News Briefs

The Trump Administration this week proposed reducing by over 90 percent the bonds oil and gas companies put up to cover cleanup costs when drilling on federal land.

Air Products on Tuesday announced it would cancel its $4.5 billion Louisiana Clean Energy Complex, which faced opposition from environmental groups and communities near the proposed injection site.

Plans for two major gas pipelines projects across Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi would involve crossing a combined 2,211 rivers, streams, lakes, and other water bodies, according to a recent report.

A company planning data centers for artificial intelligence across the U.S. and Canada is seeking a permit for a gas-fired power plant to supply a planned data center in central Texas.

After a deadlocked vote last week on a proposal in Erie, Colorado, to sell the town’s mineral rights for drilling, council members narrowly approved the deal on Tuesday.

After a four-year hiatus, the Bureau of Land Management intends to resume leasing blocks of federal land in south-central California for oil and gas drilling.

Oil changes have gotten more expensive as the Iran war has restricted imports of the raw ingredients used in motor oil, according to NPR.

After the administration finalized a standard to require fuel refiners to blend in record amounts of biofuels, a refining trade group sued the administration in late May.

High oil prices due to the Strait of Hormuz have led to an erosion of demand that will ripple into 2027, according to the International Energy Agency.

Environmental Defense Fund is challenging the Trump EPA over its plan to water down a Biden-era standard mean to reduce climate pollution from oil and gas.

With dozens of data centers generating backlash across Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott backed away from an earlier embrace of the industry and is now calling for more regulation.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright confirmed to Politico last week that the Trump Administration is considering a plan to create a strategic petroleum reserve on the West Coast.

As the Iran war continues and the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked, the U.S. government’s stockpile of crude oil reached its lowest level in four decades.

The operator of a facility in Licking County that uses heat, pressure, and chemicals to break down plastic waste has notified Ohio regulators it plans to suspend operations.

The federal government plans to offer nearly 156,000 acres of public land in Colorado in an upcoming lease sale, including habitat for the nation’s largest elk herd.

Total energy exports from the U.S. were 2 percent higher in 2025 than in 2024, also a record-breaking year, according to federal data.

A recent report states the cost increase is due in large part to the tech industry’s rush to build more natural gas power plants for data centers for artificial intelligence.

After withdrawing a permit application to build a new plant that would convert natural gas to chemicals needed to make plastics, the company has applied to expand an adjacent terminal.

Ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz more than doubled last week compared to the previous week, with traffic including three oil supertankers heading to Asia.

Residents of the Southeast Texas petrochemical hub of Freeport were in Tokyo this week asking Japanese financiers and government ministers to stop supporting fossil fuels.

Advocates are urging federal regulators to consider the full environmental costs of a floating liquified natural gas terminal 12 miles off the Texas coast.

With the war in Iran spiking gasoline prices over 50 percent, President Donald Trump this week said he hopes to suspend a federal tax on gasoline, which would require action from Congress.

On May 6, Energy Transfer withdrew its application for an air permit to build a new ethane cracker in Nederland, Texas, an area of increasing industrial development between Beaumont and Port Arthur.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will hold five meetings across North Dakota starting next week on a new natural gas pipeline approved to receive hundreds of millions in state funding.

Local officials in Utah recently approved an agreement with the developer of a data center complex nearly the size of Washington, D.C.

The Trump Administration this week approved a border crossing permit for the Bridger Pipeline Extension, seen as a revived alternative to the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Natural gas-fired power plants in Texas consumed 56 billion gallons combined in 2024, according to a recent analysis by the Sierra Club.

Representatives from nearly 60 nations are meeting in Colombia this week outside the formal U.N. process to discuss the transition to clean energy.

The already steep divide between U.S. natural gas prices and those in Asia and Europe has been exacerbated by the war with Iran that has shut down the Strait of Hormuz.

A long-running dispute over shutting down Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline will be heard in Michigan state court after a Supreme Court ruling seen as a win for pipeline opponents.

Even if the U.S. and Iran strike a peace deal soon, the international oil market has reached a “breaking point," analysts wrote.

The Trump Administration is considering severely weakening air pollution regulations for facilities that chemically process plastic waste.

In a series of memos Monday, President Donald Trump said he could continue invoking the Defense Production Act to push through oil, natural gas, and coal projects.

An air monitor at the edge of ExxonMobil’s refinery and chemical facility in Beaumont, Texas, showed concerningly high levels of benzene twice in 2025.

U.S. plastics markets slowed down in 2025, with a wave of plant closures, construction delays, and production cutbacks across the plastic industry, according to new research by the Environmental Integrity Project.

The company building a controversial 31-mile natural gas pipeline extension through Virginia and North Carolina started construction last week.

A committee of federal officials voted this week to exempt oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from laws meant to protect species like the vulnerable Rice’s whale from extinction.

Prices for all eight of the major types of fertilizers critical to farmers have increased over the past month following the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, according to the Progressive Farmer.

A new wave of methanol projects across the U.S. could dramatically expand production capacity, according to a new fact sheet by the Environmental Integrity Project.

Industry experts are sounding the alarm about possible insider trading after a flurry of oil trades that took place minutes before a post by President Donald Trump about the war in Iran.

Valero has begun restarting its oil refinery in Port Arthur after a massive explosion that led to shelter in place warnings.

New Fortress Energy, which began operating Puerto Rico’s power plants after a devastating 2017 hurricane, is now unable to pay its debts.

Invoking a wartime law used to speed production of medical supplies during the COVID pandemic, the Trump Administration ordered the restart of an oil pipeline in California last week.

Growing natural gas production in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico helped the U.S. set a new record last year.

The parent company for Michigan’s largest energy utility has proposed two new natural gas-fired power facilities outside of Flint and Bay City.

The Trump Administration is working to undo Biden-era rules that require petrochemical facilities and other hazardous sites to better prepare for disasters.

A state appeals court in Louisiana recently ruled that a local officials in St. James Parish violated state law by holding closed-door meetings about a proposed chemical plant.

Despite an outcry over noise and air pollution from nearby residents, regulators recently granted an air permit for Elon Musk’s xAI natural gas-fire power plant.

With strikes on multiple Middle East energy sites and tanker traffic slowed due to threats, President Donald Trump acknowledged Tuesday that the U.S.’s war with Iran is driving up energy prices.

With Iranian strikes shutting down natural gas terminals in the Persian Gulf, U.S. natural gas exporters like Venture Global and Cheniere are seeing their stock price jump.

The federal agency in charge of pipeline safety is accepting public comments on a request by Sable Offshore to restart an oil pipeline that caused a huge oil spill near Santa Barbara in 2015.

President Donald Trump delivered the second State of the Union address of his second administration and touted record natural gas and oil production as part of his “drill, baby, drill” agenda.

In the decade since the first cargo of liquified natural gas (LNG) shipped from a major U.S. terminal, the country has become the world’s top exporter of the fuel.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation is asking a federal regulator to dismiss an application to revive a controversial natural gas pipeline.

The state sued the administration this week over a decision to withdraw funds from the state's hydrogen hub, one of several planned under former president Biden.

The administration’s rollback of bedrock EPA policy on climate change undermines the government’s ability to address greenhouse gas emissions in cars and trucks.

The Trump Administration has authorized the Texas GulfLink oil export project off the coast of Brazoria County, southeast of Houston.

Data from MethaneSAT, the Environmental Defense Fund’s methane-detecting satellite, shows that major oil and gas operations are underreporting methane emissions in official inventories.

On March 18, 2026, BLM will hold an oil and gas lease sale for about 5.5 million acres within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.

On March 11, 2026, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will hold an oil and gas lease sale that covers over 80 million acres of the outer continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico, according to E&E News.

The Trump Administration will soon begin allowing companies to pump oil in Venezuela, according to Bloomberg News.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has authorized a 55-mile natural gas pipeline expansion through Virginia and North Carolina, despite community opposition.

The Florida legislature is weighing a bill that would prohibit local governments from adopting or implementing policies meant to draw down greenhouse gas emissions.

Mexico is importing less gasoline and diesel from the U.S. as its refineries increase their output, according to Bloomberg News.

A company operating in Alaska’s North Slope burned off state-owned natural gas for four months instead of reinjecting it into the ground, as required by law.

A bill under consideration in Indiana’s state House would require the state to pursue primary authority in permitting wells used for carbon dioxide disposal.

A gas-fired power plant south of Memphis planned by Elon Musk’s AI company could emit more greenhouse gases than nearly 1.3 million cars and trucks driven for a year.

When certain air quality monitoring sites go offline, air pollution often increases, according to an analysis by the EPA’s Office of the Inspector General.

Amid a shortage in natural gas-fired turbines to generate electricity, a Missouri-based company is making them out of repurposed jet engines.

Emissions of climate-warming greenhouse gases in the U.S. increased last year, outpacing the growth of the country’s economy, according to a recent analysis.

Driving by rising demand for exports, power-hungry data centers, and manufacturing, analysts are anticipating the largest natural gas pipeline expansion in nearly 20 years.

Pipeline company Williams has filed an application to revive a long-embattled natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania to New York.

Top Trump Cabinet members on Wednesday sketched out the goals to control oil sales out of Venezuela, following the abduction of the country’s president last week.

The U.S. Department of Transportation on Monday announced a civil penalty against a pipeline company for a massive 2023 oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico.

Pipeline company Energy Transfer announced in December that it would hold off on developing its Lake Charles LNG project.

Companies are proposing dozens of projects across the U.S. to produce ammonia, mainly from natural gas, according to a new fact sheet by the Environmental Integrity Project.

New York energy planners released a plan calling for expanding renewables and reducing dependence on fossil fuels while still falling short of the state’s 2019 climate targets

Oil and gas company executives said in a survey earlier this month that persistent low prices, geopolitical uncertainty, and rising costs continue to affect their industry.

The U.S. seized an oil tanker of the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said Wednesday amid the administration’s escalation of tensions with the country's president.

A Guardian investigation revealed that founders of a company developing liquified natural gas projects in Louisiana bought shares following a meeting with Trump officials.

Oil and gas companies bid $279 million in the first lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico since 2023, according to the Associated Press.

Executives from Ford, GM and Stellantis joined President Donald Trump at a White House event Wednesday announcing plans to weaken Biden-era efficiency standards.

The EPA made official last month its plans to delay a rule meant to reduce emissions of methane and other oil and gas industry air pollution.

A Colorado state regulatory agency on Monday finalized plans to require utilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Environmental groups are suing the administration over circumventing a bedrock federal environmental law in an upcoming lease.

Energy companies are seizing a moment of opportunity to propose three competing plans to pipe more fuel to California, according to Reuters.

A company’s proposal to store carbon dioxide under timber land in southern Alabama has drawn the opposition of farmers and local lawmakers.

The Trump Administration is considering allowing new oil leasing off the California coast for the first time since the 1980s, according to the Washington Post.

New York regulators have approved a controversial natural gas pipeline after rejecting permits for the project three times in the past.

Texas is now the sixth state to get primary authority over wells meant to store carbon dioxide underground after the EPA published a final rule this week.

Even with hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed due to the ongoing shutdown, the administration has approved hundreds of drilling permits.

On Nov. 4, voters ousted two Republican incumbents on the state’s Public Service Commission, which oversees energy utilities.

State regulators will hold a public hearing on a draft air permit proposed for a massive gas-fired power plant that will power an AI data center complex in the Texas Panhandle.

Community groups and national environmental organizations are suing the administration for giving chemical plants a break from rules meant to prevent toxic and cancer-causing pollution.

A committee of state legislators will hold a public hearing on a proposed liquified natural gas export terminal near Philadelphia.

On Oct. 7, a subsidiary of Canadian energy firm Enbridge began construction on a gas pipeline expansion across north-central Tennessee.

Citing interviews with 10 anonymous sources, Politico reported last week on tension building between President Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

A state judge in Louisiana ruled that a state agency erred in its analysis of environmental impacts when it issued a permit for the Commonwealth LNG facility.

The EPA has issued final permits ExxonMobil to drill and operate three carbon injection wells in Jefferson County, Texas.

Most of the requests in a letter from 100 manufacturing groups submitted to the incoming Trump administration late last year have been granted, according to reporting by The New Lede.