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☆ F.T.C. Clears Exxon Mobil’s Acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Clifford Krauss | More About Clifford Krauss | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday approved Exxon Mobil’s acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources as long as Exxon excludes Pioneer’s chief executive from its board. Exxon’s purchase of Pioneer is one of several large mergers and acquisitions in the oil and gas industry in recent years. accused Pioneer’s chief executive, Scott Sheffield, of colluding with officers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to control global oil production and prices. Sheffield’s past conduct makes it crystal clear that he should be nowhere near Exxon’s boardroom,” Kyle Mach, deputy director of the commission’s Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. “American consumers shouldn’t pay unfair prices at the pump simply to pad a corporate executive’s pocketbook.”

Persons: Pioneer’s, Scott Sheffield, Mr, Kyle Mach, ” Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, Exxon, Natural Resources, Pioneer’s, Organization of Petroleum, Competition Locations: Texas, New Mexico, commission’s

☆ Surging U.S. Oil Production Brings Down Prices and Raises Climate Fears
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Clifford Krauss | More About Clifford Krauss | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“There is a foreign policy dividend in keeping a lid on oil prices,” said David Goldwyn, who was a leading energy diplomat in the Obama administration. Exxon Mobil was kicked out of the Dow Jones industrial average, and some European oil companies announced plans to pivot from fossil fuels to renewables more quickly. While he has supported green energy and battery-powered cars, he has also hectored oil companies to increase production in an effort to drive down prices for consumers. He has approved a large drilling project in Alaska over the objections of environmentalists and a small number of offshore oil and gas permits. Mr. Biden has been under pressure from some Democrats to trumpet gains in oil production as a way of reaching out to voters who are leery of high gas prices.

Persons: ”, David Goldwyn, Obama, Joe Biden, Biden Organizations: Investors, Exxon Mobil, Dow Locations: Alaska

☆ U.S. Gas Prices Plunging as Holiday Travelers Hit the Road
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Clifford Krauss | More About Clifford Krauss | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

U.S. gasoline prices are plunging just in time for Thanksgiving, and with the OPEC Plus oil cartel in apparent disarray, they could be heading lower for Christmas. But this week, they fell to levels not seen at this time of year since 2021, according to the AAA motor club, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine sent energy prices higher. “For consumers it’s a terrific tailwind,” said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service. The price for a gallon of gas was $3.64 at the same time last year. Prices have dropped below $3 a gallon in more than a dozen states and are falling with particular speed in Montana, Florida and Colorado.

Persons: ”, Tom Kloza Organizations: OPEC, AAA, Oil Price Information Service Locations: Ukraine, Montana , Florida, Colorado

☆ Exxon Mobil Plans to Produce Lithium in Arkansas
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Clifford Krauss | More About Clifford Krauss | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Exxon Mobil said on Monday that it planned to set up a facility in Arkansas to produce lithium, a critical raw material for electric vehicles, which pose one of the biggest challenges to the company’s oil business. It could also open the door for southern Arkansas to emerge as a major source of lithium. Most of the metal today comes from Australia and South America and much of it is processed in China. “Electrification is going to be a major component of the energy transition and we bring highly relevant experience to the production of lithium,” Dan Ammann, president of Exxon Mobil Low Carbon Solutions and a former top executive at General Motors, said in an interview. “We see an opportunity to deploy that will be highly profitable.”

Persons: Dan Ammann, “ Organizations: Exxon Mobil, Exxon, Natural Resources, Carbon Solutions, General Motors Locations: Arkansas, Australia, South America, China, “

☆ Chasing Big Mergers, Oil Executives Dismiss Peak Oil Concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Clifford Krauss | More About Clifford Krauss | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Exxon Mobil and Chevron, the two largest U.S. oil companies, this month committed to spending more than $50 billion each to buy smaller companies in deals that would let them produce more oil and natural gas for decades to come. But a day after Chevron announced its acquisition, the International Energy Agency released an exhaustive report concluding that demand for oil, gas and other fossil fuels would peak by 2030 as sales of electric cars and use of renewable energy surged. The disconnect between what oil companies and many energy experts think will happen in the coming years has never been quite this stark. Big oil companies are doubling down on drilling for oil and gas and processing it into fuels for use in engines, power plants and industrial machinery. And, with only a few exceptions, they are not spending much on alternatives like wind and solar power and electric-car batteries.

Organizations: Exxon Mobil, Chevron, International Energy Agency

Just as important will be persuading people like Mr. Marohn that electric cars, renewable energy and electric heaters and stoves are practical, economical and exciting. Many, conservatives in particular, chafe at the prospect of the government forcing them to buy electric cars or ditch their natural gas appliances, polls show. By The New York TimesA clean energy future will require painstaking and individually tailored persuasion campaigns. “Even if some of them deny the science of climate change, they can’t deny good-paying jobs,” he said. “I just want to change the perception that electric cars are not as good as big, noisy muscle cars,” Mr. Lawson said.

Persons: Mikey Marohn, “, ”, Marohn, Alicia Cox, Cox, , chafe, Jesus, Ms, ” “, Jae Landreth, “ That’s, “ Nobody’s, Mr, Landreth, Phil Collins, Rob Leach, Leach, ‘, “ I’ve, Jack Conness, Biden, Jennifer Granholm, Granholm, Vladimir V, Putin, Sue Burns, Burns, Marjorie Taylor Greene, William Turner, didn’t “, Jason Walsh, Walsh, Tia Williams, Ms . Granholm, ” Ms, Williams, Joe Wilson, ” “ Didn’t, Roy Cooper of, Cooper, Patrick Lawson, Ford, Lawson, Lawson’s, Susan Lawson, Cheryl, Tesla, They’re, Kent Wheeler, “ It’s, ’, Josh Hermes, Paul Rosenzweig, Rosenzweig, Mary T, Barra, ” Kenneth Boswell, Quinton Lucas, Lucas, ” Mr Organizations: Clean, Biden, General Motors, nonbelievers, Republican, Pew, The New York Times, Pew Research Center, Toyota, Clean Energy Manufacturing, Energy Innovation, Trump, Trump Biden, Savings, Yale, Pontiac, BlueGreen Alliance, Democratic, Georgia Institute of Technology, Mr, Republicans, Flex, Gov, Northern Arapaho Tribe, Tesla, Rocky Mountain Rebels, Elks, Wild West EV, Polaris, Northern Arapaho, Chevy Silverado, Mercedes, Benz, Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, Kansas City, Fire Department Locations: Teton, Wyoming, Yellowstone, Baldwin City, Kan, Kansas City, G.O.P, Counties, Russia, Memphis, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Murfreesboro, Tenn, Dalton, Ga, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Riverton, Jackson, Minnesota, Louisiana, Alabama, Missouri, Quinton Lucas , Kansas, Kansas

☆ Saudi Arabia to Extend Oil Production Cut by a Month
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Clifford Krauss | More About Clifford Krauss | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a move to support oil prices, Saudi Arabia said Thursday it would extend its decision to cut oil production by one million barrels a day for another month, to September. Oil prices have recovered strongly in recent weeks partly because of smaller stockpiles of fuel in the United States, but China’s tepid economic recovery has kept oil prices under pressure for most of the year. Saudi leaders need oil prices to stay high because the money from energy sales pays for government spending and ambitious plans to diversify the country’s economy beyond petroleum and petroleum products. The global Brent oil price, which climbed by 16 percent in July, rose less than 1 percent, to about $84 a barrel, after the Saudi announcement on Thursday. The Saudi move could put additional pressure on U.S. gasoline prices, which have surged over the last month.

Persons: Alexander Novak Organizations: Saudi, AAA, Reuters Locations: Saudi Arabia, United States, Saudi, Russia, China, India, Ukraine

☆ Lithium Scarcity Pushes Carmakers Into the Mining Business
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Clifford Krauss | Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Eager to avoid falling further behind Tesla and Chinese car companies, many Western auto executives are bypassing traditional suppliers and committing billions of dollars on deals with lithium mining companies. Without lithium, U.S. and European carmakers won’t be able to build batteries for the electric pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and sedans they need to remain competitive. Established mining companies don’t have enough lithium to supply the industry as electric vehicle sales soar. General Motors plans for all its car sales to be electric by 2035. In the first quarter of 2023, sales of battery-powered cars, pickups and sport utility vehicles in the United States rose 45 percent from a year earlier, according to Kelley Blue Book.

Persons: won’t, Kelley Organizations: Western, General Motors Locations: Chile, Argentina, Quebec, Nevada, Michigan , Tennessee, Saxony, Germany, United States

☆ Ford’s Battery Joint Venture to Get $9.2 Billion Government Loan
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Jack Ewing | Clifford Krauss | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ford Motor and its battery manufacturing partner will receive a $9.2 billion loan to build three battery factories in Kentucky and Tennessee, the Department of Energy said Thursday. The loan is the single biggest financial commitment the Biden administration has made in its effort to build an electric vehicle manufacturing network in the United States. The loan will go to a joint venture created by Ford and its partner SK On called BlueOval SK that will supply batteries for electric Ford and Lincoln cars and trucks. By helping to finance battery factories, the administration hopes to ensure that the United States does not become dependent on China for batteries and their components. The other two factories are in Glendale, Ky., south of Louisville, and will employ more people than Kentucky’s coal industry.

Persons: Biden Organizations: Ford Motor, Department of Energy, Ford, SK, BlueOval SK, Lincoln Locations: Kentucky, Tennessee, United States, Southern, China, Stanton, Tenn, Memphis, Glendale, Ky, Louisville

☆ Russia and Saudi Arabia’s Oil Partnership Shows Strain
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Clifford Krauss | Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For most of the last six years, the leaders of Russia and Saudi Arabia worked with each other to control the global oil market during times of war, pandemic and dizzying price gyrations. At last weekend’s meeting of OPEC Plus, the oil cartel that the two countries lead, Saudi Arabia and Russia quietly parted ways. Just two months earlier, Russia and Saudi Arabia, which together sell more than 20 percent of the oil used by the world, had agreed to cut production. But while Saudi Arabia followed through and sold less oil to other countries, Russia does not appear to have done so. Russia recently stopped disclosing information on its oil industry, but analysts estimate that Moscow has increased exports, undercutting that earlier deal.

Persons: Biden, Antony J, Blinken’s Organizations: OPEC Locations: Russia, Saudi Arabia, Moscow

☆ Gasoline Prices, a Source of Pain Last Year, Have Come Way Down
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Clifford Krauss | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Oil traders had expected Russian exports to fall because of the sanctions imposed on the country by the United States and its allies in response to the invasion. The war is still grinding on, but Russia has found a way to keep selling its oil, though at heavily discounted prices, primarily to China and India. It also helped that the United States and other industrialized countries released oil from their strategic reserves when prices were surging. In the United States, use of motor fuels has not changed much from last year and has yet to recover to prepandemic levels. Gasoline demand climbed over the last month, and AAA predicts a 7 percent increase in holiday weekend travel from last year.

☆ Climate Change Brings Warmer, Wetter Weather to Trinidad
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Clifford Krauss | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Imtiaz Khan remembers the rains of his childhood as being light and providing welcome relief from the summer heat. A heavy shower, he said, would arrive only about once a month during the rainy season. Now 48, and president of the Carli Bay Fishing Association, Mr. Khan said the rains were something to dread. The heavy downpours carry sediment into the bay, turning the sea cloudy and brown. “The fish go where there is more food and where they can reproduce,” Mr. Khan said.

☆ Why Some Countries Find It Hard to Move Away From Fossil Fuels
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Clifford Krauss | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It is one of the largest producers of fossil fuels in the Western Hemisphere, and more than a century of drilling has left its mark. The major highways on the main island are clogged by traffic and lined with industrial warehouses. If Trinidad seems to be zigging and zagging on climate change policy, it is hardly the only one. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States are also building large solar farms while exploring for new oil gushers. Industrialized countries are still producers and users of fossil fuels and have failed to put up the $100 billion a year they had pledged to a green fund for poor nations starting in 2020.

☆ Exxon and Chevron Report More Modest Profits as Oil and Gas Prices Ease
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Clifford Krauss | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“We’re delivering strong financial results and increasing cash returned to our shareholders,” said Mike Wirth, Chevron’s chief executive. But despite higher prices for crude and fuels through much of last year, the two companies have been cautious about investing more to raise production. Exxon, Chevron and other oil companies emerged from 2022 with record profits, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February pushed crude and natural gas prices higher. In recent days, the price of oil has dropped below $80 a barrel, after a jump to over $120 last June. Actual cuts have amounted to about half that much, a reduction of less than 1 percent of the global supplies.

☆ Oil Giants, After Surge in Profits, Are Wary About Spending
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Clifford Krauss | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

While critics often accuse the oil industry of profiteering when prices are high, executives say their companies are prone to cycles. The variables that will determine oil companies’ profitability this year are largely out of their control — in both supply and demand. The International Energy Agency has projected that oil demand this year will grow modestly, by nearly two million barrels a day, reaching 101.7 million barrels a day. The ability of oil companies to provide fuel at reasonable prices could be stretched, especially since they have been cautious about increasing production. And with lockdowns lifted in China, its economy should grow faster, and demand for oil and gas should increase, if the country can overcome a new virus surge.

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