11-5-25

Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Wednesday November 5, 2025

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 dipped on Wednesday amid a wider slump in financial markets and a strong U.S. dollar, while investors assessed the supply outlook.

West Texas Intermediate crude was down 10 cents, or 0.17%, at $60.46.

Brent crude futures edged lower by 6 cents, or 0.1%, to $64.38 a barrel by 0408 GMT, having touched a near two-week low in the prior session.

The risk-off tone across markets saw investors exit energy markets, ANZ analysts wrote in a Wednesday client note.

Asian stocks dived on Wednesday and market volatility reached levels not seen since April after an overnight tech-led selloff on Wall Street put the spotlight on stretched valuations.

The U.S. dollar index – which measures the currency against the euro and sterling, along with the yen and three other peers – was steady at a three-month high, buoyed by division among the Federal Reserve board, indicating low odds for an interest rate cut at the next policy meeting in December.

 

Top Stories

 

World Oil – November 4, 2025

Comstock boosts Haynesville output, to sell East Texas assets for $430 million

Comstock Resources Inc. reported higher third-quarter earnings on improved natural gas prices and continued strong drilling results in the Haynesville and Bossier shales, while moving forward with the sale of its Shelby Trough assets for $430 million (USD).  Natural gas and oil sales, including hedging gains, rose to $335 million, generating $190 million in operating cash flow. Adjusted EBITDAX totaled $249 million, and adjusted net income was $28 million ($0.09 per share).

Comstock produced 112 Bcf of natural gas in the quarter, realizing $2.99 per Mcf after hedging. Production costs averaged $0.77 per Mcfe, resulting in a 74% operating margin after hedging. Drilling activity remained concentrated in the Haynesville and Bossier shales, where the company drilled 17 wells and turned 12 to sales during the quarter. Three Western Haynesville wells posted an average 32 MMcf/d initial production rate with an average lateral length of 8,566 ft.

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The Times (UK) – November 4, 2025

BP offloads US pipeline assets for $1.5bn

BP has agreed to sell minority stakes in some of its onshore oil and gas pipeline assets in the United States to Sixth Street, an investment firm, for $1.5 billion as part of its sell-off programme. The deal, for pipelines and facilities in the Permian and Eagle Ford basins in Texas, is the latest sale in a $20 billion divestment scheme aimed at bringing down debt levels at the group.

BP is one of the world’s biggest oil and gas producers, pumping the equivalent of 2.4 million barrels of oil per day last year. It has been under pressure from investors after an ill-fated foray into renewables hit profitability. Once the US sale is completed, BP’s onshore oil and gas business in the country, Bpx Energy, will retain a 51 per cent stake in the Permian assets and 25 per cent in those at Eagle Ford. Bpx will remain the operator of all the assets, which connect wells to third-party pipeline systems, transporting the oil and gas to customers.

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The Wall Street Journal – November 4, 2025

BP Raises Full-Year Divestment Expectations After Results Beat Views*

BP posted better-than-expected profit despite a weaker contribution from its oil trading division, and increased its expectations for full-year divestment proceeds as it continues with its turnaround program to catch up with its European peers. The London-based oil-and-gas company said Tuesday that the results reflect higher production and stronger refining margins, which were partly offset by a weak oil trading result.

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Midland Reporter-Telegram – November 4, 2025

EIA: ERCOT has fastest demand growth among grids*

According to the Energy Information Administration, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas had the fastest electricity demand growth among U.S. electricity grids between 2024 and 2025. From January through September 2025, demand for electric power in ERCOT increased 5% compared with the same period in 2024 to 372 terawatt-hours (TWh), 23% more than during the same months in 2021. In the first nine months of 2025, ERCOT saw electricity demand reach a record high compared to the same period in previous years.

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The Wall Street Journal – November 4, 2025

Rick Perry’s Nuclear Ambitions Begin With Gas Power*

Former Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s $17 billion startup aims to build four large nuclear reactors in the Texas Panhandle to fuel AI data centers—eventually. For now, it is sticking with good old natural gas. Fermi, which was co-founded by Perry, is betting on an era of soaring electricity demand. The company went public at the beginning of October and has positioned itself at the crossroads of two crazes: the build-out of more data centers to power artificial intelligence and a potential U.S. nuclear-power resurgence.

Fermi, which hasn’t yet generated any revenue, intends to build what would become one of the world’s largest data-center campuses by 2038 at its site in Amarillo, Texas. It will be powered by 11 gigawatts of electricity, roughly the capacity of states like Alabama, Nebraska and New Mexico.  Perry—the former Texas governor, presidential candidate and energy secretary during President Trump’s first term—frames the challenge of powering AI as a matter of defending Western civilization. “America is in an absolute race that we have to win,” Perry said at a nuclear-power conference in Austin, Texas, in October.

Fermi aims to complete the first of four large nuclear reactors by the end of 2032, an ambitious timeline given nuclear power’s recent history of construction and cost overruns. In the near term, Fermi bets it can quickly add infrastructure for natural gas, the workhorse of the U.S. power grid that supplies about 40% of the nation’s electricity.  The industry is abuzz about a potential nuclear renaissance and the addition of large and small reactors, but experts think it could take a decade before many projects are completed. The U.S.’s two most recent nuclear reactors came in more than $15 billion over budget and took years longer than expected.

 

The Latest TERse Tips

Texas set to make $20 billion investment in water after voters approve Proposition 4 — Texas Tribune

The United States has become the first country to export 10 million metric tons of LNG in a single month, according to preliminary data from financial firm LSEG — Pipeline & Gas Journal

Ukrainian forces hit an important fuel pipeline in the Moscow region that supplies the Russian army, Ukraine’s military intelligence said Saturday, as Russia kept up a sustained campaign of massive drone and missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure — Associated Press/KTAL

Lyondell reports a net (loss) income: $(890) million, $330 million excluding identified items — see the press release

Crescent Energy Co on Monday reported $9.51 million in company-attributed net loss (-$10.27 million including non-controlling stakes) for the third quarter, hit by a $73.53 million impairment of oil and gas properties — Rigzone

On October 23, 2025, Texas Pacific Land Corporation entered into a new revolving credit facility agreement with Wells Fargo Bank and other lenders, providing access to up to US$500 million with potential increases of up to US$250 million and a maturity date of October 23, 2029 — Simply Wall St.

GridStor, a developer and operator of utility-scale battery energy storage systems, dedicated its Hidden Lakes Reliability Project facility on November 4 with public officials and regional business leaders. Now in operation, the 220 MW / 440 MWh battery energy storage facility can provide power equivalent to serving 140,000 average Texas households during the hours of highest electric demand — see the press release

ONE Gas has released its third quarter financial results, narrowed its 2025 financial guidance and declared its quarterly dividend — See the press release

US energy player Cheniere Energy has reached a new milestone at its LNG facility, with the completion of the third train forming part of its expansion project on the La Quinta Ship Channel, along the north shore of Corpus Christi Bay — Offshore Energy

Fitch Ratings has placed SM Energy Company’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating of ‘BB’ and unsecured note ratings of ‘BB’ with a Recovery Rating of ‘RR4’ on Rating Watch Positive — Fitch has also affirmed the reserve-based revolving credit facility  at ‘BBB-‘ with a Recovery Rating of ‘RR1′ — the RWP follows SM Energy’s and Civitas Resources’ announced definitive merger agreement in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $12.8 billion, including both companies’ net debt — Fitch

MPLX LP and MARA Holdings, Inc say they’ve signed a letter of intent for MPLX to facilitate supply of natural gas to planned integrated power generation facilities and state-of-the-art data center campuses in West Texas — see the press release

 

 

Oil & Gas Texas

 

Politico – November 4, 2025

Republicans launch bill to ban global carbon taxes*

Republican House members are pushing a new bill that would make it more difficult for the United Nations to tax carbon emissions. Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), chair of the Republican Study Committee, introduced H.R. 5888, the “UNtaxed Act,” late last week. The bill would ban the United States from funding any U.N. body that implements a global carbon tax. It reiterates that the Senate must approve any U.N.-imposed tax.

The legislation follows the International Maritime Organization setting a vote last month to adopt a carbon tax for shipping. The IMO ultimately postponed their vote by a year after President Donald Trump intervened. In a release accompanying the bill, the Republican Study Committee said congressional action was needed “to provide certainty as the IMO undertakes active discussions to expand the scope of the framework.” “The United Nations has no legal authority to impose taxes on American citizens or companies—and this attempted global carbon tax through the IMO is a flagrant overstep that violates international law,” Pfluger said in a statement.

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Reuters – November 3, 2025

QatarEnergy, Exxon executives warn of Europe exit over climate law*

Executives at two of Europe’s top gas suppliers, ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy, on Monday warned they could stop doing business with the European Union if it does not significantly loosen a sustainability law that could impose fines of 5% of their global revenue. Exxon CEO Darren Woods told Reuters on the sidelines of the ADIPEC meeting in Abu Dhabi that the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive would have “disastrous consequences” if adopted in its current form.

The directive requires companies doing business in the bloc to address human rights and environmental risks across their supply chains, and aims to hold companies accountable for harm even in operations outside Europe. “If we can’t be a successful company in Europe, and more importantly, if they start to try to take their harmful legislation and enforce that all around the world where we do business, it becomes impossible to stay there,” Woods said. Qatar’s Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi, who is also QatarEnergy’s CEO, told Reuters at the same conference that the gas giant has contingency plans in place if it decides to halt European shipments – a threat Kaabi has repeatedly warned is not a bluff.

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Pipelline & Gas Journal – November 2, 2025

ExxonMobil Eyes End to Force Majeure at $30-Billion Mozambique LNG Project

ExxonMobil is looking at lifting force majeure on a $30 billion liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique as security conditions in the country improve, CEO Darren Woods told investors on Oct. 31 during an earnings call. “Total just lifted their force majeure, and we’re looking at, and are in the process of, trying to do the same,” Woods said, referring to the French energy firm that is developing a related – but distinct – project nearby.

Reuters reported earlier this week that Exxon was unable to make a final investment decision on its project, called Rovuma LNG, until TotalEnergies resumes work after it lifted a separate force majeure that first resulted from an Islamist-linked insurgent attack four years ago.

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The Wall Street Journal – November 4, 2025

Diamondback Energy Profit, Revenue Jump as Oil Production Rises*

Diamondback Energy recorded higher profit and revenue in the third quarter and oil production continues to increase. The oil and natural gas company on Monday posted a profit of $1.02 billion, or $3.51 a share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with $659 million, or $3.19 a share, a year earlier.

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Pipeline & Gas Journal – November 4, 2025

Black Bear Natural Gas Project in Texas Gets Fast-Track Federal Review

The Black Bear Natural Gas Development Project in San Augustine County, Texas, has been accepted for review under the FAST-41 federal permitting program, which aims to streamline environmental and regulatory approvals for major infrastructure projects. The Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council) announced the decision on Oct. 31, 2025, saying the project would support the administration’s goal of expanding domestic energy production and reducing permitting delays.

“I am thrilled to welcome the Black Bear Natural Gas Development Project to FAST-41 coverage,” said Emily Domenech, Executive Director of the Permitting Council. “Under the Trump Administration we are using every tool to responsibly increase production and strengthen our energy security. I am excited to see FAST-41 provide a transparent and predictable permitting process for this critical project.”

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Midland Reporter-Telegram – November 4, 2025

Chevron, Exxon grow Permian output despite soft prices*

Despite soft oil prices and a slowdown in activity, both Chevron and ExxonMobil reported growth in output from their Permian Basin footprint. In announcing its third quarter earnings, Chevron said Permian Basin output was just over 1 million barrels a day. The company said U.S. net oil-equivalent production during their quarter was up 435,000 barrels per day compared to a year earlier due to higher production in the Permian and offshore Gulf. The acquisition of Hess also contributed 495,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Total, Chevron reported record production of 4.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

 

Oil & Gas National & International

 

Economy Middle East – November 4, 2025

ADNOC, Shell sign 15-year agreement to deliver 1 million tons of LNG annually

ADNOC announced a 15-year Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Shell International Trading Middle East Limited FZE, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shell plc, for the delivery of up to 1 million tons per annum (mtpa) of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Signed during ADIPEC, this deal represents ADNOC’s inaugural long-term LNG sales agreement with Shell and marks the eighth long-term offtake agreement secured for the Ruwais LNG project. The first SPA was unveiled at ADIPEC in 2024.

This SPA transforms a prior Heads of Agreement into a definitive agreement, signifying a crucial advancement in ADNOC’s endeavors to swiftly commercialize the Ruwais LNG project. With this latest agreement, over 8 mtpa of the project’s intended 9.6 mtpa capacity is now secured through long-term contracts with clients across Asia and Europe, a mere 16 months following the project’s Final Investment Decision (FID) in July 2024.

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Politico – November 3, 2025

Conservatives to rally for permitting reform*

Conservative lawmakers and energy advocates will gather on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to urge Congress to overhaul the permitting process for energy and infrastructure projects. Leaders of the Conservative Energy Network and several members of Congress, including Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), are set to call for “urgent action on permitting reform and grid modernization,” per a press release from the right-leaning advocacy group.

The press conference will come as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle work to assemble a legislative package to speed up regulatory approvals for pipelines, transmission lines, power plants and other major projects. “America’s outdated permitting system adds years and millions of dollars to projects, driving up consumer costs and deterring private investment,” the Conservative Energy Network press release states.

“Modernizing these systems is not just an energy issue — it’s a national security imperative,” the release states. Congress has tried for years to achieve comprehensive permitting reform, but to little avail. Negotiations are ongoing among the leaders of the House and Senate energy, environment and natural resources committees, even as some Democrats question whether they can trust any bipartisan deal given the Trump administration’s unilateral project cancellations.

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S&P Global Platts – November 4, 2025

FERC rejects Colonial Pipeline’s bid to streamline gasoline grades

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected Colonial Pipeline’s proposed tariff modifications that would have changed how the company handles different gasoline grades with varying Reid Vapor Pressure specifications — dealing a setback to the pipeline operator’s attempt to streamline operations and increase capacity by up to 10,000 b/d.

FERC rejected Colonial’s revised tariff without prejudice following a paper hearing, according to an order issued Nov. 3. The proposed changes, which Colonial filed in March, aimed to eliminate overlapping RVP variants during transportation cycles and modify delivery specifications from requiring “substantially the same” product to “merchantable” product compliant with destination regulations.

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Politico – November 4, 2035

White House removes Atlantic from oil lease consideration after backlash*

The Interior Department has removed the federal waters off the Atlantic coast from President Donald Trump’s upcoming offshore drilling plan after Republicans in the region pressed to keep oil and natural gas rigs away from their shores, three people familiar with the latest moves told POLITICO. The five-year leasing plan, aimed at reopening areas long closed to drilling, will still seek to allow rigs off the California coast, said the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations. That could create a conflict with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is trying to raise his national political profile in a state that opposes offshore drilling but also has some of the highest gasoline prices in the country.

The plan’s latest iteration will also include a portion of the eastern Gulf of Mexico but provide a buffer around Florida, a Republican stronghold where politicians from both parties have long opposed drilling, these people said. It’s unclear whether the buffer would be large enough to avoid fierce objections from Floridians, who have battled against similar proposals in past decades because of fears that an oil spill would devastate their tourism economy. Interior is expected to propose the new plan any day now, these people said. The proposal could still change before made public and then will have to undergo a review process before becoming final.

 

Argus Media – November 4, 2025

BP targets organic oil growth from existing discoveries

BP says it can grow oil output over the long term from its existing discoveries, chief executive Murray Auchincloss said today. “We now have the potential to grow long-term organic oil volumes for a long duration,” Auchincloss said on BP’s third-quarter results call. “I’m not sure I’ve been able to say that over the past 25 years — that we’ve been in a resource position like that. It’s a nice problem to have.”

BP will remain tightly focused on capital discipline, budgeting $13bn–$15bn/yr in spending, he said. This means the company faces choices between boosting short-term output and investing in longer-term production. “Of course, we can pivot more capital into [US onshore subsidiary] BPX Energy and drive up near-term production, or we can pivot more to things like the Paleogene and Brazil to drive longer-term resources production,” Auchinloss said.

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Center Square – November 4, 2025

LNG exports soar as new plants start up in Louisiana, Texas

U.S. LNG exports reached a fourth consecutive monthly high in October at 10.1 million tons as new gas liquefaction plants on the Louisiana and Texas Gulf Coast commenced operations, LSEG data shows. Activity ramped up at Venture Global’s Plaquemines plant in Louisiana and Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi Stage 3 project in Texas, with production at each of the LNG export facilities up about 600,000 tons from September, LSEG data shows. Overall, U.S. LNG exports in October were up 1 million tons, or 11%, from a revised 9.1 million tons in September.

Shipping data provided by Bloomberg shows 84 LNG tankers departed Louisiana export terminals in the four weeks between Oct. 2 and Oct. 29, representing 67% of total U.S. loadings in the period. In the same four weeks, 38 LNG tankers departed Texas export facilities, while six shipments left terminals in Virginia and Georgia, the data shows.

 

Utilities, Electricity & Renewables

 

Construction Review – November 3, 2025

Inside NRG’s 456 MW Houston Natural Gas Plant Backed by the Texas Energy Fund

In August 2025, the Public Utility Commission of Texas and Governor Greg Abbott announced that NRG Energy Inc. had secured up to $216 million in financing through the Texas Energy Fund for a 456-megawatt natural gas power plant in Houston. The project, approved as the program’s second loan agreement, will supply the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid and is expected to begin operations in Summer 2026.

The 3% interest loan over 20 years from July 31, 2025, to July 30, 2045, will fund as much as 60% of the project’s estimated cost at $360 million. The In-ERCOT Generation Loan Program of the TEF is funding the construction of dispatchable power resources in Texas.

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Houston Chronicle – November 4, 2025

Conroe looks to purchase MidSouth Electric Co-op water assets to expand city infrastructure*

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Inside Climate News – November 1, 2025

Texas Grid Increasingly Meets Growing Demand With Renewables

Texas’ independent grid is meeting a large portion of the state’s rising electricity demand through its growing fleet of solar facilities, wind power generators and batteries, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). In the first nine months of 2025, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) saw record demand on the grid compared with the same period in previous years.

The Texas grid also had the fastest electricity demand growth among U.S. electric grids between 2024 and 2025, a trend expected to continue through next year. ERCOT is tracking more than 200 gigawatts of large load interconnection requests—large energy users like data centers and industrial facilities looking to connect and buy power from Texas’ wholesale electricity market.

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Psy Tech Daily – October 30, 2025

This Wonder Material Could Revolutionize Renewable Energy

A team of researchers has explored how two-dimensional materials known as MXenes could revolutionize renewable energy and sustainable chemical production. Scientists searching for cleaner and more sustainable technologies are turning their attention to two-dimensional materials that could transform renewable energy systems. Their work may make it possible to create essential compounds like ammonia, a key ingredient in fertilizers, through cleaner and more efficient methods.

Among the most promising of these materials are MXenes, an emerging class of low-dimensional compounds. MXenes can act as catalysts that convert elements from the air into ammonia, a process that could improve energy efficiency in both agricultural and transportation applications.

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Associated Press – October 29, 2025

Study finds EVs quickly overcome their energy-intensive build to be cleaner than gas cars

Making electric vehicles and their batteries is a dirty process that uses a lot of energy. But a new study says that EVs quickly make up for that with less overall emissions through two years of use than a gas-powered vehicle. The study also estimated that gas-powered vehicles cause at least twice as much environmental damage over their lifetimes as EVs, and said the benefits of EVs can be expected to increase in coming decades as clean sources of power, such as solar and wind, are brought onto the grid.

The work by researchers from Northern Arizona University and Duke University, published Wednesday in the journal PLOS Climate, offers insight into a transportation sector that makes up a big part of U.S. emissions.

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Utility Dive – October 28, 2025

Are sodium-ion batteries finally ready to compete with lithium?

Last month, on the high prairie east of its hometown, Denver-based Peak Energy powered up what it says is the United States’ first grid-scale sodium-ion battery installation and “the first ever fully passive megawatt-hour scale battery storage system” anywhere in the world. Peak’s 3.5-MWh project marks a big step forward for the electrochemical battery chemistry that many experts believe is the most viable challenger to lithium-ion, which today dominates the energy storage market for discharge durations shorter than four hours.

“What’s nice about our technology is the way it looks and feels to a customer is like a new variant of a [lithium-ion battery] system,” said Landon Mossburg, CEO and cofounder of Peak Energy.  Sodium-ion batteries’ allure is growing amid volatile commodity pricing and an on-again, off-again trade war between the United States and China affecting lithium-ion batteries.

 

Regulatory

 

Inside Climate News – October 29, 2025

AI Is Pushing Climate Goals Out of Reach, New Reports Say

Surging electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence is putting humanity’s climate goals out of reach, extending the life of fossil fuels and driving up emissions in the U.S. power sector while contributing to deadly extreme weather, according to two new reports published Wednesday. With power- and water-hungry data centers forecasted to come online at staggering speeds to serve big tech companies’ seemingly bottomless appetite for AI infrastructure, utility companies have turned to fossil fuels to help meet the explosion in demand for power.

It’s a sharp departure from earlier forecasts of only modest, gradual growth in electricity demand, potentially threatening large countries’ commitments to transition away from fossil fuels. President Donald Trump and his administration have spoken glowingly about how AI will reinvigorate U.S. coal and other fossil fuel markets.