the beginning of each fiscal year, according to the DOE.

A new interactive tool maps thousands of US manufacturing projects that have been cancelled, stalled, delayed, or lost support following attacks on manufacturing by Congressional Republicans, according to Electrek.

The tool comes from the BlueGreen Alliance, Electrek reported. In total, the group analyzes 3,446 projects it says have been affected by Republican attacks on manufacturing.

A previous BlueGreen Alliance report says more than 111,000 jobs and USD 82 billion in investment were lost to Republican policies, according to Electrek.

Floating LNG will become the main route to supply diversification by 2030, according to a new report from Wood Mackenzie. The consulting firm projects that roughly half of global LNG production capacity will reside in two countries by 2030.

Wood Mackenzie attributes the emergence of floating LNG (FLNG) as a real supply option mainly to a more concentrated and geopolitically fragile market. The firm says FLNG has moved from a niche workaround to a credible supply option.

Seven floating LNG projects sanctioned since 2023 are adding 18 MMtpa of capacity across six countries, according to Wood Mackenzie. The firm describes these projects as the market's most direct response to both the concentration and fragility pressures.

A newly formed Swiss charging provider, Joya, has bundled the charging offerings of Energie 360° Mobilität, Gofast, Swisscharge and Move Mobility, according to electrive.

Joya operates more than 7,500 public charging points, including over 1,800 fast-charging points, which electrive reports makes it Switzerland's largest charge point operator from the outset.

Of those 7,500 public charging points, 2,200 belong to Joya's own network, for which it offers its own subscription tariffs, while 5,300 are operated on behalf of partners such as Coop, according to electrive.

Existing offerings and sites will gradually transition to the Joya brand over the coming months, electrive reported.

Serica Energy plc completed its acquisition of a portfolio of Southern North Sea assets from Spirit Energy Ltd. and certain affiliates, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

The deal adds a 15% non-operated working interest in the Cygnus field and a 25% non-operated working interest in the Clipper South gas field, along with further positions across other Southern North Sea assets. Oil & Gas Journal reported the acquired portfolio totals 18.7 MMboe of 2P reserves and 3.4 MMboe of 2C resources.

The transaction brings around 10,000 boe/d to Serica Energy's production, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

Serica Energy made a net payment of GBP 33 million, equivalent to USD 43 million, to Spirit Energy under the terms of the sale and purchase agreement.

West Virginia sent the U.S. Department of Energy a letter on September 30, 2026, cancelling its proposal to become the sixth participant in the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus Program (NLIC), according to Neutron Bytes.

The state had submitted its bid earlier in September. After the withdrawal, DOE was left working with five NLIC proposals, according to Neutron Bytes.

Documents obtained by the Gazette-Mail showed that the September proposal included language stating the state accepted taking spent fuel, according to Neutron Bytes.

Nova Scotia has introduced a new levy on electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, according to electrive. The Canadian province will charge EV owners CAD 500 and plug-in hybrid owners CAD 250 every two years, electrive reported.

The levy takes effect on October 1 and applies when vehicle permits are issued or renewed, according to electrive.

The charge covers passenger cars, light trucks and vans, electrive said, but excludes conventional hybrids that cannot be charged externally.

Active cooling for solar arrays remains difficult to implement economically, even after record-breaking heat waves this summer caused performance losses at PV plants across the northern hemisphere, according to PV Magazine.

Crystalline-silicon modules typically lose about 0.4% to 0.65% of their performance for each 1 C temperature increase above 25 C, PV Magazine reported.

Developers may be more interested in preventing temperature-related losses, but in most cases the numbers still do not add up for active cooling, according to PV Magazine.

Aurora Solar launched Trust Signal, a quarterly benchmark tracking U.S. homeowners' experiences with solar energy firms.

The share of U.S. homeowners reporting no negative experience with a solar professional rose from 20.2% in Q2 2025 to 37.5% in Q2 2026, drawn from the four most recent quarterly surveys conducted with market research platform Dynata.

The share of survey responses citing solar-company trustworthiness as a concern fell from 41% in 2025 to 36% in 2026, according to PV Magazine.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp. sold non-core assets in Dimmit and Zavala counties, Texas, for USD 47.5 million and received 616 net acres in Gonzales County, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

The transaction increased Magnolia's average operated working interest to 98% in a consolidated Karnes-area acreage block, Oil & Gas Journal reported.

Ampol Energy has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of Fast Cities Australia, the company operating Evie Networks, according to electrive.

The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval, electrive reported. It is expected to close during the first half of 2027, with both networks expected to continue operating independently until completion.

US Senate negotiators introduced bipartisan permitting legislation on Sept. 30 to speed federal reviews and limit the window for legal challenges to energy projects, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

The measure, named the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, would set a 150-day window for certain challenges to federal permitting decisions, Oil & Gas Journal reported. It also aims to give developers greater certainty that approved energy and infrastructure projects retain their permits.

The legislation would reform Clean Water Act reviews that can delay energy infrastructure and establish more predictable environmental reviews, according to Oil & Gas Journal. The bill is designed to improve predictability for developers.

Wärtsilä has transferred its global energy storage business to Valo, a joint venture it owns equally with RCT Solutions, according to ESS News.

Valo launched on Oct. 1 as a utility-scale battery energy storage system integrator, after the two companies closed the joint venture, ESS News reported. The new company incorporates Wärtsilä's Energy Storage business.

Wärtsilä expects Valo to lose money in 2026, according to ESS News. The company projects Valo to turn positive toward the end of 2027.

The U.S. distributed solar market added almost 1.6 GW of new capacity in the second quarter of 2026, according to pv magazine. The installations kept a steady buildout rate across behind-the-meter systems.

Total solar, combining large-scale and small-scale assets, accounted for 55% of all new U.S. electric generating capacity added to the national grid in the quarter, pv magazine reported, citing the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) and its quarterly Big Impact of Small Solar report.

Solar held its position as the primary source of new U.S. electricity capacity, but its relative market share contracted compared with prior quarters. ILSR attributed the dilution to a sharp rise in fossil power coming online, with second-quarter thermal capacity additions exceeding those of any single quarter over the past two years.

FedEx placed a record order with Harbinger for 2,000 all-electric medium-duty delivery vans worth more than USD 300 million, according to electrive.

Harbinger claims the order is the largest binding order of electric trucks in history, electrive reported.

The vehicles will serve FedEx pick-up and delivery operations in the USA and Canada, according to electrive.

Delivery is scheduled to begin at the end of 2027, electrive reported.

Major Wall Street banks raised their oil-price forecasts for this year and early next, citing stalled efforts to end the Iran war that leave the market exposed to fresh supply shocks despite a rebound in Middle East crude exports, according to a survey compiled by The Wall Street Journal.

The survey, which includes projections from Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley, puts Brent crude at an average of USD 90.22 a barrel in the fourth quarter.

West Texas Intermediate is seen at USD 85.47 a barrel over the same period, according to the survey.

Eversource set out a more optimistic view of its business, pointing to improved regulation in Connecticut, larger investment opportunities and major cash recoveries, according to Investing.com.

Management highlighted a five-year capital plan of USD 26.5 billion that could be expanded by new projects, Investing.com reported.

Kinder Morgan told the same conference circuit that it is seeing one of the strongest natural gas infrastructure markets in decades, according to Investing.com, while cautioning that some of this year's outperformance may not repeat.

Chief Financial Officer David Michels said the company is benefiting from rising power demand, especially in the Southeast, while keeping funding capacity in a range that supports a large organic growth program, according to Investing.com.

The average price of diesel in the UK has reached 199.53p per litre, according to the latest data from RAC Fuel Watch.

That level marks the highest price for diesel in UK history, according to the motoring experts. The record surpassed the previous high of 199.09p set in June 2022.