Friday, 16 October 2026

The Estonian government reportedly plans to ask Latvia to help shut down a gas pipeline that serves as a backup supply route to Russia's Kaliningrad Region, according to RT.

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal reportedly wants Latvia to close a valve and physically stop gas from flowing through the connection, RT reported.

If Estonia cannot reach an agreement with Latvia, it could impose national sanctions banning natural gas transit, according to BNN.

Natural gas is not currently flowing through the pipeline, though Russia retains the ability to use it, BNN reported.

European Union leaders gathered in Brussels for a two-day summit focused on economic competitiveness, high energy prices and the bloc's next long-term budget, with the first day ending amid differences in views and the cancellation of a scheduled press conference.

The European Council invited the Commission to examine and put forward as needed further measures to address soaring energy prices in the short term, while accounting for the specific circumstances of member states, including differences in electricity prices.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said natural gas prices in Europe had risen 140% since late February and diesel prices had doubled, adding around EUR 100 billion to the bloc's fossil fuel import bill.

Complaints about solar power to Utilities Disputes, New Zealand's independent dispute resolution body, have multiplied fourteen times over four years.

The count moved from 58 in 2022-23 to a projected 829 this year, according to Utilities Disputes.

Among marketing complaints, 86 percent cite returns that never materialised, Utilities Disputes said. Customer service problems, including firms not doing what they agreed, feature in 68 percent of all solar complaints.

Metering drove 219 of the solar complaints logged over the past year, spanning missing export credits and months-long waits for meters to be installed and switched on.

Utilities Disputes said it published ten tips on the benefits and risks of going solar, which providers may also use.

Eskom has opened public electric vehicle charging stations at the Gateway Theatre of Shopping and The Pavilion shopping centre in Durban, according to Business Explainer. The utility is offering motorists a 20% discount at its charging facilities for the first six months.

In a separate development in South Africa's energy sector, Onshore Petroleum Association of South Africa chairperson Nick Mitchell argued that the country cannot meet its gas demand purely with indigenous gas, according to Engineering News. Mitchell made the remarks at the Wits Business School Gas Symposium.

International oil companies working in South Africa have called for government intervention to streamline regulations and resolve appeal-related licensing delays that are holding back upstream investment.

Industry leaders said predictable policy, infrastructure investment and faster project approvals are needed to open up South Africa's petroleum potential.

Magali Pailhé, Managing Director of TotalEnergies EP South Africa, singled out regulatory appeals as a major obstacle to offshore exploration, contrasting the country's limited drilling activity with neighbouring Namibia. Pailhé said 25 wells had been drilled in Namibia since 2022, against three in South Africa since 2014.

Massachusetts plans to expand heating financial support to roughly 50,000 middle-income households, according to the Institute for Energy Research.

Eligible families that use heating oil can receive up to USD 680 in one-time financial support starting in December, the Institute for Energy Research reported.

The state will add USD 15 million in heating assistance targeted at low-income residents, according to the Institute for Energy Research.

Cornell researchers have designed a credit market that would let data centers facing mandatory power cutbacks pay flexible electricity users to shoulder those reductions during periods of grid stress.

The proposed Curtailment Credit Market (CCM) would let a data center buy a curtailment credit once the grid operator signals that transmission capacity is tight. A network of smaller, more adaptable users would then cut their own consumption and collect payment for the exchange.

Trades would clear only when the grid's power lines can carry them, according to the researchers.

Testing the design across three model grids, including a simplified version of New York's system, the researchers found that trading could reduce economic damage from power reductions by up to a third.

US natural gas inventories rose by 67 billion cubic feet in the week ending October 9, according to Hellenic Shipping News. The build fell short of market expectations for a 76 bcf addition.

The weekly injection slowed from 85 bcf the prior week, Hellenic Shipping News reported. It also came in below the 80 bcf recorded in the same period a year earlier and the five-year seasonal average of 90 bcf.

Total US natural gas in storage rose to 3.567 trillion cubic feet.

The 2026 midterm elections will determine whether Congress advances tax legislation during the lame-duck session or in the next Congress, as well as whose priorities prevail, attorneys said at a Holland & Knight webinar on October 13.

State governors across the political spectrum moved aggressively to regulate data center development ahead of the midterm elections.

P2X Solutions has started injecting renewable e-methane into Finland's gas network, with the synthetic fuel bound for domestic and European customers, according to Fuel Cells Works. Gasgrid issued the country's first guarantees of origin for the fuel.

The guarantees of origin cover renewable e-methane produced at the P2X Solutions plant, according to Fuel Cells Works.

P2X Solutions is routing the e-methane through Finland's gas network and, via the Balticconnector, to European markets.

Nigeria's Dangote Petroleum Refinery reported a net profit of USD 4.73 billion for the first nine months of 2026, according to Oil Review Africa. A year earlier, the Lagos-based refinery posted a USD 117.2 million loss over the comparable nine-month period.

The swing to profit came as the refinery sought USD 1.6 billion from an initial public offering slated to be the largest in African history, Oil Review Africa reported.

The outlet attributed the turnaround to processing greater volumes of crude oil and capturing elevated refining margins on the global market.

Uganda has replaced a missed mid-year first-oil target with a window ending in June 2027, after the war in the Middle East held up equipment needed to finish its oilfields and export pipeline, according to Uganda Business News. The statement presents June 2027 as the timeline but does not name a production month.

The delay reflects the need to bring three linked projects into operation together, according to Uganda Business News.

Project updates provided to MPs this month put overall completion at 92% for EACOP, 78% for Tilenga and 90% for the Kingfisher development.

Zambia's 100 MW Maamba PV Power Station in Southern Province was commissioned on September 24, 2026, with high-efficiency central inverters supplied by Sineng Electric, according to EQ and AFSIA.

The facility uses Sineng central inverters rated at 3.3 MW and 4.4 MW, according to EQ and AFSIA.

The Maamba project is expected to generate more than 250,000 MWh of electricity a year, adding solar output to Zambia's national grid, according to EQ and AFSIA.

Residents and businesses on St. Croix affected by the 2021 Limetree Bay Refinery pollution incidents have until November 3 to file claims under seven proposed settlements totaling $59.795 million. The claims process follows preliminary approval by the U.S. District Court of the Virgin Islands.

In a separate case, about 2% of New York City's natural gas leaks into the air, costing city customers who pay for the gas $300 million a year.

French hydrogen investment platform Hy24 has agreed to acquire Hynamics, the low-carbon hydrogen subsidiary of EDF, in a deal aimed at accelerating hydrogen infrastructure development across France and the United Kingdom, according to ESG Today and ChemAnalyst.

The acquisition is being made through Hy24's Clean Hydrogen Infrastructure Fund, which has raised EUR 2 billion, according to ESG Today.

Hynamics produces, stores and distributes renewable and low-carbon hydrogen for industrial and mobility applications, with projects spanning France and the UK, according to ChemAnalyst.

Scientists at the University of Surrey developed a lower-toxicity method for making perovskite solar modules at the scale a factory would need, according to a paper published in the journal Nano Energy.

The approach uses what the team calls a significantly reduced-toxicity (SRT) solvent, based on ethanol and 2-methyltetrahydrofuran with a small amount of a milder additive to control how the film forms.

Using the solvent, the team built mini-modules with active areas up to 11.5 square centimetres. Those mini-modules reached power conversion efficiencies above 18%, according to the University of Surrey.

The modules stayed stable under continuous light during testing.

Transit through the Strait of Hormuz has been virtually halted, and the blockade's direct financial toll has reached tens of billions of dollars, according to The News Intel. The outlet reported severe compounding consequences across energy, agriculture, and shipping sectors worldwide.

The choke point normally carries 20% of global seaborne crude and 20% of world LNG exports, and its near-total closure triggered the largest single energy supply shock in recent decades, according to The News Intel.

Shippers rerouting vessels around the Cape of Good Hope face 10 to 14 additional days per voyage, raising fuel overheads and charter expenses, The News Intel reported.

Crude oil extended its advance above USD 98 per barrel on Thursday, the highest level in a month, as markets stayed focused on escalating supply risks in the Middle East, according to InstaForex.

New York's Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission (ORES) denied a permit application to build a 42 MW solar farm in Copake.

The agency said it rejected the Shepherd's Run permit because the applicant had not demonstrated compliance with applicable environmental considerations, including flood protection requirements.

ORES said this marked the third time a large-scale renewable energy project proposed in New York had been denied through a state permitting process when applicants could not show their proposals met legal standards.

The Motorists Association of Kenya (MAK) has threatened peaceful demonstrations after the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) raised fuel pump prices in its latest monthly review, according to Ghafla!.

The review raised Super Petrol by KES 12.93 per liter, Diesel by KES 9.90 and Kerosene by KES 28.49, Ghafla! reported.

MAK is demanding an independent review of EPRA's pricing formula, an official audit of Kenya's government-to-government oil import arrangement, and full disclosure of the freight and landing charges used to calculate domestic retail prices, according to Ghafla!.

Voltus closed an oversubscribed USD 225 million Series D round aimed at scaling its distributed energy resource platform in the U.S. and Canada, according to pulse2.com.

Generation Investment Management anchored the round. Activate Capital and Vitol came in as co-leads, pulse2.com reported.

The company intends to grow its platform to 20 GW of capacity by 2030 using the proceeds, per pulse2.com.

Part of the plan centers on Voltus's Bring Your Own Capacity offering in the PJM and MISO markets, alongside hooking up more batteries and other distributed resources across its network, according to pulse2.com.

Building out domestic supply of offshore wind castings and forgings through 2050 could support more than 10,800 jobs, a new report estimates.

UK manufacturers already hold, or could build, the technical skills to supply parts covering 37% of projected demand by weight, worth GBP 14.6 billion in gross value added by 2050, the report finds using the Industrial Growth Plan's Make or Buy framework. That weight share equals 41% of the market by value.

The UK offshore wind pipeline will need upwards of two million tonnes of castings and forgings between 2026 and 2050, according to the report.

Domestic firms now compete for roughly 8% of total castings and forgings demand. The report concludes existing capability could lift that to 14%, and investment in forged rings, hub castings and drivetrain components could push the share as high as 37% of total demand.

Bruce Tangeman, former vice president and chief financial officer of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC), estimated that the total cost of the Alaska LNG project could reach USD 75 billion.

Separately, Alaska North Slope production exceeded 500,000 barrels per day for more than half of September and regularly exceeded that level by October as output from the Santos-operated Pikka project increased, according to numbers from the Alaska Department of Revenue Tax Division.

Andy Burnham faces pressure to approve the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields off the coast of Scotland, with decisions on both due imminently, according to the Scottish Daily Express.

The Rosebank oil field sits off Shetland, while the Jackdaw gas field is situated east of Aberdeen. The Energy Secretary said a decision on the Jackdaw field is imminent, according to SSBCrack News.

Saudi Arabia has joined Bahrain and neighboring states in a comprehensive review of transport-sector emissions, according to Travel And Tour World.

The review will assess how potential carbon surcharges, offset obligations and green-fuel mandates could affect consumers and commercial transport operators, Travel And Tour World reported.

The policy work comes as Gulf economies face pressure from outside the carbon file. The International Monetary Fund expects Gulf economies to shrink sharply this year, with prolonged disruption to energy production and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz outweighing the benefits of higher oil and gas prices, according to the IMF's latest forecasts.

South African motorists face a potential fuel price increase in November 2026, driven by elevated international oil prices and conflict in the Middle East.

Central Energy Fund data indicated expected under-recoveries of R2.28 per litre for 95 petrol and R1.46 per litre for 0.005% sulphur diesel.

The November projections remained uncertain and subject to international oil prices, the rand-dollar exchange rate and subsequent Central Energy Fund data.

Egypt's petroleum and investment ministries signed a cooperation protocol on Wednesday covering the oil, gas and mining sectors, with the stated goals of attracting investment, diversifying financing and raising returns on state-owned assets, according to Amwal Al Ghad.

Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi said the protocol would open investment opportunities, widen private-sector partnerships and bring in new financing arrangements, Amwal Al Ghad reported. He said those arrangements target better asset management and faster project delivery inside Egypt and abroad.

Amwal Al Ghad said the cooperation is expected to lift domestic production, cut imports and channel investment into exploration, production, refining, petrochemicals and manufacturing.

Home batteries run by Sunrun and Tesla pushed 745 MW of peak power onto California's grid on October 6, 2026, a record output that helped cover elevated demand during a prolonged heat wave, according to Interesting Engineering.

The two companies drew down batteries sited in homes across multi-hour evening peaks after the California Energy Commission and utilities called for the discharge.

That total beat the 669 MW sent a day earlier, which Sunrun described in an October 14 announcement as a new record for residential distributed power plants in the United States.

Tesla accounted for most of the combined 745 MW, with the remainder coming from batteries managed by Sunrun, according to Electrek.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) ruled that crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules shipped from India, Indonesia and Laos have caused material injury to domestic producers, pv magazine reported.

The commission concluded that dumped and subsidized shipments from the three countries harm U.S. solar manufacturers, according to pv magazine. The finding allows the U.S. Department of Commerce to proceed with duty orders.

Following the ruling, Commerce will issue antidumping and countervailing duty orders across the three import corridors, pv magazine reported.

Those orders will carry combined tariff rates reaching 249% for India, 268% for Indonesia and 219% for Laos.

Semafor Net Zero reported that the Dangote refinery outside Lagos State has exposed how much West African demand for locally refined fuel had gone unmet, and that its output has reached buyers in Europe and Asia.

Fola Fagbule, who runs the Kenya regional office of multilateral lender Africa Finance Corporation, a backer of the Lagos plant, told Semafor that new projects are advancing across the continent "as a result of the new realities in the energy market". He described the refinery's impact as a "Big Bang" moment.

South Africa said it would build up its strategic oil reserves for the first time since the end of apartheid to cushion against supply shocks, according to Semafor. Angola is pushing for faster exploration concessions and asking southern African governments to help fund a new refinery, while refinery plans in Uganda and Tanzania have picked up pace.

Fastned's adjusted charging revenue rose 47% year on year in the third quarter, reaching EUR 46.3 million, according to electrive.

The company opened 17 new stations during the quarter and signed agreements for 26 additional high-traffic locations, electrive reported.

Fastned currently has 65 stations under construction, almost double the number from a year earlier, according to the company.

Concord New Energy closed a USD 400 million financing package to support its U.S. renewable energy efforts and digital infrastructure portfolio, according to Solar Builder.

First Citizens Bank, Goldman Sachs Alternatives and Associated Bank led the transaction, which combines debt, preferred equity and letter of credit facilities, Solar Builder reported.

The company's Project Chisme in Texas pairs 215 MW of solar with a 147 MW/358 MWh battery system, according to Solar Builder. Project Chisme received USD 310 million in debt and letter of credit financing and will be Concord New Energy's first U.S. utility-scale project.

BYD has launched the Da Han EV, also known as the Great Han, in China as its new electric flagship sedan, according to electrive.

The battery-electric saloon uses a 1,000-volt architecture and offers up to 1,008 km of range under the Chinese test cycle, electrive reported.

Pricing starts at 235,900 yuan, equivalent to around EUR 31,300, according to electrive.

All variants carry a 102.3-kWh battery drawn from BYD's portfolio, electrive reported.

Exiro Nickel completed its acquisition of the Thompson Mine Complex in Manitoba, Natural Resources Canada said, with Exiro Minerals Corp., Orion Resource Partners and Vale Base Metals (VBM) marking the close of the deal.

Canada committed up to USD 85 million, roughly CAD 116 million, as part of a broader transaction valued at USD 200 million, about CAD 280 million, involving Exiro Minerals Corp., Orion Resource Partners and VBM, according to Natural Resources Canada.

The Thompson Mine Complex produces 10 to 15 percent of annual Canadian nickel production, Natural Resources Canada said.

The department said the investment is expected to help maintain approximately 675 local jobs while supporting the mine's competitiveness and its future exploration and development.

Equinor has exercised options for two additional wells using Odfjell Drilling's Deepsea Atlantic semi-submersible rig, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The additional wells extend the rig's firm contract into the late fourth quarter of 2027, OEDigital reported.

Equinor retains priced options for another two wells, which could further extend the drilling program, according to OEDigital.

US electric vehicle sales stalled in 2026 because too few EVs were available to buy, not because buyers lost interest, according to The Conversation Energy. Hybrids remained widely available as an alternative over the same stretch.

From March through May 2026, hybrid electric vehicle sales ran 18% higher year over year, while fully electric vehicle sales were 16% lower than the same months a year earlier, according to The Conversation Energy.

Inventory data points the same way. New EV supply fell from about 130 days in the first quarter of 2026 to 78 days by August, according to The Conversation Energy, leaving the stock just two days above the level for gas-burning cars.

Discounts narrowed as supply tightened. The Conversation Energy's analysis of online listings from marketcheck.com found the median new EV listed 9.8% below sticker price in February, then 6.6% in April and 4.7% in June. Shrinking discounts signal dealers responding to rising demand rather than clearing excess inventory, according to The Conversation Energy.

China's Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology have proposed prohibiting exports of selected high-efficiency perovskite and tandem solar manufacturing technologies, according to pv magazine. The same proposal would restrict advanced polysilicon, wafer and crystalline-silicon cell production know-how.

The draft measures would cover 12 photovoltaic technologies, pv magazine reported.

The controls target qualifying manufacturing technologies rather than exports of finished solar modules, according to pv magazine.

Public consultation on the proposal runs until Nov. 15, pv magazine reported.

Switching too many connected home energy devices at once could knock the electricity grid off balance, the Netherlands' digital infrastructure inspectorate, the Rijksinspectie Digitale Infrastructuur, warned in a report covered by ESS News. The regulator says a flawed software update, or a cyberattack reaching manufacturer and aggregator platforms, could flip enough inverters, home batteries, heat pumps and EV chargers simultaneously to cause that disruption.

A sudden gap between supply and demand of 3 GW or more is enough to disrupt the grid, the inspectorate says, pointing to research by SolarPower Europe.

The inspectorate proposes placing any firm that can remotely control enough capacity to endanger grid stability under NIS2, no matter its size or where it is based. It also wants to curb reliance on companies outside the European Union that can influence large fleets of devices.

EU cybersecurity rules should apply to a company by how much power it can switch remotely, not by headcount or revenue, the regulator argues. It also calls for home energy devices to be certified independently under the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA).

World Bank President Ajay Banga said the organisation will continue to support some gas projects in developing countries alongside renewables, nuclear and hydropower, according to Climate Home News. He made the comments on Friday, despite criticism from climate campaigners who say fossil gas is expensive and polluting.

Banga described the lender's energy approach as balanced, with gas included where appropriate as part of a mix spanning renewables, hydropower, nuclear, transmission, grids and storage, according to Climate Home News.

The World Bank has ended support for gas exploration but still backs some projects to transport and use gas. Climate Home News cited a USD 140 million project to help Benin, Cote d'Ivoire and Togo in West Africa import liquefied natural gas (LNG).

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on the World Bank to formally end its prohibition on financing gas and oil exploration and production, according to Climate Home News. He said the bank should "formally retire its prohibition on financing" gas and oil exploration and production, arguing it "cannot credibly invoke country ownership while categorically excluding upstream projects before their development merits are even assessed".

Belgian logistics company H.Essers is expanding its fleet with 20 new electric trucks, according to electrive. MAN and Mercedes-Benz Trucks each delivered ten units.

The arrivals bring H.Essers' battery-electric truck fleet to 31 vehicles, electrive reported. The newly delivered trucks will primarily operate from the company's locations in Belgium.

Volkswagen is preparing a recall of several electric series in Germany and other European markets over potential defects in high-voltage battery cells, according to electrive.

The affected cells could overheat in rare cases, and in extreme instances there may be a fire risk, electrive reported.

As an immediate safety measure, Volkswagen plans to cap the maximum charge level of affected vehicles at 80% through an over-the-air update, according to electrive.

Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported that ACCIONA will serve as development partner on a transmission network to link as much as 2 GW of offshore wind capacity into the power grid in Victoria, Australia.

Taiwan's 1 GW Hai Long offshore wind project now has all 73 turbines in place and feeding electricity to the grid, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

P2X Solutions has begun injecting renewable e-methane from its plant in Finland into the country's natural gas network, according to pv magazine. The output reaches domestic customers and gains access to other European markets through the Balticconnector pipeline.

Gasgrid has issued Finland's first guarantees of origin for renewable e-methane produced at the P2X Solutions facility, pv magazine reported.

Those guarantees of origin allow the renewable source of the synthetic methane to be documented and verified, which lets customers distinguish it from fossil natural gas, according to pv magazine.

A new process for calculating cross-border electricity trading capacity in Europe went live on Oct. 14, 2026, according to European transmission system operators (TSOs) cited by ESS News.

Eighteen grid operators from the European Core region are taking part in the new intraday calculation procedure, known as Intraday Capacity Calculation, or IDCC(e), ESS News reported. The participants include the four German TSOs 50Hertz, Amprion, TenneT, and TransnetBW.

Under the procedure, cross-border trading capacities in the European Core region, which includes Germany and other continental European countries, are now recalculated in the afternoon using updated grid data, according to ESS News.

The procedure aims to use available transmission capacity more efficiently and facilitate the short-term marketing of wind and solar power, ESS News reported.

Trina Solar will take a 1.6% holding in Chinese PV encapsulation film maker Changzhou Betterial Film Technologies, paying CNY 40 million (USD 5.88 million), pv magazine reported on Oct. 15.

The purchase transfers 3.27 million shares from Jiangsu Baixing Industrial Investment Group, with Trina Solar drawing on its own capital to fund it, according to pv magazine.

Trina Solar tied the move to its component sourcing, saying Betterial's film output feeds directly into its solar manufacturing, pv magazine reported.

Metlen and Karatzis Group inaugurated a 330 MW / 790 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Larissa, Thessaly, Greece, according to ESS News.

The project was officially inaugurated on October 14, 2026. The project partners describe the Thessaly facility as Greece's largest standalone battery storage project, ESS News reported.

ESS News confirmed that the project uses Jinko ESS's SunTera G2 energy storage system.

Australian regulators have cleared the offshore West Peron formation for carbon dioxide storage under the Inpex-led Bonaparte carbon capture and storage (CCS) project off northern Australia. The ruling identifies the geological layer beneath the seabed as suitable for permanent CO2 storage.

Inpex says the decision is the country's first for an offshore saline aquifer storage site.

Under the project, Inpex plans to inject up to 443 million tonnes of CO2 into the formation over as many as 35 years, subject to further approvals and commercial agreements, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The declaration confirms the formation can take CO2 injection and storage. It is not final sign-off to build or run the project.

New U.S. Department of Agriculture rules taking effect October 16 effectively make solar power developments ineligible for funding through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), according to Grist.

The USDA's final rules make solar or wind projects on cropland ineligible for REAP funding if any component was made in a country named as a foreign adversary, Grist reported.

Because many solar power system components are manufactured in China, the restriction effectively ends new on-farm solar development through the program, according to Grist.

Italy needs 50 GWh of additional utility-scale energy storage by 2030 as solar capacity rises, grid operators Terna and Snam say, according to ESS News. The operators expect renewable curtailment to become structural as output climbs.

Italy's installed solar capacity is expected to rise from 43.5 GW at the end of 2025 to 82.3 GW in 2030, according to ESS News.

The build-out continues beyond that horizon. Italy's solar capacity could reach 137 GW by 2040, grid operators say, according to pv magazine.

Cuba has built 144 solar parks with a combined installed capacity of 1,418 MW, according to Xinhua, citing the country's foreign minister.

The expansion comes as the island faces U.S. measures targeting its fuel supply. In January, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions and tariffs on countries and entities supplying fuel to Cuba, Xinhua reported.

Granma described the U.S. economic measures against Cuba as including a blockade and energy and financial strangulation.

Several local governments have moved to restrict or slow data-centre and battery energy storage system (BESS) development within their jurisdictions. According to energy-storage.news, the City Council of Independence, Missouri approved new zoning requirements for data centres and BESS inside the city limits.

Custer County, Kansas took a split approach, approving data-centre zoning regulations while establishing a 12-month moratorium on BESS, energy-storage.news reported.

The Fort Worth City Council voted unanimously to begin the state-required process for a 90-day data-centre moratorium and set up an advisory group to help shape new rules, according to KERA.

The local actions follow a directive from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who on Aug. 3 ordered the Public Utility Commission and ERCOT to audit every data centre in the grid connection queue before approving more.

A late-2025 survey of 3,000 households in Germany found that 65 percent of residents believed they had little or no financial leeway for energy upgrades.

Among interviewed tenants, 75 percent considered climate-friendly renovations somewhat or definitely unaffordable, compared with 55 percent of apartment or home owners.

The survey also captured a decision-making gap for renters. Of 1,226 tenants with energy measures already planned or completed, roughly 78 percent said they were hardly involved in the decisions or not involved at all.

Concern tracked closely with how much of household income went to energy. High energy-cost concerns affected 79 percent of people whose energy costs consumed at least 15 percent of household net income, against 56 percent among those with a burden below 5 percent.

US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 8.6 million barrels in the week ending October 9, 2026, dropping to 415.6 million barrels, 3% below the five-year average.

The weekly figure excludes the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Earlier data for the week ended October 2 showed a draw of 3.2 million barrels, against an expected build of 1.7 million barrels. That decline brought stockpiles to 424.1 million barrels.

Tanzania is approaching a final agreement on a USD 42 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) development, with commercial and fiscal terms now largely settled.

Equinor and Shell lead the project.

The development draws on an estimated 47.13 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, with the bulk of the LNG set for export and a share held for domestic use.

The head of the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) said in September 2026 that talks on commercial, fiscal and revenue-sharing terms were largely complete.

Tata Power has assembled a data centre opportunity pipeline of more than 2.8 GW in India, spanning renewable energy, transmission and distribution, according to FM Live.

The pipeline breaks down into approximately 430 MW of upcoming load under its distribution network, 1,236 MW of transmission-linked opportunities, and 1,150 MW of green energy capacity under active engagement, FM Live reported.

Tata Power is running 29 active workstreams across 18 global and domestic data centre operators in the country, supporting hyperscalers and AI-ready digital infrastructure projects.

Vulcan Energy Resources has started commercial-scale production of VULSORB, the proprietary material used in its direct lithium extraction process, according to Kalkine Media. The material supports the company's geothermal lithium project in Germany's Upper Rhine Valley.

Vulcan Energy Resources, an Australian-listed developer, uses VULSORB at the core of its lithium extraction method, Kalkine Media reported.

The company separately announced a successful LSC-3a well test for its Lionheart project, according to Finanzwire. The project sits in the Upper Rhine Valley Brine Field along the Germany-France border.

Vulcan Energy described the well test as a de-risking step within its Lionheart Field Development Plan, Finanzwire reported.

Britain will provide GBP 17 million to repair the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, according to Archyde. Chancellor John Healey and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the money will restore the plant's protective shelter and ventilation systems.

Those structures were hit during a Russian drone attack last year, Archyde reported. Officials warned that continued corrosion could create environmental and safety hazards over time.

The UK money sits within a wider international assistance package that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is coordinating with the Ukrainian government and G7 donors.

South Korea's government said the announced USD 54 billion South Korean investment in an Alaska liquefied natural gas pipeline was not complete, according to the Rachel Maddow Show's MaddowBlog. Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said he lodged a strong protest with the administration, telling reporters that Trump's announcement went far beyond what was agreed.

Trump announced that Taiwan had agreed to buy 30% of the LNG from a planned Alaska pipeline for the next 20 years, Bloomberg News reported. Taipei said the contract was not yet completed, according to Just the News.

A separate announced project drew similar scrutiny. A review of property records found that Mesabi Metallics and its Indian parent company, the Essar Group, did not own property in Lee County, Iowa, where a steel plant was supposed to be built, or elsewhere in the state, according to The Washington Sun's review cited by the MaddowBlog.

Brent oil reached $110/bbl for the first time since May as prospects for imminent supply relief dwindled, according to World Oil. Traders ramped up bets on higher prices ahead of the weekend.

The global benchmark rose 3.7%, recording a second consecutive weekly gain amid reports of conflict in major export centers, World Oil reported.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels continued missile and drone strikes against Saudi Arabia, while Russia and Ukraine exchanged attacks on energy infrastructure, according to World Oil.

NG Energy International has brought its Aruchara-6 well online at the Maria Conchita block in Colombia, according to World Oil.

During initial flow through the field's central processing facility, the well produced up to 8.7 MMcfd gross and 6.96 MMcfd net, World Oil reported.

With Aruchara-6 online, Maria Conchita's output is expected to rise to 23.0 MMcfd gross and 18.4 MMcfd net, from 16.0 MMcfd gross and 12.8 MMcfd net, according to World Oil.

Equinor Energy exercised options for two additional wells on Odfjell Drilling's Deepsea Atlantic semisubmersible rig, extending the firm contract into late fourth-quarter 2027, according to World Oil. The rig operates offshore Norway.

The additional wells will be drilled in direct continuation of the rig's current contract, at rates agreed under the original contract, World Oil reported.

Equinor retains priced options for a further two wells, according to World Oil.

Fourteen oil and gas operators, service providers and vendors have approved an updated recommended practice for electric intelligent wells, according to Offshore Magazine.

The update, known as IWIS 2.0, revises the original recommendations to support increased adoption of advanced electric completions, Offshore Magazine reported. These completions require more power and more intricate integration with subsea control and communication systems.

The updated practice recommends power, communications and mechanical interfaces, along with safety and redundancy measures.

A proposed IWE interface module would standardize the larger, high-power interface electronics required by advanced electric completions, according to Offshore Magazine. The module would simplify integration and qualification.

Tariffs aimed at curbing India's purchases of Russian oil and gas risk harming the US-India relationship, analysts told Semafor.

Richard Fontaine, CEO of the Center for a New American Security, said neither the United States nor India should buy Russian oil and gas, but that imposing big tariffs on India is not the way to get it to reduce those purchases.

Sadanand Dhume, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, argued that punishing India for relying on Russian energy would deal a body blow to the US-India relationship.

The two countries are in trade negotiations that additional tariffs would disrupt, according to Semafor.

Trump had previously raised tariffs on India over its Russian energy purchases, then removed them as trade talks advanced.

Some Canadian EV customers are putting off purchase decisions while they wait for more Chinese EVs to reach the market, according to a survey commissioned by Clean Energy Canada.

The survey found that 48% of Canadians said they were likely to buy an EV as their next vehicle, according to Electrek.

Of that group, 42% said they wanted to wait for more Chinese EVs to become available, Electrek reported.

A group of senators reached a compromise on a permitting reform bill called the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, according to Grist.

The bill would accelerate environmental reviews for energy projects and includes provisions intended to deter current and future presidents from blocking clean energy projects, Grist reported.

Experts and climate advocates argue that the bill's project certainty provisions would do little to prevent a president from blocking solar farms and offshore wind turbines, according to Grist.

Oil demand in Southeast Asia and Africa has fallen sharply since the outbreak of the Middle East war, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said, as disrupted trade flows, tighter fuel supplies and higher prices weigh on consumption.

Southeast Asian oil demand declined by an estimated 260,000 barrels per day, or 3.7% year on year, during March to August 2026, according to the IEA. That compares with prewar expectations for 2.3% growth over the same period.

African oil consumption contracted by 2.5% year on year during March to August, the IEA said, following estimated demand growth of 3.4% in the 12 months before the war.

South America remained relatively resilient, benefiting from its lower dependence on Middle Eastern oil supplies, according to the IEA.

New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals (NZPAM) confirmed that Sunda Energy's application for an offshore petroleum exploration permit in the Taranaki Basin has become exclusive, according to Offshore Magazine.

The application covers 654 sq km of acreage in the Awakino area in the northern part of the basin, west of New Zealand's North Island, Offshore Magazine reported.

Sunda's proposed program involves technical studies of well and field data, along with reprocessing of 450 sq km of existing 3D seismic, according to Offshore Magazine.

No competing offers were submitted for the acreage. NZPAM will review Sunda's proposal before deciding whether to award the permit, Offshore Magazine reported.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) unveiled plans for a $200 million expansion of its NY-Sun residential and commercial solar program, officials announced Oct. 14, according to Solar Builder.

The funding, delivered through the state's Sustainable Future Program, aims to widen access to affordable solar across New York and support more than 565 MW of new photovoltaic developments, Solar Builder reported. NYSERDA officials said the additional capacity would provide enough solar to power more than 90,000 homes across the state.

About $116 million of the funding, roughly 58%, will back about 450 MW of commercial and community solar projects around New York, according to NYSERDA officials cited by Solar Builder.

The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) is seeking views on proposals to improve ecodesign standards for standby mode.

The proposed updates for Great Britain would replace the current standby ecodesign regulations with standards aligned with EU Regulation 2023/826, according to DESNZ.

The consultation closes at 11:59pm on 24 December 2026.

The United Kingdom government is seeking views on proposals to improve ecodesign standards for industrial fans, according to UK DESNZ.

The consultation concerns proposed updates to the ecodesign requirements for industrial fans in Great Britain. The proposed updates aim to align Great Britain's industrial fan standards with specified EU regulations.

The consultation closes at 11:59pm on 24 December 2026.

The U.S. Department of Energy said it intends to use Defense Production Act (DPA) funding to speed up transmission capacity expansion in Virginia and West Virginia, according to a department announcement.

Virginia Energy's Grid Enhancing Technologies for Virginia and West Virginia Large Load Growth project will receive up to USD 50 million in DPA funding to deploy advanced transmission technologies across existing power lines, the department said. The funding targets increased electricity delivery capacity, reduced congestion, and growing energy demand across the region.

The project is expected to add an estimated 290 MW of transmission capacity across Appalachian Power's Virginia system, according to the department.

Under the plan, the project will deploy advanced reconductoring and Dynamic Line Rating technologies along existing transmission corridors.

Plug-in hybrids registered in 2024 emitted about six times more CO2 in real-world conditions than official figures indicated, according to T&E data reported by electrive. That gap widened from a factor of around five for vehicles registered in 2023.

The real-world shortfall carries a direct cost for drivers. T&E calculated that a PHEV sold in 2024 incurs average additional fuel costs of EUR 680 per year compared with official consumption figures.

Actual emissions from plug-in hybrids were only 14% lower than those of conventional combustion vehicles and non-plug-in hybrids, T&E found, while official tests suggested an 83% reduction.

T&E attributed part of the gap to internal combustion engines running regularly during supposedly electric operation.

Ghana National Gas Company is considering using drones to monitor its gas pipelines because of concerns about encroachment by illegal miners, chief executive Judith Adjobah-Blay said on Thursday, according to energynewsafrica.com.

The company separately warned fisherfolk in coastal communities in Ghana's Western Region not to tamper with or damage the marker buoys installed along its offshore gas pipeline, according to ghanaweb.com. Ghana Gas described such acts as a threat to human life, national energy security and the environment.

Ghana Gas said any damage to the buoys or to the pipeline itself could cause gas leakage, fire, loss of lives at sea, disruption of power supply nationwide and severe environmental pollution, according to ghanaweb.com.

Power outages lasting more than a week in parts of Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory have disrupted economic activity, spoiled perishable goods and raised household expenses, according to Signal Nigeria and Daily Trust.

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) attributed the outage across parts of the FCT and neighbouring areas to a technical fault on the 330 kV Shiroro-Katampe transmission line.

Small businesses that rely on electricity to preserve goods and run equipment were hit hardest, forcing many operators to fall back on generators and inverters despite rising fuel costs, according to the two outlets.

Frozen-food dealer Fatima Muhammed, at Dutse Market, said she lost fish and chicken worth more than N100,000 because of the blackout.

South Africa called for deeper continental energy collaboration, increased investment and expanded regional refining capacity, according to The Business Weekly. The appeal urged closer cooperation among governments, national oil companies, regulators and financial institutions.

The push for more investment lands as the IMF raised its economic growth forecast for sub-Saharan Africa to 4.5% in 2026, according to News Central. The Fund cited the region's ability to withstand successive global shocks.

The revised projection is 0.2 percentage points above the estimate in the IMF's April outlook, News Central reported.

Australia's major gentailers neither need nor want to sign power purchase agreements for wind and solar projects, according to RenewEconomy.

The article attributes the preference for gas to the commercial position gentailers already hold. They want to build gas generation partly because their pipeline access, existing gas contracts and industry relationships give them a comparative advantage, RenewEconomy reports.

RenewEconomy points to the Nelson Report's ESEMs as a possible fix for the renewable contracting gap. Under that design, the PPA role shifts away from gentailers: state governments set the targets, a national administrator buys the contracts, and consumers carry any net cost.

The author says ESEM could resolve the problem but will not help over the next few years.

Greece is more likely to secure additional fiscal room through an energy escape clause than through a broad exemption, according to naftemporiki. That clause would let funds cover both investment and support for citizens facing high energy prices.

Any energy-price support measures would be temporary and targeted, Greece has said.

European Commission officials have signaled reluctance to approve further exemptions from fiscal rules, according to naftemporiki. They warned that repeatedly changing the framework could undermine its credibility.

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission rejected NIPSCO's proposal to recover costs for a series of natural gas infrastructure upgrades in northern Indiana for a second time, according to WOWO.

The commission denied NIPSCO's request to reconsider approximately USD 200 million in rural upgrades, WOWO reported.

In its decision, the commission determined that NIPSCO had not demonstrated the proposed projects were necessary.

The ruling means NIPSCO cannot use the rejected plan to collect the upgrade costs from customers.

The SADC Committee of Stock Exchanges selected Botswana as the host trading venue for regional investors seeking access to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals IPO, according to TechCabal.

Botswana's stock exchange will serve as the common venue, while Access Bank Botswana will issue the country's depository receipts, TechCabal reported.

The arrangement offers Botswana-based investors a potential route to exposure to ordinary shares in Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical FZE through unsponsored Botswana Depository Receipts, according to Fantastic Moments.

Black Hills Energy's new natural gas rates took effect in Arkansas on Oct. 12, according to a report from NWA Homepage.

The utility said the updated rates support infrastructure investments needed to deliver natural gas safely and reliably to more than 189,000 customers across the state.

According to the company, the new rates would recover approximately USD 147 million in system investments since its last rate increase request in 2023, along with operational costs.