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Nov 25 - By Liz Hampton U.S. Energy Markets Editor
Hello Power Up readers! Oil prices are down about 3% today following a report that the U.S. believes Israel and Lebanon have agreed to terms to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. For its part, Israel on Monday said it is moving towards a ceasefire with Hezbollah, but there are still issues to address. Global Brent oil futures were trading around $73.15 a barrel to kick off the week, down about $2.03. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were trading at $69.10, down $2.12. Henry Hub natural gas futures were trading at $3.42 per million British thermal units, up 9.3%.
LNG permitting to speed up under Trump
We're a few weeks out from the U.S. election and are continuing to get a better idea of what sorts of energy policies President-elect Donald Trump will enact when he takes office in January. Reuters reporter Jarrett Renshaw has a nice exclusive today unpacking some of those plans, which Trump is expected to roll out within days of taking office. At the top of the list is lifting President Joe Biden's pause on new liquefied natural gas export permits. Biden had placed a freeze on new LNG export permits in January to study the environmental impacts of such projects.
The United States is the world's biggest producer of natural gas and in 2022 became the largest exporter of LNG.
Trump is also looking to boost drilling off the U.S. coast and on federal lands by doing things like speeding up permitting time. Drilling on federal lands and offshore waters accounts for about 12% of total U.S. output.
Under Biden, permits for drilling on federal or Indian land averaged 258 days, whereas under Trump's last administration, it was 172 days.
Trump's plan also includes approving the Keystone Pipeline, which was halted after Biden canceled a key permit on his first day in office. However, approving the pipeline does not mean it will get built. Other policies will target some of Biden's climate legislation and regulations, including tax credit for electric vehicles and clean power plant standards. While none of these policy actions are particularly surprising, the plan to kick off such actions quickly and early signals energy as a top priority for this administration.
ESSENTIAL READING
Russia is preparing to lift a gasoline export ban, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday. He did not provide a concrete deadline on removing the ban, which in August placed restrictions on exports until the end of the year.
The U.S. has imposed new sanctions on Russia's Gazprombank, the Treasury Department said. The move comes as President Joe Biden is stepping up actions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine before he leaves office in January. There are growing concerns about a little-known U.S. startup selected by Guyana to develop projects to monetize its vast untapped natural gas resources, Curtis Williams and Kemol King report in a nice dive in Fulcrum LNG. The company lacks experience and financial backing, according to experts, and Guyana officials are now saying selection for their new gas venture is tentative.
Brazilian state oil company Petrobras is in talks with BP, Raizen and Inpasa for a potential ethanol joint venture, Rodrigo Viga Gaier and Fabio Teixeira report. The Brazilian company is also planning to invest around $2.2 billion in ethanol distilleries in the next five years.
TotalEnergies said it has paused business with Adani Group and was not informed of a U.S. investigation into bribery and corruption at Adani Green Energy Limited. The French oil major holds a 20% stake in Adani Green Energy and has a seat on its board of directors.
All three trains at the Freeport LNG plant in Texas were back in service to start the week, data from financial firm LSEG shows. Train 2 tripped last week following an issue with a compressor system.
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(Editing by Marguerita Choy)
((liz.hampton@thomsonreuters.com))
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