Wednesday, 14 October 2026

The Trump administration plans to further ease US federal methane requirements for oil and natural gas producers, according to Oil & Gas Journal. The changes include eliminating a program targeting large releases and revisiting rules for low-producing wells and gas flaring.

The US EPA intends to eliminate the super-emitter program, under which EPA-certified third parties use remote-sensing technologies to identify potentially large methane releases, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

The agency also plans to reconsider its approach to associated gas to give oil and gas producers more flexibility on flaring, per Oil & Gas Journal.

Winter oil and gas exploration in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve can now advance without a full project-level environmental study, after the Bureau of Land Management set new categorical exclusions on Oct. 8, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

The exclusions apply to seismic surveys, exploration wells, and the plugging and abandonment work that follows, removing the requirement for a detailed, case-by-case review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for qualifying projects.

Two offshore proposals landed in the same stretch of days. The Marine Minerals Administration (MMA) on Oct. 9 proposed putting about 1.05 million acres in northern Cook Inlet, Alaska, up for lease through the Cook Inlet 2 sale, Oil & Gas Journal reported.

The day before, on Oct. 8, MMA proposed a far larger offering: roughly 80.4 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico through the Gulf 4 lease sale, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

Onshore, BLM also laid out December lease sales in Colorado and Nevada, Oil & Gas Journal reported.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration lowered the 2031 average fleet fuel economy target for new passenger cars and light-duty vehicles to 34.9 miles per gallon from 50.4 miles per gallon, according to electrive.

Under the revised standards, drivers' fuel costs over a vehicle's lifetime are expected to rise by an average of more than USD 1,600, electrive reported.

The US Department of Transportation estimates the relaxed standards will raise US gasoline consumption by 4.6% by 2050, equivalent to about 458 billion litres, according to electrive.

A coalition of 26 US states, counties and major cities, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and joined by several environmental organisations, filed a lawsuit with the relevant US Court of Appeals in response, electrive reported.

Households using heating oil in the United Kingdom will get new consumer protections as the government moves to bring the market under regulation, according to UK DESNZ.

Ministers have agreed to adopt a Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recommendation calling for tighter rules across the heating oil sector, according to UK DESNZ.

The move responds to suppliers scrapping orders earlier this year as prices climbed, which left customers to buy again at a higher cost, according to UK DESNZ.

After those cancellations, the CMA identified 1,700 households that were owed compensation because they had been pushed into reordering at raised prices, according to UK DESNZ.

The reforms will also examine minimum order rules that force some customers to buy at least 500 litres, more fuel than they may require, according to UK DESNZ.

OPEC+ ministers said elevated transportation and insurance costs are being passed through the oil value chain, according to Oil & Gas Journal. The ministers said these costs are burdening both producing and consuming countries and weighing on global economic growth.

The OPEC+ statement did not identify the routes or commodities underlying its cost estimate, nor did it explain how the estimate was calculated, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

Energy prices in Texas and across the United States have risen by more than 30% over five years, according to data collected by Electric Choice.

Nearly 400 data centers are operating, planned or under construction in Texas, requiring nearly 17 TW of electricity annually, according to Electric Choice. That volume is equivalent to powering 1.6 million homes for a year.

The expansion of data centers across the state has become a political flashpoint, with stories about the buildout prompting at least one voter to question her Republican allegiance.

Bulgaria, Romania and Turkiye coordinated a statement seeking a moratorium on drone use against commercial and civilian infrastructure over the Black Sea and a halt to hostilities over the sea.

The three countries aim to impose the moratorium and stop hostilities over the sea, according to Iotova.

The push comes as Black Sea oil shipping insurance costs rise. The increase reflects growing risks to commercial shipping after repeated attacks on vessels and port infrastructure, according to Evgeni Simeonov.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 to update how the federal government approves domestic energy and infrastructure projects, according to the Meridian Star.

The bill would shorten the window for climate-related litigation from six years to 150 days and require plaintiffs to demonstrate harm, the Meridian Star reported.

The proposal would also make it harder for the executive branch to cancel permits that have already been approved.

Under the measure, states would have one year to complete Clean Water Act reviews, after which they would waive the right to challenge a project, according to the Meridian Star.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is consulting on the design and implementation of an energy smart data legislative framework, covering England, Scotland and Wales.

The proposed framework would require relevant data holders to make specified datasets securely available to authorised services when consumers choose to share their data, according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

The consultation closes at 11:59pm on 8 January 2027.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has pressed the Department of Energy to speed up approval of a natural gas pipeline expansion serving the state, The Washington Times reported.

Healey said the Algonquin expansion would move more domestic natural gas into New England, and she said it would lower costs for customers, according to the outlet.

Her letter also backed a bigger project, Project Beacon, which would raise natural gas flow into Massachusetts by 10%, The Washington Times reported.

Algonquin is set to start serving the state by 2028, with Beacon following by 2030.

President Donald Trump is proceeding with a deal to import Russian diesel despite growing complaints from Republicans, according to Semafor Net Zero.

The Trump administration announced that the US would import roughly 2.2 million tons of Russian diesel in an effort to ease fuel price spikes, Semafor Net Zero reported.

A White House official said Trump had not changed his position on the deal.

Two bipartisan groups of senators, including seven Republicans, opposed the import decision, according to Semafor Net Zero. One House Republican said he plans to introduce legislation to block it.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman clashed over high energy costs and electricity affordability during the state's only gubernatorial debate, according to Inside Climate News.

The candidates offered opposing approaches to keeping power affordable as demand rises. Hochul promoted an energy strategy that includes renewable energy development and expanded nuclear power, Inside Climate News reported. Blakeman partly blamed the state's high utility bills on clean energy programs, including offshore wind farms and solar panels.

Average residential electricity bills in New York rose 10 percent from 2024 to 2025, faster than the national average, according to Inside Climate News.

A New York Public Service Commission report found that measures mandated by the state's Climate Act made up between 5 and 9.5 percent of a typical monthly residential electric bill in 2024, according to Inside Climate News.

The U.S. Department of Energy has put out a pre-publication draft of a federal register notice that sets up the Emissions Value Request (EVR) process for the 45Z fuel production tax credit, according to the DOE.

Under that process, fuel producers can secure a rate value from DOE and then petition the U.S. Treasury for a provisional emission rate (PER), the department said.

The petition applies when a producer's fuel type, primary feedstock, or pathway falls outside the Section 45Z rate table. In those cases, the producer takes the request to the Treasury secretary for a provisional emission rate.

Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said building Britain's future energy system will require a partnership between government and industry. She framed the task as part of the government's ambition to deliver a 10-year plan for national renewal, with energy given a central role.

Fahnbulleh said homegrown clean power matters because Britain is uniquely exposed to volatile global fossil fuel markets, a factor she linked to rising prices.

The government said GBP 100 billion of private investment in clean power had been unlocked.

Carbon capture and storage companies should brace for reduced taxpayer backing, the UK government told the Carbon Capture and Storage Association's annual conference, according to Climate Home News.

The signal landed as the Labour government, led by Andy Burnham, weighs cuts to emissions-reduction funding to free up money for higher military spending aligned with NATO allies, Climate Home News reported. Carbon capture subsidies and heat pump support could face cuts under that review.

UK energy minister Martin McCluskey said decisions on the next phase of the carbon capture, use and storage programme would sit within tighter overall funding constraints.

Stefanie Murphy, who leads industrial carbon capture and storage at the energy ministry, was asked by an audience member whether the government could no longer afford to back future carbon transport and storage projects at past levels. "I think yes," she replied.

Six commercial vessels were reportedly hit in and around the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, the most incidents logged in a single day since the war started, shipping industry experts told CNN.

CNN frames the pattern as Iran raising the tempo of attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf to regain leverage over the waterway.

More than a dozen strikes on shipping have been recorded since the end of September, CNN reported. Those strikes have cut the volume of oil moving through the strait, and crude has stayed above USD 100 per barrel.

Oil and petroleum product flows through the strait averaged roughly 13.1 million barrels per day at the end of September, according to marine data tracker Kpler. That level sits just under 80% of the 17.1 million barrels per day that passed through daily before the war.

Greece is increasingly serving as a hub for U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies intended to replace Russian gas in Europe, according to To Vima.

The outlet reported that the Vertical Energy Corridor and the planned Eastern Mediterranean Energy Center are strengthening cooperation among Greece, Cyprus, Israel and the United States.

Chevron and ExxonMobil are taking leading roles in renewed hydrocarbon exploration in Greece, according to To Vima, which described the activity as marking a new phase in cooperation between the two countries.

Western economies are becoming more exposed to further energy shocks as conflict in the Middle East strains global supplies and heavy public debt curbs governments' ability to soften the blow, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The IMF said energy inventories are dwindling, and that additional geopolitical shocks could transmit rapidly through prices and supply disruptions. Global oil inventories are being drawn down by around 2.7 million barrels a day, according to the IMF.

Refined petroleum products remain 70% to 95% more expensive than before the war, with diesel and gasoline under the greatest pressure, the IMF said.

The fund linked the vulnerability to constrained fiscal room, noting that mounting public debt limits the capacity of governments to cushion the impact of further shocks.