WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Wednesday, readers! It’s Opening Day for the MLB regular season and Callie and Maydeen have high hopes
: Good afternoon and happy Wednesday, readers! It’s Opening Day for the MLB regular season and Callie and Maydeen have high hopes for their Red Sox and Dodgers this year. ⚾ In today’s newsletter, we take a look at the Environmental Protection Agency move to address rising gas prices ahead of summer travel.
⛽We are also continuing to follow the latest in Iran as PresidentDaily on Energy: Trump punts on military strikes, oil prices plunge, and the start of CERAWeekMeanwhile, permitting talks are in full swing – keep reading to learn about the latest efforts from Democrats in the Senate. ⬇️). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up,The Environmental Protection Agency issued a temporary waiver for the sale of E15 ethanol gasoline as part of an effort to provide relief at the pump for Americans. E15 is a fuel that blends 15% ethanol with gasoline, compared with the more common E10 blend, which contains 10%. The EPA said its waiver would go into effect on May 1, allowing the fuel industry time to transition the fuel. said, “EPA is working with our federal partners to reduce unnecessary costs and uncertainty and ensure that gas prices remain affordable for all Americans through the summer. This emergency action will provide American families with relief by increasing fuel supply and consumer choice.” E15 fuel is not sold year-round due to concerns related to smog pollution. The move comes as the administration has sought to tackle rising gas prices caused by the war in Iran. , vice president of downstream policy at American Petroleum Institute, said, “We support the administration’s timely efforts to provide greater market certainty for refiners and suppliers amid global market volatility. By temporarily easing summer fuel requirements, this action helps ensure American consumers continue to have access to affordable, reliable energy.” The U.S. proposal to Iran via Pakistani intermediaries included opening the Strait of Hormuz, limitations on Iran’s ballistic missile capacity, stripping Iran of its nuclear capabilities, and more. Iran has outlined five conditions for ending the war, including the complete halt of attacks, the establishment of mechanisms to ensure the war does not restart, compensation for damages, halting Israeli and U.S. attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon and pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, and receiving international recognition for Iran’s authority over the Strait of Hormuz. In recent days, the president has publicly pushed to end the war in Iran, which is entering its fourth week. However, at the same time, the U.S. plans to deploy nearly 1,000 troops to the region. WHERE PRICES STAND : While Iran ultimately rejected the 15-point plan, crude prices dropped again today, signaling that traders are more confident peace could be on the horizon. Just before 3 p.m. EDT, Brent Crude had fallen by 2.36% and was priced at $102.02 per barrel. Similarly, West Texas Intermediate was down by 2.38% and selling at $90.15 per barrel. Today’s dip in prices – as well as Monday’s – continues to keep gasoline from hitting $4 a gallon nationwide, though prices at the pump aren’t reversing yet. As of today, the national average price of gasoline ticked up to $3.983 per gallon, more than $1 more than before the Iran war began four weeks ago, according to AAA. this morning that the small dips in oil prices will only have a “limited upside” to gasoline for the next couple days, after which, declines could become “widespread.” The war in Iran is making it more difficult for domestic oil and gas producers to grow their drilling and exploration operations, as it remains unclear how long high prices for crude will last. : This morning, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas released its hotly watched quarterly survey with oil and gas executives, in which many anonymously revealed they had no plans to increase the number of wells they will drill later in the year. Specifically, the survey found that roughly half of exploration and production executives who participated said the number of wells they expected to drill in 2026 is unchanged. Only 26% said they expect that number to increase slightly, while 21% said it would increase significantly. This is despite the fact that crude prices are far higher than those required by firms to drill profitably. The quarterly survey found that number is now around $66 per barrel, with break-even prices ranging from $62 to $70 per barrel. There is widespread agreement among these executives that geopolitical pressure on markets from the war in Iran is keeping them from pursuing new projects, as there is an expectation that prices will fall quickly once peace is agreed to. “The shutting of the Strait of Hormuz causes great uncertainty for the global economy and will ultimately impact our business,” one executive said. “This impact will likely be in multiple ways, including some that we don’t currently foresee.” “The Strait of Hormuz adds complexity,” another said. “Suppliers are already trying to increase pricing, and the administration continues to try and talk down prices. How sustainable are current oil prices? Hard to make long-term commitments or to ‘drill, baby, drill.’”Discussions on permitting reform are in full swing, as Democrats on the Senate Energy Committee are developing legislative language to streamline permitting for building out and upgrading transmission infrastructure. last Congress, to support “the construction of a next generation electrical grid.” The California Democrat said he believed the language was a step in the right direction toward securing a “cheaper, stronger, and more reliable grid” that can protect ratepayers, communities, and a competitive economy. The proposed text reportedly would give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission more authority over approving, planning, and coordinating transmission line projects and would require the agency to issue a rule to expedite the interconnections approval process. Additionally, FERC would be ordered to create a cost allocation model that would only require customers to pay for a transmission line project if they benefit from the line. While King reportedly signed on to the proposal, he took time at the start of today’s hearing to say he was hesitant to fully engage on permitting negotiations. King echoed concerns from his Democratic colleagues who halted negotiations over the Trump administration’s crackdown on wind and solar. As long as the administration “arbitrarily puts its finger on the scale” against renewables, King said, he had no intention of participating in the permitting reform discussion. Until the administration decides to “play it straight” and apply permitting reform fairly, King said he would be “dumb” to agree to any reforms. of Vermont introduced a bill today that would pause all new data center construction until artificial intelligence safeguards are in place. on data center construction, citing the lack of oversight on AI data centers. There has also been major pushback from communities across the country related to the expansion of data centers. Data centers are extremely energy-intensive and. “The scale, scope, and speed of that change is unprecedented. Congress is way behind where it should be in understanding the nature of this revolution and its impacts.”kicked off the third day of CERAWeek by S&P Global today, revealing the U.S. brought back $100 million worth of gold from Venezuela in recent weeks. “There hadn’t been a shipment of precious metals between Venezuela and America in over 20 years,” said Burgum, who traveled to Venezuela earlier this month. “At the end of the two days, we were able to bring home $100 million of gold — physically, the gold.” Burgum’s remarks are the latest signal from the Trump administration that Venezuela not only has potential for significant crude oil production but also for mineral resources. Venezuela could become crucial to the administration’s efforts to reduce global reliance on China for critical minerals and rare earths, an industry it has dominated for years. Exxon Mobil also revealed today that it has boots on the ground in Venezuela this week to evaluate existing oil and gas resources. confirmed the visit while in Houston, saying the oil major is assessing the state of resources and the state of infrastructure,While it is a significant step toward returning to the country after leaving in 2007, Ammann still warned that rebuilding the Venezuelan crude industry will take hundreds of billions of dollars and quite a bit of time. : Environmentalists and climate advocates faced another loss in court yesterday as the Maryland Supreme Court dismissed several climate lawsuits brought against oil majors over their influence on climate change. The three lawsuits, brought by the cities of Baltimore and Annapolis as well as Anne Arundel County, accused oil and gas firms such as Chevron of deceiving the general public about the risks of burning fossil fuels and their contribution to global warming. The lawsuits were previously dismissed by circuit court judges, whose rulings were upheld yesterday as Maryland’s Supreme Court said federal law bars local governments from regulating air pollution beyond their borders. “No amount of creative pleading can masquerade the fact that the local governments are attempting to utilize state law to regulate global conduct that is purportedly causing global harm,” Justice“The Maryland Supreme Court’s ruling adds to the ‘growing chorus’ of climate lawsuit dismissals by federal and state courts, including in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, and South Carolina,” Chevron counsel Theodore Boutrous said in a statement. “As the Court concluded, ‘lowing each of the 50 states’ ‘to impose their own preferred policy solutions for climate change’ ‘would create a plainly “irrational system of regulation.”’”
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