8-5-26

Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Wednesday August 5, 2026

Asterisk (*) denotes news stories that may be inaccessible because portions are behind a paywall

 

Good morning! Here are today’s Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Oil extended losses on Wednesday as investors waited to see if efforts to end the Iran war and restore traffic through ​the blockaded Strait of Hormuz were making progress.

West Texas Intermediate futures dropped 58 cents, or 0.8%, to $75.19 a barrel.

Brent crude futures were down ‌32 cents, or 0.4%, to $79.04 a barrel at 0630 GMT.

Both benchmark contracts settled more than 5% lower on Tuesday.

Qatar said ​on Tuesday mediators were making progress in efforts to end the war, ​driving oil prices lower, although Tehran has denied U.S. President Donald ⁠Trump’s assertion that talks are underway. Brent closed below $80 a barrel on Tuesday for ​the first time since July 13.

“While the immediate geopolitical premium has unwound, the broader ​supply picture warrants caution,” said Priyanka Sachdeva, head of market insights at Phillip Nova.

“If diplomatic efforts fail and physical supply is ultimately affected, the current pullback could prove short-lived, with tighter inventories ​amplifying the impact of any future supply shock,” Sachdeva added.

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Top Stories

 

Bloomberg – August 4, 2026

Big Oil’s Profits Are in Democrats’ Sights If House Flips*

Democrats plan to scrutinize soaring profits in the oil sector if they take control of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, raising the specter that companies could face congressional investigations and hearings. “It’s on the list,” said Representative Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, in an interview. “We should absolutely expose them and call them out.”

Huffman, who helps direct party priorities as a member of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, made the comments as oil company profits have surged amid the war in Iran. ExxonMobil Holdings Corp. and Chevron Corp. reported they made $29 billion combined in the second quarter, more than three times the same period a year ago. The announcement drew a rebuke Monday from President Donald Trump, who said the biggest US oil companies are “making too much money.”

American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers credited Trump for the industry’s profit windfall during an interview on Bloomberg Television Tuesday. Sommers, who leads the nation’s largest oil and gas trade group, said companies have no control over prices, but high earnings are critical for future investments. “This industry is a price taker, not a price maker,” Sommers said. “Because the Strait of Hormuz has been shut down for basically five months, we are of course going to be dealing with higher prices at the pump.”

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August 1, 2026

Oil Prices Can’t Be Whatever We Think They Should Be: Art Berman

The world is experiencing the largest oil supply disruption in modern history, yet crude prices show remarkably little urgency. Flows from the Persian Gulf have fallen by at least 10 million barrels per day from normal levels of roughly 20 million. Disruptions have also spread to the Red Sea and Black Sea, while Ukrainian attacks have sharply reduced Russian refining capacity. Despite this, Brent futures trade near $90 per barrel, leaving investors and seasoned analysts alike wondering what the market is missing.

The puzzle deepens when refined products are considered. Spot prices in some markets approach $150 per barrel, and 3-2-1 crack spreads near $70 per barrel signal genuine scarcity. Product markets are behaving as though supplies are tight. Crude markets appear far less concerned. Reconciling those two signals has become one of the defining challenges of today’s oil market. Making sense of this mystery begins with remembering what a futures market actually prices. It does not simply price today’s physical conditions. It prices competing expectations about the future.

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KUHF NPR – August 4, 2026

Proposed Galveston Bay desalination plant clears initial TCEQ review, enters public comment period

A proposed desalination plant that would sit near Galveston Bay in Texas City is now one step closer to reality. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) issued a public notice on July 24, informing residents that officials had finished the initial review of the proposed Bayshore Desalination Facility permit application. Officials issued a draft permit and made a preliminary decision stating that the current proposal meets set requirements.

Residents have 30 days after July 24 to submit public comments to TCEQ or request a public meeting about the permit before officials make a final decision on the project’s wastewater discharge permit. The proposed plant is meant to help water security in the region by removing salt and minerals from seawater to produce 24.5 million gallons of drinking water a day for a region that’s home to nearly 8 million residents, according to Canadian-based utility company EPCOR Utilities Inc.

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E&E News By Politico – August 4, 2026

Extreme heat offers sneak peak of grid’s data center challenges

A sizzling summer is breaking power consumption records across the country, offering a potential preview of the challenges facing America’s artificial intelligence boom in the era of climate change. Three grids — serving the mid-Atlantic, the Great Plains and Texas — have seen power demand surge to historical highs during extreme heat. Prices soared last month in the PJM Interconnection, while last week, the Southwest Power Pool had to implement emergency measures across parts of the Great Plains. Their struggles stood in stark contrast to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which managed to ride out a mid-July heat wave that shattered its demand record without a jump in prices or any emergency actions.

The big difference: ERCOT has lots of solar and batteries; PJM and SPP do not. Two of those grids — PJM and Texas — are at the center of the country’s data center boom. Data centers are also a small, but growing percentage of power consumption in the Southwest Power Pool. “We have these large loads coming online,” said Abby Lestina, an analyst at the power tracking firm GridStatus.io. “The heat is exposing it more.”

America’s electric system is at a crossroads. Climate-induced heat waves are baking the country, sending electricity demand higher as people seek refuge in the safety of their air conditioning. At the same time, energy-hungry data centers are placing new demand on the grid as technology companies rush to develop AI.

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KSAT – August 4, 2026

Gov. Abbott announces plan to break energy monopolies in cities like San Antonio, Austin

Related: Gov. Greg Abbott said he wants to break up CPS Energy’s monopoly in San Antonio and give customers a choice of electricity providers — a move that could potentially cut into the city-owned utility’s revenue and hurt city finances — San Antonio Express-News*

Gov. Greg Abbott has announced a plan to change the energy landscape in San Antonio, saying his goal is to bring prices down for consumers. The plan is to ban so-called energy monopolies between cities like San Antonio and municipally-owned utility districts like CPS Energy. Abbott’s office said more than 5 million Texans live in areas with just one municipal power provider with no option to shop around for cheaper electricity rates.

Of those 5 million, the office said more than 60% are served by Austin’s and San Antonio’s electric utilities. Abbott’s plan would allow Texans to choose their electricity provider by opening city monopolies to retail electric competition. “Governor Abbott’s plan will give Texans the ability to choose their electricity provider and prohibit utility charges from being used as a slush fund, helping Texans save more of their hard-earned money,” said Gov. Abbott press secretary Eduardo Leal.

 

The Latest TERse Tips

During triple digit temperatures over the weekend, wind power plummeted and natural gas took over to fill the deficit — Natural Gas Intelligence*

A bill to bolster the adoption of microgrids with a $200 million U.S. Department of Energy pilot and $500 million in state grants was introduced in the Senate Wednesday by Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., ranking member on the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit — Utility Dive

Construction on a $200-million solar farm project in Marion County is expected to begin early next year — California-based Pathway Power will build the farm on 2,000 acres south of Avinger, east of Johnson Creek Reservoir — Tyler Morning Telegraph

Origis Energy, a renewable energy developer headquartered in Miami, Florida, United States, has announced the commercial operation of three additional phases of its Rockhound Solar complex in Ector County — SolarBytes

Russian oil companies are turning to domestic alternatives and import substitution to overcome Western sanctions, focusing heavily on hydraulic fracturing, chemical enhanced oil recovery, and digital reservoir tools to maintain aging fields and extract hard-to-reach reserves — Energy Intelligence*

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) has suspended operations following Ukrainian drone strikes on two oil tankers at the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, the pipeline operator confirmed — Pipeline Technology Journal

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Oil & Gas Texas

 

KRIS – August 4, 2026

Greg Abbott blasted Corpus Christi for its water crisis. A river authority he has power over is falling apart.

“What Corpus Christi leaders have to do is make a decision,” Abbott said. “We can only give them a little time more before the state of Texas has to take over and micromanage that city and run that city to make sure that every resident who goes to the water tap and turns it on, they are going to be getting water out of their faucet, not because of what local leaders are doing but because of what the state of Texas will do.”

Even as Abbott was demanding that Corpus Christi get its act together, another agency, whose entire board Abbott appoints, was also coming undone. In late June, board members of the Nueces River Authority learned that funding for a desalination plant the agency hopes to build, separate from the city’s, is months from running out. Additionally, the agency was spending more than it was taking in, and other contracts that had kept the authority financially afloat had been canceled.

 

New Castle News – August 4, 2026

Energy Transfer Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results

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E&E News By Politico – August 4, 2026

Federal judge puts FERC’s Energy Transfer enforcement case on ice*

A judge in July closed a court case over a $20 million federal fine levied against pipeline giant Energy Transfer for allegations it misled regulators about the demolition of a 173-year-old farmhouse in Ohio. The federal judge in Texas ruled that settlement negotiations had gone on too long for the case stemming from the 2021 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission enforcement action.

FERC investigated and fined Energy Transfer after it demolished the Stoneman House in Dennison, Ohio, in 2016, as it sought permits to build the $4.3 billion, 700-mile Rover natural gas pipeline, after telling FERC it wouldn’t destroy the historic house. Dallas-based Energy Transfer asserted the house was not historic. It has also argued that FERC should not be able to bring the case before an in-house administrative law judge. That tracks with a national legal push by conservatives to diminish the regulatory powers of federal agencies by cutting their ability to use in-house judges for enforcement. That is a primary reason the case has dragged on for years.

 

KEYE – August 4, 2026

Trump says oil companies are ‘making too much money’: Is he right?

“I can understand the frustration from the motorists seeing every day oil prices go up or down by $5 a barrel or $7 a barrel, and wondering why there isn’t an immediate effect at the gas pump. But the fact of the matter is, there’s a number of people in the supply chain that are covering their costs and making a profit until that gasoline ultimately gets to the service station,” said Andrew Lipow, president of energy consulting firm Lipow Oil Associates. Refineries’ profits have also surged on geopolitical turmoil.

“Refining companies are also making a lot of money because of not only the damage to refineries in the Middle East, but the success of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian infrastructure has turned Russia into a fuel importer rather than a fuel exporter. And because the United States also imports gasoline into both the east and west coasts, we’re tied to the oil market and are forced to pay higher prices,” Lipow said.

Lipow said other gas station owners haven’t needlessly upcharged either. “Let’s suppose you are the gasoline station owner, and you just bought a tanker truck load of 8,000 gallons of gasoline, and tomorrow the price declines by 15 to 20 cents a gallon in the wholesale market. You’re now stuck with that high-priced gasoline, and you’re very reluctant to lower the price until you sell all of that inventory and get your next truckload,” Lipow said.

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KHOU – August 4, 2026

BP to sell Houston-based biogas company amid sweeping divestments

 

Oil & Gas National & International

 

CNBC – August 4, 2026

BP profit more than doubles as Trump blasts Big Oil for ‘making too much money’

Britain’s BP Tuesday reported a sharp upswing in second-quarter profit, as energy supermajors reap massive profits from higher fossil fuel prices amid hostilities between the U.S. and Iran. The oil giant posted underlying replacement cost profit, used as a proxy for net profit, of $5.7 billion for the April to June period. That comfortably beat analyst expectations of $5 billion, according to an LSEG-compiled consensus.

BP’s net profit came in at $2.35 billion over the same period last year and $3.2 billion for the first three months of 2026. The results come as oil and gas prices have surged amid the sprawling Middle East conflict. The fighting has severely disrupted shipping through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, a narrow maritime choke point that typically handles around a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 4, 2026

Saudi Aramco’s Bumper $33 Billion Profit Gives Kingdom’s Finances a Boost*

Saudi Aramco, the oil-rich kingdom’s moneymaking engine, delivered bumper profits through the first months of the Iran war, despite unprecedented disruptions to its operations. The key to success: skyrocketing oil prices offset the fewer barrels it was able to sell to the world. Also critical: Aramco used a backup pipeline built during the early 1980s Iran-Iraq war to deliver larger-than-expected amounts of oil to the Red Sea, offsetting the impact of the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, where most of its oil and other products formerly transited. While Aramco sold and produced fewer barrels, the spiking price still translated into a one-third jump in profit to around $33 billion. The company said it would maintain its base dividend of around $21.9 billion.

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Reuters – August 4, 2026

Goldman sees Brent at $80-$90 until US-Iran deal or major escalation

Goldman Sachs said on Tuesday it expects Brent crude to trade in an $80-$90 per barrel range until there is ​either confirmation of a new U.S.-Iran nuclear deal or a ‌significant escalation of their conflict. The bank estimates spot Brent’s fair value at about $80 a barrel, suggesting markets are pricing in only a modest risk premium despite ongoing ​uncertainty over Middle East oil supplies.

Brent traded near $85 a barrel ​on Tuesday as conflicting signals from the U.S. and Iran over ⁠the status of talks to end their five-month-old war sowed uncertainty. Although Brent ​retreated to the low-to-mid $80s after the U.S. delayed planned strikes on Iran ​and reports suggested progress in talks over managing traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, Goldman said physical oil markets continue to tighten.

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Newsmax – August 3, 2026

Venezuela Oil Deals Stalled by Divisions

Divides in the oil industry and within the Trump administration reportedly have delayed new Venezuelan oil production, despite President Donald Trump’s pledge to rapidly restore the country’s energy sector following the removal of strongman Nicolas Maduro. Nearly eight months after Trump predicted American companies would quickly rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry, no new petroleum agreements with U.S. firms have been finalized, according to Axios.

The report cited more than a dozen oil industry executives, senior U.S. officials, and Venezuelan insiders, many of whom pointed to the Energy Department as a key reason for the delays. “We have no new concessions. No new deals. It is absolutely a problem,” one senior U.S. official told Axios, while Energy Department officials disputed criticism that the agency has slowed progress.

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Galveston County Daily News – August 2, 2026

Invasive species could use Iran war to spread all over the globe

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S&P Global Platts – August 4, 2026

Egypt leads US LNG cargo destinations in July amid cross-basin competition for supply

Egypt was the top destination for US LNG cargoes delivered in July, as war-driven supply disruptions in the Persian Gulf continued to spur cross-basin competition for available volumes, an analysis of S&P Global Energy CERA data showed Aug. 3.

Deliveries of US LNG to Egypt reached a record monthly high of 21 cargoes in July, before a July 29 drone strike on an LNG import vessel at the country’s Damietta port heightened uncertainty over its near-term import plans. The Egyptian government said afterward it was coordinating with Jordan to source natural gas from an alternate import vessel, and that no one had claimed responsibility for the drone attack. The US LNG shipments to Egypt in July were followed by 15 cargoes delivered to South Korea, 14 cargoes to Italy, 12 cargoes to Japan and 11 cargoes to India, CERA data showed.

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Bloomberg – August 4, 2026

Aramco Sees Oil Refineries Running Flat Out as Buffers Run Thin*

Refineries outside of conflict zones are running at full tilt across the world and there are few shock absorbers left in the system to protect against higher fuel prices, the world’s biggest oil company Saudi Aramco said. A combination of war in the Middle East and Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy facilities has sent fuel prices surging in recent months. The attacks are forcing some plants offline and pushing those that can to run at maximum capacity. Europe’s diesel benchmark is trading north of $150 a barrel, while average retail gasoline prices in the US remain above the $4-a-gallon pain point.

“The global refining system is stretched heavily as refineries are operating at near maximum utilization rates,” Aramco Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said on a conference call with reporters Tuesday. “This has clearly left the system with little shock absorbers or buffers.” The pressure on fuel prices is a boon for the world’s biggest producers, who stand to make billions of dollars, while invoking the ire of US President Donald Trump and posing a headache for central bankers. Crude prices are down dramatically from their peak earlier this year, but fuel prices have remained elevated. On Tuesday, Aramco said its higher downstream earnings were mainly driven by stronger refining margins. Western oil majors including BP Plc, ExxonMobil Holdings Corp. and Chevron Corp. have also reported higher earnings in part thanks to the profits available from turning crude into fuel.

 

Utilities, Electricity & Renewables

 

Argus Media – August 4, 2026

Texas halts data center approvals, orders audit

Texas governor Greg Abbott (R) has halted approvals for new data center projects seeking to connect to the state’s power grid until regulators complete an audit of the facilities, directing the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to expand its review of all projects advancing through the interconnection process. Under the order made Monday, regulators must collect information on power consumption, water use, on-site generation plans, tax incentives, ownership structures and potential impacts on local communities. Projects that fail to comply with the review must be denied connection to the Texas grid.

The order comes as opposition to data center development spreads across Texas and pressure mounts on Abbott to take a tougher stance on the industry. Local governments across the state have pursued moratoriums and proposed new restrictions on data centers, while elected officials from both parties have called for greater scrutiny of facilities’ effect on the grid, water supplies and rural communities. Against that backdrop, Abbott’s directive expands an ongoing effort by ERCOT and the PUCT to vet large-load projects, broadening the review beyond grid planning to include resource consumption, incentives and local impacts.

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Politico – August 4, 2026

Texas data center approval halt scrambles grid plans

Data center developers and critics are reckoning with what a new data center pause in Texas will mean — and how possible state legislation could further slow massive construction plans. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who is up for reelection this fall, directed the state’s power regulators and grid managers Monday to audit data centers seeking to connect to the main Texas grid. The governor said no additional data center connections can be approved or move forward until that process occurs.

In a letter to the state Public Utility Commission and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Abbott wrote that officials need to collect more information to keep the state’s grid stable. It’s unclear how long the pause could last or how long it could take ERCOT and the PUC to conduct an audit. “Any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by the PUC and ERCOT, and by state law, must be denied connection to the Texas grid,” Abbott said. “Simply put, Texans must come first.”

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Amarillo Tribune – August 4, 2026

Abbott halts data center approvals pending audits, but Panhandle data centers will not be affected

On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to audit all data centers advancing through ERCOT’s interconnection process.  While the directive pauses the process for data centers that plan to connect to the ERCOT grid, much of the Texas Panhandle is a part of the Southwest Power Pool and the Eastern interconnection, which means that any data centers with plans to connect to the Panhandle grid will not be affected by the governor’s directive. This includes Fermi America, which has an agreement with Xcel Energy for up to 200 megawatts of electricity.

PUCT and ERCOT will define the specific requirements for data centers to move through the interconnection process and how long the process will take, according to Abbott’s statement. The directive specified that the two agencies collect information on which data centers are reliant on the State for financial assistance, the extent to which data centers will provide their own power and water, the measures that the data centers will take to reduce impacts on neighboring property owners and communities, and information on the ownership of each project.

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Politico – August 4, 2026

Three electricity grids, one toasty summer

The Trump administration has used the grid’s summer workout to tout a familiar message: Renewables aren’t working. But as my colleague Ben Storrow writes, the real-world results from three regional grids tell a different story — and could show us how the power system can cope with the rush of new data centers. Grids in the mid-Atlantic, Great Plains and Texas all saw power demand reach near records during last month’s heat waves. But only one managed the surge without raising prices or taking emergency actions: the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

One big reason? A healthy mix of renewables. Wind, solar and batteries account for 50 percent of ERCOT’s installed capacity, and their low operating cost means that power can stay cheap even in the heat. As Ben writes, the highest price on ERCOT’s record setting day was $364 per megawatt-hour around 10:30 pm, roughly the end of the evening discharge from batteries.

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Newsweek – August 4, 2026

Trump’s War on Wind: Timeline of President’s Wrath Over Power Turbines

President Donald Trump has spent years criticizing wind turbines, calling them unsightly, expensive and harmful to wildlife while arguing they should be replaced by fossil fuels and other energy sources.  His opposition resurfaced Monday during remarks in the Oval Office, where he again criticized “windmills” while discussing Europe’s economic challenges, continuing a theme that has become one of the most consistent features of his public rhetoric. Trump’s stance has evolved from a fight over an offshore wind farm near one of his Scottish golf courses into a broader campaign against wind energy, culminating in executive actions during his second term aimed at slowing new wind projects across the United States.

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Newsweek, “‘Wind energy is a costly, intermittent energy source that has proven to be unreliable in times of peak demand. President Trump is focused on unleashing reliable, affordable, and secure energy that delivers when Americans need it the most.”

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Utility Dive – August 3, 2026

AEP secures 13 GW of gas turbines as generation ‘central’ to growth plans

American Electric Power secured 3 GW of gas turbine capacity in the second quarter, bringing its total turbine supply that can be deployed by 2031 to about 13 GW, Bill Fehrman, AEP chairman, president and CEO, said Thursday during a quarterly earnings conference call. AEP has also secured options for an additional 10 GW of turbines by 2035, according to Fehrman.

The turbine deals are with GE Vernova and Mitsubishi, he said. The timing for the 10 GW of turbines dovetails with AEP’s aging power plants, “setting us up really well to continue to replace, potentially, some of the coal plants and some of the retiring gas plants in our vertically integrated utilities,” Trevor Mihalik, AEP CFO, said.

 

Regulatory