Oil prices
** Oil prices declined on Wednesday following reports that Saudi Arabia was offering additional crude cargoes to Asian refiners through Oman, easing some concerns about the extent of supply disruptions in the Middle East.
Saudis
** Saudi Arabia’s air defenses destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it entered prohibited airspace over the holy city, a spokesperson for the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said, prompting retaliatory strikes on Houthi positions, according to Houthi and Saudi-backed government officials.
Iran
** Iranian strikes have damaged hundreds of U.S. military and diplomatic buildings, according to a new report by the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General. U.S. Central Command told IG investigators that “Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan during the conflict.”
Protests
** Protesters are taking to the streets around the world to voice anger about skyrocketing fuel prices and rolling blackouts, as the now monthslong U.S. war with Iran drives up the cost of energy globally. Protesters are taking to the streets around the world to voice anger about skyrocketing fuel prices and rolling blackouts, as the now monthslong U.S. war with Iran drives up the cost of energy globally.
U.S. energy
** Wichita city leaders are asking President Trump to shield Bombardier workers from his trade war with Canadia. The U.S. headquarters of the Canadian jet manufacturer are located in Kansas.
The Wichita City Council quietly sent a letter to President Donald Trump last week asking him to shield Wichita workers and their families from the fallout of his trade war with Canada, according to a copy of the letter posted online by Wichita Mayor Lily Wu. Wu and the six council members signed the letter in response to Trump’s Labor Day social media threats to ban sales to the United States from Canadian jet manufacturer Bombardier, which has about 1,500 workers in Wichita, its U.S. headquarters.
Read more at: https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article317258232.html#storylink=cpy
** Federal regulators have approved two major natural gas pipeline expansions in Mississippi and Louisiana, adding 1.8 billion cubic feet per day of delivery capacity that will supply Southeastern industrial customers and an LNG export dock in the New Orleans area.
** The head of the House oversight committee for the Texas Railroad Commission threatened to abolish the oil and gas regulatory agency Tuesday after a commissioner refused to appear at a hearing. Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian had been called to testify at Tuesday’s meeting of the House Energy Resources Committee in response to the commission’s recent decision to eliminate public comment from its meetings.
** A pair of environmental groups are launching new field programs in seven competitive House districts, seeking to reach out to voters while coordinating with key Democratic campaigns. The paid canvassing efforts by the League of Conservation Voters and NRDC Action Fund, shared first with CQ Roll Call, take advantage of a 2024 advisory from the Federal Election Commission that allows outside groups to coordinate with campaigns on canvassing activities.
** Americans have grown more concerned about the environmental impacts of artificial intelligence over the last year, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. Democrats are driving much of the increase in environmental concern, but the poll also reveals broader worries about the local impact of data centers, which power AI and cloud computing.
** PPL, a major utility in Pennsylvania has asked state regulators for authority to charge data centers directly to connect to the grid. If approved, it woujld take effect in the first quarter of 2028.
