Not Just in the US: Inflation Dishes Up Another Nasty Surprise in Canada, Throwing Further Rate Cuts into Doubt

Energy News BeatPrice

But it’s not in housing; it’s spread across much of the economy. And it’s not just the end of the temporary GST (goods & service tax) holiday.

By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET.

Inflation has a tendency to dish up nasty surprises, and it did that in Canada today for February, on top of the nasty surprises for January and December.

I’ll just walk briefly through some of the key numbers, and then I’ll post the commentary from the Economics and Strategy shop at the National Bank of Canada, the sixth largest bank in Canada, where the frustration with this mess bleeds through thickly, right from the beginning of their discussion: “The data published this morning by Statistics Canada is enough to shake observers’ convictions about the inflation situation in the country.”

Canada’s overall Consumer Price Index spiked by 0.68% in February from January (8.4% annualized), seasonally adjusted, the worst month-to-month spike since the heady days of June 2022, and way above expectations (blue). The year-over-year CPI rose by 2.6%, the worst increase since July last year (red).

The month-to-month price increases in February were hot to red-hot in 6 of 8 major categories, but were cool in the housing components (shelter) and transportation, which includes gasoline.

In order of month-to-month inflation magnitude:

  • Food: +2.04% (+27% annualized)
  • Alcohol & tobacco: +1.66% (+22% annualized)
  • Recreation & education: +1.16% (+15% annualized)
  • Household operations & furnishings: +0.46% (+5.7% annualized)
  • Health & personal care: +0.33% (+4.0% annualized)
  • Clothing & footwear: +0.32% (+3.9% annualized)
  • Shelter: +0.16% (+1.9% annualized)
  • Transportation: +0.11% (+1.3% annualized).

“Core” CPI, which excludes the food and energy components to track underlying inflation, spiked by 0.52% in February from March (6.5% annualized), the worst increase since June 2022, after the already expectation-busting increases in December and January (blue in the chart below).

This pushed the year-over-year increase to 2.74%, the worst increase since June 2024, and the third month in a row of acceleration (red):

But it’s not the housing components that pushed up CPI this time. The CPI for shelter, which includes a collection of different housing expenses, decelerated further, and rose only 0.16% in February from January (1.9% annualized), roughly back in the middle of the range before the pandemic (blue).

The year-over-year shelter CPI decelerated to an increase of 4.2% (red):

So here is the frustrated commentary from the Economics and Strategy shop at the National Bank of Canada:

“The data published this morning by Statistics Canada is enough to shake observers’ convictions about the inflation situation in the country.

An acceleration of inflation was certainly inevitable in February with the end of the GST [goods and services tax] holiday in the middle of the month, which will also have an upward impact in March.

To get a more accurate picture of the situation, we have been focusing on inflation measures excluding indirect taxes for some months now. In February, the CPI excluding indirect taxes increased by a whopping 0.4% and the annual rate is now 2.9%, which is close to the upper limit of the Bank of Canada’s target range.

On an annualized three-month basis, this measure stands at 5.1%, its highest rate since September 2023.

There are certainly specific factors to mention, notably travel tours surging (+23% y/y). But that does not mean that inflation was not widespread in February, as evidenced by the central bank’s preferred core inflation measures, which have been growing at rates of 0.3% m/m and annualized rates that exceed the Bank of Canada’s target range over the past three months (CPI-Median at 3.4% and CPI-Trim at 3.3%).

We have repeatedly argued that these measures were skewed upwards by the housing component and that care should be taken in their use. But this was no longer the case in February, as monthly inflation in the housing sector had essentially returned to its historical average during the month.

This bias led us, as well as the central bank, to focus on the diffusion recently, which is not a concern over a year but is enough to raise eyebrows over the last three months with no less than 35 components moving above the target of 2.0% at an annualized rate (average 1999-2019 at 27).

There is no doubt that the Bank of Canada was surprised by the recent price developments in a context where the economy had started to improve.

In such a context, there is a strong chance that the rate cut we were expecting in April will not materialize unless the economy deteriorates very rapidly in a context of tariff uncertainty.

It remains that inflation is a lagging indicator, and the central bank may once again focus on economic variables that could weaken rapidly in the coming months if there is no improvement in trade relations with the United States. That scenario would justify lower path for the policy rate.”

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Trump and Putin Conclude Phone Call as US Pushes Ceasefire

Energy News Beat

ENB Pub Note: While Putin is saying that Ukraine cannot receive more munitions and weapons for the ceasefire, it appears there was a positive dialogue. The loser in this process is the Left-leaning EU. I will be interviewing several people and getting their take on the call and next steps. 

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From AMG-News:

“In a world where global tensions have reached a boiling point, two of the most powerful leaders on Earth have just finished a groundbreaking two-hour phone call. President Donald J. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke today for over two hours, discussing some of the most critical global conflicts, including Ukraine, the Middle East, and the escalating nuclear situation with Iran.

The corporate media won’t admit it, but this call could mark the beginning of a new era of peace—one where strong leadership replaces the disastrous foreign policies of the past.

But what exactly did they discuss? What does this mean for Ukraine, Russia, China, and the Middle East? And most importantly—is Trump about to do what Biden never could?”


Bloomberg

  • Europe leaders fear the US may try to cut a deal without them
  • Putin wants a halt in arms sales before agreeing to pause

President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin wrapped up their phone call on Tuesday after about 90 minutes as the US continues to push for a ceasefire to halt the conflict in Ukraine

Both sides said the call ended and readouts were expected soon.

The conversation was the second call between the US and Russian leaders since Trump returned to the White House in January. The first was in mid-February, after which Trump said he’d probably meet with Putin in the “not-too-distant-future.” That was followed by a flurry of renewed engagement between the two countries.

Recent comments by Trump have prompted fears that the US may be willing to sacrifice Kyiv’s interests as part of a push for a 30-day ceasefire. Before the call, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that “many elements of a Final Agreement have been agreed to, but much remains.”

UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT-WAR
Ukrainian servicemen prepare a machine gun on an armored personnel carrier in the Donetsk region.Source: AFP

Those remarks, along with Trump’s comments to reporters Sunday night that the two sides were already talking about how to divide assets, suggest that many decisions have already been made — with or without Ukraine.

Putin, who met with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff last week, has made the halt to arms supplies a prerequisite for signing up to the ceasefire, according to a senior European official and three people in Moscow familiar with Russia’s position.

While Russia wants to halt all weapons deliveries to Ukraine, the minimum aim is that US aid should stop, said two of the people in Moscow with knowledge of the Kremlin’s thinking.

Ukraine and its European allies are anxious that Russia won’t honor any deal with Trump to end the war, leaving Kyiv vulnerable to attack in the future. After Trump came to office having pledged rapidly to end the conflict, they also worry that Putin may leverage US interest in securing a deal to make additional demands that would undermine Ukraine or threaten Europe’s future security.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to Trump ahead of the US leader’s conversation with Putin. Starmer told Trump that Ukraine must be put in the “strongest possible position” in order to secure a “just and lasting peace,” his official spokesman said.

Putin has said he supports the US proposal for a pause to the conflict in principle but insists that a number of conditions need to be met before Russia can agree to halt its invasion. The Russian leader will probably agree to a truce, though he wants to make sure his terms are included first, Bloomberg reported on March 12.

— With assistance from Iain Marlow – Source: Bloomberg

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Buried fortune: US finds $8.4 billion in rare earths sitting in coal ash landfills

Energy News Beat

For years, the United States has depended on imports of rare earth elements, the critical materials found in everything from smartphones to renewable energy technologies.

But in a surprising twist, researchers from The University of Texas at Austin have discovered that a massive domestic supply has been sitting right under our noses all along.

Trapped within the country’s coal ash deposits lies a staggering $8.4 billion worth of these essential elements, a finding that could significantly reduce dependence on imports and reshape America’s approach to sourcing critical minerals.

From waste to wealth

Coal ash, the powdery byproduct left after burning coal for fuel, has long been considered an industrial waste product.

However, scientists have now identified coal ash as an abundant and accessible source of rare earth elements.

These elements are crucial in manufacturing batteries, solar panels, and high-performance magnets.

“This really exemplifies the ‘trash to treasure’ mantra,” said Bridget Scanlon, co-lead author of the study and a research professor at UT Austin’s Bureau of Economic Geology.

“We’re basically trying to close the cycle and use waste and recover resources in the waste, while at the same time reducing environmental impacts.”

Striking gold with global implications

The study estimates that U.S. coal ash contains 11 million tons of rare earth elements.

That’s nearly eight times the country’s known domestic reserves.

This is the first national assessment of coal ash as a resource, presenting a new way to strengthen America’s supply of critical minerals.

Unlike traditional mining, coal ash extraction has a key advantage.
The burning process has already separated the minerals from their original ore.

This reduces the need for energy-intensive refining steps.

“There’s huge volumes of this stuff all over the country,” said Davin Bagdonas, a research scientist at the University of Wyoming. “And the upfront process of extracting the (mineral host) is already taken care of for us.”

Regional variations

The study reveals that not all coal ash is the same.

Different regions contain varying concentrations of rare earth elements, affecting how easily they can be extracted.

Coal ash from the Appalachian Basin has the highest concentration, averaging 431 milligrams per kilogram.

However, only 30% is easily recoverable. Coal from the Powder River Basin has a lower concentration (264 mg/kg) but a much higher extractability rate of 70%. This makes it a more viable option for large-scale recovery.

“These variations matter because they determine which deposits are most economically viable,” Scanlon explained.

“This kind of broad analysis has never been done. It provides a foundation for further research.”

Turning potential into reality

While the discovery is promising, challenges remain in making it a practical solution.

Companies like Element USA are developing the technology and workforce needed to extract rare earth elements from coal ash and mining byproducts.

“The idea of getting rare earth elements out of tailings (mining byproducts) just makes sense,” said Chris Young, chief strategy officer at Element USA.

“The challenge is turning that common-sense idea into an economic solution.”

The U.S. has a major opportunity with growing investment in domestic rare earth recovery.

By tapping into this overlooked resource, the country could reduce reliance on foreign sources and turn waste into a strategic national asset.

Source: Interesting Engineering

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Explosion rocks Trans-Niger Pipeline in Rivers

Energy News Beat

An explosion has rocked the Trans-Niger Pipeline at Bodo, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The affected section of the major pipeline is currently on fire, though the exact cause of the explosion remains unknown at this time.

Authorities have yet to determine whether the incident resulted from human interference, especially amid recent threats by militant groups to attack oil installations in response to the Federal Government’s withholding of Rivers State’s allocation due to the ongoing political crisis.

The explosion reportedly occurred on Monday night along the critical export pipeline that transports crude to the Bonny Terminal.

Source: Vangard

 

YENAGOA, Nigeria, March 18 (Reuters) – Nigeria’s Trans Niger Pipeline, a major oil artery transporting crude from onshore oilfields to the Bonny export terminal, was shut after a blast that caused a fire, police said on Tuesday.
Nigerian oil consortium Renaissance Group, which now owns Shell’s former onshore subsidiary that operates the pipeline, earlier confirmed the blast in coastal Rivers State and dispatched a team to investigate. The Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP), with a capacity of around 450,000 barrels per day, is one of two conduits that export Bonny Light crude from Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer.
Rivers State police said in a statement the situation was now under control and they had started investigations to determine the cause of the blast on Monday night.
“In connection with this, two individuals have been taken in for questioning as part of efforts to uncover any potential act of sabotage,” the police said.
It was not immediately clear how long the TNP would be shut. A prolonged outage could, however, force its operators to declare force majeure on Bonny Light exports.
Pipeline sabotage and crude theft are some of the major reasons that forced oil majors like Shell, Exxon Mobil, Total and Eni to sell their onshore and shallow-water fields in Nigeria to concentrate on deep-water operations.
Renaissance Group, which includes Nigerian exploration and production companies Aradel Energy, First E & P, Waltersmith, and ND Western, along with the international energy group Petroline, completed the acquisition of Shell’s former onshore assets last week.

 

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Harold Hamm: ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ Needs $80 Oil – Or as Stu says, “Drill baby Drill when fiscally responsible”

Energy News Beat

ENB Pub Note: Stu has been saying that the oil price for 2025 needs to be at the $80 mark for “Drill baby Drill when fiscally responsible.” ESG has had one impact on Exploration and Production companies that President Trump did not plan on. That is fiscal responsibility to give shareholders profits and returns on their investments. Harold brings up some great points and throw on top of those points a few other key issues. The world needs trillions of dollars to meet normal decline curves, and Saudi Arabia needs $80 in oil just to meet their Sovereign Wealth fund commitments. Saudi Arabia has significant influence in the global oil markets, and while that has diminished over the last several years, it can still heavily impact the price.


  • Harold Hamm: would need an oil price of around $80 per barrel to cover the cost of drilling wells.’
  • U.S. Energy Secretary Wright: the administration isn’t targeting a specific price of oil, but it works to bring back common sense and pro-energy policies in America.
  • Scott Sheffield: The cash breakeven price, including dividends, is $50-$55 for U.S. oil companies, and “that $50 oil is not going to work.

U.S. shale needs much higher oil prices than $50 per barrel, and even higher than the current WTI Crude price in the high $60s, for a “drill, baby, drill” boom, oil tycoon and Trump campaign donor Harold Hamm says.

American producers, especially those pumping crude outside the Tier 1 inventory in the best Permian locations, would need an oil price of around $80 per barrel to cover the cost of drilling wells.

“There are a lot of fields that are getting to the point that’s real tough to keep that cost of supply down,” Hamm told Bloomberg Television in an interview on the sidelines of the CERAWeek conference in Houston.

“When you get down to that $50 oil that you talked about, then you’re below the point where you’re going to ‘drill, baby, drill,’” the shale pioneer added.

Over the past few days, there has been a lot of talk of $50 oil and the shale industry.

The Trump Administration appeared to be pointing to $50 as a price that would be low enough for American energy prices to drop but still good enough for U.S. shale to prosper.

However, the industry and Wall Street banks beg to differ. They say that $50 oil is so low that it would see production curtailments as the average cash breakeven price, including dividends, is estimated at $50-$55 per barrel of oil.

And the industry is definitely not prepared to cut dividends after diligently working for a few years to boost shareholder returns and make U.S. oil stocks attractive again.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told the Financial Times last week that shale producers could increase production even if oil prices fell to $50 per barrel as the sector continues to innovate and boost efficiency gains.

However, the industry and Wall Street banks beg to differ. They say that $50 oil is so low that it would see production curtailments as the average cash breakeven price, including dividends, is estimated at $50-$55 per barrel of oil.

And the industry is definitely not prepared to cut dividends after diligently working for a few years to boost shareholder returns and make U.S. oil stocks attractive again.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told the Financial Times last week that shale producers could increase production even if oil prices fell to $50 per barrel as the sector continues to innovate and boost efficiency gains.

However, they are quietly concerned that oil prices at current levels are already on the verge of making money much more difficult.

Pioneer’s founder and industry veteran Sheffield has some advice for the U.S. oil firms.

“You’ve really got to hunker down,” Sheffield told a Bloomberg Television interview on last week.

Oil prices are likely to fall into the range of $50 to $60 per barrel, Sheffield says, noting that American producers will struggle at these prices.

The cash breakeven price, including dividends, is $50-$55 for U.S. oil companies, and “that $50 oil is not going to work,” Sheffield told CNBC.

Other industry executives, as well as investment banks, also believe that $65 oil and below would present challenges to U.S. shale to keep production steady, let alone “drill, baby, drill.”

Saad Rahim, chief economist at commodity trader Trafigura, told Bloomberg that “$60 feels too low for much of the industry to work.”

With WTI Crude at around $65, the U.S. shale industry would likely hold production flat and shut down 25 rigs, Citigroup analysts Scott Gruber wrote in a note last week carried by Bloomberg.

“A drop into the upper $50s likely results in a bigger psychological impact with the rig count potentially falling ~75 and production down” by more than 300,000 barrels a day (bpd), according to Gruber.

Shale costs will also go up with the U.S. import tariffs on steel and aluminum, executives including Hamm say.

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Russia Is Wooing Arctic Gas Buyers With Life After US Sanctions – Bloomberg

Energy News Beat

From a cramped booth in a crowded conference center on New Delhi’s outskirts, executives from one of Russia’s biggest energy firms made their sales pitch to Indian buyers — take our Arctic gas now, while it’s still cheap.

A flagship project in the far north, Arctic LNG 2 was intended as a symbol of Russia’s enduring gas might, even with only minimal pipeline sales to Europe. Targeted by US sanctions, however, the $21 billion-plus facility led by Novatek PJSC halted production last year. It began to assemble a shadow fleet of liquefied natural gas tankers to keep the super-chilled fuel moving, but those vessels remain idled.

Officials from Novatek told Indian importers at the country’s biggest oil gathering last month that this was about to change.

President Donald Trump would bargain with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine — and would ultimately scrap sanctions, the gas officials said, according to people who attended the meeting. The people asked not to be identified as they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Reality is less clear cut. There is no guarantee that Trump will ease curbs on Russia. The US has publicly signaled no sanctions relief would be granted prior to a formal deal on Ukraine, and even then punitive measures tend to be far easier to impose than to remove.

Still, presidential advisers are said to be looking into which measures could be tweaked if there is progress in talks with Moscow — and Novatek is the latest Russian firm to seize the marketing opportunity.

Officials at Novatek and Arctic LNG 2 did not respond to emails seeking comment. The White House also did not respond to a request for comment.

India, which has close historic ties with Russia, has rushed to buy discounted crude under the Group of Seven’s “price cap” mechanism. Moscow’s producers became the country’s top oil suppliers, up from closer to zero before the war. Price, India’s oil minister has said, is the only criteria.

Sanctions on tankers have slowed that flow — and at last month’s conference buyers enticed to purchase stranded Arctic gas were cautious, even after dangled discounts, the people said. They said none of the Indian importers signed up, though some indicated they could be interested if conditions changed.

“You don’t get the sense in Asia that there’s a long-term aversion to Russian gas,” said Lachlan Clancy, a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills who advises on financing for oil, gas and power operations. “It’s more of a sanctions issue.”

Gas Gamble

Novatek’s pitch is a significant gamble for buyers.

In the oil market, there are signs of shippers and middlemen finding workarounds to help blunt even more recent American efforts to blacklist vessels from the dark fleet, the flotilla of old, often uninsured vessels ferrying sanctioned exports around the world.

But while LNG is vital for Russian gas exports, it is also far less flexible than crude, with a limited number of specialized tankers that are challenging to mask movement from the eyes of regulators — and vulnerable to sanctions.

Russia’s fleet of sanctioned LNG vessels, roughly ten ships compared to hundreds for oil and related products, has been stalled for months as buyers hold back. Five LNG shadow fleet ships are anchored in North Russia near the Barents Sea, three are in Russia’s far east, and two are just north of Egypt in the Mediterranean, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

Read More: How Moscow Assembled a Shadow Fleet to Break US Gas Sanctions

Not a single one of the vessels landed at an overseas port to deliver the fuel. Most of the shipments were offloaded into Russian storage.

“The market has for a while already assumed that this would come as part of an agreement about Ukraine, but I have not registered anything yet that Russia would see LNG sanctions lifting,” said Kjell Eikland, managing director of Eikland Energy AS and an oil and gas veteran who closely tracks the Russian dark fleet.

“I do not believe any prospective buyer will gamble but wait for a formal lifting of sanctions.”

The next opportunity for the Arctic LNG 2 plant to export fuel will come when ice around the facility recedes in the summer months — late May at the earliest, Eikland estimated.

For Novatek and others, Trump himself remains the biggest unknown. He has made ouvertures to Russia — and will speak with Putin on Tuesday — but has also threatened more sanctions. Russian LNG flooding the market, meanwhile, would provide direct competition for US gas exports, a key bargaining chip in Trump’s trade war, and dampen prices.

“There is great enthusiasm for boosting further US exports,” said Geoffrey Pyatt, the former US assistant secretary of state for energy resources who helped craft Arctic LNG 2 sanctions under the Biden administration. “Novatek is direct competition.”

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’10 Years Left!’: CBS News Blasts Trump EPA’s Deregulatory Efforts In Doomsday Rant

Energy News Beat

ENB Pub Note: CBS and the other Main Stream Media outlets must understand physics and fiscal responsibility in energy. The left energy policies and pretending that “Climate Change” does not happen naturally or that CO2 is not plant food only focus on ending coal, oil, and gas. The problem is that “Renewable Wind, Solar, and Hydrogen” are not renewable, nor are they fiscally responsible. People are waking up to the world of facts, and physics needs to be applied. Too many climate scientists have used corrupt data to scare the global population into false fears of disasters. This will only continue to be their downfall. Lee Zeldin needs to go after the true pollution, and that will help the United States “Build baby Build”, as Chris Wright has said. 


CBS News criticized Trump EPA’s deregulation by going full doomsday, claiming it jeopardizes public health, clean air and water while causing pollution.

​During the “By the Way” segment on Friday’s CBS Mornings Plus, CBS environmental correspondent David Schechter decried the Trump Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Administrator Lee Zeldin by giving away the game on the climate alarmists by reupping a line that’s been deployed for at least five decades, which is we have “less than ten years” to save Earth from climate change. [emphasis, links added]

Co-host Adriana Diaz twice teased his appearance and spelled doom about what deregulation at the EPA would mean, ominously wondering “what” the “big changes at the EPA” “could cost you” as the “administration…mak[es] good on the President’s campaign promise to roll back climate protections.”

With the liberal media, any and all regulations are nearly always seen as a benefit and for our good, not a hassle.

“[O]ne of the things the EPA will now, ‘reconsider’ is what its press release calls a burdensome greenhouse gas reporting program where thousands of companies have to submit their emissions levels. Zeldin said the agency would try to undo a total of 31 environmental regulations from rules governing wastewater to emission standards. The Trump administration has also…revealed plans to shut down the EPA’s Environmental Justice Division,” she added.

Schechter came out swinging with the apocalyptic analysis that Zeldin has changed “the way we interface with the environment” as the EPA has decided it has “nothing” to do with “the environment or ensuring “we have clean air and…clean water.”

He continued with the claim Zeldin doesn’t want to:

“talk about the environment and why we need to keep it clean and why climate change has become such an existential threat with increased floods and fires and droughts and how the EPA has a role in trying to make sure that we control that and contain that.”

Moments later, he dropped the tiresome claim about having less than a decade or we’re goners:

“I think the biggest risk is that we have a small window to deal with climate change, really. It’s getting smaller and smaller, less than 10 years, to sort of level out and reduce our emissions and we had and have currently a lot of rules that deal with that.

“To throw those all out would undo a lot of progress that’s been made to try to reach these new standards for our country and for the world. And we will lose our opportunity to really get ahead of this problem or even stay current with the problem.”

Co-host Tony Dokoupil next summarized Zeldin’s view of the EPA as “if companies save money by not having to report a bunch of things that are a waste of time, they can take that saved money and make the energy process cleaner.”

Schechter was obviously not having it because you can’t trust non-governmental parties to behave (click “expand”):

SCHECHTER: I don’t know if, I guess if that’s your reading of that claim, I think that’s an interesting way to look at it. You know, companies, corporations, many of them do, do the right thing and do spend a lot of time on their environmental issues and reporting and things like that, but, you know, the government’s job is to set a level playing field, if that’s how you view the government’s job, to set a level playing field with regulations so that everyone is following the same rules. Some companies do get in trouble when they get ahead of their competitors and they have rules that are maybe more stringent than what their competitors have. And then the market kind of catches up to them and they take a lot of criticism for being too far ahead of the pack. So, you know, having stoplights and roads and, you know, rules of the road, is what keeps everybody sort of moving in the same direction. That’s the idea of the EPA. That’s the power of the EPA. And to say we care about the earth and we care about clean water, that’s what we’re going to do, is one thing, but to look at what they did and want to cut 31 important regulations is really what you should be looking at.

DOKOUPIL: It’s interesting. Yeah, but this is the claim from the EPA press release. Hundreds of millions of dollars saved could better be used, “to improve and upgrade environmental controls to have a noticeable impact and improvement on the environment.” We’ll see what happens.

DIAZ: Yeah.

SCHECHTER: Yeah.

DIAZ: And if companies take it upon themselves to try to make that environmental improvement without the regulations.

This Friday segment capped three days of rage at CBS.

Rolling back to Thursday, senior White House and campaign correspondent Ed O’Keefe appeared on both CBS Mornings and the Plus editions to say the EPA will now be “rolling back…regulations” that said “greenhouse gasses are bad for public health[.]”

And, on Tuesday, CBS Evening News co-anchor Maurice DuBois said the agency was doing away with red tape “aimed at protecting public health and fighting climate change.”

Co-anchor John Dickerson commiserated with former Obama EPA official Matthew Tejada a half-hour later on CBS Evening Plus.

Tejada went full doomsday and fearmonger by saying Zeldin’s announcement was:

“taking us back to the 1960s, from before the times when we had regulations that actually cleaned up our water, protect people from across our country, from cancer-causing agents in our air, actually cleaning up legacy contamination sites that people had been living on top of for generations.”

Tejada further vented the Trump administration will “tak[e] us back to that time when we didn’t have regulation” in which Americans won’t be “healthier” as they’re purposefully “allowing polluting industries” to “hav[e] absolutely unfettered ability to pour their pollution into our communities[.]”

Always a pompous partisan, Dickerson invited Tejada to go further…

Read rest at NewsBusters

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India boosts LNG imports in February

Energy News Beat

The country imported 3.07 billion cubic meters, or about 2.3 million metric tonnes, of LNG in February via long-term contracts and spot purchases.

This marks a rise of 7.3 percent compared to the same month in 2024, PPAC said.

PPAC’s data previously showed that LNG imports rose in January compared to the previous year.

From April 2024 to February 2025, India took 34.32 bcm of LNG, or about 25.8 million metric tonnes, up by 19.4 percent compared to the same period in the year before, according to PPAC.

India paid $1.3 billion for February LNG imports, up from $1.3 billion in February 2024. The country paid $14.2 billion for LNG imports in the April-February period, up from $12.2 billion in the same period before.

Moreover, India’s natural gas production reached about 2.74 bcm in February, a drop of 6.7 percent from the corresponding month of the previous year.

Natural gas production of 33.12 bcm in April-February was down by 0.5 percent compared to the same period before.

India now imports LNG via eight facilities with a combined capacity of about 52.7 million tonnes per year.

These include Petronet LNG’s Dahej and Kochi terminals, Shell’s Hazira terminal, and the Dabhol LNG, Ennore LNG, Mundra LNG, and Dhamra LNG terminal.

The newest LNG import terminal is HPCL’s 5 mtpa Chhara LNG import terminal in India’s Gujarat, which recently launched commercial operations.

PPAC said that during April-January, the 17.5 mtpa Dahej terminal operated at 98.8 percent capacity, while the 5.2 mtpa Hazira terminal operated at 37.3 percent capacity.

The 5 mtpa Dhamra LNG terminal operated at 41.6 percent capacity, the 5 mtpa Dabhol LNG terminal operated at 43.2 percent capacity, the 5 mtpa Kochi LNG terminal operated at 22.3 percent capacity, the 5 mtpa Ennore LNG terminal operated at 25.1 percent capacity, and the 5 mtpa Mundra LNG terminal operated at 23 percent capacity.

Petronet LNG expects to launch an additional 5 mtpa capacity at its Dahej LNG terminal in western Gujarat state by June this year.

Last year, Petronet launched two new Dahej LNG storage tanks, T-107 and T-108, each with a capacity of 180,000 cbm.

These two tanks add to six existing storage tanks at the Dahej terminal with a total capacity of 932,000 cbm, while Petonet is also building a third jetty at the facility.

India’s natural gas demand is forecast to increase by nearly 60 percent by 2030, doubling the country’s need for LNG imports, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency.

India’s LNG imports will need to rise to around 65 bcm a year by 2030 to meet rising demand, the IEA said.

 

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BP exercises option to terminate charter deal for Seapeak LNG carrier

Energy News Beat

Stonepeak’s Seapeak said in its results report that the vessel in question is the 2018-built 174,000-cbm, Seapeak Glasgow, which is currently on charter to BP Gas Marketing.

“In February 2025, the charterer exercised its option to terminate the charter contract with effect in December 2025,” Seapeak said.

“Had the charterer not exercised its termination option, the charter contract had a potential charter period of up to December 2031,” the LNG shipping firm said.

Seapeak did not provide further details.

According to previous Teekay LNG Partners reports, Seapeak Glasgow, previously known as Sean Spirit, started its 13-year charter contract with BP in December 2018, with a cancellation option after seven years.

Teekay LNG Partners rebranded as Seapeak in 2022 following the completion of its $6.2 billion merger deal with New York-based private equity firm Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners.

As of December 31, 2024, Sepeak’s LNG fleet included 50 LNG carriers, the report shows.

This includes five LNG carriers under construction and one LNG regasification terminal in Bahrain.

Seapeak’s interest in these vessels ranges from 20 percent to 100 percent.

The company also plans to sell three steam LNG carriers that were placed in layup in early 2025.

 

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Crowley deploys first US LNG carrier to supply Naturgy’s facility in Puerto Rico

Energy News Beat

According to a statement by Crowley, the milestone will provide Puerto Rico with increased access to the supply of US mainland-sourced LNG, helping address the island’s ongoing power demands.

Crowley and Naturgy have entered into a multi-year agreement that provides for the regular delivery of US LNG to Naturgy’s operating facility in Penuelas, Puerto Rico.

The Crowley-owned carrier American Energy, which has a capacity of 130,400 cubic meters (34.4 million gallons) per voyage, will operate in accordance with the US Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1996.

Crowley said the vessel has a CAP 1 rating, certifying its top rating for safety and vessel condition, and its compliance with all regulatory requirements.

VesselsValue data shows that Crowley bought this steam LNG vessel from Stena’s Northern Marine Management in January this year.

Built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique in 1994, the vessel, previously known as Puteri Intan, and then renamed to just Intan, was previously part of MISC’s fleet.

Crowley said the 900-foot-long (274 meters) LNG carrier builds on its 70-plus years commitment to Puerto Rico.

The company also operates the full-service marine Isla Grande cargo terminal in San Juan for its container and roll-on/roll-off vessels, including two LNG-fueled ships, and logistics services.

The company annually delivers more than 94 million gallons of LNG through its LNG loading terminal in Penuelas as well as provides ocean delivery and land transportation using ISO tank containers.

At capacity, each delivery of LNG aboard American Energy provides enough energy to power 80,000 homes for a year, according to Crowley.

American Energy will be crewed by U.S. mariners and provide regular service from the U.S. Gulf Coast to Puerto Rico.

“We are proud and privileged to expand U.S. LNG availability in Puerto Rico in partnership with Naturgy,” said Tom Crowley, chairman and CEO of Crowley.

“LNG is an ample, reliable energy source available in the U.S. that provides a more resilient and lower-emission option as part of our nation’s energy portfolio for quickly serving the growing power needs of Puerto Rico while supporting American jobs, American energy production and U.S. national security.”

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