Texas Energy Report NewsClips archives August 2026

Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Thursday August 20, 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 prices climbed on Thursday on concerns the impasse in ‌the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran will continue to disrupt supply from the key Middle Eastern producing region and tighten global supplies.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures for September added 17 cents to $86 a barrel. ​The more-active October WTI contract gained 12 cents, or 0.13%, to $89.91.

Brent crude futures for October delivery rose 26 cents, or 0.28%, to $91.87 a barrel by 0439 GMT.

Both Brent and WTI benchmarks gained ⁠for a fifth straight session on Thursday, having settled on Wednesday at their highest since July 24. ​The September WTI contract expires later on Thursday.

“Oil prices remained elevated as the market is supported by ​sporadic attacks in the Middle East but lacks fresh momentum without a major escalation,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, chief strategist of Nissan Securities Investment, a unit of Nissan Securities.

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Top Stories

 

The New York Times – August 19, 2026

What If America Went Completely Dark?*

The power grid relies on thousands of aging, hand-built transformers. If enough fail, the blackout could last years.

The grid is perhaps the most complex machine ever built, but it was created without a master plan and made subject to the distortions of greed and local orneriness like every other big project in the United States. As a result, we have not one grid but three: the Western, Eastern and Texas Interconnections. Within each area, thousands of utilities generate and distribute power, and the flow is managed by one of 101 regional balancing authorities across the United States. FERC conducted a power flow analysis, which modeled the cascading effects of knocking out the most critical substations in each interconnection, ones where multiple high-voltage lines came together. “We came up with some very astounding numbers,” Wellinghoff said. “If you knock out nine total substations among those three grids, you can black out the entire United States.” ,,,

It is difficult to overstate how completely the loss of the grid would disrupt life as we know it. In that first hushed moment after the lights went out, we wouldn’t even know that this outage was different from any other. Maybe we would lose power for a few hours. Maybe the ice cream would melt. The mood, at first, might be almost jubilant, as it was after the 2003 blackout in the Eastern Interconnection. At some point, though, the authorities would have to tell the public: The power won’t be restored for a very long time. …

There are a few ways to solve the problem posed by the transformer shortage: build more of them here, faster; make the grid less reliant on them; or replace traditional transformers with something better. A few months ago, I went to Reno to see whether the last would be possible anytime soon. Inside a blank building just off Prototype Drive, a company called Amperesand was assembling what it hoped would be the most significant innovation in transformer technology since the days of William Stanley. It’s called a solid-state transformer. Rather than filling a giant steel vault with GOES, hand-wound copper and oil, Amperesand’s transformer is made of small modules that can be easily replaced if damaged, and their input and output voltages can be controlled via “power electronics” — the use of semiconductors to manipulate voltage and current.

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Politico – August 19, 2026

‘We are not a bunch of woke Marxist liberals here’: Rural voters scramble Texas election

Rural voters may not stop the spread of data centers, but they could stop Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The Republican is bleeding support from small towns as he seeks a fourth term because of two late-emerging issues: power-hungry tech campuses and a planned $33 billion electric transmission build-out. Pushback against Abbott points to larger fears about losing rural identities, but also to everyday concerns about construction, pollution and tight supplies of water and electricity. Shawn Nanny, a Republican county commissioner in West Texas, said data centers and power line plans are the “straws that broke the camel’s back” when it comes to Abbott and other Texas GOP leaders.

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KXAS – August 19, 2026

Texas House hearing talks data center growth, possible regulation, power supply

Related: Residents and industry leaders at odds over transmission lines at legislative hearing — Texas Tribune

As data center development expands across Texas, the State legislature is beginning to study and regulate the rapidly expanding industry. A planned all-day hearing Wednesday opened with lawmakers questioning state electric regulators, grid officials, and members of the public about how the expansion could impact nearby communities, the state’s water supply, and electric costs.

The hearing comes as Texas Governor Greg Abbott has taken an increasingly directive approach toward an industry Texas previously courted. Earlier this month, Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT to conduct a comprehensive audit of data centers seeking to connect to the state’s primary power grid, ordering that the review be completed before additional projects are allowed to move forward. The review is expected to examine projects’ electricity and water demands, taxpayer-funded incentives, ownership, and plans to mitigate impacts on surrounding communities.

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Texas Tribune – August 19, 2026

How Corpus Christi’s water emergency exposed flaws in Texas’ water planning

For more than a quarter of a century, Texas has diligently updated its state water plan every five years, a process designed to forecast water supply and demand 50 years into the future — and give communities enough warning about potential water shortages to do something about it. That warning matters because water projects can take years — sometimes decades — to plan, finance and build. For Corpus Christi and the rest of the Coastal Bend, it never came.

That’s because the planning process is built largely around past droughts — in fact, some regional plans still rely on the epic 1950s drought of record, the longest statewide dry spell in history. But some experts now say using historical droughts isn’t working because climate change is making droughts more frequent, longer and severe — raising doubts that yesterday’s worst-case scenario is also tomorrow’s. That means the models that help secure money and political will for new water projects may be dramatically underestimating both future water needs and how quickly communities could face shortages.

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Reason Foundation – August 19, 2026

Texas can expand data centers without raising electricity costs

A version of the following testimony was presented to the Texas House Committee on State Affairs on August 19, 2026.

At the time of this hearing, Texas is one of only two states that have paused new data center projects. However, Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order is not the same as a moratorium like the one New York Gov. Kathy Hochul recently signed into law. Instead, this is an effort to gather specific data and information on the large number of projects Texas currently has in the pipeline. Rather than singling out data centers for misguided new regulations and restrictions, the audit is intended to enforce existing rules, build public trust at a time of controversy, and ultimately support utilities and existing local and state authorities in continuing to make well-informed decisions.

With its interim charge to consider wide-ranging questions and policy matters concerning data centers, the House State Affairs Committee can serve the interests of Texans in the same manner. With few exceptions, data centers are like any other business development and should be treated with exactly the same laws, rules, and approval processes by local and state authorities. Nonetheless, the combination of new technology and public backlash creates a need for go-to sources of data and information to support those authorities in making decisions and building public trust.

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Yahoo! News – August 19, 2026

Red lights are flashing in energy markets

A key measure of refining profitability, known as the diesel crack spread, skyrocketed to $102 a barrel on Monday for the first time ever, nearly tripling pre-war levels. Diesel crack spread measures how much refiners can earn on each barrel of crude they turn into diesel. “This is man-bites-dog news. The market is screaming that we’re short,” Bob McNally, founder and president of Rapidan Energy Group, told CNN.

Supplies of fuel remain historically tight because three of the four global refining hubs are in severe distress. Refineries in the Middle East have been attacked during the Iran war. And the refineries that are unscathed have had trouble shipping because of the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran and the United States are battling for control.

 

The Latest TERse Tips

Marathon Petroleum reported a six-hour unit upset at its Galveston Bay refinery in Texas on Tuesday, affecting heaters associated with crude — Quantum Intelligence*

Diesel in California rises to $7 a gallon as wars in Europe and Middle East strain supply

“Crude prices may still be high, but they’ve come down significantly from their wartime peaks. Meanwhile, natural-gas futures prices in Europe are hovering near their highest level since early 2023, as traders bet the Strait of Hormuz could stay closed into winter, and that’s left Europe staring down a repeat of the squeeze it suffered after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a few years ago” — Joe Wallace in The Wall Street Journal*

Power producer NRG Energy has been ​named as a potential suitor for a West Virginia coal plant that landed in ‌bankruptcy last month with $13 million in cash and several profitable years ahead of it, a court filing shows — Reuters*

Rental units in Houston must provide air conditioning under new ordinance as more than 20,000 households in the Houston metro area lack AC, according to a 2023 survey by the U.S. Census Bureau — KUHF NPR

Federman & Sherwood, a national consumer protection law firm, is investigating the Jasper Newton Electric Cooperative data breach following a notification filed with the Texas Attorney General — according to the Texas filing, the data breach affected approximately 257 Texas residents, with additional individuals potentially affected nationwide — the information potentially affected includes Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers — see the press release

Fitch Ratings has affirmed the Golden Spread Electric Cooperative’s Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘AA-‌’‌ — the Rating Outlook is Stable — Fitch

What to know about Amazon’s nearly 3,000-acre data center planned outside of Houston — Houston Chronicle*

Texas regulatory officials are urging Rio Grande Valley leaders, landowners, and economic developers to stay actively engaged in the state’s rapidly evolving energy grid planning, emphasizing that local input remains vital to meeting surging power demands and sustaining regional economic growth — Rio Grande Guardian

Munich Re Group asset management subsidiary MEAG has ended it plan that began in 2017 to develop wind farms with the sale of its minority stake in the Horse Creek (in Haskell County near Weinert) and Electra (in Wilbarger County near the town of Electra) onshore wind farms in Texas to global private investment firm Ardian, an existing investor in the projects — Power Technology

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Oil & Gas Texas

 

The Forward – August 19, 2026

He’s campaigning to regulate Texas oil and gas. Why is he linking his Jewish opponent to the Bolshevik Revolution?

A Texas race that would normally focus on oil wells, pipelines and energy policy has spilled into accusations of antisemitism. In a fundraising email last month, Bo French, the Republican nominee for the powerful Texas Railroad Commission, circulated an AI-generated image of Jon Rosenthal, his Jewish Democratic opponent, smiling inside the room where Russia’s Romanov royal family was killed after the Bolshevik Revolution.

Rosenthal has “much in common with the Marxist revolutionaries who brutally executed the Romanov family,” the email reads. “My opponent has spent his time in office mocking Christianity, the Virgin Birth, and Christian Communion, while voting against religious liberty and for the spread of Islam.” The text “Radical Rosenthal” with a blood-red outline overlays the black-and-white image. “I do see it as antisemitic,” Rosenthal, the only Jewish member of the Texas statehouse, told the Forward. “Look at the history of the Bolsheviks and how the Jews were scapegoated. To invoke that here and now is disturbing.”

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James Talarico Led ‘Divest’ Protest Against Texas Coal Plant That Provides 10% of Austin’s Electricity, Unearthed Footage Shows

Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico led a student protest calling for the city of Austin to divest from a coal-fired power plant that remains the city’s single largest power plant and provides it with 10 percent of its electricity, previously unreported video footage unearthed by the Washington Free Beacon shows.

Talarico was one of three speakers at the October 2009 “Rise Up Against Coal” press conference, where he called on city leaders to phase out the plant, the Fayette Power Project, in favor of solar energy. Talarico, who introduced himself as “Jimmy Talarico,” a University of Texas at Austin student government representative, touted a student government resolution he helped pass endorsing a plan for the city to divest from the plant.

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New Orleans Times Picayune – August 19, 2026

Exxon coastal suit dropped, clearing path for possible SpaceX launch site in Louisiana*

A federal judge has formally dismissed a coastal damages lawsuit brought by Vermilion Parish and the state of Louisiana against ExxonMobil following a settlement, ending a legal battle that has stretched over a decade and potentially clearing the way for the construction of Louisiana’s first spaceport. The case is one of 42 similar lawsuits led by Baton Rouge attorney John Carmouche, alleging that oil and gas companies polluted coastal marshes and contributed to the state’s land loss crisis. As with the settlements in other coastal cases, the details have not been made public, and it is not clear how much money the state will receive from the company for coastal restoration efforts.

But the settlement with Exxon in the Vermilion case is expected to allow SpaceX, billionaire Elon Musk’s commercial spaceflight company, to acquire the use of about 130,000 acres of land owned by the oil company in the parish. There, the company plans to build a rocket launch site similar to the one it has constructed near Brownsville, Texas, according to sources close to the negotiations not authorized to speak publicly.

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Financial Review – August 20, 2026

Chevron hit with new legal challenge to key gas project

Energy giant Chevron is facing a Federal Court challenge from Indigenous traditional owners against a critical element of its multibillion-dollar Gorgon project, in an escalation of environmental legal disputes in the oil and gas sector. Mardathoonera woman Raelene Cooper, who has led a high-profile campaign against Woodside projects in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, filed a fresh challenge this week against the recent approval of infrastructure underpinning the $80 billion Gorgon project.

Chevron on Wednesday said that it would vigorously defend the claim, which centres on environmental approvals of the company’s sub-sea Jansz-lo compression project, which is critical to supplying gas to its Barrow Island processing plant off the West Australian coast. “We are continuing to progress the project which will support reliable energy supply for WA and the Asia-Pacific region,” a Chevron spokesman said.

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Rigzone – August 19, 2026

EIA Lowers Henry Hub Gas Price Forecasts

In its latest short term energy outlook (STEO), which was released this month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) lowered its average Henry Hub spot price projections for both 2026 and 2027. According to its new STEO, the EIA now sees the Henry Hub spot price averaging $3.44 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in 2026 and $3.31 per MMBtu in 2027. In its previous STEO, which was released in July, the EIA projected that the Henry Hub spot price would come in at $3.67 per MMBtu this year and $3.49 per MMBtu next year.

A quarterly breakdown included in the EIA’s August STEO showed that the EIA sees the Henry Hub spot price averaging $2.87 per MMBtu in the third quarter of this year, $3.14 per MMBtu in the fourth quarter, $3.62 per MMBtu in the first quarter of next year, $2.79 per MMBtu in the second quarter, $3.20 per MMBtu in the third quarter, and $3.63 per MMBtu in the fourth quarter.

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Energies Media – August 18, 2026

EIA forecasts record U.S. natural gas output of 122.5 Bcf/d in 2026, led by Permian and Haynesville growth

U.S. natural gas production is on pace to shatter its own record. The Energy Information Administration’s August 2026 Short-Term Energy Outlook projects marketed output will average 122.5 Bcf/d this year—up from the 118.5 Bcf/d record set just last year. The gains are concentrated in two regions: the Permian Basin, spanning Texas and New Mexico, and the Haynesville formation across Louisiana and Texas.

The numbers behind that forecast deserve a closer look. The EIA’s August 2026 Short-Term Energy Outlook puts full-year marketed production at 122.5 Bcf/d — nearly 4 Bcf/d above the record set just twelve months earlier. That’s not a marginal revision. In a sector where single-digit percentage moves carry enormous economic weight, a jump of that size matters.

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Texarkana Gazette – August 19, 2026

Texas Stock Exchange lands first primary listings in bid to carve out market turf, including oil ETF

The Texas Stock Exchange drew its first primary listings on Tuesday, a fresh milestone in the upstart bourse’s push to compete with the heavyweights in New York. Financial services firm Texas Capital Bancshares said two of its exchange traded funds would make TXSE their primary trading venue starting September 16, pending regulatory approvals. The funds currently trade on the NYSE Arca, a part of the New York Stock Exchange group.

The move marks an early test of TXSE’s ambition to build a new home for companies and investment products outside the traditional hubs in New York. While the exchange has already attracted secondary listings from several companies, a primary listing makes it the principal venue of the ETFs, giving it a greater role in their trading activity. The ticker symbols and investment approaches of the funds — Texas Capital Texas Equity Index ETF and Texas Capital Texas Oil Index ETF — will remain unchanged, Texas Capital said.

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gCaptian – August 19, 2026

Port of Corpus Christi Joins U.S. Push for Nuclear-Powered Shipping

The Port of Corpus Christi has joined the Trump administration’s push to bring nuclear technology into the U.S. maritime sector, signing an agreement with the U.S. Maritime Administration to explore small modular reactors, port microgrids and nuclear-powered vessel concepts.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy joined Maritime Administrator Stephen Carmel, Rep. Michael Cloud of Texas and port officials Wednesday to announce the partnership, the second agreement signed under a MARAD small modular reactor initiative launched in May.

 

Oil & Gas National & International

 

The Wall Street Journal – August 18, 2026

Diesel Buyers Compete for Shrinking Supply Pool*

Diesel buyers are competing for shrinking supply amid disruptions in Russia and the Middle East, with the U.S. at the center of a scramble that could intensify into the winter. The squeeze across the global refined-product markets, where gasoline, diesel and jet fuel compete for the same refinery capacity, is pushing prices higher. The benchmark price for European diesel hit $167 a barrel late last week, compared with about $87 a barrel a year earlier, according to data collected by price reporting agency OPIS, which is owned by Dow Jones. The diesel crack spread in northwest Europe—the premium of diesel over crude—was at around $90 a barrel on Friday compared with an average of $24 a barrel last year.

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Oil Price – August 19, 2026

The U.S. Is Quietly Building a New Energy Foothold in Iraq

There have been perhaps a handful of events since the end of the Second World War that have fundamentally reshaped the world’s oil markets and consequently its geopolitics while remaining largely unnoticed at the time. The quiet agreement between U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Saudi King Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud struck on 14 February 1945 that would define the energy, economic, political and military relationship between the two countries until the rise of American shale in the early 2010s is one, as analysed in my latest book on the new global oil market order.

The series of meetings between U.S. President Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, in October and November 1973 to neutralise the newfound power of the Arab states in light of the 1973 Oil Crisis through the strategy of ‘constructive ambiguity’ was another, as also detailed in that book. And the humiliation of Donald Trump by President Barack Obama during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2011 that, according to one of his most senior advisors spoken to exclusively by OilPrice.com at the time, decisively triggered his desire to run for president in the future was another. An announcement last week may well fit into this mould, concerning a seemingly obscure new project in Iraq being quietly undertaken by the U.S. with almost no publicity.

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S&P Global Platts – August 19, 2026

Oil majors pile in on Americas projects to plug production gap*

The world’s major oil companies are sharpening their focus on Americas oil and gas projects and tightening their belts for future price volatility as the Middle East war continues to stifle production. Global energy producers continued to enjoy a surge in profits in the second quarter of 2026 as the US-Iran conflict continued to disrupt trade through the Strait of Hormuz and rock oil and gas prices.

In April, the Dated Brent crude benchmark hit $144/b, an all-time high, while companies reported Q2 refining margins ranging from $12-$30/b, at least double last year’s levels. BP PLC and Shell PLC both doubled their profits compared to 2025. In the US, ExxonMobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. took home double-digit billion-dollar returns, later criticized by President Donald Trump as “too much money” for a wartime windfall.

 

Utilities, Electricity & Renewables

 

KUT – August 19, 2026

Austin-area residents are pushing for data center bans. State leaders are divided on what to do next

Sitting beside Google CEO Sundar Pichai last November, Gov. Greg Abbott declared Texas the “epicenter of AI development” while announcing three massive data center projects in the state. The announcement was unsurprising at the time. Abbott has passed legislation to ensure Texas is open for business — especially for tech companies — for over a decade.

Now people are looking back on the announcement differently. That’s because in June, Abbott did a complete 180, declaring that he’s now, “pushing back against these AI data centers that are trying to build in our neighborhoods,” at a campaign stop in Bullard, Texas. Abbott’s sharp policy change has felt like whiplash to residents across the Austin area who have been calling for stricter data center regulations. Opposition to data center development has grown since 2023, when Central Texas began seeing a massive surge in projects, fueled in part by a growing demand to support AI.

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Houston Chronicle – August 19, 2026

Houston City Council waives its own rules to give NRG an $11M tax break for a new power plant*

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KPRC – August 19, 2026

CenterPoint Energy unveils 10 commitments for Texas transmission projects

CenterPoint Energy is rolling out a new framework aimed at putting Texas communities and landowners at the center of its next major transmission improvement projects. The Houston-based utility announced its “10 Commitments for Texans” on Tuesday, outlining a community-first approach to strengthening and modernizing the state’s transmission system. The commitments apply to future major transmission projects requiring a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity from the Public Utility Commission of Texas and spanning more than 100 miles. …

The company also announced a $5 billion Customer Savings Initiative for Texas families. Its upcoming transmission projects are projected to save Electric Reliability Council of Texas customers an additional $100 million or more annually as local economies grow and share the cost of reliability improvements. One of the most notable changes under the new commitments is a significant expansion of the landowner feedback process. CenterPoint says it will more than double the time property owners have to weigh in on projects.

 

San Antonio Express-News – August 19, 2026

Governor Abbott targets CPS Energy monopoly. What it means for San Antonio

Only a handful of major Texas metros are forced to use city-owned electric providers. San Antonio, Austin and Brownsville are among them, but Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is now vying to take on these municipal “monopolies.” But locals are split on the matter. Abbott vowed to make a legislative push next year to break up local markets and introduce private power producers to San Antonio. He expressed frustration that CPS Energy’s service area exceeds San Antonio’s city limits, yet 14% of the agency’s gross revenue funds nearly 30% of the city’s general fund budget.

In a nutshell, he’s arguing that counties – and even those in rural areas outside the county line – shouldn’t fund city services. There are state laws that bar public utilities from making excessive profits. But the mechanism for challenging this is tedious and shrouded in legalese. But what would a diversified electric market mean for San Antonio residents? The data doesn’t look great for prices, but there are certainly strong opinions on both sides. Supporters of Abott’s efforts say more options mean competitive pricing. Some who have moved to San Antonio from other parts of Texas – as most major cities in the Lone Star State have some form of diversified utility market – say competition led to incentive offers and potential deals.

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Quartz – August 19, 2026

Batteries are quietly driving down evening electricity prices across the U.S.

On the hottest of summer days, a natural gas “peaker” usually kicks in to support the wave of air conditioning units turning on at once. It’s the electrical grid’s lifesaver, a turbine built only for the highest-demand hours of the year, and also one of the most expensive to run. It’s what made 7 p.m. electricity so expensive in different parts of the U.S in the first place.

But a shift is taking place. California and Texas are now turning to batteries to power their grids. Power units that were typically used simply to store energy are now being deployed as power sources themselves. California’s grid operator has at least 13,000 megawatts of battery capacity, enough to serve several million homes through evening peak hours, and Texas’ batteries already power up to 10% of the state’s grid at peak.

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Power Magazine – August 18, 2026

Energy Dominance Requires Commitments That Last: Guy Caruso

The Trump administration’s decision to unwind offshore wind leases through negotiated buybacks has predictably reignited the debate over renewable energy. Many welcome the move as a correction to policies that heavily favored offshore wind during the previous administration. That debate is perfectly legitimate. However, the recent agreements involving TotalEnergies, Bluepoint Wind, Golden State Wind, Duke, Invenergy, and most recently Germany energy firm RWE, underscore that these transactions are about more than offshore wind. They raise a broader question about how the federal government treats commitments it has made to private investors.

When Washington begins unwinding leases that companies lawfully purchased from the U.S., it sets a dangerous precedent. Today, the target is offshore wind. Tomorrow, another administration could decide offshore oil and gas leases, liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals, pipelines, or critical mineral projects no longer align with its political priorities. That should concern anyone who believes in free markets, the rule of law, and America’s long-term energy security.

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Dallas Morning News – August 19, 2026

How extreme heat affects EV range, batteries and more*

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Bloomberg – August 18, 2026

Data Center Gas Plants to Boost US Power Emissions by 20%*

Data center developers are turning to bespoke natural-gas power plants, a development that promises to dramatically increase carbon emissions and make it harder for US technology companies to meet their lofty climate goals. Ninety-nine proposed plants tracked by BloombergNEF would emit about 318 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually if run at industry-standard rates, according to a Bloomberg News analysis. The entire US electric power industry emitted about 1,485 million metric tons of carbon last year, according to Energy Information Administration data, meaning one slice of data center infrastructure has the potential to lift US power sector emissions by 20%, and as much as a third should the new plants run flat out.

The data center building boom has already strained the US electricity system, prompting reliability concerns and moratoriums on new project approvals. With even greenlit facilities facing yearslong delays connecting to regulated electricity grids, data center developers are seeking alternatives. These include so-called behind-the-meter projects that can be permitted and built without the approval of utilities or the independent system operators charged with ensuring grid reliability. “There is immense, immense pressure on the whole sector to get power, and get it fast,” said David Pomerantz, executive director of the Energy and Policy Institute, a utility watchdog that promotes renewables. “They’re sort of agnostic if it is clean or dirty.”

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Regulatory

 

Los Angeles Times – August 19, 2026

After refinery explosions, California lawmakers move to preserve safety rules*

California lawmakers are advancing an effort to preserve oil refinery safety rules that were designed to prevent fires, explosions and other catastrophes despite industry opposition. The union-backed proposal, Senate Bill 966, would enshrine existing worker protections into state law as California regulators move to revise them in response to a legal settlement with the state’s oil lobby. “We’re trying to get the best regulations possible for these industries,” said Nick Plurkowski, a leader of a Bay Area local of the United Steelworkers. “An industry where you have to write into regulation … that it’s OK to refuse work that could lead to your death.”

The bill would lock in workers’ rights to refuse dangerous work, participate in safety reviews, choose their own representatives for safety planning and report hazards anonymously. The measure is among several targeting the oil and gas industry this year, including proposals aimed at refinery closure plans and a bid to curb high gas prices during wartime by expanding the state’s price-gouging law. Lawmakers’ focus on refineries comes as California drivers face the nation’s highest gasoline prices and the Iran war pushes up the global price of crude oil.

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Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Wednesday August 19, 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 prices climbed for a fourth ​straight day on Wednesday as investors weighed conflicting messages from Tehran and Washington on whether the ‌Strait of Hormuz is open to ships.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 51 cents, or 0.6%, to $85.45 a barrel.

Top Stories

 

Bloomberg – August 18, 2026

Texas Grid Predicts Record Demand as Heat Rises, Wind Power Sags*

The largest Texas grid is bracing for another bout of searing heat that threatens to topple its all-time power demand record yet again, just as wind generation is predicted to take a dive. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or Ercot, is predicting peak demand will exceed the current record of 91.089 gigawatts each day from Aug. 20 through Aug. 24, topping it by nearly 1 gigawatt later in the period. Power use is expected to soar as temperatures climb as high as 99F (37C) in Houston and 105F in Dallas with heat indexes nearing 110F, prompting homes and businesses to crank up air conditioners.

Ercot’s reliance on renewables has helped it withstand repeated blasts of hot weather and wilting humidity this summer, including one that set back-to-back demand records on July 21 and July 22. But the grid is facing another challenge this week from weakening winds, which are needed to spin turbines across the state. By Friday, daily wind generation on Ercot may drop by as much as 5 gigawatts from current levels — with each gigawatt roughly equivalent to the output of a typical nuclear reactor — and remain below normal into next week, according to forecasts from Atmospheric G2. “Battery and solar should help offset some of this potentially record power load, but the wind generation — that’s going to get interesting,” said James Caron, Atmospheric G2’s director of meteorological operations for North America and Asia.

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Oil Price – August 18, 2026

Aramco and Maaden Move Ahead With Saudi Copper Mining Venture

Saudi Aramco and Saudi Arabian Mining Company, or Maaden, have taken another step toward forming a joint venture aimed at expanding Saudi Arabia’s exposure to copper and other minerals considered critical to the energy transition. The companies said Tuesday they had signed a shareholders’ agreement for a venture that would be 51% owned by Maaden and 49% by Aramco. The proposed JV remains subject to corporate, regulatory and antitrust approvals.

Exploration would concentrate on the roughly 182,000-square-kilometer Zone-4, or Transition Zone, within the Arabian Platform, an area equivalent to nearly 10% of Saudi Arabia’s landmass. Copper will be the primary target, alongside zinc, lead and rare earth elements. Demand for copper is expected to grow as electricity grids, renewable power installations, energy storage and electric vehicles expand globally.

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The Texan – August 18, 2026

Bo French, Jon Rosenthal Vie for Vast Share of ‘Unsure’ Voters in Railroad Commission Race

Energy policy is stealing the spotlight in Texas statewide elections, but the race for the agency that oversees it remains largely in the dark. The Railroad Commission of Texas, the state’s oldest regulatory agency, has primary jurisdiction over the oil and gas industry. Oil prices, juiced by the war in Iran, have contributed to a prevailing concern about the cost of living that now dominates statewide races. Energy costs, alongside water availability and noise mitigation, are one of the central issues of data center development, another preeminent campaign trail topic.

However, both major party candidates in the race for the Railroad Commission are struggling to gain name recognition, sway independents, and motivate voters in their own parties, according to a recent poll. Former Tarrant County Republican Party Chairman Bo French, an investor, secured the Republican nomination after defeating incumbent Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright in a primary runoff election. State Rep. Jon Rosenthal (D-Houston), a former engineer, is this year’s Democratic candidate.

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The Dallas Morning News – August 18, 2026

Texas investor-owned utilities cut power at 3 times the rate of co-ops and public utilities. Here’s why.*

Texas ranked second in the country for electricity disconnection rates in 2024, with about 23% of residential customers cut off from power due to billing and nonpayment issues throughout the year, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. Only Oklahoma had a higher rate. But disconnection rates vary widely by what kind of electrical utility families use, a Dallas Morning News analysis of EIA data found. In Texas, investor-owned utilities disconnected about a third of customers due to nonpayment throughout 2024 — triple the rate of municipally owned and cooperative utilities.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 18, 2026

Permian Gas Is Pouring Into the Market and More Is On the Way*

 

The Latest TERse Tips

Who are the biggest donors backing Talarico and Paxton in the Texas Senate race? See the top 20 — Houston Chronicle*

Iran has considered attacking U.S. military targets in Europe if the war escalates, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing two regime insiders — U.S. assets in Bulgaria and Cyprus were weighed as potential targets, according to the FT’s report — CNBC

Railroad Commission of Texas commissioners today unanimously elected Commissioner Christi Craddick to serve as chairman of the three-member commission — KOSA

US natural gas futures ended higher as intense and long-lasting heat in Texas pushed consumers to crank up their air-conditioners, putting pressure on gas-fired power generators and the electricity grid — Bloomberg*

Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Empire Petroleum has deepened the Wakefield-Harrison GU B #1 in Fort Trinidad Upper Glen Rose Field in Madison County, Texas, hoping to find far western Haynesville pay — Hart Energy*

BETA Technologies is beginning electric aircraft test flights Tuesday from Scholes International Airport in Galveston, Texas, and the flights are expected to continue for about three weeks as the company evaluates the aircraft during operations around southeast Texas — AV Web

Governor Greg Abbott announced Tuesday that $795,000 in grant funding will go to strengthen electric reliability for Deaf Smith Electric Cooperative members — a news release states the Texas Energy Fund grant will be used to modernize the co-op system. Project work includes replacing 30 aging breakers at eight substations — KFDA

San Antonio Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito is calling for renewed scrutiny of cybersecurity protections at the city’s municipally owned water and electric utilities following attacks on water systems in Minnesota — in a memo, the District 7 councilwoman requested confidential briefings from San Antonio Water System and CPS Energy no later than Sept. 30 — Texas Public Radio 

Explorer Pipeline says lightning sparked a massive fire at a liquid natural gas tank farm on Monday in northeastern Oklahoma — just after 8:30 a.m., crews responded to an explosion at an Explorer facility in Glenpool, just outside Tulsa, when two tanks exploded, causing large flames and a black plume of smoke to billow into the air — KOCO

Oil & Gas Texas

 

Reuters – August 17, 2026

Chevron finds oil, gas condensate offshore Angola*

Chevron said on Monday it had discovered oil and gas condensate at an ​exploration well in Block 0, offshore Angola, adding to its ‌push to increase production in sub-Saharan Africa through infrastructure-led exploration. Western and southern Africa are among regions drawing fresh attention as growth in U.S. shale tops ​out. Angola, sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest oil producer, introduced a presidential ​decree in late 2024 that included reforms and tax cuts ⁠aimed at making mature blocks more investible and spurring exploration.

The well ​in Angola’s Lower Congo Basin encountered an oil and gas condensate ​column exceeding 600 meters in the Pinda reservoir, including more than 90 meters of net pay in what Chevron described as high-quality rock. Block 0 is operated by ​Chevron subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil, which holds a 39.2% working interest. ​Sonangol E&P has a 41% working interest, TotalEnergies 10% and Azule Energy 9.8%.

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Politico – August 18, 2026

Enviros appeal Trump rollback of Texas lizard protections*

Environmentalists are trying to stop the Trump administration from removing protections for an imperiled lizard whose survival could interfere with Texas oil and gas development. The Center for Biological Diversity filed an appeal on Friday with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an attempt to reverse a decision issued last month by a lower bench that allowed the administration to reverse a Biden-era effort to list the dunes sagebrush lizard as endangered, siding with the oil and gas industry and the state of Texas.

“We’re tired of the Trump administration putting politics and polluters over science at the expense of struggling wildlife like dunes sagebrush lizards,” Jason Rylander, a senior attorney at the group, said in a statement. “These lizards are clearly endangered and need federal protection to survive, so we’re appealing to prevent their extinction. We need to make sure the federal government follows the law and does its job or these critters won’t have a fighting chance.”

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Yahoo! News – August 18, 2026

Targa Secures Long-Term ExxonMobil Agreements Across the Permian

Targa Resources Corp. TRGP has announced a major expansion of its strategic relationship with ExxonMobil XOM through new long-term, integrated midstream agreements covering significant acreage in the Permian Basin. The arrangements strengthen Targa’s presence across the Permian Delaware and Midland basins while broadening the range of services it will provide to ExxonMobil subsidiaries.

Inside Climate News – August 18, 2026

El Paso Officials Seek Answers Following Emissions at Marathon Refinery

Gilbert Morales struggled to compose himself before addressing the El Paso City Council on Tuesday morning. Morales fought back tears as he recounted how his wife died of lung cancer in June, despite never being a smoker. He lives next to Marathon Petroleum’s El Paso Refinery, which is one of the largest sources of air pollution in the city and has come under recent scrutiny for flaring hazardous compounds. Morales said that when flares burn off gases at the refinery, he and other family members suffer from headaches and nausea.

“How many more loved ones do we have to lose to get the refinery accountable for our health?” he asked the City Council. During the night of Aug. 4 into the early morning hours of Aug. 5, Marathon released 13 compounds into the air that were in excess of allowable amounts in its air permits, according to reports the company filed with TCEQ. Residents reported experiencing nausea and headaches that night.

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Offshore Magazine – August 18, 2026

Chevron plans decommissioning of Israel’s Yam Tethys gas platform

Chevron Mediterranean will seek to decommission the Yam Tethys platform offshore Israel in 2028. However, the timing and apportioning of costs will be subject to agreements between the partners in the Yam Tethys and offshore Tamar project, co-venturer NewMed Energy said in an update. The platform started receiving gas from the Mari B Field in 2004, later supplemented by gas from the smaller Noa and Pinnacles satellite fields, both tied back to the main facilities at Mari B.

NewMed also revealed that on July 8 Chevron received a letter from Israel Natural Gas Lines that hot commissioning tests had finished on a newly laid subsea pipeline in the subsea transmission section between Ashdod and Ashkelon, and that gas was now flowing through the new line.

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Corpus Christi Caller-Times – August 18, 2026

Ending water releases from Lake Corpus Christi sees opposition

The city of Corpus Christi’s proposition to pause required freshwater releases from Lake Corpus Christi to Nueces Bay is opposed by some environmental groups who have asserted that the city is circumventing an established process. An emergency request submitted by the city to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality would, if approved, withhold the required releases — also known as pass-thrus — that provide freshwater inflow to Nueces estuaries at risk for hypersaline conditions.

The purpose of delaying the releases is to shore up the region’s critical supply after its lakes gained water in recent weeks, according to city officials. In an Aug. 11 letter to the TCEQ, City Manager Peter Zanoni wrote that it “is necessary to address an emergency affecting the City’s public water supply and to protect public health, safety, and welfare.”

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Gas Compression Magazine – August 18, 2026

Mora Energy Adds Permian Presence

Mora Energy has completed the purchase of two companies in the Midland basin, acquiring Tejon Treating and Carbon Solutions LLC (Tejon) and West Texas Midstream Gas Services LLC. Tejon is a natural gas gathering, compression, and sour gas treating business in the northeast Midland Basin. Its assets are located in Howard and Mitchell counties, Texas. Phase 1 was completed in summer of 2023 and includes an initial low pressure gas gathering system, an amine treatment plant, and treated gas redelivery to area processors.

West Texas Midstream Gas Services, commonly known as the Quail system (Quail), consists of natural gas gathering and compression infrastructure in the northwest Midland Basin. Together, Tejon and Quail establish an operating footprint for Mora Energy in the Midland Basin, comprising approximately 200 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines, four compressor stations, an amine treating facility, and an acid gas injection well.

 

Oil & Gas National & International

 

India Times – August 18, 2026

US to announce steps to help refiners produce more fuel, energy chief Wright says

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Monday that Washington will announce steps within days to help refiners boost fuel output, as President Donald ‌Trump seeks to ⁠rein ⁠in stubbornly high gasoline prices that spiked during the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. U.S. refiners are already running at strong rates as high fuel prices have lifted margins. “The United States refineries are running at record high, but we have refineries in the Middle ​East that are turned down,” Wright told reporters at an oil rig site operated by ExxonMobil . He met with refiners on Monday “about what we can do in the government to help them further ramp up their ​throughput,” Wright said in Midland, Texas, in the Permian Basin, the ⁠heart of the ‌U.S. oil industry. Increasing refinery output in the U.S. and elsewhere was the key ​to lowering gasoline ​prices, he said.

Persistently high pump prices above $4.00 a gallon are a risk for ⁠Trump’s Republican party which will be campaigning to retain narrow majorities in ​both houses of Congress during November’s midterm elections. The average U.S. price for regular ​gasoline is more than $4.06 a gallon, according to motorist group AAA, up more than $1 per gallon from a year ago, or nearly 30 per cent higher.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 18, 2026

KKR Makes $9 Billion Takeover Bid for Natural-Gas and Electricity Distributor*

Natural-gas and electricity distributor UGI Corp. recently received a roughly $9 billion takeover offer from KKR , according to people familiar with the matter. The private-equity firm offered to buy UGI for $42.50 a share, the people said. UGI shares closed at $35.09 Monday, giving the company a market value of around $7.5 billion. It couldn’t be learned if UGI will be receptive and there are no guarantees of a sale to KKR or any other buyer, the people said

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Bloomberg – August 18, 2026

Trump’s Venezuela Fixer Is Promoting ‘America First’ Oil Deals*

 

Reuters – August 18, 2026

Norway’s Equinor enters Namibia oil exploration with Chevron deal*

Equinor said on Tuesday it has agreed to buy a stake in an oil exploration licence in ​Namibia from a subsidiary of U.S. energy major Chevron as the ​Norwegian company seeks to boost its international portfolio. The purchase of ⁠a 17.4% stake in the PEL 90 petroleum exploration licence in ​the Orange Basin offshore Namibia marked Equinor’s first upstream entry into a new ​country since it expanded into Argentina in 2017, a company official said.

The Orange Basin, one of the world’s hottest exploration zones, has had a string of oil discoveries in ​recent years, spurring interest from oil majors seeking to acquire acreage ​to explore. Equinor, which has scaled back its ambitions to invest in renewable energy, in line with ‌a ⁠trend among international oil companies, said its Namibia deal followed a strategy to “strengthen and replenish” its international oil and gas portfolio.

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Bloomberg – August 16, 2026

The Americas’ Challenge to Middle East Oil Won’t Let Up: Javier Blas*

For a few weeks of 2026, the American continents were pumping nearly half of the world’s oil. It was an extraordinary moment, even if short lived. To a degree, it was a statistical aberration, a fortuitous byproduct of the Iran war, which had shut down much of the Persian Gulf’s energy industry. But it was also a very real indicator of a boom that has moved the oil market’s center of gravity away from the Middle East. That increased production — and the realignment that comes with it — will extend into 2027 and very likely beyond, acting as a strong headwind against the price pressures brought by the continuing conflict.

Multiple factors have so far managed to keep oil prices down. The release of strategic reserves is helping, as are bypass pipelines. China has slashed its imports, freeing barrels for everyone else. And more oil is still flowing through the Strait of Hormuz than is commonly accepted. But the American boom is another helping hand. If the US shale revolution remains one of the most unappreciated geo-economic events of the last 25 years, the surge in oil produced by the rest of the Americas, particularly Brazil and Canada, is even more overlooked. The growth is even more impressive considering that two of the region’s once-leading producers have seen their output collapse: Venezuela, due to political mismanagement, and Mexico, due to geological factors.

As whole, the Americas now pump about 39.5 million barrels a day of crude and other petroleum liquids. On top of that, the continents produce another 2.5 million barrels of ethanol and biodiesel that are typically considered part of its oil total. That’s 42 million barrels a day — more than any other region, including the Middle East. The US anthem says the country is “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” Such is the energy bonanza, that one could say the Americas are becoming the land of the oilmen, the home of the petroleum riches.

In normal times, American oil now makes up roughly 40% of the world’s petroleum output, but for those few weeks in March it rose to just above 45% as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates were forced to shut down their wells when the Strait of Hormuz closed. For a region where many countries had long been preoccupied by their dependence on foreign oil, it’s an embarrassment of riches. Back in 2000, the Americas accounted for about 26% of the world’s production — and that was before the falloff in Venezuela and Mexico.

 

Utilities, Electricity & Renewables

 

Bloomberg – August 18, 2026

Data Center Boom Tests Long-Term Water Planning in Parched Areas

Water utilities across the US say they’re struggling to plan ahead during the data center boom because a lack of transparency and evolving technology is making it hard to know how much water they’ll consume. From water-starved Texas and Arizona to drought-prone Georgia and even water-rich northern Virginia, water planners and utilities acknowledge they’re not yet feeling overburdened by the centers. But some say they can’t be sure that will last because developers give limited information and water utilities keep water use data private.

“We’re building many more much faster, much larger,” said Eric Masanet, a professor at the University of California-Santa Barbara who studies sustainability of emerging technologies. “A lot of companies and even jurisdictions want to build them as quickly as possible, and we’re doing that with a dearth of data.”

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Texas Border Business – August 18, 2026

Texas Power Grid Expands as Electricity Demand Reaches New Records

Texas is expanding power generation and transmission infrastructure as population growth, industrial development and emerging large electricity users increase demand across the state, Public Utility Commission of Texas official Mike Hoke told business and community leaders in Harlingen. Hoke, director of public engagement for the PUC, spoke during the “Powering Texas & Regional Growth: Infrastructure + Workforce Exchange,” an event planned and executed through a collaboration between the Harlingen Economic Development Corporation and I-LinCP.

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KTSM – August 18, 2026

El Paso seeks clarity on Abbott’s data center rules

El Paso City Council is seeking clarification on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s data center directives after he announced that Meta will comply with new statewide standards On Tuesday, Aug. 18, City Council is expected to discuss and send a letter to Abbott, asking questions about the specifics of the statewide standards for large-scale data centers in Texas and whether those standards apply to El Paso.

The agenda outlined many questions that residents have asked, such as if El Pasoans have to shoulder the electricity and water infrastructure costs and if the data centers will disrupt the flow of resources to neighborhoods and businesses. Last week, Abbott stated that the tech company will comply with the new standards, which require Meta and other data centers across Texas to pay for their own electric infrastructure, reuse water and limit impacts to nearby neighborhoods and taxpayers.

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Dallas Morning News – August 18, 2026

North Texans are spending more on electricity as energy insecurity surges across the state, data shows*

Nearly $515. That was Ines Cervantes’ electricity bill for service in July. The month before, her bill was nearly $460. The 69-year-old lives in a three-bedroom house in Oak Cliff, only about 1,300 square feet. Before the last few months, her electricity bill ranged from $275 to $350, she said. She wasn’t able to pay the full amount due for the last few months, so her balance for August ballooned to $970. “My light bill shouldn’t be almost $1,000,” Cervantes said.

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Austin American-Statesman – August 18, 2026

Gigafactory from above: Tesla’s Texas compound is more than meets the eye*

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Texas Observer – August 18, 2026

What the Data Says About Electricity Shutoffs During Sweltering Texas Summers

In July 2024, the city-owned electric utility in Georgetown recorded two disconnections for nonpayment for every 10,000 residential accounts it served. In Garland, outside Dallas, the city-owned utility recorded 250, data shows.

Same state, same month. Neither utility was covered by the state rule that restricts cutting off power during a heat advisory.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC)—which regulates the state’s electricity market—rules bar a retail electric provider from disconnecting a customer for nonpayment in any county where the National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory or has issued one on either of the two preceding days. The rules, according to an agency spokesperson, “specifically apply to retail electric providers in the ERCOT region.” Municipal utilities and electric cooperatives answer to city councils and member boards instead. Asked whether the commission tracks what those utilities do, the agency said in a statement: “The PUCT does not collect or maintain disconnection data from municipally owned utilities or electric cooperatives.”

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Power Magazine – Augsut 18, 2026

The Billion-Dollar Blind Spot in Wind Turbine Maintenance

Over the last decade, global wind capacity has almost tripled. One of the keys to this growth story has been the sector’s ability to manufacture and deploy ever-larger wind turbines at pace. Today’s onshore models are, on average, three times greater in capacity compared to 2016 models, while offshore models are more than twice the capacity.

This feat has been possible thanks to significant leaps in research and development (R&D), and technological sophistication, greatly enhancing the revenue potential of wind farms. However, that progress is exposing a significant lack of evolution and implementation in the operations and maintenance (O&M) sector. Against a landscape of macroeconomic uncertainty, running more effective operations is becoming a top priority for wind energy companies.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 18, 2026

Inside the Race to Build America’s First Nuclear Reactor in a Generation*

BUTTE COUNTY, Idaho—One of the most hyped projects in the energy market is an excavation pit scattering dust in the high desert of the Snake River Plain, where nuclear startup Oklo OKLO -5.74%decrease; down pointing triangle is building one of America’s first new reactors in a generation. Renewed interest in nuclear power is colliding with mania over artificial intelligence here at the Idaho National Laboratory’s desert campus, a remote site that spans an area nearly twice the size of Los Angeles.

Oklo and rival developers hope to drive an AI revolution and nuclear renaissance that powers the American economy for decades to come—but they have much to prove. No developers outside China and Russia have yet completed a commercial version of what’s known as a small modular reactor, or SMR. “We’re finally in build mode and not kind of playing games around the edges,” said Jacob DeWitte, Oklo’s co-founder and chief executive.

 

Regulatory

 

Austin American-Statesman – August 18, 2026

Data centers need water. Texas should draw on this untapped source: Scott Mitchell, Deep Blue*

Following the recent Texas House Natural Resources Committee hearing on data center water consumption, lawmakers, regulators and industry leaders are searching for practical solutions that protect Texas water supplies while supporting economic growth. The conversation has largely focused on freshwater supplies and large-scale consumers. It’s time to add a key question: Where should that water come from? For decades, produced water — the highly saline water that comes up alongside oil and gas from deep underground — was treated as a nuisance, something to dispose of as cheaply as possible. But produced water is not waste. It is a resource with the potential to become a steady, reliable source fully integrated into Texas’ water ecosystem.

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Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Tuesday August 18, 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 prices rose on Tuesday as prospects receded for a deal to end the Middle ‌East war, with Iran saying it would adopt a more offensive stance and the United States ruling out extension of a ceasefire deal, heightening worries about energy supply.

Iran will shift to a “fully offensive” military posture as efforts have stalled towards a permanent end to the war, a ​senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday, as Washington ruled out extending their temporary ceasefire pact.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up ​75 cents at $85.25 a barrel, but off an earlier session gain of more than 1% to reach $85.37, ​their highest since July 31.

Brent crude ​futures climbed 62 cents, or 0.7%, to $91.49 a barrel by 0408 GMT, after ⁠rising on Monday to their highest since July 30.

Outward progress on peace talks and resumption of oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz has halted, threatening to extend the conflict the United States and Israel launched with attacks on Iran on February 28.

 

Top Stories

 

Oil & Gas 360 – August 17, 2026

WhiteWater-led venture approves Permian-to-Texas gas pipeline project

Infrastructure company WhiteWater and its joint venture partners Devon Energy, MPLX, Diamondback Energy and Western Midstream Partners said on Monday they had reached a final investment decision (FID) to build two natural gas pipelines from the Permian Basin to Katy, Texas. The Permian Basin, the largest oil-producing region in the U.S., has seen steady growth in associated natural gas production in recent years, spurring investment in new pipeline infrastructure to move gas to key demand centers along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The companies said the joint venture, known as the Solitude Pipeline System, is backed by substantial long-term firm transportation agreements with investment-grade shippers. The pipeline system will be developed in phases, with initial capacity of about 2.25 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) expected in late 2029, the companies said.

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Rigzone – August 17, 2026

Net Power Says It Is Focusing on Gas to Ride Data Center Demand

Net Power Inc said it is prioritizing unabated natural gas generation in near-term investment to capitalize on rising demand from artificial intelligence infrastructure. The development-stage company, based in Houston, Texas, has indefinitely shelved its Oxy-Combustion Cycle or Allam-Fetvedt Cycle technology, a patented power generation system designed to produce reliable electricity from natural gas while capturing virtually all atmospheric emissions.

Instead it is pursuing a gas-fired generation project in West Texas with an expected capacity of one gigawatt, which would be built in phases. “We’ve spent the last four months in an intensive customer engagement and marketing process. We believe that process has given us a clear read on what the market will buy today, and we are focusing the business accordingly”, chief executive Danny Rice said in an online statement for Net Power’s quarterly results.

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E&E News By Politico – August 17, 2026

Power crunch puts West Texas at risk of rolling blackouts, says grid official*

One of Texas’ top grid officials warned Friday that the western part of the state could see rolling blackouts within five years if more transmission lines aren’t built. Woody Rickerson, chief operating officer of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, told the Public Utility Commission on Friday that all their demand forecast scenarios show there would be times when the current transmission system would be overloaded and could cause reliability problems.

“When I say reliability problems, I mean times when people couldn’t have electricity,” Rickerson said. Rickerson’s warning comes as the fight over a massive $33 billion transmission build-out has become a flashpoint for rural Texas voters ahead of November’s midterm elections. Furious ranchers and landowners have packed town halls, state congressional committee hearings and PUC meetings to voice their frustration with hundreds of miles of 765 kilovolt transmission lines slated to bring more power to oil and gas production sites in the Permian Basin.

 

Source NM – August 17, 2026

Proposed gas pipeline for Project Jupiter data center delayed to 2027, filings show

A pipeline intended to transport natural gas to the Project Jupiter data center under construction in southern New Mexico won’t come online until early next year at the soonest, according to new federal regulatory filings.  The pipeline, referred to as the “Green Chile Project” in federal documents submitted by the Dallas-based company Energy Transfer, was initially proposed as a $60 million project that would carry gas from El Paso to Project Jupiter, the Oracle and OpenAI data center planned for Doña Ana County.

New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard recently shot down the developer’s second request to build on state trust land, contending that doing so would impose “extreme” burdens on New Mexico’s finite natural resources. In filings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission late last week, Energy Transfer wrote that the pipeline’s anticipated “in-service date” has moved from this month to February of 2027.

 

The Latest TERse Tips

Putin gathers warships with hypersonic missiles in Baltic Sea amidst warning ‘Vlad is set to attack Nato in weeks’ — US Sun

Tim Small, a senior natural gas trader within Energy Transfer LP’s intrastate group, has departed the Texas pipeline company after 23 years — Bloomberg*

Viridi Energy has executed a contract to sell renewable natural gas produced by its RNG facility at the City of Waco Landfill in Texas to Citadel Energy Marketing — Wilmington, Delaware-based Viridi says the agreement provides the contractual foundation for the sale and purchase of RNG produced by Viridi facilities and reflects the company’s continued expansion as it brings additional RNG projects online across North America — Waste Today

The Texas legislature is evaluating ways to support law enforcement combating Mexican cartel drone activity as the state’s border security efforts are ongoing — energy facilities in Texas are considered possible targets of any drone attacks on the US — Center Square

An independent energy systems study by research firm IdeaSmiths revealed that proposed resiliency and reliability transmission projects in Southeast Texas by public utility provider CenterPoint Energy could deliver more than $18 billion annually in economic benefits across the state — T&D World

New Era Energy & Digital said it has secured construction permits for its Texas Critical Data Centers project, a milestone the company said reduces development risk at the site — the company, which develops digital infrastructure and integrated power assets, received Development Structure and Drive Approach Permits from Ector County and submitted the Phase 1 plat to Ector County and the City of Odessa — Yahoo! News

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Oil & Gas Texas

 

Oil & Gas Journal – August 17, 2026

Federal court voids Texas GulfLink license over agency’s ‘serious procedural errors’

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Aug. 12 vacated the license for Sentinel Midstream LLC’s Texas GulfLink project (GulfLink), revoking federal authorization citing “serious procedural errors.” The court ruled that the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) violated the Deepwater Port Act by drawing an improper boundary mapping that overlooked overlapping pipeline infrastructure with a competing project, the Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT). The ruling requires the agency to reevaluate the approval.

The ruling voids the license, halting all construction or progress. Sentinel Midstream declined comment on the ruling and would not answer questions about the status of construction. GulfLink, sited about 30 miles offshore Freeport, Tex., is designed to export up to 1 million b/d via Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) to the government of Japan and Freeport Commodities. The project involves a 44-mile, 42-in. OD pipeline and was scheduled to begin operations around 2028. The estimated $2.1 billion investment was funded as part of a broader trade agreement between the US and Japan.

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Source NM – August 17, 2026

New Mexico Environment Department proposes mandatory investigations, fixes for major methane leaks

The New Mexico Environment Department is proposing beefed up rules for monitoring methane leaks in order to help reduce both air pollution and natural gas waste. The proposal, which the department announced Friday, would create a new statewide program to identify large methane leaks through satellite and aircraft imagery. When the program flags possible large leaks, NMED officials would then notify oil and gas operators in the area and require them to investigate.

If an operator finds a leak during the course of the investigation, they’re required to repair it and file a report with the Environment Department. Most investigations and repairs would need to be done within three days of the initial notification, NMED noted in a news release.

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Center Square – August 16, 2026

Historic federal land in Louisiana eyed for natural gas expansion

The U.S. Department of the Interior has transferred jurisdiction of a historic 3-acre parcel located at the mouth of the Calcasieu River to accommodate expansion of the Venture Global LNG export facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, according to the Bureau of Land Management. Under Public Land Order 7969, signed by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the property, used since 1875 by the U.S. Coast Guard as the Calcasieu Radio Beacon Station, is being considered for a noncompetitive direct land sale to Cameron Land Ventures LLC, an affiliate of Venture Global LNG.

The property, once an island and now a bit of land that sticks into the mouth of the Gulf and Calcasieu River, was analyzed and determined suitable to be returned as public lands, according to the Bureau of Land Management, which is acting as its temporary custodian. Venture Global intends to add 10 million tons per year of production capacity at the Calcasieu Pass facility, boosting output to a total of 39 million tons per year, with a final investment decision in late 2027 and first production expected in late 2028.

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SF Gate (San Franscisco) – August 14, 2026

Gas company Phillips 66 left California. A year later they plan to return.

A Texas oil company that left California in 2025 is returning (sort of), with plans to build a cross-country pipeline to the Golden State. Late last year, Houston-based Phillips 66 shut down its Los Angeles refinery. Following other refinery closures in the state and oil supply disruptions from the war with Iran, the move has left California with a fuel supply crisis and skyrocketing prices.

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Houston Chronicle – August 12, 2026

Thank you, Trump, for pausing the Jones Act. Now Congress should end it: Michael E. Webber, University of Texas*

 

Oil & Gas National & International

 

The Wall Street Journal – August 14, 2026

BP, XRG Partner on Venezuelan Offshore Gas Development as Oil Majors Tentatively Return*

Britain’s BP and the United Arab Emirates’ XRG will explore a gas field offshore Venezuela, in an indication that oil majors are tentatively returning to the country under its new regime. The companies were awarded an exploration and production license for phase 2 of the Loran field, which could give them access to an estimated 4 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas. They join Shell, which in June was also granted a license to extract 1.7 trillion cubic feet of gas from the field. Energy majors have been reassessing Venezuela after the ousting of former President Nicolas Maduro by the U.S. The country holds some of the world’s largest oil resources but years of underinvestment mean it lacks the infrastructure needed to extract it competitively.

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CNBC – August 17, 2026

Trump won’t extend Iran ceasefire, threatens to ‘bomb’ Oman if it ‘gets in the way’

President Donald Trump on Monday said the U.S. would “bomb the s— out of” Oman if the Gulf nation “gets in the way,” as Washington’s 60-day ceasefire with Iran expires with no official negotiations or deal in sight. Trump also claimed that informal talks are taking place with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, but said he is “not in a hurry” to make a deal.

“No,” Trump said when asked if he would seek an extension of that temporary truce. When asked again about Oman, Trump said the longtime U.S. strategic ally hasn’t “behaved very well.”

“But we’d handle them very easily, just like we do other things,” Trump added.

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S&P Global Platts – August 17, 2026

Strait of Hormuz traffic hits record low of one ship on Aug. 16

Only one ship crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Aug. 16, down from eight ships on Aug. 15 and marking a record low, while Bab al-Mandab traffic slipped to 37 ships from 40 ships over the same period, S&P Global Commodities at Sea said in an Aug. 17 report. The sole ship to cross Hormuz Aug. 16 was the MR tanker Lubna, which was acquired by Saudi Arabia’s National Chemical Carriers in June, CAS said. The Lubna moved inbound from the Gulf of Oman without visible signals and was last observed off Musandam, Oman, on Aug. 17 with an indicated destination of Mina Saqr in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, according to CAS. Bahri and SABIC, which jointly own National Chemical Carriers, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The US Navy-backed Joint Maritime Information Center has reported three ship attacks in the Hormuz area over the past 72 hours as of Aug. 16. The UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on its website Aug. 15 that a “hostile Iranian attack” had targeted an ADNOC-affiliated ship while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

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CNN – August 17, 2026

Wait… how much oil is actually leaving the Persian Gulf?

A debate is brewing in the oil market: Is the Strait of Hormuz way more “open” than we thought? Common wisdom held that the crucial waterway is effectively closed to oil tanker traffic. Iran has fired on dozens of tankers attempting to transit the strait. Maritime tracking services using a combination of transponder data and satellite imagery have reported a significant decline in the number of vessels trying to navigate the waters. Global oil inventories continue to be depleted.

But US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told a very different story last week: The strait is open, and oil is flowing significantly faster than the market appreciates. He would know: The US military is right there, patrolling the water, escorting ships in and out of the strait, protecting them from enemy fire. The Navy provides the Department of Energy with detailed information about which vessels are moving through and when. … It’s not unlike the Trump administration to jawbone oil prices lower. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said the United States controls the Strait of Hormuz and frequently claims that a deal with Iran is imminent. Secretary Wright has said the United States is ensuring plenty of oil is getting where it needs to go.

 

S&P Global Platts – August 17, 2026

China targets stronger energy security in 15th five-year oil and gas plan

China aims to strengthen energy security, expand domestic oil and gas production and complete a comprehensive national petroleum reserve system by 2030 under its 15th five-year plan for the oil and gas sector, while also promoting green fuel development and the peaking of oil consumption, according to the plan jointly released by China’s National Development and Reform Commission and National Energy Administration on Aug. 17.

The plan — centered on the dual objectives of safeguarding energy security and advancing green, low-carbon development — envisions the gradual establishment of a modern oil and gas industry system by 2030, characterized by stronger self-sufficiency, more efficient pipeline infrastructure, enhanced storage and reserve capabilities, greener production methods, higher-value processing, indigenous technological breakthroughs and more diversified international cooperation. The plan was released as China navigates disruptions to Middle Eastern crude supplies from the ongoing regional conflict. However, the impact has been partly offset by rapid transport electrification, ample crude inventories, stable domestic production and steady pipeline imports, underscoring Beijing’s focus on energy security.

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Midland-Reporter Telegram – August 14, 2026

Crude pipelines could be next Permian bottleneck*

New pipelines to address the Permian Basin’s natural gas takeaway bottleneck are beginning to improve economics for producers. However, a review by East Daley Analytics finds capacity on crude oil pipelines is growing scarce to key downstream markets, a potential constraint on the basin’s next phase of growth. Spot prices at the Waha hub traded around $1.80 per MMBtu, a dramatic turnaround from the negative prices seen through most of 2026 because of the bottleneck. Negative gas prices prompted some producers to shut in wells and kept Permian drilling constrained despite higher West Texas Intermediate prices.

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Bloomberg – August 14, 2026

US Oil Growth Faces Headwinds as Shale Producers Cut Spending*

Some of the largest US oil companies are dialing back capital spending in the country’s shale basins as they use the windfall from high crude prices to boost shareholder returns and pay down debt rather than accelerate production growth. Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips cut capital expenditure in the Lower 48 by 10% in the first six months of the year while Occidental Petroleum Corp. cut spending in the Permian Basin by 20% in that period, according to earnings reports. APA Corp., Matador Resources Co., and HighPeak Energy Inc. are also on track to spend considerably less on drilling and fracking in the US than a year ago.

Lower spending doesn’t automatically translate into reduced output, though. Gains in drilling and fracking techniques mean most operators are producing more oil for every dollar spent. But it also means more companies are holding production flat or growing through efficiency gains rather than higher expenditure. The trend is dampening US crude supply growth when President Donald Trump is lambasting the industry for not bringing down gasoline prices at the pump fast enough. The US will grow production by about 200,000 barrels a day this year to 13.8 million barrels a day, according to US Energy Information Administration forecasts. But operators aren’t drilling as frenetically as they had when oil prices spiked in the past. After Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine sent oil prices soaring, the US added about 1.1 million barrels a day in 2023, about five times more than this year.

 

Utilities, Electricity & Renewables

 

San Antonio Express-News – August 17, 2026

Texas lawmakers turn against massive power lines they ordered after outcry*

Two years after telling it to build massive power lines to West Texas to meet a surge in demand driven by electrification of the oil and gas industry and data centers, lawmakers are telling the Public Utility Commission to hold up. The about-face comes after a 15-hour public hearing last month starkly illuminated the issues faced by landowners in the planning process for development of the state’s largest-ever transmission lines.

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Insurance Journal – August 17, 2026

Why Wildfires Pose Multiple Threats to US West Power Sector: Maguire

Here are five reasons wildfires are increasingly affecting the U.S. power system.

1. Smoke Block — For a power system increasingly dependent on solar generation, sunlight is fuel. Wildfire smoke reduces the amount of solar radiation reaching photovoltaic panels by scattering and absorbing sunlight before it reaches the ground. Researchers from Colorado State University found that during California’s intense 2020 wildfire season, daily average solar resources near major fires fell by 11% to 17% for the global horizontal irradiance (GHI) that conventional solar panels rely upon, while direct normal irradiance (DNI) plunged by 32% to 42%.

2. Bad Timing — Solar losses are arriving when grids can least afford them. Large fires typically occur during periods of extreme heat, drought and elevated electricity demand. Those same conditions drive greater air conditioning use, pushing power consumption toward seasonal peaks. In other words, smoke can suppress solar generation just as heat waves are boosting demand. That creates a potentially troublesome double hit for grid operators: less renewable power available during periods when electricity consumption is strongest.

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E&E News By Politico – August 17, 2026

For the electric grid watchdog, the AI era is about moving fast without breaking things*

The watchdog that keeps North America’s electric grid running is working faster than it ever has to keep the lights on as the country’s voracious appetite for electricity skyrockets. The herculean effort by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. comes as a wave of power-hungry data centers, rising cyberattack threats and extreme weather driven by climate change are driving up electricity prices and threatening energy infrastructure.

“We’re working at a record-setting pace. We’ve never moved anything as quickly as we’re moving this right now,” said Jim Robb, CEO of NERC, the nonprofit company that is tasked with drafting and enforcing rules to keep the electric grid reliable. Robb told POLITICO’s Energy Podcast that keeping pace with surging demand driven largely by AI data centers will require an additional 200 gigawatts of electricity over the next five to seven years. That’s enough to power the city of San Francisco 200 times over.

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Utility Dive – August 17, 2026

2026 Q2 roundup: Utilities emphasize project execution and ratepayer protections

Utilities are still touting their data center pipelines, according to a Utility Dive review of more than two dozen earnings calls, but they are also contending with growing equipment backlogs and public backlash that has analysts questioning their ability to execute on all their projects and recover costs. “Growth remains intact, but affordability is emerging as key constraint,” Shelby Tucker, a U.S. power and utility sector analyst with TD Cowen, wrote in a note last week.

“Increasingly, the objective is not simply to avoid customer harm, but to demonstrate that growth can benefit incumbent customers through fixed-cost dilution, improved system utilization, and targeted regulatory structures,” he said. “[T]he conversation is shifting from identifying growth opportunities to ensuring investments can be recovered in a manner acceptable to customers and policymakers.”

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Reuters – August 11, 2026

Mapping America’s mammoth power machine*

For all the talk about gigawatts, emissions, investments and energy policy, the U.S. power system is ultimately a story about geography. Power plants, fuel supplies, transmission lines and emerging electricity users are not distributed evenly across the country. They cluster where resources, infrastructure and demand allow them to thrive. Mapped together — on OpenGridWorks.com — America’s energy assets reveal a system in transition. ​New technologies are spreading rapidly, but they are being layered onto networks built over decades.

The result is not a single energy system, but a collection of overlapping geographies that help explain everything from ‌power prices and reliability concerns to transmission bottlenecks and the pace of decarbonization. Viewed as a whole, the U.S. power system resembles an intricate tangle of lines, nodes and generating assets stretching across the continent.

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Regulatory

 

JD Supra – July 31, 2026

The Changing Landscape For Data Centers: US Multistate Executive Actions Enact Sweeping Regulatory Guardrails: Ashurst Perkins Coie

• Universal ratepayer protections: Nearly all participating states are curtailing public subsidies for data center energy infrastructure, requiring developers to self-fund utility and grid upgrades. Pro-growth states like Michigan are encouraging data center developers to sign a pledge to ensure they cover all their own electric system and water costs. Virginia takes a different approach, preserving its existing tax exemptions through their 2035 sunset while imposing a direct consumption tax to offset general fund impacts.
• Shift from incentives to guardrails: The legislative and executive policy trend has permanently inverted from broad financial attraction to rigorous, merit-based compliance frameworks, including an environmental-review-gated permitting pause in New York.
• Jurisdictional specialization: Compliance parameters are highly regionalized—focusing heavily on union labor and a novel ratepayer-class and demand-curtailment framework in New Jersey; job and wage metrics in Pennsylvania; acute water/lake conservation in Utah; grid-rate shielding in Texas; a newly established consumption tax paired with state-regulated environmental overlays in Virginia; New York’s customized Community Investment Framework target of $1 million per megawatt; Arizona’s emphasis on water resource protection, grid accountability, and new utility-connection reporting requirements; North Carolina’s permanent repeal of the electricity sales tax exemption that had long subsidized data center operating costs; and Michigan’s two-pillar Action Plan pairing state administrative safeguards with a voluntary responsible growth pledge.

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Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Monday August 17, 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 prices rose on Monday as fading expectations of a U.S.-Iran peace breakthrough and slower tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz reinforced geopolitical risk concerns in the market.

Top Stories

 

Houston Chronicle – August 14, 2026

A massive $10B Amazon data center project is quietly taking shape near Houston. Here’s a look inside.*

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Wired – August 14, 2026

The Real Reason Data Center Gas Power Plants Are So Dirty

Amazon has acquired a massive off-grid power plant being built in Texas for one of its data centers that could be one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the US. But size isn’t the only reason its climate toll will be so high. The plant will rely on a much less efficient set of gas turbines than regular power plants use; these kinds of turbines are also increasingly being put to use at other data center projects around the US. That could have big implications for the environmental impact of artificial intelligence—and the future of the US grid.

Amazon’s Texas power plant is permitted to emit up to 33 million tons of greenhouse gases a year. The project will rely solely on simple cycle turbines, which mix fuel and air in a combustion chamber to create energy, letting off a significant amount of waste heat in the process. Combined cycle units, which are generally used at on-grid power plants, add an additional steam turbine component to capture the waste heat and turn it into more energy. That means they release fewer emissions for the same amount of energy.Permitted emissions on natural gas plants are usually much higher than their actual emissions. But even if Amazon’s facility emits half of what’s on the permit each year, it would still create more greenhouse gas pollution than 78 average-sized natural gas plants, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. The Texas plant provides “on-site generation that won’t raise electricity costs for Texas families,” Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan writes in an email to WIRED, adding that the site would also have solar and battery storage and that the company is still committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2040.

 

Dallas Morning News – August 14, 2026

Talarico sees data centers as an opening in Senate race against Paxton*

Democrat James Talarico is trying to turn Texas’ data center boom into a political liability for Republicans. Talarico, running for the Senate, leaned into the data center issue on Thursday in Abilene, where he participated in a bipartisan roundtable with community members. Republican opponent Ken Paxton, however, has been keeping his distance. The contrast in each candidate’s tack highlights a Republican dilemma – how to balance the party’s pro-business instincts against a grassroots backlash taking hold in GOP strongholds.

Houston Chronicle – August 14, 2026

Grassroots fury with transmission plan on display at electric regulators*

 A growing revolt over the state’s $15 billion electric transmission expansion plan reached regulators Friday, as landowners and lawmakers called for a halt to a project ERCOT says is necessary to maintain the Texas power grid. The Public Utility Commission took no action Friday at a meeting prompted by mounting political and grassroots opposition to the Permian Basin Reliability Plan. The backlash erupted into public view last month during a 15-hour legislative hearing that drew more than 100 affected landowners, including country music legend Tanya Tucker.

Tucker, whose Burnet County ranch could be affected by the transmission lines, was invoked several times during Friday’s meeting. So was the Alamo, as testimony highlighted the plan’s potential political ramifications in the rural Republican strongholds that would bear much of its impact. “Today may be our Alamo, but November will be our Battle of San Jacinto,” said Bell County resident John Burrow, referencing the decisive battle that won Texas its independence from Mexico in 1836.

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Yahoo! News – August 14, 2026

Hyperscalers might regret embracing natural gas if new forecast proves correct

“I think everyone in the energy markets has been lulled into a sense that gas prices can’t go up,” Peter Gardett, CEO of Noreva, told TechCrunch. “You just need simple arithmetic to get to a much tighter gas market than you were in just a few years ago.” Cheap gas has pushed hyperscalers to lock up part of the market. In March, Meta said it would build a massive 7.5-gigawatt natural gas power plant in Louisiana to power its Hyperion data center. A few days later, Microsoft and Google each said they’d build their own gigawatt-scale gas power plants, both in Texas. And not to be left out, Amazon plans to build a 7.6-gigawatt gas power plant in Texas.

For companies that historically have shied away from large capital expenditures, the data center building boom suddenly has them investing heavily in the physical world while also pushing them deeper into energy markets, which are even less familiar territory.

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The Latest TERse Tips

The statewide gas price average in Texas is $3.63 per gallon for regular unleaded fuel, according to AAA, just like last week

Democrat running for governor slams Abbott’s proposal to get rid of San Antonio’s CPS Energy — gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa accused her rival of retaliating against CPS Energy for a lawsuit filed by the city-owned utility — San Antonio Current

A Texas appeals court affirmed a summary judgment for Atmos Energy on August 13, 2026, dismissing a family’s personal injury lawsuit — the plaintiffs, Andrea and Cordell Potter, claimed indoor gas leaks caused chronic health symptoms — the court ruled the family failed to prove the utility had actual notice of the specific dangerous pipe conditions — Law 360*

A new study in Nature’s NPJ Climate Action finds AI’s use inside the fossil fuel sector could add up to 1.8 billion tons of CO2 annually, dwarfing the direct emissions from data centers themselves — Oil Price

The United Arab Emirates is blaming Iran for firing drones at two tankers operated by a state-owned oil company as they sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday — Associated Press/Spectrum News

Cheniere Energy, Inc. on Wednesday published its 2025 Corporate Responsibility Report, titled “Powered By Our Values: A Decade Since Our First LNG Cargo.” — see the press release

New York Strains Aging Power Barges Amid Growing Electricity Need — New York City is increasingly relying on half-century-old floating power plants to prevent blackouts as extreme heat, electrification and growing electricity demand push the grid closer to its limits — Governing

 

Oil & Gas Texas

 

Oil Price – August 14, 2026

US Oil Drillers Add Even More Rigs As Oil Prices Stay Higher

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States rose this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, with the total rig count in the US rising to 593, up 54 from this same time last year. The number of active oil rigs rose by 1, reaching 455 during the latest reporting period, according to the data. This is 43 above this same time last year. The number of gas rigs rose by 4 to 128, which is 6 more than this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed at 10.

The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production rebounded slightly during the week ending August 7. US crude oil production averaged 13.805 million bpd during the reporting period, up from 13.804 million bpd last week and up 521,000 bpd from a year ago. Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells, rose by 2 in the week ending August 7, to 196 crews, after losing 4 in the week prior.

The number of active drilling rigs in the Permian Basin rose by 2 in the reporting period, hitting 265. This is 10 rigs above year-ago levels. The count in the Eagle Ford stayed the same at 49, which is 10 more than this same time last year.

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CNBC – August 15, 2026

Depleted strategic oil reserve nears level that raises concerns about damage to caverns, operations

The caverns that hold the U.S. strategic oil reserves could get damaged by the rapid release of stockpiles in response to the Iran war, experts warned this week as inventories hit a four-decade low. Damage to the caverns would make it more difficult to respond to future energy emergencies, the experts said. The oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is stored at 60 salt caverns thousands of feet underground at four major sites along the Gulf Coast in Louisiana and Texas.

The SPR has tumbled below 300 million barrels for the first time since it was filled in the early 1980s, according to Department of Energy data released Monday. Inventories are depleting as the U.S. releases 172 million barrels in response to the supply disruption caused by the Iran war. The SPR will sit at around 243 million barrels after the drawdown is finished.

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BIC – August 13. 2026

NextEra secures initial funding for up to 10 GW of new Texas, Pennsylvania gas generation

NextEra Energy, Inc. announced it has executed definitive agreements with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Government of Japan to fund the development and operation of up to 10 gigawatts of natural gas-powered generation in Texas and Pennsylvania.

The announcement follows President Donald J. Trump’s approval of the projects, which were selected in connection with Japan’s $550 billion investment commitment to the United States as part of the U.S.-Japan trade agreement, in March.

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Rigzone – August 14, 2026

ConocoPhillips Starts Production at New Alaska Oil Project

ConocoPhillips has put onstream the Coyote 3SX project, expected to add up to 12,000 barrels per day gross to its production on Alaska’s North Slope. “ConocoPhillips Alaska invests approximately $1 billion each year to sustain and grow its Alaska legacy assets through projects such as Coyote”, the Alaskan arm of the Houston, Texas-based oil major said in a press release. Coyote 3SX was built only this year and completed ahead of schedule and under budget at around $800 million, ConocoPhillips Alaska said.

Production will be delivered to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, partly owned by ConocoPhillips. The 800-mile pipeline runs from Prudhoe Bay to the port of Valdez. “The additional pipeline required for the project will support increased production from Coyote as volumes rise in 2026 and beyond”, said ConocoPhillips Alaska president Erec Isaacson.

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Bloomberg – August 13, 2026

Diversified Said to Near Deal for Elliott-Backed Birch*

Diversified Energy Co. is in advanced talks to acquire Elliott Investment Management-backed oil and gas company Birch Resources for more than $1.7 billion in cash, according to people familiar with the matter. A deal for Birch, which operates in the Permian Basin, the largest oil field in the US, could be announced in the coming weeks, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the details aren’t public. Diversified Energy is poised to emerge as the winner in a competitive sale process, the people said. No final decision has been made and discussions could fall through, another buyer could emerge or the the timing could still change, the people added.

A representative for Elliott declined to comment. Representatives for Diversified Energy and Birch didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. The deal would mark a lucrative exit for Elliott, which was part of a group of investors that acquired the Birch assets in 2018 from Breitburn Energy Partners LP, a Los Angeles-based oil and gas company that went insolvent when oil prices crashed. Elliott was a creditor to Breitburn and used that status to take control of its most prized asset in the Permian along with other investors, according to regulatory filings. They capitalized the business with about $775 million, the filings show.

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Oil Price – August 14, 2026

Oracle’s $165 Billion Data Center Plan Hits a Gas Pipeline Delay

Oracle’s proposed $165 billion data center project in New Mexico has run into a decidedly low-tech problem: the natural gas pipeline meant to help power it won’t be ready on time. Energy Transfer subsidiary Transwestern Pipeline pushed the expected in-service date for its Green Chile Project from August 15 to February 1, 2027, according to a regulatory filing Friday. That six-month delay threatens the schedule for Oracle’s Project Jupiter, a proposed data center development in Doña Ana County near the U.S.-Mexico border.

The scale is substantial. Project Jupiter could use as much as 2.5 gigawatts of gas-powered fuel cells supplied by Bloom Energy, while Green Chile is designed to deliver up to 400 million cubic feet per day of natural gas to the site. That is equivalent to roughly 0.4% of total Lower 48 U.S. gas production. Oracle warned federal regulators in May that “time is of the essence” and said delays to Green Chile could jeopardize the broader project.

 

Oil & Gas National & International

 

Bloomberg – August 15, 2026

Peter Thiel Reports Stake in Argentine Shale Oil Exporter Vista*

Peter Thiel’s hedge fund acquired a sizeable stake in Vista Energy SAB, Argentina’s top oil exporter, increasing his ties to the South American country after recently buying a mansion in Buenos Aires. Thiel Macro LLC reported owning almost 1.2 million shares in Vista at the end of the second quarter, then worth about $76 million. The June 30 value of the fund’s position in Vista is second only to Amazon.com Inc. and Vista is the only non-US company listed in its holdings, according to a US regulatory filing Friday.

As well as buying the home in Buenos Aires, the US tech billionaire has spent time in Argentina this year — he was even spotted at a neighborhood chess club in the capital. That’s prompting speculation about whether he has broader plans in the country. In April, he met with President Javier Milei, a fellow libertarian who’s implementing a free-market experiment in an economy that was highly regulated for some two decades. Milei said Thiel asked about the probability that the reforms would be sustained and about wealth taxes. A spokesman for Thiel didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

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Bloomberg – August 16, 2026

Covert Mideast Oil Flows Are Keeping Global Prices in Check*

Middle Eastern oil producers are pressing ahead with shuttling large volumes of crude out of the Persian Gulf, helping keep a lid on prices and assuaging fears of an energy-driven inflation spike, even as the Iran war drags on. The trade of ferrying oil through the Strait of Hormuz undetected to transfer the barrels onto tankers in the Gulf of Oman is running at full tilt, despite recent attacks on vessels, people with knowledge of the shipments said. The incognito crossings of the world’s most vital energy chokepoint have become a major lifeline for global markets that were bracing for a much worse supply shock when the Iran war broke out. For producers in the region, the situation is far from normal, however, with ships subject to repeated hostility even though they have some military protection, the people said.

The shuttling has been ongoing for months, but tracking how much oil those “dark” ships are moving is a challenge for traders and analysts alike because vessels are protecting themselves by giving little clue about their locations. The volumes are running higher than market estimates of 4 million barrels a day, the people said, without specifying by how much. They spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter. Before the Iran war, about 20 million barrels a day crossed Hormuz, roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply. Last week, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that 9 million barrels a day crossed Hormuz over the previous seven days — a figure that surprised many traders and would be on the high end of estimated flows, at almost half of pre-war rates. The embattled shipments are one of the reasons that Brent oil futures have spent much of August trading between $80 and $90 a barrel, traders and analysts say. That’s far from the most alarming levels foreseen at the onset of the conflict if the Iran war lingered through the summer. Some were bracing for $150 oil.

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Dawn – August 12, 2026

Some Middle East oil output will stay shut through next year, US EIA says

Some producers in the Middle East are likely to struggle to restore oil output to pre-conflict levels by the end of 2027, even if trade patterns return to normal by early next year, the US Energy Information Administration says according to Reuters. The EIA estimated about 5.5 million barrels per day of Middle East oil output, or over 5 per cent of global consumption, was shut-in during July, the agency said in its short-term energy outlook (STEO) for August.

The EIA now expects flows through Hormuz to be severely constrained through August after renewed attacks on vessels in recent weeks, but it assumes that shipments will start to slowly increase in September. Even if most Middle East oil output and global trade recover to pre-conflict levels by early 2027, about 600,000bpd of production from the region will be shut-in through the end of 2027, the EIA said in the August STEO.

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Grist – August 14, 2026

AI could help fossil fuel companies create more emissions

The emissions from powering data centers rightly get a lot of attention. But new research from former Microsoft sustainability workers cautions that the way artificial intelligence enhances productivity in the oil and gas industry could be much more damaging to the planet.

Published last week in the journal npj Climate Action, the research finds that AI use could significantly increase global energy emissions simply by enabling the fossil fuel industry to produce more oil and gas. At the low end, the research finds that the additional yearly emissions could be equal to Mexico’s; at the high end, AI boosting the fossil fuel industry could add as much greenhouse gas emissions as Russia, the world’s fourth-largest emitter.

 

Utilities, Electricity & Renewables

 

Texas Tribune – August 14, 2026

Data center audit lacks specifics even as Gov. Abbott, industry leaders tout it

Tech companies are lining up to voice support for Gov. Greg Abbott’s audit of data centers seeking to connect to the power grid, although little is known about what the audit will entail or what it means for the data center construction boom.

Since the Aug. 3 announcement, at least 43 companies — including juggernauts like Meta, OpenAI, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services — have issued public statements expressing support for Abbott’s audit, despite the governor ordering regulators to not approve any new grid connections until the audit is completed. The governor has similarly touted their endorsement of his plan.

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KXAN – August 14, 2026

This new UT Austin device spots power grid problems before disasters strike

A new sensor developed at the University of Texas could help utilities detect power line problems before they cause outages or spark wildfires, potentially giving crews time to fix hazards before they become disasters. The technology comes as Texas faces rising electricity demand, growing renewable energy development and increasingly severe weather that can strain power infrastructure.

Researchers say the device can identify issues such as tree branches brushing energized lines and pinpoint where the problem is occurring, reducing the need for utility workers to spend hours searching miles of infrastructure. “Some of the most dangerous times for (utility) operators are when they’re in the truck trying to find a problem,” said Shannon Strank, deputy director of the UT Austin Center for Electromechanics.

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Texas Tribune – August 14, 2026

Texas will audit up to 300 projects, mostly data centers, after Gov. Greg Abbott’s order

The audit and verification of data centers ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott will involve about 250 to 300 projects, most of which are data centers, state grid operator officials told the Public Utility Commission on Friday.  The officials’ testimony also highlighted just how data significant the buildout is: The 200 gigawatt of future demand accounted for by the projects that will be audited is more than twice the ERCOT grid’s peak demand record set last month.

It will take the Electric Reliability Council of Texas “several months” to audit the projects, which must be completed before any data center can be approved for connection to the state grid, according to Abbott’s Aug. 3 directive to ERCOT and the PUCT. ERCOT had already planned on assessing large load projects seeking to connect to the grid as a part of a process already underway, but Abbott’s audit order moves up the checks to first priority and adds some more requirements, officials said.

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KUHF – August 14, 2026

ERCOT says governor’s data center audit could take months to complete

Texas energy regulators say it could take several months to complete an audit of data centers and end a moratorium ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott. Earlier this month, the governor ordered the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) to pause approvals for new data centers until they can complete a thorough review of current projects.

In their first meeting since the governor’s latest directive, Texas energy regulators laid out their preliminary plans for reviewing data centers’ impact on communities. Regulators will meet again next week to discuss more fully fleshed-out plans for complying with the governor’s data center audit.

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KXAN – August 14, 2026

Landowners continue to put pressure on PUC to reject 765kw transmission plans

For months, landowners across large stretches of rural Texas have been shouting from the rooftops about the proposed transmission projects tied to the Permian Basin Reliability Plan. “It’s a taking of your land. It’s a taking,” Merily Hodge Keller said. Several proposed routes would cut through parts of her Val Verde County ranch.

“This transmission line — going across the edge of our property — will be seen by 61% of every acre on (our) 30 square miles,” Tom Keller, Merily’s husband, said.The Kellers both testified at Friday’s Public Utility Commission meeting, joining other landowners, State Sen. Kevin Sparks, R-Midland, State Reps. Brad Buckley, R-Salado, and Shelby Slawson, R-Granbury, in urging regulators to reconsider the plan.

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Bloomberg – August 14, 2026

Big Batteries to Bolster the Grid Are Stuck Waiting to Plug In*

Demand for batteries has skyrocketed as electricity use across the US swells, driven by data centers’ booming energy needs and increasing electrification. It’s also getting harder to get them connected to power grids. Falling prices have made batteries more attractive. But after decades of stagnant investment, grids are racing to make the upgrades needed to plug them in, straining supplies of transformers, circuit breakers and other equipment. As those upgrades get delayed, storage projects are piling up in interconnection queues from coast to coast.

Consolidated Edison Inc., a major utility in New York state, for example, says over the past two years the volume of battery storage projects waiting to be connected has grown by 300%. In California, regulators are expecting that holdups to grid upgrades will stall energy projects up and down the state. “The whole process of interconnecting these new power plants got really log-jammed and bottlenecked,” said Joseph Rand, an energy policy researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “It in some ways broke this historic process of the way transmission grid operators have been operating for almost 20 years.”

Nationwide, some 750 gigawatts of energy storage projects — roughly equivalent to the generating capacity of more than 700 nuclear reactors — are in line to get grid connections, according to the lab’s research. Not all of these projects will get built. Many developers have already abandoned the queue due to delays. Still, the waiting time is increasing; the median was five years in 2025, up from a year and a half in 2015. The flood of battery projects is expected to continue. Wood Mackenzie, an energy consultancy, projects the US energy storage market will quadruple in the next six years.

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San Antonio Report – August 14, 2026

Greg Abbott isn’t going to save us from data centers. We have to do it ourselves: Regina Vanberg

When you call a place home, it becomes more than just a town on a map or words on a county sign. It becomes something you want to protect and fight for. The Texas Hill Country is that place for me. Growing up in Bandera, I remember cruising country backgrounds through limestone bluffs and kayaking on our once lush and healthy rivers. Whether I was studying in Austin or working in San Antonio, I always longed for the peace and stillness of Texas’ rolling hills.

As I write this from my nearly 100-year-old home in Bandera County, I still feel that deep connection to the Hill Country’s incredible beauty and the singular peace that comes by being one with wide open, wild spaces. And today, that peace is under threat from data centers. Across Texas, the rapid expansion of data centers is fundamentally changing rural communities. By 2029, Texas is projected to “become the nation’s leading data center market.”

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Yahoo! News – April 16, 2026

Here’s how one data center company plans to earn Texans’ trust

Amid the uncertainty surrounding data centers, one Dallas-based company aims to earn the trust of Texas residents. CyrusOne has 15 data centers in Texas, located on campuses in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. It’s also planning to add facilities in Castroville, Clifton and Fairfield. It’s part of a boom that’s set to make Texas the world’s largest data center market – surpassing Virginia – amid the growth of artificial intelligence and cloud-based technologies, according to a recent report from real estate firm JLL. There are at least 335 operational facilities in the state and more than 248 planned projects.

But amid this new wave of development, the industry remains shrouded in mystery, with several companies keeping mum about specific details of their centers. Nearby residents, city officials and even state leaders have expressed concerns about the industry’s lack of information.  Katy Hancock, the company’s vice president of community affairs, said that while CyrusOne can’t invite guests into its facilities, it wants to be transparent about its operations in Texas and beyond.

 

Regulatory

 

Grist – August 14, 2026

The EPA’s data on cancer risk from air pollution has gone dark

Darya Minovi was mapping pollution from medical sterilization plants across the country when many of the communities she was speaking to began asking the same question. The facilities emit ethylene oxide, a potent carcinogen, and those who lived nearby wanted to know how much the emissions were increasing their cancer risk. She turned to data compiled by the Environmental Protection Agency to find out.

The resulting maps, published in 2023 by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit where Minovi is a researcher, revealed that more than 14 million people lived in a 5-mile radius of ethylene oxide-emitting facilities. Crucially, the map highlighted 23 sterilization facilities that the EPA had found emit ethylene oxide at levels that definitively contribute to elevated cancer risk. The project helped raise awareness and was used to push the government to tighten limits on ethylene oxide emissions.

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Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Friday August 14, 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 prices rose early Friday after the U.S. said its naval blockade of Iranian ports could continue “indefinitely”, reigniting concerns over energy flows through the critical Strait of Hormuz.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures added 1.08% to reach $82.13.

Brent futures were 0.96% higher at $87.91 per barrel by 2:55 a.m. E.T..

Both benchmarks dipped 2% in Thursday’s session, but remain on track for weekly rises of around 4% following a sustained rally.

Friday’s upward moves follow U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s warnings in an interview with Newsmax of measures aimed at the “economic isolation” of Iran which “have never been seen”.

Bessent’s comments came after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters U.S. forces could maintain an indefinite blockade of Iranian ports.

The warnings come after the United Arab Emirates said Thursday evening that Iran attacked two vessels from the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company which were transiting the strait.

 

Top Stories

 

The Hill – August 13, 2026

Trump cancels Biden-era bid to speed power line construction

The Trump administration is canceling a Biden-era effort to speed up power line construction in parts of Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Nebraska and the Dakotas. The Energy Department announced this week that it would not move forward with designating three areas as National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors, a move that could get them federal help to speed up power line build-out.

A press release from the agency said the previous administration had sought to designate these areas as a high priority “as a means to advance their Green New Scam agenda.” “Transmission policy must serve the American people—not special interests or a climate-alarmist agenda that drives up costs, worsens reliability, and disregards the concerns of local communities,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a written statement.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 13, 2026

Rick Perry’s Fermi Finally Finds a Customer for Its Giant Texas AI Power Bet*

Fermi, the troubled data-center and power startup co-founded by former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, is hoping to turn a corner after landing its first customer and naming a new chief executive. The company, which went public in a splashy IPO last year, has spent recent months in a legal and shareholder tussle with its former CEO, while racing to sign a first customer for its sprawling Texas data-center and energy campus. AI cloud provider TensorWave agreed to a lease at the campus, which will have a grid connection but plans huge on-site power plants to directly feed data centers filled with rows of servers running AI workloads for tech companies.

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Grist – August 13, 2026

Ghost Tribe of the Texas Delta

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May of 2017, Juan Mancias became an overnight sensation in France. Standing over 6 feet tall with a mane of salt-and-pepper hair, a medicine wheel-emblazoned ribbon shirt, beaded belt, and feathered medallion bearing the seal of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, he was conspicuous on the streets of Paris, and he had a message: French banks were financing the desecration of sacred Native lands and burial sites. They were, he said, aiding in the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Indigenous people in Texas through their support of natural gas pipelines and export terminals.

“It’s the same thing for 500 years,” Mancias told Observatoire des Multinationales. “We were occupied by the Spanish, by the Mexicans, then by the Texans, then by the Americans. And now it’s the oil industry.” Three months before Mancias arrived in France, the last camps at Standing Rock emptied. For nearly a year, thousands of Indigenous water protectors and environmental allies had gathered near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL. Oil was now flowing through DAPL, but activists and environmental organizations kept the momentum of the protests going.

In South Texas, Mancias had been fighting the same battle on a different front. He and Bekah Hinojosa, a grassroots activist in the Rio Grande Valley, spent weeks organizing against the proposed Rio Grande terminal and Rio Bravo Pipeline. The $18-billion projects would carry tens of millions of tons of natural gas each year to the export terminal in Brownsville, where it would be liquefied and shipped overseas as LNG.

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Yahoo! News – August 13, 2026

GE Vernova and Blue Energy Move Forward With 2.5 GW Texas Gas-Nuclear Power Project

Blue Energy and GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (NYSE:GEV) have agreed to advance development of a proposed 2.5-gigawatt gas-and-nuclear power facility in Victoria, Texas, moving the project into its next phase of engineering, licensing and safety work. The planned development would combine GE Vernova’s gas turbine technology with small modular nuclear reactors to supply large-scale power demand, including a nearby data centre.

The latest agreement covers engineering design, regulatory licensing and safety analysis required to progress the Victoria project towards a potential construction decision. A final investment decision is currently targeted for 2027, meaning the project remains subject to further technical, regulatory and financial milestones before full development proceeds. The proposed facility would combine GE Vernova’s 7HA.02 gas turbines with GE Vernova Hitachi’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor technology. By integrating gas generation with nuclear capacity, Blue Energy aims to establish a large-scale power source capable of supporting growing electricity requirements in Texas.

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Saudi Times – August 13, 2026

Saudi-Omani Partnership to Launch New Land Logistics Corridor

Saudi Arabia’s SPARK and Oman’s Arkan have signed a strategic partnership agreement to launch a land logistics corridor linking the Kingdom with Oman, in a move aimed at strengthening transit operations, improving freight transportation and enhancing supply-chain efficiency between the two countries. The new corridor is expected to increase the flow of goods between Saudi and Omani markets, reduce transportation times and costs, and support the expansion of warehousing, distribution and logistics services on both sides of the border.

The logistics corridor will build on the road network connecting Saudi Arabia and Oman through the Empty Quarter, one of the most significant land-link projects between the two countries. The road stretches approximately 564 kilometers from the Al-Batha-Haradh intersection to the Empty Quarter border crossing, with construction costs reaching around SR2 billion.

 

The Latest TERse Tips

Today’s national average is back up to $4.07 after dropping to $4.00 on Monday, according to AAA

This year, the peak of the El Nino weather phenomenon looks likely to come between October and December. During that time frame, there’s a 69% chance this year’s El Niño will become the strongest since 1950, the Climate Prediction Center said — The Hill

Orsted, which now has interests in Texas, reported lower second-quarter profit, hit by write-downs, but said all projects are on schedule and within planned costs — The Wall Street Journal*

This week, Southlake Mayor Shawn McCaskill mailed a letter addressed to the Public Utility Commission of Texas, filing a formal complaint against Tri-County Electric Cooperative — the letter, filed on behalf of the Mayor’s office and the Carroll ISD board president, lists eight days when outages have occurred between April and August — KXAS

Hundreds of members of the Produced Water Society gathered at the Bush Convention Center in Midland to share ideas and research on produced water, a byproduct of oil extraction in the Permian Basin — KOSA

Iran appears to be raising the stakes of war by threatening to attack the US outside of the Middle East if the US resumes attacks on Iran, while the Trump administration says there is still optimism for a deal — The New York Times*

War Is Squeezing Another Global Chokepoint: The Black Sea — Russia ramps up attacks on grain shipments while Ukraine strikes oil tankers, putting global markets on edge — The Wall Street Journal*

Virginia governor to intervene in NextEra, Dominion merger over electricity price concerns — CNBC

A California oil giant is set to buy a critical pipeline between Kern County’s oil fields and Bay Area refineries that has been shuttered for months — California Resources Corp. purchased about 2,000 miles of pipeline from Denver-based CorEnergy Infrastructure Trust Inc, and plans to reopen the route that has been closed since December — New York Post

Two municipal water systems in New Jersey were targeted in cyberattacks in the last week, widely thought to be the work of Iran, the state said — ABC News

Russian hackers claim to have evidence of NATO’s involvement in attacks on Russian territory — Xinhua

.

Oil & Gas Texas

 

The Wall Street Journal – August 13, 2026

AI’s Biggest Energy Impact Might Be in the Oil Patch, Not the Data Center*

AI data centers guzzle as much electricity as entire cities. They have ignited demand for any energy source you can name. They’re straining the grid and making people fret about their utility bills. Yet all that gargantuan power consumption is a sideshow. That’s the conclusion of a new paper that seeks to quantify how artificial intelligence will change the energy system. It says the most profound impact won’t come from how the technology is powered but what it’s used for. Its big prediction: AI is on course to extend the dominance of fossil fuels.

A Microsoft spokesperson said the company believes AI can help accelerate the clean-energy transition and that its employees are “core to our sustainability mission.”  The debate over AI and the climate usually weighs data centers’ power consumption against the ways in which the technology could advance green technology. The numbers on the first side of that equation keep getting bigger. In recent days, Amazon said it is behind a data-center project in Texas that has permission to tap 7.65 gigawatts of gas power, while the climate scientist Zeke Hausfather estimated that AI agents could use 600 times more energy than regular prompts.

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Midland Reporter-Telegram – August 13, 2026

TCEQ carefully crafting water reuse framework*

The regulatory transition continues as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality incorporates its new authority over land and water discharge of produced water. “Produced water is critical now and your success is critical to the country, to Texas and for national security,” Catarina Gonzales, a commissioner with the agency, said as she opened the second day of the Produced Water Society’s Permian Basin conference.

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Argus Media – August 13, 2026

Citgo sees record ULSD exports at Texas terminal

US-based refiner Citgo reported record high exports of ultra-low sulphur diesel (ULSD) from its terminal in Brownsville, Texas, in the second quarter, as the prolonged US-Iran war limited global supplies of the fuel. ULSD export sales at Brownsville in the second quarter more than doubled the previous high set in the third quarter of 2025, Citgo said in an earnings release. The company did not disclose specific volumes.

US fuel prices, especially distillates, have soared since late February because of global supply shortages caused by the US-Iran war. The higher distillate prices have led many US refiners to maximize diesel yields, with Citgo saying its 471,000 b/d Lake Charles refinery in Louisiana reached record distillate production in April. US independent refiner Marathon Petroleum also recently cited demand in Latin America and Europe for its booming diesel business, while Chevron pointed to an increase in European diesel demand as one reason for an expected tighter products market in the third quarter.

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OK Energy Today – August 12, 2026

Guilty pleas from defendants in Permian Basin oil theft ring

Six of 13 people charged with an oil theft ring in the Permian Basin are each facing up to 5 years in prison after recently pleading guilty in Texas Federal Court. The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas said the pleas were to charges of participating in a conspiracy to steal crude oil. They were accused of stealing tens of thousands of barrels of crude oil from producers in eastern New Mexico and selling it at a significantly lower price. The indictment says they purchased the stolen oil for between 10 and 15 dollars a barrel, which is far below the going price for West Texas Intermediate that has been as high as $90 dollars.

Prosecutors said two defendants transported the oil across the New Mexico-Texas state line to their business in Seminole before selling it to midstream buyers. “Oil theft isn’t a harmless shortcut. It’s a crime that hurts honest producers and disrupts fair markets,” said Eric Kriley, director of law enforcement for the Bureau of Land Management. “Conspiring to steal and transport crude oil across state lines is a serious federal offense, and today’s guilty pleas show the commitment the BLM and our law enforcement partners have to pursuing these cases.”

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American Public Power Association – August 12, 2026

U.S. On Track for Record Natural Gas Production in 2026: EIA

The U.S. Energy Information Administration is forecasting U.S. marketed natural gas production will average 122.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2026, surpassing the previous record of 118.5 Bcf/d set in 2025. The EIA forecast was included in its August Short Term Energy Outlook. In the first half of 2026 (1H26), marketed natural gas production averaged 121.3 Bcf/d, 4% (4.6 Bcf/d) more than the same period in 2025. Most of this expansion is concentrated in the Permian region in Texas and New Mexico and the Haynesville region in Louisiana and Texas.

The United States was the world’s largest producer of natural gas from 2009 through 2024, the most recent year for which we have global natural gas production data. “We forecast Permian gas production will average 29.2 Bcf/d in 2026, 6% more than in 2025. In the Permian region, natural gas production is driven primarily by associated gas produced during crude oil extraction and is supported by crude oil prices,” EIA said.

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New York Post – August 13, 2026

Gas giant makes sudden U-turn on mass oil field eco project in California

Chevron has suddenly pulled out of a massive climate project in California’s Kern County, which was aimed at pulling carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and burying it underground. The gas giant has backed down from a 2023 federal partnership with the US Department of Energy for the Western Regional Direct Air Capture Hub project –– the only local “DAC” project approved to receive multimillion-dollar subsidies under the Biden administration.

Chevron’s spokeswoman Chanel Jolly said the company had decided to withdraw from the project in July 2025 after having extensive discussions with the Department of Energy. The company has not released a public statement explaining the reasons behind the decision. “Chevron’s agreement to a consensus termination of this award should not be construed as a reflection of the viability of the project, the performance or contributions of any participating subrecipient organization, Chevron’s position on other partnerships with DOE or DOE’s efforts to support CCS,” Jolly wrote in an email, reports The Bakersfield Californian.

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Offshore Energy – August 12, 2026

Sable eyes September restart for third oil platform in California waters

Sable Offshore, a Texas-headquartered oil and gas company, is set to resume oil production at its third platform off the California coast next month, marking the latest step in the company’s phased effort to bring its offshore operations back online. Sable claims to have progressed field operations at the Santa Ynez Unit (SYU), the Las Flores Canyon Midstream Processing Facility (LFC), and the Santa Ynez Pipeline System (SYPS) towards steady-state operations, after resuming oil production from the Heritage platform in early April 2026.

An average of approximately 47 wells at the Harmony and Heritage platforms were online in July 2026, producing around 721 gross barrels of oil a day per well. While the firm expects to bring all 77 production wells on these two platforms online during the third quarter of 2026, it anticipates the Hondo platform to come online in September 2026.

 

Oil & Gas National & International

 

The Wall Street Journal – August 13, 2026

Elon Musk, the World’s Most Famous EV Pioneer, Is Now Leaning Into Fossil Fuels*

Elon Musk’s vision for taking electric vehicles mainstream at Tesla TSLA 3.80%increase; up pointing triangle helped make him the world’s richest man. Now he’s pulling up to the gas pump. Last week, SpaceX SPCX -3.33%decrease; down pointing triangle disclosed plans to build a natural gas power plant in Grimes County, Texas, where the company is developing a huge new chip manufacturing facility.  At other campuses in Tennessee and Mississippi, Musk is relying on dozens of gas turbines to power data centers he says are necessary to train the artificial intelligence at the center of his business plan. Earlier this year, Musk even bought a gas turbine manufacturer as a personal investment, regulatory disclosures show.

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The National Interest – August 13, 2026

Kazakhstan Has One Way Out for Its Oil, and America Owns Part of It

Related: Kazakhstan Weighs New Routes as Drone Strikes Squeeze Black Sea Oil Exports — Oil Price

On a map, Kazakhstan’s oil reaches the world by several separate roads. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium runs to the Black Sea; the Atyrau–Samara line feeds into Russia’s Transneft grid; tankers load at the port of Aktau; the Atasu–Alashankou pipeline carries crude east into China; and a thin trickle moves by rail. The spread of routes suggests a country that has divided its risk. The volumes say otherwise.

Of the 78.7 million tonnes Kazakhstan exported in 2025, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) carried about 63 million, and Atyrau–Samara close to 9 million more. Both cross Russian soil and end at Russian ports. Aktau moved 3.6 million tonnes; the Chinese pipeline roughly one million; the railways some 50 thousand, a rounding error the state has at times banned outright for refined fuels. Reduce the map to its arithmetic and nine-tenths of Kazakhstan’s export capacity passes through a single country, and four-fifths of it through a single asset that narrows, at the shoreline, to three offshore moorings near Novorossiysk. The diversification is real as geography and false as insurance: the routes fail under the same conditions, which makes them, in the only sense that matters, one route with several names.

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Bloomberg – August 12, 2026

For the Oil Market, the Strait of Hormuz Isn’t Closed: Javier Blas*

“In price, is knowledge,” is an old market saying. So what is the oil price telling us? At less than $90 a barrel, it isn’t screaming shortage. How so amid the Iran war? The release of strategic reserves is helping, as are bypass pipelines around the Strait of Hormuz. China has slashed its oil imports, freeing barrels for everyone else. Commercial stockpiles are, for now, helping. But that’s not the full story. Perhaps part of the tale is that more oil is flowing out of the Persian Gulf than is commonly acknowledged? US Energy Secretary Chris Wright claims that’s the case. On Tuesday, the oil executive turned politician said almost 9 million barrels a day had crossed Hormuz during the previous week. Added to the crude flowing via bypass pipelines, it would put total flows from the region not far below pre-war levels. …

Truth is the first casualty of war, another adage says. Before the conflict broke out, counting ships was relatively simple. Oil tankers broadcast their position via a gadget called an Automatic Identification System – a transponder that provides, in real time, the name of the vessel and its latitude, longitude, heading and speed, among other information. Oil tankers would typically travel from loading port to destination without stops. Whenever a tanker turned off its AIS — “going dark,” in the industry parlance — satellite pictures filled in most of the gaps, with multiple companies selling imagery showing the region almost in real time.

Today, tanker trackers have three problems. First, nearly all vessels have gone dark, switching off their AIS. Second, most satellite-imagery vendors, under pressure from Washington, have stopped selling their pictures, particularly those created in high resolution. Third, rather than travelling from origin to destination in a single voyage, most of the cargo flows involve one — or even several — ship-to-ship transfers on the high seas, further complicating tracking.

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Associated Press – August 11, 2026

Drone strikes hit Libya’s key western oil town and a car bomb kills an officer in the east

Firefighters in western Libya battled on Tuesday to extinguish a massive fire caused by a drone strike on an oil facility the day before, when their town on the Mediterranean coast came under a wave of drone attacks targeting key oil installations. Drone strikes continued on Tuesday, hitting the town’s power plant and oil refinery, the state-run National Oil Corporation said.

The attacks underscored the fragile state of security at Libya’s critical infrastructure. In the country’s east, in the city of Benghazi, a car bomb killed a senior military officer with a self-styled military force on Monday, the latest such bombing in the violence-stricken North African nation. No group has so far claimed responsibility for either the drone strikes in the town of Zawiya, about 47 kilometers (about 30 miles) west of the capital of Tripoli, or the Benghazi bombing.

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Oil Price – August 10, 2026

Iraq’s Oil Lifeline Reopens — But Can Baghdad Trust Turkey for Even One Year?

With over 90% of Iraq’s annual budget still coming from oil exports and historically around 95% of that crude shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, securing an alternative export route while the Strait remains effectively blockaded has become an existential matter for Baghdad.  Aside from the billions lost in immediate oil revenues for OPEC’s second-largest oil producer, the blockade meant Iraq’s domestic oil storage tanks filled quickly to maximum capacity, forcing the shutdown of several production wells.

The longer that continued, the more likely it would permanently damage Iraq’s oil production because of a loss of reservoir pressure, water infiltration, and corrosion, among other factors. Although historically about 80% of Iraq’s oil exports have gone to key Asian buyers, especially China, the next-best alternative export route was through northern Iraq into Turkey. The problem here was that the key agreement for Baghdad to move its oil through two pipelines into Turkey expired on 27 July.

 

Utilities, Electricity & Renewables

 

Dallas Morning News/Yahoo! News – August 13, 2026

ERCOT error left Texas grid with fewer power reserves for seven months

For seven months, ERCOT has bought billions of watts less in reserve power than its own planning model called for, the result of an undetected error caused by the grid operator failing to double-check its work. Still, the Texas grid held up under record demand this summer, despite ERCOT buying an average of 3.7 gigawatts less in reserves – enough electricity to power as many as 3 million homes.

ERCOT officials say they do not need to make up the difference during the remainder of the year. Yet the grid operator plans to adopt a more conservative standard in 2027 that would require consumers to pay for additional backup power. The episode, detailed in an ERCOT committee meeting last month, highlights a long-running debate over how much Texans should pay to protect the grid against blackouts.

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KEYE – August 13, 2026

Austin utility bills could rise by $137 a year under proposed city budget

Austin utility customers could see higher monthly bills beginning this fall as the Austin City Council considers rate and fee increases for nearly all city-provided utilities. The proposed city budget includes increases to trash and recycling fees, the drainage utility charge, and the clean community fee. But some of the largest increases could come from Austin Water and Austin Energy.

Austin Water is requesting a 7.8% increase, the largest monthly bill increase among city-managed utilities. According to the proposed budget, the increase would add about $7.76 to a typical ratepayer’s monthly bill. Austin Energy is proposing a 3.1% increase, which would raise the average residential electric bill by about $3.66 per month. Combined, the proposed water and electric rate increases would cost a typical customer an additional $137 per year.

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Reuters – August 13, 2026

X-Energy gets additional up to $1 billion public US funding for Texas nuclear project*

The CEO of X-energy, a company trying to build next-generation small ​nuclear power plants, said on Thursday that his company ‌has been told by the U.S. Department of Energy that it will get up to another $1 billion in public funding for a project in Texas ​with Dow Inc. Total public funding since 2021 for the ​project with Dow in Seadrift, Texas, will be up to $2.15 ⁠billion, CEO Clay Sell said on an earnings call.

The project ​is supported by DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, which aims to ​accelerate the deployment of small reactors through cost-shared partnerships with U.S. industry. Sell said the new funding will be subject to the same 50/50 cost-share requirements ​as the original award. “It is expected to be the first ​grid-scale advanced nuclear reactor deployed to serve an industrial site in North America,” ‌Sell ⁠said on the call. Sell said the DOE grant award “is our largest source of revenue at our current stage of development.”

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Latitude Media – August 13, 2026

Tesla’s new home energy offering comes with an affordability pitch

Tesla is launching a new residential backup power offering in Texas, combining its Powerwall home battery with a retail electricity plan through Tesla Electric. This is the first time Tesla is bundling a Powerwall lease with its retail electricity offering, which means a customer can get both a discounted rate on a home battery, and a lower fixed monthly electricity charge, all via Tesla itself. It’s a move that brings Tesla closer in line with the strategy taken by fellow vertically integrated home battery maker Base Power — and is indicative of the expanding value of flexible capacity, particularly in load growth hotspots like Texas.

Base, founded in 2023, designs and manufactures its own batteries, then installs and operates them, maintaining ownership while acting as a retail electricity provider for its companies. The company, whose latest valuation puts it at around $13 billion, then aggregates those batteries, charging them when wholesale power prices are low and selling into the market when demand spikes. Affordability is one of the company’s top differentiators, CEO and co-founder Zach Dell told Latitude Media in a recent interview: “The home backup market outside of Base really remains a premium product offering,” he explained. But Tesla’s own version of the Base model signals a shift in the home energy market.

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Source NM – August 13, 2026

Private equity firm returns $13.3M to PNM’s parent company following criticism

The private equity firm seeking to acquire New Mexico’s largest electric provider has returned more than $13 million in dividends it earned from a stock sale that state utility regulators in July determined to be illegal, recent filings show. The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission in July voted 2-1 to rule that a $400 million stock transaction between a Blackstone Infrastructure affiliate and TXNM Energy Inc., which owns PNM, violated state law, in part because the companies did not first obtain PRC approval.

The commission ordered the companies to undo the sale, rendering it “void and of no effect.” Critics of the proposed $11.5 billion merger between Blackstone and TXNM were quick to point out that, in subsequent regulatory filings, Blackstone’s attorneys revealed that the private equity firm held onto about $13.3 million in dividends created by the stock sale after undoing the stock sale.

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Financial Advisor – August 13, 2026

When Texas Cools On Data Centers, Big Tech Has A Problem: Liam Denning

Artificial intelligence is having a riotous summer. Models developed by the likes of Anthropic PBC and OpenAI have escaped testing sandboxes and in some cases then hacked into other systems. The politics of AI are similarly in revolt, jumping from debates about data centers to a widening backlash against the technology itself and its masters. The risk of over-the-top regulation is now tangible, with implications for Big Tech and the energy providers feeding it.

Governor Greg Abbott of Texas dropped a bombshell earlier this month. Less than a year after being onstage with Alphabet Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai and hailing Texas as “the epicenter of AI development,” Abbott directed state regulators to conduct a “comprehensive data center audit,” assessing impacts on resources and local communities before authorizing connection to the power grid.

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Utility Dive – August 13, 2026

Mitsubishi’s large-frame gas turbine backlog reaches 35 GW

Demand for gas turbines — and nuclear power — has already met or exceeded expectations just three months into Mitsubishi’s 2026 financial plan, according to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Senior Vice President and CFO Hiroshi Nishio.

Mitsubishi’s newly restructured Energy Systems division saw order intake rise 56% year over year in the first quarter of the company’s fiscal year, which begins in March. The company booked 10 orders for large-frame gas turbines — four bound for the United States and six for Japan — during the first quarter, Nishio said during a briefing on August 6, according to an English-language transcript provided by the company.

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Inside Climate News – August 13, 2026

So Much Solar: Digging Into the List of Every US Power Plant That Went Online This Year

It’s been a wild first half of the year in the U.S. power sector, with announcements of gigantic natural gas power plants and some long-awaited renewable energy projects coming online. At times of rapid change, forecasting is difficult. So I feel a measure of comfort focusing on something concrete like the list of 368 utility-scale plants that began operation from January to June, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The group is dominated by utility-scale solar.

This is a top-heavy list, led by SunZia Wind South and SunZia Wind North in New Mexico, which went online this spring and are the largest wind farms in the country, with a combined generating capacity of 3,650 megawatts. SunZia has been in the works for about a decade and arrives at a time when U.S. onshore wind power development has dwindled for a host of reasons related to regulations and public opinion.

 

Regulatory

 

Houston Chronicle – August 13, 2026

Big companies are leaving states like New York and Delaware for Texas. Here’s why that matters.*

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Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Thursday August 13, 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 prices oscillated around the flatline on Thursday as investors weighed waning global demand against continued supply disruption in the Middle East.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 0.2% at $83.06 a barrel.

At 3 a.m. ET, front-month Brent crude oil futures were down 0.1%, paring back from a deeper decline to trade at $88.87 a barrel. 

 

Top Stories

 

Texas Tribune – August 12, 2026

Corpus Christi voters to decide if industry should pay sharply higher water fees during droughts

Reservoirs have rebounded, but the fight over water isn’t over in Corpus Christi. The City Council has ordered a public referendum on a citizen-led petition that would sharply increase the price of water for industrial facilities during drought. The proposal is expected to face a litany of legal challenges before November’s election. It would add millions of dollars in fees to the region’s largest water users, including ExxonMobil, Occidental Chemical and Valero, the next time reservoir levels are below 30 percent full, like they were for 29 months until early August. Community and environmental groups gathered nearly 13,000 signatures of registered voters to get their proposal on the ballot.

“This was a lot of signatures,” said Corpus Christi Mayor Pro-tem Kaylynn Paxson at the City Council meeting Tuesday evening. “This is something that doesn’t happen every day. I am very proud and amazed to say that this actually took place.” The 6-2 vote to call a special election on the referendum followed years of growing tensions between the public in Corpus Christi and the industrial giants that consume enormous amounts of water. As the region’s main reservoirs fell from 30 percent full in March of 2024 to less than eight percent full in May of this year, residents clamored for authorities to curtail water consumption at refineries and chemical plants.

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Yahoo! News – August 12, 2026

IEA and OPEC split on global oil demand estimates as Strait of Hormuz closure drags

Two of the most influential voices in energy markets set out opposing readings of the year on Wednesday. The IEA now expects the world to burn less oil in 2026 than it did in 2025, its first such call since Covid-19 ground the global economy to a near-halt, while OPEC still pencils in growth, leaving them more than two million barrels a day apart. The Paris-based IEA now expects global oil demand to fall by 1.6 million barrels per day (mb/d) in 2026, a downgrade of 510,000 b/d from July.

“The ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz and elevated fuel prices continue to weigh on oil consumption,” it said, cutting its second-half forecast by roughly 550,000 b/d. OPEC still expects demand to grow, though its estimate has been trimmed for a fourth consecutive month, to 580,000 b/d from 780,000 b/d. The producer group has consistently argued the war has done less damage to consumption than Western forecasters believe, and the two sets of numbers imply a difference of about 2.2 mb/d in what the world will burn this year.

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Oil Power – August 12, 2026

5 LNG Megaprojects Poised to Power the Next Gas Boom

The war between the US and Iran has driven up natural gas prices, particularly in Europe and Asia. Asia accounts for nearly 90% of liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments from key Middle East producers like Qatar and the UAE, while Europe imports 7-11% of its LNG from the region. During spring 2026 missile and drone attacks, Iranian strikes hit Ras Laffan LNG Trains 4 & 6, and Pearl GTL Train 2. Ras Laffan owner QatarEnergy estimates repairs to the two units will sideline about 12.8 million tonnes per year of LNG capacity for three to five years.

Pearl GTL Train 2 co-owners Qatar Energy and Shell (NYSE:SHEL) anticipate the train will require a year-long outage for repairs. According to the Platts Commodities Focus podcast by S&P Global Energy, what began as rising geopolitical tension in the Middle East quickly turned into a supply chain concern, especially once shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted, a key route for Qatari exports.

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Forbes – August 12, 2026

Dearth Of Reliable Data Plagues Crude Oil Market Assessments: David Blackmon*

Confusion continues to rule the day related to global crude oil markets as a dearth of reliable data related to oil flows frustrates the ability of analysts and companies alike to make accurate assessments. Recent reports by both U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and the International Energy Agency illustrate the challenge. On Tuesday, August 11, Secretary Wright posted an estimate on his X account that crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz for the previous 7 days had been much higher than prevailing estimates:

“Thanks to the coordinated efforts of the U.S. military and our gulf allies, the seven-day average for oil leaving the Strait of Hormuz is currently up to almost 9 million barrels per day,” Wright says. “When combined with the additional 5-7 million barrels per day leaving the region via newly upgraded pipelines and export facilities, total oil flows are currently averaging approximately 15 million barrels per day. On Sunday alone, over 20 million barrels left the Arabian gulf region, which is above the pre-conflict average.”

Wright’s statement was quickly challenged by several accounts on X which have sought to attract traffic and followers by posting data related to tanker transits through the Strait since the crisis began. What some seem to ignore here, though, is that transits through the Strait do not necessarily equate to the Secretary’s specific language of “oil leaving the Strait of Hormuz.” Wright’s specific language implies his numbers would include tankers that had been sitting idle to the east of Hormuz or which were loaded at ports maintained by the UAE and Oman on the Gulf of Oman or the Arabian Sea.

 

The Latest TERse Tips

Phillips 66’s 140,000 bpd Borger refinery in Texas reported flaring from one of the units on site for 36 hours, a sign of an operational upset — Quantum*

Corpus Christi applies to halt reservoir water releases as Lake Corpus Christi tops 90% capacity — KRIS

A group of workers at Panola-Harrison Electric Cooperative in Marshall have decided to organize a union — KETK

China’s crude oil imports climbed to the highest level in three months in July, though the recovery may be short-lived with the waterway shut again and domestic demand still soft — CNBC

Ørsted says its Old 300 Storage project, the 250 MW/500 MWh battery energy storage system in Needville, Texas, roughly 42 miles southwest of Houston, has reached commercial operations and is now “fully integrated into the ERCOT grid” — Energies Media

As utility commissioners nationwide meet privately with major tech and energy firms at exclusive retreats, there are concerns that industry-funded “educational” events create severe conflicts of interest, even as consumer anger grows over increases in electricity bills as new energy demands emerge from new data centers and elsewhere — problematic are obscure utility commissioners holding off-the-record meetings and trips funded by corporate sponsors, officials and industry groups claiming sessions as vital for explaining complex energy policies, while critics label the meetings as “soft capture,” aligning regulators with monopoly interests rather than everyday ratepayers — Washington Post*

Gran Tierra Energy has agreed to sell its oil and gas operations in Colombia and Ecuador to Établissements Maurel & Prom for a total enterprise value of $1.33bn — Yahoo! News

Oil & Gas Texas

 

Reuters – August 12, 2026

US Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale attracts $82.7 million in high bids*

The latest Trump administration sale of oil and gas drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico attracted nearly $82.7 million in high bids on Wednesday, generating more money than a sale in March, but far less than one held in December. The Trump administration offered more than 80 million acres (32.4 million ​hectares) in the Gulf of Mexico to drillers as part of an effort to boost domestic energy production with regular ​offshore lease sales.

The sale is the second since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran disrupted global crude flows ⁠and sent oil prices to four-year highs. It is the third of 30 mandated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2025 tax ​cut and spending law that are planned to run to 2040. Kate MacGregor, deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior, who helped read ​the bids at a New Orleans museum, said the regular auctions “unleash the promise of offshore oil and gas.” Trump’s predecessor, former President Joe Biden, campaigned in 2020 on blocking offshore lease sales but held them sporadically after lawsuits.

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Oil Price – August 12, 2026

Trump Puts 81 Million Gulf Acres Up for Oil and Gas Auction

The Trump administration puts oil and gas leases covering more than 81 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico up for auction on Wednesday, August 12, in the third of 30 Gulf lease sales mandated under President Donald Trump’s 2025 tax and spending law. Wednesday’s auction is also the second Gulf lease sale since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began in February, disrupting Middle East crude supplies and sending oil prices to four-year highs. Brent crude was trading above $89 per barrel on Wednesday.

The Interior Department will offer 15,100 unleased blocks across the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, located between three and 231 miles offshore in water ranging from nine feet to more than 11,100 feet deep. Despite the enormous area available, companies are bidding on only a small portion of it. Twelve companies submitted 69 bids covering roughly 330,000 acres, equivalent to about 0.4% of the 81 million acres offered, according to pre-sale documents released Tuesday.

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Oil & Gas Journal – August 12, 2026

Brazos Midstream to double gas processing capacity of Midland basin Cassidy complex

Brazos Midstream is adding a second 300-MMcfd cryogenic natural gas plant that will double processing capacity of subsidiary Brazos Midstream Operating III LLC’s soon-to-be commissioned Cassidy complex in Glasscock County, Tex., about 12 miles west of Garden City, in the Midland basin of the Texas Permian. Scheduled to enter service in summer 2027, the newly proposed Cassidy II plant will join the operator’s previously announced 300-MMcfd Cassidy I plant—due for mechanical completion by November 2026 and startup by yearend—to lift the Glasscock County complex’s processing capabilities to 600 MMcfd and the operator’s overall nameplate capacity in Midland basin to 1.1 bcfd, Brazos Midstream said in a release Aug. 11.

Already supported by long-term acreage dedications covering about 575,000 acres now in full-scale development from and by the operator’s private and publicly traded producer customers, the proposed Cassidy expansion will enhance Brazos Midstream’s ability to further accommodate increased production in the region, the company said.

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Associated Press – August 12, 2026

Trump’s ‘energy emergency’ could fast-track massive expansion of Plaquemines LNG export terminal

Less than two years after opening, a liquefied natural gas terminal near New Orleans is seeking a multi-billion-dollar expansion under a new Trump administration “emergency” permitting process that shortens environmental review and may weaken protections for surrounding wetlands and waterways. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted Plaquemines LNG, on the Mississippi River between Myrtle Grove and Port Sulphur, fast-tracked permitting under a “ national energy emergency ” President Donald Trump declared last year.

The agency cut the public comment period from the typical 30 days to just 10, ending July 2, and is expected to move quickly to approve the expansion, which would allow the terminal to more than double in size, growing from nearly 590 acres to about 1,220. That would make the facility the largest LNG export terminal in North America, according to its owner, Virginia-based Venture Global.

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The Guardian – August 12, 2026

Greenland forces Trump-linked US oil firm to delay drilling

Greenland authorities have forced a US oil company connected to Donald Trump to postpone drilling wells in the Arctic territory, defying claims by the US president’s envoy that Americans could be extracting crude by next year. Amid Trump’s imperialist threats, tensions have been rising on Greenland’s eastern coast after the oil company brought drilling equipment ashore in July without permission, drawing a “strong warning” from the government.

Just week before Greenland Energy intended to sink its first wells into the tundra, the government said on Thursday: “The necessary regulatory process cannot be completed, and the necessary approvals cannot therefore be obtained before the planned start of drilling.” It said that during talks Greenlandic officials had expressed concern that the timetable was too tight to assess the environmental and social impact.

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Inside Climate News – August 11, 2026

Neighbors of Pipeline Leak Live in Fear and Regulatory Neglect in Trump Era of ‘Unleashed’ Energy

UPPER MAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa.— As their children ran in circles at the street corner on a clear morning, parents of Mount Eyre Manor kept watch, especially mindful of the white pickup trucks that begin to roll into the neighborhood before the school bus. Only after their 6-year-old daughter boarded the bus did Ryan Harper and Veronica Casina-Harper talk about the nightmare of the past year and a half.

From their front yard, they pointed to work crews finishing four new holes in their street, the latest of 44 wells drilled in Mount Eyre Manor. The driller is one of the nation’s largest and most politically connected oil and gas companies, Energy Transfer. The company is using the wells to determine how far and how deep an unknown quantity of petroleum fuel has spread into drinking water supplies from a rupture in its 68-year-old pipeline beneath this neighborhood just north of Philadelphia, a mile uphill from the Delaware River.

 

Oil & Gas National & International

 

CNBC – August 12, 2026

Saudi Arabia ramps up oil exports through Mediterranean pipeline to avoid attacks in Red Sea

Saudi Arabia has surged oil exports through a pipeline that stretches across Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea, as Riyadh looks for alternatives to the Red Sea since Iran’s Houthi allies declared a maritime embargo of the kingdom. Oil exports from Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir have more than doubled to about 2.3 million barrels per day in August compared to around 1 million bpd last month, according to data provided by the trade intelligence firm Kpler. The majority of those exports are Saudi crude, said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at Kpler.

“This isn’t a short-term decision,” Smith said. “This is a distinct change in strategy or dynamics.” Sidi Kerir is connected by a pipeline, called the Sumed, to the Red Sea port of Ain Sokhna. Fully loaded supertankers sit too deep in the water to transit the Suez Canal. They pump half the Saudi oil cargo into the pipeline at Ain Sokhna, transit the canal, and reload the oil at Sidi Kerir, Smith said. The Saudis are under pressure as Iran and its allies pressure the major oil chokepoints in the Middle East. Riyadh has rerouted millions of barrels per day through a pipeline from its eastern region to its Red Sea port of Yanbu as Iran has choked traffic through the Strait of Hormuz this year. But Houthi attacks on Saudi tankers in the Red Sea are now pressuring exports from Yanbu through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

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The New York Times – August 12, 2026

Gulf Oil Giants Are Spending Billions to Build Ways Around Strait of Hormuz*

Six months ago, exporting oil from the Persian Gulf was fairly straightforward: Produce crude at the cheapest price possible, export it through the fastest route and sell it to the countries that can pay the most. Those days are over. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, long the most efficient path for exports, remains greatly curtailed because of the war in Iran. Much of the oil getting through the strait is on tankers navigating a treacherous gantlet of Iranian attack drones, or running dark with their location devices turned off. At least 17 seafarers have been killed in the region.

Gulf countries that have for decades produced much of the world’s oil are now intent on breaking their dependence on the narrow waterway. They are building or expanding pipelines and other infrastructure that can bypass it, and vastly expanding storage capacity in places like Asia. These endeavors show how the war is changing the oil business in the Persian Gulf. They will cost billions of dollars and take years to complete, but companies and governments consider them essential hedges in an increasingly volatile region. Even if a cease-fire between the United States and Iran materializes, Gulf exporters recognize that relying too heavily on a single transit route is a risk they can no longer afford to take. And the moves, over time, could diminish Iran’s clout in the region.

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Oil Price – August 12, 2026

US Crude Oil Inventories See Surprise Build: API

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose by 9.072 million barrels in the week ending August 7, compared to analyst expectations for a 500,000-barrel draw. In the week prior, U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 2.69 million barrels. The larger-than-expected build was driven in part by higher crude imports relative to exports during the week.

Commercial crude oil inventories excluding the SPR have lost just over 49 million barrels over the last seventeen weeks, with US crude inventories up 1.88 million for the year, according to API data, kept in check by draws from the SPR. For the week ending August 7, another 6.1 million barrels left the SPR, bringing the new total to 298.7 million barrels—a level that is 433 million barrels shy of maximum capacity. The generally accepted operational minimum for oil in the SPR is between 250 and 300 million barrels, below which the reserve may find it difficult to pump and process oil efficiently.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 12, 2026

Trump Says Hormuz Is Under U.S. Control. Few Ships Are Listening.*

President Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. has total control of the Strait of Hormuz. The reality on the water tells a different story. Ship-tracking data shows that just 14 vessels on Tuesday crossed a waterway that routinely handled more than 130 a day before the war. Eleven of those ships took the route administered by Iran. Traffic was slow throughout July, with an average of 26 crossings a day, and in June, with 33 a day, as renewed Iranian attacks on ships cut short a deal to open the strait. The disconnect shows how Tehran has managed to squelch traffic through the crucial energy chokepoint with relatively little military force, only a handful of drone and missile attacks on ships. Iran doesn’t need to defeat the U.S. Navy. It just needs shipping companies, captains and insurers to fear that defying it could put their ships at risk.

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S&P Global Platts – August 12, 2026

War risk insurers withdraw cover for Red Sea insurance following deadly incident

Five of the world’s largest protection and indemnity clubs are withdrawing part of their war risk coverage for passing the Bab al-Mandab Strait following the first deadly maritime attack in the region since renewed Houthi-Saudi tensions last month. In web circulars published Aug. 12, London P&I, Skuld, Swedish Club, NorthStandard and the Shipowners’ Club said their fixed-premium cover for war-related incidents in parts of the Indian Ocean, Red Sea and Gulf of Aden will be terminated in the coming days.

The technical move came after the P&I clubs’ reinsurers cancelled the agreements to cover those trades amid rising maritime risks. In general practice, the coverage would be reinstated at higher rates once the clubs secure reinsurance following fresh negotiations, but seaborne trades could be disrupted temporarily during the process. Since July 20, Yemen-based Houthi militants have been attacking ships in the Red Sea, which they claimed served Saudi trade, as the two countries’ conflict re-escalates.

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Reuters – August 12, 2026

Saudi Red Sea oil exports go dark as Houthi attack threat grows*

Saudi crude ​exports from the Red Sea are increasingly vanishing from view as tankers switch off tracking signals to avoid attacks ‌by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, with analysts saying all recent Yanbu loadings have been conducted “dark”. The Houthis declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia on July 20, opening a new front against the United States and its allies in the Iran war.

Since then, they have claimed attacks on Saudi-linked tankers, Yanbu oil facilities and, ​most recently, the Jazan refinery on the Red Sea coast, prompting more vessels to operate without publicly visible tracking data. The growing use ​of so-called dark voyages is clouding visibility into Saudi oil exports, making it harder to assess the ⁠degree to which the Houthi threats may be disrupting crude flows. Ship-tracking firms have produced widely differing export estimates – data which is used ​by the International Energy Agency, OPEC and traders to assess global oil supply and forecast market trends.

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S&P Global Platts – August 12, 2026

July Panama Canal LNG transits hit near-three-year high on Asian demand pull

Laden LNG tanker transits through the Panama Canal climbed to the highest level in nearly three years in July, as elevated Northeast Asian LNG prices and a shift in US LNG exports toward Asia improved the economics of shipping cargoes through the waterway, an analysis of S&P Global Energy CERA data showed Aug. 12. Some 11 laden LNG tankers passed through the canal in July, up from six in June to mark the highest monthly total since November 2023, before drought-related draft restrictions and transit caps caused LNG traffic to decline sharply.

Transits did not recover to pre-drought levels after water levels improved in 2024, with most LNG tankers bound for Asia opting for the longer route around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. From late 2023 through the outbreak of war in the Middle East in late February, laden canal transits averaged fewer than four cargoes per month, according to CERA data.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 12, 2026

Bank of America to Deploy $250 Billion to Bolster AI and Energy Infrastructure*

Bank of America said it plans to inject $250 billion into an infrastructure push that aims to boost U.S. investments in data centers, energy and critical minerals, the latest big bank to roll out flashy initiatives to enhance national competitiveness. The second-largest bank in the nation by assets said the initiative would involve lending and investing, as well as capital markets, banking and advisory work all to support a “new wave of infrastructure investment.” It said the investments could create tens of thousands of jobs along the way.  Bank of America is joining its peers in launching similar national campaigns that together would put trillions of dollars in capital toward boosting U.S. interests. The endeavors come against a backdrop of an administration that has exerted extraordinary pressure on American companies.

 

Utilities, Electricity & Renewables

 

The Wall Street Journal – August 12, 2026

Red-Hot Power Stocks Are Losing Steam*

Who are the winners of the AI power race?  For some time, it seemed as though owners of existing power plants—such as Vistra VST 1.21%increase; up pointing triangle and Constellation Energy CEG 0.11%increase; up pointing triangle—were in a great spot. With demand growth outstripping new power supply, incumbent power plants could reap higher prices for their output without putting much capital at risk. But recent regulatory changes are muddying this bullish narrative.

Houston Chronicle – August 11, 2026

Greg Abbott is cracking down on data centers. Some rural Republicans say they still don’t trust him*

Utility Dive – August 12, 2026

Texas hits new peak demand record, but supply constraints will limit growth

Peak demand in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas territory could reach 120 GW by 2030 – incredible growth of more than 30% above the new, unofficial all-time peak reached on July 22, but notably lower than ERCOT’s own forecasts, according to a market report from Ascend Analytics that was provided to Utility Dive. The firm cites gas turbine shortages, multi-year development timelines and interconnection bottlenecks as limiting factors preventing enough new generation from coming online to serve proposed large loads.

Ascend says ERCOT’s energy-only market no longer provides enough revenue certainty to finance the dispatchable generation needed to meet future demand, while persistent gaps between forward markets and actual outcomes weaken the market signals used to guide investment decisions.

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KXAS – August 12, 2026

Fort Worth worth takes first steps toward data center moratorium, regulations

As data center development expands rapidly across Texas, the city of Fort Worth has taken the first steps to begin regulating data centers. An hours-long meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 11 resulted in the approval of several measures designed to regulate data centers and begin the process of asking the state to approve a temporary moratorium.

Earlier this summer, the Fort Worth Zoning Commission voted against amending the city’s zoning rules to regulate data centers. In response, several city council members said they would seek a moratorium. Fort Worth residents had until July 15 to submit comments on proposed regulations, and now the city has put together a plan of action. Assistant City Manager Jesica McEachern laid out three separate actions, each approved by council: begin the legal process toward a moratorium, create a Data Center and Infrastructure Commission, and require data center developers to show proof of state approval to connect to the electric grid.

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KUHF NPR – August 12, 2026

Officials say data centers can boost local economies. In Abilene, they have spurred a housing crisis

Lexi Smith and her family have always had a plan. They wanted to buy land that was big enough to build multiple houses. That way she and her husband could raise their boys next door to their grandparents. “ Our family budgeted and…said yes to less so that we could pay our house off…and then, you know, this kind of stuff happens, and you just don’t have any control,” Smith said. Smith’s family settled down just outside of Abilene, where, before a few years ago, their only neighbors were other ranches. In 2024, construction on one of the biggest data centers in the world started across the street.

The Stargate Project is one of dozens of data center campuses in Texas that some local, state and federal officials have promised will revitalize local economies. Some officials across Texas, including in the Austin area, say they will create jobs, ease the burden on taxpayers and transform downtowns. But in Abilene — a city with the most expensive data center project in the U.S. — residents and business owners say that hasn’t happened.

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Dallas Morning News – August 12, 2026

Data center boom has Texans asking tough questions: Dave Lieber, the Watchdog*

In recent weeks, I’ve proclaimed 2026 the Year of the Data Center and called this a once-in-a-generation grassroots movement.” This is history being made. That’s why I’ve had conversations with my Watchdog Nation readers. I want to hear your concerns, questions and ideas. Start with Carol Stephenson of Mesquite. She wonders about a statement in one of two TV ads promoting data centers. The slick ads are promoted by the Data Center Coalition, the industry’s preeminent voice.

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KTAL – August 12, 2026

Construction on $200 million solar farm in East Texas in early 2027

A 2,000-acre, $200 million solar farm could be coming to East Texas, with construction scheduled to begin next year. The Greenridge Energy Project will be built in Marion County, south of Avinger and east of Johnson Creek Reservoir. The property is currently approximately 30 percent active timberland with the remaining 70 percent unused. Officials note that the land is used for hunting and recreation by residents.

The project, owned by California-based Pathway Power LLC, will generate 150 megawatts of solar power and battery storage. That output is equivalent to producing power for 30,000 homes. It will feature thousands of ground-mounted solar panels capturing sunlight and converting it into electricity for homes and businesses.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 12, 2026

Energy Startup Raises $750 Million for Rust-Powered Batteries*

A startup that makes giant iron-air batteries that store enough power to last several days has raised a new round of funding valued at $750 million. Form Energy, which has now raised more than $2 billion in total, plans to use the money to boost manufacturing at its Weirton, W.Va., plant and for its first wave of commercial projects, including a project for the utility Xcel Energy in partnership with Alphabet’s Google. Demand for Form’s iron-air battery system has accelerated with the upswing in demand for electricity, driven by the boom in artificial-intelligence projects. AI requires huge data centers, which can use as much electricity as some cities.

 

Regulatory

 

KVUE – August 11, 2026

State lawmakers discuss ways to better prepare Texas to prevent and fight wildfires

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Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Wednesday August 12, 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 prices rose on Wednesday after deadly attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Oman heightened concerns over risks to global shipping routes, even as diplomats signaled progress toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures advanced 0.91% to $83.96 per barrel.

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, gained about 0.88% at $89.69 per barrel as of 2:13 a.m. ET.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels killed six people aboard a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, the first reported fatalities from attacks targeting Red Sea shipping in more than a year.

Within hours, U.S. forces said they had fired missiles at a container ship that allegedly attempted to breach Washington’s blockade of Iranian ports in the Gulf of Oman.

Hours later, U.S. forces said they fired missiles at a container ship that allegedly tried to break Washington’s blockade of Iranian ports in the Gulf of Oman.

The incidents underscore the growing impact of the nearly six-month-old war on two key global shipping routes, even as diplomatic efforts toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz show signs of progress.

 

Top Stories

 

The Wall Street Journal – August 11, 2026

Gulf States Accept a New Normal in Hormuz: Iran Is in Control*

Persian Gulf energy producers are concluding that Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz will become permanent, disrupting their oil and gas exports and global energy supplies indefinitely. The problem is they worry the alternative—going back to war—would be worse. The conundrum highlights how the war has unleashed a more antagonistic Iran and left a region that is vital to the world’s energy security with no good option for countering it.

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Bloomberg – August 11, 2026

Texas Power Demand Forecast Trimmed After Data Center Pause*

Demand for electricity in Texas is expected to grow at a far slower pace after the state imposed a pause on new data center projects. Power demand in Texas will rise by 5.6% next year, according to government data released Tuesday. That’s slower than the 14% annual load growth predicted in a July report, which would have been the biggest gain in a decade. The revision follows Texas’s Aug. 3 decision to conduct an audit on all proposed data center projects seeking to connect to the state’s power grid, a move that effectively pauses the booming industry. The grid operator is considering about 474 gigawatts of connection requests, more than five times the state’s record peak demand.

The new US estimate for demand growth in Texas is, however, still above the average annual growth of 3.5% over the past decade. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the main state grid, projected in April that peak power demand may reach more than 367 gigawatts by 2032, with data centers driving more than 60% of the increase. That kind of unprecedented increased usage would require adding the equivalent of almost 300 traditional nuclear reactors.

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Politico – August 11, 2026

Amazon in Texas: It’s all about the gas

Everything may be bigger in Texas, but when it comes to data centers, the state is seeing Amazon-ian sizes. Amazon confirmed to our Shelby Webb that it plans to build an artificial intelligence hub in West Texas tied to a massive power plant that could be the nation’s largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions. The move highlights not only the prevalence of gas in powering ever-larger data centers, but the industry’s pivot away from connecting many facilities to the grid, at least initially.

The data center campus “won’t raise electricity costs for Texas families and is designed to transition to grid-connected service,” said Margaret Callahan, an Amazon spokesperson. The move by tech giants to walk away from grid power could help avoid long connection backlogs and stands to sway the electricity mix. According to AI tracker Cleanview, which scooped Amazon’s Texas plans, data center developers have announced 90 gigawatts — several cities worth of electricity — of “behind-the-meter” gas projects since the beginning of 2025.

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BizNews – August 11, 2026

The Economist: China is now the world’s great oil power

China has quietly become the world’s most powerful oil market player. Facing the largest supply shock in petroleum history after the Iran war shut the Strait of Hormuz, Beijing halved its crude imports, cutting 5.5 million barrels a day between February and June. Analysts reckon this move shaved $30 or more off Brent crude, doing as much to cap prices as Gulf producers and emergency stock releases combined. Unlike OPEC, China can act unilaterally on President Xi Jinping’s orders. For South African motorists, whose fuel price is set directly off Brent, Beijing’s stockpile draws and export curbs helped keep pump prices from spiking further this year.

The Iran war has caused the largest supply shock in petroleum history. Yet even when fighting was most intense, oil prices never reached the $150 a barrel many analysts had predicted at the start of the conflict. For this, thank a few governments. Soon after Iranian munitions made the Strait of Hormuz unpassable, trapping 14m barrels a day (b/d) of crude inside the Gulf, petro-monarchs in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh directed an extra 5m b/d through pipes bypassing the conduit. Ministers in Washington and Tokyo released a record 2m b/d of emergency stocks; state-led rationing in poorer countries shaved off a chunk of demand.

But disaster would still have struck without decisions quietly taken in another capital: Beijing. Between February and June, China slashed its crude imports by half, or 5.5m b/d—enough, experts reckon, to have shaved $30 or more off Brent, the global benchmark. That is more than half of the worldwide decline during the covid-19 lockdowns, when global demand collapsed by 9m b/d. And in contrast to the pandemic, when the world economy slid into recession, China’s GDP has chugged along just fine. It has not been buying less foreign crude because its economy is suffering. This ability to turn oil demand on and off, ostensibly at low economic cost, allows the world’s biggest oil importer to move prices just as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies have long done through their control of half of global output.

 

The Latest TERse Tips

Public Citizen says on X that two TCEQ public hearings on data center projects, one in Amarillo for August 24th and the other in San Antonio for August 17th, have been cancelled without explanation

Texas Pacific Water Resources has announced that after a $50-million investment it will treat produced fracing water so it can be reused for fracking as well as helping to power data centers and discharging it into surface waters like the Pecos River watershed for agricultural irrigation and beneficial reuse by local farmers — Odessa American

Here’s how to find information about data centers in Texas — what information is accessible about a data center project can differ from place to place and depend on whether a project seeks out tax breaks, whether it needs local rezoning or special permits, and how it will get its power and water — Texas Tribune

American Airlines completes first commercial flight with eSAF — the airline said the electro sustainable aviation fuel-powered flight marked “the first delivery of SAF made without biobased feedstocks to a commercial airport in the U.S.” — The Wall Street Journal*

 

Oil & Gas Texas

 

KLST – August 11, 2026

Darby calls for clarity from Beacon Data Centers, requests public TCEQ meeting

State Rep. Drew Darby has called on digital infrastructure company Beacon Data Centers to answer questions from the community and filed a request for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to hold a local public meeting for the company’s pending air quality permits as the developer pursues construction of a data center in Tom Green County.

In a statement issued on Aug. 10, Darby reported that he issued a formal request that day for Beacon Data Centers “to answer critical questions raised by the community around their proposed Westline Energy Infrastructure Campus project” after he met with multiple concerned constituents and received multiple calls and inquiries during the past month.

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Inside Climate News – August 11, 2026

Corpus Christi Seeks to Block Referendum on Industrial Water Charge

As Corpus Christi teetered on the edge of a water supply disaster earlier this year, community organizers circulated a petition to dramatically increase the price of water for the region’s large industrial users during drought. They gathered almost 13,000 signatures, more than enough to put their proposal—called the Fair Water Amendment—on the ballot in November. But the City Attorney’s office has recommended that City Council members block the effort using an obscure legal maneuver enacted by Texas’ Republican-led Legislature in 2023.

On Tuesday, council members will decide whether to take that step. It will be their last opportunity to intervene before an Aug. 17 deadline for the provision to be placed on the November ballot. “The city attorney wants to use an unrelated state law to silence our community and let big industry keep their special deal,” said Isabel Araiza, a college professor in Corpus Christi and founder of the advocacy group For the Greater Good, which led the petition drive.

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Inside Climate News – August 11, 2026

Permian Basin Community Seeks Fix for Radium in Its Drinking Water

IMPERIAL, Texas—Many residents of this small town drive long distances to buy bottled water instead of opening up the tap. Pecos County Fresh Water, a county-operated utility, provides drinking water for 800 people in Imperial and the surrounding area. The utility routinely violates safe drinking water standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency for “combined radium” and “gross alpha,” two metrics of radioactivity in water. The culprit is naturally occurring radioactive material in the aquifer.

Imperial is one of many rural communities in Texas where deposits of radioactive materials dissolve into the groundwater. But small communities often struggle to pay for costly treatment technology or alternative water sources that could fix the problem. During 2025, 29 public water systems that serve more than 22,000 people in Texas violated maximum levels of radionuclides. That’s down slightly from 2018, when a report by the non-profit Environmental Working Group found that 38 Texas utilities exceeded legal limits for radionuclides.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 11, 2026

An Oil Refiner That Fled California Is Back—With a Giant Pipeline From Texas*

California lost two big oil refineries in the past year, as well as much of the Asian fuel supplies that landed on its coast. Now, a pipeline from Texas is planned to help fill the gap—one that Gov. Gavin Newsom has embraced as the state faces the highest pump prices in the country. On Tuesday, Phillips 66 and two partners officially sanctioned a $5 billion project, called the Western Gateway Pipeline system, to build a 900-mile pipeline to ferry 230,000 barrels a day of gasoline, jet fuel and diesel from the Texas Panhandle to Arizona and California. In Phoenix, the new pipe will connect with an existing 500-mile pipeline that ends in Colton, Calif., about an hour east of Los Angeles.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 11, 2026

Why the Real Oil Squeeze Is Happening in Refineries*

Oil prices are dominating headlines as geopolitical tensions strain the flow of crude through key global chokepoints. Yet the bigger squeeze in energy markets is unfolding further downstream in the world’s refineries, where crude is converted into the fuels that power the global economy. A series of disruptions—from the Iran war and Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure to China’s restrictions on fuel exports—has taken millions of barrels of refined products off global markets and left customers scrambling to locate alternative supplies.

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Midland Reporter-Telegram – August 11, 2026

Orla facility expands Texas research into treating and reusing produced water*

From a greenhouse in Midland County to pilot programs on half-acre patches of land, Texas Pacific Land and Texas Pacific Water Resources have steadily expanded their research into using produced water. This week, that work advanced with the opening of a first-of-its-kind water treatment and research facility in Orla. The facility is outfitted with a 10,000-barrel-per-day fractional freeze desalination system that treats produced water to a quality that meets or exceeds requirements for use in agriculture, surface water discharge, construction and cooling operations. Water treated on-site will also be used to irrigate a 20-acre rehabilitation plot north of the facility.

 

Oil & Gas National & International

 

The Wall Street Journal – August 11, 2026

Trump’s Venezuelan Oil Boom Sputters*

President Trump is fuming at Chevron and ExxonMobil for “making too much money” during his Iran war. Wait until he figures out that seven months after he hosted Big Oil at the White House, asking for some $100 billion in new investments in Venezuela, the country is reported to have the same number of active drilling rigs it had this time last year: two. Drilling rigs are a measure of investor confidence. In 1997-98, when Venezuelan production reached nearly 3.4 million barrels a day, there were some 119 active drilling rigs in the country. Even if a Reuters story from April is correct and 14 rigs in storage could soon return to the field, Venezuela is a long way from the oil boom the administration forecasts.

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Houston Chronicle – August 10, 2026

Fact check: Trump says the U.S. is making ‘hundreds of billions of dollars’ from oil in Venezuela*

 

Utilities, Electricity & Renewables

 

KFDM – August 11, 2026

Waste Watch: Texas faces $3.2 billion data center cash drain

Texas expects to forgo $3.2 billion in sales-tax revenue for data centers over the next two years — and the Texas Comptroller’s Office says the true cost will likely be significantly higher. The money has not already been paid to data center companies. It is projected revenue the state will not collect because qualifying facilities do not have to pay the state’s 6.25% sales tax on electricity and a long list of purchases, including servers, software, cooling systems, generators, plumbing and office equipment.

The estimate, first reported by The Texas Tribune, includes at least $1.3 billion in forgone revenue this year alone. Now, Gov. Greg Abbott is demanding that data center developers reveal far more about their projects before they are allowed to connect to most of the Texas power grid. On Monday, Abbott’s office announced that OpenAI and Meta have committed to comply with his standards.

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KPRC – August 11, 2026

CenterPoint Energy announces $5 billion savings initiative for Texas electric customers

CenterPoint Energy announced a sweeping new affordability plan Monday, projecting more than $5 billion in savings for Texas electric customers over the next decade — driven largely by an influx of large-load customers, including data centers, that would shoulder a greater share of the state’s fixed grid costs. The Houston-based utility is calling the effort its “Customer Savings Initiative.”

At the heart of the plan is the projected addition of up to 14 gigawatts of ERCOT-eligible base load and studied load projects. The idea is straightforward: more large customers connecting to the grid means fixed infrastructure costs get spread across a broader base — which, in theory, translates to lower bills for residential customers, small businesses, and commercial users across Greater Houston. “Greater Houston has long been the energy capital of the world, but today it is the home of one of the most diverse economic regions anywhere in the nation,” said Jason Wells, chairman and CEO of CenterPoint Energy.

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KUHF NPR – August 11, 2026

Gov. Greg Abbott touts tech company cooperation, following Trump criticism of data center policy

Gov. Greg Abbott is touting major technology companies’ responses to his temporary moratorium on data centers, following recent criticism from President Donald Trump. “I established clear guardrails to ensure data centers protect our electric grid, conserve our water, respect our neighborhoods, and pay their own way,” Abbott said in a statement. “They must not pass costs on to Texas families or interfere with their quality of life.”

The governor issued a directive last week, announcing that no new data centers could connect to the Texas power grid until state regulators conducted a thorough review of their energy and water usage, as well as their impact on nearby communities. It’s a reversal of the governor’s previous stance. Abbott once courted data centers, calling Texas “the epicenter of AI development” in November. In an interview with Punchbowl News late last week, Trump criticized changes to Texas’ data center policy.

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Austin American-Statesman – August 11, 2026

Why Austin Energy is betting big on batteries to help manage power costs*

Austin Energy is investing big in big batteries — and small ones — in an effort to keep electric rates from swinging out of control during periods of high demand. In the past year, the Austin City Council has approved several major battery projects for the utility; collectively they can provide hundreds of megawatts of power to the Texas grid when needed. A heat dome parked over the Southwestern U.S. has brought intense heat to Texas in recent weeks, at times driving record-breaking electricity demand, according to the state’s grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

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KVII – August 11, 2026

Fermi signs $6.5 billion lease for ‘world’s largest data center’ after months of turmoil

Fermi Inc. said Monday it has signed a $6.5 billion lease with AI cloud provider TensorWave for part of its massive data center and power campus in the Texas Panhandle, securing its first binding customer agreement after months of financial, leadership and environmental controversy. The 15-year lease covers a data center supplied by 222 megawatts of power at Project Matador, a sprawling energy and computing development under construction in Carson County northeast of Amarillo. Fermi said the facility could eventually house tens of thousands of AMD Instinct graphics processing units used to train and operate artificial intelligence systems.

Fermi is expected to begin delivering the facility in stages during the second half of 2027. The agreement gives TensorWave rights to expand into two additional data centers, which would bring the partnership to more than 650 megawatts. The expansion is not yet committed, and the initial lease remains subject to conditions including project financing and guarantees. Fermi said it expects some of TensorWave’s obligations to be guaranteed by an unidentified “global leader in AI,” but it did not say whether that guarantee has been signed.

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Texas Observer – August 11, 2026

Who Pays for the High-Powered Grid that Data Centers Need?

The true scale of prospective projects that want to plug into the Texas grid is hard to hold in your head. As of August 3, the Texas governor’s office put the figure at more than 474 gigawatts of requests to connect, more than five times the grid’s record peak demand, and said roughly 90 percent of those requests are data centers. Many of those projects may never connect. Against that backdrop, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) published a proposal on July 24 that would place substantial payment obligations on the large customers seeking that capacity. It is a serious piece of work, but one important part of its scope remains unsettled.

On August 3, Governor Greg Abbott then directed the PUC and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to audit every data center moving through the interconnection process and said the audit must be finished before any project moves forward. Among other things, it asks the extent to which data centers are “paying their own way.” That question is aimed at tax breaks, grants, and public assistance. It does not reach who pays for the grid work needed to serve these projects. (That inquiry is in the proposed rulemaking.) In June, the governor told the PUC to require data centers to fully fund the electric infrastructure needed to serve them. How far that reaches is the open question.

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WWNO NPR – August 11, 2026

An Entergy exec ghostwrote Louisiana PSC motions supporting Meta, Hyundai

In at least two Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) proceedings, motions supporting large industrial projects the commissioners adopted as their own were written by an Entergy Louisiana executive, records obtained by the Gulf States Newsroom show. The clearest example is the August 20, 2025 LPSC vote approving Entergy’s settlement to build generation and transmission infrastructure for Meta’s $50 billion data center in Richland Parish. The Gulf States Newsroom obtained the native Word file of the motion, and its metadata — digital breadcrumbs that link a file to its original creator — lists Larry Hand, Entergy’s VP of regulatory and public affairs, as the author.

Hand emailed the motion to Commissioner Foster Campbell, a Democrat representing District 5, two days before the vote, writing: “As discussed, attached is motion to consider for the Meta docket. I am sure you will revise this as you determine appropriate.” The commission’s executive counsel read the document into the record as Campbell’s motion. It matches Hand’s file almost word for word — including a passage describing Campbell’s own biography.

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Washington Post – August 11, 2026

Rural Texas conservatives love free markets but not when it comes to data centers*

 

Regulatory

 

The Hill – August 11, 2026

NOAA pulls support from Arctic climate report

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is pulling its support from an Arctic climate and environment report it has helped with in the past. Rick Thoman, lead editor for the 2026 Arctic Report Card, said that participants were informed Monday that they would no longer receive assistance from the government agency.

“We were informed in a phone call with NOAA yesterday that effective immediately NOAA was ending all support for the Arctic Report Card,” Thoman told The Hill. “No rationale was given at all,” he added. The report has been published every year since 2006 and describes current conditions in the Arctic. Zack Labe, who has been a co-author of one of the report’s chapters for the last several years, said that the Arctic Report Card details all kinds of facets of the Arctic environment including ecosystems, atmosphere and oceans. “It’s strictly focused on trying to understand the data from year to year of all of these different pieces of the Arctic,” Labe said, describing the report as a “go-to resource” for both decisionmakers and the general public.

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Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Tuesday August 11, 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

Brent crude futures edged up to $88.09 per barrel and U.S. crude futures rose to $82.52, both the highest levels since July 31, after the contracts rallied roughly 5% on Monday.

“We’re ​now in a bit of a Mexican standoff, if you’d like, in terms of who blinks first,” said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG.

“This ​is going to be almost a war of attrition now,” he said. “You probably can see the (oil) market sitting around the $75 to $95 ⁠range while we wait to see who blinks first.”

The latest uptick in fuel costs raises the stakes for the U.S. July consumer price report due on Wednesday, ​at which expectations are for a monthly rise of 0.1% in the headline reading and 0.2% for the core measure.

 

Top Stories

 

AOL – August 10, 2026

Trump: Data centers could be ‘bigger than oil’ as Texas seeks pause

Trump made the remarks while in an interview with Punchbowl News that was uploaded on YouTube on Aug. 7. During a discussion about artificial intelligence and the rapid expansion of data centers, Trump said that if he were a governor, he would want the data center projects “so badly.”

“I saw Texas the other day, sort of against it,” Trump said. “I think it’s a mistake, and I’m not taking positions here. I just think it’s a mistake. There are other communities that want it, and when a community wants it, it means a lot of money is going to come to the community.” Trump was also asked whether he considers data centers unsightly. He pushed back on that criticism, describing them as some of the most “incredible buildings” he has seen. Trump said he believes data centers could become a major economic driver for communities that welcome them.

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Yahoo! News – August 10, 2026

Texas homeowners say CenterPoint power issues are frying appliances, costing them thousands

In Lakewood Pines, Atascocita homeowners say recurring power issues connected to CenterPoint Energy are destroying equipment and appliances inside their homes. They report damage to air-conditioning units, washers, and other large appliances, with repair and replacement costs running into the thousands. Residents say those losses should not become their responsibility if the underlying problem is with the electric service.

According to KPRC 2, homeowners across Lakewood Pines have described the same kinds of problems: flickering lights, AC systems that stop working, and appliances that switch on and off before ultimately failing. With similar complaints coming from multiple households, residents say the problem looks neighborhood-wide rather than being separate breakdowns in individual homes.

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Reuters – August 10, 2026

Diesel prices surge on tightening global supply

U.S. and European diesel prices rose sharply on Monday after attacks on refineries in Russia and Saudi Arabia added to supply disruptions, raising ​concerns for farmers in need of the fuel for the planting season ‌in the Northern Hemisphere and harvesting season in the Southern Hemisphere. The U.S. ultra-low sulfur diesel futures contract rose 7.4% to settle at $4.19 a gallon on Monday, the biggest gains since July 13. European ​diesel refining margins, measured as the difference between the price of fuel ​and the cost of crude oil, rose nearly 10%.

The surge followed confirmation of ⁠an attack by Ukraine on a refinery in Russia’s Tatarstan region and another attack by ​Yemen’s Houthis on the Jazan refinery in Saudi Arabia. The Jazan refinery has been ​shut since July 27 due to an earlier strike by the Houthis, and plans to restart it have been postponed from August 15 to August 30, according to industry monitor IIR Energy.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 10, 2026

War Is Helping Chinese EVs Upend the Global Car Market*

One group that doesn’t want the Iran war to end soon is China’s electric-vehicle makers. They began the year with a glut of EVs on their hands and weak demand at home. The crisis in the Middle East is helping them export their way out of trouble: Chinese carmakers are sending excess supply to overseas markets, where high gasoline prices are prompting more drivers to buy EVs. The market share of traditional carmakers is the big casualty. China’s EV exports rose 120% in the first half of 2026 from the same period of last year, data from the International Energy Agency shows. EV sales have roughly doubled in Brazil, Australia, Korea and Vietnam since the war began. EV sales in Colombia have quadrupled, based on IEA data.

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The Latest TERse Tips

Enbridge is launching the Wrangler Pipeline service in September. This new offering utilizes leased capacity across existing infrastructure, combining the Platte Pipeline from Wyoming to Illinois with the southern section of the Spearhead Pipeline, to provide a single, streamlined crude transport option directly into Cushing, Oklahoma — Quantum Intel

LS Power is acquiring the Brazos Valley Energy Center near Houston from Constellation Energy — the Brazos Valley Energy Center, formerly known as the Jack Fusco Energy Center, is a 606-megawatt (MW) natural gas-fired combined-cycle facility — Daily Energy Insider

Three San Antonio City Council members are calling for a temporary moratorium on applications for new data centers, citing concerns about the rapidly growing industry’s demands on water, electricity and impact on air quality in surrounding neighborhoods — District 6 Councilmember Ric Galvan filed the three-signature memo with support from District 5 Councilmember Teri Castillo and District 8 Councilmember Ivalis Meza Gonzalez — Texas Public Radio NPR

The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) scheduled a special open meeting for August 14th to address high-voltage 765-kV transmission lines and the rapid expansion of data centers

Atmos Energy Corporation said Monday that James H. Jeffries IV has been elected to its board of directors, effective September 1, 2026 — he has been a partner with the law firm of McGuire Woods LLP for 8 years and has announced his retirement effective August 31, 2026 — Morningstar

Summit Midstream Corporation on Monday announced its financial and operating results for the three months ended June 30 — see the press release

Oil in U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve falls below 300 million barrels, lowest since 1983 — CNBC

A fire ​at the Ilsky oil refinery in Russia’s ‌southern Krasnodar region has been extinguished, local authorities said on Saturday, adding that it had ​been caused by debris from a Ukrainian ​drone — Reuters*

Midstream joint venture between Matador Resources and Five Point Infrastructure ‘s San Mateo Midstream, LLC says it has successfully completed the acquisition of the operating subsidiaries of Cardinal Midstream Partners, LLC, “a portfolio company of EnCap Flatrock Midstream, for total cash consideration of $752 million” — see the press release

 

Oil & Gas Texas

 

Zacks/Yahoo! News – August 10, 2026

Natural Gas Services Q2 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates

Natural Gas Services (NGS) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.47 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.37 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.41 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +27.03%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this maker of natural gas compression equipment and industrial flare systems would post earnings of $0.45 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.53, delivering a surprise of +17.78%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. Natural Gas Services, which belongs to the Zacks Oil and Gas – Mechanical and and Equipment industry, posted revenues of $51.4 million for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.73%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $41.38 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters.

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Substack (blog) – August 10, 2026

Enbridge Unveils Wrangler Pipeline: Offering Direct Capacity from Wyoming to Cushing, Oklahoma — Plainview Energy Analytics

Enbridge has introduced a new pipeline entity known as the Wrangler Pipeline, which relies entirely on leased capacity across Enbridge’s existing Platte and Spearhead pipelines. The service combines Platte Pipeline capacity, running from Casper and Guernsey, Wyoming, to Wood River, Illinois, with the southern portion of the Spearhead Pipeline, which extends from Key, Missouri, to Cushing, Oklahoma (see figure below). By integrating these segments, Enbridge offers shippers a streamlined, single-entity shipping option to transport crude oil from Casper or Guernsey directly to Cushing. Previously, moving barrels along this route required shippers to coordinate across the two separate pipelines and stack their respective rates.

While Enbridge’s precise motivation for creating the Wrangler Pipeline remains somewhat unclear, the move appears designed to optimize flow and offer more flexible shipping solutions. Structurally, this setup effectively divides the capacity of both the Platte and Spearhead systems into western and eastern sections (see figure below), with the western portions of the pipelines largely serving Wrangler and the eastern portions largely tied to the future Southern Illinois Connector leases which we deep dived last week.

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Gilmer Mirror – August 4, 2026

RRC and Texas A&M Partner to Advance Fire Prevention Training for Oil and Gas Inspectors

Today, Executive Director Wei Wang welcomed RRC inspectors to the Austin headquarters for training on advanced fire prevention and electrical safety codes. To enhance inspector expertise and ensure safer field operations, the RRC has partnered with the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service to introduce a new fire-prevention training program. This initiative is designed to equip oil and gas inspectors with practical skills to identify and mitigate wildfire risks and electrical hazards.

Thirty RRC oil and gas field inspectors from across the state attended the inaugural Electrical Transmission and Distribution (ET&D) course in Austin, August 3-4. In addition to RRC’s internal training implemented last year, this class provided inspectors with hands-on instruction in evaluating the operation and maintenance of electrical power lines at well sites and other oil and gas production facilities, further expanding their technical expertise in field safety and compliance.

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July 21, 2026

Why Are We Sinking Billions into a Gas System We Plan to Leave Behind?: Energy Institute at Haas

Our natural gas distribution system is aging. Chances are, there’s an aging gas main under a street near you that will pose some leakage risk in the not-too-distant future. Your local utility will need to decide what to do about it and they will have three options:

1. Replace it. Dig up the street, remove the old pipe, and install a new one engineered to last 80+ years. This can cost between $1 to $10 million per mile.
2. Repair it. Fix the leak and line the inside of the pipe. Repair will not last as long, but the cost is measured in thousands (versus millions) per mile.
3. Retire it. Cap the main and help the connected homes and businesses switch their gas appliances to all-electric.

Which option will your utility pick?

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Gilmer Mirror – August 9, 2026

Texas Drilling Permit and Completion Statistics for July 2026

The RRC issued a total of 693 original drilling permits in July 2026. The total includes 612 to drill new oil or gas wells, 11 to re-enter plugged wellbores, 9 field transfer, 58 for re-completion and 3 reclass. The breakdown of well types for total original drilling permits in July 2026 is: 103 oil, 54 gas, 497 oil and gas, 29 injection and 10 other permits.

In July 2026, Commission staff processed 982 oil, 545 gas and 249 injection completions. Detailed data on drilling permits and well completions for the month can be found at this link:

 

Oil & Gas National & International

 

CNBC – August 10, 2026

Hormuz Deadlock: Where oil prices could head next as prospects for an imminent deal fade

Oil prices remain below their recent peaks even as prospects for a quick reopening of the Strait of Hormuz fade, a disconnect analysts warn may not last. Brent crude futures ended last week down more than 7% following signals from Washington that an agreement with Tehran to unblock the vital maritime chokepoint was in sight. An agreement is yet to materialize, with prospects for a deal appearing to deteriorate over the weekend. Tehran is now adamant that Washington must adhere to several conditions before the strait can reopen. U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has signaled a shift in strategy, telling news outlet Axios on Sunday that Washington was “low-keying it” and hinting the administration would rely on mounting economic pressure on Tehran rather than immediate fresh military strikes.

International benchmark Brent crude was closing in on $88 a barrel in early trading on Tuesday, up from around $83 at the end of last week. That rise still leaves prices well below last month’s surge above $100 a barrel and the peak above $110 recorded in May. Energy markets drew short-term confidence from indications that negotiations between Iran and Oman over a temporary shipping route through the strait are continuing, alongside expectations that near-term military escalation between the U.S. and Iran may be held in check. For now, traders are “confident that we can get to some sort of agreement, even if it may be a fudge,” Modupe Adegbembo, an economist at Jefferies, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Monday. “It may not be a great agreement, but it may be something that allows more oil and more things to flow through the Strait of Hormuz.”

 

KTEP NPR – August 9, 2026

Yemen’s Houthis claim attack on Aramco oil facility in Saudi Arabia, and other Middle East news

Yemen’s Houthis said they attacked an oil facility Sunday in southwestern Saudi Arabia, the latest attack by the Iranian-backed rebels on the kingdom. Meanwhile, Iran has made new demands about the restart of negotiations and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and the Pentagon is pressing the U.S. defense industry to accelerate production of weapons.

Yahya Saree, a military spokesperson for the Houthis, said they targeted an Aramco refinery in the city of Jazan with a drone. The attack was in response to Saudi drones’ breaching Yemen’s airspace over the provinces of Hajjah and Saada, he said. Early on Sunday, the Saudi Energy Ministry reported a fire at a facility belonging to the Aramco refinery without casualties. The ministry said the fire was extinguished but it didn’t describe its cause. Sunday’s Houthi attack is the latest in a series of missile and drone attacks that targeted Saudi Arabia and its shipping in the Red Sea.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 10, 2026

U.A.E.’s Adnoc Gas to Invest More Than $8 Billion in Expansion Push

The United Arab Emirates’ Adnoc Gas said it would invest over $8 billion to grow its production capacity, just months after the country’s departure from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries​. The exit freed Abu Dhabi from the cartel’s quota restrictions. Majority owned by state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Adnoc Gas is already one of the world’s largest producers of natural gas but it is betting on a substantial growth program to meet rising gas demand, fueled by population growth and power hungry data centers. The U.A.E., free of OPEC’s quotas, is ramping up oil production in a bid to establish itself more prominently as an energy superpower. More oil usually means more gas, which is extracted along with the oil. Adnoc Gas processes the gas and LNG for domestic and international markets.

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Reuters – August 10, 2026

ADNOC Gas second-quarter profit falls 52% as Hormuz closure hits sales*

ADNOC Gas reported a 52% slide in ‌second-quarter profit on Monday, with sales hit by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran. The Abu Dhabi state-owned company’s second-quarter profit fell to $665 million from $1.39 billion a year earlier but beat its guidance range of $400 ​million to $600 million. The listed company relied on its domestic market to sustain profits, with $1 billion of ​its $1.7 billion of first-half net profit coming from local clients, CFO Peter van Driel said.

“The ⁠majority of the profit comes from domestic markets; that is really the backbone of our operational results,” he ​said. The Middle East conflict has hurt oil-rich Gulf countries as Iran has attacked their energy infrastructure and oil tankers while also ​blocking shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which previously carried a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.

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CNBC – August 2, 2026

The past week’s earnings from the energy sector demonstrated just how much the U.S.-Iran war has contributed to the short-term performance of major players in the oil market — and to the portfolio gains of investors who targeted stock opportunities in the sector. The sums are massive, but sitting on those gains for too long could be a mistake, according to investing experts. ExxonMobil and Chevron reported quarterly profits on Friday that surged due to the war’s impact on oil prices, with Exxon’s profits doubling year-over-year to $14.5 billion and Chevron’s net income increasing close to 400%.

“We’re kind of firing on all cylinders, which is good, because the world needs it,” CEO Mike Wirth told CNBC’s Becky Quick on Friday.

From April through June, U.S. crude oil futures averaged over $92, a quarterly increase of 27%.

The action in refiners has been even stronger. Valero Energy’s earnings were up over 400% for the quarter compared to last year in world that Valero estimates is still five million barrels short per day of global refining capacity and over 100 million barrels short of oil inventories. Chevron’s refining segment saw profits jump 500% amid the rise in gasoline and diesel prices.

 

Utilities, Electricity & Renewables

 

Utility Dive – August 10, 2026

Vistra supports Texas data center pause, execs say

Related: More Data Center Operators Commit to Abbott’s Texas Standards as Power Companies Endorse ERCOT Batch Framework — Power Magazine

Vistra Corp. is in favor of the pause on data center development in Texas pending an audit of the projects in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas interconnection queue, said company executives during a Friday earnings call. They doubt it will affect a 1.2-GW deal to serve an Amazon data center from Vistra’s Comanche Peak nuclear plant, they said.

The 2.4 GW Comanche Peak is set to begin delivering power to Amazon in 2027 under a 20-year power purchase agreement the two companies reached last year, and Amazon is building a $5 billion data center project near the nuclear plant. “We don’t see [Comanche Peak] being affected at this point, and we support the conversation that the governor is wanting to have with the data center community to make sure that Texas does this right,” said CEO Jim Burke during the call.

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El Paso Matters – August 10, 2026

Meta-Abbott agreement on data center guidelines appears to have no effect on El Paso plans

Meta’s agreement with Gov. Greg Abbott to a series of guidelines for data center operations in Texas – including paying for their electric infrastructure and promising to “eliminate reliance on outdated taxpayer-funded incentives” – appears to have no impact on its massive Northeast El Paso project.  Abbott announced the agreement in a news release Monday morning that contained no mention of Meta’s $14 billion project in El Paso, or its incentive package approved in 2023 by the city and county governments.

“I established clear guardrails to ensure data centers protect our electric grid, conserve our water, respect our neighborhoods, and pay their own way,” Abbott said in the news release. “They must not pass costs on to Texas families or interfere with their quality of life.” The agreements specifically mention ERCOT –  the Electric Reliability Council of Texas that manages power to most of the state – but not other electric companies in the state, including El Paso Electric.

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August 10, 2026

Policy reset could significantly expand wind and solar generation in Mexico: Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis

Mexico has relied heavily on fossil fuels to generate electricity for the past 25 years, with oil, gas, and coal producing nearly 80% of the country’s power between 2000 and 2024. But solar and wind, backed by dispatchable battery storage, may soon be supplying a much higher share of Mexico’s electricity demand.  Under a revamped energy policy framework set in motion by President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office in late 2024, 7,410 megawatts (MW) of utility-scale solar and wind projects were selected in June out of nearly 38,000 MW that had been proposed, highlighting strong investor interest to develop renewable projects in the country.

Most of the winning projects, about 6,700 MW, were solar photovoltaic, with the remaining 700 MW awarded for wind. All of the projects are required to have battery storage equivalent to at least 30% of their capacity and a duration of at least three hours under the new rules. Initial reviews, interconnection studies, contracts, and permit application milestones are unfolding into the fall; the government’s goal is to complete this process by the end of the year.

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Texas Tribune – August 10, 2026

While data centers boom in Texas, their plans stay shrouded in secrecy

Bell — Last year, Mason McCallister saw survey markers on a property near his home in a rural community about an hour north of Dallas. He suspected it might be for a new data center he’d heard about from a neighbor. But information hasn’t come easy. He found no project announcements and saw nothing on county agendas. Several local officials told him they knew nothing of the project. The 34-year-old realtor searched property records. He knocked on neighbors’ doors to ask what they knew. His wife, also a realtor, asked the surveyors who was buying the land, and his grandma chased a neighbor down at church to ask if he sold his property.

Eventually, McCallister mapped companies contracting with landowners all around him including Black Mountain, an energy and digital infrastructure group based in Fort Worth. He dug up a permit for a power plant from a company with the same address as Black Mountain, indicating the data center could build its own power source. Then in March, after months of searching for answers, McCallister drove 100 miles to a town hall in the Fort Worth area where he learned Black Mountain’s CEO, Rhett Bennett, would be speaking about a different project.

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Austin Ameican-Statesman – August 10, 2026

Tesla pushes focus away from autos while growing its energy business*

As Tesla Inc. recovers from low car sales in 2025 that resulted in the company losing its title as the world’s bestselling EV maker, the Austin company is rapidly investing in a sector of its business that continues to have reliable demand. The Austin-based company reported record energy storage installations last year, driven by its Megapack battery. In 2025, Tesla said its home battery network supported more than 1 million installed units that allowed homeowners to save on electricity bills.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 10, 2026

America’s Electric Honeymoon Is Over. EV Owners Must Work Out Where to Go Next.*

Mark Block’s friend wouldn’t stop bragging about the great lease deal he got for his 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6. When Mark and his wife, Ida, saw that they, too, could get a sleek, electric $50,000 car for $340 a month after a $4,000 down payment, they couldn’t resist. They liked their new battery-powered sedan. But when their lease was due back and they went looking for a similar deal, they faced higher prices and fewer options. “Never in my life have I looked at the car market and gone, ‘God, there’s just nothing I want,’” Mark Block said.

Today, that’s no longer the case. The tax credit is gone, automakers are less motivated to push for an electric future, several EV models have bowed out of the market, and prices are up—leaving onetime EV leasers who liked their cars with few affordable options. The situation is testing longstanding data that shows when people go electric, most stay electric. A February study from J.D. Power showed that 96% of polled EV owners say they would consider purchasing or leasing another—but that outcome is contingent on having options in the EV market. Nationally, second-quarter new EV sales and leases were down 20.5% year-over-year, according to Kelley Blue Book.

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Inside Climate News – July 30, 2026

China’s EV Problem: What Happens When Millions of Batteries Die?

After spending the past decade building the world’s largest electric vehicle market, China is confronting one consequence of its success: a growing wave of batteries nearing the end of their service life. Annual sales of battery-powered vehicles in China, including fully electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, have surged from about 1 million in 2018 to more than 16 million in 2025. With EV batteries typically lasting about eight years, the country is entering its first major wave of battery retirements.

The number of batteries requiring disposal or reprocessing is expected to grow rapidly in the years ahead. That poses a major waste-management and recycling challenge for the nation. China reported 400,000 metric tons of EV battery waste last year. A joint study by researchers in China and the United States projected that the figure could grow to 1.69 million metric tons in 2030 and 22.39 million metric tons by 2040.

 

Regulatory

 

JD Supra – July 22, 2026

The Changing Landscape For Data Centers: US Multistate Executive Actions Enact Sweeping Regulatory Guardrails: Ashurst Perkins Coie

• Universal ratepayer protections: Nearly all participating states are curtailing public subsidies for data center energy infrastructure, requiring developers to self-fund utility and grid upgrades. Virginia takes a different approach, preserving its existing tax exemptions through their 2035 sunset while imposing a direct consumption tax to offset general fund impacts.
• Shift from incentives to guardrails: The legislative and executive policy trend has permanently inverted from broad financial attraction to rigorous, merit-based compliance frameworks.
• Jurisdictional specialization: Compliance parameters are highly regionalized—focusing heavily on union labor and a novel ratepayer-class and demand-curtailment framework in New Jersey, job and wage metrics in Pennsylvania, acute water/lake conservation in Utah, grid-rate shielding in Texas, and a newly established consumption tax paired with state-regulated environmental overlays in Virginia.

 

 

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Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Monday August 10, 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 rose Monday, as traders continue to assess mixed signals from the U.S. and Iran amid worries that a deal between both countries to open the Strait of Hormuz may not be anytime soon.

West Texas Intermediate futures for September advanced 0.83% to $78.83 per barrel.

Futures for international benchmark Brent crude for October delivery gained 1.04% to $84.42 a barrel. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran is not currently in direct talks with the U.S. to end the war with Iran and open the Strait of Hormuz, while Washington earlier asserted that a deal is near.

In addition, Iran has asked the U.S. for compensation as a condition to reopen the crucial waterway, according to a report by media outlet Independent. The Strait of Hormuz will remain shut until the U.S. meets six conditions, including ending the war and aggression against Iran and its allies, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, the head of Iran’s supreme national security council, reportedly said.

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Top Stories

 

The Independent (UK) – August 9, 2026

Trump claims he’s ‘low-keying it’ with Iran after report he could walk away without nuclear deal

Donald Trump is taking a wait-and-see approach to Iran as negotiations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and permanently end the war appear to have once again stalled following reports that the president is reportedly considering walking away from the conflict without securing a nuclear deal. “We are low keying it,” Trump told Axios on Sunday, claiming the U.S. strategy will eventually “work out.” “We are only semi-negotiating with them,” he added. “We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money.”

The apparent chill from the U.S. comes despite the president’s repeated insistence a deal is near and Iran is desperate for an off-ramp. In private, the reverse may be true; the president has reportedly floated the possibility of declaring victory even without a deal regarding his top goal to shut down Iran’s nuclear program — so long as the Strait of Hormuz is reopened, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 9, 2026

Data-Center Backlash Leads to a New Land Rush in the Texas Oil Patch*

Energy companies in the country’s largest oil field have a plan to turn shrub-covered dirt into gold. It has nothing to do with oil—and everything to do with the data-center boom. Firms including Texas Pacific Land  and LandBridge and EagleRock sit on land empires nestled in the Permian Basin, which spans West Texas and New Mexico. Their customers are oil-and-gas producers that pay for the right to build roads, drill wells and dump toxic water that is produced alongside the oil they bring to the surface. Now, these landowners want a piece of the AI action. The companies’ ambition is to lease land to data centers and sell them everything from water to construction materials. They are betting that developers facing community pushback from Maine to Arizona will be drawn to the Permian’s abundant land, cheap energy and business friendly climate.

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Texas Monthly – August 7, 2026

Ken Paxton’s Far-Right Billionaire Backer Has Returned*

Tim Dunn has been characteristically generous this election season. Since January 2025, the West Texas oil tycoon and far-right megadonor has doled out nearly $11.5 million as part of his ongoing quest to reshape national politics, cutting massive checks to a slate of right-wing U.S. Senate candidates—save for one notable exception. In the sixteen months since he announced his challenge to incumbent U.S. Senator John Cornyn, Ken Paxton does not appear to have received a single dollar in direct support from Dunn, suggesting a conspicuous and so far unexplained break with the man who largely bankrolled his political life in Texas.

Now Dunn is finally getting involved—albeit indirectly. On July 31, campaign-finance records show, one of the billionaire’s political action committees, Jefferson Rising, spent $110,000 for text messages opposing Paxton’s opponent in the race, Democratic state Representative James Talarico. It’s unclear what the messages, which were sent Monday, contained or whom they targeted.  The timing of Dunn’s foray into the race is notable. With nearly three months until the November midterms, most polls show the Senate race as dead even or favoring Talarico. Over the past few weeks, Paxton has been at the center of a particularly brutal news cycle.

He has faced new scrutiny of his expanding real estate portfolio, video footage of him vacationing with his girlfriend in Europe amid his ongoing divorce from state Senator Angela Paxton, and allegations that he illegally voted. (This week, it was reported that Talarico may have similarly broken election laws.) At the same time, Paxton is getting walloped in fundraising and spending. From the beginning of the year through July 15, his campaign raised about $17 million compared to Talarico’s $72 million, according to The Texas Tribune. And while pro-Talarico groups have continued to spend big on advertising, organizations backing Paxton have been relatively quiet since late May, when he secured the GOP nomination.

 

Texas Tribune – August 8, 2026

Trump calls Texas’ data center opposition a “mistake”

President Donald Trump this week criticized Texas for being anti-data centers, just days after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott paused industry-wide approvals until the companies provide the state with more information on things like power and water use. “I saw Texas the other day sort of is against data centers,” Trump said in a nearly hourlong sit-down interview with Punchbowl News released Friday. “I think it’s a mistake. And I’m not taking positions, I just think it’s a mistake, because there are other communities that want it. When a community wants it, it means a lot of money is going to come into that community.”

Abbott’s spokesperson in a statement Friday defended the policy move as necessary because less than 10% of data centers responded to the state’s requests for them to report their power and water usage. “Many are unaware that [the Electric Reliability Council of Texas] is tracking a more than 500% increase in peak electricity demand. This unprecedented growth could endanger the reliability and stability of the Texas electric grid,” Andrew Mahaleris said. “The Governor’s pause requires data centers to provide [Public Utility Commission of Texas] and ERCOT with the required information for them to make fully informed decisions. Simply put, Texans must come first.”

Austin American-Statesman – August 8, 2026

Tesla eyes tax breaks for $10.1 billion solar manufacturing plant in Fort Bend County*

Tesla Inc. is eyeing another massive, multibillion-dollar investment in Texas — this time a proposed $10.1 billion solar cell manufacturing facility in Fort Bend County — while seeking tax breaks to help bring the project to the state. It’s the latest example of Elon Musk’s companies proposing major new investments in Texas while signaling they could take the projects elsewhere without tax giveaways. In a new filing with the Texas Comptroller’s Office, the Austin company says the facility west of Houston would manufacture components used to convert sunlight into electricity, with a focus on products for utility and commercial installations. The company said it plans to bring the plant online by early 2029.

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The Hill – August 8, 2026

China could control the future of energy if America doesn’t act fast: Scott Tinker

The price of oil has been yo-yo-ing dramatically since the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran in early 2026 and Iran’s subsequent military control of the Strait of Hormuz. Rather than causing disparate groups to come together to recognize the importance of all forms of energy, this has resulted in some pushing harder for oil and gas and others pressing harder for solar, wind and batteries.  This is a false dichotomy. Both are needed. A similar situation exists with China — conceptually the Strait of Beijing — which dominates the global refining of critical minerals and related supply chains needed to produce the world’s solar panels. It also manufactures a large share of lithium-ion batteries. The reality is that aggregate U.S. shale production is plateauing — and what follows this “transition” from oil and gas production growth matters.

The shale revolution was one of the greatest technological achievements in American energy history. Through innovation in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, the U.S. reversed a decades long production decline and now leads the world in oil and gas production. Affordable shale oil and gas helped pull the U.S. out of the 2009 global recession, improved its geopolitical position, and even lowered carbon emissions as natural gas displaced coal in electricity generation. But geology has the final word. Every shale basin matures and production eventually slows. To extend the life of shale will require bipartisan policy and regulatory reforms, not uninformed, political sound bites. Investment in advanced drilling technologies, digital optimization and enhanced recovery techniques can help.

 

The Latest TERse Tips

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Plains GP Holdings on Friday reported second-quarter 2026 results and provided the following highlights — see the press release

VAALCO Energy, Inc. on Friday reported operational and financial results for the second quarter 2026 — see the press release

Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP on Friday announced financial and operating results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 — see the press release

Marathon Petroleum reported second-quarter net income attributable to MPC of $5.1 billion, or $17.73 per diluted share — see the press release

Sabine Royalty Trust reported a strong quarter for a royalty vehicle, with Q2 net income of about US$20.8 million and basic earnings per unit of $1.43 — Simply Wall Street

Vistra Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results with Net Income of $305 million, including an unrealized loss from hedges expected to settle in future years of $472 million — the company says it achieved more than 30% growth in Ongoing Operations Adjusted EBITDA¹ to $1,767 million for the quarter compared to second quarter 2025 — see the press release

Duke Energy is committed to finding affordability solutions for customers amid rising demand — and opposition to the company’s $103 billion spending plan, company leaders said — Utility Dive

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s net income increased by $220 million in the first three quarters of this year, primarily due to higher operating revenue associated with an increase in power sales which was largely driven by the data processing, web hosting and related services sector, TVA’s CFO and executive vice president Tom Rice said — Utility Dive

Japanese energy company Eneos Holdings Inc. acquired TPC Group in a deal valuing the chemical firm at $1.28 billion including debt, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg News — the agreement, announced Friday without pricing details, will give the Japanese oil refiner ownership of TPC’s petrochemical operations in Houston as well as terminal operations in Port Neches, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana. TPC engaged with multiple interested parties, according to the documents, which were signed by TPC leadership — Bloomberg*

In a win for opponents of Enbridge Energy’s Line 5 pipeline, the Michigan Supreme Court vacated a key permit last week for a proposed project that would replace a segment of the pipeline running underneath an environmentally-sensitive area of the Great Lakes, finding that a state commission did not examine the full scope of possible harm to the environment — Grist

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Oil & Gas Texas

 

Oil Price – August 7, 2026

US Oil Drillers Add Rigs

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States stayed the same overall this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, with the total rig count in the US staying at 588, up 49 from this same time last year. The number of active oil rigs rose by 3, reaching 454 during the latest reporting period, according to the data. This is 43 above this same time last year. The number of gas rigs fell by 3 to 124, which is 1 more than this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed at 10.

The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production rebounded slightly during week ending July 31. US crude oil production averaged 13.804 million bpd during the reporting period, up from 13.796 million bpd last week and up 520,000 bpd from a year ago. Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells, fell by 4 in the week ending July 31, to 194 crews, after gaining 2 in the week prior. The number of active drilling rigs in the Permian Basin rose by 3 in the reporting period, hitting 263. This is 7 rigs above year-ago levels. The count in the Eagle Ford stayed the same at 49, which is 11 more than this same time last year.

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The Guardian – August 8, 2026

Greenland issues ‘strong warning’ as Trump-linked oil firm prepares to drill

Executives of Greenland Energy, a Texas company set up last year, have claimed that $1tn of crude may lie beneath the Jameson Land region. They announced plans to spend $60m drilling two wells to find out. Although Greenland stopped issuing new oil licences in 2021 on environmental grounds, a UK company called 80 Mile had secured exploration rights in Jameson Land. Greenland Energy’s corporate filings say it will take a majority stake in the project in exchange for funding the exploration, though it still needs government permission to proceed.

Greenland Energy has retained Phil McGraw, better known as Dr Phil, a prominent rightwing former chatshow host who served on Trump’s religious freedom commission, to make a documentary series that will “capture the mission of these modern-day wildcatters”. It has also appointed as a director a US navy veteran who is working on Golden Dome, the missile defence plan for which Trump says controlling Greenland is “vital”.

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Pipeline & Gas Journal – August 7, 2026

FERC approves $5-B Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion to boost Southeast gas supply

Federal regulators have given the green light to two major natural gas pipeline projects backed by Kinder Morgan, clearing the way for roughly $5.2 B in new energy infrastructure stretching from Mississippi to Georgia and South Carolina. Federal regulators have given the green light to two major natural gas pipeline projects backed by Kinder Morgan, clearing the way for roughly $5.2 billion in new energy infrastructure stretching from Mississippi to Georgia and South Carolina.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order on July 31 approving certificates of public convenience and necessity for the Mississippi Crossing Project (MSX), proposed by Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, and the South System Expansion 4 Project (SSE4), jointly proposed by Southern Natural Gas Company and Elba Express Company. All three companies are affiliated with Kinder Morgan, one of the largest energy infrastructure operators in North America.

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The Guardian – August 7, 2026

Trump faces calls for windfall tax on big oil’s profits from Iran war

Donald Trump’s statement that oil companies have made “too much money” from the Iran war has angered environmentalists, who say that his policies were designed to benefit those very corporations. If he really believes his own claims, he should impose a windfall profits tax, advocates say. “Trump’s declaration that big oil is ‘making too much money’ belies his accommodation and giveaways to the industry that have enabled its price-gouging – not to mention his disaster of a war of choice against Iran,” said Tyson Slocum, energy program director at the consumer advocacy non-profit Public Citizen. “But like a broken clock that’s correct twice a day, the president is right that oil companies are ‘making too much money’, which means Trump should endorse a windfall profits tax.”

ExxonMobil and Chevron on Friday both reported windfall profits for the second quarter of the year. Chevron said its earnings soared nearly 400% to $12bn, while Exxon’s profits more than doubled to $14.5bn. On Monday evening, Trump took aim at those gains, saying the companies “ought to give some of that back to the public”.

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Fortune – August 8, 2026

How Chevron became the AI darling of Big Oil

The massive Microsoft deal, dubbed Project Kilby, positions Chevron as the booming AI leader of Big Oil. Chevron considers Kilby—slated to come online in 2028 and ramp up through 2031—as the first of potentially several massive AI hyperscaler deals that will span West Texas and other gas-laden regions, including the Rockies and the Midwest, Jeff Gustavson, Chevron New Energies president, told Fortune. The project, fittingly, is an homage to Texas Instruments’ Jack Kilby, the inventor of the integrated circuit, or microchip, and the handheld calculator—early precursors of AI.

“After making the announcement about Kilby [in June], everyone wants to talk to us,” Gustavson said. “They now see us as a higher credibility player in this space that can actually put together everything you need on these projects, including, importantly, a customer.” When he says “everyone,” he means not just the hyperscalers, but also the gas turbine manufacturers—critically important amid long queues for equipment—and all the other necessary third-party suppliers and contractors. Chevron brings the scale, project management, land, natural gas resources, and more.

The 20-year power deal with Microsoft is for 2.67 gigawatts of natural gas-fired power—and room to grow with solar and batteries as well. The deal includes Chevron’s land and gas, additional land and water services from Texas Pacific Land, a joint venture partnership with Engine No. 1-backed power startup Joulent, at least seven large GE Vernova turbines, and several smaller Caterpillar Solar Titan 350 turbines. It doesn’t hurt that Chevron has a market cap of about $370 billion and just posted its most profitable quarter ever.

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Reuters – August 7, 2026

Cheniere Energy raises annual core profit outlook on strong LNG demand*

Cheniere Energy raised its forecast for annual ‌core profit on Thursday after beating quarterly expectations on robust LNG demand and high output, sending its shares up 3.5% in early afternoon trading. The largest U.S. LNG exporter expects adjusted core profit to range from $7.9 billion to $8.4 billion in 2026, compared with its prior ​projection of $7.25 billion to $7.75 billion. The Houston, Texas-based company’s adjusted core profit for the second quarter was $1.8 billion, ​beating analyst expectations of $1.72 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

“We don’t see these ⁠financial results as one-off going forward once LNG prices stabilize,” the company’s chief financial officer, Zach Davis, said ​during an earnings call. He said increased output would offset any declines in margins that have been elevated by ongoing disruptions ​in the Middle East. Cheniere said it exported 184 cargoes of LNG in the three months ended June 30, up 19.4% from a year earlier. The company expects increased exports next year as it will have a full year of production from its expansion ​projects, Davis said.

 

Oil & Gas National & International

 

CNBC – August 7, 2026

Top Democrat proposes killing tax breaks for overseas oil production

Sen. Martin Heinrich will introduce a bill, shared exclusively with CNBC, to end tax breaks for U.S. oil and gas companies that operate overseas while the industry reaps massive profits as the war with Iran spikes oil prices. The bill comes days after President Donald Trump ripped major U.S. oil and gas producers for making “too much money” amid the conflict that has raised gasoline prices, and warned that companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron are going to have to “give some of that back to the public, and they better cut the retail price, the consumer price.” Trump has, at the same time, pushed U.S. oil and gas companies to invest in Venezuela after he ousted the country’s former president, Nicolás Maduro.

Heinrich, D-N.M., who is the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said the bill would “help put American energy development on an even playing field with energy development that’s happening in the Middle East or anywhere else. Oil majors shouldn’t get a tax break for going overseas to produce energy, but that’s essentially what our current tax policy does,” he said. “At a time when oil majors are making billions in profits per quarter, they can afford to pay their fair share.”

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Financial Post – July 29, 2026

Calgary oil driller says its rigs are in demand — up 20% — as strong prices fuel activity

Calgary-based Precision Drilling Corp. posted higher second-quarter revenue as rising oil prices fuelled a spike in drilling activity in Canada, but its international division struggled with challenges during conflict in the Middle East. The oil services company’s revenue increased by 11 per cent to $452.8 million for the quarter that ended on June 30. In Canada, drilling activity increased 22 per cent compared to a year earlier with an average of 61 active rigs. The rise outpaced the 16 per cent average increase in the sector, the company said in a press release on Tuesday.

“Improving producer economics and expanded market access continue to support an attractive Canadian drilling environment, most notably in the condensate and heavy oil basins,” Precision’s chief executive Carey Ford said in a statement. “We expect activity during the second half of the year to remain above prior year levels.” The ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran led to increased demand for energy and higher oil prices during the spring quarter, amid concerns over attacks on infrastructure and transportation routes vital to the global oil market. The war has affected Precision’s business in two completely different ways. With North American oil averaging above US$90 a barrel in the second quarter, the company’s rigs were in demand in Canada and the United States, where it had 35 active rigs, up slightly from 33.

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The Guardian – August 4, 2026

BP boss urges Burnham to prioritise UK oil and gas even as firm exits North Sea

BP’s chief executive has urged Andy Burnham to make use of the UK’s oil and gas resources even as the oil company prepares to sell its North Sea business after 60 years in the ageing basin. In a conversation with the new prime minister, Meg O’Neill said the country should prioritise using energy produced in the UK, “where we generate jobs, we generate tax revenue, we generate all those additional positive impacts”.

BP’s endorsement of UK oil production came days after the 117-year-old company signalled a plan to exit the North Sea after six decades, as part of a wider plan to streamline its business. O’Neill said North Sea investments were “not competitive” within BP’s portfolio, while the company reported its highest quarterly profits since the first year of Russia’s war on Ukraine because of rising oil and gas prices caused by the Middle East crisis.

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Swaziland News – August 2, 2026

Turkiye and Iraq sign one-year oil pipeline deal amid global shift.

Ankara and Baghdad have signed a one-year agreement to keep crude flowing through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline that stretches from Iraq to Turkiye, just days after a top-level visit to Ankara by Iraq’s Prime Minister, Aljazeera reported. The deal – struck between Turkish state firm BOTAS and Iraq’s state oil companies SOMO and NOC on Saturday – comes days after the decades-old bilateral arrangement lapsed on Monday last week.
In a post on X, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the agreement was signed following a “productive meeting” in Ankara with Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair. “While our efforts continue toward a new long-term agreement for this pipeline … we have implemented this transit arrangement covering a daily capacity of 750,000 barrels,” he wrote.

 

Utilities, Electricity & Renewables

 

The New York Times – August 8, 2026

New Amazon Data Center Stokes Worry It Would Be the Most Polluting Power Plant in the U.S.*

Amazon is investing in a large-scale natural-gas-burning power plant as part of a huge data center in Texas, the company confirmed on Friday, a facility that could become the largest single source of climate pollution in the United States. Amazon and other tech giants are racing to build enough data centers to keep up with surging demand for artificial intelligence services, and to secure the electricity to power them. A company spokeswoman said in a statement that its planned data center, in Pecos County, would be “powered by new on-site generation that won’t raise electricity costs for Texas families.”

The new gas-burning plant, if built to specifications, would be permitted to release 33 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, regulatory records show, more planet-warming gases than any other power plant in the country. Amazon has been struggling to meet its promise that it would effectively eliminate its planet-warming emissions by 2040 as part of the Climate Pledge, a voluntary agreement among companies that Amazon co-founded several years ago. Emissions from the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas is the main driver of global warming, which is dangerously heating the planet. …

Amazon said it had recently acquired the Pecos County site, where a developer is building the gas-burning plant. The plant would use 35 natural-gas turbines to generate up to 7.65 gigawatts of power to feed to Amazon’s planned data center, according to permits for the project. The plant would not initially connect to the wider electricity grid, Amazon’s Ms. Callahan said. The site is in a remote part of West Texas near the state’s major natural-gas-producing regions. Ms. Callahan added that the company was also exploring the use of solar energy and battery storage at the data center, which she said would create thousands of new jobs. The tech company did not disclose how much it had paid.

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August 7, 2026

Abbott’s move against CPS is about subverting local control, not affordability: San Antonio Express-News*

Related: Abbott’s attack on Austin Energy is a costly path to ‘affordability’ — “If he wanted a more accountable Austin Energy — a goal we would applaud — he could champion transparency mandates for a utility that recently approved a $1 billion gas peaker plant with astonishing secrecy, not even disclosing how City Council members voted on the project” — Austin American-Statesman*

Related: CPS Energy’s not-for-profit business model benefits ratepayers and our community — “CPS Energy is reflective of the community we serve, led by an independent board of trustees, bound to make decisions in the best interests of our customers” — op-ed by Francine S. Romero of CPS Energy’s board of trustees in the San Antonio Express-News*

Related: Texas Audit Could Delay 49.8 GW of Data Center Load, Cost Projects Up to $15 Billion, BNEF Warns — “BNEF suggests the audit is politically tilted. ‘Abbott is facing reelection in November this year, and the pause is likely intended to take the controversial data center issue off the table until after the voters have their say,’” the report states — Power Magazine

Gov. Greg Abbott announced this week that he wants the Texas Legislature to end CPS Energy’s status as the sole seller of electricity in San Antonio. He did not offer specifics on how this would be implemented, or whether he intends to apply it to all municipally owned utilities in Texas, of which there are more than 70 serving more than 5 million customers. Our Editorial Board along with the Austin American-Statesman Editorial Board requested to speak with the governor. His office referred us to his campaign, which did not agree to an interview in time for publication.

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KXAN – August 6, 2026

Major data center company backs Abbott’s audit as Texas pauses new grid connections

 Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that QTS Data Centers has committed to meet the state’s new standards for data center projects, marking one of the first major industry responses to the state’s new oversight requirements. QTS, which owns four operational data centers in Texas, made their announcement days after Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to conduct a comprehensive audit of pending data center projects before allowing any additional facilities to connect to the state’s electric grid. The governor has said the review is intended to protect residential ratepayers, ensure projects have adequate power and water resources, and verify developers can deliver on their proposals.

According to the governor’s office, QTS agreed to meet several requirements Texas is seeking for future developments, including using closed-loop cooling technology that minimizes water consumption after startup, providing dedicated power generation rather than relying solely on the ERCOT grid and ensuring projects do not increase electricity costs for residential customers.

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Utility Dive – August 7, 2026

Oncor weighs impact of Texas data center freeze on nearly 300-GW load pipeline

About 44 GW of large load projects slated for Oncor’s service territory qualified for ERCOT’s new “Batch Zero” interconnection process for large loads, company executives told analysts during a Thursday earnings call. But the timeline for that process is uncertain following an order by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that paused new data center interconnection approvals pending a state-wide audit.

ERCOT’s criteria for Batch Zero, which include new financial and technical requirements for loads with a peak demand of 75 MW or greater, narrowed immediate load growth projects for Oncor, a subsidiary of Sempra. The batch approach, Sempra Chairman and CEO Jeff Martin said, was intended to align the interconnection of large loads with the construction of new generation. The criteria for acceptance into the first Batch Zero was finalized in June.

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KUHF NPR – August 7, 2026

Will Gov. Abbott’s plan for Austin Energy lower prices? A Texas energy expert is wary

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a plan earlier this week to disrupt what he labeled as “utility monopolies.” The governor said in a statement that doing so “will lower electricity costs by expanding consumer choice.” But one expert whose been watching the energy market for years says Austin Energy already has some of the lowest prices in the state’s electric grid.

Cyrus Reed is the legislative and conservation director at the Texas chapter of the Sierra Club, a nonprofit organization focused on environmental issues. He says, in the deregulated model of competitive markets, like in Corpus Christi, Houston or Dallas, prices are not typically lower than city-owned utilities, like Austin Energy. “Depending on the utility, the prices might be lower in the competitive market,” he said. “But in the case of Austin Energy, in part because of the investments made on energy savings programs and onsite solar, the average bills in Austin Energy are actually the lowest in ERCOT,” he said, referring to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the state’s grid.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 8, 2026

Cuba Is Low on Oil. Now, It’s Counting on Solar, With China’s Help.*

Cuba is running short of fuel, but not sunshine. As the Caribbean island’s energy crisis has deepened, Chinese-provided solar panels have popped up across the country, offering an unlikely bright spot for a power grid plagued by fuel shortages, crumbling infrastructure and near-daily blackouts. At least 41 midsize and 18 smaller-scale solar parks have been built over the past two years, according to RenewAtlas, a database that tracks solar developments and satellite imagery. The government said in 2024 that they plan to build 92 midsize parks by 2028. The solar push accelerated after a series of nationwide blackouts in 2024, in part because Cuba’s imports of crude oil from Venezuela collapsed, said Ricardo Torres Pérez, a Cuban economist at American University.

But in a cruel twist, Cubans are still spending much of their days without electricity despite the surge in new solar capacity. The island’s 10 million residents have suffered almost daily power outages as fuel supplies have dwindled, a crisis that worsened after the Trump administration blocked nearly all energy shipments to Havana in late January. The new solar parks could generate around 1,000 megawatts of capacity when operating at peak output, nearly five times what was previously installed and almost one-third of the country’s typical peak demand of about 3,200 megawatts. Solar now meets about 10% of the nation’s power needs, up from 3% at the beginning of last year, the government said.

 

Regulatory

 

San Antonio Express-News – August 9, 2026

Iran war should bring end to Jones Act and its drain on economy: Michael Bloomberg*

The Iran war has provided at least two clear economic lessons. It has exposed the steep costs of being reliant on fossil fuels, highlighting the need for countries to diversify their homegrown energy sources, including solar and wind power. And it has shown what U.S. commerce could look like freed from the Jones Act, one of the most counterproductive protectionist measures of the last century. The law, part of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, requires vessels carrying cargo between U.S. ports to be built, owned, flagged and predominantly crewed by Americans. To illustrate the problems this causes, consider this: A foreign-flagged ship coming from Asia can unload its goods at a West Coast port, but it cannot then pick up American-made goods and unload them at Honolulu — or any other U.S. city. The act costs Hawaiian families $1,800 a year, according to one study. Alaskans and Puerto Ricans get walloped, too.

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Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Friday August 7, 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 rose Friday amid worries over supply disruptions after Iran published a restrictive draft plan for the Strait of Hormuz.

West Texas Intermediate futures for September advanced 1.10% at $78.14 per barrel.

Futures for international benchmark Brent crude for October delivery gained 1.25% to $83.52 a barrel.

“Higher oil prices signaled that a further inflationary impulse from energy and the situation in the Middle East could not be discounted, sending US dollar higher and government bonds lower,” Westpac said in a note.

According to the apparent draft plan published by Iran, the country would ban U.S. and Israeli ships from transiting the Strait. Until compensation is paid, other nations that have harmed Iran would not be allowed to transit, according to the draft.

While Iran and Oman are reportedly working on an agreement to define transit routes in the Hormuz strait, a deal still has not been announced. According to media reports, inbound traffic would transit Iranian waters while outbound traffic would go through Omani waters.

 

Top Stories

 

Inside Climate News – August 6, 2026

As Solar and Batteries Dominate in Texas, Republican Lawmakers Consider Natural Gas Minimums

As new electricity generation skews toward solar and battery storage in Texas, Republican state senators are questioning whether it’s time to impose minimum standards for building gas plants and move away from free trade in the state’s electricity marketplace. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state’s grid operator, reported last week that 70 percent of generation in the 460-gigawatt interconnection queue is from solar and battery storage. Natural gas facilities make up less than 17 percent of that line. And while it’s an uptick from three years ago, when there were less than 10 gigawatts of gas power plants seeking to connect, legislators and grid leaders say going forward the current level of planned gas facilities won’t be enough.

State Sen. Phil King, a Republican from Weatherford, asked the leaders of ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) at a public hearing last week whether there should be a rule that puts a quota on what share of new generation connecting to the grid comes from fossil fuels. “Should we say that from a point of interconnection that 50 percent—or some percentage of new generation—has to be dispatchable generation as opposed to just letting the market forces guide that,” King asked, referring to gas plants as “dispatachable” because they can be ramped up or down on demand, unlike intermittent wind and solar power sources.

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Utility Dive – August 6, 2026

Texas data center pause puts 20% of US pipeline at risk of delay: BNEF

• The pause on Texas data center grid interconnections puts about 20% of the total U.S. data center pipeline at risk of delay, analysts at Bloomberg NEF said Wednesday in an analysis of the Lone Star State’s recent decision.
• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, R, on Monday implemented the pause, which affects almost 49.8 GW of projects, BNEF said. Abbott called for an audit of all data centers in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas interconnection queue. That led the grid operator to delay its review of the first set of projects to navigate the state’s new large load interconnection process.
• Data center revenue losses could reach $8 billion by the first quarter of 2027 assuming 60% of the delayed capacity is AI-related, BNEF said. Should the pause extend into the 2027 Texas legislative session, the risk increases as lawmakers could consider changes to the new interconnection process

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Texas Tribune – August 6, 2026

Sid Miller says Republicans will lose statewide elections due to rapid data center development, backlash

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said Thursday that Republicans are going to lose some statewide elections this year because of data centers, which has become a heated issue for Texas across the state. In an interview with The Texas Tribune, Miller also called out Gov. Greg Abbott for what he says is inaction on data center development in Texas. The lame-duck Republican said data centers are not a partisan issue, but declined to say who he might vote for come November.

“I haven’t committed to anybody,” Miller said. “There’s some Republicans I may have to leave blank, I just can’t do it.” More than 300 data centers already operate in the state, and a Tribune analysis found at least 248 data center projects are planned. A majority of Texans in a new poll were against data center construction in their communities. “Republicans should be on this issue and we’re not,” Miller said. “The Democrats are, and they’re right on the issue. I’m not endorsing any Democrats, but we’re going to lose some elections in the midterms because of this one subject.”

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Oil Price – July 27, 2026

Molten Salt Reactors Just Cleared A Major U.S. Regulatory Hurdle

The domestic nuclear energy sector is set to bounce back as the technology finds favor among the public and policymakers alike for its ability to provide round-the-clock clean energy. At a time when data center hyperscalers are driving up energy insecurity and climate deadlines are drawing ever closer, the nuclear option is looking better and better. And not only is the United States trying to kickstart the expansion of traditional nuclear energy, it’s also trying to establish a place at the vanguard of next-gen nuclear energy technologies.

Just this month, in a historic first, the Department of Energy approved a Nuclear Safety Design Agreement for a molten salt reactor currently under development by researchers at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. Molten salt reactors (MSRs) are emerging as one of the leading potential technologies that could someday take over the global nuclear power sector, as they may be able to solve or sidestep many of the pitfalls associated with traditional nuclear energy.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 6, 2026

‘Refine, Baby, Refine’ Is the Energy Industry’s New Mantra*

President Trump wanted to have U.S. energy dominance and low energy prices. He’s getting one without the other—and he hates it. The Iran war and Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries have knocked out a big chunk of the world’s fuel-making apparatus, leaving the U.S. oil industry as the world’s last major fuel supplier, contending with a runaway global supply shock that could last well into next year. U.S. refiners have been running their plants at full tilt to meet demand at home and abroad as fuel prices around the world have soared, giving them windfall profits and drawing the ire of Trump. The president ripped into big oil companies this week for wringing too much cash out of American gas pumps.

Ukrainian drones continue to rain down on Russian energy assets, too. Russia, once a top exporter of fuel, has had about a third of its refining capacity knocked offline and has banned some fuel shipments until February. Meanwhile, fuel exports from China have collapsed, in part because it is getting less crude oil to process from the Middle East. The Iran conflict has stymied traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for oil voyages from Gulf countries. Saudi Arabia’s oil exports to the U.S. dropped to zero in July, the first time monthly federal data show that happening since 1985. U.S. refiners have opted to buy more crude oil to process from American oil fields, as well as from Canada and Venezuela.

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The Latest TERse Tips

The statewide gas price average in Texas is $3.63 per gallon for regular unleaded fuel, dipping just a little from last week, which is one cent less than this day last week and is 87 cents more per gallon compared to this day last year, according to AAA

Texas Democratic candidate for US Senator John Cornyn’s seat, James Talarico, includes investing in renewable energy and working to “partner” with the oil and gas industry” in an “all-of-the-above” energy approach, according to Texas Tribune

Plains All American is set to release it 2Q 2026 earnings report after our deadline but before markets open Friday, with their press release expected to be posted here

Environmental reports show that the Marathon refinery in El Paso released tons of pollutants into the air for hours Tuesday and Wednesday — KFOX

“We may have to send it up again, we may have to, you know what happens when we have to, but I hope we don’t have to, but when that — oil and gas does down everything follows…” — President Donald Trump in a speech on Wednesday (video 1:23)

Heelstone Renewable Energy, a Qualitas Energy company, has acquired the Cypress Pointe solar project from Azimuth Renewables, a project that features a 188 MWp utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) project located in Sabine County, Texas, within the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) market — Renewable Watch

Texas Pacific Land Corporation Announces Second Quarter Results — see the press release

A Tarrant County town is one step closer to hosting a large data center. The planning and zoning committee in the town of Westlake, north of Fort Worth, voted this week to approve the site plan, which is located on nearly 88 acres of land — CBS News

Sempra on Thursday reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of $796 million or $1.21 per diluted share, compared to second-quarter 2025 GAAP earnings of $461 million or $0.71 per diluted share — on an adjusted basis, second-quarter 2026 earnings were $762 million or $1.16 per diluted share, compared to $583 million or $0.89 per diluted share in 2025 — see the press release

Tesla has started building its next-generation Megapack 3 grid battery, with the first units rolling off the line at the company’s new Megafactory in Brookshire, Texas, which went from groundbreaking to production in 16 months and is designed to build 50 GWh of Megapack 3 a year — that’s the version Tesla says packs roughly 28% more energy into the same footprint as the Megapack it replaces — electrek

Constellation Energy said on Thursday it will ‌sell a gas plant in Texas to LS Power for $860 million, and raised its current-year operating earnings forecast on the back of robust power demand, sending shares up 1.3% in morning trading — Reuters*

Zelestra Secures $181-million Financing Texas Solar Project — Mercom

Constellation Energy said on Thursday it will ‌sell a gas plant in Texas to LS Power for $860 million, and raised its current-year operating earnings forecast on the back of robust power demand, sending shares up 1.3% in morning trading — Reuters*

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Oil & Gas Texas

 

Midland Reporter-Telegram – August 6, 2026

Volatile oil prices throttle second quarter upstream deals*

Rigzone – August 6, 2026

Occidental Beats Expectations for Q2

Occidental Petroleum Corp on Wednesday reported $2.4 billion in net profit adjusted for nonrecurring items for the second quarter (Q2), up from $1.1 billion for the prior three-month period on higher oil prices. Adjusted earnings per share stood at $2.4, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.92, as production exceeded guidance. The Houston, Texas-based oil and gas producer has now raised its 2026 quarterly dividend by eight percent to $0.28 per share.

Net income fell to $2.8 billion for Q2 from $3.2 billion for Q1. The Oil and Gas segment delivered $2.8 billion in pre-tax income for the April-June period, up from $1 billion for Q1. “Excluding items affecting comparability, the increase was primarily driven by higher realized crude oil prices, partially offset by lower domestic natural gas prices”, Occidental said

 

Oil & Gas National & International

 

KABB – August 6, 2026

Oil industry executives urge Trump not to curb US petroleum exports: report

Executives in the oil industry and White House officials are attempting to stop any effort by the Trump administration to curb US petroleum exports, according to reports. This report comes after President Donald Trump criticized oil giants Exxon and Chevron for making too much money. Representatives from the oil industry have reached out to Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and other members of the administration following the president’s remarks.

The source said that everyone knows “Trump’s gonna Trump.” “While the President and his entire energy team have taken several actions to mitigate temporary disruptions to the energy market, the Administration has been quite clear: there is no plan to implement restrictions on oil and gas exports,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said, according to Politico.

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Substack (blog) – July 30, 2026

We Are Weeks From an Energy Crisis Everybody Thinks Is Months Away: Strait Forward*

There’s an argument happening right now, all over trading forums, financial media, and every corner of the internet where people talk about oil. Why isn’t the price moving the way it should. Whether the market is being manipulated. Whether this war even matters anymore, given how low prices have stayed considering everything actually happening on the ground. …

Here’s the mechanism, and it’s not complicated once you see it. The overwhelming majority of trading volume today isn’t a person weighing evidence and making a judgment call. It’s algorithms — systematic strategies built to react to headlines and momentum, calibrated against decades of historical patterns where Middle East conflicts follow a predictable shape: a sharp shock, a spike, a recovery within days or weeks. This war doesn’t fit that shape. It’s a grinding, months-long standoff with no clean resolution, and the algorithms trading it don’t have a mechanism for recognizing that the old pattern doesn’t apply this time.

So every time a hopeful headline drops — talks resuming in Oman, a pause in strikes, a president saying he’s “close to a deal” — those systems react instantly, selling off the war premium, even when nothing physical has actually changed. And once the algorithms move price, that price move becomes its own evidence: a calmer chart gets read by financial media as confirmation the crisis is easing, which shapes the public narrative, which shapes how much political pressure actually builds. That’s the whole loop. It’s not that the market doesn’t care about this war. It’s that the market is structurally built to price the story about the war, not the physical reality underneath it, and for months, the story has been more hopeful than the reality has ever actually been.

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S&P Global Platts – August 6, 2026

US gasoline prices climb despite EPA efforts to ease stricter summer specifications

Average spot prices for US gasoline on the Gulf Coast, Atlantic Coast, Midwest, and West Coast jumped 87-119 cents/gal year over year during March-July 2026, despite the US Environmental Protection Agency’s expanded fuel waiver framework designed to provide price relief. The rising prices coincided with tighter gasoline inventories, strong export demand, refinery disruptions and elevated crude oil prices driven by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, creating market conditions in which regulatory flexibility could not offset fundamental supply-demand pressures.

Los Angeles CARBOB posted the largest increase, averaging 353.52 cents/gal during March-July 2026 compared with 234.18 cents/gal in the same period 2025, according to Platts data. Benchmark New York Harbor Buckeye RBOB rose 109.02 cents/gal to average 314.26 cents/gal, during March-July 2026, compared with 205.24 cents/gal during the same period in 2025.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 6, 2026

A Vote on Leaving Canada Is the Gamble of a Lifetime for Alberta’s Leader*

Danielle Smith, the premier of this rugged oil-rich province, is regarded as a maverick with a reputation for taking political risks. Now she is embarking on perhaps the biggest gamble of them all. Smith has paved the way for a referendum on Oct. 19 that will ask if the province should stay in Canada or start the process toward a second, binding referendum on whether to leave it for good. The idea has jolted Canada, which depends on Alberta’s oil-and-gas revenue and is in the midst of a trade fight with the U.S. “I’ve watched the separatist movement since I got involved in politics back in the ’90s, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the support as high as it was after the Liberals got elected last year,” Smith said in an interview, referring to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s party. She said 700,000 Albertans—out of about five million—have signed petitions either for leaving or staying.

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Houston Chronicle – August 6, 2026

Oil company profits from Iran War infuriated President Donald Trump. He only has himself to blame: Chris Tomlinson*

 

Utilities, Electricity & Renewables

 

Newsweek – August 6, 2026

Map Shows Proposed Texas Data Centers in Areas Power Grid Struggling

Texas has emerged as one of the nation’s leading destinations for data centers, attracting billions of dollars in investment from technology companies seeking to support the rapidly growing demand for AI and cloud computing. But that growth is increasingly colliding with concerns over the state’s electricity infrastructure, prompting Governor Greg Abbott to order a review of proposed data centers seeking to connect to the Texas grid….

ERCOT’s long-term planning documents show unprecedented growth in projected electricity demand, with much of the increase linked to large-load customers such as hyperscale data centers. The grid operator has identified data centers as a major driver of future load growth, and ERCOT told Texas lawmakers in July that about 90 percent of the 474 gigawatts of large-load interconnection requests currently under review are from data center projects—which is “more than five times Texas’ record peak electricity demand for ERCOT,” Abbott said in his letter.

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August 6, 2026

Abbott’s Public Power Scheme Would Reward Campaign Contributors: Sierra Club

Abbott’s Public Power Scheme Would Reward Campaign Contributors: Sierra Club

Abbott has pledged to work with the Texas Legislature to force municipal utilities such as Austin Energy and CPS Energy to allow customers to choose between them and a private retail electricity provider. He claims this would lower residential electricity prices, but there is no guarantee that consumers would save money. What the proposal would do is weaken public utilities, threaten the local services their revenues support, and give private electricity companies new opportunities to increase their profits.

So who really benefits from this pre-election proposal? Vistra and NRG – the two largest private electricity companies in Texas – could gain substantially from forced competition. Both are, coincidentally, contributors to Abbott’s re-election campaign. During this election cycle, Vistra’s political action committee (PAC) has contributed $75,000 to Abbott’s campaign, while NRG’s PAC has contributed $25,000.

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Daily Energy Insider – August 6, 2026

Xcel Energy subsidiary outlines wildfire mitigation plan for Texas service region

Southwestern Public Service Company (SPS), a subsidiary of Xcel Energy, on Tuesday publicly announced and outlined the detailed operational, AI camera, and weather-monitoring grid safety measures included in its Wildfire Mitigation Plan for its Texas service area. SPS said the plan — filed formally with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) on July 24 — includes specific actions, technologies, and operational practices Xcel Energy uses to mitigate the increasing risks associated with wildfires.

“Wildfire mitigation work is not new to our region, but as the risk evolves, we are strategically partnering with our communities to address the issue,” Brad Baldridge, interim president at Xcel Energy–Texas, said Aug. 4. “Our purpose is straightforward: Reduce wildfire risk, protect our communities, and provide the safe, reliable service our customers depend on every day.”

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Texas Public Radio – August 6, 2026

CPS Energy leaders defend against Gov Abbott’s attacks

Related: Reactions flowing in after Gov. Abbott announces plan to break up energy sector in San Antonio, Austin — KSAT

CPS Energy Board Chair Francine Romero is pushing back on Governor Greg Abbott’s claims that bringing private competition to San Antonio’s energy market would save consumers. “There is so much wrong with that,” Romero said. Speaking Thursday morning at Texas Public Radio’s Luminaries breakfast event, Romero said Abbott was misrepresenting how competition with residential electricity providers in Houston created lower energy bills.

At an Aug. 4 San Antonio event, Abbott announced he would ask the state legislature to end city monopolies of energy which includes San Antonio and Austin. He said bringing private competition would lower power utility bills. Abbott said the average cost of electricity in San Antonio was about 12 cents per kilowatt-hour. “In Houston, it’s available as low as 6 cents per kilowatt hour. So you could really reduce your electricity costs a whole lot,” Abbott said. Romero said she went online to investigate how much a kilowatt hour would cost in Houston and she couldn’t find Abbott’s price of 6 cents.

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August 6, 2026

If Greg Abbott is serious about reining in data centers, call a special session: Houston Chronicle*

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Houston Press – August 6, 2026

Abbott Won’t Commit to Special Session on Data Centers

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hasn’t acknowledged the desperate pleas from Democratic lawmakers, the Republican agriculture commissioner or a host of environmental advocates to call a special session on data centers, but he did mandate an audit and a halt to new applications until the report is finished.  Texas has 335 artificial intelligence data centers and is poised to become the hub for such technology nationwide. At least 248 data centers are planned in Texas. The matter has become controversial, however, as a sales tax exemption once used to recruit the facilities and boost the economy is now costing the state at least $1 billion per year.

There’s also the matter of power and water. Large data centers use enough power to provide electricity for up to 1 million homes. Critics say they also strain the state’s water supply, using up to several million gallons of water per day to cool their systems. The high electricity demand, fossil fuel reliance and on-site generators have prompted concerns about toxic carbon dioxide emissions.

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San Antonio Express-News – August 6, 2026

On data centers, Gov. Abbott assigns state agencies busywork, shuns action: Tony Quesada*

There have been several news articles examining Gov. Greg Abbott’s so-called about-face on data centers — how remarkable it is that a state leader who declared not long ago that Texas would be the epicenter of this industry has suddenly had an epiphany in seeing its potential drawbacks. But a closer look at what Abbott has said and called for suggests he has merely done a pirouette, briefly turning toward constituents before completing the move facing the data center industry again.

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WOAI – August 6, 2026

The hidden role your electric vehicle could play in Texas’ power future

Electric vehicles are becoming a bigger part of daily life in Texas, but as more drivers plug in, there are growing questions about what that means for the state’s power grid. Every week, about 1,500 more electric vehicles hit Texas roads according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

“We have over 500,000 electric vehicles registered in the state of Texas,” said Mario Bravo, Executive Director of Texas EV Education Project. The U.S. Department of Energy said Austin is helping lead that growth, ranking among the top three U.S. cities for EV ownership. Statewide, Texas is on track to surpass one million EV’s in a year and a half.

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Utility Dive – August 6, 2026

NRG nears 1.2-GW hyperscaler deal amid Texas data center pause

NRG is “aligned on principal commercial terms” with an unnamed “global cloud and AI hyperscaler” for the development of a 1.2-GW combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant in Texas, the Houston-based independent power producer said Tuesday. The announcement came as NRG reported second-quarter earnings and held a Tuesday call with investors and analysts.

NRG President and CEO Robert Gaudette did not go into detail about whether or how the data center interconnection pause announced by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday would affect the pending hyperscaler deal, which NRG cautioned is not yet final. Gaudette expressed confidence the pause did not pose a risk to the company’s projects, saying “I think we’re OK.”

 

Regulatory

 

JD Supra – July 23, 2026

The Great Power Secession: Texas Air Permitting and the Data Center Boom: American College of Environmental Lawyers

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Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Thursday August 6, 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 prices trended ​lower on Thursday on the progress in Iran-Oman talks, with investors cautiously waiting for signs of a U.S.-Iran ‌peace deal and progress on reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

West Texas Intermediate futures declined 42 cents, or 0.56%, to $74.80 a barrel.

Brent crude futures fell 33 cents, or 0.42%, to $79.12 a barrel by 0418 GMT.

Iran and ​Oman have reached an understanding on the geographic coordinates for a shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, and ​a joint announcement is being finalised, provided certain third parties did not interfere, Iran’s Foreign Ministry ⁠spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Wednesday.

“Some selling pressure emerged following reports that talks between Iran and Oman are making progress,” ​said Yuki Takashima, economist at Nomura Securities.

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Top Stories

 

Freight Waves – August 5, 2026

Energy Secretary signals Jones Act waiver extension as pump prices remain elevated

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Tuesday that another temporary extension of the Jones Act waiver is likely and that the existing exemption has already helped lower energy prices in California and on the U.S. East Coast.  Speaking at a press conference in Brownsville, Texas, Wright added that he expects fuel prices to come down in the coming weeks, a message the White House is eager to deliver as President Donald Trump faces political pressure over gasoline costs that continue to average above $4 a gallon nationwide, media reported.

The administration is expected to extend the waiver in the coming days to keep transport flexibility for moving fuel between U.S. ports, according to people familiar with the discussions. The current waiver is set to expire on August 16 and has already become the longest suspension of Jones Act rules in the program’s history.

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Zacks/Yahoo! News – August 5, 2026

Phillips 66 Beats Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates

Phillips 66 (PSX) came out with quarterly earnings of $9.41 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.68 per share. This compares to earnings of $2.38 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +22.53%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this oil refiner would post a loss of $0.55 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.49, delivering a surprise of +189.09%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times. Phillips 66, which belongs to the Zacks Oil and Gas – Refining and Marketing industry, posted revenues of $52.04 billion for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 43.88%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $33.52 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters.

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Colorado Politics – August 5, 2026

Supreme Court to open next term with major climate change case

The Supreme Court’s next term will begin in October with major cases about costly climate change lawsuits and immigration. The high court announced the cases it will hear in the first month of its upcoming term, as the justices remain off the bench for their annual summer break. The Supreme Court will return Oct. 5, when it hears arguments in Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder County and Johnson v. United States Congress, a case about a veterans’ benefits dispute.

The Suncor Energy case will see the justices decide whether a lawsuit brought by Boulder County, Colorado, seeking to hold oil companies accountable for their alleged role in global climate change, may move forward. The case is expected to have sweeping ramifications for similar lawsuits that climate activists and Democratic-led jurisdictions have attempted to bring against oil companies, either allowing them to proceed or shutting them down as barred by federal law.

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S&P Global Platts – August 5, 2026

China’s real oil demand masked by rise of unlicensed fuel trade: sources

Chinese oil demand figures derived from official data may underestimateactual consumption, as a resurgence in unlicensed fuel sales since the start of the Middle East war has diverted diesel and gasoline volumes away from monitored retail channels, according to five analysts, six traders and four transport operators. Beijing does not publish actual oil consumption figures, so the market relies on “apparent demand,” calculated as official refinery throughput plus net imports of refined products. According to official data, China’s total apparent oil demand in the second quarter of 2026 fell 12% year over year to 153.47 million metric tons.

Overall, Chinese oil demand has contracted sharply in the face of the Middle East disruptions, with refiners drawing down inventories, suffering weak refining margins, and ongoing restrictions on refined product exports. In June, crude imports fell to a near-decade low of 7.15 million barrels/day, and refinery throughput slid to a near four-year low of 12.52 million b/d, according to state statistical data, down 38% and 15%, respectively, year over year.

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The Latest TERse Tips

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the explosive-laden drone ‌found near a runway at Leipzig/Halle airport overnight was a hybrid attack which opened a new level of danger — Germany opened a counterterrorism investigation on Wednesday after the drone prompted the closure of parts of one of Europe’s biggest cargo hubs — Reuters* (Some reports other than Reuters indicate suspicion that the drone originated in Russia)

A Texas-based liquefied natural gas bunkering company has terminated its lobbying relationship with Thorn Run Partners, ending a roughly six-month engagement that generated $120,000 in fees for the firm — Galveston LNG Bunker Port LLC ended its contract with the law firm effective Aug. 4, according to a termination filing submitted in the third quarter — Legis 1

Governor Greg Abbott today announced a Texas Energy Fund grant totaling more than $8 million to strengthen electric reliability for Bailey County Electric Cooperative Association members in the Texas Panhandle and South Plains — the grant supports projects that improve electric transmission poles, strengthen against wind-related line damage, and boost overall reliability — see the press release

Denton moves toward data center moratorium; City Council weighs stricter development rules — KERA

Atmos Energy Corporation on Wednesday reported consolidated results for its third fiscal quarter ended June 30 — see the press release

Riley Permian Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results — see the press release

Texas Pacific Land Corporation Announces Second Quarter Results — see the press release

Murphy Oil Posts Better-Than-Expected Sales In Q2 2026 — Stock Story

U.S. Crude Oil Inventories Post Weekly Increase — commercial crude oil stockpiles were up by 2.5 million barrels in the week ended July 31. Inventories were expected to have fallen by 1.2 million barrels — The Wall Street Journal*

Iran and Oman were finalizing a draft agreement Wednesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz that would give Tehran oversight of ships entering the Persian Gulf but wouldn’t let it levy tolls or service fees, people familiar with the matter said — the parties have agreed on the main points of the draft—which would set up an inbound lane near Iran and an outbound lane near Oman—and have shared it with the U.S., countries in the region and Iran’s top leaders, who still needed to sign off, they said — The Wall Street Journal*

India’s top explorer, Oil and Natural Gas Corp hopes to soon sign agreements with Venezuela to operate two ​oil blocks under the South American nation’s new petroleum law, ‌its finance chief said on Wednesday — Reuters*

Wednesday’s study from Colorado State University Department of Atmospheric Science, the nation’s leader in hurricane forecasting, predicts a nine percent chance of a major hurricane hitting the gulf coast through the rest of hurricane season, well below the full-season average from 1880 to 2020, when each year brought on average a 27 percent chance of a hurricane in the gulf coast — Houston Chronicle*

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Oil & Gas Texas

 

August 5, 2026

Why is the Texas GOP cozying up to Bo French?: Dallas Morning News*

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Reuters – August 5, 2026

US upstream oil and gas second-quarter dealmaking dives on volatility*

Dealmaking in the U.S. upstream oil and gas sector shrank fourfold to $9 billion in the second quarter of this year as volatile oil prices tempered ​investor confidence, analytics firm Enverus said on Wednesday. “Crude volatility tied to ​the Iran conflict and a softening gas outlook likely widened ⁠the bid-ask spread and complicated valuations, which pushed announced value to one ​of its lowest quarterly totals in years,” said Andrew Dittmar, principal analyst at ​Enverus Intelligence Research. A record-setting lease sale by the Bureau of Land Management in May took the biggest share of dealmaking value, raking in around $4 billion by selling oil and ​gas drilling rights on federal lands in Texas and New Mexico, predominantly to Devon ​Energy (DVN.N), opens new tab and Matador Resources.

The sale covered 33,530 acres, primarily in New Mexico’s Permian basin, part ‌of ⁠the nation’s most productive oilfield. A shortage of drilling locations that produce more oil in the U.S. helped to drive fierce competition for the BLM assets, according to Enverus. Meanwhile, Shell’s (SHEL.L), opens new tab June sale of its interest in the Na Kika platform ​and associated fields ​in the Gulf ⁠of Mexico to subsidiaries of Talos Energy and Ridgewood Energy took second place, totaling around $1.7 billion. The assets produced about ​37,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025.

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Offshore Energy – August 5, 2026

Carbon capture-enabled 19.2-mtpa Texas Gulf Coast LNG project enters permitting phase

A planned multi-train liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project on the Texas Gulf Coast has taken a significant regulatory step toward development after submitting a request to the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to begin the pre-filing review process for the proposed export terminal.

Coastal Bend LNG, which selected ConocoPhillips’ Optimized Cascade process (COP OCP) technology last year to assist in achieving its goal of curbing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, has initiated the formal permitting process for its proposed LNG export facility along the Texas Gulf Coast with the submission of a request to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to kick off the pre-filing review.

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Oil & Gas Journal – August 5, 2026

EOG accumulates Austin Chalk position that adds a year to inventories

EOG Resources Inc., Houston, has added to its Eagle Ford asset base via the leasing of a 60,000-net acre Austin Chalk holding that chief operating officer Jeff Leitzell labeled as “truly a sweet spot.” Speaking to analysts after EOG reported second-quarter results, Leitzell said the new position in Lavaca County was acquired at an average of $1,200/acre. Based on EOG teams’ calculations and about a dozen wells already drilled, the new property should pay for itself in less than a year at an average West Texas Intermediate price of $65/bbl.

“These high-pressure wells offer high deliverability and benefit from our learnings in other basins,” Leitzell said on an Aug. 5 conference call. “We have confidently identified one year’s worth of two-mile lateral inventories at current Eagle Ford activity levels. Furthermore, we continue to gather data and evaluate [the acreage’s] extent.”

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RBN Energy – August 5, 2026

Q2 2026 Earnings Calls: Devon Says Permian Gas Issues Aren’t Going Away

Devon is a far bigger producer since the Coterra merger closed May 7, but Devon’s second quarter results reflect legacy Devon operations for the full quarter. Q2 oil production for the company came in at the higher end of guidance at 503 Mb/d, with total production at 1.36 MMboe/d. Full year 2026 guidance wasn’t increased, but tightened to 495-505 Mb/d for crude oil and 1,364-1,398 Mboe/d for total production (see table below). Looking ahead, Devon is pushing capital toward the Delaware, where roughly 400 federal locations won at the New Mexico lease sale are being permitted for their 2027 drilling program.

Waha, natural gas prices were deeply negative for the first 6 months of 2026 as associated gas production hit up against takeaway capacity. Kinder Morgan’s 570 MMcf/d Gulf Coast Express expansion, running from Waha to the Agua Dulce hub in South Texas, started up in late May and brought much needed relief. However, CFO Shane Young wasn’t calling it fixed, stating “as we think into the future, it’s an issue that’s not going away.”

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Freight Waves – August 4, 2026

Texas ports defy tariff uncertainty with record cargo performance

Record first-half container volumes at Port Houston and historic cargo tonnage at the Port of Corpus Christi suggest shippers and energy exporters are still moving freight despite an increasingly uncertain global trade environment. Port Houston handled 389,962 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) during June, an 18% increase from the same month last year, while first-half container volumes climbed to a record 2.23 million TEUs, the highest six-month total in the port’s history.

“Our region is resilient and our port is ready to handle the diverse cargo needs,” Port Houston CEO Charlie Jenkins said in a news release. “Overall, we are well-positioned for long-term growth and continued global competitiveness.” The June results were led by a 27% increase in loaded import containers to 177,097 TEUs, while total container traffic rose 18% year over year. Loaded export containers declined 2% during the month but remained essentially flat through the first six months of 2026.

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Texas Border Business – August 4, 2026

Texas Upstream Energy Jobs Extend Growth Streak to Four Months

Texas’ upstream oil and natural gas sector marked its fourth consecutive month of job growth in June 2026, according to newly released data from the Texas Workforce Commission.Employment climbed by 400 jobs in June, building on May’s robust increase of over 4,000 upstream jobs.

“Four straight months of job gains are a testament to the skilled and dedicated workforce that fuels Texas’ oil and natural gas industry, which has continued to grow amid tensions in the Middle East,” said Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) President Todd Staples. “Oil and natural gas production in the Lone Star State is central to America’s standing as the world’s leader in delivering safe, reliable energy resources. Our goal is for Texas to keep powering our nation and the world, and to maintain our competitive edge through sound policies that support every facet of the industry.”

 

Oil & Gas National & International

 

Oil Price – August 4, 2026

Middle East War Triggers New Global Refining Boom

For the second time this decade, a war has upended global oil markets and sent oil prices and refining margins to multi-year highs, benefitting the world’s biggest oil companies and top refiners. The war in Iran has tightened fuel supply as crude oil has struggled to move through the Strait of Hormuz, triggering reduced refining throughput in Asia and a temporary Chinese ban on exports. The fuel markets tightened even more than the crude market to send refining margins to record highs.

And the biggest refiners benefited from the new refining boom, with Big Oil reporting their highest second-quarter earnings since the previous outbreak of a war, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The bumper earnings were driven not only by the jump in oil prices between April and June—the contribution of the refining and trading divisions was also fundamental for fueling the high profits.

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Oil Price – August 4, 2026

Hormuz Crisis Is Rewriting the Global LPG Trade

The Strait of Hormuz, the Middle East’s main choke point, is effectively closed as Iranian attacks on vessels continue, and the ripple effect is tearing through global supply chains. While crude oil and natural gas disruptions have grabbed headlines, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) also finds itself at the center of the crisis. The United States leads the world in LPG exports by a wide margin. However, the Gulf countries remain a critical supply center: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar are all major LPG exporters currently cut off by the closure. The traditional LPG supply chain, which cuts across the Middle East, is challenged by rising US exports and mounting geopolitical turmoil. But a key question remains: who can keep LPG flowing while the world’s most critical energy bottleneck is under pressure?

The strain on the LPG market from the Iran conflict has been visible. Exports from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and even Iran (whose tankers were recently turned back by the US Navy’s blockade) have slowed significantly since the war began. Before the war, roughly 54 oil, chemical and LPG tankers passed daily through Hormuz. During the height of the conflict in early March, propane prices from the Texas Gulf Coast rose to almost 10%, reaching new highs as supply tightened due to the strait’s closure.

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Oil Price – August 5, 2026

BP’s New Boss Has a Message for Britain

In 2020, BP unveiled a “major, necessary step in support of our purpose to reimagine energy for people and our planet.” The new strategy – “performing while transforming” – would see the firm “significantly scale-up our low carbon energy business” as part of a commitment “to become a net zero company by 2050 or sooner and help the world get to net zero.” Even the design of the annual report aimed to reflect this, oozing cuddly vibes with doodles of wind farms and a scribbled “#bpnetzero” on page one. But times change.

Six years and two chief executives later, the company is more frank: corporate communications simply state that BP “is a global integrated oil and gas company.” Adding, for the avoidance of doubt: “We produce oil and gas, trade energy, and make, ship and sell energy products.” The company’s stated purpose is also now clear: “to deliver energy to the world, today and tomorrow.” In pursuit of that, CEO Meg O’Neill is overhauling the company, conceding that “our performance over the past few years has not met our own expectations, let alone those of our shareholders.”

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S&P Global Platts – August 4, 2026

More than 100 countries have adopted energy policies to adapt to Hormuz closure: IEA

More than 115 countries have adopted policy measures like energy conservation, price supports and structural changes to adapt to the energy impact of the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, an official form the International Energy Agency said Aug. 4. “Demand-side measures are not enough to replace the sheer size of energy that’s transiting through that strait, but it can dampen and moderate the impact,” Jérôme Bilodeau, head of analysis for IEA’s Office Energy Efficiency and Inclusive Transitions, said during a webinar hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Since the war began, 58 governments have taken energy conservation measures, Bilodeau said. These measures have mainly focused on limiting oil use, including reducing private transportation fuel use, encouraging working or studying from home, reducing government travel and adjusting cooling temperature set points, he said.

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Bloomberg – August 5, 2026

Big Oil Is Bracing for Lower Prices — and Rightly So: Javier Blas*

On Wall Street, money speaks louder than words. The way Big Oil is currently allocating dollars suggests the supermajors are, quietly, preparing for leaner times. It’s the right approach: Oil is a cyclical business, and lower prices are always around the corner. This time, they may be even closer. In many ways, the downturn is already here — 150-plus days since the Iran war started, West Texas Intermediate crude is hovering at about $75 a barrel, down 35% from its conflict peak. It may sound hyperbolic with the Middle East conflict still raging but, increasingly, the risk isn’t triple-digit oil prices but the possibility of $50-a-barrel, at least for a short period, in 2027 or 2028.

In public, oil executives continue to warn about the risk of higher prices if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. They aren’t wrong. Little is said, however, about the downside if the waterway opens. The clues to what they’re really anticipating can be found in their profit statements and, even better, on their balance sheets. Clearly, the sector could afford to give investors even more money in the form of share buybacks or larger dividends if it wanted to. The April-June period was a time of bonanza, with sky-high oil prices. Together, ExxonMobil Holdings Corp., Chevron Corp., Shell Plc, TotalEnergies SE, and BP Plc reported net income of more than $47 billion, up more than 160% from a year earlier. Their free cash flow — the measure between cash generation and expenses — is even more striking. The top five international oil companies generated nearly $70 billion during the second quarter, the most ever, surpassing a peak of $60 billion during the same period in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Yet, rather than returning that huge war windfall to shareholders, the oil majors focused on paying down debt and restructuring operations.

 

Utilities, Electricity & Renewables

 

Zacks/yahoo! News – August 5, 2026

NRG Energy Q2 Earnings Lag Estimates, Revenues Increase Y/Y

Details: NRG Energy misses quarterly profit estimates as interest costs rise — Reuters*

NRG Energy, Inc. NRG reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.49 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.66 by 10.2%. The bottom also line declined 11.3% from $1.68 in the year-ago quarter. Total revenues were $7.48 billion, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.89 billion by 27%. The top line also increased 11% from the prior-year quarter’s level of $6.74 billion.

NRG Energy, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | NRG Energy, Inc. Quote The company recorded adjusted EBITDA of $1.22 billion in the second quarter, up 33.9% from $0.91 billion registered a year ago.
Total operating costs and expenses were $6.54 billion, down 2.9% from $6.74 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Operating income in the second quarter totaled $976 million.

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KUHF NPR – August 5, 2025

Data centers use lots of water and power, but Texas officials don’t know exactly how much

The high transmission line that bisects Torrie Martin’s ranch hums subtly. Occasionally the frequency changes to a droning buzz that ends in a pop. “ You can actually hear the power plant right now,” Martin said. “It’s been pretty loud the last few years.” The Vistra Hays Power Plant is directly across the street from Martin’s property. It generates around 990 megawatts of power, enough to power 250,000 homes. This facility is considerably larger than Austin’s biggest power plant — Sand Hill Energy Center — which generates 595 megawatts.

The proximity to the power station makes Martin’s neighborhood a desirable place to build data centers. Data centers need a lot of power to operate, and, depending on how they’re cooled, a lot of water too. As more and more data center developers submit proposals to build in Texas, questions about how they’ll impact Texas’ grid and contribute to drought conditions across the state are widespread. So much so, that Gov. Greg Abbott effectively ordered a pause on all data center projects looking to connect to the grid until officials get a better grasp on the amount of resources they will use.

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Dallas Morning News – August 5, 2026

The great data center land rush: Why cities don’t want you paying attention: Dave Lieber, the Watchdog*

Journalists have a phrase for hiding the most important news: burying the lead. That’s when the real story isn’t at the top, where everyone will see it. It’s tucked deep inside, where readers might never notice. The town of Westlake recently produced a textbook example. The town newsletter opens with a story about the annual Military Heroes Run. Next comes an item about a tree-trimming project. Only after scrolling to Page 2 do readers find the biggest news: “Inside Westlake’s Newest Development.” But even that’s not enough. That headline could have been much simpler—and much more honest: Westlake announces a massive data center on its southern border. The newsletter wraps the project in glowing language, calling it exciting, an important investment that will boost the economy and “keep money in your pocket.”  But that’s only part of the story.

Oil Price – August 2, 2026

AI’s Electricity Demand Is Not the Real Problem. Its Inflexibility Is

The electricity demand created by artificial intelligence is usually presented as a simple supply problem. AI requires increasingly large data centers, those facilities consume enormous amounts of electricity, and utilities must somehow build enough power plants to serve them. The numbers appear to support the alarm. Data centers consumed around 485 terawatt-hours of electricity globally in 2025. The International Energy Agency expects this to rise to approximately 950 TWh by 2030, while consumption from AI-focused facilities could triple. Some proposed AI campuses will require several gigawatts of capacity—more than many cities.

Yet the global numbers hide the real problem. Data centers are expected to account for only around 3% of worldwide electricity demand by 2030. Their impact is serious, but it is not remotely large enough to overwhelm the global electricity system. The difficulty is that AI demand is arriving in very large blocks, in very specific locations, and on timelines that are much shorter than those required to build grids and power plants. AI does not primarily have an electricity problem. It has an inflexibility problem.

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Power Magazine – August 3, 2026

The Power Sector’s New Constraint Isn’t Demand—It’s Everything Else: Aaron Larson

For most of the last two decades, the anxiety in power planning was about demand: would consumption grow fast enough to justify new capacity, and how would an aging fleet keep pace? That question has inverted. Demand is no longer the uncertain variable—it is the one thing forecasters are confident about. The uncertainty now sits on the supply side: whether the workforce, the equipment, and the political and economic conditions needed to build and run generation can keep up with a demand curve that is accelerating for the first time in a generation.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) put a number on the demand side in its Electricity 2026 report, projecting that global electricity demand will grow by an average of 3.6% per year through 2030, roughly 50% faster than the average over the previous decade, driven by industrial electrification, electric vehicles, air conditioning, and data centers. For the first time in three decades outside of a crisis period, electricity demand has begun to grow faster than the global economy itself. The demand is coming. The open question is deliverability.

 

Regulatory

 

Utility Dive – August 5, 2026

Environmentalists Are Rolling Their Eyes at Trump’s “Ratepayer Protection Pledge”

President Donald Trump has announced that about 200 entities have signed on to his nonbinding “Ratepayer Protection Pledge,” expanding a voluntary commitment that claims to ensure US consumers will not bear the cost of the AI data center build-out. Trump delivered remarks Thursday at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters, alongside Lee Zeldin, the agency’s administrator, and Chris Wright, the energy secretary. Other attendees included governors who signed on to the pledge, including Brian Kemp of Georgia, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Spencer Cox of Utah, and Jeff Landry of Louisiana.

The pledge, first announced in March, was initially signed by seven tech companies: Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI, and Amazon. It will now cover companies delivering 80 percent of all power to US homes and businesses, according to the White House. “We have kept rates down, way down,” Trump said.

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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

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Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Tuesday August 4, 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 prices rebounded 1% on Tuesday from a plunge in the previous session, fuelled by concerns that ‌Middle East supply remains at risk as a diplomatic resolution to the U.S.-Iran war that has disrupted shipments still seems unlikely.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up ​77 cents, or 1%, at $81.11 after falling more than 5% in the previous session to stand at its ​lowest in nearly a week.

Front-month Brent futures rose $1.12, or 1.3%, to $84.89 a barrel by 0355 GMT after dropping 7% in the previous session to a three-week low.

Prices dropped after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was ⁠holding off on new attacks on Iran pending ongoing talks to end their war and settle claims over control of the key ​Strait of Hormuz.

The strategic waterway, which connects Gulf oil producers to global markets, was a channel for about a fifth of ​global shipments of crude oil and natural gas before the conflict.

However, on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei rejected Trump’s claim, saying no negotiations with the U.S. were taking place and no meetings were scheduled.

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Top Stories

 

The Wall Street Journal – August 3, 2026

Williams Strikes $5.5 Billion Deal for Momentum Midstream*

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Yahoo! News – August 3, 2026

Chevron Broadens North American Base Oils Distribution Through New Partnerships

Chevron Products Company, a division of Chevron U.S.A. Inc. (NYSE:CVX), has expanded its North American base oils distribution network by signing new agreements with HF Sinclair Lubricants & Specialties and Renkert Oil. The new distribution arrangements are designed to strengthen product availability and customer support across key markets in the United States and Canada.

Beginning May 1, 2027, HF Sinclair Lubricants & Specialties will serve as Chevron’s exclusive distributor of Group II base oils throughout Canada and within HF Sinclair’s existing customer territories in the United States. In addition to those exclusive rights, the company will also distribute Chevron Group II base oils on a non-exclusive basis across selected U.S. markets outside its primary territory. HF Sinclair had previously announced, on July 28, that it would retire its base oil refining assets located in Mississauga, Ontario.

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Oil Price – August 3, 2026

Harold Hamm Bets Bigger on Argentina’s Vaca Muerta Shale Boom

Continental Resources, the company founded by shale billionaire Harold Hamm, looks to expand in Vaca Muerta as international companies vie to develop Argentina’s proven prolific shale patch. Continental is set to bid in this year’s bid round for acreage in Vaca Muerta in the biggest auction in the basin in a decade, sources with knowledge of the plans have told Bloomberg. Bids will be opened on August 19. The province of Neuquén, where most of Vaca Muerta is located, has launched the biggest licensing round in the shale play in a decade, offering 15 blocks up for grabs—more than double the number of blocks in the previous auction.

Interest in Vaca Muerta has increased in recent years as Argentina under Javier Milei has introduced tax cuts and other benefits for investors in the shale patch, where oil and gas production has been growing steadily for two years. Vaca Muerta is top of the list of oil and gas companies, including U.S. shale giants, as a de-risked basin with proven geology that’s far away from having to rely on the Strait of Hormuz or any other corridor in the Middle East to ship barrels out.

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CNN – August 3, 2026

‘In Trump we trust’: Why the oil market keeps believing him

When President Donald Trump called off a planned attack on Iran and agreed to return to the negotiating table for peace talks, oil prices plunged. “I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “It is an Honor to have this Longterm problem close to resolution.” That was April 8, when Trump declared a ceasefire with Iran. Oil fell 13% that day. For the past five months, Trump has repeatedly reported significant progress in negotiations with Iran, leading him to call off planned military action against Iran, sending oil prices lower.

It happened last week, too, when oil tumbled 20% over the course of three days after Trump paused plans to attack Iran. And it’s happening again today: Oil is sinking 5% after Trump called off a “massive attack” on the country and said negotiations would resume. By now, you’d think the oil market would have learned its lesson and stopped believing the President Who Cried Peace. But the oil market remains compelled by Trump’s narrative, exercising saint-like patience as deadlines come and go, negotiations ebb and flow and bombing starts and stops.

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KDAF – August 3, 2026

New study finds California and Texas lead US in power outages

California and Texas are the two worst states for remote workers facing power disruptions, according to new research analyzing electricity outages since the start of the pandemic. Data from 2020 through 2023 shows California residents experienced nearly 15 million minutes without power, while Texas recorded more than 12 million minutes.

The study, conducted by Texas Electricity Ratings, analyzed outage data across all 50 states to identify where work-from-home employees are most affected by interruptions to their power supply. Researchers found that while some states have seen significant improvements in grid reliability, others have experienced a sharp increase in the frequency of power cuts over the last four years.

 

The Latest TERse Tips

Energy Transfer is expected to announce its 2Q earnings results after we go to press but before markets open — their results press release is expected to appear here when it’s issued

Kosmos Energy Ltd. says its financial and operating results for the second quarter of 2026 — see the press release

American Electric Power Thursday reported second-quarter 2026 GAAP earnings of $713 million or $1.31 per share, compared with GAAP earnings of $1,226 million or $2.29 per share in second-quarter 2025 — see the press release

Just days before the Oregon Legislature in March passed a one-year pause on a popular tax incentive program for data centers, a group called Oregon Connects registered as a nonprofit business in the state. Then the ads started appearing…“From homes to hospitals to businesses, Oregon’s data centers are unlocking a smarter power grid for our communities,” a female voice reads over a montage that includes a few aerial shots of downtown Portland and the Oregon Coast — Oregon Public Broadcasting

Three western U.S. states would take less water from the Colorado River under a federal proposal released Friday to stave off a crisis in the beleaguered waterway — Associated Press/KVUE

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Oil & Gas Texas

 

Reuters – August 3, 2026

War-fueled oil rally set to lift shale profits to highest since 2022*

U.S. shale producers are expected to report ​their strongest quarterly profits since 2022 after the Iran war sent ‌crude prices soaring, with analysts expecting much of the windfall to be returned to shareholders rather than spent on expanding production. ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum, EOG Resources, Diamondback Energy and Devon ​Energy are among the producers expected to post sharply stronger second-quarter ​earnings after benchmark oil prices climbed for much of the ⁠quarter, boosting cash flow across the sector.

The conflict, which erupted in late ​February, disrupted Middle East energy supplies and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, ​through which about a fifth of global oil and gas flows, sending Brent crude from an average of $69.82 a barrel in January to $126.41 in April and WTI from $65.17 to $109.64. The earnings ​boost is expected to rival the windfall producers enjoyed after Russia’s invasion ​of Ukraine in 2022.

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Reuters – August 3, 2026

Diamondback rides on higher oil prices to top profit estimates, raise output forecast*

Diamondback ‌Energy beat analysts’ expectations for second-quarter profit and raised its annual production forecast on Monday, as supply disruptions due to the prolonged conflict in the Middle East keep global oil prices ​elevated. The war in Iran, which started in late February, nearly shut the ​flow of Middle East cargoes through the crucial Strait of Hormuz, ⁠sending Brent crude from an average of $69.82 a barrel in January to $126.41 in ​April and WTI from $65.17 to $109.64.

“The timing of the eventual supply normalization is impossible to ​predict and we therefore expect this volatility to continue,” CEO Kaes Van’t Hof said in a letter to shareholders. The company’s realized price for each barrel of oil produced came in at $94.33 in ​the second quarter, compared with $62.34 a year earlier. Diamondback said service-cost inflation has so ​far been largely limited to fuel-related expenses, but warned that costs for fixed items such as ‌casing ⁠would rise through the rest of 2026 and into 2027 as activity levels and rig counts increase in the Permian Basin.

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Yahoo! News – August 3, 2026

ONEOK Raises 2026 Outlook as Pipeline Earnings and Volumes Increase

ONEOK reported a 13% year-over-year increase in second-quarter net income and raised its full-year financial guidance as higher volumes and pipeline marketing activity supported its results. The Tulsa-based midstream company recorded net income of $967 million, or $1.53 per diluted share, compared with $853 million, or $1.34 per share, in the same quarter of 2025. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 7% to $2.12 billion.

ONEOK increased its 2026 net income guidance to between $3.41 billion and $3.79 billion, with a midpoint of $3.6 billion. Its adjusted EBITDA forecast was raised to a range of $8.2 billion to $8.5 billion, with a midpoint of $8.35 billion. The company now expects full-year earnings of approximately $5.68 per diluted share at the midpoint of its guidance range. Its capital spending forecast remains unchanged at between $2.7 billion and $3.2 billion.

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Midland Reporter-Telegram – August 2, 2026

Rockport Energy Fund makes first acquisition*

Rockport Companies has made the first acquisition for its Rockport Energy Fund LP. Project Bravo is a drill-ready development program in Reeves County built around a 40% working interest in a Rockport-operated program. “The fund is an investment piece of Rockport Companies and is a diversified drilling fund. Investors can invest in the stock and take a percentage of each drilling venture Rockport pursues. It gives investors the opportunity to participate in drilling projects, different wells and different basins,” Ted Williams, CEO of Rockport, said.

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World Oil – August 3, 2026

Texas RRC partners with Texas A&M to strengthen oilfield fire prevention training

The Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) has partnered with the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) to launch an advanced fire prevention and electrical safety training program for oil and gas inspectors, strengthening field oversight aimed at reducing wildfire risks and improving operational safety. Thirty RRC oil and gas inspectors from across Texas attended the inaugural Electrical Transmission and Distribution (ET&D) course Aug. 3-4 in Austin. The hands-on program provides training on evaluating the operation and maintenance of electrical power lines at well sites and production facilities, helping inspectors identify potential wildfire hazards and electrical safety issues in the field.

The 10-hour course covers electrical safety principles and hazard recognition in accordance with OSHA requirements. Participants who successfully complete the program earn an OSHA 10-hour certification with an ET&D endorsement. “Preventing wildfires starts with proactive, informed inspection in the field, and our partnership with Texas A&M allows us to provide essential, life-saving training to our inspectors,” said Wei Wang, RRC executive director. “This effort highlights our strong commitment to protecting communities and natural resources throughout Texas, while also enhancing the responsible oversight that strengthens our state’s energy sector.”

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World Oil – July 31, 2026

Produced water as a resource and the risk if it isn’t: Mark Patton

This is a topic we have talked about before, but the lack of progress here is concerning. And I think it’s important enough that we should revisit this. So, let me start at the beginning. The Permian basin is the largest oil producing basin in the United States and the World’s largest oil producing basin. Produced water volumes can vary throughout the basin from lows of two times to highs of eight times the volume of oil. In general, there is over 20 MMbbl of produced water generated daily throughout the basin. As the basin continues to be drilled these volumes are incrementally increasing. Most of this water is reinjected in disposal wells and injection wells for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), with disposal being the primary option.

Challenges for produced water — Water recycling has grown over the years but only accounts for at best 30% of the overall volume and is not expected to grow much more than that for many reasons. This recycling option is using produced water as a completion fluid eliminating the need for completion water. If we could use nothing but produced water for completion fluid we could get to 50%, but the challenges are completion volumes are needed in volumes far in excess over the local generation of produced water and many landowners require that they sell water for completions and prohibit recycling. These challenges prevent us from increasing over 30%.

 

Oil & Gas National & International

 

CNBC – August 3, 2026

Trump says Exxon and Chevron made ‘too much money’ off high oil prices during Iran conflict: ‘I don’t like it’

President Donald Trump said Monday that ExxonMobil and Chevron made “too much money” on rising crude oil prices due to the Iran war. “They’re making too much money based on a shortage,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I don’t like it.” Exxon and Chevron on Friday reported

“Chevron, too much money. ExxonMobil, too much money,” Trump said. “They’re going to give some of that back to the public and they better cut the retail price, the consumer price. CNBC has reached out to Exxon and Chevron for comment. U.S. crude oil prices have gained about 20% since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Tehran has retaliated by trying to choke oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, triggering the largest supply disruption in history.

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The Wall Street Journal – August 3, 2026

TotalEnergies Sells Stake in European Renewable Assets to KKR*

France’s TotalEnergies said it agreed to sell a 50% stake in European onshore solar and wind assets to private-equity firm KKR, in a deal that values the portfolio at 1.8 billion euros, equivalent to $2.08 billion, including debt. TotalEnergies said the stake was in a largely developed 1.2 gigawatt portfolio operating across Germany, Spain, France and Poland.

Separately on Monday, TotalEnergies said it had agreed to buy a 4 gigawatt renewables portfolio from British energy major Shell. The majority of the assets are to be developed solar, wind and battery storage projects in Italy, the U.K. and Spain.

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Oil & Gas Journal – August 3, 2026

TotalEnergies to acquire Shell’s European onshore renewables portfolio

TotalEnergies SE has agreed to acquire Shell’s 4-Gw onshore renewables portfolio in Europe. The portfolio includes 500 Mw of solar and wind assets in operation or under construction, primarily in Italy and the Netherlands, as well as a 3.5-Gw pipeline of solar, wind, and battery storage projects in Italy, the UK, and Spain, the company said Aug. 3. In the Netherlands, the assets include 254.2 Mw of installed peak capacity across the Moerdijk, Heerenveen-Zuid, and Emmen (GZI Next) solar parks; the Sas van Gent-Zuid and Koegorspolder solar parks in Terneuzen; and the Pottendijk combined solar and wind park in Emmen.

TotalEnergies will assume full ownership of the portfolio upon closing. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed by yearend 2026. “This agreement reflects Shell’s continued focus on actively managing and further strengthening its electricity portfolio, in line with the strategy outlined during Capital Markets Day 2025,” said Machteld de Haan, president, downstream, renewables and energy solutions, Shell.

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Reuters – August 3, 2026

Rio Tinto signals no rush to revive Glencore deal as standstill ends*

A freeze on Rio Tinto approaching Glencore for a takeover expires this week, but people who have been briefed by top executives don’t expect any fresh tie-up talks for now ​as CEO Simon Trott focuses on cost cuts and asset sales. Trott launched a simplification strategy to collapse Rio Tinto into three core businesses and ‌concentrate on its most profitable assets after he took the top job at the world’s second-biggest listed miner a year ago.

But within months, he was running the numbers on the prospect of a $200  billion mega-merger that would join Glencore’s marketing and copper assets with Rio Tinto’s operational expertise to maximise its copper potential. Ultimately, Trott found no value case, and the miner walked away on February 5, setting in ​train a six-month standstill under UK takeover rules which expires on Tuesday. “The company got a pretty clear message back when talks were on, that they shouldn’t ​go there. If Simon Trott started up talks again, then from a corporate governance perspective, the share price would take a hit,” ⁠said Michael Bell, chief investment officer of Solaris Investment Management in Brisbane, which holds Rio shares.

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Bloomberg – August 3, 2026

American Petroleum Institute Opposes Senate Biofuels Legislation*

The American Petroleum Institute said it opposes new Senate biofuels legislation that would expand sales of higher-ethanol gasoline and give exemptions from annual blending mandates for some small oil refineries. The oil and gas lobbying group has helped champion efforts in Congress this year to allow year-round sales of higher-ethanol, or E15, gasoline. Yet it criticized a proposal unveiled late Friday that pairs E15 with what are essentially automatic exemptions for some small refineries, a shift from earlier plans that would have cut those significantly. The legislation would allow regulators to force companies that didn’t receive breaks to offset some of their competitors’ exemptions.

“API supports permanent, nationwide year-round E15 when paired with common sense reforms” to programs that give exemptions to biofuel blending mandates for small refineries, Kristin Whitman, senior vice president of government relations, said in an emailed statement. “The proposal included in the Senate farm bill fails to deliver that balanced approach, replacing it with flawed provisions that weaken America’s fuel supply instead of providing the long-term certainty consumers, farmers, biofuel producers and refiners need,” Whitman said. “API opposes this proposal and urges Congress to reject it.”

The debate over biofuels is heating up as producers and farmers hunt for new sources of demand for crops. The stakes have only intensified since the Trump administration set record-high blend mandates earlier this year that are challenging the industry. While E15 is widely seen as one of the most direct ways to expand the market for biofuels, the issue of who is entitled to exemptions has divided the oil industry and upended legislative talks. The mandate for blending biofuels like ethanol and renewable diesel can be a significant expense for refiners.

 

Utilities, Electricity & Renewables

 

KUHF NPR – August 4, 2026

Gov. Greg Abbott pauses new data centers until ERCOT, PUCT audit energy, water usage

New data centers won’t be able to connect to the Texas power grid until state regulators complete a comprehensive audit of these facilities, following a directive from Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday. In a letter to the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Abbott called on the agencies to collect information on water and power usage at these facilities and to pause data centers’ ability to connect to the grid until the audit is complete.

“Our top priority is to protect Texans’ safety and quality of life,” Abbott said in the letter. “That includes providing affordable energy, maintaining a reliable electric grid, preserving water for our communities, and championing Texas values. Those priorities can, and must, be achieved while also creating the jobs and providing the economic opportunity that comes with our national leadership in technological innovation and investment.”

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The Wall Street Journal – August 3, 2026

Zach Dell Is Raising Money to Put a Battery in Your Backyard*

Steps away from an old printing press, a fleet of industrial robots and dozens of workers assemble the building blocks of what a highflying startup hopes will be America’s next big power company. Base Power is racing to build and install tens of thousands of batteries in residential backyards and become one of the country’s largest developers of battery storage. The three-year-old company just locked down a $1 billion funding round that brings its valuation to $13 billion. The company has raised more than $2.5 billion in all. Co-founded by Chief Executive Zach Dell, son of computer pioneer Michael Dell, Base has installed more than 23,000 batteries across Texas and the Chicago area, a market it entered earlier this year.

Base has two business models. In deregulated markets, the company owns and operates the batteries, acting as a retail power provider while offering lower-than-average electricity rates. When the grid operates normally, it aggregates the batteries to feed electricity back to the system during periods of peak demand. If an outage strikes, it provides backup power. Texas customers also can sign up for the retail electricity plan without a battery.

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Canary Media – July 27, 2026

US factories are struggling to get cleaner heat. These ideas may help.

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Forbes – July 23, 2026

Meet The Wastewater Billionaire With His Eye On AI Data Centers*

There would seem to be precious little water in the sun-baked Permian Basin of arid west Texas, where the tumbleweeds and oil pumps outnumber the people. For hundreds of miles, there are no lakes and just one river. Yet here in America’s biggest oil field, the center of world fracking production, there is water everywhere. That is, if you know where to look, explains David Capobianco, the 57-year-old cofounder of private equity outfit Five Point. Every day, the region produces 7 million barrels of oil and 25 million barrels of water—the equivalent of 1 billion gallons, as much water as all of New York City uses in a day.

“Without water . . . they can’t move any oil; that machine stops,” says Capobianco, who has made this water the linchpin of his multipronged strategy to lure AI data centers to oil country. Much of that water comes from aquifers, and a lot of it is used for hydraulic fracturing (a.k.a. fracking). But even more water comes out of the wells from the same reservoir rocks as oil. That water is gross: It’s saturated with salt, minerals and chemicals. Historically, after skimming off the oil, operators have paid to haul it away and inject it miles deep underground. That’s where Capobianco comes in: His companies handle 6 million barrels of wastewater per day, moving it through more than 5,000 miles of pipelines and more than 300 water processing and disposal facilities he has accumulated across Texas and New Mexico.

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Politico – July 31, 2026

Mo’ power (for Texas data centers), mo’ problems: Shelby Webb

Texas, you might want to sit down before you see how much electricity the state is going to need to power data centers. The state’s main electric grid operator now estimates demand could nearly double by 2032, jumping from an all-time record of 91 gigawatts set last week to an eye-popping 175 GW — with the bulk driven by data centers. Electricity concerns from data centers and long-range power lines have roiled the state in recent months. In a dramatic move Friday, state officials called on energy regulators to pump the brakes on a massive $33 billion power line build-out, despite big implications for scores of data center facilities trying to go online.

The proposal to build large poles and wires across large swaths of Texas rangeland has so angered ranchers and rural voters that more than 200 people drove to Austin to speak out during a 15-hour Senate committee hearing last week. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who is bleeding support in his reelection bid, has been changing his tone on data centers and proposing new guardrail legislation. A new poll from Fox News has him in a dead heat with Democratic challenger state Rep. Gina Hinojosa — a stunning development for a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat for governor in 35 years.

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Utility Dive – July 22, 2026

Don’t gut the utility model just as we need it most: Scott Aaronson, Aaronson Resilience Advisors

For nearly two decades, American electricity demand sat flat. Efficiency gains offset growth, the grid aged quietly, and on most days that was fine. That era is over. The United States is entering the steepest sustained load growth since the Eisenhower years — driven by AI and data centers, yes, but also by advanced manufacturing coming home, electrified transportation, and the electrification of the economy itself. The grid has to be built to meet it.

That reality is colliding with a political moment. Rising energy costs are dominating headlines and shaping agendas nationwide. Policymakers are paying attention, and they should be — affordability is a real concern, and low- and middle-income families are squeezed on every front. But many of the proposals now on the table are taking aim at utilities’ returns on equity and at their ability to invest in infrastructure, which would do lasting damage to the one system capable of delivering the grid we need on the theory that cutting both will bring bills down.

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July 21, 2026

US data centre developers prioritise existing project pipelines as new pipeline capacity growth slows in Q1 2026: Wood Mackenzie

Wood Mackenzie’s analysis of Q1 2026 data shows that established US data centre developers continue to shift their focus to existing data-centre pipelines in the face of an increasingly challenging development and regulatory environment. 36 GW of disclosed data centre capacity was added to the US pipeline in Q1 2026, down 19% from additions in Q4 2025

Texas leads in terms of planned capacity development, followed by Ohio. Cumulative planned capacity in Texas now totals over 96 GW, with 6.4 GW, or 14%, added on the quarter in Q1 2026. Massive sites are planned in states including Utah, New Mexico and West Virginia due to land availability, but only a small fraction of those are under active development. Cumulative US disclosed data-centre capacity now totals 331 GW, of which 43% is under active development. Fifty-three percent of projects are past the permitting phases, but that only corresponds to 32% of total capacity. Projects entering construction phases so far in 2026 are less energy dense than those in the disclosed and permitting phases.

 

Regulatory

 

Inside Climate News – August 1, 2026

More Data Centers Will Mean More Fracking in Pennsylvania. These Advocates Want Better Protections.

Advocates for an increase in mandated distances between Pennsylvania communities and natural gas infrastructure said their call has become more urgent with an expected surge in fracking to fuel the state’s data center buildout. The Environmental Integrity Project, Clean Air Council and their allies urged Pennsylvania towns and lawmakers to support a plan to widen most setbacks by more than 2,500 feet to protect public health, which they say is endangered by a current rule allowing energy companies to build well pads, compressor stations and pipelines as close as 500 feet from homes, schools and hospitals.

The request was first made in a petition to the state’s Environmental Quality Board in 2024. In December the board passed it along to the Department of Environmental Protection, which is expected to conclude an analysis of the proposal by year’s end. Meanwhile, natural gas production is expected to increase to help supply electricity to energy-hungry data centers, dozens of which are now planned for Pennsylvania.

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Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Monday August 3, 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 prices fell Monday in Asia trading as investors pared geopolitical risk premiums after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had called off a planned strike on Iran.

West Texas Intermediate futures for September delivery declined nearly 6% to $79.66 per barrel.

Brent crude futures for October delivery lost 5.16% to $83.39 a barrel.

Trump said early Sunday that he had called off a planned strike on Iran after receiving a request from Tehran and other countries in the Middle East.

“We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

He said the proposed agreement would include the “Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.”

Trump has reportedly been weighing another round of strikes on Iran amid fading prospects for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, which began on Feb. 28.

 

Top Stories

 

Bloomberg – July 31, 2026

Hedge Funds Add Bullish Bets on Oil at Fastest Pace Since March*

Hedge funds boosted bullish wagers on US oil at the fastest pace since March as supply disruptions from Iran to the Red and Black Seas are set to once again boost demand for American crude. Money managers increased their net-long positions on West Texas Intermediate crude by 21,402 lots to 108,307 in the week ended July 28, the biggest jump in about four months, weekly CFTC data on futures and options show. Speculators now hold the most bullish stance on US oil since mid-June. The hike in bullish bets was driven not only by the Iran war, but also by renewed attacks from Iran-backed Houthi militants on Saudi crude shipments through the Red Sea. The route has become an increasingly important alternative for the kingdom’s exports as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz persist.

Fresh attacks on tankers loading crude at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal on Russia’s Black Sea coast, which exports most of Kazakhstan’s oil, have compounded supply worries. Those risks are likely to intensify the draw on US barrels from overseas. US crude exports remain elevated by historical standards, with traders expecting shipments to climb again as foreign buyers seek to replace disrupted global supplies.

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Politico – July 31, 2026

Oil industry warns refining limits could keep energy prices high

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KXAS – July 31, 2026

Texas power line plan tests property rights across rural communities

Texas has approved a massive expansion of its transmission system to carry more electricity into the Permian Basin. The proposed 765-kilovolt corridors would cross through hundreds of miles of ranches, farms, schools, and rural communities. At a Texas Senate Committee on Business and Commerce meeting Thursday, senators examined the proposed transmission line project and its impact on landowners. The lines are part of the Permian Basin Reliability Plan, a state-approved effort to move significantly more electricity into West Texas as power demand from oil and gas operations and other growth rises. The plan calls for three major 765-kilovolt import corridors, a voltage not currently used on the ERCOT grid.

During an hourslong hearing before the Texas Senate Committee on Business and Commerce, farmers, ranchers, school leaders, county officials and other property owners asked lawmakers to pause proposed 765-kilovolt transmission projects. Many said they received confusing or late notices, struggled to navigate a complicated legal process and were given too little time to challenge routes that could permanently affect their land.

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Center Square – July 31, 2026

Data centers drive surging off-grid gas power demand

Strained electrical grids and long wait times to hook up to public utilities will push about 40% of all new data center capacity additions entirely off the main grid through 2030, according to energy research firm Enverus. The report by Enverus Intelligence Research (EIR) projects hyperscalers will spend about $5 trillion through 2030 to add 62 gigawatts of off-grid, natural gas-fired power serving data centers clustered primarily in parts of Texas, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

Faced with long waits to connect to the public grid, major tech hyperscalers like Amazon and Google are pushing back their short-term net-zero carbon pledges. To meet their immense, short-term power needs, these and other tech giants are building off-grid, privately controlled, “behind the meter” natural gas generation facilities.

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Reuters – July 30, 2026

Banks in talks to lend $15 billion for Anthropic data center backed by Google, WSJ reports*

Data-center developer Nexus Data Centers is in advanced talks to raise $15 billion for a Texas campus tied to Anthropic, ​with Alphabet’s Google offering financial guarantees and supplying chips, ‌the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

• A bank group led by ⁠Morgan Stanley is discussing financing for the project in Hubbard, ​Texas, which includes a natural-gas-fired power plant capable of producing 1.6 ​gigawatts of electricity, the report said.
• Google has agreed to guarantee billions of dollars of Anthropic’s lease and power-payment commitments if the startup defaults, according ​to WSJ. The tech giant’s backing was limited to ​the minimum level required by lenders to complete the financing.
• The guarantees cover four ‌data-center ⁠leases signed by Anthropic and related power-purchase agreements for electricity from an on-site plant, the Journal said.
• The financing package includes a $14 billion bridge loan and a revolving credit facility, the ​newspaper reported. In ​return for its ⁠support, Google is expected to receive an equity stake of about 20% in the data-center ​and power project.

 

The Latest TERse Tips

Renewable energy developer Origis Energy has brought another 500 megawatts of solar online at its Rockhound complex in West Texas, pushing the sprawling project’s operating capacity to nearly 1 gigawatt — the three newly completed phases are in Ector County and join Swift Air Solar, three adjoining Origis solar projects totaling about 500 MWdc within the Rockhound complex — electrek

Xcel Energy Inc. reported 2026 second quarter GAAP earnings of $586 million, or $0.93 per share, compared with $444 million, or $0.75 per share in the same period in 2025 and ongoing earnings of $589 million, or $0.93 per share compared with $444 million or $0.75 per share in the same period in 2025 — see the press release

US infrastructure investor FIC Partners Management has acquired Perfect Power, developer and owner of the Jaguar Energy Center, a planned grid-connected solar and battery storage project in Texas with up to 1.15GW of capacity — the project is a 300MWac utility-scale PV plant co-located with the a battery energy storage system (BESS) near Waco — PV Tech

An East Texas judge is collaborating with neighboring counties to establish a groundwater conservation district aimed at protecting essential water resources as the state’s population continues to grow alongside increasing water demands — AOL

OPEC Owes Its Existence To The Texas Railroad Commission by Collin Woodard on AOL

Video: Representative Drew Darby on the Upstream Downlow Podcast (32 min.)

A battle between a wealthy Texas oil-and-gas couple and a Montana business over a ranch once owned by a famed chocolatier briefly played out in court before the matter was dismissed this week — Houston Chronicle*

Energy investment firm Panamint Capital has broken ground on “Big Rooter Power,” a $1.7 billion multi-use energy project at the Twin Oaks power station site near Bremond in Robertson County, and according to Panamint Capital, once fully constructed, the 1.2-gigawatt development will stand as the largest solar installation ever built on an existing coal mining site in North American history — KBTX

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Oil & Gas Texas

 

Oil Price – July 31, 2026

US Oil Drillers Turn Cautious as WTI Holds Near $85 per Barrel

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States rose this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, bringing the total rig count in the US to 588, up 48 from this same time last year. The number of active oil rigs rose by 1, reaching 451 during the latest reporting period, according to the data. This is 41 above this same time last year. The number of gas rigs stayed the same at 127, which is 3 more than this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed at 10.

The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production fell slightly during week ending July 24. US crude oil production averaged 13.796 million bpd during the reporting period, down from 13.798 million bpd last week and up 482,000 bpd from a year ago. Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells, rose by 2 in the week ending July 24, to 198 crews, after losing 4 in the week prior. The number of active drilling rigs in the Permian Basin rose by 2 in the reporting period, hitting 260. This is 1 rigs above year-ago levels. The count in the Eagle Ford rose by 2 to 49, which is 10 more than this same time last year.

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Oil & Gas Journal – July 31, 2026

Antero strikes $315 million worth of Marcellus deals

Antero Resources Corp., Denver, has this month spent $315 million on acquisitions in its core Marcellus basin that have added 15 net drilling locations at a nice price. Michael Kennedy, president and chief executive officer, and his team say the West Virginia additions are producing 125 MMcfed and also span 3,500 net undeveloped acres. The deals came about five months after the Antero team closed on its $2.8 billion acquisition of HG Energy II LLC, which grew Antero’s footprint by about 385,000 net acres, and the acreage is near the route of the East Side Express, the first dry gas regional pipeline Antero is building.

Kennedy told investors that both HG’s operations and the new acquisitions will help Antero further lower its operating costs. Antero teams also spent $29 million during the second quarter on about 5,000 net acres that represent 20 net drilling locations. As part of publishing its second-quarter results, the management team lowered its 2026 cash production expense forecast by 5 cents per Mcfe to $2.20-2.30 per Mcfe.

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CNBC – July 31, 2026

Exxon and Chevron profits surge on rising oil prices due to Iran war

Related: Houston-based oil companies reap massive profits as U.S. and Iran fighting drives energy prices higher — KUHF NPR

ExxonMobil and Chevron on Friday reported second-quarter profits that surged on rising oil prices due to the Iran war. Chevron’s net income soared to $12 billion, a nearly 400% increase compared to $2.5 billion in the same period last year. Adjusted earnings came in at $6.06 per share, 50 cents higher than Wall Street’s estimates. “We’re kind of firing on all cylinders, which is good, because the world needs it,” CEO Mike Wirth told CNBC’s Becky Quick.

Wirth said the threat to oil supplies in the Middle East has expanded beyond the Strait of Hormuz at a time when global inventories are falling. Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen have expanded the conflict to the Red Sea, which has become a crucial alternative route for Saudi Arabia’s oil exports. “The situation is under stress and I’m afraid it’s going to continue to do so,” Wirth told CNBC. “We’re running out of time. Every day that goes by, the situation gets more difficult.” Exxon posted profits for the quarter of $14.5 billion, more than doubling from about $7.1 billion in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings of $3.52 per share missed analyst estimates by 8 cents.

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Midland Reporter-Telegram – August 1, 2026

RRC offers workshop on brownfields response*

Midland College will host a Railroad Commission of Texas brownfields workshop Aug. 6. The workshop will begin at 9 a.m. in the Jack E. Brown Conference Hall, Room 121. The workshop is supported by the Permian Basin Regional Planning Commission. The Railroad Commission established the Brownfields Response Program to encourage the remediation of Texas properties contaminated by oil and gas-related activities. Brownfields are properties where expansion, redevelopment or reuse is hindered by the presence or possible presence of hazardous substances or contaminants.

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San Antonio Current – July 28, 2026

Texas GOP candidate with history of racist posts now says ‘mass deportations’ will lower gas prices

Less than a week after blaming the state’s water crisis on “illegal aliens,” outrage merchant and Republican Texas Railroad Commission candidate Bo French has claimed “mass deportations” will lower gasoline prices. With the general election less than 100 days away, French has ramped up his xenophobic rhetoric, tweeting out the suggestion Monday that undocumented migrants, not President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again war with Iran, are the reason why gas prices have once again climbed to $4 a gallon.

“People frequently ask me what we can do to lower prices at the pump,” French said in the post. “1) mass deportations.” The former Tarrant County GOP chairman has made a name for himself by regularly firing off racist and offensive social media posts, including calls for the deportation of Native Americans, referring to Black voters as “chimps” and asking his online followers if they thought Jews or Muslims were a “bigger threat” to the United States.

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KERA NPR – July 27, 2026

Researchers tested more than 75 Texas waterways for microplastics. Nearly all had them

A new study by Dallas-based researchers finds that nearly all of the region’s waterways are polluted with microplastics. The report from the Environment Texas Research and Policy Center calls on policymakers to take action to regulate the waste that ends up in the state’s water.

“Our report today found that microplastics have become a nearly invisible constant in our Texas waterways,” Environment Texas city hall advocate Ian Seamans said during a news conference Thursday. “That means that whether you fish on the Gulf Coast, swim in the Hill Country or paddle, for instance, White Rock Lake right here in Dallas, chances are that microplastics are there too.”

 

Oil & Gas National & International

 

CNN – July 31, 2026

Trump predicted an oil catastrophe if the war didn’t end. The clock is ticking

Back in June, President Donald Trump justified the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Iran by making some alarming predictions. “We run out of reserves at about four weeks,” Trump said during a press conference in France at the Group of Seven summit. Running out of oil reserves would cause “bedlam,” he predicted, saying he feared being compared to Herbert Hoover, the Republican president who presided over a market crash that led to the Great Depression.

Trump does not want to be compared to Herbert Hoover. But he also abandoned the memorandum of understanding and is again attacking Iran. The Strait of Hormuz is again closed. So how far off is the “bedlam” Trump predicted in June? I spoke with David Goldman, a senior reporter for CNN Business who has focused on oil and oil markets during the war with Iran. He told me the strategic reserve of oil maintained by the US in case of emergencies is dwindling. So are commercial reserves kept in a small town in Oklahoma. But markets are not freaking out because the answer, which Trump won’t like, may be staring him in the face.

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Politico – July 30, 2026

The Trump administration wants more gasoline made in idled refineries from California to sunny St. Croix

Investors know the Trump administration is worried about fuel prices — and they’re offering assistance. The White House has had discussions with a wide range of potential suitors to reopen defunct petroleum refineries from the Virgin Islands to California amid rising anxieties over higher fuel prices, according to three industry executives familiar with the talks. National Energy Dominance Council officials confirmed they have fielded inquiries from potential investors, and the industry sources said the NEDC connected those investors to relevant agencies to discuss how the government could help facilitate investments.

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S&P Global Platts – July 31, 2026

Chevron sees 50% growth in Venezuela oil production by end of 2028: CFO

Chevron Corp. expects to increase its crude oil production in Venezuela by as much as 50% by late 2028, even as it is in talks with the government to improve existing fiscal terms, CFO Eimear Bonner said July 31. “We’ve grown production over the last few years from 40,000 [b/d] to 250,000 [b/d],” Bonner said on the company’s second-quarter earnings webcast. “With the existing model that we have in place, we have grown the production from those three JVs, 15% over the last 6 months to 280,000 b/d, and we’re anticipating that we will be able to grow up to 50% between now and the end of 2028.”

Chevron increased its heavy oil footprint in Venezuela with an asset swap agreement with PDVSA under which it received an additional 13.21% interest in the Petroindependencia joint venture, increasing its total stake to 49%, it said mid-April. The two other JVs are: Petropiar, in which Chevron’s subsidiary holds a 30% interest and has the rights to develop the adjacent Ayacucho 8 area in the Orinoco Oil Belt of Venezuela; and its 25.2% non-operated interest in the Petroindependiente JV in western Venezuela.

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Global News – July 31, 2026

Canada’s Enbridge postpones plans for second phase of Mainline oil pipeline expansion

Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge ​said on Friday it was postponing the 250,000-barrel-per-day second phase of its Mainline crude pipeline network, partly due to Canadian oil producers not committing to significant output increases. The project, announced in Nov. 2025, would have increased exports ‌of Canadian crude to U.S. refineries and would be completed in 2027

But Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel said the ⁠company will focus first on ‌its 100,000 bpd Flanagan South Expansion and its 50,000 bpd Southern Access Extension, which will ⁠add capacity to two secondary pipelines that connect to the ‌Mainline in Illinois and transport crude to multiple U.S. refining centers and ⁠the Gulf Coast. Ebel said Canada ‌is facing a generational opportunity to expand its oil output, thanks to recent federal government policy changes and the rollback of some environmental rules.

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The New York Times – July 30, 2026

In Ohio, Toxic Wastewater Is Bubbling Up Out of the Ground*

In historic Marietta, Ohio, riverboats churn past shores once surveyed by George Washington. Trolleys bump along brick roads that pass between Victorian homes and 2,000-year-old Adena and Hopewell burial mounds. Its cemeteries hold more Revolutionary War officers than anywhere else in the nation. And there is something else buried deep beneath Marietta: Hundreds of millions of gallons of radioactive fracking wastewater. For years, it has arrived in a caravan of tanker trucks that come night and day to deposit the toxic brine in injection wells that pump it thousands of feet underground, where it is supposed to stay forever.

But the brine is spurting to the surface, and locals fear it could soon contaminate the drinking water source for 32,000 people. “It would destroy the city,” said Susan Vessels, president of the Marietta City Council. “Once the damage is done, it cannot be undone.” Residents and local officials were for years “completely unaware” of their place at the heart of an interstate marketplace for toxic waste, Ms. Vessels said. They’ve come to realize, she said, that their corner of Ohio has become a major destination for fracking brine. Ohio has permitted more than 240 injection wells for the disposal of oil and gas waste. By comparison, there are 19 such injection wells in Pennsylvania, and a few dozen in West Virginia, both of which border Ohio.

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The Wall Street Journal – July 31, 2026

BP Puts U.K. North Sea Business Up for Sale*

Related: BP to cut 700 jobs as it simplifies company, internal email shows — reductions would impact around 8% of ⁠the 8,500 non-frontline roles that historically were part of the company’s production ​and operations business — Reuters*

British energy major BP is putting its U.K. North Sea business up for sale, paving the way to end oil production in its home country after more than half a century. BP said Friday that it would market the business to potential buyers as it refocuses spending on higher-returning projects elsewhere. The move comes as new Chief Executive Meg O’Neill reviews BP’s portfolio in a strategic shake-up designed to boost profit and shareholder returns. The company is targeting $20 billion in asset sales by the end of 2027 in a bid to cut net debt.

 

Utilities, Electricity & Renewables

 

KUT NPR – July 30, 2026

Big new power lines could prevent blackouts in Texas. Dan Patrick wants to block them

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Senate Business and Commerce Committee Chair Charles Schwertner have called on regulators to deny transmission companies the permits they need to move forward with plans to build three ultra-high-voltage transmission lines across Texas.

“Everyone agrees Texas needs the transmission necessary to meet the growing needs of the state. However, support for ERCOT’s 765-kV transmission plan should not come at the expense of private property rights,” the lieutenant governor wrote in a statement on the social media site X. Patrick and Schwertner said the Legislature should review ways to improve electric transmission in next year’s legislative session.

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KCEN – July 31, 2026

Schwertner calls on Texas regulators to deny proposed 765-kilovolt transmission line applications

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Houston Chronicle – July 31, 2026

Singer Tanya Tucker possibly topples transmission project after Senate hearing*

When country music legend Tanya Tucker finished testifying Wednesday against a proposed transmission line across her ranch, she closed not with another argument but with a rendition of her hit Texas (When I Die). Two days later, Senate Business and Commerce Chairman Charles Schwertner called on state regulators to reject the pending applications from transmission utilities, including Dallas-based Oncor, until lawmakers overhaul the approval process.

Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick joined the push for legislative reforms, adding another significant political roadblock to a 1,200-mile, $15 billion transmission project to supercharge the state’s sprawling West Texas oil and gas industry. Schwertner’s statement came after a 15-hour legislative hearing in which Tucker, ranchers and other landowners said the state was rushing to approve massive new transmission corridors without adequately protecting private property. The projects are intended to provide electricity to the power-starved Permian Basin from other parts of Texas, including the Dallas area, but opponents say the current process favors utilities over landowners. Schwertner, a Georgetown Republican, said the testimony exposed significant flaws in the permitting process, including a lack of notice and a fast-moving process that disregarded input from some affected landowners.

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S&P Global Platts – July 31, 2026

Trump signs export restrictions on recoverable critical minerals and materials

US President Donald Trump signed an order on July 31, giving the Commerce Secretary authority to limit exports of critical minerals and materials, citing national security risks from America’s reliance on foreign suppliers, the White House said in a statement. The presidential determination under the Defense Production Act finds that recoverable critical minerals are essential to military production and that the US is too dependent on imports. The move targets materials found in products, including permanent magnets and lithium-ion batteries.

“CMMs are pervasive in defense supply chains and are key inputs in advanced defense systems that support technological superiority, operational readiness, and an array of high-performance military equipment,” the White House said in the statement. The action is the latest in a series of Trump administration orders aimed at securing domestic mineral supplies, including multiple invocations of the Defense Production Act and efforts to support critical minerals production in friendly nations.

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Utility Dive – July 31, 2026

Xcel Energy on track for 3% retail sales growth this year, executives say

Xcel Energy has a 2026-2030 base capital investment plan of about $60 billion and “line of sight” to an additional $10 billion that supports growing data center demand with new transmission and generation resources, company officials said Thursday during the company’s second-quarter earnings call. The company plans to use the funds to invest in 11.4 GW of renewable generation, 3.4 GW of gas generation,  2.2 GW of energy storage, about 1,700 miles of new transmission lines and $5 billion for wildfire mitigation.

Investments included in the line of sight category include generation to support appoximately 3 GW of incremental data center demand Xcel added to its target plan, expected to ramp online through mid-2030s. Xcel has about 2 GW of data centers contracted or under construction, 4 GW it expects to have under contract by the end of 2027, and an additional pipeline in excess of 20 GW, according to its Q2 2026 earnings presentation.

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Dallas Morning News – July 30, 2026

Q&A: The SMU researcher who says driverless cars could transform more than North Texas traffic*

Khaled Abdelghany describes autonomous vehicles as a “big elephant” coming to North Texas roads. Yet the SMU civil and environmental engineering professor does not expect them to account for more than about 10% of traffic by 2045 unless the technology advances significantly and gains wider public acceptance. His research nevertheless shows why transportation planners are preparing. In one experiment that assumed every vehicle was autonomous, Dallas-Fort Worth’s total daily congestion delay fell 33% without adding highway lanes. But Abdelghany says the effects could extend beyond traffic, reshaping where people live and work, how lower-income residents get around and how passengers connect to public transportation.

 

Austin American-Statesman – July 27, 2026

Austin City Council approves 10-year, ‘once-in-a-generation’ deal with Texas Gas Service*

The Austin City Council approved a new 10-year franchise agreement with Texas Gas Service that dictates how Austin’s primary gas utility can operate in the city. The council’s move marks the end of a lengthy negotiation process, during which consumer and climate advocates lobbied for stricter environmental regulations and tighter cost controls in the contract as natural gas bills balloon in Central Texas. The council gave its preliminary approval to the agreement on May 7, though members of the city’s Resource Management Commission — an appointed advisory body — argued the proposal failed to deliver several critical provisions for ratepayers and the environment.

After more than two months of additional negotiation between Texas Gas Service and city staff, the final agreement approved Thursday moved closer to the commission’s original vision. Texas Gas Service agreed to create a low-income assistance program for customers who struggle to pay their bills. The company also agreed to enhanced transparency provisions, including a leak detection report, capital improvement plan and an appearance before the Resource Management Commission each year.

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KVII – July 30, 2026

Wind farm revenue gap prompts Briscoe County to consider abatements for data center plan

Briscoe County and other counties in rural parts of the Texas Panhandle, it can be quite challenging to attract new businesses. The county did get one new business to come to Briscoe County: a renewable computing company, and they set up just south of Silverton off Highway 207. “We were able to move in and build 98 megawatts worth of renewable computing,” said Karl Shinn, regional lead for Soluna.

There is now talk of a data center potentially coming here to Briscoe County. “It might even create more income for other businesses to come in, and of course our town is struggling; the whole county is struggling at this time,” said Danny Francis, Briscoe County Commissioner Precinct 3.

 

Regulatory

 

Houston Chronicle – August 1, 2026

A federal judge upheld stricter air quality standards. Here’s what it means for Harris County*

The greater Houston region will face stricter federal air quality standards following a recent court ruling. A federal judge ruled in July that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must enforce stricter air quality standards for PM 2.5 – fine particulate matter including dust, smoke and soot – that were adopted under the Biden administration. That type of pollution, emitted from sources such as vehicles, concrete batch plants and other industrial facilities, has been linked to respiratory and heart disease.

The ruling comes after several environmental groups and government agencies, including Harris County, sued the EPA. In an interview with Houston Public Media on Thursday, interim Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin praised the ruling — which could force Texas’ environmental regulators to take action to reduce air pollution in the region. “Under the Clean Air Act, EPA has to set certain standards for particles, including soot,” she said. “And what was happening was EPA wasn’t enforcing its own rules.”

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The Wall Street Journal – August 2, 2026

How Green Policies Fuel Fires In Europe*

Fires have been wreaking havoc across France and Spain, as they often do when conditions are dry and wind is high. But it wouldn’t be a weather-related tragedy these days if someone didn’t blame climate change. The tragic irony is that Europe’s environmental policies are making such wildfires more likely and more devastating. Under its Green Deal and related policies, the European Union is designating 30% of the continent as nature-protected by 2030. Goals include increasing the amount of deadwood and the density of tree cover in forests. Whatever their environmental merit, such measures increase the amount of highly flammable fuel for fires, make it easier for blazes to spread and harder to extinguish.