Texas Energy Report NewsClips
Monday April 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
The U.S. also announced a blockade of Iranian ports, a measure aimed at ratcheting up pressure on Tehran, as well as on the recipients – mainly China – of Iranian crude.
Soft commodities also rose sharply on heightened concern about disruption to fuel and fertiliser supplies, and bonds were sold on worries about the risks to inflation.
Top Stories
Reuters – April 12, 2026
US blockade of Iran will be major military endeavor, experts say*
A U.S. naval blockade of Iran is a major, open-ended military endeavor that could trigger fresh retaliation from Tehran and put tremendous strain on an already fragile ceasefire, experts say. President Donald Trump, in a social media post after no deal emerged from peace talks this weekend in Islamabad, said the U.S. Navy “will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz.” The U.S. military’s Central Command later said the blockade will only apply to ships going to or from Iran, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. It will take effect on Monday at 10 a.m. in Washington (1400 GMT), CENTCOM said.
Trump also said U.S. forces would interdict vessels that have paid tolls to Iran, even if those ships are now in international waters. “No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The ultimate goal, Trump said, would be to pressure Iran to end its effective closure of the strait, a choke point for about 20% of the world’s oil, to all but the countries that secure safe passage from Tehran.If Trump’s strategy succeeds, he would eliminate Iran’s greatest point of leverage in negotiations with the United States and clear the strait again for global trade, potentially lowering oil prices. But a blockade, experts say, is an act of war that requires an open-ended commitment of a significant number of warships. “Trump wants a quick fix. The reality is, this mission is difficult to execute alone and likely unsustainable over the medium to long-term,” said Dana Stroul, a former senior Pentagon official during the Biden administration now at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
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Bloomberg/Yahoo! News – April 11, 2026
The Oil Market Is in the Grip of a Panicked Race for Barrels
While investors focused on the fragile Iranian ceasefire this week, a desperate scramble for cargoes has been playing out in the oil market, as traders and refiners scour the globe for immediately available supplies. In the North Sea, the world’s most important physical crude market, traders submitted 40 bids for cargoes this week, only four of which were met by offers. Cargoes for delivery in the coming weeks changed hands at unprecedented prices above $140 a barrel. Elsewhere, refiners have been hunting increasingly further afield for supplies, leading to a series of unusual trades and surging premiums for any oil that’s ready to ship right now.
Traders said the panicky moves across the world’s key physical oil markets demonstrated the scale of the shortfall in crude that’s due to be felt in the coming weeks, as the loss of supplies from the Middle East leaves a growing gap Skyrocketing prices are signaling that some European refiners will likely need to follow those in Asia and cut back production, they said — a move that might help to balance the market for crude oil but would deepen the shortfalls in vital products like diesel and jet fuel.
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Midland Reporter-Telegram – April 11, 2026
Nuclear energy could be part of produced water treatment efforts*
A nuclear energy renaissance and the rising number of produced water treatment facilities have created a nexus that could advance both industries. Natura Resources, which is developing molten salt reactors, has teamed with the Texas Produced Water Consortium to find ways to utilize its modular reactors to provide power to treatment plants. Natura is also working with NGL Water Solutions on the effort. “Nuclear power could be a big benefactor for produced water,” Nick Morriss, vice president of business development at Natura, told the Permian Basin Water in Energy conference last week.
To illustrate the safety of Natura’s technology compared with earlier nuclear technology, he showed a picture of Natura’s demonstration reactor on the Abilene Christian University campus. He told the audience that an ACU dorm was behind it and that an elementary school was nearby. The reactor will likely be operated by ACU students and guarded by campus police, he added. Beyond generating electricity to power the treatment plants, Morriss said the reactors will generate high process heat that can be utilized in applications like hydrogen or steel production or water desalination plants. Equally important, he said, it generates isotopes useful in medical treatments. “Produced water is not an opportunity because it is cost prohibitive. Nuclear power needs water and can provide waste heat to cut energy input costs,” he said.
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Austin American-Statesman – April 12, 2026
Trove of top-quality lithium deep underground in Texas sparks race to see who gets it*
Franklin County — Inside his office just off Mount Vernon’s town square, attorney B.F. Hicks lays a map out on his desk. At speed, he points at different tracts, reciting who lives there, what size their property is and which companies he’s heard have sent landmen to knock on their door to negotiate lithium leases. For a few years now, the infiltration of companies into this rural region of Texas searching for lithium — a critical ingredient for storing solar energy and powering electric vehicle batteries — has become a topic of conversation over dinner at the local chophouse or in catching up at the historical society meeting. Sometimes, it’s behind closed doors as friends, family and neighbors gossip about who’s getting the best offers for their mineral rights.
Being an energy frontier for other parts of Texas isn’t new to residents in Franklin and surrounding counties, as some of their backyards have started to fill with solar panel farms and battery energy storage systems, all fuel powering the “green economy.” But now, they’re learning that deep beneath their feet is salty water that could become a key resource in the United States’ global fight for full energy independence. The Smackover Formation, which sweeps broadly from East Texas to Florida and once gushed with oil, now is being hailed as containing some of the purest lithium brine in the world. Hicks, one of the most vocal local leaders opposing industrial-scale solar projects, actually welcomes the potential that lithium can bring to the community.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 12, 2026
AI Is Using So Much Energy That Computing Firepower Is Running Out*
The artificial intelligence gold rush is rapidly drying up the supply of the one resource that AI developers can’t do without: computing power. The sharp capacity crunch has caused consternation among power users, forced companies to scuttle products and led to reliability problems. The issues are a warning sign for the AI boom, as they may limit the utility of powerful new AI tools just as massive amounts of users have begun to rely on them to boost productivity. Over the past few months, demand has exploded for “agentic” AI, autonomous tools that use the technology to independently perform tasks, from writing software code to scheduling house tours for real-estate brokers. Companies have been scrambling to secure the availability of computing capacity needed to serve a growing base of customers who are also significantly increasing their AI use.
“Everyone’s talking about oil, but I think what the world is mainly short of is tokens,” said Ben Pouladian, an engineer and tech investor based in Los Angeles. A token is a unit of measurement in AI to track how much computing resources are being used for a task. “AI is at this point no longer just some chatbot that we ask for a recipe while we stand in front of the fridge. It’s orchestrating tasks, it’s getting smarter,” Pouladian said. All of it points to a classic problem that has popped up in technology booms throughout history, from the 19th-century railroad expansion to the telecom and internet explosion of the early 2000s. Demand is growing far faster than companies are able to access resources and build out infrastructure. Historically, price increases have been among the only ways to address a supply crunch, but such a move could be perilous for frontier AI companies, who are in a ferocious competition to gain users.
Hourly rental prices for GPUs, the microchips used to train and run AI models, have surged since the fall. Anthropic, the maker of popular chatbot Claude and viral coding app Claude Code, has been plagued recently by frequent outages. The company has begun metering computing supply to users during peak hours, but the rollout has been marred by customers who have complained that they are reaching the limit far too quickly. OpenAI scrapped its Sora video-generation app in part to free up computing resources to power coding and enterprise products that would work on a new AI model, code-named Spud, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Latest TERse Tips
Houston Ship Channel teams deploy booms after diesel spill at Pemex facility in Deer Park — MSN
“What we do know is that in the nearly six weeks since Operation Epic Fury began, more than 60 energy infrastructure assets in the Gulf have been affected by drone and missile strikes, with roughly 50 sustaining different degrees of damage. We expect most attacks will not cause long-lasting disruptions. Some facilities, however, will face lengthy repair timelines, with at least eight assets appearing severely impacted. Qatar’s Ras Laffan oil and gas complex, for example, may require years of repairs to restore 17% of its damaged capacity, while Bahrain’s Sitra refinery was struck twice.” — JP Morgan in a note
Chevron Corp. has argued in a Texas federal court that it is not liable for a $24 million drilling debt incurred by a Venezuelan subsidiary, alleging the contract in question did not comply with Venezuelan law. In court-ordered briefs, Chevron contended that the emails and agreements relied upon by Servicio Ojeda, C.A. were not authorized by properly appointed managers — Law 360*
U.S. Intelligence Shows China Taking a More Active Role in Iran War — China may have shipped missiles to Iran, and Beijing is allowing some companies to sell Tehran supplies that can be used in military production, American officials said — The New York Tmes*
U.S. utility stocks marked their strongest start to the year since 2019, benefiting from an investor retreat from riskier assets during the Iran war and strong electricity demand from firms building out artificial intelligence infrastructure — WTAQ
Inflation Soared to 3.3% in March, Driven by Higher Gasoline Costs — the reading, the first major inflation report since the Iran war began, came in at its hottest level in two years — The Wall Street Journal*
A local natural gas compression company has received approval from a bankruptcy court for a sale — Houston-based Axip Energy Services LP is selling substantially all of its assets to Fort Worth-based Service Compression LLC for $161 million in a deal that is expected to close in the next week — KHOU
Southeast Texas counties have received millions in federal funding for coastal conservation projects — the U.S. Department of Interior awarded $460.9 million in energy revenue to the four energy-producing states in the Gulf — Texas, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. The funding is the result of a revenue-sharing disbursement authorized by the Gulf of America Energy Security Act, which allocates revenue from offshore oil and gas leasing royalties — Beaumont Enterprise*
“The [O&G] industry has invested in technology to recycle produced water. I’m very proud that they’re doing that” — RRC Chairman Jim Wright at a recent town hall in Goliad
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Oil & Gas Texas
Oil Price – April 10, 2026
US Oil, Gas Drillers Take the Foot Off the Gas As Prices Climb
The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States fell this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Thursday, bringing the total rig count in the US to 545, down 38 from this same time last year. The number of active oil rigs stayed at 411 during the latest reporting period, according to the data. This is 61 below this same time last year. The number of gas rigs fell by 3 after gaining 3 in the week prior. Gas rigs now sit at 127, which is 22 more than this time last year. The miscellaneous rig count stayed the same at 7.
The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production fell during week ending April 3. US crude oil production averaged 13.596 million bpd during the reporting period—266,000 bpd under the all-time high. Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells, rose during the week ending April 2 by 7 after losing 13 crews over the previous two weeks.
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MSN – April 10. 2026
ConocoPhillips sends team to Venezuela to evaluate oil prospects
ConocoPhillips has dispatched a team to Venezuela to evaluate the prospects for a return to drilling in the oil-rich Caribbean nation almost two decades after billions of dollars in assets were seized by the socialist regime. The undertaking makes ConocoPhillips just the second major US oil company to publicly disclosed an on-the-ground inspection in Venezuela, home to some of the world’s biggest crude reserves.
The purpose of the trip is to “better understand the potential for in-country oil and gas opportunities,” Dennis Nuss, a spokesman, said in a statement on Thursday. “We will evaluate Venezuela against other international opportunities as part of our disciplined investment framework.”
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Midland Reporter-Telegram – April 11, 2026
ConocoPhillips Permian president excited for what’s next*
Growing up in Wyoming gave Aaron Hunter an appreciation for the outdoors. But he found his lifelong passion for energy at Montana Tech, earning a degree in petroleum energy. His career path brought him to Midland a little over 21 years ago, and now Aaron Hunter, president of ConocoPhillips’ Permian business, is a “self-proclaimed Permian nerd.” Hunter has spent most of his career in the Permian Basin and found the region rewarding both personally and professionally.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work in different parts of the business, including CO2 flooding, microbial and conventional water flooding, field operations management, reservoir engineering, development management and asset management,” he noted. Hunter added, “Throughout my career, it has presented new challenges that have fueled my passion for the industry, and I’m seeing this continue in my new role as Permian President.” Midland has also been rewarding personally because it is where his family has planted its roots. He and his wife have raised their two children in Midland, supporting them in sports and other activities during their childhood.
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Energy Now – April 11, 2026
FERC Approves NextDecade’s Request for More Workers and Longer Hours at Texas Site
U.S. federal regulators on Friday approved a request by NextDecade (NEXT.O) to increase the peak number of construction workers at its Rio Grande LNG project in Texas, according to a regulatory filing. NextDecade told regulators that global geopolitical tensions had heightened demand for U.S. LNG, prompting developers to move quickly to bring new supply online.
The Iran war has led to global LNG supply challenges as the world’s second-largest producer, QatarEnergy [RIC:RIC:QATPE.UL], has not been able to export the superchilled gas and has suffered damage to its plant, potentially taking 12.5 million metric tons out of global supplies for up to five years. In a separate filing dated last Friday, NextDecade asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for permission to raise its peak construction workforce by 2,275 workers to 7,500, up from the previously authorized 5,225, as it moves to accelerate construction of the liquefied natural gas export terminal.
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Houston Chronicle – April 10, 2026
Will oil stop flowing to the US? Analysts say no — but prices may rise, including in Texas*
A map released by banking giant J.P. Morgan in late March showed when oil deliveries could halt worldwide, including in the U.S., but what does this actually mean? J.P. Morgan analysts warned that the global system is shifting from a flow shock to a “stock depletion problem,” where timing, not just volume, will drive the impact, due to recent disruptions to oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz—a critical route for about one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply — amid escalating tensions involving Iran. The U.S. is forecast to start feeling the effects around April 15, but they won’t manifest as physical product shortages.
Instead, prices will continue to rise, and there will be “dislocations” — shifts or disruptions in refined product markets — instead of “outright scarcity.” The analysts pointed to the declining prices for Brent crude, the global crude oil benchmark, as evidence of their view. Alongside the J.P. Morgan map, analysts projected a roughly 40% chance that, amid an extension of the conflict, oil could hit $200 and U.S. gas prices could jump to about $7 a gallon. … Texas is experiencing an increase in gas prices due to demand for local refineries’ production, driven by global shortages of diesel and jet fuel linked to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. Diesel experienced the most severe cost increase in Texas, rising 60.9% over the last year, per a SmartAsset study, a considerably higher spike than the national average of 50.2%.
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Bloomberg – April 10, 2026
Valero Pulls Back on Mexican Oil After Texas Refinery Blast*
Top independent US oil refiner Valero Energy Corp., the largest buyer of Mexican crude, has cut purchases from the country to a trickle in April as it struggles to restart its Texas refinery following an emergency total shutdown. The company has agreed to buy one cargo from Mexico of less than 200,000 barrels this month, according to a document seen by Bloomberg. That compares with an average of 4 million barrels a month last year.
The majority of Valero’s imports go to the Port Arthur refinery, one of the largest on the US Gulf Coast. In late March, the refinery faced extensive damage from a diesel hydrotreater fire. The explosion and fire were so severe that the unit’s blast-resistant control room was destroyed. For Petroleos Mexicanos, known as Pemex, the loss of appetite from Valero is a big blow. The San Antonio-based refiner accounts for about 20% of Mexican oil sales. Valero, the largest US independent refiner after Marathon Petroleum Corp., and Pemex didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment. Amid diminished demand from Valero, Mexico’s state oil company is shipping more oil to South Korea and also to its Deer Park refinery in Texas, the document shows. It’s unclear when the Port Arthur refinery will be able to fully restart. Since the late-March incident, the facility has ramped up activity at some of its units, but key pieces, including its largest crude unit, remain offline. The refinery can process 435,000 barrels of oil a day, according to the company.
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Inside Climate News – April 7, 2026
Corpus Christi Water Crisis Spurs Stampede on South Texas Aquifers
Jim Wells County — Dwindling levels in this region’s main reservoirs have triggered a rush on local aquifers as cities, towns, chemical plants and ranchers drill for water. The nearby city of Corpus Christi faces a looming catastrophe from the imminent depletion of water supplies that sustain 500,000 people and one of Texas’s main industrial complexes. Recent emergency groundwater projects have pushed off the timeline to disaster by months, officials said last week. But locals fear they may threaten the water supplies of rural towns and residents who have historically relied on their own small wells.
“People like me are probably gonna be running out of water,” said Bruce Mumme, a retired chemical plant worker who lives on family land in rural Jim Wells County, about 40 miles outside Corpus Christi. “Then this property and house is useless.” Dust covers the fields where hay for Mumme’s cattle should grow. His catfish are about to die as the last of their pond evaporates. Sand dunes have started to form. He’s roamed this land since he was a boy and he’s never seen sand dunes.
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Bloomberg – April 11, 2026
Iran War Sows Mayhem for Big Law’s Energy Clients in Texas
Texas energy lawyers are sorting through the chaos of the Iran War, helping some clients find new domestic energy sources and telling others that new mergers and acquisitions are “dead, dead, dead.” The uncertain prospects of a ceasefire, volatile oil prices and urgent requests of clients are adding to the lawyers’ sense of being on a rollercoaster—one that is zipping in the dark.
“The conflict in the Middle East has had so many reversals,” said Jeff Nichols, the Houston-based chair of Haynes Boone’s energy group. “It’s like playing chess on a board where the pieces keep disappearing.” Energy lawyers from Baker Botts, Vinson & Elkins, Foley & Lardner and Troutman Pepper Locke dealmakers and energy lawyers are weighing short-term opportunities against longer-term uncertainty as well as assessing the need to beef up staffing in a lateral market that has already caught fire due to the buildout of artificial intelligence data centers.
Energy lawyers from Baker Botts, Vinson & Elkins, Foley & Lardner and Troutman Pepper Locke dealmakers and energy lawyers are weighing short-term opportunities against longer-term uncertainty as well as assessing the need to beef up staffing in a lateral market that has already caught fire due to the buildout of artificial intelligence data centers.
Oil & Gas National & International
Associated Press/Houston Chronicle – April 11, 2026
Lessons learned in ’70s have made the US and world economies less vulnerable to oil shocks
The world economy is experiencing a disorienting flashback to the 1970s. Oil prices are once again surging in the wake of war in the Middle East, driving up the cost of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel and threatening a return to stagflation – the toxic mix of higher prices and slower growth that made economic life so miserable a half century ago. But the U.S. and world economies are less vulnerable now than they were when Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern petroleum producers withheld oil supplies to punish countries that supported Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
In response to that shock – and another triggered six years later by the Iranian revolution — countries embarked on a new course to increase their energy efficiency, reduce their dependence on Middle Eastern oil, stockpile fuel against future threats, and find and develop alternative sources of energy. “We have decades of experience now dealing with these kinds of oil shocks,’’ said Amy Myers Jaffe, research professor at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs.
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Oil Price – April 9, 2026
Shale Play Pushes Argentina Oil Output To All-Time High
A year ago, any news about rising oil production anywhere would only serve to make oil traders more bearish on the commodity amid persistent talk of a massive glut. Now, any news of more supply is a welcome change in a world suddenly dominated by reports about fuel rationing and the very real possibility of severe oil shortages. Enter Argentina.
Argentina’s crude oil production hit 847,000 barrels daily earlier this year as the country doubles down on the largest shale oil and gas formation outside the United States, the Vaca Muerta. Thanks to that play, Argentina could see its output grow to 1 million barrels daily by 2030, according to Argentina’s energy industry association.
Utilities, Electricity & Renewables
Inside Climate News – April 10, 2026
Texas Data Center Developers Play Offense on Water, Claiming Huge Cuts in Usage
As Texas confronts decades of water mismanagement and growing demands for electricity from data centers, the state’s top utility regulator, Public Utility Commission Chairman Thomas Gleeson, told a state House committee on Thursday that it’s critical to have a clear picture of how much water data centers use.
His testimony came as data center developers assured the House Committee on State Affairs that newly developed closed-loop cooling systems allow cooling fluid, sealed in a circuit, to absorb the heat from electric equipment and turn the fluid into vapor before it is condensed back into liquid. For Dallas-based Skybox Datacenters, using a closed-loop system means its average data center uses less water than five typical households, said Haynes Strader, Skybox’s chief development officer.
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KERA – April 10, 2026
Granbury residents sue city over data center plan, allege Texas Open Meetings Act violations
A group of Granbury residents sued city leaders over plans for a proposed data center development and the annexation of more than 2,000 acres of land in Hood County. The lawsuit, filed Monday in Hood County, names the City of Granbury, Mayor Jim Jarratt, Mayor Pro Tem Bruce Wadley, several city council members, and City Manager Chris Coffman as defendants.
Plaintiffs Daniel Piatt, Janet Logsdon, James Logsdon and Craig Jackson are residents and property owners who say they were denied transparency and proper notice regarding the project. “As taxpayers and ratepayers Plaintiffs are being forced to pay taxes and utility rates to support the implementation of the annexation of Knox Ranch and agreements made by (Granbury) for the construction and approval of a massive data-center without proper notice to the public,” the lawsuit alleges.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 10, 2026
Families Spent Decades on Louisiana’s Bayous. The Power Company Pulled the Plug.*
A 20-minute boat ride carried Danal Boss to the remote cabin his family has owned on this brackish bayou since he was a toddler. He opened the door and flipped the light switch. Nothing happened. “Old habits die hard,” said the 50-year-old home builder on a recent day. The power has been out since Hurricane Ida in 2021—not because it was the worst storm to hit the area, but because the local electric utility decided to cut the family’s cabin and many others from the grid for good. In this corner of Southern Louisiana, the Bosses’ cabin is one of several hundred middle-class retreats—known locally as “camps”—reachable only by water yet long equipped with the comforts of home, thanks to electricity from a local co-op. But since Ida, owners buy generators and haul 55-gallon drums of diesel across lakes and bayous.
“It’s a heartbreak to my mom and my dad,” Boss said. “They’re retired and they could spend all their time out there if they wanted to, but now they can’t.” Camp owners and their utility, South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association, or Sleca, have been locked in a bitter fight over Sleca’s application to state regulators to drop 282 customers from the grid, citing the costs of replacing the system and concerns about future storms. Last month, the state public-service commission ruled Sleca could abandon 158 customers, including the Boss family, but sent the case over the remaining 124 back to an administrative law judge.
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WBUR – April 10, 2026
Q&A: How China’s superfast charging cars are leaving American EV’s in the dust
Discussion: host Meghna Chakrbarti; along with Zitong Zhang, who reviews electric vehicles for the YouTube channel ZITONG, China on the Ground; plus Natalie Neff, editor at Autoweek; and Ilaria Mazzocco, deputy director and senior fellow with the Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
CHAKRABARTI: Now, so I was watching some TikTok and YouTube videos last night, and I was seeing people like taking the charging plug, putting it into the side of the car and then one guy put his phone like in front of the information panel on the dashboard, and you could see the charge percentage go up. And it was going up so fast. It actually reminded me of the turning of numbers when, here in the United States, you’re filling up a gas tank. It was that quickly.
Did you have that same experience?
ZHANG: Exactly. That was just like looking at a fuel station filling up a car. That’s exactly how I felt. Actually, the time that I tested that car, it didn’t even take nine minutes to charge it to 97%. It was actually eight minutes and 28 seconds.
CHAKRABARTI: Amazing. Okay, so I want to take a quick step back here, because again, five minutes to, what, 75% you said.
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E&E News By Politico
Entergy pushes Texas gas expansion despite net-zero goal*
Entergy executives broke ground on a natural-gas-fueled power plant here Thursday, raising questions about the company’s plans to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and two members of the state Public Utility Commission joined the groundbreaking ceremony. Entergy CEO Drew Marsh said the new power plant will bolster electric reliability for customers in Southeast Texas.
The Port Arthur gas plant and another gas plant planned in San Jacinto County, Texas, will “provide the modern, dispatchable generation needed to support the region’s expanding population and economy,” Marsh said. Once it’s online, the $1.46 billion Port Arthur plant will be able to produce as much as 754 megawatts, while the $735 million plant in San Jacinto County will be built to generate as much as 453 MW.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 11, 1026
High Gas Prices Are Tempting Americans Back to EVs*
Skyrocketing gas prices cemented Eric Janney’s decision in March to go electric for good. The IT worker in Aliquippa, Pa., bought a lightly used Kia EV6, after trying the same vehicle on a cheap lease for the past couple of years. “Knowing that we can go out and do what we need to do at any time and not have to worry about how much we’re gonna be able to put fuel in the tank has been incredibly beneficial,” said Janney, 43, whose wife is a homemaker.
Car-shopping platforms such as Cars.com and Edmunds say they have seen an uptick in EV interest as Americans adjust to life with gas over $4 a gallon, while auto executives say a renewed focus on fuel efficiency could mark the bottom of the EV meltdown. Edmunds said shopper consideration of EVs on its website has risen nearly to what it was before tax incentives ended last year. “In the short term, a lot of Americans—and this has nothing to do with regulations—are coming back to EVs because of the cost of ownership,” Hyundai Motor 005380 -2.45%decrease; red down pointing triangle Chief Executive José Muñoz told The Wall Street Journal. “Basically, the fuel costs are making them change their decision.”
Muñoz added that in states such as California, EVs are finding a place in multiple-vehicle households for commuting, while longer trips are reserved for gas-powered cars. He suggested that their mindset is: “I have one car from Monday to Friday, another car for the weekend.”
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Oil Price – April 11, 2026
Three Energy Stories That Actually Matter Right Now
- New nuclear projects—like the Tennessee Valley Authority SMR with GE Hitachi—remain extremely expensive, raising doubts about their competitiveness despite future cost reductions.
- China is gaining an edge in AI by offering significantly cheaper computing (tokens), potentially pressuring U.S. firms on pricing, demand, and energy consumption dynamics.
- Breakthroughs in perovskite solar—driven partly by American Association for the Advancement of Science collaborations—could dramatically boost efficiency and disrupt traditional electricity markets if durability challenges are solved.
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KTAM – April 10, 2026
EPA Administrator talks energy affordability amidst energy costs skyrocketing
To open his media remarks at the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin expressed his gratitude to get away from Washington D.C. to “allow the residents of the San Antonio area to very conveniently be able to raise their concerns.” His main message — the Trump administration has solved the balance between protecting the environment without burdening the economy.
“You don’t have to choose between one or the other,” Zeldin said. “We reject that notion.” Zeldin’s most recent example, a proposed walkback of a Joe Biden-era rule intended to limit pollution. As part of the Clean Air Act, the EPA previously phased out routine ‘flaring’ except in 24-hour windows for maintenance.
Regulatory
Midland Reporter-Telegram – April 11, 2026
TCEQ preparing for treated water discharge permits*
Water management has evolved from ancient irrigation methods to the Romans’ aqueducts to early filtration that, for the first time, improved water quality and reduced waterborne illnesses. All those innovations were driven by water scarcity and resulted in the expansion of water supplies. Texas currently faces increasing water supply stress and produced water is seen as the next opportunity, said Brooke Paup, chair of the Texas Commission on Environmental Equality.
That opportunity increasingly comes from the large volumes of water produced in the Permian Basin alongside crude oil and natural gas, she told the Permian Basin Water in Energy Conference. “That is a huge water supply that is wasted,” she told the audience. “We need to use that water. We can access a new supply of water if we can figure out how to clean it.” That will be the task of her agency, which will issue produced water discharge permits and monitor and enforce standards to protect human health and the environment.
“That’s why produced water is so concerning. The biggest issue is we don’t know the chemistry. That’s why we’ve developed limits and monitoring requirements. We want to talk before we run,” she said. Approximately 400 constituents in produced water have been identified and of those, 260 are listed by TCEQ. A third party is helping the agency identify which of the remaining 140 constituents should be added to its list.
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Utility Dive – April 10, 2026
EPA proposes weakening power plant coal ash protections
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed adding “flexibilities” to the rules that govern the management and cleanup of coal ash, the waste that remains when utilities burn coal to generate power. There are approximately 775 coal ash surface impoundments and landfills across the country, according to the agency.
Environmental advocates say the changes could allow utilities to leave submerged coal ash in place, a practice which threatens drinking water. Coal ash contains mercury, cadmium, chromium and arsenic, which are linked to cancer and other health problems, according to the EPA. EPA’s proposal is “another handout to the coal power industry at the expense of our health, water, and wallets,” Lisa Evans, senior counsel at Earthjustice, said in a statement.
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Texas Energy Report NewsClips
Friday April 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 prices edged higher in choppy trading Friday as tensions around the Strait of Hormuz deepened, with the vital shipping lane still largely closed despite a ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May delivery gained 0.4% to $98.29 per barrel as of 1:06 pm. ET. International benchmark Brent crude futures for June delivery were up 0.56% at $96.48 per barrel.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday warned Iran to “stop now” if it was charging tankers to transit the strait, a move that risks undermining a 2-week ceasefire agreement that was contingent on reopening the waterway.
Shipping flows through the chokepoint, which handled about 20% of global oil supply before the war, remained severely restricted, keeping markets on edge.
“Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
Trump’s top economic advisor Kevin Hassett said Thursday that getting even one oil tanker across the strait would provide a “huge chunk of what’s missing.”
Top Stories
Baird Maritime – April 9, 2026
Occidental reports oil discovery at prospect in the Gulf of America
Occidental Petroleum has announced that it has discovered oil at its Bandit prospect in the Gulf of America (Gulf of Mexico). The exploration well, located approximately 125 miles (201 kilometres) south of the Louisiana coast in Green Canyon Block 680, encountered oil-bearing Miocene sands.
The project co-owners are currently evaluating the results to determine the next stages for the discovery. Occidental serves as the operator with a 45.375 per cent working interest, while Chevron USA and Woodside Energy hold 37.125 per cent and 17.5 per cent respectively.
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Reuters – April 9, 2026
Iran war raises demand for US fuel, boosting Gulf Coast refining margins*
U.S. Gulf Coast refiners are reaping the strongest margins in years as disruptions to Middle Eastern oil flows from the Iran war raise demand for U.S. fuel exports, analysts and experts said. Asian and European refiners have been hit hard by a slump in Middle Eastern crude exports due to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, forcing some to cut production.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, conditional on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, though tanker traffic remains limited and doubts persist over whether the fragile truce will hold. U.S. refiners, less reliant on Middle Eastern crude, are well placed to benefit from global fuel shortfalls, by maximizing international sales from the U.S. Gulf Coast export hub. The U.S., the world’s largest fuel market, has about 18 million barrels per day (bpd) of refining capacity, much of it on the Gulf Coast export hub.
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Houston Chronicle – April 9, 2026
Texas lawmakers spent hours Wednesday grilling grid officials, data center developers and energy companies on the potential impacts of the state’s data center boom, as public backlash grows over its heavy demands on water and power. But state representatives also seemed sympathetic to concerns raised by data center companies that various rules being debated in Texas, such as a nonrefundable fee meant to weed out speculative projects and lower electric rates, could stymie new investment. In one exchange, state Reps. John McQueeney and Charlie Geren repeatedly pressed grid officials about why one developer, a friend of theirs, was purportedly asked to pay a $30 million deposit before knowing how much power the company would receive — or when. “How do you justify that?” McQueeney asked.
It was a reflection of the pressure that Texas politicians are facing from both sides — angry residents and wealthy, impatient tech companies — as the state emerges as the fastest-growing data center market in the world. In their testimony, data center companies framed their facilities as critical infrastructure for the modern digital world. Texas might be the “only place in the free world” able to compete with China in developing artificial intelligence, said Haynes Strader, chief development officer of Skybox Data Centers, because of the state’s abundant natural resources and business-friendly environment. “Data centers have become this physical thing to be mad about if you’re afraid of AI,” Strader said. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t be. There’s a lot of scary stuff having to do with it.”
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Reuters – April 9, 2026
Goldman Sachs lowers second-quarter 2026 oil price forecasts*
Goldman Sachs trimmed its second‑quarter 2026 forecasts for Brent and U.S. crude to $90 and $87 a barrel, respectively, late on Wednesday, after the U.S. and Iran agreed on a two-week ceasefire. Previously, the bank forecast Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil prices to average $99 and $91 a barrel, respectively.
“Given the reduction in the risk premium at the front of the curve and already edging up oil flows through the SoH (Strait of Hormuz), we nudge down our Q2 forecast for Brent/WTI,” the bank said in a note. … Goldman kept its third-quarter forecast unchanged at $82 for Brent and $77 for WTI, and for the fourth quarter at $80 for Brent and $75 for WTI. The bank said risks to its price forecasts remain skewed to the upside, reflecting the potential for longer‑lasting disruptions and more persistent crude production losses.
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Bloomberg – April 9, 2026
IMF Chief Says Oil Shock Tests a World With Little Fiscal Buffer*
The International Monetary Fund said that the conflict in the Middle East is a major supply shock that will test the resilience of a world with limited scope for fiscal support, even as US and Iran have negotiated a two-week ceasefire. Given the uncertainties around the Middle East conflict, the Washington-based fund will publish a range of scenarios in its World Economic Outlook report next week. But even in the most hopeful case, the IMF is cutting its growth forecasts, managing director Kristalina Georgieva said. “What we do know is that growth will be slower — even if the new peace is durable,” Georgieva said in prepared remarks Thursday ahead of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings that start next week in DC.
Before the US-Israeli attack on Iran started Feb. 28, the IMF had planned to upgrade its global growth outlook, Georgieva said. The US and Iran agreed this week to a truce that remains fragile. But the damage to infrastructure and supply chains warrants a downgrade to the economic outlook, even in the most optimistic case, the IMF chief said. In response to a supply shock that has send oil prices surging and increased food insecurity in many parts of the world, Georgieva urged policymakers to take a careful approach. With many countries bloated with public debt, they cannot afford blanket fiscal support. “I appeal to all countries to reject go-it-alone actions — export controls, price controls, and so on — that can further upset global conditions: don’t pour gasoline on the fire,” she said. Back in January, the IMF slightly raised its outlook for global growth to 3.3% this year, saying economies had been remarkably resilient amid trade and geopolitical tensions.
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Some reasons why the US is the main beneficiary of the Iran War with Anas F. Alhajji (10 min.) — YouTube
Mexican state oil firm Pemex said it put out on Thursday a fire at its Dos Bocas refinery in southern Mexico, with no injuries reported in the second such blaze within less than a month — Reuters*
Why Gulf Nations Would Bear the Brunt of Hormuz Tolls — economists think the region’s oil-producing countries may have little choice but to absorb a possible Iranian toll in the long term — The Wall Street Journal*
Delta’s Ace in the Hole for Surging Jet Fuel Costs: Its Own Refinery — the airline’s 2012 acquisition of Pennsylvania refinery has been called both prescient and pointless — The Wall Street Journal*
Charted: Oil Trade Through the Strait of Hormuz by Country — Visual Capitalist
President Donald Trump warned of attacks “bigger, better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before” if Iran does not comply with what he described as the “real agreement” tied to the cease-fire — “All U.S. ships, aircraft, and military personnel, with additional ammunition, weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded enemy will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the real agreement reached is fully complied with,” he said — Time
Tesla reportedly considering compact SUV next — report suggests the Austin automaker is considering a more consumer-friendly model, even as it ramps up manufacturing of its robotaxi — Austin American-Statesman*
Dozens of Tesla Cybercabs spotted at Gigafactory Texas, signaling possible production start — clusters of the purpose-built robotaxis at Tesla’s Austin factory suggest manufacturing may be underway as the company targets an April launch window — San Antonio Express-News*
Governor Greg Abbott Thursday celebrated the groundbreaking of the Entergy Legend and Lone Star power stations, marking a major expansion of Texas’ energy capacity that will add more reliable and affordable power in Southeast Texas — see the press release
Saudi Arabia’s critical pipeline to the Red Sea suffered a recent attack from Iran, cutting throughput by 700,000 barrels per day — the attack hit a pumping station on the East-West pipeline, according to a state-news agency report. This pipeline brings crude oil from processing facilities near the Persian Gulf to an export terminal on the Red Sea called Yanbu — CNBC
Record oil production in West Texas helps stabilize U.S. supply amid Iran war — production in West Texas has helped the U.S. stabilize its demand for foreign oil amid the Iran war, despite drilling fewer oil wells — Texas Tribune
Texans have experienced a significant 35.5% increase in idle electricity costs since 2020, primarily due to “vampire devices” that drain power even when turned off, according to a new study from Domestic & General — KDAF
Oil & Gas Texas
Texas Tribune – April 9, 2026
Railroad commission hopeful Bo French says he wasn’t invited to a GOP candidate forum in Midland
On Thursday, Texas Railroad Commissioner candidate Bo French told his more than 50,000 followers on X that he had been snubbed by a Republican candidate forum in Midland, his hometown. “To my friends in Midland, know this, I was not invited and knew nothing about this event,” he wrote, linking to a local news story recapping the event. “The good news is, actual conservatives around the state are rallying behind my campaign despite the dirty tricks of RINOs.”
However, an official with the Midland County Republican Women, which hosted the event on Wednesday, said he had been invited. Rhonda Lacy, vice president of programs for the organization, said they reached out to French in advance, without success. On Jan. 20th, she sent an email to his campaign website, the only way she had to reach him at the time. Despite repeated attempts to reach him via calls, texts and emails since January, Lacy, who has served in some capacity with the club for 50 years, did not hear back from him.
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Bloomberg – April 9, 2026
Texas Landowner’s Stock Sinks as CEO of Top Shareholder Dies*
Shares of Texas Pacific Land Corp. tumbled Thursday after the chief executive officer of its largest shareholder died, rattling investors in the Permian Basin landowner that has drawn attention as technology companies seek sites for data centers. The stock fell 15.7% Thursday, the biggest one-day drop since March 2020. Murray Stahl, who was CEO of Horizon Kinetics Holding Corp. and a board member of Texas Pacific, passed away on April 7, according to a statement. The firm owns nearly 15% of the Dallas-based Texas Pacific, whose market value reached $35 billion last month, exceeding that of oilfield services giant Halliburton Co.
“Aside from being TPL’s largest shareholder, he was its largest cheerleader,” said Chadd Garcia, portfolio manager with Ave Maria mutual funds, a top-20 Texas Pacific shareholder. “Ultimately, TPL was included in the S&P 500, an achievement I am sure five years ago, few people but Murray viewed as being possible.” Texas Pacific, a land bank created out of a 19th-century railroad bankruptcy, owns nearly 900,000 acres in West Texas, much of it atop shale oil and gas reserves in the Permian Basin that have benefited from higher commodity prices this year. The land is already used for Bitcoin mines, utility-scale batteries and renewable-power projects. Its access to cheap natural gas has attracted interest from tech giants including Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp. seeking electricity for large data centers.
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Houston Chronicle – April 9, 2026
Texas legislators must answer difficult water policy questions*
Changes to Texas’ water regulations have traditionally drawn emotional responses and claims that they would reallocate water and eliminate private property rights. “We don’t have the luxury of reacting to water issues,” said Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association. “We’re not planning for the next drought or outage. We’re planning for the next generation.” Water is not just another resource, he told those attending the Permian Basin Water in Energy Conference. “It is the one resource that determines whether anything else is possible.”
As a former member of the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate, he recalled the turmoil over regulatory changes tied to Senate Bill 1 in 1997, which created regional conservation districts, and later legislation in 2005. The upcoming legislative session will have tough policy questions to answer, he said. One is the rule of capture versus development rights and whether a new system is needed. Another is if conservation districts should be defined by county lines or aquifer boundaries. Should all of the state be part of conservation districts? And finally, what does water export mean? Does it mean water exported out of a district, county, city or aquifer?
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Washington Post – April 8, 2026
Mexico’s president weighs fracking to curb reliance on US natural gas
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday announced plans to tap into unconventional natural gas deposits in an effort to lower her country’s reliance on foreign energy at a time when the Iran war is disrupting global energy markets. But Sheinbaum — a scientist and climate expert — notably avoided the term hydraulic fracturing or “fracking,” a drilling method used to extract oil and natural gas from deep underground bedrock using a highly pressurized liquid. Instead, she framed the initiative as a quest for “sustainable” extraction, emphasizing that environmental impacts would be minimized to the greatest extent possible.
The technical feasibility of “sustainable fracking” is a subject of significant debate among environmental scientists and energy experts. But Sheinbaum said a technical committee will spend two months evaluating less harmful methods, such as utilizing nonpotable water and reducing chemical additives. The committee will also assess the potential costs of these mitigations, she said.
“All the gas we import comes from a type of extraction that has environmental impacts” and is “100 meters from the Mexican border,” she noted, alluding to fracking projects in Texas. Mexico is the world’s single largest buyer of U.S. gas. While noting that natural gas import contracts with the U.S. remain secure and the bilateral relationship is strong, she argued that increasing energy sovereignty is a responsible necessity. “Is more gas needed? Yes. Can all gas be replaced? Hardly,” she added.
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April 7, 2026
Is Texas ready to start reusing oilfield waste?: Sierra Club
What if the water used to extract oil and gas could be cleaned and reused? At first glance, it might sound like a practical solution, especially in a state like Texas, where water supplies are increasingly strained. But the deeper you look, the more complicated the answer becomes.
To understand why, it helps to start with the scale of oil and gas production itself. Texas leads the nation in energy production, accounting for about 43% of all U.S. crude oil output. Much of that production relies on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking – a process where large volumes of water mixed with chemicals are injected deep underground to break apart rock and release oil and gas.
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Dallas Morning News – April 2, 2026
‘This business is in my blood,’ Presidio Petroleum landman and GC Brett Barnes says*
Brett Barnes is a landman. His title is general counsel for Presidio Production, a Fort Worth upstream oil and gas company. But Barnes is a landman. Maybe not in the sense of the popular Paramount streamer — “I’ve never been kidnapped by a cartel,” he notes — but a landman, nonetheless. His daddy was a landman. He worked more than 25 years at Oryx Energy, starting in the days when it was still known as Sun Oil Co. When Oryx was sold, he went to work at Eni, the Italian national oil company. After Eni, it was Stephens Production Co. Landman, through and through. The younger Barnes continued along that arc. When he graduated from the University of Texas Law School in 2006, Brett took his J.D. to Anadarko Petroleum and ignored it — to work as a landman. He worked more than four years at EOG Resources — as a landman. He left in 2011 for the Forestar Group — to become a land manager. You get the picture.
“This business is in my blood,” Barnes says. For the last eight years, he’s been general counsel at Presidio Petroleum, a company that acquires mature, producing oil and gas properties in a market that is hitting a newfound stride. The company is on the cusp of going public thanks to a deSPAC merger announced last year. But it was at Forestar, a smaller production pubco, that Barnes says he became a lawyer-landman. “I had the opportunity to work directly under the company’s general counsel as an in-house attorney while also serving as vice president of land. It was essentially a front-row seat to a crash course in how to be a GC, and it changed the trajectory of my career.”
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Houston Chronicle – April 3, 2026
One time when I was a kid, my mother threw a Houston Oilers mug at me and my brother. She missed. The mug hit the wall above us and shattered into hundreds of pieces. Instead of apologizing, she screamed at us to pick up the mess she had made. That traumatic childhood memory popped into my mind as I was thinking about what President Donald Trump is doing to the global energy system. He smashed it and now is demanding that the rest of the world clean up his mess. Both Trump and my mother explained their actions with a “look what you made me do” tone.
And just as my brother and I were innocent victims of a parent’s rage, so it will be with global energy consumers. Those of us who depend on reliable, affordable energy — that is, everyone — will suffer. But unlike my mother, who wreaked havoc all by herself, Trump’s behavior has sparked a reaction from Iranian leadership. Imagine me and my brother, just standing there stunned by the mug-throwing incident only to discover that our angry neighbor who is armed with dozens of mugs also starts throwing them at us. The cycle of madness can feel endless. Damage and trauma accumulate in its wake.
Here’s what that geopolitical trauma looks like: Fear of Iranian attacks has effectively halted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, Israel has struck Iranian oil fields, the United States has bombed a major oil export facility in Iran, and Iran has struck Qatar’s main liquefied-natural-gas production site and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. Overall, nearly 20% of the world’s LNG has been shut down. And even if Hormuz fully reopens, much of that energy production won’t be restored for years.
Oil & Gas National & International
CNBC – April 10, 2026
The fluctuating price of dated Brent, the global benchmark for real-world barrels of crude, has prompted energy analysts warn to that acute stress in the physical oil market shows little sign of abating amid worries over a fragile ceasefire in the Middle East. As energy market participants continue to monitor shipping disruption through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, an unprecedented gap has emerged between dated Brent and front-month Brent futures, suggesting supplies will remain tight for some time.
The spot price of dated Brent, which refers to physical cargoes that have been assigned delivery dates from 10 days forward to one month ahead, came in at $131.97 per barrel on Thursday afternoon, according to data compiled by Platts. That’s up over 7% from the previous session but down from a record high of $144.42 on Tuesday, just before the U.S. and Iran announced a two-week truce. Dated Brent is assessed based on bids, offers and trades in the open physical spot market, which means it reflects the real-world price tag of crude oil. Brent crude futures for June delivery, meanwhile, were last seen trading 0.6% higher at $96.51 per barrel on Friday morning.
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Turkiye Today – April 9, 2026
Satellite image shows smoke, fire at Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq facility
New satellite imagery provided by the European Space Agency showed large plumes of thick black smoke rising from Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq oil processing facility on Wednesday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran and following earlier reports of an Iranian attack.
The image was taken on April 8 at around 10:00 a.m. local time, or 3:00 a.m. Eastern time, according to the report. It showed smoke and fire at the Abqaiq facility, one of Saudi Arabia’s most critical oil processing sites. The satellite image, provided by the European Space Agency, showed thick black smoke rising from the facility. The report said the image came after earlier reports of an Iranian attack on Wednesday.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 9, 2026
Extent of Damage to Middle East Energy Facilities Key to Economic Impact, OECD Says*
The impact of the conflict in the Middle East on economic growth and inflation around the world will partly depend on the damage caused to energy production and transport infrastructure, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s chief economist. The Paris-based research body last month released new forecasts for the global economy that saw little change under the assumption that energy prices start to fall back later this year from the highs they have reached in the weeks since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. However, oil and gas prices over the coming years don’t just depend on whether the Strait of Hormuz is open or closed to shipping.
“What worries us is the damage to infrastructure,” said Stefano Scarpetta, the OECD’s newly-appointed chief economist. “We do not really know the extent of this damage, and the time it will take to repair.” The conflict has already disrupted supplies of oil and natural gas to Asia, which relies heavily on imports from the Middle East that usually transit through the Strait of Hormuz. This has already led some factories to cut production, and to rationing of some fuels, including gasoline. China, Japan and South Korea have some protection thanks to large energy stockpiles, but countries like Indonesia and Thailand have more limited reserves and are at more immediate risk of facing shortages. However, countries around the world will feel the impact of higher energy prices, regardless of where they source their supplies. The U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week cease-fire that went into effect Wednesday. President Trump said the truce was conditional on Iran opening the Strait of Hormuz to shipping. But even if the strait is reopened, supplies of energy to the rest of the world are unlikely to quickly return to pre-war levels.
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KXAN – April 9, 2026
Iran demands $1 per barrel of oil passing through Strait of Hormuz, paid in crypto
Iran reportedly intends to require ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz to pay the cryptocurrency equivalent of $1 per barrel of oil on board during the two-week ceasefire with the U.S. Hamid Hosseini, a spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, which works with Iran’s government, told the Financial Times about the requirement on Wednesday.
He said that it will cost $1 per barrel of oil and that ships need to email Iranian authorities about what they are carrying. K“Once the email arrives and Iran completes its assessment, vessels are given a few seconds to pay in bitcoin, ensuring they can’t be traced or confiscated due to sanctions,” Hosseini told the newspaper.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 9, 2026
More BP Investors Demand Proof That Fossil-Fuel Pivot Will Benefit Shareholders*
More BP shareholders are backing a move calling on the energy major to prove that increasing investment in oil-and-gas production will deliver value for investors. The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, a group representing U.K. pension funds, said Thursday that it was joining other investors in supporting a resolution to be voted on at this month’s shareholder meeting, in response to the London-listed group’s shift away from a renewables-focused strategy. The resolution calls on BP to demonstrate that higher spending on fossil-fuel production can deliver value for shareholders, and was filed earlier this year by U.K. and European pension funds along with activist investor Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, or ACCR.
Earlier this week, shareholder Legal & General said it would support the resolution. Proxy adviser Glass Lewis said it recommended voting for the resolution, which it said “could provide decision-useful information for shareholders.” In the original resolution, the shareholders called on BP to take a tighter approach to capital expenditure and to offer disclosure that showed how investment decisions promoted disciplined allocation of capital. In response, BP said that following engagement with its largest investors, it is “fully focused on building a simpler, stronger and more valuable BP.”
“That’s why we are making these recommendations, to provide transparent, standardized disclosures that support clear comparisons across companies,” the company said. BP Chair Albert Manifold said the board recommended shareholders vote against the resolution. The extra disclosure would duplicate existing reporting by the company, Manifold wrote in a statement on the company website. “It would pull the company in the opposite direction to where we want and need to go, which is towards simpler, standardized and comparable reporting,” he said. “It also cuts across the board’s responsibility to decide how to address disclosure for all shareholders.”
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Bloomberg – April 9, 2026
Iran and Ukraine Make Oil Shocks Look Too Easy: Liam Denning*
It is kind of surprising that oil shocks are shocking. A vital commodity coursing through the capillaries of modern life that is also, via a cosmic joke, reliant on some of the most volatile places on Earth. Why wouldn’t there be disruptions? Yet, history shows we get blindsided again and again. The current disturbance, now suspended in a murky two-week ceasefire, is different in terms of scale. The supply choked off in the Strait of Hormuz equates to 10% to 15% of global demand, significantly higher than the 7% hit during the Arab oil embargo of 1973-74. But it is also different, momentous even, in one other respect that also links it to another, somewhat overshadowed, oil shock erupting thousands of miles further north around St. Petersburg.
What links Iran’s closure of Hormuz with Ukraine’s recent disruption of Russia’s oil exports to the Baltic Sea is how cheap and easy they look relative to the damage done. This asymmetry is an important dimension of a new energy system — more fragmented and insecure – that is emerging out of these wars. Iran did not have to swamp Hormuz with mines, establish air or naval superiority there, nor sink every tanker daring the narrow gauntlet. From the outbreak of hostilities to Tuesday’s announcement of a two-week pause, there had been 22 confirmed attacks on vessels in the Strait and the Middle East, according to the International Maritime Organization, an average of less than one a day.
Iran targeted the ships with ballistic missiles, along with cheaper drones and some mines. But above all, it leveraged something that costs nothing: Fear. US and Israeli attacks have undoubtedly degraded Tehran’s military capabilities, just not by enough to persuade ship owners, insurance underwriters or crews that the possibility of attack had been sufficiently reduced. Ed Morse, senior advisor at Hartree Partners LP, a commodities trading firm, gives the example of a theoretical ship owner who, quite apart from any safety concerns for the crew, must weigh the possibility of not just a $120 million tanker getting sunk but also the loss of maybe $300 million of profits while they await a replacement.1 Iran didn’t need to occupy the Strait; it merely needed to suggest that those waters were best avoided.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 9, 2026
Trump’s Perilous Straits: Kimberley A. Strassel*
Those who wish Donald Trump success in his effort to rid the world of the Iranian threat spent this week warning the president of the security risks of quitting before the job is fully done. Weak-kneed Republicans might also consider the political risks. GOP hand-wringers—inside the White House and out—are pushing the president hard to call it quits. The American people have limited tolerance for war, they note. The longer the Strait of Hormuz blockade lasts, the higher oil prices—and the cost of gas, diesel, jet fuel, heat and fertilizer—will climb, frustrating the public and potentially damaging the economy. Every day the president is focused on bombing and war messaging, they warn, is a day he isn’t out making the case for his domestic achievements on energy, prices, deregulation, taxes. Look at the polls! See those Republican losses in those special elections! The midterms are coming!
All true, and all missing the obvious point: How this conflict ends matters more than when, both strategically and politically. Republicans need to emerge with an obvious, definable success. Anything less adds a huge new liability to a GOP that is already rolling into a midterm election with a disadvantage. Give the president credit for deciding to strike Iran despite the politics. Having degraded Iran’s nuclear program last year, he might have put off further action until past the midterms, if ever. Congressional Republicans would have preferred that approach. It’s the course many presidents might have taken, knowing that Americans—focused on their own cost-of-living concerns—might be hard to convince, especially with Democrats and the media rooting for failure. Mr. Trump nonetheless decided the moment was now, midterms notwithstanding, and took bold action.
Yet the politics remain. And having chosen to invest so much time and focus, so many resources, on this war—time not spent on domestic cheerleading—it’s all the more important Republicans come out of this with some political benefit. That can happen only with a clear-cut victory against Iran, one the critics can’t credibly spin as defeat. This week’s messy “cease-fire” isn’t clear-cut. It leaves Iran with leverage over the strait and access to enriched uranium. The headlines offer a glimpse of the political damage anti-Trump forces intend to inflict via any such ending. Good luck finding an in-depth story about Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine’s briefing this week, detailing how a mighty U.S. joint force, in 38 days, dismantled one of the world’s largest militaries.
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Reuters – April 6, 2026
Bridger’s Canada‑Wyoming crude line seen costing $2 billion, topping 1 million bpd*
Bridger Pipeline’s proposed project to transport Canadian crude from the U.S.-Canada border to Wyoming would cost about $2 billion and have the capacity to transport more than 1 million barrels of oil per day, according to new details released by the company. The company first outlined plans in January to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality for a pipeline capable of transporting 550,000 barrels per day of Canadian crude from near the U.S.-Canada border in Phillips County to travel south through eastern Montana before crossing into Wyoming and terminating near Guernsey.
However, filings submitted in late March show the proposed 36-inch pipeline would span nearly 650 miles (1050 km) and ultimately have the capacity to deliver up to 1.13 million barrels per day to Guernsey, Wyoming. Bridger expects the pipeline to initially operate at about 550,000 barrels per day. The project, which the developers say would largely follow existing pipeline corridors to minimize new land disturbance, would cost about $1.96 billion for the 435.2 miles that will be laid within Montana.
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Jerusalem Post – April 3, 2026
Gulf states consider bypassing Strait of Hormuz with new oil pipelines via Haifa – FT
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Utility Dive – March 31, 2026
Before we build more gas pipelines, we need better data: Researchers at 3 universities
A familiar debate is heating up about the need to build more gas pipelines. During extreme cold weather, both electric- and gas-heating demand increases. This demand from gas-heating customers and gas-fired electric generators can drive up the price for gas and potentially strain the pipeline capacity to transport it. Add inadequate winterization, freezing equipment and failures at the electric distribution level to the mix, and we get the usual headlines of thousands of people without power.
So, the argument goes, we need more pipelines to survive extreme winter weather. And maybe we do. But as a group of researchers modeling how the gas and electric systems interact during disasters, we are here to tell you that “more steel” isn’t the first answer. In fact, before we spend billions on infrastructure, we need to invest in something much cheaper: data. It is possible to plan, utilize and strengthen our nation’s energy infrastructure to be more reliable and resilient in the face of extreme weather. But, right now, many of us who are working on the resilient grid of the future are effectively flying blind.
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Truthout – March 20, 2026
Operation Epic Fury Explained: Riches and Domination Drive This War
Speaking of windfall profits, the leading financial beneficiary of the war so far looks to be a young liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter called Venture Global. It is a U.S.-based LNG company sitting on substantial uncontracted spare capacity that it can sell to the highest bidder. Coincidentally or not, its founders are big Trump supporters. Other LNG exporters are also seeing surging stock prices, while traders like Vitol, Trafigura, Shell, and TotalEnergies are likely making a killing on contracted LNG volumes bought at low U.S. prices and sold into Asia and Europe, where markets are spiking.
Oil companies, generally, are looking at a propitious reversal in their fortunes compared to where things were at the beginning of the year. 2026 was expected to be a year of oversupply, and prices were projected to stay low. U.S. companies in particular were pulling back their drilling plans, and many of the big international companies announced reductions in dividends and share buybacks.
But just this week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook. The EIA raised its forecast for the 2026 average WTI (West Texas Intermediate, or the high-quality crude that serves as the U.S. benchmark for pricing) oil price by over $20 per barrel, saying, “This price forecast is highly dependent on our modeled assumptions of both the duration of conflict in the Middle East and resulting outages in oil production,” meaning it could be higher if the conflict lasts longer. A back-of-the-envelope calculation by Oil Change International suggests that this could generate about $280 million in additional revenue every day for companies producing oil in the U.S. — more than $100 billion over a year. And that’s not counting other fossil fuels.
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Reuters – March 31, 2026
How China can survive without the Strait of Hormuz
The world’s largest importer of oil through the Strait of Hormuz is, paradoxically, also one of the best placed to weather the waterway’s closure. China consumes oceans of oil from the Gulf and imports roughly as much from the region as India, Japan and South Korea combined. In response to the closure of the Strait, officials across Asia are asking citizens to take shorter showers or work from home to save energy. In China, the ruling Communist Party’s flagship newspaper is instead telling readers the country holds its own “energy rice bowl.”
While the editorial does not mention that Beijing has unofficially banned fuel exports to conserve supplies, the country is nonetheless more insulated than many of its neighbours thanks to years of policy measures that have reduced its vulnerability to energy shocks. China boasts an electric vehicle fleet about as large as the rest of the world’s combined, vast and growing oil stockpiles, diversified supplies of oil, and gas and an electricity grid that is almost insulated from imports thanks to domestic coal and renewables. “The current situation is really close to what Chinese planners have had in mind for decades,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, co-founder of the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air in Finland.
Utilities, Electricity & Renewables
Canary Media – April 9, 2026
Fervo Energy inks big turbine deal to build more next-gen geothermal
Fervo Energy, a leading next-generation geothermal startup, is ramping up plans to build out new power plants. The Houston-based company has signed a three-year binding agreement with Turboden America, which will supply 1.75 gigawatts of organic Rankine cycle turbine capacity for Fervo’s forthcoming geothermal projects in the United States. The startup will use the equipment to convert heat pulled from deep underground into carbon-free electricity for data centers and the grid.
Fervo, which is reportedly preparing for an IPO, is currently building the first 100 megawatts of its 500-MW Cape Station in Beaver County, Utah. The project, which will be the world’s largest enhanced geothermal system, is slated to start producing power later this year.
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Clean Technica – April 5, 2026
Superfund Site Still On Track For Solar Power & Green Hydrogen
Now that US President Donald Trump’s war in Iran has disrupted global fuel markets, it’s time for the Energy Department’s $7 billion Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program to kick into action. Except, not. The program was aimed at building a more resilient hydrogen supply for domestic industries. Too bad Trump ripped up the plan upon taking office last year. Nevertheless, a trickle of activity continues to stir in the area of green hydrogen produced from water, with New Mexico among the states in play. …
One green hydrogen project that did manage to survive the Trump chopper — at least so far — is the Questa Hydrogen Project. To be located at former Chevron molybdenum mine and Superfund site in the village of Questa, New Mexico, the project received $231 million in funding through a US Department of Agriculture program called Empowering Rural America. The award was announced on January 13 of 2025, when former President Joe Biden was still in office.
The Questa project comes under the wing of the Kit Carson Electric Cooperative, one of 900 or so member-owned electric utilities around the country established under a Depression-era Act of Congress. The aim was to lift rural communities out of poverty through electrification. To this day, electric coops serve an outsized proportion of counties that fall into the persistent poverty rate.
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Inside Climate News – April 9, 2026
Unpacking Trump’s Use of Emergency Powers to Prop Up Coal
At one time, the U.S. electricity grid ran mostly on coal. But coal-fired power plants have steadily been decommissioned. Power producers found the plants were too expensive to operate and carried risks tied to toxic air pollution, waste and climate-warming emissions. Then President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year with a fresh zeal to revive the coal industry. His Department of Energy invoked emergency powers to force utilities to keep old plants operating.
Not only is this bad policy, it’s also a misuse of a law designed for wartime, according to legal scholars and analysts. If allowed to stand, this poses problems for utilities, grid operators and regulators who plan for decades-long timeframes, only to be overruled by short-term political imperatives that favor certain industries.
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Utility Dive – April 9, 2026
Entergy, Xcel, others seek to upend competitive transmission bidding in MISO, SPP
Entergy, Xcel Energy and seven other utility and transmission companies want the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to halt the practice of putting regional transmission projects out to bid in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator and Southwest Power Pool region. Requiring competitive bidding for certain transmission projects — instead of giving them to incumbent utilities — slows transmission development by 16 to 20 months on average, the utilities said in an April 7 complaint filed at FERC. They asked FERC to make a decision by July 16.
Former FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee told Utility Dive he disagrees with the complaint’s argument. “The competitive solicitation process has challenges and can certainly be improved but throwing the baby out with the bath water as the complainants suggest is counterproductive and not in the interest of consumers,” Chatterjee, chief of governmental affairs for Palmetto, said in an email. “The commission should focus on reforming the process, not suspending it.”
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Reuters – March 27, 2026
Ceres’ CEO Mindy Lubber: ‘We need to talk to everyone about clean energy, not just Democrats’
While U.S. environmental veteran Mindy Lubber knows that political interest in green issues ebbs and flows, she can’t recall a time when the green tide in Washington D.C. was further from the shore. “In Congress, there are hearings almost weekly on why considering ESG (sustainability investment) is a bad thing” says Lubber, president and CEO of the influential sustainability non-profit Ceres. “The times now are very different. It’s brutal.”
Today’s ruling Republican party is almost allergic to so-called “woke capitalism” and has made eradicating it a priority. Hence, the hollowing out of environmental institutions such as the Environmental Protection Agency (of which Lubber was a regional administrator between 1998 to 2001) and the cavalier dismantling of climate policies. “On every value we believe in, we’re being told it’s the opposite. Up is down these days. Black is white,” she says. This new reality is a tough pill to swallow, admits the head of Ceres, whose members include many of the largest Fortune 500 companies (including Apple, Gap, PepsiCo and Starbucks) and nearly 100 institutional investors with close to $10 trillion in assets under management.
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The Times (UK) – March 28, 2026
GridBeyond boss on a charge to keep the lights on in Texas
Back in February 2021, a series of severe winter storms knocked out much of energy infrastructure in Texas, plunging millions of people across the state into cold and darkness — some for several days — as the main grid operator was forced to initiate rolling blackouts to keep the whole system from melting down. Three years later, Texans were worried about the opposite problem. Houston, the state’s largest city, experienced its first 32C day of the year at the unusually early date of May 7, presaging a scorching summer to come. Would the grid that failed so dismally in the winter of 2021 hold up under the strain of all the air-conditioning being switched on? Or would outages just become a fact of life in the Lone Star State?
A local television station turned to Michael Phelan, chief executive of the energy management company GridBeyond, for answers. Could artificial intelligence improve the Texas power grid? While everything may be bigger in Texas, it is not necessarily smarter, which is why the TV show had an unassuming electrical engineer and start-up founder from Ireland on the line. This was the kind of situation GridBeyond was made for.
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Utility Dive – March 30, 2026
Generation declined 0.7% year over year in January while prices went up 9.5%
The U.S. saw a 0.7% year-over-year decline in January electricity generation, in spite of Winter Storm Fern driving consumption significantly higher in particular areas, according to a report from the Energy Information Administration. In the Northeast, January generation increased 8.2% year over year due to cooler temperatures, EIA said. Southern Co. saw daily peak demand “very close” to its all-time high, EIA said. The rest of the country saw January temperatures near average, above average, or — in the West — significantly above average.
The January residential retail price of electricity increased by 9.5% year over year, EIA said, while retail sales declined 1.7%. January’s Henry Hub price for natural gas went up 86% year over year. Changes in electricity generation from natural gas were “mixed,” EIA said, “with the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Central regions all seeing an increase in natural gas generation compared to the previous January, while the Southeast, West, Florida, and Texas all saw a year-over year decrease in natural gas generation.”
Regulatory
Associated Press/PBS – April 9, 2026
States are struggling to meet their clean energy goals. Blame data centers
Nevada’s largest utility says it will need three times the electricity required to power Las Vegas just to handle proposed data centers — and it probably can’t do that without fossil fuels. That means the utility could miss Nevada’s clean energy targets requiring 50% renewable power by 2030. “I can’t remember a time in the history of the industry where we’ve seen as much interest in adding load, which is primarily driven by data centers,” said Shawn Elicegui, senior vice president of regulatory and resource planning for NV Energy, which provides electricity to 90% of the state.
It’s one of many utilities across the country grappling with how to meet the exploding electricity demand for data centers to power artificial intelligence without sacrificing long-term plans to move away from fossil fuels in favor of renewable and zero-carbon sources. In North Carolina, which is also seeing a surge of data centers, the largest utility is revising its long-term plans to delay the retirement of coal plants and to build more natural gas plants. Legislators removed an interim goal for utilities to cut carbon emissions, spurring concern from environmentalists that the state might miss its goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050.
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Texas Energy Report NewsClips
Thursday April 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 Thursday after Iran accused the U.S of violating elements of a two-week ceasefire agreement, raising concerns that tensions could escalate again and disrupt energy supplies.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May rose 3.2% to $97.44.
International benchmark Brent crude futures for June delivery added 3.1% to $97.76 at 3:42 a.m. ET.
The moves come a day after U.S. crude oil posted its biggest single-day drop since 2020.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, said on Wednesday that Washington had breached the terms of the ceasefire deal.
“The deep historical distrust we hold toward the United States stems from its repeated violations of all forms of commitments — a pattern that has regrettably been repeated once again,” Ghalibaf said in a statement posted on social media.
Top Stories
Reuters – April 8, 2026
Traders place large $950 million bet on oil price falling hours ahead of ceasefire
Investors placed an approximately $950 million bet on oil prices falling just hours before the U.S. and Iran announced a ceasefire, the latest large wager on the direction of the world’s most traded commodity ahead of a major policy announcement by President Donald Trump. On Tuesday, investors sold a combined 8,600 lots of Brent and U.S. crude futures at 1945 GMT, according to LSEG data.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 8, 2026
Cease-Fire Teeters on Its First Day*
A two-week cease-fire between the U.S. and Iran was on tenterhooks Wednesday, as Israel launched massive attacks on Lebanon and Iran threatened to reverse its plan to open the Strait of Hormuz to traffic. Both the U.S. and Iran claimed victory on Wednesday after the two countries agreed to a cease-fire to end the war that began in late February, but Iran continued to fire missiles and drones at Arab countries in the Persian Gulf and Israel unleashed a barrage of deadly strikes against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, accused the U.S. on X of several key violations of his country’s 10-point framework to end the war. These breaches, he wrote, make both the cease-fire and negotiations for a long-term peace agreement effectively meaningless.
“From the outset, we followed the ongoing process with distrust, and as expected, the United States once again violated its commitments even before negotiations began,” he wrote on Wednesday. President Trump said on Tuesday that the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week pause in fighting, conditional on the immediate reopening of the strait, while pointing to progress on a 10-point proposal from Tehran. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said reports on Wednesday that Iran had closed the strait in response to Israel’s strikes in Lebanon were false.
A closed strait is “completely unacceptable” to Trump, Leavitt said. Four ships were allowed to pass on Wednesday, the fewest so far in April, according S&P Global Market Intelligence, down from more than 100 a day before the war. Iran is requiring ships to work out toll arrangements ahead of time and then pay the fees in cryptocurrency or yuan, mediators and ship brokers said. Leavitt said it wasn’t a “definitively accepted” policy position that Iran would be allowed to charge tolls on ships moving through the strait.
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KEYE – April 8, 2026
$1 billion a year in data center tax breaks get the attention of Texas lawmakers
The debate over data centers has moved to the Texas State Capitol. The leaders of the House and Senate are asking lawmakers to take a deep dive into the impact of data centers and whether tax incentives being offered to the industry are worth it. Cheap energy, available land, and a friendly regulatory environment have Texas on the verge of having more data centers than any other state.
Hutto is the latest Central Texas community at odds with developers and local officials over a surge in new AI data center projects. The City of Hutto must approve a zoning change for Zydeco to build a data center at 450 Ed Schmidt Blvd. … Kirk Offel is the CEO and Founder of Overwatch Mission Critical. He will testify at Thursday’s hearing of the Texas House State Affairs Committee on data centers. Offel says data centers need to build trust with communities across Texas. “We do not stop doing it. We just built them safer. We build them better. We build them more sustainable,” said Offel.
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Houston Chronicle – April 8, 2026
Data center opponents put Ken Paxton in bind ahead of Senate runoff*
Last month, county commissioners in Fayette County, a deeply Republican area between Houston and Austin, approved a resolution opposing the development of data centers after word spread that tech companies were targeting the area. The push from cities and counties across Texas to slow the flood of data center development comes as Republican leaders are heralding their arrival as another economic boom, putting pressure on Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to weigh in ahead of his runoff next month with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.
As the state’s top lawyer, Paxton has been asked to weigh in on whether municipalities have the power to hold up data projects, pitting the Republican between top tech companies and their GOP supporters, including Gov. Greg Abbott and President Donald Trump, and the rural Texans who have long supported him. In conservative Hood County in North Texas, close to Paxton’s home base, a flood of applications for the construction of data centers has drawn opposition among residents who worry the facilities, which require large volumes of water and electricity and often stretch across thousands of acres, will deplete the region’s water supplies and drive up power prices. “The concern most people have is this new type of development is going faster than the speed of information coming to the public,” said state Rep. David Cook, a Mansfield Republican. “People are looking for assurances that our water and power supplies are not going to be wiped out here.”
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RFD TV – April 8, 2026
Data Centers Expand into Rural Areas Competing with Agriculture
Data centers are rapidly expanding into rural areas, raising new concerns about competition for land, water, and electricity with agricultural operations. Texas A&M AgriLife economists say the impact will depend on how these facilities use local resources and how communities manage development.
Texas is emerging as a major hub, with about four gigawatts of data center capacity already in place and nearly eight gigawatts under construction. Large-scale facilities can span hundreds of acres and operate continuously, consuming as much electricity as a small city.
The Latest TERse Tips
Dan Patrick says Republicans will “have a tough time” holding Texas House majority in November — the lieutenant governor’s remarks are the latest sign that Republicans are worried about the fall midterms. The GOP has controlled the state House since 2003 and currently has an 88-62 advantage — Texas Tribune
Fitch Ratings has assigned a ‘BBB-‘ rating to Vistra Operations Company, LLC’s proposed senior unsecured notes — Fitch expects the proceeds to be used as repayment of existing indebtedness and for general corporate purposes — Vistra Ops’ Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) is ‘BBB-‘ with a Stable Rating Outlook — Fitch
Since the beginning of April, about 40 earthquakes have been documented in that area, ranging from magnitude 1.2 to 3.5 — “These earthquakes are located within the Eagle Ford Shale, a broad area stretching from Mexico to between Houston and Austin,” said Justin Rubinstein, a research geophysicist and project leader for the USGS Induced Seismicity Project.. “Over the past 10 to 15 years, there has been a pretty big increase in seismicity in this area.” — KIII
Tesla has quietly switched on a public configurator for its Supercharger for Business program, and the numbers tell us exactly what it now costs a third party to buy into the network: $500,000 in hardware and roughly $940,000 all-in for a standard V4 8-stall site — electrek
Podcast: Rising electricity costs have led to surging interest in utility board elections — WBUR
Meet the new political alliance against AI and data centers — Politico
Paramount has received signed equity commitments of close to $24 billion from three sovereign-wealth funds led by Saudi Arabia to help back its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to people familiar with the matter — Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has agreed to provide roughly $10 billion of the nearly $24 billion to Paramount, run by David Ellison, the son of billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison — The Wall Street Journal*
US green data centre developer Soluna Holdings Inc has achieved full vertical integration for its Project Dorothy campus in West Texas with the acquisition of a co-located 150-MW wind farm for USD 53 million — Renewables Now
Oil & Gas Texas
Zero Hedge – April 8, 2026
Exxon Warns Of $6.5 Billion Hit From Iran War As Q1 Earnings Set To Print Slightly Below Consensus
In an early clue how the Iran war will impact energy earnings, ExxonMobil warned of a $6.5bn hit to Q1 earnings from the Iran war but said the bulk of this was the result of unfavorable timing for its accounting of hedging contracts, which would be offset as underlying transactions were eventually completed. The US supermajor also said that global oil and gas production would be 6% lower in the first three months of the year than in the fourth quarter of 2025 because of attacks on facilities in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in which it holds ownership stakes.
According to Exxon’s 8K filed this morning, Goldman calculated that the company’s adjusted EPS at the mid-point came in at ~$1.80 vs. consensus closer to $1.90 and Q4 levels closer to $1.71. As shown in the chart below, there was sequential improvement in Upstream driven by higher liquids prices, sequential declines in Downstream due to higher maintenance and relatively flat performance in Chemicals.
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Reuters – April 8, 2026
Exxon plans spring and year-end overhauls at Beaumont, Texas refinery, sources say*
Exxon Mobil Corp plans overhauls in the spring and at the end of this year at its 612,000 barrel-per-day Beaumont, Texas refinery, said people familiar with plant operations. In May, Exxon plans to shut the 60,000-bpd coker for a planned overhaul that will continue into June, the sources said.
In December, the 120,000-bpd gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker will be shut for a planned overhaul along with two hydrotreaters lasting into January, according to the sources. Cokers convert residual crude oil into feedstocks for motor fuels or petroleum coke, which can be used as a substitute for coal. The Beaumont refinery is the third-largest in the U.S. by crude oil processing capacity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
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Upstream – April 3, 2026
Oilfield contractor set to reincorporate in Texas
The company noted that it has already has “substantial” operations in Texas, including its Houston headquarters. Weatherford has eyed the move “over several years” and said Thursday that “the time is right to proceed”. It believes the shift will help reduce compliance burdens while potentially accessing larger pools of capital.
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Houston Chronicle – April 8, 2026
Earthquakes are becoming more frequent in East Texas and Louisiana. Here’s what scientists say.*
A record-breaking earthquake rattled western Louisiana last month, drawing attention from Texas researchers and geologists. Scientists suspect the 4.9-magnitude temblor in the Haynesville shale formation — a natural gas-rich area that straddles East Texas and Louisiana — was triggered by oil and gas operations. The cause of the quake, believed to be the largest in Louisiana history, remains under investigation by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Department of Energy and Natural Resources. USGS researchers attributed a series of earlier near-border earthquakes in the area to fracking and associated wastewater disposal.
The earthquakes are a destabilizing force for the Haynesville shale area, where production has increased in recent years as liquefied natural gas export facilities proliferated along the Gulf Coast. President Donald Trump has deepened interest in the area by making American LNG a cornerstone of his “energy dominance” plans. And Haynesville rig counts have nearly doubled over the last year. The worsening earthquakes have puzzled researchers and scientists — even those well-versed in the science of oilfield tremors. Seismicity in the Haynesville formation is not as well studied as in the Permian Basin, where years of research established a link between a rash of earthquakes and the disposal of oilfield wastewater.
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KERA – April 8, 2026
Texas farmers worry Iran War will delay fertilizer shipments during spring planting season
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is disrupting global fertilizer shipments, causing shortages and price hikes for Texas farmers. Dr. Mark Welch, professor and extension economist for Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension, says the bottleneck threatens to delay deliveries during the crucial spring planting season, potentially reducing yields for a broad range of crops.
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KUHF – April 8, 2026
Galveston activists sue over Endangered Species Act exemption for oil and gas industry in the Gulf
Environmental activists in Galveston have joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration after its decision to exempt oil and gas companies from adhering to protections under the long-standing Endangered Species Act. Trump administration officials within the Endangered Species Committee voted unanimously on the exemption last week after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth triggered the vote, citing “national security” reasons.
Joanie Steinhaus, ocean program director for Turtle Island Restoration Network, an ocean conservation nonprofit that has a main office in Galveston, said the exemption would leave a number of Gulf species and ecosystems unprotected and vulnerable to extinction, including the critically endangered Rice’s whale and the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle.
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Midland Reporter-Telegram – April 8, 2026
Texas to dedicate $1 billion a year to state water fund for 20 years*
Texas voters last November approved a constitutional amendment directing revenues from state sales and use taxes to the Texas Water Fund. “It is the largest dedicated water investment in Texas history,” Rep. Cody Harris, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, told the Permian Basin Water in Energy conference.
It will dedicate $1 billion a year over the next 20 years for water development. But, he said, “it is literally the tip of the iceberg for what Texas needs.” The revenues will be split between funds for projects that develop new water supplies and funds for projects in underserved or low-income areas. Brady Franks, director of the Texas Water Development Board, said the legislation has given the board some time to plan for distributing the revenues. The two men largely agreed with estimates that addressing the state’s water needs will cost as much as $200 billion. “We should see this as an absolute necessity,” said Harris. He added that it is difficult for people to understand how important water is until water issues make the news, such as in East Texas or, most recently, in Corpus Christi, which has just a few months of water supply left.
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Houston Chronicle – April 8, 2026
How the Iran ceasefire may affect Houston gas prices and what past oil shocks tell us*
U.S. gas prices could start declining in the next two days after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire in a war that has ensnared a key passage for oil tankers, according to a Texas-based gas analytics company. Gas stations may lower their prices by a few cents each day after price of crude oil for the first time in a month Tuesday, said Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. Houston’s retail gas prices have skyrocketed since the weeks leading up to the war, leaping from $2.28 in early January to $3.74 this week as the conflict gutted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a key passage for oil tankers off the coast of Iran.
De Haan said the plunge in prices at the pump may accelerate through the weekend, but its pace and longevity are murky as negotiations unfold. “The coast is anything but clear,” De Haan said in an interview with the Chronicle. “For now though, prices may start tiptoeing lower as we get into the weekend, and that could continue at least maybe for a few days. But again, the uncertainty of the situation could change this very quickly.” Crude oil prices and the ratio between supply and demand determine gas prices in the United States and across the world, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Disruption to crude oil supplies, refinery operations and gas pipeline deliveries can cause rapid changes to gas prices, according to the EIA.
Oil & Gas National & International
The Wall Street Journal – April 8, 2026
Oil CEOs Raked in Money From Trump’s Iran War*
President Trump’s bombing campaign against Iran is yielding a windfall for some of America’s top oil executives. Executives sold stock worth $1.4 billion in the first quarter of the year as the share prices of Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Diamondback Energy and other oil-and-gas companies soared on the back of a historic shock to the world’s crude supplies, according to an analysis of insider-transaction disclosures from analytics firm VerityData. Some of the sales were prearranged under plans that allow executives to sell stock automatically at specific times or share prices without making in-the-moment decisions that could leave them open to allegations of improper trading. The plans are often set weeks or months in advance, though the specifics are rarely public. Nonetheless, the executives’ timing was auspicious.
Chevron Chief Executive Mike Wirth sold some $104 million worth of shares between January and March. ConocoPhillips’s Ryan Lance netted about $54.3 million in share sales in March alone. Lorenzo Simonelli, CEO of oil-field services company Baker Hughes, sold about $33 million worth of stock that same month. The sales might prove prescient: The prospect of a cease-fire between the U.S. and Iran drove oil prices and energy stocks lower Wednesday as traders anticipated at least a temporary respite for markets. Last quarter’s energy-sector insider sales reflected a mix of trades determined by prearranged trading plans, as well as ad hoc sales. Both give investors insights into executives’ sense of where their sector might be headed.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 8, 2026
Iran War Cease-Fire Can’t Undo the Middle East’s Energy Hangover*
The cease-fire agreed to between President Trump and Iran may silence the guns, but the wreckage at key regional energy hubs is set to leave lasting economic damage. Iranian missile and drone strikes have hit dozens of refineries, oil fields and natural gas export terminals across the region, ensuring a prolonged squeeze on global oil-and-gas markets even if the Strait of Hormuz reopens. The sheer complexity of rebuilding these damaged energy facilities translates into an extended stranglehold on global supply—and higher oil prices. With refineries offline, even if producers pump crude, markets will still suffer shortages of refined products such as diesel, gasoline and jet fuel. Conversely, damaged export facilities mean hydrocarbons cannot be safely loaded onto tankers.
As a result, elevated oil prices reflect more than just the Strait of Hormuz bottleneck, which usually handles a fifth of global oil supplies. They are now anchored by the hard reality of diminished capacity. “We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Harri Kytömaa, an engineer at consulting firm Exponent who investigates industrial disasters, referring to the scale of the damage. Brent crude, the global yardstick for prices, fell around 13% to $95 a barrel on Wednesday following the cease-fire announcement, still significantly above its roughly $60 level in early January. Consulting firm Eurasia Group expects prices to stay above $80 a barrel this year, even if hostilities end. “Supply strains will persist even if a cease-fire in the Middle East allows for a swift reopening of the Strait of Hormuz,” said Henning Gloystein, Eurasia Group’s managing director for energy. He estimates that about a third of the Gulf region’s oil refineries have been damaged by airstrikes, a loss of capacity that “will take several months at least to repair once hostilities end.”
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Yahoo! News – April 8, 2026
US gas prices risk topping $5 per gallon if Strait of Hormuz stays closed: JPMorgan
Gasoline prices could hit $5 per gallon nationwide if traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a focal point of the Iran war, remains effectively at a standstill for much longer. “To date, US retail gasoline prices have already increased to close to $4/gallon, but our commodity team sees a risk of that exceeding $5/gallon if the strait remains effectively closed by mid-April,” JPMorgan’s Joyce Chang and Natasha Kaneva wrote in a client note.
Gasoline at $5 would represent its highest level since June 2022, when prices reached a record of nearly $5.02 per gallon. On Tuesday, the national average price of gasoline climbed to nearly $4.14, according to AAA data, up roughly about $0.80 from a month ago.
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April 8, 2026
EIA Forecasts Brent Crude Oil To Peak In Second Quarter At $115 Per Barrel – Analysis
Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz continue to be limited causing oil storage to fill quickly in countries that rely on the waterway for exports. As a result, we estimate that Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain collectively shut in 7.5 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil production in March. We assess that production shut-ins will rise to 9.1 million b/d in April.
In this outlook, we assume the conflict does not persist past April and that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz gradually resumes. Under those assumptions, we expect production shut-ins will fall to 6.7 million b/d in May and return close to pre-conflict levels in late 2026.
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S&P Global Platts – April 8, 2026
Iranian petchem producer Jam says it will take years to repair damage from April 6 attack
Iranian petrochemicals producer Jam has said it will take years for it to carry out reconstruction work and resume production after being attacked by US and Israel forces on April 6. In an April 7 statement on its website, the company said damage was caused to its tanks and processing plants, adding that the strikes have left some parts of its operations on fire.
Jam is located in the Pars Special Economic Zone, near the South Pars natural gas processing, where some power plants and production plants were destroyed in the April 6 attack, according to the company. Jam has a production capacity of 3.174 million metric tons/year of polypropylene and polyethylene. It added in the statement that an estimate of the damage from the attack is ongoing.
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Reuters – April 8, 2026
Iran ceasefire eases fears but LNG sector left scarred, industry executive says*
A Middle East ceasefire signals de-escalation, but the conflict has scarred the global LNG industry, denting confidence in Gulf suppliers and raising doubts among Asian buyers, particularly poorer countries, over the fuel’s reliability and affordability, a top industry executive said. LNG prices have, as of last week, soared over 80% since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, closing the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that normally carries about a fifth of global LNG supplies, to most ships.
“This was not a supply crisis. This was a supply chain crisis,” said Menelaos Ydreos, secretary general of the International Gas Union, which has more than 140 members worldwide, representing more than 90% of the world’s gas market. … Global gas supply remains ample. But LNG depends on complex infrastructure, specialised ships and predictable transit routes. When those are disrupted, cargoes flow to buyers able to pay more, leaving poorer importers exposed, he said.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 8, 2026
Shell Sees Hit to Gas Production, Boost From Trading Amid Middle East War*
Shell cut its outlook for first-quarter natural-gas production but said it expected a boost from oil trading, as the energy industry counts the cost of the damage caused by the war in the Middle East. The U.K. energy giant said Wednesday that the output of its integrated gas segment would take a hit from lost Qatari volumes due to the conflict in the first quarter, but that its oil trading operations would deliver a significantly higher result than in the prior quarter. The update from Shell comes after the war in the Middle East set off a volatile ride in energy markets and placed some of the oil-and-gas industry’s biggest investments on the firing line. One of Shell’s crown-jewel assets, the Pearl gas-to-liquids facility in Qatar, was targeted in the conflict.
Shares in oil companies have rallied since the U.S. and Israel began bombing Iran—and Tehran retaliated by blockading the Strait of Hormuz and attacking its neighbors—as crude prices surged past $100 a barrel to hit levels last seen in 2022, in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Oil futures fell back below $100 a barrel after President Trump said Tuesday that he had agreed to a two-week cease-fire with Iran, which said it would reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Shares in Shell fell 7.4% shortly after the opening bell, as oil stocks followed crude prices lower. Ahead of the agreement announcement, some analysts had said that oil prices would likely remain higher than before the conflict broke out even under a cease-fire as the war caused damage to energy infrastructure that might take years to repair and disrupted energy flows. Shell said it expected first-quarter output in its integrated gas segment to range from 880,000 to 920,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, against its prior guidance of between 920,000 and 980,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. For the fourth quarter, the business produced 948,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 8, 2026
Iran Tightens Its Grip on Hormuz Despite Cease-Fire*
Iran told mediators it would limit the number of ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz to around a dozen a day and charge tolls under the cease-fire struck by President Trump, showing Tehran plans to tighten its grip on the world’s most important energy-shipping lane. Ships that pass will have to coordinate with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the powerful paramilitary group that has been labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union, Arab mediators said. Four ships were allowed to pass Wednesday, the fewest so far in April, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, down from more than 100 a day before the war. Iran is requiring ships to work out toll arrangements ahead of time and then pay the fees in cryptocurrency or Chinese yuan, mediators and shipbrokers said.
Iran’s demands show how it has used the war to create a new source of leverage and potentially revenue. It seized control of the waterway during the fighting by targeting ships that tried to pass without its permission. The arrangement is now being entrenched during the two-week cease-fire the U.S. and Iran agreed to Tuesday. The possibility of Iran’s permanent role in the administration of the waterway is alarming the Gulf’s energy producers, who rely on the strait for the bulk of their exports, and to energy consumers across Europe and Asia. The U.S. is still pushing publicly for a free and open strait. But Iran isn’t showing a willingness to loosen its grip. In the waterway Wednesday morning, Iran was broadcasting via marine VHF radio that ships without permission to cross from the Revolutionary Guard navy risked being destroyed, according to a recording a crew member shared with The Wall Street Journal. The message was addressed to all vessels in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman.
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CBC – April 8, 2026
Oil and fuel prices to remain high throughout the year: Deloitte report
The ongoing war between Iran and the U.S. is expected to keep oil prices high for the remainder of the year, including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices too. North American oil prices are anticipated to average $85 US per barrel in 2026, according to a new report released Wednesday from Deloitte Canada, compared to averaging just $67 in 2025. …
Oil prices have been relatively low over the last two years as more oil was being produced compared to the level of demand. The conflict in the Middle East continues to choke transit through the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off roughly 20 per cent of the world’s oil and natural gas supply from international buyers. “There is going to be a lot of pressure on all of our energy needs for this year,” said Botterill, in an interview with CBC News.
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The New York Times – Apirl 7, 2026
Suspect in Hacking of Climate Activists Is Extradited to New York*
Amit Forlit, who has been charged by U.S. prosecutors with running a so-called hacking-for-hire operation that targeted environmental groups, has been extradited from Britain to stand trial in New York. Mr. Forlit, 58, is accused of running a sprawling enterprise that operated around the world, including in Russia, India and Dubai. A 2022 grand jury indictment unsealed on Friday charged Mr. Forlit with conspiracy to commit computer hacking, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud, which could result in up to 45 years in prison.
Prosecutors for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York confirmed Mr. Forlit’s arrival in New York on Thursday evening in a letter to Judge Jesse M. Furman, writing that he had been arraigned before a magistrate judge. From at least 2012 to 2019, Mr. Forlit orchestrated “massive” crimes against corporations, organizations and individuals, according to the indictment. He is accused of working closely with Aviram Azari, who was convicted of crimes related to hacking in New York in 2023 and released from federal prison last year, and others. The schemes generated “tens of millions of dollars” in unlawful proceeds, the indictment said.
Their clients included a lobbying firm in Washington that was working for “one of the world’s largest oil and gas corporations, with headquarters in Irving, Texas,” according to the indictment. A brief prepared by Mr. Forlit’s legal team as he fought extradition identified the lobbying firm as DCI Group and the company as Exxon Mobil, which at the time was based in Irving.
Utilities, Electricity & Renewables
pv magazine – April 8, 2026
ERCOT proposes $1,500/MW incentive for legacy Texas storage to adopt grid stability support
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is advancing a concept proposal to potentially financially support older energy storage and renewable resources in adopting advanced grid support capabilities. The concept, presented to the Inverter-based Resource Working Group (IBRWG) on March 27, 2026, seeks to address legacy assets currently exempt from newer, mandatory stability requirements.
The initiative is designed to align legacy Inverter-based Resources (IBRs), particularly Energy Storage Resources (ESRs), with grid-forming standards. In practice, this will mean a retrofit for inverters, with grid-following inverters to be replaced with grid-forming capabilities, or a “GFL-to-GFM” retrofit, involving new equipment and commissioning.
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Texas Tribune – April 8, 2026
Texas is giving data centers more than $1 billion in tax breaks each year
Texas will lose out on $3.2 billion in sales tax revenue over the next two years thanks to an exemption for the state’s booming data center industry, according to the comptroller’s office. That figure is likely a vast underestimate given the explosion of new facilities being built, but already makes the tax break one of the state’s costliest incentive programs and soon to be the most expensive of its kind in the nation.
Lawmakers, who will meet in January for the next legislative session, say they are considering proposals to either limit the scope of the tax break or get rid of it altogether. “These new numbers are extremely concerning and I will say they’re unsustainable,” said state Sen. Joan Huffman, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance in an interview with The Texas Tribune. “I plan to look at filing legislation to either repeal the exemption or take a very close look at it and see.”
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Austin American-Statesman – April 8, 2026
Tesla loses some of its tax breaks for Gigafactory Texas for noncompliance with agreement*
Travis County is withholding a chunk of the millions of dollars in tax breaks it agreed to give Tesla Inc. for Gigafactory Texas after finding the company isn’t holding up its end of the deal. Because of non-compliance with some terms laid out in the economic development performance agreement the county and Tesla reached in 2020, the Elon Musk-led company will not receive 9% of scheduled rebates for 2020, 2021 and 2022. Commissioners voted 4-0 with one abstention to withhold that part of the funds the county offered for construction of the sprawling complex east of Austin where the company builds electric vehicles and batteries.
The dollar amount of the rebates being yanked was unclear Wednesday, though terms of the agreement suggest it could total more than $4 million. County Judge Andy Brown said Tesla provided “significant but incomplete documentation” regarding its green building program, minimum hourly wage and compensation for contractors providing janitorial and food services. Another provision that lacked documentation involved construction site safety, which requires Tesla to inform subcontractors about requirements to provide water breaks for workers.
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Austin American-Statesman – April 8, 2026
Environmental groups push for action on Tesla’s ‘ecological paradise’*
A slow-moving environmental project proposed by Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. may finally be making headway. Years after it was first pitched, Tesla is proposing restoration of 28 acres of riverfront land at Gigafactory Texas, a project it says is creating an “ecological paradise” that would be open to the public. According to a site plan filed with the city of Austin for the area along the Colorado River, the project would add a concrete shared-use path, decomposed granite walking trail and an elevated riverfront wooden boardwalk near the giant factory where the company manufactures electric vehicles and batteries.
The plan also lays out next steps, including reviews for traffic control, floodplains and an arborist review. Development of the so-called paradise is not required as part of Tesla’s incentive agreement with Travis County. But the project has been highly anticipated by local organizations, one of which says it first heard of the project nearly four years ago. Maura Powers with the Travis Audubon Society said the area is a vital habitat area for migrating birds. “Hornsby Bend is very close by,” Powers said, referring to the public bird observatory. “Our bird population is in steep decline, so we try to look for every opportunity we can to preserve habitat and it seemed like Elon was on board for that. That’s what he promised. And now, years later, we see no indication that it’s happening,” she said shortly before the site plan was filed late last month.
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Houston Chronicle – April 8, 2026
Texas could incentivize data centers to bring their own power supply, cut usage on command*
The flood of data centers signaling interest in Texas keeps growing to ever more impossible heights, prompting questions and anxiety about how the state’s power grid can keep up. To manage this growth, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas is debating a proposal to incentivize data centers to bring their own power generation, or reduce their power usage any time the grid operator tells them to. In exchange, ERCOT would promise a faster grid connection. ERCOT’s proposed solution comes as data centers are willing to consider whatever it takes to access the large amounts of electricity needed to run artificial intelligence models as soon as possible.
“You’d rather have some power than nothing at all,” said Arushi Sharma Frank, an energy consultant who drafted the initial proposal. Texas politicians, meanwhile, are trying to thread the needle between supporting AI investments, a top priority of the Trump administration, while easing widespread resident concern about resource-intensive data centers. “I’m all in for AI and cryptos, but we cannot let it drive the rates up of residences and businesses, and they have to supply their own power,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a podcast interview with a conservative activist last month.
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KYTX – April 7, 2026
Public meeting addresses questions about proposed natural gas power hub in Anderson County
A proposed natural gas power hub in Anderson County is raising both interest and concern among residents. At a public meeting Tuesday, NextEra Energy Resources shared early plans for the large-scale project, which could bring jobs but also unanswered questions.
“I think this is going to have some really positive impact on our community,” said Timothy Triplett, a Palestine native who attended the meeting. County officials emphasized the importance of having open discussions before moving forward.
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E&E News By Politico – April 8, 2026
Utilities ask FERC to halt transmission competition across Midwest, Plains
A coalition of nine utilities in the Midwest and Great Plains wants federal energy regulators to suspend a long-standing policy requiring competitive bidding for billions of dollars in new high-voltage power lines. It’s a change the companies claim is key to helping the U.S. win the artificial intelligence race, but one that critics warn would stifle competition.
The group, whose members include Xcel Energy, Entergy and seven other utilities, filed a complaint Tuesday with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that seeks to temporarily eliminate the competitive solicitation provision in FERC’s landmark Order 1000, which broadly reformed electric transmission planning and cost allocation.
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram – April 8, 2026
Fort Worth may sell green energy bragging rights to fund fixes to old city hall
The city of Fort Worth may sell its remaining renewable energy credits to chip away at a budget shortfall to fix its old city hall building. The credits have served as a way to guarantee that about half of the city’s power use comes from renewable sources, however, up to this point they’ve had no effect on the city financially. That could change if the City Council votes to approve selling the credits to generate some cash. The city has had the credits since 2021 through a deal with its electricity provider Reliant Energy, according to a city report.
Under the deal, Reliant “retires” the credits annually, meaning it guarantees part of the city’s power usage comes from renewable sources. The program is overseen by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which makes sure each credit is tied to a specific renewable energy producer. Up to this point, Fort Worth has received the “environmental attributes associated with renewable energy generation,” city property manager Marilyn Marvin said in an email to the Star-Telegram.
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Utility Dive – April 6, 2026
Turning the AC-DC switch: A legacy technology has reached its limits: Shaun Walsh, Peak Nano
Some of today’s most important technologies didn’t come to dominate because they were better. They won over alternatives because they were easier to deploy, fit existing business models, or were better marketed. Over time, we often discover that the “runner‑up” is better suited for where the world is headed. That dynamic is playing out now with the shift from alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) in data centers and electrified transportation. History offers plenty of examples where a stronger technology lost the market. Betamax was widely regarded as higher quality than VHS, yet VHS became the home video standard because it was cheaper, easier to scale, and aligned with content distribution and consumer habits.
Similarly, in the “War of the Currents,” AC’s advantage wasn’t efficiency but because it was easier to change voltage for long‑distance transmission and a rapidly expanding grid. DC couldn’t deliver then, but today, DC–DC power converter technologies enable efficient, reliable DC voltage changes. However, a century later, AC’s early win continues to shape power distribution even as the assumptions that favored AC break down under the demands of hyperscale data centers, AI, EVs, and new forms of electrified mobility.
Regulatory
JD Supra – March 24, 2026
Hyperscalers, Reliability and the Return of Natural Gas Paired With Carbon Capture: Bracewell
Hyperscale data centers being developed to provide energy for artificial intelligence (AI) are forcing a change in the clean-energy conversation. “Hyperscalers” refers to large technology companies that build, own or procure extensive cloud and data center infrastructure, along with the substantial power resources needed to support rapidly growing computing demand. The US power sector has not had to confront load growth at this pace, and at this scale, for decades. Hyperscale data centers are demanding large, steady blocks of power on an accelerated timeline that do not match the current pace of transmission buildout or the lengthy interconnection queue.
At the same time, hyperscalers want power that is clean, firm and available around the clock. The set of technologies that can credibly satisfy all three, at large scale and on relatively quick timelines, is narrow. That is where natural gas combined cycle units with carbon capture and storage (NGCC+CCS) are re-entering the mainstream again as serious, if potentially controversial, clean firm power “lifeline” possibilities for hyperscalers that need large blocks of dependable power on compressed timelines.
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Texas Energy Report NewsClips
Wednesday April 8, 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: Dropped to approximately $95 per barrel, reversing earlier trends that had pushed prices toward $150 per barrel during the crisis.
- WTI Crude: Fell below $100 per barrel to roughly $94 to $96 per barrel
- Market Sentiment: The 2-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran triggered a relief rally, significantly lowering the risk premium on energy, causing investors to exit safe-haven positions.
- Physical Market: Despite the price drop, some traders note that physical markets remain stressed, and it may take time for shipping, such as through the Strait of Hormuz, to fully normalize
Top Stories
Reuters – April 8, 2026
Trump says US will help with traffic buildup in Strait of Hormuz*
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the United States will help with the buildup of shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump on Tuesday agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran less than two hours before his deadline for Tehran to reopen the strait or face attacks on its civilian infrastructure. Trump said the last-minute deal was subject to Iran’s agreement to pause its blockade of oil and gas supplies through the strait, which typically handles about one-fifth of global oil shipments.
“We’ll be loading up with supplies of all kinds, and just ‘hangin’ around’ in order to make sure that everything goes well,” Trump said. “There will be lots of positive action! Big money will be made. Iran can start the reconstruction process,” he also said.
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Politico – April 7, 2026
EPA finalizes tweak to Biden methane rule
EPA announced Monday that it had finalized a minor update to Biden-era methane standards for oil and gas operations. The rule, which EPA cast as a reversal of “burdensome, unworkable Biden-era oil and natural gas policies,” was first proposed by the Biden EPA in December 2024 after it granted industry petitions for limited changes to its methane standards. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in a statement Monday accused the Biden EPA of seeking “to regulate the oil and gas industry out of existence.”
“We are taking another step to fix those mistakes while proving we can both protect human health and the environment and grow the economy at the same time,” he said. The press release said the rule was finalized Monday, March 30, on the same day it completed White House review. Both the Biden proposal and the Trump administration’s final version of the rule make two sets of technical tweaks to the standards the Biden administration published in early 2024. They extend the time that oil and gas operations may flare gas during an emergency or equipment malfunction beyond the one-day limit set by the original rule. And they make some technical changes that industry petitioners had sought to the rule’s monitoring requirements.
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Inside Climate News – April 7, 2026
US Senators Investigate $370 Million IRS Payout to Cheniere Energy
Seven Democratic U.S. senators have launched a probe into a $370 million “alternative fuel” payout to Cheniere Energy, made earlier this year by the IRS, that critics say the liquefied natural gas export company never should have received. An earlier Inside Climate News investigation into the company’s push to get that tax credit for using LNG to power its tankers noted that such fuel is standard in the industry, not an alternative. The incentive is also intended for motor vehicles or motorboats, the latter of which are defined in federal shipping regulations as no more than 65 feet long. LNG vessels are typically 1,000 feet in length.
“We write to clarify whether the Internal Revenue Service has determined that companies using liquefied natural gas (LNG) for propelling LNG tankers qualify for credits under the Alternative Fuel Excise Tax (AFET),” the senators wrote to Scott Bessent, the IRS acting commissioner, on Tuesday. “Providing tankers with AFET credits would unnecessarily waste taxpayer money while doing nothing to protect the environment, reduce costs for everyday Americans, or lessen the United States’ dependence on oil.”
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Argus Media – April 4, 2026
Meta funds El Paso nat gas plant as interim power fix
Tech giant Meta is paying to build a natural gas-fired plant to power its El Paso data center, but regulatory filings show the agreement is temporary, raising questions about how Texas ratepayers will be protected once the initial five-year period ends. El Paso Electric (EPE) plans to supply the data center through McCloud Generation, a 366MW plant with 813 modular gas generators located next to the site, according to a filing with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT). Starting in 2027, the plant would power the data center exclusively for an initial five-year “bridge period” and remain separate from EPE’s transmission system, with all costs recovered from Meta under a commission-approved rate.
The arrangement aligns with the White House-backed Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which calls on large technology companies to pay for the power and infrastructure needed to support their data-center loads rather than shifting those costs onto other customers. But the filing also shows that much of the ultimate risk allocation is deferred, with decisions about long-term cost recovery left to future regulatory proceedings once the temporary structure ends.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 7, 2026
Energy Stocks Are Having a Moment That Could Last*
Investors have been underexposed to energy stocks for some time. Since 2021, for example, more funds have flowed out of energy-sector ETFs than into them, versus a net inflow for all sectors, according to data from State Street Investment Management. Meanwhile, even after the rally this year, the energy sector makes up less than 4% of the S&P 500’s market capitalization, while tech makes up 32%. This seems low. Toward the end of 2022, the most recent inflation shock, the energy sector made up more than 5% of the index. In the 1970s, energy made up a quarter of the index, according to a report from Carlyle.
There were plenty of reasons investors had shunned energy stocks. After the oil-induced inflation shocks of the 1970s and 1980s, there was a relatively long period of calm. Even the resurgence of inflation in 2021 and 2022 was relatively short-lived after supply chains normalized and sanctioned Russian oil found its way onto the market. Cheap exports from China also helped keep prices and inflation low for a long time, notes Tim Murray, capital-markets strategist at T. Rowe Price. The U.S. shale boom helped keep a lid on oil prices. …
Increasingly, it is becoming harder to dismiss an energy-driven inflation-shock scenario. Oil-market analysts say it is likely the Hormuz chokepoint, critical to global oil supply, will remain at least partially closed for some time, despite hopes for a cease-fire. If the U.S. leaves abruptly with Iran in control of the waterway, it is all but inevitable that fighting will resume in the region, notes Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, calling the situation an “unsustainable equilibrium.” A military attempt to open the waterway is no sure thing. Further escalation brings with it more potential threats to the region’s energy infrastructure and possibly even the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia’s alternative oil-export route.
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KBMT – April 6, 2026
Valero refinery blast released 157K pounds of chemicals over 10 days, state report reveals
Two weeks after an explosion and fire at the Valero refinery in Port Arthur, new state records show air pollution from the incident was far worse and lasted significantly longer than initially reported. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality released its final air emissions event report, revealing the blast released more than 157,000 pounds of chemicals into the air over a period lasting more than 244 hours — more than 10 days.
The incident began March 23, when officials say a release of fluid in the diesel hydrotreater caused multiple process unit upsets, ultimately leading to the fire. A formal investigation into the incident remains ongoing, according to the report. New findings show emissions lasted nearly seven times longer than initially reported, with much of the pollution released through flaring, a safety process used to burn off excess hydrocarbons.
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Tank Transport – April 7, 2026
Valero Port Arthur Blast: 12 Warning Signals for Fuel Markets
The Valero Port Arthur blast refers to the March 23, 2026, explosion and fire at Valero’s Port Arthur refinery in Port Arthur, Texas. The story is now less about the blast video and more about what still constrains the plant: restart mechanics, lost utilities, emissions accounting, diesel sulfur compliance, litigation exposure, and the broader importance of a site that sits at the intersection of conventional refining and lower-carbon fuel production.
“The March 23 blast hit one of Valero’s most important Gulf Coast refining assets, a site that links conventional fuel production, logistics, and lower-carbon fuel investment.”
The most useful way to read the incident is to separate the three layers of information. First, there is what has been publicly confirmed about the shutdown, the damaged unit, and the restart sequence. Second, there is what the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has published in its emissions-event system. Third, there is what remains an allegation, inference, or still-pending investigation. That distinction matters because early industrial-incident coverage often compresses those layers into a single narrative, even though they do not yet deserve equal weight.
The Latest TERse Tips
President Trump backed down Tuesday from a threat to wipe out the entirety of Iranian civilization, saying he agreed to a two-week cease-fire deal with Iran in hopes the countries will be able to finalize a long-term peace agreement — The Wall Street Journal*
The Day Trump’s Iran Threat Gripped the World — in posting that a whole civilization would die if no deal was struck, the president sparked a frantic global guessing game over his real intentions — “Less than ninety minutes before his deadline, Trump backed down, writing in a social-media post that he had agreed to a two-week cease-fire with Iran and would suspend his threatened strikes subject to the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz” — The Wall Street Journal*
ERCOT staff say they are about to transfer work on the transitional batch study process to streamline the interconnection of large loads, as most of the rule is laid out in a Planning Guide revision request — RTO Insider*
Six South Texas county judges joined groundwater and surface water conservation officials and Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Jim Wright on Monday, April 6 at the Goliad Memorial Auditorium to address worsening drought conditions and the long-term water outlook — among the county judges on the panel of the Water Town Hall that drew residents concerned about declining supplies, was San Patricio’s David Krebs, who said his county faces a complex water delivery structure involving multiple communities and supply systems — South Texas News
Pflugerville water crisis: 40 citations issued so far for Stage 3 violations — KTBC
Greenpeace has asked for a second trial after a judge entered a $345 million judgment against the organization in a landmark case brought by the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline, Energy Transfer — News from the States
First responders across Southeast Texas received hands-on training Tuesday evening on how to handle emergencies involving electric vehicles, as Tesla hosted a session focused on the growing presence of EVs on local roads — KBMT
Houston-based America First Refining has selected Fluor as its front-end engineering and design partner, the Irving-based engineering and construction firm announced April 7 — Houston Business Journal*
An Abu Dhabi investor announced late Tuesday that it is taking a stake in two major natural gas pipelines that operate across and between the Upper Midwest and Canada — the investor, E Point Zero said it has agreed to pay $2.25 billion for Oklahoma-based Traverse Midstream Partners. E Point Zero Holding is a subsidiary of Two Point Zero, an investment platform headed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan — Texas Lawbook
Baker Hughes said Tuesday it has secured a strategic order from San Matias Pipeline S.A. to supply three gas compression units for a major natural gas pipeline project in Argentina — see the press release
Explosives were found in a border area between Hungary and Serbia near a pipeline that carries Russian gas, and which both depend heavily on — UPI
Oil & Gas Texas
Reuters – April 7, 2026
Freeport LNG seeks approval to demolish obsolete import facilities in Texas*
Freeport LNG has asked U.S. regulators for permission to demolish facilities in Texas that were previously used to import liquefied natural gas, according to a regulatory filing. While the U.S. was once a major importer of the fuel, the shale revolution transformed the domestic gas market and turned the country into the world’s largest LNG exporter. Freeport has not imported LNG since 2011.
“As the terminal has been operated exclusively for the purpose of liquefying natural gas and exporting LNG, and has not regasified imported LNG for well over a decade, Freeport LNG proposes to decommission, disconnect, and/or demolish certain obsolete facilities,” the company told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Freeport, the third largest LNG exporter in the U.S., said it wants FERC approval for the project by the end of this year, adding that removing the unused infrastructure would enhance operational safety and significantly reduce the time employees spend maintaining and inspecting non-operational assets.
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Upstream – April 7, 2026
Chevron resumes Leviathan gas production offshore Israel
“On 31 March, Chevron received a notification from the Petroleum Commissioner at the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, according to which all preparations required for the resumption of operations of the Leviathan platform may be carried out,” NewMed said in a statement. The co-venturer added it intends to examine the possibility of receiving compensation from the state in connection with the 33-day suspension of production from Leviathan, Israel’s largest gas field.
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Reuters – April 2, 2026
Oil giants show early interest in US Gulf deepwater field stake, sources say*
European energy majors TotalEnergies and Shell are among companies eyeing a majority stake in one of the U.S. Gulf’s most promising sites, three sources with knowledge of the process said, as interest in North American energy prospects rises due to the Middle East conflict. London-listed BP is also interested, two of the people and a fourth one said, as is Spain’s Repsol, a fifth person said. Chevron is also expected to consider a bid, two of the people said.
Two of the owners of the Shenandoah offshore field kicked off a sale process for their stakes in recent days, offering possible buyers 51% of the project, three of the people said. The selling duo are Blackstone-backed Beacon Offshore Energy, the operator of the field, and HEQ Deepwater, which is owned by Quantum Capital Group and Houston Energy. The rest of the holding is with Israel’s Navitas Petroleum. Initial bids are expected to be filed in coming weeks, the sources said. Other parties that may be drawn into the process include large Middle East and Asian energy producers, said a sixth person with knowledge of the process.
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Hydrocarbon Processing – April 7, 2026
Fluor signs contract with X-Energy for advanced nuclear project at Dow’s Seadrift facility in Texas
Fluor announced that it has entered into a contract with X-energy to support the company’s proposed advanced nuclear project at Dow’s UCC Seadrift Operations in south Texas. Under the agreement, Fluor will initially deliver Front-End Loading Stage 2 (FEL-2) services. FEL-2 focuses on project definition, strategic planning, feasibility assessment, cost control and risk mitigation. Fluor will recognize the undisclosed contract value for this initial portion of work in the first quarter of 2026.
The X-energy project proposes to develop four, 80-megawatt small modular reactor (SMR) units to supply Dow’s Seadrift site with safe, reliable, carbon‑free electricity and industrial steam, replacing aging energy and steam infrastructure. The project is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), which accelerates the commercialization of advanced nuclear technologies through cost‑shared partnerships with industry. A construction permit application was submitted in March 2025 and is currently being reviewed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
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Natural Gas Intelligence – April 1, 2026
Cheniere Signals Continued Feed Gas Growth With Sixth LNG Train Startup
Cheniere Energy Inc. has begun commissioning activities on the sixth of seven trains at its Corpus Christi LNG Stage 3 expansion project just days after the fifth train reached commercial operations. The firm told Texas regulators in a filing that contractors with Bechtel Group could initiate startup operations on Wednesday. Each train can add up to 0.21 Bcf/d in feed gas demand from West Texas hubs at peak capacity. Bechtel has delivered trains for Stage 3 to Cheniere roughly 2-3 months after commissioning begins.
LNG feed gas demand is forecast to remain near all-time highs despite multiple operational blips at Gulf Coast terminals. Wood Mackenzie estimated nominations could average 19.6 Bcf/d over the next seven days as production at Golden Pass LNG and Cheniere’s Corpus Christi expansion continue to ramp up. However, pipeline flows indicated outages at Freeport LNG and Golden Pass on Tuesday, leading to nominations being revised down in a later gas cycle.
Oil & Gas National & International
The New York Times – April 7, 2026
How Trump Took the U.S. to War With Iran*
The black S.U.V. carrying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the White House just before 11 a.m. on Feb. 11. The Israeli leader, who had been pressing for months for the United States to agree to a major assault on Iran, was whisked inside with little ceremony, out of view of reporters, primed for one of the most high-stakes moments in his long career. U.S. and Israeli officials gathered first in the Cabinet Room, adjacent to the Oval Office. Then Mr. Netanyahu headed downstairs for the main event: a highly classified presentation on Iran for President Trump and his team in the White House Situation Room, which was rarely used for in-person meetings with foreign leaders.
Mr. Trump sat down, but not in his usual position at the head of the room’s mahogany conference table. Instead, the president took a seat on one side, facing the large screens mounted along the wall. Mr. Netanyahu sat on the other side, directly opposite the president. Appearing on the screen behind the prime minister was David Barnea, the director of Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, as well as Israeli military officials. Arrayed visually behind Mr. Netanyahu, they created the image of a wartime leader surrounded by his team.
Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, sat at the far end of the table. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who doubled as the national security adviser, had taken his regular seat. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who generally sat together in such settings, were on one side; joining them was John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director. Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, and Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s special envoy, who had been negotiating with the Iranians, rounded out the main group.
The gathering had been kept deliberately small to guard against leaks. Other top cabinet secretaries had no idea it was happening. Also absent was the vice president. JD Vance was in Azerbaijan, and the meeting had been scheduled on such short notice that he was unable to make it back in time. The presentation that Mr. Netanyahu would make over the next hour would be pivotal in setting the United States and Israel on the path toward a major armed conflict in the middle of one of the world’s most volatile regions. And it would lead to a series of discussions inside the White House over the following days and weeks, the details of which have not been previously reported, in which Mr. Trump weighed his options and the risks before giving the go-ahead to join Israel in attacking Iran.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 7, 2026
Some Republicans Set Their Own Deadline on Iran War. It’s Getting Close.*
As President Trump threatened a major escalation in Iran before easing off on his ultimatum Tuesday night, the Republican-led Congress is out of the picture. Lawmakers are on a holiday recess, and won’t return to Washington until next week. But some Republican lawmakers have set a deadline of their own that is approaching at the end of this month: They say federal law requires the president to seek approval from Congress if military operations in Iran last longer than 60 to 90 days. The Constitution grants Congress the power to declare war and fund the military, but makes the president commander in chief of the country’s armed forces.
In 1973, following the Vietnam War, Congress passed the War Powers Act, overriding then-President Nixon’s veto. The law mandates that the president notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying U.S. troops. After 60 days, the military operations must be terminated unless Congress has voted to declare war or passed legislation to authorize the use of force. The 60-day period can be extended for 30 days if the president certifies to Congress in writing that the continued use of force is needed to safely withdraw U.S. troops. In an opinion article published last week, Sen. John Curtis (R., Utah) referenced the War Powers Act and the loss of almost 60,000 American lives in Vietnam to explain why he won’t support military operations in Iran beyond a 60-day window, unless Trump secures congressional approval.
Curtis added in a social-media post on Friday that while he backed the president’s actions he wouldn’t back funding for further military operations in Iran unless Congress formally declares war. “We must be clear-eyed about history and the Constitution,” Curtis said. His office declined to comment further. Rep. Don Bacon (R., Neb.) said in an interview on Tuesday that he agreed with Curtis. “I’m supportive of advocating a military response to the Iranians, but I do think we should have a say in it now,” Bacon said. If Congress hasn’t approved military operations after 60 days, he said, “you’ve got to stop. So I think by law we’ve got to get involved, and the president needs to make the case to Congress.”
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Financial Times – March 18, 2026
As Verity points out, the premium paid for oil as far away as Norway, Algeria and Kazakhstan has also shot up higher because of their resemblance to the Gulf crude now getting bottled up inside the Strait of Hormuz. Just to be clear, these crazy Gulf oil prices reflect how some Asian refiners are simply desperate to secure the crude they need, and are happy to pay what it takes to get it (Norwegian oil naturally takes longer to ship). Meanwhile, the current Brent and WTI contracts are for May delivery, when there should be a lot of supply coming from various strategic reserves, leading to the big divergence.
They therefore reflect different oil markets. But that doesn’t mean that the Gulf oil price craziness isn’t worrying. “These benchmarks are directly exposed to export disruptions and therefore capture marginal scarcity more effectively than Atlantic-linked crudes,” JPMorgan’s analysts argued in a note yesterday. …
Unfortunately, JPMorgan’s analysts therefore reckon that those wild Oman and Dubai oil prices are likely to prove a harbinger for the larger oil price benchmarks if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t reopened pronto. They said:
“. . . The apparent stability in Brent and WTI should not be taken as evidence of ample global supply. It reflects a temporary buffer created by regional inventory overhangs, benchmark composition, and policy interventions. If the Strait does not reopen, this divergence is unlikely to persist: Brent and WTI will ultimately reprice higher as Atlantic basin inventories are drawn down and the global market is forced to clear at a materially tighter supply level.”
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S&P Global Platts – April 7, 2026
US EIA trims 2026 US spot gas price forecasts on near-average storage expectation
The US Energy Information Administration on April 7 again trimmed its natural gas spot price forecast for the second and third quarters of 2026, saying that it expects Henry Hub prices to remain closely aligned to the year-ago quarters, with inventories remaining near average. The agency, in its April Short-Term Energy Outlook, forecast that Q2 Henry Hub spot gas prices will average $3.01/million British thermal unit, 9 cents below the March estimate. The Q3 forecast was lowered by 7 cents from the March estimate to $3.26/MMBtu.
The April STEO marked the second consecutive month in which the agency lowered its spot gas prices for the rest of the year. The EIA now expects Henry Hub prices to average $3.67/MMBtu for 2026, 9 cents below the March full-year forecast. The agency also lowered its 2027 Henry Hub price forecast by 26 cents from the March estimate to $3.59/MMBtu.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 7, 2026
The American Gas Exporter That Pulls In Billions During Energy Shocks*
The world is in the throes of a significant energy shock for the second time in four years. Natural-gas exporter Venture Global is ready to reap the profits. With an unorthodox business model that allows it to capitalize on global disruptions, Venture Global raked in billions of dollars in 2022 when Russia throttled gas deliveries to Europe and buyers sought new supplies. The windfall helped the company become the second-largest U.S. exporter of liquefied natural gas, after Cheniere Energy LNG 0.08%increase; green up pointing triangle. Now, Venture Global is positioned for a repeat scenario that could boost its ambition to not only surpass Cheniere, but also overtake Qatar, the tiny Middle Eastern nation that sits on some of the world’s largest gas reserves and has become an LNG juggernaut.
The Strait of Hormuz remains closed to most tankers, which has clogged LNG flows, and Iran’s missiles have crippled Qatar’s facilities that liquefy and ship natural gas. That has turned Venture Global’s available cargoes into a hot commodity. Unlike Cheniere, which sells most of its cargoes under long-term contracts, Venture Global reserves a large share of its volumes for spot markets, where prices can fluctuate widely.
Utilities, Electricity & Renewables
MSN – April 7, 2026
Fort Worth asks landowner to remove data center use from zoning request
Developers hoping to get 184 acres of land in west Fort Worth rezoned for industrial and multifamily residential use will not be able to use the land for a data center, as growing concern from residents has prompted the city to pump the brakes on several data center developments.
A zoning application filed by Fort Worth-based construction company Westwood Professional Services, for land owned by the John Henry Dean & Shirley Lawson Foundation and the Dallas-based developer Standridge Companies, requests that the Fort Worth Zoning Commission rezone two parcels of land at the northwest corner of FM 1187 and Interstate 20. The land is in Fort Worth’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, with the developer hoping to get the land annexed by the City Council after the Zoning Commission decides on the zoning case.
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San Antonio Report – April 4, 2026
CPS Energy delays rate increase discussion until after summer, passes $50M budget shortfall
CPS Energy won’t ask for a rate increase yet, but that means the public utility is looking at a $50 million funding gap through the beginning of 2027 after its board of trustees approved its budget on March 30. The electricity provider moved the budget forward after scrutiny from San Antonio City Council last month and will look at multiple strategies for addressing the $50 million funding gap. The current budget does not include a rate increase, officials said, but rate increases are still on the table in future years as the utility makes large infrastructure investments.
CPS Energy had proposed a budget earlier this year that ran between February 2026 and January 2027 with plans to discuss filling that $50 million shortfall by increasing rates for customers. But the utility was cautioned by city council members, who were concerned that, by approving such a budget, the utility intended to propose a rate increase without their approval.
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Power Magazine – April 7, 2026
Fervo, Turboden Sign 1.7-GW Turbine Deal for Geothermal Power Plants
A subsidiary of Italy-headquartered Turboden has a turbine supply agreement with a Texas-based group, a deal that will further support U.S. geothermal energy projects.
Turboden America LLC, a subsidiary of Turboden S.p.A.—part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group—on April 7 said it will provide its Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) turbines for up to 35 GeoBlocks, which are Fervo Energy’s 50-MW ORC power plants. The companies on Tuesday said the new commitment for 1,750 MW of generation capacity builds on Turboden’s prior agreement with Fervo to supply ORC units for three 50-MW GeoBlocks at Fervo’s enhanced geothermal development in Cape Station, Utah.
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Texas Monthly – April 7, 2026
How One Texas County Struck a Deal With Its Data Centers*
When Scooter Mangold first heard how much water Microsoft’s data center engineers were requesting from his Central Texas water company, he didn’t just say no. “I told them they’d lost their minds,” Mangold told me, his face breaking into a grin under a white lampshade mustache. His company, Yancey Water Supply, could have probably made it work, he admitted, but that would have dramatically reduced the available groundwater for everyone else in the slice of Medina County it serves, including his own kids and grandkids. It could have been another in a line of now-common stories: tiny, outlawyered rural area takes on multibillion-dollar corporation trying to build massive, loud, resource-hungry data center in the community.
Instead, Mangold, one of the dozen or so water providers in the county, presented a counteroffer: Send over your blueprints, he told the tech company. Let’s see what we can figure out. Problem-solving is Mangold’s forte. He beamed as he showed me the framed enrollment certificate for a 2025 law he says was written, essentially, for him. When he needed an exemption for one of his water-storage projects that ran through the heavily regulated Edwards Aquifer, he simply started making calls. Within a single legislative session, he told me, the problem was fixed. He doesn’t view the resource wars brought by the influx of data centers all that differently.
After reviewing Microsoft’s plans, he went back to the corporation: If it could switch from evaporative cooling, which requires a constant stream of fresh water, to a different type, it could reduce the proposed data center’s water needs by about 85 percent—150,000 gallons per day—figures he pounded out on a sturdy desk calculator to show me. “I told them, ‘Come back with the air-cool design, and we’ll talk,’ ” Mangold said. They did.
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Austin American-Statesman – April 7, 2026
Electric big rigs and self-driving semis flocking to Texas highways. Here’s why.*
The heavy duty cabless autonomous truck pulls out of a lot onto a quiet street outside a North Austin brewery, flexing its ability to maneuver alongside other vehicles on a public street before turning around, coming back and parking. Einride CEO Roozbeh Charli, whose company built the truck, and other leaders in autonomous and electric trucking say such big rigs soon could be a common sight across Texas.
“I’m quite comfortable with the trajectory of the regulatory environment,” he said. “With the environment today, we and other players in industry will be able to deploy tens and maybe hundreds of vehicles.” Stockholm-based Einride, which became the first company to operate an autonomous truck on a public road in 2019, says it already operates one of the world’s largest electric heavy-duty fleets. Now, the company is putting its self-driving trucks on the road across the U.S.
In late March, it received approval from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to operate its autonomous big rig in Austin — where Einride has U.S. headquarters — after receiving similar approvals for deployments in Arizona, Colorado, South Carolina and Tennessee. A week earlier, it announced that it’s turning a 41-mile stretch of the Texas 130 toll road between San Antonio and Austin into an autonomous freight corridor in partnership with SH 130 Concession Co.
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Inside Climate News – April 7, 2026
The Hidden Culprit Behind Rising Gas Utility Bills
From the cold snap this winter to the U.S.’s war with Iran, rising energy bills are making headlines. But there’s a larger story behind spikes in gas-utility costs, one decades in the making. The main driver of these bills used to be the price of gas itself. Now it’s the gas system infrastructure, like pipeline replacements: That accounted for about 70 percent of customer bills in 2024, while gas was just 30 percent.
“The sleeper culprit of these continuously rising bills is, in fact, the infrastructure,” said Kristin Bagdanov, co-author of a new report by the Building Decarbonization Coalition (BDC) that was published Tuesday. Electric bills have been on the rise too, but not nearly at the same rate as those for gas. In 2025, gas utility bills rose 60 percent faster than electric ones and four times faster than inflation, the BDC report found. All of this comes as gas use declines, a result of more efficient gas boilers alongside a push towards electrification as states work to meet climate goals.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 7, 2026
These Cities and States Are Taking Aim at Data Centers (map)*
Maine looks poised to become the first state to freeze building of new data centers with legislation that could pass this spring, but community backlash against these properties is spreading across the country. Lawmakers in more than 10 states have proposed temporary bans on data-center construction this year. Dozens of county and city governments have already passed such measures. …
Virginia and Texas lead the country in data-center construction, with 579 and 411 server farms, respectively, according to the industry website Data Center Map. The data-center boom today is driven by the construction of large properties for training and operating artificial intelligence, or so-called hyperscale data centers.
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Alter Net – April 7, 2026
Trump faces red state revolt MAGA did not expect
President Donald Trump is pushing AI all over America — but a small Wisconsin town is laying the foundations for how to fight back. A small Wisconsin city upended by a data center backed by President Donald Trump is set to vote Tuesday on a referendum that could reshape grassroots resistance to AI projects nationwide.
“The vote in Port Washington, a lakeside town of roughly 12,000 people just north of Milwaukee, appears to be the first time any U.S. municipality will go to the ballot to kneecap data center development,” Politico reported on Tuesday. “It marks an aggressive new tactic in an escalating movement to oppose the hulking artificial intelligence factories — and offers a potential blueprint for other small towns challenging Big Tech.”
Regulatory
JD Supra – April 6, 2026
Texas Legislature Sets Its Sights on Data Centers and AI — What You Need to Know: Foley & Lardner
Texas House and Senate leadership recently released their interim charges, which serve as “homework assignments” for legislative committees to study before the 2027 session. These directives often form the foundation for future legislation, and can signal leadership priorities for the upcoming session. This year’s charges show a clear focus on the rapid growth of data centers, artificial intelligence (AI), and their impact on the state’s infrastructure and the conduct of private and public business in the state.
- Balancing Growth and Rights: Lawmakers are seeking ways to balance the economic benefits of data center growth against the impact on local landowners, private property rights, and community integrity. Systemic potential economic benefit has brushed up against concerns local communities will have difficulty absorbing the impacts (Senate Business and Commerce Committee).
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Texas Energy Report NewsClips
Tuesday April 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 prices extended gains Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on his threats to attack Iran’s civil infrastructure, warning that the nation will be “taken out in one night” if the Islamic Republic’s leadership failed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May broadened gains to trade over 4% higher at $115.41 per barrel as of 2:08 a.m. ET.
Brent crude for June delivery rose about 2.3% to $111.41 per barrel.
On Monday, Trump repeated his threat that the U.S. would destroy Iran’s power plants and bridges if Tehran did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz by 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, while also signaling that Iranian leadership was negotiating in earnest.
The closure of the narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman has led to a supply shock, sending prices for crude, jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline soaring since the war broke out on Feb. 28.
“They have ’til tomorrow,” the president said. “Now we’ll see what happens. I can tell you, they are negotiating, we think in good faith, we’re going to find out. We’re getting the help of some incredible countries that want this to be ended, because it affects them also.”
Top Stories
Yahoo! News – April 6, 2026
North American oil is in demand as world grasps for supplies
The spiderweb of cracks in the global oil market are spreading across the Rocky Mountains and US Great Plains as demand for a shrinking pool of accessible crude escalates. Oil grades from Texas and North Dakota to Alberta are surging as refiners compete with rivals in Asia and Europe for barrels after weeks of strangled shipments via the Strait of Hormuz.
Bakken oil traded at the Clearbrook, Minnesota, hub shot up to an US$18 premium to the monthly average of West Texas Intermediate on Monday, compared with a US$1.20 discount the day before the Iran war erupted on Feb. 28, according to Modern Commodities prices. “It’s all about US exports,” said Dennis Kissler, head of energy trading at BOK Financial Securities Inc. “We’re going to be exporting a ton of crude, that’s what’s keeping WTI elevated.”
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The Guardian (UK) – April 5, 2026
‘It’s all fear and headlines’: energy traders race to keep pace with volatile oil markets
On the weekend that US-Israeli drones first began to rain down on Tehran, energy traders across the world’s major financial centres began to redraw their strategies. When they returned to their trading desks on that March Monday morning, they found oil and gas prices spiking amid a market nightmare made real: the unprecedented shutdown of the vital trade route through the strait of Hormuz.“I had been telling our oil trader for weeks to be ready for a war with Iran,” said one trading analyst at a major European energy company.
“But he didn’t see it. The market was oversupplied, and prices were already looking higher than they should, so he shorted the market. That guy lost millions after the first strikes,” he said. “He’s an idiot.” In the weeks since war engulfed the Middle East, global energy markets have whipsawed in response to the escalating conflict as it throttled flows of fossil fuels to the global market and damaged the vital energy infrastructure underpinning the Gulf economies.
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Associated Press – April 6, 2026
Low-voltage utility elections face surge of attention as electricity bills rise
Rising household electricity prices and controversy over data centers are reshaping low-profile elections for control over utilities that build power plants and power lines — and then bill people for the cost. The tensions played a prominent role during last year’s elections in Georgia, New Jersey and Virginia, and now they’re sweeping through Arizona and Alabama, where once-sleepy contests are becoming political brawls.
Even national groups like Turning Point Action — better known for its role mobilizing young conservatives behind President Donald Trump — are getting involved by knocking on doors and texting campaign messages. The organization wants to curb environmentalists’ influence over the Phoenix-area Salt River Project, the largest public utility in the country, in a Tuesday election.
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Politico – April 6, 2026
‘AI midterms’ start early in Texas
Texans have been pressing their state lawmakers for months to place more restrictions on power-hungry data centers. But Big Tech has been talking to legislators, too. And as I write today, they brought their checkbooks. The artificial intelligence industry has poured millions of dollars into the campaigns of Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Republicans in the Texas Legislature who are up for reelection this year. Texas is home to hundreds of data centers in operation or development — second only to Virginia.
“This will be thought of as the AI midterms, because there’s so much money out there,” said Marjorie Connolly, communications director for the Tech Oversight Project, a watchdog group. It’s a battle that’s brewing across the country as Americans grapple with the growing footprint of warehouse-sized data centers. The facilities consume eye-popping amounts of electricity and water, prompting both Republicans and Democrats to consider ways to limit the impact on constituents’ utility bills.
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Solar Power World – April 6, 2026
Texas attorney general launches investigation into residential solar sales practices
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into the sales practices of residential solar companies in the state. As part of the initiative, Paxton has issued civil investigative demands (CIDs) to a number of companies (including Freedom Forever, Sunrun, Lone Star Solar Services and CAM Solar). Collectively, there have been over 100 complains filed with the Office of the Attorney General against these companies.
The attorney general says these companies are being investigated for violations of the Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act, including misrepresentation of energy bill savings, the efficacy of solar panel systems and equipment implementations. The CIDs require the companies to disclose, among other information, documents regarding how they track changes to electricity bills for consumers using their systems to determine savings, warranties, service plans, marketing materials and contract information.
The Latest TERse Tips
Ballistic missiles and drones launched by Iran have allegedly struck Saudi Arabia’s Jubail Industrial City in the Eastern Province, sparking large fires at key petrochemical facilities, according to visuals circulated by Fars News Agency, triggering fires at key petrochemical facilities
Iranian media report that attacks have targeted facilities at the South Pars natural gas field
How Trump holding off on endorsing Cornyn has energized Paxton in the Texas race for Senate — Dallas Morning News*
El Paso Electric marked the completion of its landmark Felina Solar Facility project in Fabens — KTSM
Cheniere Energy, Inc. Monday announced the retirement of G. Andrea Botta as Chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors effective as of the Company’s 2026 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on May 14, 2026; following Mr. Botta’s retirement, Jack Fusco, Cheniere’s President and Chief Executive Officer, will assume the role of Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Patricia Collawn will become the Lead Director — see the press release
Shares of Blue Owl Capital Inc. closed at a record low on Monday, capping weeks of declines fueled by mounting concerns over the health of the $1.8 trillion private credit market — Bloomberg*
How Thomas Powell, one of Texas’ newest billionaires, grew a $6.7B Houston manufacturing business — Houston Chronicle*
Oil & Gas Texas
Midland Reporter-Telegram – April 6, 2026
Operators rethink ‘stay the course’ as sustained $100 oil more probable*
Permian Basin oil and natural gas producers remain puzzled about commodity prices in the wake of the conflict involving Iran. “Volatility” and “uncertainty” were mentioned numerous times in the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ recent first-quarter energy survey. As one respondent put it: “We really have no idea.” A second wrote: “We do not agree with expectations that the price of oil will retreat to the $50s.”
But there are signs producers are beginning to rethink their stay-the-course plans announced at the beginning of the year. As another survey respondent noted: “We are drilling six wells in 2026 versus zero prior to the increase in oil prices.” Analysts at East Daley Analytics wrote in a recent report that if sustained $100-a-barrel West Texas Intermediate prices become more probable, rig activity could rise and production gains could quickly fill crude pipelines.
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Reuters – April 6, 2026
Phillips 66 faces $900 million loss as Iran crisis lifts oil prices*
U.S. refiner Phillips 66 said on Monday its first-quarter results were hit by a sharp increase in commodity prices, leaving it with nearly $900 million in pre-tax mark-to-market losses, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Energy prices soared after the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began in late February. Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for roughly a fifth of global oil and gas supplies, has roiled global energy markets and sent crude prices soaring.
Phillips 66’s losses were mainly due to its net short position in derivatives contracts related to crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas liquids and renewables feedstocks. Its net short position in derivatives contracts related to crude oil and petroleum products was approximately 50 million barrels as of the end of March, the Houston, Texas-based refiner said. The losses were distributed across business segments, the filing showed.
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Houston Chronicle – Yahoo! News – April 6, 2026
New East Texas LNG facility is launching at ‘the right time’ as Iran war reshapes global gas markets
Terry Fritz bought her light blue lakefront house more than two years ago, as the now-hulking liquefied natural gas facility took shape across the street. Golden Pass LNG, owned by QatarEnergy and Houston oil behemoth Exxon Mobil, started commercial production last week and expects to ship its first cargo in the coming months. The water that laps against it is the same that added real estate appeal to the line of neighboring pillar-raised homes and vacation rentals.
Fritz, 70, said she didn’t mind Golden Pass. The gas processing and export facility was relatively quiet, she said. Unlike the refineries down the road in Port Arthur, she couldn’t smell the gas being piped in and, at night, the flares and lights made it look like she lived near a little city. “They do what they need to do,” Fritz said of companies operating nearby, like Exxon. “And if it keeps the gas lower than it is in California, then it’s nice.”
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The Guardian (UK) – April 1, 2026
Invisible plumes and ‘terrible pollution’: the reality of the US gas sites rated ‘grade A’
Rapidly expanding certification scheme run by a UK nonprofit and used by major gas companies may be understating the actual methane emissions it purports to certify, a Guardian investigation has found. BP, ExxonMobil and EQT are among the producers that have turned to London-based MiQ to demonstrate that their US-produced natural gas complies with the European Union Methane Regulation, or EUMR, which aims to curb energy-related emissions.
The findings raise questions about whether third-party certification schemes can credibly demonstrate exporters’ compliance with the bloc’s new methane rules, an approach championed by the gas industry and now supported by the European Commission. MiQ runs the largest voluntary methane certification programme globally, covering about a fifth of US natural gas production and 7% globally. It maintains that its framework is specifically designed to comply with the EU methane regulation.
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Yahoo! News – April 5, 2026
Texas wants to take oil land from New Mexico. What could go wrong?: Bud Kennedy
Texas wants to take over part of New Mexico. That was the unbelievable headline last week. It wasn’t April Fool. Two Republican lawmakers in New Mexico started this. They’d like to move Hobbs, Portales and two whole counties into redder, more oil-friendly Texas. In the words of Lovington Republican Rep. Randall Pettigrew: “We can get the hell out of New Mexico. … [Democrats] want all the money.”
Texas, of course, would love the money. We’d gladly take $13 billion a year in oil revenue from Lea and Roosevelt counties. We can even send an army of lobbyists and oil zillionaires to make it happen. After all, why stop at Texas’ current 254 counties? What’s a few counties between neighbors? Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, actually assigned a committee to consider the opportunity. … As you can imagine, this did not go over well in Santa Fe or Albuquerque. The oil from southeast New Mexico is considered the bedrock of the state’s economy.
Oil & Gas National & International
RFDTV – April 6, 2026
Ethanol Production Falls While Demand and Exports Shift
U.S. ethanol production declined last week while demand softened, even as exports and blending activity showed signs of strength. Data from the Energy Information Administration shows production dropped 3.7 percent to 1.08 million barrels per day, the lowest weekly output since January. Despite the weekly decline, production remained 1.1 percent higher than a year ago and above the three-year average. The four-week average also slipped slightly to 1.10 million barrels per day, reflecting a modest pullback in overall output levels.
Ethanol inventories tightened, falling 4.3 percent to 26.0 million barrels, with stock declines reported across nearly all regions. At the same time, gasoline demand — a key indicator for ethanol use — dropped 2.7 percent to a four-week low, though it remained above year-ago levels.
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Bloomberg – April 6, 2026
Abu Dhabi Petrochemicals Plant Halts as Attack Sparks Fires*
A huge petrochemicals plant at Ruwais in the United Arab Emirates was halted after an attack sparked multiple fires, Abu Dhabi’s government media office said Sunday. The fires were caused by falling debris from air-defense interception, the office said in a post on X. No injuries were reported. The UAE and other countries around the Persian Gulf have repeatedly come under attack from Iran since the US-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic began in late February. The sprawling Ruwais industrial zone in the Al Dhafra region suffered an assault last month that shut down Abu Dhabi’s only oil refinery.
The petrochemicals plant at the complex produces polyethylene and polypropylene and is operated by Borouge Plc, a firm that recently merged with Borealis AG and Nova Chemicals Corp. to create a vast polyolefin company. State-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. has been developing the Ruwais area as a major hub as the firm pushes into trading refined fuels and builds a global chemicals and natural gas business. But UAE infrastructure remains a prime target for Iran more than a month into the war. Last week, the country’s largest gas-processing facility, at Habshan, suspended operations following an attack.
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S&P Global Platts – April 6, 2026
Hormuz energy shock threatens food security, affordability gap for import-dependent countries
Rising energy and fertilizer costs linked to shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz are amplifying risks to global food systems, with low-income, import-dependent countries facing the brunt, according to recent analyses by the UN and Purdue University. Shipping through the critical trade corridor has effectively stalled, with transits down by more than 95% since late February. The resulting disruption to oil, gas and fertilizer flows has triggered a cascade of cost pressures across agricultural supply chains, the UN Trade and Development said in a March 30 study.
The impact is increasingly feeding into food systems through higher input, transportation and trade costs, while a separate March 31 analysis by Purdue University highlighted how the same disruption is structurally widening the gap between food-secure and food-insecure economies, said Ken Foster, professor of Agricultural Economics and director, Purdue Farm Policy Study Group, and Bernhard Dalheimer, assistant professor of Macroeconomics and Trade.
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Reuters – April 6, 2026
Russian LNG producer Novatek sets up company to build vessels*
Russia’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas Novatek has set up a company to build its own vessels and floating facilities, according to the state’s registry of authorised companies, amid a shortage of gas tankers due to sanctions. Ilya Lushchikov, who is also head of Novatek’s Murmansk LNG project, is in charge of the new company, called Severny Inzhiniring, or Northern Engineering, which was set up on March 25, according to the registry.
Western sanctions imposed in 2022 significantly limited the availability for Russia of ice-class tankers to transport LNG cargos. Zvezda, Russia’s most advanced shipbuilder, specializing in constructing large Arc7 ice-class tankers capable of breaking through ice up to two metres (6.6 feet) thick, has so far only delivered one Arc-7 class tanker for Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 plant.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 6, 2026
The Next Target for the U.S. and Israel Is Iran’s Economy*
The U.S. and Israel have a set of targets lined up in Iran designed to cripple the country’s economy and ensure the regime’s recovery from this war is long and painful. Israel is awaiting authorization from Washington this week to begin striking Iran’s energy facilities, an Israeli official said, potentially undermining output in one of the world’s major oil-and-gas producers. In a Wall Street Journal interview, President Trump said Sunday the U.S. was prepared to hit all of Iran’s bridges and power plants, creating enough damage that it would “take 20 years to rebuild, if they’re lucky, if they have a country.”
Striking the underpinnings of Iran’s economy would mark an escalation in the five-week-long war that is aimed at forcing Tehran to give up the economic leverage it has gained by slowing traffic through the Strait of Hormuz—the waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil flows. Trump has set a deadline of Tuesday evening for the strait to be opened. Israel and the U.S. have already begun stepping up attacks on nonenergy targets in recent days, including hitting Iran’s biggest steel and petrochemical factories and a landmark bridge. “They are signaling, we’re serious, and if you will continue not to agree to end the war, the price you’ll pay to your economy is gonna be higher and higher,” said Avner Golov, a former Israeli national-security official and now vice president at MIND Israel, an advisory group.
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NPR – April 1, 2026
Q&A: The oil industry is betting big on plastics. Here’s what that means for the future
Tonya Mosely: My guest today is Beth Gardiner, a journalist and author of the new book “Plastic Inc.: The Secret History And Shocking Future Of Big Oil’s Biggest Bet.” In it, she argues that while millions of us have been trying to use less plastic, the fossil fuel industry has been making more. Plastic, she says, is Big Oil’s plan B. The less we use, the more they make.
Gardiner: Well, it was about seven or eight years ago, and I still remember the morning that I saw this headline. It was an article in The Guardian about the plastic and petrochemical industry. That particular story was specific to plastic producers in the United States, and it said that because of fracking, which was such an interesting connection to me, some of these huge companies like ExxonMobil and Shell were ramping up to actually make 40%, I think it was, more plastic in the U.S. in the coming handful of years. And, I mean, it just felt like kind of a gut punch because, like you said, I’ve always been the person kind of carrying my bags to the store. I feel bad if I forget to bring them. I’m toting around my metal water bottle. I have it sitting right here.
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April 3, 2026
The war in Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz have plunged global energy markets into deep uncertainty, disrupting critical oil and gas flows and accelerating structural shifts in how governments and industry approach energy policy, trade, and security. In some regions, the effects are already acute. Southeast Asia faces fuel shortages and rationing that threaten industrial activity. China is managing domestic stockpiles while balancing exports to key trading partners, exposing vulnerabilities across its supply chains.
Europe is confronting soaring energy costs that strain households and industry, heighten inflationary pressures, and force policymakers to trade off short-term relief with long-term transition goals. Africa grapples with higher fuel and fertilizer prices that exacerbate food insecurity, even as the conflict opens opportunities for oil, gas and infrastructure investment. Meanwhile, in the Western Hemisphere, the crisis is creating new opportunities for energy producers across the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Guyana to expand production and attract investment as demand for secure, diversified supply intensifies.
Utilities, Electricity & Renewables
San Antonio Express-News – April 5, 2026
Renewable energy is a ‘second opportunity’ for some rural Texans*
Ely Valdez was considering selling his flock of sheep when a solar farm moved in across the road. He was being laid off from oil field jobs every three months, he said, and money was tight. But what if his 27 sheep could graze the solar farm as a way to maintain the flock and potentially grow it to his goal of 100? When he contacted the solar development to discuss it, its owner asked a question that changed everything: “How much would you charge us?” Being paid for pasturing his sheep wasn’t at all on Valdez’s mind until that “lightbulb moment,” he said. But it opened the door for his development of companies that often work in partnership: EVA Ranch, a sheep vegetation management service, and South Texas Curbing, a ground maintenance company.
“We still have that same site that we started with 11 years ago,” Valdez said. “That means that we’re doing something right.” Now, the flock he oversees has grown to 10,000 sheep and expanded from grazing the 100-acre solar farm in South San Antonio to rotating across 40,000 acres throughout Texas, a site in Alabama and another in Louisiana. For Valdez, solar farm grazing was a lifeline to keeping his farming business afloat. Such ag-energy industry partnerships come as demand for electricity is spiking. Texas is facing an unprecedented surge in demand driven by population growth and an increasing number of large electric loads looking to connect to the statewide grid. In response, developers across Texas are building to meet the demand, with solar and battery sites now making up 77% of generation sources, grid operator the Electric Reliability Council of Texas reported in December.
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Inside Climate News – April 6, 2026
Trump’s Budget Proposes Massive Cuts for Climate and Environmental Programs
President Trump’s annual budget request to Congress continues his administration’s defunding of climate change programs, environmental protection and renewable energy, slashing the budgets of the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The spending plan for fiscal 2027 “builds on the President’s vision by continuing to constrain non-defense spending,” wrote Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, in a foreword to the 92-page document, which includes an historic, $1.5 trillion defense budget, an increase of 44 percent. EPA spending would be cut in half under Trump’s proposal, released Friday, and grants from the agency would be slashed by $1 billion. Congress rejected a similar budget request from the president last year.
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March 31, 2026
EIA Launches Pilot Survey on Energy Use at Data Centers: American Public Power Association
The U.S. Energy Information Administration is launching three voluntary pilot field studies to evaluate energy consumption in data centers, with web-based pilot surveys in Texas and Washington state as well as in-person interviews in Northern Virginia and Washington, DC. EIA identified 196 companies operating data centers across Texas, Washington state, and the Northern Virginia-DC region. Each company will be asked to report on the energy use of at least one data center in the targeted region. The questionnaire will cover energy sources, electricity consumption, site characteristics, server metrics, and cooling systems.
EIA Administrator Tristan Abbey is prioritizing data collection efforts in the rapidly evolving energy sector, EIA said. In February, EIA launched three voluntary pilot field studies to assess the feasibility of collecting data on graphite, vanadium, and zirconium, all of which are minerals critical to the energy sector. Graphite is used in batteries and advanced manufacturing; Vanadium is extracted in petroleum refining; and zirconium is used for nuclear fuel cladding.
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March 31, 2026
Over the past two years, electric distribution utility companies operating in the PJM Interconnection region have mounted an aggressive lobbying campaign, urging lawmakers to allow them to own and build power plants once again. As part of this effort, utilities – including Exelon, FirstEnergy, and PPL Electric – have held extensive private meetings with officials, lobbied for legislation, testified before public bodies, and mounted public-relations campaigns. EPI has compiled a timeline documenting these activities, including materials obtained through public records requests.
This campaign – commonly referred to as “re-regulation” – would reverse restructuring policies adopted by PJM-region states in the late 1990s, which required utilities to divest their power plants and shifted electricity generation to competitive wholesale markets. Electric distribution utilities in states such as Maryland and Pennsylvania no longer own generation assets, unlike vertically integrated monopoly utilities elsewhere in the country that continue to own generation, transmission, and distribution under state regulatory oversight.
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E&E News By Politico – March 24, 2026
Offshore wind’s cloudy day had a silver lining
As the Trump administration finalized a deal Monday to pay an offshore wind developer for abandoning a pair of leases, the country’s largest offshore wind farm announced it had begun generating electricity. The split-screen captures the state of offshore wind in America. Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, which energized the first of its 176 turbines, is the largest of five projects under construction. All five will rank among the largest renewable energy projects ever built in the United States — adding electricity to the grid at a time when utilities are racing to keep up with power demand from data centers.
“This achievement marks another important step forward, adding much‑needed electricity to help meet the fastest‑growing power demand in the country,” Dominion Energy CEO Robert Blue wrote in a post on LinkedIn. The project represents the culmination of a decades-long push to build offshore wind projects along the East Coast. But whether any future offshore wind projects follow is an open question. The industry has been battered by rising costs and political attacks from President Donald Trump, a long-standing wind opponent who has tried to halt projects under construction and yank permits from planned developments. On Monday, his administration unveiled a new tactic: paying offshore wind developers to walk away.
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Renewables Now – March 24, 2026
Doral Renewables closes USD 900m for Texas solar-storage project
US solar and battery storage developer Doral Renewables LLC has achieved financial close on its Cold Creek project in Texas, which will combine 430 MWac of solar generation and 340 MWh of storage. The company said today it has secured almost USD 900 million (EUR 777m) of financing commitments to build the project in Schleicher and Tom Green Counties, with full construction now underway and start-up expected in the summer of 2028. Doral Renewables secured an off-taker for most of the project’s output in October 2025.
The lender group was led by MUFG and also included Santander, HSBC, Ally and IDB. The debt financing consists of over USD 400 million of construction-to-term financing, close to USD 35 million of tax equity bridge loan financing and about USD 55 million of letters of credit.
Regulatory
Texas Lawbook – April 6, 2026
Pipeline Owner Sued for $200M Breach Owes $1 Biz Court Determines
A Texas Business Court judge ruled Thursday that although Antero Resources, one of the largest U.S. suppliers of natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas, had won earlier rulings in a breach of contract lawsuit against a West Virginia pipeline owner, Stonewall Gas Gathering, Antero would take only $1 of the $200 million it asked for under a “favored shipper” provision in a gas gathering agreement.
“Antero sued asking for $200 million in damages. It is rewarding for Stonewall to have prevailed and defeated this claim by continuing to defend the case vigorously through trial,” Todd Mensing, partner at the Houston-based trial boutique Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing, said in a news release.
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Texas Energy Report NewsClips
Monday April 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
Top Stories
The Wall Street Journal – April 5, 2026
Trump Warns Iran He Could Strike ‘Every Power Plant,’ in WSJ Interview*
President Trump threatened to destroy all of Iran’s power plants if the country’s leaders don’t agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday evening, ratcheting up pressure on Tehran. “If they don’t come through, if they want to keep it closed, they’re going to lose every power plant and every other plant they have in the whole country,” Trump said in an eight-minute interview with The Wall Street Journal on Sunday. The comments came hours after U.S. forces rescued an American aviator trapped in Iran. Trump in recent days has repeatedly escalated his threats against the country, which has resisted his demands and appears determined to carry out a war of attrition.
An administration official said the events of the weekend have animated the president and made him eager to apply even more pressure on the Iranians as he seeks a deal. Trump warned during his address last week that he planned to hit Iran hard over the next two to three weeks. Now entering its sixth week, the conflict was initially forecast to last four to six weeks by the Trump administration. In response to Trump’s threats, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said on social media that the only viable path was to step back from further escalation. “Your reckless moves are dragging the United States into a living hell for every single family, and our whole region is going to burn,” he said.
Behind the scenes negotiations to reach a cease-fire hit a dead end on Friday, mediators said, but back channel efforts continued over the weekend between mediators from regional countries and special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Monday marks the end of a 10-day deadline Trump gave Iran last month to make a deal and open the Strait of Hormuz. The deadlines themselves have been a moving target. In the interview, Trump moved it to Tuesday, and on Sunday afternoon, without elaboration, Trump posted “Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!” Pressed on when he thinks the war will end, Trump said in the interview: “I will let you know pretty soon,” adding that he believed Iran would already take 20 years to rebuild from the damage of the war.
“If they don’t do something by Tuesday evening, they won’t have any power plants and they won’t have any bridges standing,” he said. In a social-media post on Sunday morning, Trump threatened to destroy Iran’s power plants and bridges on Tuesday if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t reopened. But the post offered few details about how expansive the attacks might be.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 3, 2026
Control Over Strait of Hormuz Will Determine Who Wins the War*
Oil tankers, container ships and bulk carriers shimmer all over the horizon to the left of the windswept beach here at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. They have been bottled up in the Persian Gulf ever since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran more than a month ago. To the right, with the Iranian coast only 40 miles away, the dark-blue sea is completely empty. Only a handful of vessels a day manage to cross the Strait of Hormuz, down from well over 100 before the war. They take a circuitous route through Iranian territorial waters, often paying the Iranian regime a hefty toll.
Tehran’s ability to control this international waterway, through which one-fifth of the worldwide oil supply used to pass, has become Iran’s biggest leverage against the U.S., its Gulf neighbors and the global economy. Whether the war ends in a success or defeat for Iran depends first and foremost on whether Tehran emerges from this conflict still holding the strait—and, with it, the keys to the worldwide energy markets. “To the Iranians, the Strait of Hormuz now matters more than the nuclear program. The nuclear program was symbolic, but didn’t provide them with any deterrence,” said Vali Nasr, a professor at Johns Hopkins University and former senior State Department official who has been involved in informal discussions with Iranian representatives. “Now, the only reason why they are surviving this war is because of the strait. The Iranian thinking is that, at the end, the strait must remain under their control because it is their only deterrence and only source of revenue.”
Indeed, the Iranian regime has announced very ambitious plans for the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian Parliament’s national-security commission has already advanced new legislation that would require passing vessels to pay for the privilege, and that would bar from the Persian Gulf any non-friendly countries. This is a lever through which Tehran hopes to force European nations, Japan and others to drop economic sanctions against it—while also permanently expelling the U.S. Navy from the Gulf’s waters. “Trump has finally achieved his dream of regime change—but in the region’s maritime regime. The Strait of Hormuz will certainly reopen, but not for you: It will be open for those who comply with the new laws of Iran,” said the parliament commission’s chief, Ebrahim Azizi.
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Reuters – April 5, 2026
OPEC+ agrees to boost oil output when Strait of Hormuz reopens*
OPEC+ agreed on Sunday to raise its oil output quotas by 206,000 barrels per day for May, a modest rise that will largely exist on paper as its key members are unable to raise production due to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. The war has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz – the world’s most important oil route – since the end of February and cut exports from OPEC+ members Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Iraq, the only countries in the group which were able to significantly raise production even before the conflict began.
Crude prices have surged to a four-year high close to $120 a barrel, translating into soaring prices for transport fuels which are pressuring consumers and businesses across the globe, and triggering government action to conserve supplies. The OPEC+ quota increase of 206,000 bpd represents less than 2% of the supply disrupted by the Hormuz closure, but it signals readiness to raise output once the waterway reopens, OPEC+ sources have said. Consultancy Energy Aspects called the increase “academic” as long as disruptions in the strait persist.
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Time – April 3, 2026
Inside Trump’s Search for a Way Out of the Iran War
Donald Trump was in the Oval Office during the third week of the Iran war when a group of his most trusted advisers came to deliver some unwelcome news. His longtime pollster, Tony Fabrizio, had conducted surveys that indicated the war Trump launched was growing increasingly unpopular. Gas prices had surged past $4 per gallon, stock markets had tumbled to multi-year lows, and millions of Americans were preparing to take to the streets in protest. Thirteen American service members had been confirmed killed. Some of Trump’s key public supporters were criticizing a conflict with no clear end in sight. It fell on White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and a small group of aides to tell the President that the longer the war dragged on, the more it would threaten his public support and Republicans’ prospects in November’s midterm elections.
For Trump, the stark warning was unsettling. The President has begun many recent mornings watching video clips compiled by military officials of battlefield successes, according to a senior Administration official. He has told advisers that being the commander in chief to eliminate the nuclear threat posed by Iran could be one of his signature achievements. But Wiles, according to two White House sources, was concerned aides were giving the President a rose-colored view of how the war was being perceived domestically, telling Trump what he wanted to hear instead of what he needed to hear. She had urged colleagues, the officials say, to be “more forthright with the boss” about the political and economic risks.
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News 1st – April 2, 2026
Global Analysts have warned that the impact on global oil supplies will intensify throughout April, describing the situation as akin to an “economic time bomb.” Citing a latest report from J.P. Morgan, the U.S.-based multinational investment bank, analysts say that the ongoing war has created a significant risk of depleting global oil reserves. The report notes that this crisis stems from disruptions to oil transportation through the Strait of Hormuz over the past month.
The J.P. Morgan report highlighted that Asian countries will be the first to face the risk of oil shortages due to the military climate, followed by Western nations toward the end of April. Currently, nations are surviving on oil reserves already present at land. However, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupting new supplies via tankers, many countries face the imminent risk of their reserves running short.
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Bloomberg – April 2, 2026
Europe’s Diesel Shock Deepens as Supplies Head Elsewhere*
Crude oil crisscrossing the $100-a-barrel mark might be what grabs headlines, but for Europe’s most important petroleum product, prices have now passed an eye-watering $200. That’s the price of the region’s benchmark diesel futures, known as ICE Gasoil, which rose as high as $1,509.50 a ton earlier today, the equivalent of $202.3 a barrel. It’s the highest the marker’s been since 2022, the year that Russia — then Europe’s top external diesel supplier — began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Whether prices drop back or keep rising largely depends on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. In normal times, millions of barrels a day of refined fuels — including diesel — flow through the waterway that connects energy infrastructure inside the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world. With shipments still largely halted, there’s an enormous squeeze on supplies, which is being exacerbated by some refiners cutting production because of a lack of crude oil from the Middle East.
For Europe, which relies on imports of diesel, that’s a big problem. The region consumes more than 6 million barrels a day of the fuel, which powers everything from trucks to ships to construction equipment.
So with prices soaring and some gas stations already running dry, you might think traders would be directing every available cargo of fuel toward the continent at full speed. But that is not what’s been happening. Take, for example, the STI Solace. This oil tanker recently loaded diesel in waters off the coast of the UK. But instead of delivering the fuel to a European port, it’s taking the cargo about as far away as it’s possible to go: more than 12,000 miles to Australia.
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Associated Press/KXAN – April 3, 2026
Trump administration to rejoin offshore drilling agencies separated after 2010 Gulf oil spill
The Trump administration said Friday it is combining two agencies that were separated in the aftermath of the 2010 Gulf oil spill. The Interior Department said the overhaul would increase efficiency and speed up permitting for offshore oil and gas drilling. The new Marine Minerals Administration will bring together the functions of the current Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said.
Doing so will enable a “streamlined approach” that will maintain existing regulatory protections and rigorous safety standards, he said. The combined agency will “deliver clearer coordination, better service to the public and stronger, more integrated oversight of offshore energy development,” Burgum said in a statement.
The Latest TERse Tips
Explosions were reported overnight on April 6 in the southern Russian port city of Novorossiysk, with local residents reporting a drone attack at an oil terminal and damage to a residential building — the Sheskharis oil terminal was struck by drones, independent Russian Telegram news channel Astra reported, citing an open-source analysis of eyewitness footage — the site is a major oil export terminal that serves as the endpoint for pipelines run by Russia’s state-run Transneft, the world’s largest oil pipeline company — Kyiv Independent
Texas continues to add jobs, outpace national job growth — unemployment rates higher than past months, greater than national rate — Center Square
Fitch Ratings has affirmed Murphy Oil Corporation’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘BB+’. Fitch has also affirmed Murphy’s guaranteed revolver and senior unsecured notes at ‘BB+’ with a Recovery Rating of ‘RR4’. The Rating Outlook is Stable — Fitch
Synthetic Canadian oil prized by refiners for its rich diesel output tripled in a matter of days amid a worldwide clamor to secure supplies of the truck and train fuel — Bloomberg*
The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has prepared a draft environmental impact statement for the Sabine Pass Stage 5 Expansion Project, proposed by Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC; Sabine Pass Liquefaction Stage V, LLC; Sabine Crossing Pipeline, LLC; and Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline, L.P. — see the press release
Why Has the WTI Oil Price Surpassed Brent? — Rigzone
Oil & Gas Texas
Rigzone – April 3, 2026
Continental Boosting Oil Output as Prices Soar
Billionaire oil wildcatter Harold Hamm’s Continental Resources Inc. plans to increase production as the war in Iran sends crude prices soaring to the highest in four years. “Continental is increasing our capital budget, which will increase production,” Chief Executive Officer Doug Lawler said in a statement to Bloomberg.
Continental is the first prominent US oil producer to say publicly that it plans to ramp up output amid the Iran war, which has crippled supplies from the Persian Gulf and sent crude futures soaring 50% in four weeks to more than $100 a barrel. Hamm is among US President Donald Trump’s most vocal supporters in the oil industry.
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Oil Price – April 2, 2026
US Rig Count Rises For First Time in Three Weeks
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 Thursday, bringing the total rig count in the US to 548, down 42 from this same time last year. The number of active oil rigs rose by 2 to 411 during the latest reporting period, according to the data. This is 70 below this same time last year. The number of gas rigs rose by 3, reaching 130, which is 26 more than this time last year. The miscellaneous rig count stayed the same at 7.
The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production held steady during week ending March 27. US crude oil production averaged 13.657 million bpd during the reporting period—205,000 bpd under the all-time high. Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells, fell during the week ending March 27 by 5 after losing 8 crews in the week prior.
Inside Climate News – March 28, 2026
Summit Sold Its Midwest Pipeline as a Carbon Solution. Now, It’ll Be Used for Fossil Fuels.
For four years, battles over private property rights have gridlocked state legislatures across the Midwest and stalled plans for a pipeline to transport liquified carbon dioxide from ethanol plants in the region. In the background of this eminent domain standoff, Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions, the company behind the pipeline, has quietly shifted its focus from carbon sequestration to fossil fuel extraction.
Summit now says its pipeline will be used to drive domestic oil and gas production in a process known as enhanced oil recovery (EOR), which injects CO2 gas into wells. The gas mixes with oil in the rock pores to produce a thinner, easier-to-pump fluid, potentially doubling the amount of oil that can be extracted from a reservoir. … In a complete departure from plans made just a few years ago, Summit has been quick to adapt to the new political realities. Early this year, the company scrubbed the phrases “climate change” and “global warming” from its website.
Instead, a new page announces Summit’s plans to become “the critical CO2 supply artery for America’s most prolific oil and gas basins,” the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming, the Bakken Formation spanning parts of North Dakota and Montana and the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico.
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Bloomberg – April 2, 2026
Jera’s US Purchase Deal With Commonwealth LNG Terminated*
A purchase agreement between Commonwealth LNG and Japan’s top liquefied natural gas buyer, Jera Co., has been terminated, according to a document filed with the US Department of Energy. Jera and Commonwealth entered the long-term agreement last year, which would’ve seen the proposed Louisiana-based export project supply 1 million tons of LNG annually for 20 years. The notification of the deal’s termination was dated April 1 and filed on behalf of Commonwealth Energy. The agreement was terminated effective March 3, the letter said, without giving a reason. A spokesperson for Commonwealth LNG did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Jera declined to comment.
The planned Commonwealth LNG project is under development by private equity-backed Kimmeridge Energy Management LLC, whose managing partner Ben Dell said last week that a final investment decision is expected in April. The project has other long-term offtake agreements with purchasers including Glencore Plc and Malaysia’s Petronas.
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Midland Reporter-Telegram – April 3,2026
Texas officials push new steps to curb oil theft losses*
More than 40% of oil and gas operators said theft affected their operations in the past year. According to the Railroad Commission of Texas, the crime has been linked to organized crime and foreign criminal syndicates and has cost Texas millions of dollars in lost state revenue. However, members of the RRC State Task Force on Petroleum Theft are working to prevent future losses.
Led by RRC Chairman Jim Wright, members of the task force gathered in Midland on Thursday, April 2, for their second quarterly meeting to address the issue and discuss a report due to the Texas Legislature in December. “This report will assess theft impacts, long-term economic effects, and ways to improve coordination between law enforcement,” the task force said in a press statement.
Additionally, task force members highlighted the importance of including detailed recommendations in the December report as agencies prepare their budgets and the Legislature enters the 90th Legislative Session in January 2027. Wright said that the foundation of the state’s economic success is the oil and gas industry.
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Midland Reporter-Telegram – April 3, 2026
RRC seeks comment on monitoring plan*
Texans around the state are being asked to speak up as the Railroad Commission crafts its annual Oil and Gas Division Monitoring and Enforcement Strategic Plan. The annual call for stakeholder comment stems from Texas Natural Resources Code Sec. 81.066, which requires the commission to develop an annual plan to use oil and gas monitoring and enforcement resources strategically to ensure public safety and protect the environment. The statute directs the commission to seek input when developing the annual plan.
For the Fiscal Year 2027 plan, the commission seeks feedback to help inform development of action items under two established goals that address the full scope of oil and gas monitoring and enforcement activities:
Goal 1: Accurately demonstrate the Commission’s oil and gas monitoring and enforcement activities
Goal 2: Strategically use the oil and gas monitoring and enforcement resources of the Commission to ensure public safety and protect the environment
“This is a good time for the public to tell the commission what datasets they would like the commission to post online, or specific ways that the commission could do a better job monitoring for compliance,” Jonathan Warren, senior organizing manager with Commission Shift, told the Reporter-Telegram by email.
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Midland Reporter-Telegram – April 3, 2026
FO Permian signs lease for power plant*
Additional dispatchable power generation is headed to the Permian Basin. FO Permian Partners announces the closure of a long-term lease in Reeves County enabling the development of a 400-megawatt (MW) power plant that will deliver electricity to the regional grid. Completion is expected in the fourth quarter of 20927 or first quarter of 2028. The project is intended to strengthen grid reliability in West Texas while supporting continued industrial growth, data center development, and oil and gas activity across the Permian Basin.
The Midland company’s approach integrates power generation, land, and infrastructure to help reduce time-to-power for large energy users. The Reeves County site is positioned to attract data center operators and other high-load industrial users seeking reliable, large-scale power in an increasingly constrained power environment, according to FO Permian officials.
Oil & Gas National & International
Arab News – April 4, 2026
How Iran’s naval mines could choke global trade through the Strait of Hormuz
Each year on April 4, as the world marks International Mine Awareness Day, attention often focuses on the deadly legacy of landmines and unexploded ordnance on land. But beneath the waves, another threat is unfolding in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran’s sea mines have raised the stakes for maritime traffic and global trade. Nine days after the US and Israel launched their joint military operation against Iran, US officials said Tehran might be preparing to deploy naval mines in the waterway to further disrupt one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes.
The officials, speaking to CBS News on condition of anonymity, said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy was deploying its fleet of fast attack boats, which can carry two or three mines at a time. Then, on March 23, US officials told the broadcaster that intelligence assessments indicated at least a dozen underwater mines had already been used in the waterway, while another official put the number at fewer than a dozen. These were identified as Iranian-made Maham 3 and Maham 7 limpet mines. Iran’s IRGC, which effectively controls the strait alongside the country’s conventional navy, has a range of minelaying craft at its disposal, along with explosive boats and shore-based missile batteries, according to CNN.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 5, 2026
The Iran War Is Making the American Economy More Dominant Than Ever*
“We cannot permit a resource so vital to be dominated by one so ruthless. And we won’t.”—George H.W. Bush, 1990, on Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait
“Go get your own oil!”—Donald Trump, March 31, 2026, on Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz
President Trump didn’t attack Iran to help the U.S. economy at the expense of its allies. Nonetheless, that is more or less what has happened. Despite high gasoline prices, the U.S. economy is holding up. Abroad, though, interest rates and inflation risks have shot up, fuel is being conserved, and economic forecasts are darkening. Economists at Citi have marked down the eurozone’s growth this year by 0.4 percentage point, the United States’ by just 0.1 point. The reason: Net imports of oil and liquefied natural gas consume 1% to 2% of European gross domestic product, whereas net exports contribute 0.2% to U.S. output.
These figures help explain why Trump is prosecuting war in the Persian Gulf differently from his predecessors. His strategic motives aren’t that different: to deny a hostile power the means to dominate the region, and to protect Israel. Where Trump differs is in the economics. Past presidents believed that the free flow of oil was one of those global public goods that the U.S. was uniquely equipped, even obliged, to safeguard. George H.W. Bush made the case in 1990 for pouring troops into the Gulf region not just to free Kuwait from a dangerous dictator’s clutches, but to deny him control over 20% of the world’s oil reserves.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 5, 2026
This Oil Shock Is So Big It Is Fueling a Turnaround in Energy Stocks*
Investors are betting big that the largest oil disruption in history might jolt the energy industry out of a yearslong slumber. The fallout from the war with Iran has rocketed oil prices above $100 a barrel and battered stocks and bonds in recent weeks, but it has also rewarded shareholders of America’s oil-and-gas companies—transforming a flagging industry into one of the market’s only havens. Over the past month, only one grouping within the S&P 500 has traded in the green, and it is energy. Shares in fuel-refiner Phillips 66 and major oil companies Chevron and Exxon Mobil just logged their best quarters on record. The move was enough to push Exxon’s forward stock-price-to-earnings ratio to recently top that of market darling Nvidia.
Wall Street’s scramble for traditional energy names goes beyond Iran’s de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which is zapping about 10 million barrels of crude from the global economy each day and driving up profits for many oil producers and refiners. Massive drawdowns from strategic stockpiles in the U.S. and elsewhere will need to be replenished. And the recent engine of global production growth, the American shale patch, is showing fresh signs of slowing—raising the prospects that future supply will be more limited. U.S. energy stocks have vaulted upward despite white-knuckle moments when oil prices seesawed. In recent days, those same energy shares skidded when it appeared the conflict might be resolved sooner. On Thursday, though, benchmark U.S. crude futures jumped 11% to $111.54 a barrel, after a national address by President Trump provided little clarity on an exit strategy from Iran or a reopening of the strait.
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CNBC – April 2, 2026
Iran and Oman are drafting a protocol to “monitor transit” through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state news agency IRNA reported Thursday morning, citing an official. Tanker traffic through the key oil-shipping route “should be supervised and coordinated” with the two countries, said Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister of legal and international affairs, according to a translation of IRNA’s report.
“Of course, these requirements will not mean restrictions, but rather to facilitate and ensure safe passage and provide better services to ships that pass through this route,” Gharibabadi reportedly said. U.S. stock indexes, which were trading sharply lower Thursday morning after President Donald Trump signaled that the Iran war will continue for weeks to come, suddenly turned higher following IRNA’s report.
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Oil Price – April 2, 2026
OPEC+ Prepares Paper Oil Barrels While Exports Stall
OPEC+ is preparing to weigh another output increase this Sunday as the world’s most critical oil artery remains effectively shut. Eight core members of the group are expected to discuss raising production again after agreeing to a 206,000 bpd increase for April. Two OPEC+ sources told Reuters that the group is likely to move forward with another hike on paper, positioning itself to add barrels quickly if the Strait of Hormuz reopens.
More than 20% of global oil flows normally pass through Hormuz. That flow is now constrained by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and the UAE have already curtailed output as exports stall. Prices have pushed toward $120 per barrel as a result.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 5, 2026
The U.S. Plastics Industry Was in the Doldrums. Then the Iran War Began.*
About two weeks after the start of the Iran war, Dow Chief Executive Jim Fitterling told investors something they hadn’t heard in a while about one of the company’s most important products. “We’re seeing prices go up everywhere,” he said, referring to polyethylene, a plastic that goes into detergent bottles, food packaging and many other goods. Fitterling said Dow DOW 1.74%increase; green up pointing triangle was going to raise the commodity’s North American price by 15 cents per pound in April after boosting it by 10 cents in March. Six days later, the company said the April price hike would actually be 30 cents.
Polyethylene had been in a post-Covid slump because of overproduction and ebbing demand, but the Iran war changed that equation almost overnight. The conflict’s geopolitical ripples have brought a lucrative reversal of fortune to U.S.-based chemical makers, which in recent years have been some of America’s most downtrodden companies. Their share prices have rocketed up, reflecting the advantage they gained after bombs began to fall in the Middle East and Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz. “In my career of almost 30 years of covering chemicals, I have never, ever seen price hikes this steep and this quick,” said Hassan Ahmed, a partner at Alembic Global Advisors.
The war has affected every corner of the world’s polyethylene industry. Middle Eastern producers, which account for 20% of the global supply, have cut production. Plastic makers in Asia and Europe curbed their own output when Persian Gulf crude oil, the raw material they rely upon, became inaccessible. That left U.S. chemical companies, which use cheap and abundant natural gas to make their plastic products, to boost production and raise prices at furious rates.
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Oil Price – April 3, 2026
Oil Majors Eye U.S. Offshore Asset as Supply Crunch Intensifies
TotalEnergies and Shell are among the companies interested in buying a majority stake in the Shenandoah oil and gas field that is being sold by Beacon Offshore Energy and HEQ Deepwater. Per a Reuters report citing unnamed sources, other interested parties in the 51% stake include BP, Repsol, and Chevron. The heightened interest in the offshore field comes amid the unprecedented supply disruption in Middle East oil and gas, amid the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran.
Beacon Offshore Energy is financially backed by Blackstone, while HEQ Deepwater is owned jointly by Quantum Capital Group and Houston Energy. The third stakeholder in the Shenandoah field is Israeli Navitas Petroleum, which holds 49% in the project.
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PBS – March 31, 2026
Kharg Island is key to Iran’s oil exports. Targeting it carries major risks
Iran’s Kharg Island, home to a terminal through which the country exports most of its oil, has emerged as a focus of the month-old war launched by the United States and Israel. Strikes on oil infrastructure on Kharg — or a ground invasion — would severely curb Iran’s oil exports, a key source of revenue for the Islamic Republic. It would also mark a major escalation that could provoke even heavier retaliatory attacks on Gulf Arab infrastructure and further drive up oil prices. The skyrocketing cost of fuel is already threatening the world economy.
A U.S. occupation of the island would put American troops in a stationary position just 33 kilometers (21 miles) off Iran’s coast, well within range of its arsenal of drones and missiles. Other islands near the vital Strait of Hormuz could also be targeted. Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunb islands are held by Iran but long claimed by the United Arab Emirates, a close U.S. ally. Qeshm Island is home to a desalination plant.
Utilities, Electricity & Renewables
Utility Dive – April 3, 2026
Reject Talen-Energy Capital power plant deal, PJM market monitor tells FERC
Federal regulators should reject Talen Energy’s plan to buy about 2.6 GW from Energy Capital Partners because it would increase the power company’s market power in the PJM Interconnection market, according to the grid operator’s market monitor. Monitoring Analytics said in its Tuesday filing that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should require Talen and ECP to refile their application for the transaction with commitments that would limit Talen’s ability to use market power to increase electricity and capacity prices.
For example, Talen should commit to keeping the ECP generation in the PJM capacity market instead of diverting it to serve data centers, it said. Removing that capacity would negatively impact the rates PJM market customers pay, Monitoring Analytics said. “Removal of capacity from the capacity market would also make PJM less reliable.”
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April 3, 2026
Texas should plan for managing data center growth: Dallas Morning News*
As more data centers come online in Texas, conversations about how to plan for and oversee these facilities should be a priority for the 2027 legislative session. Every chatbot response, photo stored in the cloud and text message sent depends on vast warehouses of servers and computers humming somewhere, and increasingly that somewhere is Texas. Texas currently has about 411 data centers scattered across the state and is on track to become one of the largest data center markets. A recent report by Bloom Energy, a company that provides onsite power for these electricity hungry facilities, found that Texas’ data center load is expected to more than double by 2028.
As Texas prepares for this surge, lawmakers should take a closer look at whether current regulatory frameworks are equipped to handle it. That includes understanding how new facilities will affect electricity demand, how they will connect to the grid and what oversight is needed for data centers that are on the Texas grid as well as those that have their own power sources. There’s a lot we still don’t know about data centers, including what responsibility developers should bear when facilities reach the end of their life cycles.
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Politico – April 3, 2026
The supply crunch that could raise your electric bill
“The entire system is trying to grow faster on the supply and the demand side, and we have a limited number of transformers we can crank out,” Josh Rhodes, a research scientist focused on energy with the University of Texas, Austin, told me in a recent interview. At last week’s CERAWeek by S&P Global conference, one executive at a major electrical manufacturer told me that they’re already sold out of transformers for two years at one of their U.S.-based manufacturing facilities — which hasn’t even opened yet. (The executive was granted anonymity to speak freely). A Wood MacKenzie report from last year found that the cost of some power transformers has risen between 77 and 95 percent since 2019.
Hunter Hunt, president and CEO of Hunt Energy, said at a panel at CERAWeek that there’s a wait time of two and a half years to get some transformers and a three-year wait for circuit breakers. “Everybody’s trying to put their hands on these,” Hunt said. Harry Sideris, president and CEO of Duke Energy, said at a CERAWeek panel that his company has been doing things they’ve “never dreamed of” to serve data centers. “We got Caterpillar reciprocating engines on the back of a flatbed — a tractor trailer — to get somebody online three months earlier because they’re making $10 million a day,” Sideris said. That $10 million a day — that’s for just one data center, he said.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 4, 2026
Rolls-Royce’s New EV Just Might Be Worth the Half-Million-Dollar Price Tag*
There are many pretty little cars in the world but not a lot of big ones. I would ask you to consider the work of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Notwithstanding a few coachbuilt masterpieces of the midcentury, the British superluxury legend—now owned by BMW Group—has specialized in grandiose, emotionally frigid town cars, metaphoric for class privilege itself. The company’s current bestseller, a three-ton, square-cut diamond known as the Cullinan, is a horror show aesthetically, yet totally on-brand. The Spectre (ours in the Black Badge specification, $535,550, as tested) cuts against the grain in a number of ways. Defying the odds, this majestic two-door, four-seat coupe is utterly gorgeous, an eye-filling joy in the walkaround: The daringly raked windscreen and fastback flyline, the tapering cabin slung back behind the endless hood, the audacity of wheels and tires, all drawn in superhero proportions. If Rolls-Royce is about delivering world-apart experiences to its clients, the Spectre certainly represents. Behold, the most beautiful big car I’ve ever laid eyes on, and I’ve laid my eyes on plenty.
The Spectre is also electric—in the case of the top-spec Black Badge version, extremely electric, with 650 hp to answer the most whispered summons with splendid excess. Officially the most powerful car in company history, the Black Badge Spectre clocks a 0-60 mph acceleration of 4.1 seconds, three-tenths quicker than the standard Spectre. To perform what has to be the most elegant holeshot in history, drivers will have to engage “Spirited Mode” by holding down both brake and throttle then releasing the brake. Doing so accesses the car’s maximum torque of over 1,000 Newton-meters—793 lb-ft. Alternatively, you can simply bury your right foot in the shearling wool carpet. Tally ho.
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electrek – April 2, 2026
FERC: Renewables made up 88% of new US power generating capacity in 2025
Solar accounted for more than 72% of US electrical generating capacity added in 2025, with another 16% from wind, according to belatedly released data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign.
When it comes to new capacity additions, solar has held the lead among all energy sources for 28 consecutive months. Installed utility-scale solar capacity now exceeds the individual capacities of wind, hydropower, and nuclear power. Further, FERC expects solar to add another 86 gigawatts (GW) over the next three years, during which time solar capacity will also surpass that of coal.
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Inside Climate News – April 3, 2026
Why Doesn’t Texas, the Leader of Onshore Wind Energy, Have Any Offshore?
Texas state officials have led a successful and concerted effort to prevent offshore wind developments in the Gulf. Over the last few years, key leaders whose signatures and support are required to permit energy developments off the coast signaled to investors that such approvals would be unlikely.
So even as five offshore wind projects resume construction this month after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s stop-work order for the developments, Texas has none in the mix. The U.S. has a small number of projects operating off the East Coast, totalling some 40 gigawatts.
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Power Magazine – April 1, 2026
Full Throttle: Five Trends Reshaping the Gas Power Boom
A phrase that started in PJM’s market monitor reports is fast becoming the operating principle of the entire gas power buildout: “bring your own generation” or BYOG. On its face, the idea is simple: Because data centers can’t wait for utilities to plan, permit, and build adequate capacity, they are moving to finance their own generation and demanding it be delivered quickly. In some instances, the speed imperative has replaced cost as the deal-winning variable, and every decision downstream—contracts, procurement, financing, engineering sequence—is now seemingly being restructured around it.
Across the industry, the adjustment is visible in procurement architecture. Owners who once left heat recovery steam generators, transformers, and switchgear to their engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors are now buying long-lead equipment directly—sometimes before permits are secured. Lump-sum turnkey contracts are giving way to target-price frameworks with fixed fees and shared savings. And major regulated utilities, including Xcel Energy, are locking in turbine supply agreements years in advance in moves their executives describe as building the “clock speed” the market now demands.
Regulatory
JD Supra – March 20, 2026
ERCOT’s Proposed “Batch Zero” Process: What Developers of Large Loads Need to Know: Foley & Lardner
In a step toward implementing a cluster or “batch” process for studying large load interconnections, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) published new details on how it is planning to transition to that process, beginning with a “Batch Zero.” The draft planning guide document titled “Batch Zero Process for Large Load Interconnections,” if adopted and implemented, would materially alter the requirements for developers of large electric loads such as hyperscale data centers, advanced manufacturing plants, and other high-demand facilities, and would allow ERCOT to evaluate multiple projects simultaneously, likely improving efficiency and reducing delays from the current sequential assessment process.\
The proposed Batch Zero Process in Planning Guide Revision Request (PGRR) 145, posted on March 4, 2026, introduces a transitional study process that would replace most elements of the existing Large Load Interconnection Study (LLIS) process with a coordinated, system-wide study and transmission capacity allocation approach. Developers seeking to connect loads over 75 MW, or to substantially modify existing facilities, would face new eligibility criteria, stricter project maturity requirements, and potentially more competitive access to available transmission capacity.
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Texas Energy Report NewsClips
Thursday April 2, 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 nearly 7% on Thursday, as President Donald Trump said the United States would keep up attacks on Iran without committing to a specific timeline to end the war, fanning investor fears about sustained disruptions to supply.
West Texas Intermediate added some 51% over last month, currently trading at over $100 per barrel as President Trump indicated the war against Iran was not coming to a swift end
West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up $6.40, or 6.4%, to $106.52 per barrel.
Brent crude futures rose $6.84, or 6.8%, to $108 per barrel by 0643 GMT.
The gains followed an earlier fall of more than $1 in both benchmarks prior to Trump’s televised speech to the nation, after having settled lower in the previous session.
“We are going to finish the job, and we’re going to finish it very fast. We’re getting very close,” Trump said, adding that the U.S. military had nearly achieved its goals in the conflict which would end in two to three weeks, but giving no specifics.
Top Stories
Houston Chronicle – April 1, 2026
Texas senators warn foreign-linked energy tech could threaten the state’s power grid*
An influential Texas Senate committee met Wednesday to consider ways to protect the state’s power grid from foreign adversaries, with some lawmakers also taking an opportunity to bash renewable energy. Solar panels and battery storage, the two fastest-growing resources on the state’s electric grid, are heavily dependent on equipment made in China or tied to Chinese companies. China is by far the largest global producer of clean energy technology. Thus far, there have been no documented cases of foreign-controlled parts in solar arrays or energy storage projects being used to attack U.S. power grids, said Sean Gallagher, senior vice president of policy for the Solar Energy Industries Association.
But there’s still a risk that foreign actors could connect to software embedded in a Texas-based project and manipulate it to destabilize the state’s grid, according to experts who testified at Wednesday’s Senate hearing. “If it’s just a monitoring level of connectivity, there’s no risk there,” said Will Wassdorf, a lawyer with the Texas Attorney General’s office. “If it’s a level of connectivity that provides access or control where they could turn the batteries off, that would be another issue.” Last fall, the attorney general’s office launched an investigation into an energy storage project southeast of Dallas that allegedly used components from Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., a firm that the U.S. government claims has ties to the Chinese military.
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Reuters – April 1, 2026
US Gulf Coast tanker market tightens as Asia seeks to replace lost supply*
Oil tanker availability along the U.S. Gulf Coast has dropped sharply in recent weeks, as Asian and European refiners cut off from Middle Eastern supply have been snapping up vessels to import oil and fuel from the United States, shipping analysts and traders said. The Iran war has stalled tanker movements through the Strait of Hormuz, curbing the flow of Middle Eastern oil to Asia and Europe, and prompting refiners there to buy replacement barrels from the United States, Brazil and West Africa.
Wider discounts on U.S. crude oil compared to global benchmark Brent crude have spurred demand for tankers in the U.S. Gulf Coast, reducing vessel availability in the region, said Aristidis Alafouzos, chief executive officer of Okeanis ECO Tankers. … “The resulting surge in freight rates is unprecedented, with Suezmaxes and Aframaxes earning upwards of $300,000, compared to an average $60,000 over the past five months,” Alafouzos said.
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Oil Price – April 1, 2026
Traders Ramp Up Bearish Oil Bets To Nearly $1 Billion
Traders have poured a record $977 million into the ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil ETF (SCO), a leveraged bet that oil prices will collapse from their war-driven highs. Despite the high-volume, double-leveraged bet, the ETF still dropped 41% in March, its worst month in nearly six years, highlighting the ETF’s high risk in volatile markets. Oil prices have pulled back from recent highs after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he is looking to wind up the Iran war soon.
The ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil ETF is a leveraged, inverse ETF designed to deliver twice the inverse of the daily performance of the Bloomberg Commodity Balanced WTI Crude Oil Index. It is used to profit from falling oil prices or hedge long positions. However, its leveraged nature, coupled with the fact that the fund seeks daily, not long-term, inverse results, means that traders who hold longer than one day can still book huge losses despite a general downtrend in oil prices.
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The Wall Street Journal – April 1, 2026
What Iran’s Control of the Strait of Hormuz Means for the Global Economy*
Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz has created a crippling new reality for the global economy. It has kept about half a billion barrels of petroleum products from global markets, fueled inflation and disrupted supply chains. President Trump has told aides in recent days that he is willing to end the U.S. military campaign even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed. Doing so would make wartime changes in the strait permanent, inject a new price premium into oil markets and push the shipping industry down a perilous path. “It would be a disaster for energy markets because it would mean oil will have a huge surcharge from Iran,” said Ellen Wald, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center. “There would be a massive amount of uncertainty.”
Since the start of the conflict, traffic through the strait has collapsed. Transits are down 95%, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. On average, fewer than five ships passed through the strait each day in March, compared with around 140 every day in February. That has prevented around 15 million barrels of oil a day—three times Russia’s daily exports—from entering the global market. “This is a Covid-size crisis, but with the crucial difference that it comes from the supply and not the demand side. If continued, prices will have to move a lot higher to push consumers into Covid-style activity levels,” said David Wech, chief economist at ship tracker Vortexa. Analysts at Société Générale expect cascading supply issues, including refinery shutdowns and production limits. The bank on Monday updated its forecast to $125 a barrel, warning that oil prices could breach the $150 mark. “As long as flows don’t recover substantially, the path of least resistance remains to the upside for oil prices,” said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS.
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Power Magazine – April 1, 2026
Texas launches $350M nuclear fund ahead of data center boom
The State of Texas has opened applications for $350 million in advanced nuclear grants through the Texas Advanced Nuclear Development Fund (TANDF), making the nation’s largest state‑level nuclear package competitive for the first time across two programs aimed at reactor construction and supply chain development. In an exclusive interview with POWER, Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office (TANEO) Director Jarred Shaffer said notices of intent are due April 23, with full applications closing May 14.
TANDF’s $350 million funding is divided across two reimbursement programs structured under Chapter 483 of the Texas Government Code, signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott in June 2025 through House Bill 14. The Project Development and Supply Chain Reimbursement Program (PDSCRP) holds $70 million—20% of appropriated grant funds by statute—capped at $12.5 million per award and reimburses up to 50% of expenses tied to technology development, feasibility studies, front-end engineering design, site and environmental characterization, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) early site permit work, construction permit application preparation, manufacturing capacity development, and fuel processing and fabrication activities essential to the fuel cycle supply.
The Latest TERse Tips
Trump Raises NATO Withdrawal as Allies Push Back on Iran War — rising tensions between the U.S. and Europeans are threatening to break up the alliance that has been the foundation of the post-World War II order — The Wall Street Journal*
The U.S. Energy Department said on Wednesday that it would loan up to 10 million barrels of crude oil from the strategic petroleum reserve site in Bryan Mound, and will accept proposals from companies until 11 am central time (1600 GMT) on April 6 — Reuters*
A new filing from the Center for Biological Diversity asks the court to toss the Endangered Species Committee’s exemption of all Gulf of Mexico oil and gas operations from the Endangered Species Act, Bobby Magill reports — the Center called the committee’s decision “horrific as it is illegal,” adding that it “will likely drive the extremely endangered Rice’s whale to extinction — Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who chairs the committee, said during Tuesday’s meeting that disruptive Endangered Species Act litigation shouldn’t block a critical energy source — Bloomberg*
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against an Odessa-based container company and its owners, alleging they caused a “catastrophic” chemical fire in 2024 and subsequently failed to clean up toxic contamination that spread into a West Texas neighborhood — Fox News
Global law firm Reed Smith today announced that Jason Newman will join the firm as a partner with the Energy & Natural Resources Industry Group in the firm’s Houston office — see the press release
Chevron said on Tuesday that downstream assets at its Wheatstone liquefied natural gas plant in Western Australia suffered extensive cyclone damage, leaving both production trains offline — Reuters*
The Federal Reserve is not considering the energy supply shock caused by the Iran war in its policymaking, Chair Jerome Powell said Monday — CBS Austin
Despite growing concerns about rising utility bills, Xcel Energy is lobbying Minnesota lawmakers to make permanent a controversial program that enables it to charge customers hundreds of millions of dollars for fossil fuel infrastructure upgrades without standard regulatory review — Energy & Policy Institute
Eurozone Inflation Jumps as Iran War Raises Energy Prices — prices were 2.5% higher than a year earlier, the fastest increase since January 2025 — The Wall Street Journal*
Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified in court that he had no knowledge that former Florida congressman David Rivera was lobbying on behalf of Venezuela’s government — as prosecutors later alleged — when he met with his longtime friend to discuss U.S. policy toward the South American country several times at the start of the first Trump administration — KSAT
Drivers in Dire Crashes Relied Too Much on Ford’s Hands-Free Technology, NTSB Says — 2 crashes when Ford’s BlueCruise system was engaged left three people dead — The Wall Street Journal*
Oil & Gas Texas
Bloomberg – April 1, 2026
Key US Oil Grade Is Fetching Highest Premium Since Covid-19*
The most important US offshore oil varieties are commanding the highest premiums since as far back as the Covid-19 pandemic as energy-market chaos from the Iran war worsens. Overseas demand is soaring for high-sulfur US crude grades that are broadly comparable to Middle Eastern supplies cut off as missiles and drones rain down on Persian Gulf oil fields and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has effectively ceased. Refineries around the world are typically geared to optimally process very specific types and proportions of oil varieties, which often makes substituting normal supplies with replacement barrels tricky — and expensive.
Mars crude from the Gulf of Mexico was fetching $15 a barrel more than the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate as of late Monday, the widest spread since the darkest days of the global pandemic in April 2020, according to Link Data Services LLC. That was a landmark month in the history of the petroleum industry because worldwide energy demand collapsed and crude prices briefly went negative. Another key high-sulfur oil pumped from US Gulf fields, Poseidon, was also trading at close to a $15 premium, the highest in Link figures going back to 2022. Shortly after the conflict erupted with US and Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic on Feb. 28, the Trump administration sought to calm oil-price volatility by releasing millions of barrels of emergency oil reserves from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Although the SPR is mostly comprised of so-called sour crudes like Mars and Poseidon, the commitments to distribute those supplies haven’t been enough to plug the deficit of Persian Gulf supplies.
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Bloomberg – April 1, 2026
Steeper West Texas Gas Discounts Are Outlier of Energy Markets*
Since the US-Israel attacks against Iran broke out just over a month ago, most global energy markets have rallied on concerns over supply disruptions. But in West Texas, natural gas prices are dirt cheap — and now look set to stay lower for longer. Plentiful supplies means that prices in the Permian Basin — home to roughly a quarter of US gas production — have collapsed, trading below zero most of this year already. Now there are signs that the price dislocations will likely continue into next year and the following one. The reason is simple: Higher crude prices in the wake of the war in Iran means that oil producers are expected to keep pumping. But when companies drill for oil in the Permian, they also get natural gas — whether they want it or not. And there’s not enough pipeline capacity to transport all that gas into export markets.
Discounts for Permian gas in 2027 and 2028 are now markedly steeper than they were before the war began as traders position for prolonged oversupply. Gas prices for delivery in 2027 at the West Texas Waha trading hub are at a discount of $1.31 per million British thermal units below the US benchmark. For 2028, the discount is $1.33, according to Intercontinental Exchange data. By comparison, just before the war broke out in late February, the 2027 level was 96 cents, while for 2028 it was 92 cents, according to forward curve data from Argus Media. Cheaper natural gas prices in the US can help to ease some of the inflation pressure unleashed by the recent surge in other energy markets. Americans are now paying, on average, more than $4 for a gallon of gasoline for the first time since 2022. And businesses are also dealing with the impact of higher costs for oil products like diesel and jet fuel. Natural gas is used in home heating and as a power-plant fuel.
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KLTV – April 1, 2026
Rising diesel prices impact East Texas truckers
Diesel prices have surged in Tyler and across the country as the ongoing conflict in Iran pushes crude oil above $100 a barrel. In Tyler, diesel is averaging $4.94 a gallon, about $0.30 below the all-time record set in 2022, while regular gasoline averaged $3.63 a gallon, roughly $1 below its record. AAA said crude’s rise is driving retail fuel increases nationwide and that retail prices often lag when crude falls again.
One owner-operator said he recently bought more than 200 gallons and spent more than $1,000. “You don’t run your truck any more than you have to,” said trucker Jay Heckathorne. “You think about things, you know. It just makes you think about everything and how it all fits together.” AAA says it may take time for prices to come back down even if the war ends soon. 20% of the world’s oil supply passes through the Straight of Hormuz, which has been heavily impacted by the war.
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PA News – March 31, 2026
TCEQ report shows compounds released in Valero fire
An air emission event report submitted by Valero Port Arthur Refinery to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality provides a reason behind the March 23 explosion and fire and provides the names of chemicals released. The cause of the event is listed as “an unforeseeable release of process fluid in Complex 2 resulted in an ignition event and multiple process unit upsets.”
The list of contaminant compounds includes particulate matter- 15,644.7 pounds released with an emission limit of 120.8, carbon monoxide – 6,111.38 pounds released with an emission limit of 1,174 and VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) 914 pounds with a limit of 562.2.
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KIII – April 1, 2026
Energy companies respond to Corpus Christi water crisis
As discussions about the region’s water supply continue at the city, state and federal levels, local energy and manufacturing companies say they are working to reduce water use while maintaining operations. Industry leaders say the challenge is balancing conservation efforts with the need to support facilities that play a key role in the local and national economy.
Companies like Gulf Coast Growth Ventures say they have already taken steps to limit water consumption, including recycling water used in cooling towers multiple times. Officials with the company said they are “always looking for technology to reduce water use.” The issue comes as Corpus Christi faces ongoing concerns about its water supply, impacting not only residents but also major industries in the Coastal Bend.
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Valley Central – April 1, 2026
Environmental groups accuse Mexico of lying about origins of oil spill in the Gulf
Environmentalist groups accused Mexico’s government of lying about the origins of a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, something authorities promptly denied. The spill of off the coast of the southern Veracruz state has spread more than 373 miles and into seven nature reserves. It has dealt an environmental blow to the region as turtles and other marine life have been found on sea shores coated in oil, and to fishermen who have been unable to work in the oceans they have fished for decades.
Mexico’s government reported that 800 tons of hydrocarbon-laden waste have spilled into the ocean. The government said the spill started in March and the sources were a ship anchored off the coastal state of Veracruz and two sites from which oil naturally flows.
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The Wall Street Journal – March 31, 2026
U.S. Oil Output May Be Hitting a Wall at a Bad Time*
Don’t count on American shale to come to the rescue if this oil shock lasts. American drillers pumped 13.2 million barrels of oil a day in January, according to new data from the Energy Information Administration, down from 13.9 million in October. Outside of the pandemic, the three-month decline marks one of the largest such pullbacks in almost a decade.
Weekly data suggests that moderately lower production has continued in recent weeks. While a boom in U.S. output acted as a shock absorber for higher oil prices after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, analysts warn that plateauing production now could exacerbate the impact of Iran’s de facto blockade of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil & Gas National & International
Oil Price – April 1, 2026
Colonial Restarts Key Gasoline Pipeline After Georgia Damage
Colonial Pipeline has resumed service on its main gasoline artery to the U.S. East Coast after repairing damage caused by a third-party drilling crew in Georgia. The company said it completed repairs on Line 1, its main gasoline route from the U.S. Gulf Coast to East Coast markets, and brought the system back into service after damage in Paulding County, Georgia. The incident occurred on Tuesday, caused by a third-party well-drilling crew.
The restart is significant because Line 1 is one of the most important fuel supply links in the United States, moving about 1.5 million barrels per day of gasoline from Houston to Greensboro, North Carolina. From there, supplies are distributed across local markets and shipped onward to population centers extending as far as New York Harbor.
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Lloyd’s List – April 1, 2026
Tanker cycle timing: from ‘scramble mode’ to demand destruction
Tanker markets are expected to follow a two-phase pattern if freedom of navigation is not restored. The first, already in full swing, is “scramble mode”, where buyers book whatever supplies they can. The second is the demand-destruction phase, as diesel, jet fuel and gasoline prices climb too high for too long.
Crude export alternatives to the strait — Yanbu in Saudi Arabia and Fujairah in the UAE — have ramped up quickly. These pipeline-fed replacement sources, together with stronger flows out of the Atlantic basin, have offset a surprising amount of lost Hormuz volumes. These replacement sources could eventually be supplemented by a modest recovery of Hormuz transits, assuming Iran lets more “friendly” tankers through under its toll system.
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Bloomberg – April 1, 2026
Jet Billionaire Warns Oil Spikes May Soon Risk Airline Failures
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CBC – April 1, 2026
When U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum travelled to Venezuela with oil and mining executives last month, he was trying to pitch them on the opportunity that exists in that country’s neglected oil and gas fields. Then last week at a conference in Houston, he again tried to sell a room full of energy executives on the massive bounty of oil, natural gas and precious metals in the South American country.
Burgum — who plays a key role in the Trump administration — used the word “opportunity” three times when speaking about Venezuela at S&P Global’s recent CERAWeek energy conference. “The resources there are quite amazing,” Burgum said. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright also appeared to be making the Venezuela sales pitch, speaking at the conference about how well “aligned” the interim government and the U.S. administration are when it comes to growing Venezuelan production.
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Reuters – April 1, 2026
US natural gas supply outlook hinges on three key shale basins*
Natural gas touches almost every corner of the U.S. economy, fuelling power plants, homes, factories and the booming LNG export sector. But the supply needed to meet all those uses is coming from an ever-narrower slice of America’s shale patch. This mismatch between a widening band of consumers and a shrinking supply base means the U.S. natural gas market is heading for a potential structural crunch that could trigger bouts of supply stress and price volatility.
Higher gas prices, however, would harm the U.S. economy and potentially derail efforts to make the U.S. the dominant leader in AI and data applications. That means U.S. gas producers are under intense pressure to make sure supply keeps up with demand. The so-called shale revolution helped propel the U.S. to the top of global natural gas producer and exporter rankings, and shale deposits account for around 75% of U.S. gas supplies, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
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Oil Price – April 1, 2026
BP’s New CEO Pledges Consistency as Company Tries to Rebuild Investor Trust
BP’s new chief executive officer Meg O’Neill has pledged consistency and clear direction in her first message to staff as she takes over the top job at the UK-based supermajor effective April 1, amid very turbulent times for both the company and the energy industry. “I’m committed to providing clear direction and consistency so we can move forward together with confidence,” O’Neill told staff in her first message as CEO, the Financial Times reports.
O’Neill, former CEO of Australia’s Woodside Energy, was picked in December 2025 to succeed Murray Auchincloss, who left with immediate effect at the end of last year. O’Neill, who now becomes the first woman to lead BP and a Big Oil company, arrives at the supermajor after a few tumultuous years in the first half of this decade. Under Bernard Looney, BP pledged in early 2020 to boost renewables and reduce oil and gas production. Looney’s abrupt exit and his replacement with Auchincloss made investors anxious about the direction of the company, especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the energy crisis that followed highlighted the continued need for oil and gas.
Utilities, Electricity & Renewables
San Antonio Express-News – April 1, 2026
CPS Energy trial: Did it face price gouging or fail to prepare for 2021 winter storm?*
In the wake of 2021’s devastating winter storm, CPS Energy accused energy suppliers in 17 lawsuits of price gouging when temperatures plunged below freezing and residents were left without power for days. The San Antonio utility dropped or settled all but two of the cases, leaving it with a $418 million bill. Now, a trial in one of the remaining cases is finally underway. In a bench trial before state District Judge Laura Salinas in San Antonio, CPS wants a ruling that the natural gas prices charged by Dallas-based Energy Transfer LP subsidiaries Houston Pipe Line Co. LP and Oasis Pipeline LP are “unenforceable” because they are “unconscionable” and violate Texas public policy.
The suppliers counter that CPS engaged in aggressive strategies related to purchasing natural gas that ended up “backfiring” on the utility. CPS paid more than $50 million for natural gas from Houston Pipe Line and Oasis, but the suppliers want Salinas to order the San Antonio utility to pay the rest of what they say is owed — $263 million, which, including interest on the debt over the past five years, now amounts to $376 million. The trial, which got underway Monday, is expected to last about three weeks. By contrast, the winter freeze — which caused the deaths of 246 Texans — lasted a week in February 2021.
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Dallas Morning News – April 1, 2026
ERCOT: Data centers cause Texas’ large load queue to balloon*
The size of ERCOT’s large load interconnection requests – majority of which are data centers wanting to connect to the grid – soared by nearly 150 gigawatts to 410 gigawatts in just two weeks, a symptom of Texas becoming a hub for data centers and other high-tech industries. On Tuesday, ERCOT officials discussed the massive uptick in requests, the agency’s recently published “state of the grid” report and more at its third annual Innovation Summit at Kalahari Resorts’ convention center in Round Rock. Large loads are customers requesting a new or expanded interconnection, where its total peak demand at a single site would be at least 75 megawatts.
Hundreds of people in various roles tied to the energy industry were in attendance for panels, attended by industry executives and experts from across the globe. The first session included a discussion between ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas and National Energy System Operator CEO Fintan Slye on “powering progress.” Vegas, who has led ERCOT since 2022, reflected on the evolving grid and energy market in Texas. “The ERCOT grid today is vastly different from the ERCOT grid of even 5 years ago and certainly more than 20 years ago,” he said. “I think that’s one of the characteristics of the conversation today about the grid itself is just how rapidly evolving and changing it has become.”
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Texas Tribune – April 1, 2026
AI-aligned super PACs are pouring millions into Texas congressional races
In an ad that aired ahead of the March primary, Republican congressional candidate Chris Gober was promoted to voters as a “Trump conservative” and “MAGA warrior” who “knows how to win a fight.” The ad didn’t include explicit references to artificial intelligence, only referencing Gober’s support for technology investment in Texas to “defeat China.”
But it was run by American Mission, an appendage of a deep-pocketed AI super PAC network called Leading the Future, which sprung up in 2025 with backers including Greg Brockman, co-founder of the ChatGPT creator OpenAI, and Joe Lonsdale, the Austin billionaire and co-founder of Palantir, an AI-centric software and data analysis company. American Mission spent about $372,000 airing the pro-Gober ad across the district, according to media tracking firm AdImpact, helping him win the nomination to succeed retiring Rep. Michael McCaul.
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Bloomberg – April 1, 2026
The US Data Center Boom Is Hitting a Transformer Crunch (blog)*
Almost half of the US data centers planned for this year are expected to be delayed or canceled. One big reason is the shortage of electrical equipment, such as transformers, switchgear and batteries. They are needed not just for powering AI, but also for building out the grid that is seeing increased consumption from electric cars and heat pumps. US manufacturing capacity for these devices cannot keep up with demand, and the scarcity has caused data center builders to rely on imports.
Electrification is a key solution to both tackling climate change and powering AI ambitions. But America’s AI prowess on computer chips and cutting-edge software is being hamstrung by the country’s inability to manufacture the electrical parts. “There’s not enough domestic capacity to go around, so people are pretty much forced to go to the export market,” says Benjamin Boucher, senior analyst with Wood Mackenzie. Crusoe Energy Systems won the contract to build the Texas data center campus because it promised speed. The secret to achieving that was buying enough of the right electrical equipment through early orders, securing some supplies before export barriers were erected.
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Utility Dive – April 1, 2026
Large load tariffs proliferate as states take more active role in data center regulation
State policymakers are increasingly looking to large load tariffs as a way to shield ratepayers from the surge in interconnection requests from artificial intelligence data centers, with 77 such tariffs pending or in place across 36 states, according to the Smart Electric Power Alliance, which recently updated its Database of Emerging Large Load Tariffs. In 2025, state regulators approved 29 large load tariffs, compared to 14 between 2018 and 2024, SEPA said. The database, which is jointly maintained with the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center, has added 12 entries and 3 additional states since its last update in November.
Experts say it’s too soon to know whether the tariffs are working as intended, and broader reforms to utility planning and power markets are likely needed. “We’ve seen the tariffs that set the initial agreements and the kind of frameworks, and they have these really important safeguards, but in a lot of states, we haven’t yet gotten to that process of cost allocation, which is complicated,” Louisa Eberle, a senior associate with the nonprofit Regulatory Assistance Project, told Utility Dive. “There are several reasons why rates might still go up for other customers if cost allocation isn’t done effectively.”
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Amarillo Globe-News – April 1, 2026
Fermi America secures $156M commitment as power grid progresses
Infrastructure is moving and more funds are being secured for Fermi America as it continues working on its massive AI data center campus and private power grid under construction in the Texas Panhandle near Amarillo. Fermi America, in partnership with the Texas Tech University System, on Wednesday, April 1 announced that it has entered into a senior unsecured promissory note with an investment fund managed by Yorkville Advisors Global, LP, providing committed financing of up to $156.25 million to support general corporate purposes. Texas Capital Securities served as financial advisor to Fermi America in connection with this transaction.
“You earn partners like Yorkville by doing what you said you would do,” said Toby Neugebauer, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Fermi America, in the release. “We are focused on executing at FermiSpeed to ensure power certainty at scale for our hyperscaler tenants and are honored to have such strong financial partners.”
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The Wall Street Journal – March
America Now Has an EV Rust Belt. High Gas Prices Won’t Rescue It.
ST. CLAIR, Mich.—At first, North America’s biggest auto-parts supplier was thrilled to snag the job of making enclosures for the batteries in General Motors’ new electric pickup. The contract was so big—and promised to be for years to come—that Magna MG 1.00%increase; green up pointing triangle International built a new factory in a Michigan cornfield. Five years later, that million-square-foot plant is mostly empty and losing money, a casualty of America’s messy breakup with electric vehicles. It is one of dozens of now desolate or sparsely used EV parts plants across the country. Now the war in Iran has driven gas prices up so sharply that EV enthusiasts are daring to wonder whether U.S. car buyers are willing to give the vehicles another look. But Magna and its big Detroit customers are forging ahead with plans to roll back EV investments.
It can take years to pivot a factory and supply chain from one type of vehicle to another. And it would take four to six months of higher gas prices for most Americans to reconsider more fuel-efficient vehicles, said Paul Jacobson, GM’s chief financial officer. “We certainly don’t see it today,” he said recently. GM said this week it would idle the Detroit factory where it builds the big electric trucks that Magna supplies, due to weak demand. “The magnitude of uncertainty is unparalleled,” said Magna Chief Executive Swamy Kotagiri, who joined the company as an engineer in 1999 and has run it since 2021. A Magna team recently walked through the St. Clair EV parts factory trying to figure out what equipment might be repurposed. It will take 18 to 24 months, the company figures, to find new customers and get enough production to be profitable again.
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Bloomberg – April 1, 2026
America’s AI Build-Out Hinges on Chinese Electrical Parts*
In the red dirt of Abilene, Texas, more than 6,000 workers travel around on electric buggies, spending day and night constructing a massive data center that will feed the world’s growing artificial intelligence needs. When completed this year, the eight sprawling buildings — which OpenAI will use — will consume 1.2 gigawatts of power, or enough electricity for nearly 1 million American households. As the global AI race heats up, there is a huge rush to build data centers fast. There’s no lack of money chasing these projects, with tech giants Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com, Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp. committed to spending more than $650 billion this year alone. Yet neither ambition nor capital is enough to materialize all the necessary components for these power-hungry computers.
Almost half of the US data centers planned for this year are expected to be delayed or canceled. One big reason is the shortage of electrical equipment, such as transformers, switchgear and batteries. They are needed not just for powering AI, but also for building out the grid that is seeing increased consumption from electric cars and heat pumps. US manufacturing capacity for these devices cannot keep up with demand, and the scarcity has caused data center builders to rely on imports. Electrification is a key solution to both tackling climate change and powering AI ambitions. But America’s AI prowess on computer chips and cutting-edge software is being hamstrung by the country’s inability to manufacture the electrical parts. “There’s not enough domestic capacity to go around, so people are pretty much forced to go to the export market,” says Benjamin Boucher, senior analyst with Wood Mackenzie.
Regulatory
JD Supra – March 31, 2026
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is rapidly emerging as one of the most consequential areas of energy law and environmental regulation. At its heart sits a technical but critically important regulatory category: the Class VI injection well. These wells are used to inject carbon dioxide into deep rock formations for the purpose of long-term underground storage, making them the cornerstone of any commercial-scale CCS project. For years, permitting authority for Class VI wells located in Texas rested solely with the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), resulting in a process many in the energy industry found slow and uncertain.
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Texas Energy Report NewsClips
Wednesday April 1, 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
Crude prices reversed course to drop more than 4% on Wednesday as investors weighed U.S. President Donald Trump’s willingness to exit the Iran conflict within weeks, even as the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed.
WTI for May delivery was down 3.5% to $97.79 a barrel as of 4 am ET.
Brent contract for June delivery also tumbled 4.8% to $98.56 a barrel.
The global oil benchmark surged more than 60% last month, in its strongest monthly rally dating back to 1988. The May contract settled about 5% higher on Tuesday at $118.35 per barrel.
Oil prices plunged after Trump said Tuesday evening that he expected the U.S. military forces to leave Iran in “two or three weeks” and appeared to be declaring victory.
“We leave because there’s no reason for us to do this,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We’ll be leaving very soon.”
Top Stories
Yahoo! News – March 31, 2026
Microsoft in talks with Chevron, Engine No. 1 about $7B Texas power plant – Bloomberg
Microsoft (MSFT) is in exclusive talks with Chevron (CVX) and investment fund Engine No. 1 over a long-term deal that would underpin a massive energy complex in West Texas, providing electricity to power a large data center campus, Bloomberg reported after-hours Tuesday. The proposed natural gas-fired power plant is projected to cost ~$7B and initially generate 2,500 MW of electricity, making it one of the largest of its kind in the U.S., according to the report.
Chevron (CVX) previously disclosed some details regarding its proposed power plant—such as the chosen site near the city of Pecos, close to the Texas-New Mexico border in the heart of the oil-producing Permian Basin—but not the end user. The Permian produces so much natural gas—a by-product of oil—that it often overwhelms pipelines, so some gas is burned off because it cannot be transported, making the region an ideal location for power plants.
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CBS News – March 31, 2206
Trump administration exempts oil and gas drilling in the Gulf from Endangered Species Act
Related: What to know about Rice’s whale, a rare species in the way of Trump’s plans for more Gulf drilling — PBS
The Trump administration on Tuesday exempted oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said environmentalists’ lawsuits threatened to hobble domestic energy supplies as the U.S. wages war against Iran. Critics said the move by the government’s Endangered Species Committee could doom a rare whale species and harm other marine life. Nicknamed the “God Squad” by groups who say it can decide a species’ fate, the committee comprises several Trump administration officials and is chaired by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
It met Tuesday for the first time in more than three decades amid global oil shocks and soaring energy prices brought on by the Iran war. The U.S. pumps more oil than any other nation, but that hasn’t insulated it from spiking prices: The national average for a gallon of gasoline topped $4 Tuesday for the first time since 2022.
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Texas Tribune – March 31, 2026
A political action committee funded by Texas’ most prolific hardline conservative donors was the main benefactor to Bo French’s campaign for the Texas Railroad Commission in the March Republican primary, spending $375,000 to bolster his bid. The Texas Freedom Fund for the Advancement of Justice, formerly known as Defend Texas Liberty, gave French $225,000 and spent another $150,000 on an ad promoting his candidacy in a widely circulated conservative newsletter. The two PACs have been predominantly financed by West Texas oil billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, who have deployed tens of millions of dollars to pull the Texas GOP and Legislature toward their hardline, anti-LGBTQ+ and immigration stances.
Dunn and Wilks’ PAC accounted for more than half of the $637,139 French raised from the start of his campaign through late February, helping him secure a spot in the May runoff against incumbent Jim Wright. The winner will face Democrat Jon Rosenthal in November for one of the three seats on the commission, which regulates Texas’ oil and gas industry.
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The Wall Street Journal – March 31, 2026
U.A.E. Wants to Force Hormuz Open and Is Willing to Join the Fight*
The United Arab Emirates is preparing to help the U.S. and other allies open the Strait of Hormuz by force, Arab officials said, a move that would make it the first Persian Gulf country to become a combatant, after being hit by Iranian attacks. The U.A.E. is lobbying for a United Nations Security Council resolution that would authorize such action, the officials said. Emirati diplomats have urged the U.S. and military powers in Europe and Asia to form a coalition to open the strait by force, the officials said. A U.A.E. official said the Iranian regime thinks it is fighting for its existence and is willing to bring the global economy down with it in a chokehold on the strait. The U.A.E. official said the country had reviewed its capabilities to assist in securing the strait, including efforts to help clear it of mines and other support services.
The Gulf state has also said the U.S. should occupy islands in the strategic waterway including Abu Musa, which has been held by Iran for a half-century and is claimed by the U.A.E., other Arab officials said. In a statement, the U.A.E. Foreign Ministry pointed to a separate resolution passed by the U.N. condemning Iran’s attacks on its cities and to one made by another U.N. body, the International Maritime Organization, condemning the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The Emirati Foreign Ministry said there is “broad global consensus that freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz must be preserved.” Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are now turning against Iran’s regime and want the war to continue until it is disabled or toppled, Arab officials said, though they have stopped short of committing their military. Bahrain, a close U.S. ally that hosts the Navy’s Fifth Fleet, is sponsoring the U.N. resolution, with a vote expected Thursday.
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Reuters – March 31, 2026
Microsoft, Chevron and Engine No. 1 sign exclusive deal for power supply*
Microsoft, Chevron and investment fund Engine No. 1 have entered into an exclusivity agreement for power generation and supply, the three companies said on Tuesday. Technology companies, including Microsoft, are rushing to secure electricity supply for their rapidly expanding data centers that would power generative artificial intelligence services such as ChatGPT and Copilot. “No commercial terms have been finalized, and there is no definitive agreement at this time,” the three companies said in a statement.
Chevron and Engine No. 1 had already announced a partnership last year to build natural gas-based power plants next to data centers in the U.S., with the two planning to use turbines by electric services company GE Vernova. Bloomberg News, which has reported the deal with Microsoft, said the long-term agreement is tied to a proposed natural gas-fired power plant in West Texas, with a projected cost of roughly $7 billion.
The Latest TERse Tips
President Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday at allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the U.S. war effort against Iran, telling them to “go get your own oil” and saying it was not America’s job to secure the Strait of Hormuz — Associated Press/KTRE
In another massive blow to high-tax blue states, Apollo Global Management Inc. has announced plans to establish a second U.S. headquarters, scouting locations in Texas and South Florida — Fox News
Exxon Mobil Is on Track for Its Best Quarter Ever — The Wall Street Journal*
FERC has cleared the way for what could become the Gulf Coast’s largest natural gas storage hub, granting a certificate for Golden Triangle Storage LLC to add 30 Bcf of capacity at its salt dome complex in Beaumont — Natural Gas Intelligence*
Union workers at Exxon Mobil’s refining and chemical plant complex in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, ratified a new four-year contract on Friday, sources familiar with plant operations said — Westlaw
The Texas PUC is launching a survey of water use by data centers and crypto miners to address concerns about whether the state is prepared for the potential demand from the large loads’ H2O needs — RTO Insider
Governor Greg Abbott today announced that he directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to activate state emergency response resources ahead of severe weather expected to impact multiple regions of Texas this week — “The State of Texas is taking action to prepare for severe storms expected to affect Texans in North, West, and Central Texas,” said Governor Abbott — see the press release
El Paso City Council denies another attempted rate hike by Texas Gas Service — El Paso Times
Marathon Petroleum is a step closer to renewing its air permit for its refinery in south-central El Paso, despite concerns raised by some community members, as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TCEQ, said the company’s application meets all legal requirements — KFOX
Fitch Ratings has revised the Rating Outlook for Denton, TX’s rated utility system ratings to Negative from Stable, affirmed the revenue bonds at ‘A’ and assessed the Standalone Credit Profile (SCP) of the city of Denton at ‘a’ — Fitch
Oil & Gas Texas
Houston Chronicle – March 31, 2026
How some Texas oil companies are quietly ignoring Trump’s climate rollback*
In September, the Texas oil giant Exxon Mobil announced a new partnership with a Canadian satellite company to monitor emissions of methane — a potent greenhouse gas — across all its onshore operations in North America and Asia, representing more than half the company’s oil and gas production. Just a month earlier, the Trump administration had announced it was considering ending the federal government’s finding that greenhouse gas emissions are harmful to human health and welfare, a proposal the administration carried through with last month, one of a number of moves by President Donald Trump to undercut climate policies put in place during the Obama and Biden administrations.
Those changes were seemingly designed to allow U.S. fossil fuel companies to pull back on efforts to reduce their greenhouse gas footprints — and theoretically increase profits. But Exxon and a number of other companies in Texas’ sprawling oil and gas industry continued on anyway. “It’s like a test of who was really serious about emissions reductions and who wasn’t,” said Andrew Logan, a senior director at Ceres, a non-profit that presses large oil companies to reduce emissions. “The good news is that the companies that are trying to be leaders on emissions are staying the course, or in some cases they’re issuing new targets.”
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Dallas Morning News – March 31, 2026
Texas Stock Exchange nabs first primary listing commitment as Dallas firm launches energy ETF*
TXSE has its first taker. The Texas Stock Exchange is the planned primary listing venue of a new exchange-traded fund from Westwood Holdings Group, a Dallas-based investment and asset management firm. Westwood filed a prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday for a new product, the Westwood Salient Enhanced Power & Infrastructure ETF. Pending regulatory approval, the ETF will trade using the ticker symbol PWRX on TXSE after the exchange begins operations later this year.
The prospectus marks the first public commitment for a primary listing on TXSE, though there may be other listings in the pipeline that, depending on the timing of the regulatory process, begin trading sooner. “Westwood’s decision to list its latest ETP on TXSE reflects where the market is headed. We’re entering a new era defined by alignment, transparency, and true partnership — and the Texas Stock Exchange was built with those principles at its core,” said Rob Marrocco, TXSE’s global head of exchange-traded products, in a statement.
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Oil Price – March 31, 2026
UAE Investment Firm Buys U.S. Midstream Gas Assets for $2.25 Billion
2PointZero, an Abu Dhabi-based investment company focused on energy infrastructure, has signed a deal to buy 100% in U.S. firm Traverse Midstream Partners, owner of minority stakes in natural gas pipelines, for $2.25 billion. 2PointZero, led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi, entered in the deal through its subsidiary E Point Zero Holding RSC LTD, 2PointZero said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
The agreement – subject to regulatory clearance – is yet another investment from the Middle East in U.S. energy assets as companies from the Arab Gulf continue their deal-making abroad even amid the war. Traverse Midstream Partners, a portfolio company of The Energy & Minerals Group, holds a portfolio of high quality non-operated midstream assets, including strategic minority stakes in the Rover Pipeline LLC and Ohio River System LLC.
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Scientific American – March 31, 2026
Enough with the fear-mongering, fracking edition
Okay, environmental movement, Time Out. Your latest anti-fracking video, shared in an Upworthy post titled “In Case You Missed It, A Seriously Scary Thing Is Scheduled To Happen To New York City This November” is scaring and confusing people and it’s hurting your mission. The video has been making the rounds on Facebook and Twitter. I’ve seen posts from friends in New York City who can’t believe something like this could happen. I mean, “an explosion… in the West Village?” because of not just any natural gas, but fracked gas that is “laced with radon” and prone to explode AT ANY MINUTE.
See the video from Occupy the Pipelne on YouTube here
But natural gas from a hydraulic fracturing process doesn’t equal exploding pipelines, and this one is hardly the first one in the New York metropolitan area. According to the U.S. EIA (link), there are several natural gas pipelines running beneath the streets. Here are a few: “The Algonquin Gas Transmission Company system (1,100 miles) has the capability to move 1.5 Bcf per day of its 3.3 Bcf per day system capacity from New Jersey into the New York metropolitan area.”
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The Wall Street Journal – March 31, 2026
Exxon Scientists Had Doubts About Algae Biofuels. The Oil Giant Touted Them Anyway.*
Exxon Mobil’s scientists delivered a grim message to one of the oil company’s top strategic-planning executives in February 2020: Its much-heralded algae biofuels program was falling well short of its stated goals. Their presentation was one of multiple communications to Exxon’s top leadership in early 2020 that even the most promising strains of algae were struggling to produce much oil outside the lab, documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show. A week later, Exxon told investors algae could become a more prolific source of biofuel in the near term than agricultural products such as sugarcane and palm. That alarmed the scientists who didn’t agree with the way the data were presented to investors, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Journal reviewed an internal presentation made in early 2020 by Exxon’s scientists and examined other documents related to Exxon’s efforts on algae. Some of the documents—none of which have been previously reported—show executives knew the $500 million algae research project wasn’t meeting its goals outside the lab, even as they continued to promote it to investors as a potential boon. Members of Exxon’s investor-relations team and leading researchers exchanged a flurry of communications discussing algae’s low productivity outside the lab and how to highlight the program to investors in the days ahead of the presentation, the documents show. “Our algae research was driven by the pursuit of innovation, which has been at the core of ExxonMobil’s success for well more than a century,” an Exxon spokesman said. “A commercial breakthrough would have been transformative. Were we enthusiastic? Absolutely. But we were also transparent. “Our communications reflected the science as it was understood at the time, and when it became clear the technology would not scale commercially, we ended the program. Any suggestion otherwise is a lie.”
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Pipeline & Gas Journal – March 31, 2026
Boardwalk Pipelines to Acquire Spire Marketing for $215 Million, Expand Gas Value Chain
Boardwalk Pipelines has agreed to acquire Spire Marketing for $215 million in cash, expanding its presence across the natural gas value chain while adding marketing and trading capabilities to its midstream operations. The deal brings a gas marketing business that supports procurement and physical delivery of natural gas across the U.S., serving commercial and industrial customers as well as pipelines, utilities and power generators.
“This is a step forward for Boardwalk as we continue to expand our participation across the natural gas value chain,” said Scott Hallam, president and chief executive officer of Boardwalk Pipelines. “By bringing on an experienced team with deep market expertise and established commercial capabilities, we seek to strengthen our asset optimization and more effectively serve our customers’ increasingly complex energy needs.”
Oil & Gas National & International
The Wall Street Journal – March 31, 2026
Iran Takes Aim at the Industries Behind the Gulf’s Pivot From Oil*
The oil states of the Persian Gulf have made great strides to diversify their economies in recent years, but they have also created a new vulnerability: more strategic targets for Iran to hit. Outgunned militarily, Iran is wreaking economic havoc in the Middle East by attacking factories that produce aluminum and steel, targeting services such as banking and tourism, and disrupting the region’s trade in products like fruit. Oil and gas production remains the Persian Gulf’s economic backbone, and Iran’s stranglehold on tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz has caused the war’s biggest economic dislocations.
But the region’s abundance of cheap energy has also powered a determined pivot by Gulf states into a range of non-oil industries and services that are now also drawing Iran’s fire. And like oil, they resonate globally. Over the weekend, Iranian drones damaged major aluminum smelting operations in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, while hitting port cranes in Oman. Iranian munitions have struck data centers and bank offices, as well as the region’s modern seaports and airports, neutralizing them as trade hubs. On Sunday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps took aim at education centers, with threats to attack regional campuses of American universities in a fresh escalation of the tit-for-tat attacks on civilian or economic targets that are beginning to characterize periods of the war.
The Gulf has long pursued industries that require loads of cheap energy—Aluminium Bahrain, a giant producer damaged over the weekend, dates to the 1970s. But metals businesses like it, along with fertilizer and chemical enterprises, are now competitive global players because Gulf governments invested in hard and soft infrastructure adjacent to the oil business.
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News from the States – March 31, 2026
More than 8,500 acres of Ohio’s public land approved for fracking
More than 8,000 acres at Egypt Valley Wildlife Area and more than 500 acres at Salt Fork State Park were approved to be fracked during Friday’s Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission meeting, which lasted less than 20 minutes. Four different bid selections were approved for parts of Egypt Valley Wildlife Area in Belmont County — 3,846 acres, 2,792 acres, 849 acres, and 746 acres.
One bid selection was approved for 513 acres in Salt Fork State Park in Guernsey County. The leases will be put out to bid next calendar quarter. … “The poisonous fruits of fracking will now grow in everyone’s backyard,” Save Ohio Parks said in a statement. Several people booed and shouted in opposition when the commissions voted to approve the bids.
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Associated Press/NBC DFW – March 31, 2026
Average U.S. gas prices soar past $4 per gallon, the highest since 2022
U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 as fuel prices continue to soar worldwide amid the Iran war. According to motor club AAA, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is now $4.02 — over a dollar more than before the war began. The last time U.S. drivers were collectively paying this much at the pump was nearly four years ago, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The price is a national average, meaning drivers in some states — like California, Illinois, Nevada and Arizona — have been paying well over $4 a gallon for a while now. Prices vary from state to state due to factors ranging from nearby supply to differing tax rates.
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The Wall Street Journal – March 31, 2026
War Means Profits for LNG Producers, but Long-Term Challenges*
Stocks of U.S. liquefied-natural-gas companies have been on a tear, as higher gas prices will juice profits. But investors are ignoring the flip side of the Iran crisis: High prices are likely to rewire demand in ways that hurt the industry’s expansion plans. LNG has the same chokepoint as oil. Around a fifth of global supply is trapped behind the Strait of Hormuz, and most of this LNG comes from a single Qatari facility that has been struck by Iranian missiles. Qatar says it will take up to five years to repair damage to the Ras Laffan site, which will delay how soon flows go back to normal and keep global prices high.
This is good for U.S. LNG producers whose supplies are still flowing. Shares in Venture Global, which has higher exposure to surging spot prices, have risen 74% since the start of the war. Cheniere Energy , which has more of its supply locked into long-term contracts, is up 25%. But higher-for-longer prices muddy the long-term outlook for LNG. Exports of the fuel are marketed around the world as affordable and helpful for energy security. The U.S. Department of Energy has even referred to the fuel as “molecules of U.S. freedom.” If pipeline gas is a marriage between two countries, seaborne cargoes of the superchilled gas allow for a less committed relationship. This flexibility is valuable in a tense world. A fresh price jolt, four years after the outbreak of war in Ukraine caused a massive run-up in LNG prices, undermines the affordability pitch. Prices for LNG are more volatile than oil because supply is tight and trading is less liquid. Spot prices in Europe and Asia have gained 67% and 84%, respectively, since the first U.S. strikes on Iran, compared with an increase of 48% for Brent.
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Reuters – March 27, 2026
Oil, gas exploration is back: Energy giants hunt to replenish reserves*
Global energy companies are getting back to basics and focusing on the hunt for new sources of oil and gas, executives declared at the CERAWeek conference in Houston this week, ending years of underinvestment in exploration. In recent years, the shale revolution in the U.S. promised abundant, flexible supply, while growth in renewable resources like wind and solar raised doubts about long‑term oil demand. Many oil and gas drillers chose to funnel profits to dividends and share buybacks instead of exploration.
Now, production in the Permian Basin in the U.S. is expected to plateau while energy demand keeps growing. Oil and gas producers are racing to plug gaps in their reserves over the next decade as each year of production depletes existing fields. The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is heightening the importance of finding new resources. Executives at the conference warned that supply shortages could continue for longer than expected, making new discoveries potentially more critical.
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S&P Global Platts – March 31, 2026
US has ‘plenty’ of jet fuel for countries facing shortages: Trump
US President Donald Trump has called on countries facing jet fuel supply disruptions to buy from American refiners or “just take it” from the Middle East Gulf, according to a March 31 post on his TruthSocial account.”All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the US, we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,” Trump said.
His comments follow over a month of disrupted trade through the vital shipping chokepoint, where traffic ground to a virtual standstill after the US and Israel launched “Operation Epic Fury” on Feb. 28, triggering a wave of counterattacks from Iran. With regular trade flows from the Middle East Gulf disrupted, global jet fuel prices have surged.
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Associated Press/KVUE – March 31, 2026
Oil-thirsty Asian nations seek Russian crude as Iran war strains supplies
Asian nations are increasingly competing for Russian crude oil as an energy crisis mounts amid the month-old war by the U.S. and Israel against Iran, which has choked off roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply. Much of the oil from the mostly shut Strait of Hormuz was headed for Asia, hit hardest by recent energy shocks. Over the weekend, Iran-backed Houthi rebels entered the conflict, further threatening shipping.
To shore up global crude oil supplies, the U.S. has temporarily eased sanctions on Russian oil shipments already at sea — first for India, then for the rest of the world. Demand is rising in Asia while Russia is raking in billions of dollars. But experts say there is a limit to how much Moscow can boost its exports of crude oil, which is unrefined petroleum needed to make fuels like gasoline and diesel, and it is already exporting at a level close to its previous peak.
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Reuters – March 27, 2026
Russia’s Lavrov says US wants to take over Nord Stream gas pipelines*
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the U.S. has been seeking control over the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, which were damaged by mysterious blast in September 2022. Explosions that destroyed the pipelines more than three years ago largely severed Russian gas transit to Europe, squeezing energy supplies on the continent although Russia had already largely stopped deliveries.
Russia and Western countries have both said the incident was an act of sabotage. Investigators spent years trying to piece together the mystery of who was behind it and last year a Ukrainian man was arrested in Italy on suspicion of coordinating the attacks. Speaking to France Televisions on Thursday, Lavrov said the U.S. has been striving to dominate over the global energy markets, citing Venezuela, where Washington has effectively taken under control the world’s largest oil reserves, as well as Iran.
Utilities, Electricity & Renewables
Houston Chronicle – March 30, 2026
Texas Supreme Court stops most lawsuits from 2021 winter storm. Here’s what it means for victims.*
Victims of Texas’ deadly 2021 blackouts suffered yet another blow last week after the state Supreme Court declined to consider lawsuits against energy companies that couldn’t keep their facilities running amid the winter storm that knocked out power across the state. … Only one batch of lawsuits remains active, according to the Texas Lawbook, a legal news publication: cases brought against transmission and distribution utilities, the companies that deliver electricity via power lines such as the Houston area’s CenterPoint Energy. Utilities tried to dismiss these lawsuits, but the Texas Supreme Court has allowed them to proceed. The cases are currently active in the 281st District Court in Harris County.
However, the cases face an uphill battle, as the plaintiffs’ lawyers have to prove that these utilities acted with “gross negligence,” a high legal bar to clear. “Saying there was extreme indifference is not the same thing as pleading facts demonstrating the extraordinarily horrific mindset you’re talking about, where the people pulling these switches just didn’t care that somebody was going to die,” Texas Supreme Court Justice James Blacklock said to one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers at a hearing last year.
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El Paso Matters – March 31, 2026
El Paso Electric filings detail power plant impact behind Meta’s $10 billion data center
As Meta Platform begins construction on its new multi-billion dollar El Paso data center, El Paso Electric is working to rapidly build a power plant for the facility that ratepayers will pay for within a few years. Filings with the Public Utility Commission of Texas show the utility plans to shift the power plant’s cost to all customers after an initial one- to five-year “bridge” period where Meta would pay all of El Paso Electric’s cost to deliver power to its data center.
The nearly $500 million, 366-megawatt facility would rely on 813 small gas-fired generators that don’t require water but would emit pollutants such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides. Meta executives on Thursday unveiled a massive expansion of its planned data center in Northeast – boosting its investment from $1.5 billion to $10 billion. The company also announced increased investments in the community, including job training grants and bill payment assistance.
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Bloomberg – March 31, 2026
Thousands of Dumped Wind-Turbine Blades Prompt Crackdown in Texas*
For nearly a decade, residents of Sweetwater have been confronted by a jarring sight as they leave and enter this small West Texas town: thousands of used wind-turbine blades. The blades take up nearly 1 million square feet in a field off Interstate 20. Hundreds more occupy a second site nearby. Originally up to 200 feet long — nearly the wingspan of a Boeing 747 — the blades have been cut into thirds, exposing gaping openings. Locals complain they’re a haven for rattlesnakes, collect water that attracts mosquitoes and pose a threat to children living nearby. The town has repeatedly asked the company that left the blades there to remove them, with no success.
“It’s really ugly,” says Samantha Morrow, the city attorney. She’s received quotes to remove the blades, but they range from $13 million to $54 million, beyond the city’s budget. Thousands of visitors come to Sweetwater each year for its rattlesnake roundup, and the town also draws traffic tied to nearby wind energy projects. Miesha Adames, Sweetwater’s executive director of economic development, says the blades have damaged the town’s reputation. Texan officials have had enough. Attorney General Ken Paxton last month filed a civil lawsuit against Global Fiberglass Solutions, the recycling company that left the blades in Sweetwater. Four people have been indicted for illegal dumping and theft of property. The Nolan County District Attorney is seeking significant jail time and says more charges are likely. “They chose Sweetwater, Texas, Nolan County, and just decided, ‘I’m going to take some money and I’m going to leave this here and it’s their problem,” District Attorney Ricky Thompson told reporters at a recent press conference held in front of the blades. “That’s not okay.”
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Grist – March 31, 2026
Texas saw a $50B future in clean energy. Then the political winds shifted.
On an unseasonably warm January day, Duff Hallman’s goats and sheep wandered unhurried through the rocky hills of his ranch 30 miles south of San Angelo, Texas, unbothered by the long shadows that swept over the ground. The shadows fell from wind turbines towering 250 feet above, their blades spinning like clock hands over land that has been in Hallman’s family for four generations. From a shady spot in his backyard, Hallman can almost nod off watching them turn. “It slows your pace down a bit,” he said.
At 74, Hallman still feels honored to work the 9,200-acre ranch he owns with his brother and sister, sometimes putting in as much as 15 hours a day. The labor starts at dawn — mending fences, clearing pastures, tending horses and livestock — and is far from lucrative. He doesn’t do it for the money, but out of gratitude to those who kept the ranch going before him. “Somebody worked their tail off to make it happen,” he said. “And I have worked my tail off, too.”
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KCEN – March 31, 2026
On March 26, Oncor and the Lower Colorado River Authority — known as LCRA — filed an official application with the Public Utility Commission of Texas for the Bell County East to Big Hill 765 kilovolt Transmission Line Project. The proposed line would stretch nearly 200 miles through 11 counties, including Bell, Lampasas, San Saba, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, Concho, Schleicher, Tom Green, Burnet and Williamson counties.
The project is part of ERCOT’s statewide effort to build what planners are calling an “electric expressway” — high-voltage infrastructure designed to move power generated in West Texas to meet surging demand from data centers and large energy users. Towers would stand 200 feet tall, constructed of self-supporting steel lattice. More than 122 possible routes have been filed for consideration. A final route is expected by September 2026, with the line planned to be operational by summer 2030.
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pv magazine – March 31, 2026
Rhythm Energy expands renewable electricity plans to commercial customers in Texas
Texas retail electric provider Rhythm Energy has announced its first offerings for commercial customers with the introduction of two new electricity plans: All-Business and PowerShift Business. The former includes fixed-rate pricing, while the latter provides customers with off-peak pricing for 20 hours per day and a higher rate between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. — hours when many small businesses are closed.
The company says the new time-of-use (TOU) offering will help businesses like retail stores, beauty salons, and professional offices lower their energy bills by aligning their electricity consumption with lower-cost periods of the day.
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Latitude Media – March 31, 2026
The multimillion dollar debate over powering data centers in Texas: Maeve Allsup
When Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 6 into law last summer, rewriting the rules for how large loads connect to and operate on the grid, it made ERCOT the country’s most visible laboratory for managing data center load growth. The core philosophy of SB6 is simple, and has echoed as far as major tech companies and utilities, as well as the White House: Data centers should pay their own way for grid upgrades, and stand down during emergencies so that ratepayers don’t end up footing the bill.
But as the rulemaking process for SB6 has unfolded, it’s becoming clear just how far apart regulators and the AI industry are when it comes to the price of grid admission. Other markets around the country are closely watching the back-and-forth between Texas and developers over the size of financial commitments, and whether to grandfather in existing projects, explained Anne Liu, the research lead for ERCOT at Aurora Energy Research.
Regulatory
Center Square – March 30, 2026
U.S. Supreme Court denies Michigan pipeline case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a case from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer over an oil and gas pipeline running through part of the state. The case, Whitmer v. Enbridge Energy, challenges a separate lawsuit the Canada-based energy company brought against the state for revoking allowance of the pipeline to be run through part of Michigan.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed Enbridge Energy’s lawsuit against the state policy to continue. Whitmer argued Michigan has a right to decide how its public lands can be used and should be allowed to revoke the company’s pipeline access.