1-9-26

Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Friday January 9, 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 for a second day on Friday, up more than 1% and set for their third weekly gain, on uncertainty about the future of supply from Venezuela and as Iranian unrest increases concerns about output there.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed 76 cents, or 1.3%, to $58.52.

Brent futures gained 83 cents, or 1.3%, to $62.82 per barrel at 0730 GMT.

Both benchmark prices climbed more than 3% on Thursday, following two straight days of declines, and Brent is set to climb 2.7% for the week, while WTI has gained 1.4% for the week.

“Bottlenecks in the flow of sanctioned barrels and steady demand signals appear to counter the backdrop of an oversupplied 2026, at least for now,” said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova. “Escalation in geopolitical stress adds to the current momentum in oil prices.”

Civil unrest in major Middle Eastern producer Iran and concerns about the spread of the Russia-Ukraine war to target Russian oil exports have also increased supply concerns.

Top Stories

Houston Chronicle – January 6, 2026

How much did Exxon and Chevron know before Trump’s strike in Venezuela? Senators want to find out*

The American heads of Shell, Continental Resources, and BP — companies that are not headquartered in Houston — also received letters. “We would like to know the extent to which U.S. oil and gas companies such as yours had either advance knowledge of or the ability to shape American foreign policy decisions,” the letter read. “Especially given that Congress was kept in the dark concerning the use of force until after the strikes occurred.” A day after the Jan. 3 incursion, President Donald Trump told reporters he had spoken with American oil companies “before and after” the ouster of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

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Texas Tribune – January 8, 2026

Why a Panhandle businessman wants to take over the region’s electric utility

Canadian — Salem Abraham may not have memorized every utility pole in the Texas Panhandle, but he knows precisely which ones shouldn’t be there. He’s mapped them across more than 300 miles in this region of treeless grassland, plateaus and canyons. These structures have been marked as defective or dangerous by their owner, Xcel Energy, the Minnesota-based electric utility that powers much of the Panhandle. They are evidence, Abraham said, of Xcel’s failure to upkeep its infrastructure. And as long as they remain that way, tagged and unreplaced, each one of them is another wildfire waiting to happen, Abraham said.

“I think there are more fires in our future,” said Abraham, a business mogul who has taken a sharp interest in Xcel’s inspection operations. “And we’re going to keep having fires until we get the poles fixed.”

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Politico – January 8, 2026

Russia bombs 2 Ukrainian regions into darkness while freezing weather closes in

 The Russian army attacked Ukraine with more than 90 killer drones in the early hours of Thursday morning, causing complete blackouts in the key industrial regions of Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv’s energy ministry reported.

“While energy workers managed to restore power in the Zaporizhzhia region in the morning, some 800,000 households in the nearby Dnipro region were still without electricity and heating on Thursday morning,” Artem Nekrasov, acting energy minister of Ukraine, said during a morning briefing. In Dnipro, eight coal mines stopped working because of a power outage. All the miners were safely evacuated to the surface, Nekrasov added. Power outages were also reported in Chernihiv, Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Poltava and other regions.

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Financial Times – January 8, 2026

Shale chiefs warn Trump that Venezuelan oil will hobble US drillers*

US shale bosses have warned Donald Trump that his mission to seize Venezuela’s oil sector and drive down crude prices will put American output on the chopping block. Trump is set to meet US Big Oil chiefs on Friday, but executives at large independent drillers — who are not on the attendee list — are seething over the president’s plan to flood America with Venezuelan crude. “We’re talking about this administration screwing us over again,” said a top executive at one of the country’s leading shale groups, describing the plans as “against American producers”.

“If the US government starts providing guarantees to oil companies to produce or grow oil production in Venezuela I’m going to be . . . pissed.” Trump’s drive to open up Venezuela’s oil riches, potentially subsidising investors, has further strained relations with oil executives in Texas, who have been angered by his dogged pursuit of ever-lower crude prices. The ire in the shale industry — where many executives bankrolled the president’s return to office — echoes a frustration in the Maga movement that Trump is neglecting his “America First” mantra. But problems in Texas’s oil industry are mounting, as cheaper oil forces producers to idle rigs needed to keep production ticking higher.

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ESG Dive – January 8, 2026

Blackstone buys environmental services platform ATG from Morgan Stanley

The energy transition arm of private equity firm Blackstone has acquired environmental testing and compliance services provider Alliance Technical Group from Morgan Stanley, Blackstone announced Tuesday. The sale was made through Morgan Stanley Capital Partners, the bank’s North America-focused middle-market private equity group operating under its alternative investment arm, Morgan Stanley said in a separate Jan. 6 release. Neither Blackstone or Morgan Stanley disclosed financial terms of the transaction.

ATG helps companies achieve sustainability goals and navigate the evolving regulatory landscape by providing services like environmental consulting. The company also offers compliance, auditing and reporting guidance and on-site testing and emissions monitoring, according to its website.

The Latest TERse Tips

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he has canceled a fresh military attack on Venezuela, saying the two countries “are working well together,” on rebuilding the nation’s oil and gas infrastructure — writing on Truth Social on Friday, Trump also noted Venezuela’s release of “large numbers of political prisoners” which he called “a very important and smart gesture.” — CNBC

NRG Energy’s Board of Directors this week appointed Robert J. Gaudette as Chief Executive Officer, effective April 30, the date of the company’s 2026 annual stockholders meeting — see the press release

Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative, TX ‘A’ Issuer Credit Rating And ‘A’ Revenue Bond Rating Affirmed — S&P Global Platts

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Caturus Energy, LLC’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating at ‘B-‘ — Caturus is a small Eagle Ford operator with 3Q25 production of 616 MMcfepd (10% liquids) — Fitch

A tractor-trailer transporting compressed natural gas caught fire Tuesday morning on the New York State Thruway, prompting evacuations and a large multi-agency emergency response, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office — WRGB New York

UK-based energy giant BP and its partners expect cargo liftings at the 2.7 mtpa FLNG Gimi, which serves the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim LNG project offshore Mauritania and Senegal, to nearly double in 2026, according to US-based Kosmos Energy — LNG Prime*

Amplify Energy Corp. has closed its previously announced amended revolving credit facility.with Citizens Bank, N.A. as the administrative agent, amends the Company’s existing senior secured reserve-based revolving credit facility and extends the maturity to December 31, 2028 — see the press release

Energy storage specialist Energy Vault Holdings Inc says it has broken ground on a 150-MW/300-MWh battery energy storage system in Madison County — Renewables Now

Goldman Helps Lead Financing for 5-Gigawatt Texas AI Power Sites — Financial Post

Oil & Gas Texas

Bloomberg – January 8, 2026

US Developer Glenfarne Launches Financing for Texas LNG Project*

Privately-held US developer Glenfarne Group LLC said it’s in the process of financing its planned liquefied natural gas export project in Texas. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group Inc. are serving as advisors, Glenfarne spokesperson Tim Fitzpatrick said in an email on Thursday.

The plant in Brownsville, Texas, has been designed for 4 million tons of annual capacity. The company hasn’t said when a final investment decision will be taken, after which construction of the project can begin. The US is the top supplier of the cleaner-burning fuel, and the push to complete financing of new projects is expected to contribute to a wave of global supply through the end of the decade.

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Reuters – January 8, 2026

Chevron in talks with US for expanded Venezuela oil license, sources say*

Oil producer Chevron is in talks with the U.S. government to expand a key license to operate in Venezuela so it can increase crude exports to its own refineries and sell to other buyers, four sources close to the negotiations said on Wednesday.

The talks come as Washington and Caracas progress in talks to supply up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil to the United States and President Donald Trump presses American oil companies to invest in the South American country’s energy sector.

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Politico – January 7, 2026

Chevron’s Venezuela gamble could soon pay off*

Chevron’s decision to remain the only U.S. oil major operating in Venezuela could be a boon for the company after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday. In the days since the military raid, President Donald Trump pledged that U.S. oil companies would soon flood into Venezuela, which has the largest oil reserves in the world. And Trump told NBC News on Monday that U.S. oil companies could have expanded operations “up and running” in the country within 18 months.

Analysts have questioned the feasibility of Trump’s timeline, but say Chevron’s consistent presence in Venezuela gives the Texas-based company an edge in boosting production and tapping assets there. As of early last year, Chevron produced about a fifth of all Venezuela’s oil, according to analysts with Rystad Energy. “They’ve got on-the-ground networks that are active and ready to go,” said Schreiner Parker, head of emerging markets at Rystad. “They’re already engaging with suppliers who can provide the services that are needed to do the work.”

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Forbes – January 7, 2026

How An American Oil Billionaire Is Working To Leave A Legacy In Ireland—Using Whiskey

American oil billionaire Kelcy Warren has been revealed as the mysterious benefactor behind a $35 million expansion to a small regional airport in Ireland, local sources recently reported, weeks after his proposal to build a private whiskey distillery on his sprawling Irish estate was approved by local leaders despite opposition from neighbors.

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The Street – January 6, 2026

Another big name Chapter 11 closes out challenging trucking year

Unlike some of the other bankruptcies filed this year by trucking companies, Texas International Enterprises did not leave drivers stranded or unpaid. “In court filings, the company has sought permission to use cash collateral to continue paying employees and vendors while it restructures operations. Creditors, including Commercial Credit Group Inc. and RTS Financial Services Inc., have filed objections to those motions, signaling potential disputes over financing and collateral,” LMT Online reported.

The carrier operates about 280 power units and employs roughly 600 drivers, according to federal transportation records. Drivers could face layoffs, depending on how the restructuring unfolds; however, no layoffs have been confirmed in court filings, according to PacerMonitor.

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Houston Chronicle – January 6, 2026

Houston’s biggest energy layoffs of 2025: How Exxon, Chevron and others survived a rough year*

The hard times are also likely to keep coming, according to a recent analysis from the Greater Houston Partnership. It warned that declining crude prices could lead to a loss of about 3,200 jobs in the city’s oil and gas sector in 2026. Chevron in February announced sweeping plans to cut roughly 20% of its global workforce as part of a structural reorganization. Those reductions have since affected some 1,200 Chevron employees in Houston. Roughly 200 cuts affected the oil major’s West Texas operations, the company said in February. Chevron also later announced 575 jobs would be lost from Hess Corp.’s Houston workforce after it closed the blockbuster acquisition in July.

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Houston Chronicle – January 8, 2026

Trump has overpromised on Venezuela. Why U.S. oil companies will likely underdeliver: Chris Tomlinson*

Oil & Gas National & International

Reuters – January 8, 2026

US oil companies say they need guarantees to invest in Venezuela, FT reports*

U.S. oil companies want “serious guarantees” from Washington before they make large investments in Venezuela, as President Donald Trump urges them to back his bid to reshape energy markets, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. U.S. officials held talks with top energy executives in Miami on Wednesday, the FT reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Wall Street Journal – January 8, 2026

The Economics of Taking Venezuela’s Oil: Low Risk, Low Reward*

President Trump spent the past year taking economic stakes in private companies. To start the new year, he’s done that with an entire country. This week the Trump administration said it would control sales of Venezuela’s oil, of which the U.S. will get 30 million to 50 million barrels. That effectively grafts Trump’s mercantile approach to domestic policy onto foreign policy. The cash-flow-obsessed Trump should like the numbers so far: Given the low cost, and absence of American casualties, to date, toppling Nicolás Maduro might prove to be profitable.

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Politico – January 8, 2026

Investors are buying pollution permits on secondary market*

Twelve states run or participate in carbon markets that aim to slow climate change by forcing polluters to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions with government pollution permits.But government permit auctions, held every quarter, aren’t the only places permits are sold. There’s a secondary market akin to a stock exchange where the pollution permits are publicly traded by polluters and by investors betting that permit prices will rise or fall. The market fills an information void left by the quarterly auctions, signaling on a daily basis the strength of a state or regional carbon market.

Strong activity in the secondary market “shows that there’s confidence in that market,” said Luke Sideropoulos, carbon market analyst at Veyt, a Norway-based firm. It shows “more of the real-time supply and demand … [and] how people are reacting to policy expectations or news.” After a 2024 ballot measure proposed eliminating the Washington state carbon market, for example, prices of Washington permits plunged in the secondary market as businesses and investors unloaded and stopped buying certificates, fearful they could lose all their value. After voters rejected the ballot measure, there was a steady increase in prices of permits, which are also known as carbon credits and pollution allowances.

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Oil Price – January 6, 2026

Iraq Moves to Take Over Operations at West Qurna 2

The Iraqi government has approved a move to take over operations at the West Qurna 2 oilfield under provisions in its technical service contract with Russia’s Lukoil, following the company’s declaration of force majeure in November, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The step allows Iraq to ensure continued production after Lukoil cited operational constraints linked to Western sanctions on Russia. West Qurna 2, one of Iraq’s largest producing fields at around 470,000 barrels per day, is state-owned and operated under a service contract, with the government now assuming day-to-day operational responsibilities, including the payment of staff salaries.

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Grist – January 8, 2026

Trump invaded Venezuela to restore an oil industry he helped destroy

The middle-of-the-night kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro shocked the world on Saturday. Military helicopters bombed Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, as U.S. special forces breached Maduro’s residence, captured him, and flew him to New York to stand trial on unproven charges of narcoterrorism. President Donald Trump has offered several justifications for Maduro’s ouster, including the collapse of Venezuela’s oil industry. But the very conditions Trump has been pointing to were exacerbated by the actions of past U.S. presidents — including Trump himself. If the Venezuelan oil industry is in tatters, it’s at least partially because of U.S. policies dating back at least a decade.

On Wednesday, Trump’s Department of Energy put out a “fact sheet” stipulating that the U.S. is “selectively rolling back sanctions to enable the transport and sale of Venezuelan crude and oil products to global markets.” This outcome is doubly ironic because U.S. sanctions are one of the reasons the Venezuelan oil industry is diminished in the first place. The announcement also states that the U.S. will market Venezuelan oil, bank the proceeds, and disburse the revenue “for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people at the discretion of the U.S. government.”

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The Wall Street Journal – January 7, 2026

Consumers Love Cheap Gas, but the Oil Patch Will Pay the Price*

Lower prices represent mostly good news for businesses that consume oil, such as fuel makers and airlines. But U.S. consumers are among the biggest winners. Low- and middle-income Americans, who have been squeezed particularly hard by rising prices generally over the past year, are now paying an average of around $2.80 at the pump, the lowest level since early 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.  Lower-income Americans also tend to spend a larger share of their income on fuel than their wealthier peers, so spending less on gas means they can spend more on everything else, boosting growth.

“Having consumers with a little more money to spend is a plus,” said James Hamilton, an economist at the University of California, San Diego. The boost to consumers represents only part of the economic picture. As recently as the mid-2000s, a drop in gasoline prices represented virtually all upside for the U.S. But that was before the fracking boom helped elevate the country into a major oil producer and exporter. The U.S. is now a net exporter of oil, and oil-and-gas investment is a significant contributor to the economy.  Research by economists at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Michigan found that falling oil prices in 2014 did little to boost economic growth, as rising consumer spending was offset by falling business investment in the oil industry.

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The Wall Street Journal – January 8, 2026

U.S. Targets Shadow Fleet as Warning to Adversaries to Stay Out of Venezuela*

The Trump administration’s seizure of tankers under a growing oil embargo is meant to warn adversaries attempting to gain a foothold in the Western Hemisphere and boost Washington’s influence in Latin America, according to U.S. officials. The seizure Wednesday of two oil tankers linked to Venezuela, bringing the total to four in recent weeks, gives the U.S. leverage over Venezuela’s interim government, administration officials said. It is also meant to signal to Russia, China and Iran that they shouldn’t ally themselves with Caracas or flout U.S. sanctions, escalating the Trump administration’s “Donroe Doctrine,” aimed at making America the region’s dominant power.

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Houston Chronicle – January 8, 2026

Oil execs are meeting at the White House to talk Venezuela. It’s a trap: Ed Hirs*

Utilities, Electricity & Renewables

Houston Chronicle – January 8, 2026

Solar supplied more power than coal to the ERCOT grid in 2025 for the first year ever, data shows*

Annual power generation from solar usurping coal reflects the momentum of Texas’ ongoing energy transition — even as the Trump administration and some Texas Republicans try to throw up roadblocks against renewable energy’s rapid rise. Solar, in particular, has grown at a breakneck pace: In 2019, solar supplied such a negligible amount of power to Texas’ grid that ERCOT didn’t even include it as a separate category in its annual pie chart of power generation resources. Now, solar power is the third-largest contributor to the ERCOT system — only behind second-place wind and first-place natural gas.  Coal, meanwhile, has been bumped to number four.

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San Antonio Express-News – January 8, 2026

CPS Energy investigating outage in San Antonio that affected nearly 2,000*

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KVII – January 8, 2026

Texas coalition demands Xcel Energy replace dangerous electric poles

The Lone Star Eleven Coalition is urging Xcel Energy to address the fire risks posed by deteriorating electric poles in the Texas Panhandle. Salem Abraham, a consultant for the coalition, highlighted the issue, stating, “This red tag means a dangerous pole. And do not climb the arrow points toward the problem.”

Abraham emphasized the urgency, noting that Xcel had identified these as “priority one” poles and promised replacements following inspections in 2020. The coalition claims there are approximately 100,000 compromised poles across the region. “We see them all over the Panhandle,” Abraham said. “We believe there’s 100,000 rotten poles. And as long as we don’t go look, Xcel can tell that story that everything’s fine.”

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S&P Global Platts – January 8, 2026

Copper supply gap to widen 24% by 2040 as electrification accelerates: study

Copper supply is expected to fall 10 million metric tons short of demand by 2040, creating a “systemic risk” for global industries as artificial intelligence, defense spending and electrification drive unprecedented consumption of the critical metal, a new study released Jan. 8 by S&P Global Energy and S&P Global Market Intelligence finds. The shortage would be 23.8% shy of the projected demand of 42 million mt by 2040, even as recycled copper scrap more than doubles to 10 million mt, according to the “Copper in the Age of AI: The Challenges of Electrification” study.

The supply gap threatens to constrain technological advancement and economic growth as copper becomes increasingly essential for AI data centers, electric vehicles, renewable energy infrastructure and defense systems, the report said.

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S&P Global Platts – January 8, 2026

Battery storage to drive lithium demand growth globally

Grid-scale battery energy storage systems will become a growing part of lithium consumption in 2026, underpinned by an increasing emphasis on grid stability amid the transition to renewable energy sources and expanding electrification, analysts and lithium producers said.

Energy storage serves as a crucial link between variability and reliability by storing surplus renewable energy during periods of overproduction and delivering when demand peaks. Batteries enable intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar and wind to be integrated more effectively and practically at scale, enhancing overall grid resiliency and sustainability.

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Daily Reporter – January 7, 2026

The data center rebellion is here, and it’s reshaping the political landscape

One float stood out among the tinsel and holiday cheer at the annual Christmas parade here: an unsightly data center with blinding industrial lights and smoke pouring out of its roof, towering menacingly over a helpless gingerbread house. This city bordering Tulsa is a battleground, one of many across the country where companies seeking to build massive data centers to win the AI race with China are coming up against the reality of local politics.

Sand Springs leaders were besieged with community anger after annexing an 827-acre agricultural property miles outside of town and launching into secret talks with a tech giant looking to use it for a sprawling data center. Hundreds of aggrieved voters showed up at community meetings. Swarms of protest signs are taking root along the rural roads.

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Clean Technica – January 1, 2026

A Green Hydrogen Innovator In Oklahoma Has A Message For Texas: Hold My Beer

Texas has emerged as a hotbed of green hydrogen activity in the US, supported in part by know-how borrowed from the oil and gas industry. Now another iconic fossil fuel state, Oklahoma, is jockeying for a piece of the action. A case in point is the Oklahoma City startup Tobe Energy, which has earned an investment from the home state fund Hurricane Ventures, along with a $1.8 million seed haul in September. So, what’s all the fuss about?

The main attraction is Tobe’s membrane-free electrolysis system for extracting hydrogen gas from water. Membrane-free is an atypical technology in the electrolysis circle, which is largely dependent on specialized membranes, so let’s take a brief look at the big picture.

Plain water could provide the hydrogen users of the world — of which there are many — with a more sustainable alternative to the standard method for procuring hydrogen, which involves squeezing it from natural gas or coal.

Regulatory

Politico – January 8, 2026

GOP reckons with support for foreign oil amid Venezuela tensions

President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans spent the last year touting the importance of American energy independence and drilling domestically. But now the Trump administration is setting their sights on Venezuelan oil — forcing Republicans to either back foreign production or split with the White House. In the days since the administration arrested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, GOP lawmakers have by and large backed the operation — including Trump’s plans to control Venezuela’s oil exports and encourage American oil companies to renew their presence in the country.

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Politico – January 8, 2026

House ready to vote on energy, environment spending bills*

The House is on track to pass bipartisan spending bills for the Department of Energy, the Interior Department, EPA and other agencies Thursday after GOP leaders suppressed a conservative rebellion. Republicans narrowly advanced the package of three fiscal 2026 appropriations bills on a 214-212 procedural vote Wednesday. If the House passes the “minibus” Thursday, the Senate could take it up as soon as next week.

Passage of the Interior-Environment, Energy-Water and Commerce-Justice-Science bills would be a significant step for congressional appropriators, who are racing to finalize and pass the remaining fiscal 2026 spending measures to avoid a partial government shutdown after Jan. 30. House leaders secured the support necessary to advance the minibus Wednesday after granting a number of concessions to conservatives who had criticized provisions in the legislation and demanded greater involvement in future funding negotiations. As part of the deal to keep the package alive, GOP leaders and appropriators agreed to remove an earmark that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Minnesota’s Democratic senators secured in the CJS measure that would have provided about $1.03 million for a Minnesota nonprofit dedicated to job training, housing support and other services. The organization is among many in Minnesota that has come under fire amid allegations of potential fraud.