WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Wednesday, readers! Major natural gas exporter Venture Global clinched a key victory in an arbitration case against Shell yesterday, but the company’s legal battles are far from over. Venture Global is facing similar allegations from major customers like BP and Edison, but its executives aren’t too worried. Keep reading to find out what they have to say about the remaining pending cases. 

Plus, in today’s edition of Daily on Energy we look at the latest effort from Democratic leaders in New York to block and stall the expansion of a gas pipeline that was revived earlier this year, in a large part thanks to the governor of New York herself. 

Recommended Stories

• Daily on Energy: Electricity prices rising fast, a bearish oil forecast, and Interior scrutinizes turbine bird deaths
• Daily on Energy: Burgum on DC crime, AI power demand to soar, and a ‘mega’ wildfire in California
• Daily on Energy: Quote of the week, DOI backs Wyoming coal mine plan, and a tough week for oil 

Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). 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, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.

OIL MARKET LOOKS ‘BLOATED,’ IEA SAYS: Oil prices inched closer to the $60 line today as the International Energy Agency issued a bearish view on global supply and demand, saying the market looks “bloated.”

The details: IEA released its August oil market report this morning, warning that the market could end up more oversupplied by the end of the year than what was previously expected, with demand growth continuing to drop. 

IEA estimated that global crude supply will increase by 2.5 million barrels per day this year and 1.9 million bpd in 2026 – largely driven by OPEC+’s decision to increase its production hike in September. The agency said it believes supply is increasing far faster than consumption, forecasting that global demand will increase by just 680,000 bpd in 2025 and 700,000 next year. This is down by roughly 20,000 bpd from IEA’s previous estimates. 

Conditions could change depending on ever-evolving conflicts involving both Russia and Iran, as additional sanctions from Western countries could depress their own supply levels, IEA said. 

“While oil market balances look ever more bloated as forecast supply far eclipses demand towards year-end and in 2026, additional sanctions on Russia and Iran may curb supplies from the world’s third and fifth largest producers,” the report reads. 

Market reaction: IEA’s report echoes similar bearish views issued by other forecasters this week, including the Energy Information Administration, putting pressure on the global price of oil.

Crude prices have continuously fallen throughout August so far, with both international and domestic benchmarks dropping by nearly $1 when compared to yesterday. 

As of around 2:30 p.m. EST, Brent Crude had fallen by 0.82% and was priced at $65.58 per barrel. Similarly, West Texas Intermediate was down 0.89% and was selling at $62.61 per barrel. 

VENTURE GLOBAL CONFIDENT IT WILL WIN MORE ARBITRATION CASES: Natural gas exporter Venture Global is confident that the company will come out on top in a series of arbitration cases after clinching a major win over Shell. 

The recent win: In what has been described as a “David v. Goliath” fight, Venture Global was handed a victory in an arbitration court in New York yesterday, after Shell claimed the company failed to deliver cargoes of liquefied natural gas under long-term contracts. 

Rather than delivering on the contracts, Venture Global sold the LNG directly on the spot market when prices were peaking in a large part due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Venture Global was lambasted by oil and gas majors over the incident, despite the young LNG company insisting that its business model has always allowed it to sell cargo to the spot market before fulfilling long-term contracts. 

Shell had been seeking $1.7 billion in the arbitration case, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Looking forward: Shell isn’t the only company to pursue legal action against Venture Global. Several other companies that had signed long-term contracts with the company are also pursuing their own arbitration cases. This includes BP, Edison, Repsol in Spain, Orlen in Poland, and many others. But Venture Global isn’t worried. 

During an earnings call today, CEO Mike Sabel said the company is “confident” it will be awarded “similar outcomes” with the pending cases, according to Bloomberg. Sabel explained that the other contracts have “very similar” and “straightforward” terms when compared to the Shell case. 

ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES NEARLY $1B TO BOOST CRITICAL MINERALS: The Trump administration is throwing its support behind the critical minerals industry in the U.S., promising to issue nearly $1 billion in funding for projects focused on advancing and scaling mining, processing, and manufacturing technologies across the supply chain. 

The details: The Department of Energy announced this afternoon its intent to issue notices of funding opportunities to boost domestic critical mineral mining and reduce reliance on foreign imports. The agency announced five key funding opportunities targeting different sectors of the supply chain like mining and refining, totaling up to $975 million. 

Those opportunities and possible awards include: 

• The Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator program, up to $50 million 
• Mines and Metals Capacity Expansion program, roughly $250 million 
• Rare Earth Elements Demonstration Facility program, up to $135 million 
• Battery Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Program, up to $500 million
• Recover Critical Minerals from Industrial Wastewater program, roughly $40 million

Key quote: “For too long, the United States has relied on foreign actors to supply and process the critical materials that are essential to modern life and our national security,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement. “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, the Energy Department will play a leading role in reshoring the processing of critical materials and expanding our domestic supply of these indispensable resources.”

NYC DEMOCRATS MAKE LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO STALL GAS PIPELINE: A group of New York City Democrats has moved to delay the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project, a natural gas pipeline expansion that was revived as part of a deal between the president and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this year relating to offshore wind.  

The details: New York Reps. Jerry Nadler, Hakeem Jeffries, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Nydia Velázquez have asked state officials to extend the public comment period for the project by another two months. The Democrats sent a letter to Hochul and the state Department of Environmental Conservation on Tuesday, calling for the comment period to be extended to 120 days. It is currently expected to end on Aug. 16, after previously being stretched to 45 days. 

The lawmakers said they were worried the 45-day timeline would not provide “sufficient opportunity” for the state to fully review and consider input from residents, experts, and community-based organizations in the region. 

They also noted that the state has previously blocked the project, saying its complexity warrants a longer comment period as well as public hearings.  

“The NYSDEC has previously granted public comment periods that are longer than 45 days for complex and high-impact proposals,” they wrote. “This precedent reflects the Department’s recognition that meaningful public participation requires sufficient time and opportunity to engage.”

Quick reminder: The Northeast Supply Enhancement Project was canceled in May of last year by Oklahoma-based pipeline developer Williams Companies. The company had also scrapped another controversial project, the Constitution pipeline, as New York state refused to issue Williams water quality permits. 

By May of this year, the company said it was planning to revive the two projects. The decision has long been speculated to have been included in a deal between Hochul and President Donald Trump, in which the president lifted a stop-work order on the offshore Empire Wind project. 

Read more from Callie here. 

DOT IMPOSES NEW NEVI GUIDANCE: The Department of Transportation has released new guidance to streamline the Biden administration’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program (NEVI), which provides funding for states to develop electric vehicle charging stations.

The bipartisan 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act created the NEVI program, providing $5 billion for states to fund charging stations across the country. 

A major obstacle to EV adoption is the lack of charging stations. The program aimed to address this problem by requiring states to create EV charging station infrastructure plans and then open grant applications for businesses to apply and begin building out charging stalls. 

But leaving it up to the states has led to criticisms of the program because some states have been unable to build out charging stations due to strict requirements, or are unwilling to do so.

“For me, the biggest issue I heard from people over three years of tracking the NEVI program was that every state had different application requirements and process — and this was a nightmare for national companies,” Loren McDonald, who tracks NEVI as chief analyst at the analytics firm Paren, wrote on LinkedIn. 

In February, DOT paused the program as it looked to update the guidelines. The department was expected to release the new guidance in the Spring but did not until this week. 

Ryan McKinnon, a spokesman for the EV advocacy group Charge Ahead Partnership, told Maydeen, “we are optimistic” about the new guidance. 

“The fact that their goal is to make it as simple as possible for folks to implement makes us optimistic,” McKinnon said. 

DOT eliminated several requirements that made it more challenging for states to build out charging stations, McKinnon noted, including the mandate that there be a charging station every 50 miles. It is now allowing flexibility for states to implement charging stations as they see fit, he said.

“This kind of frees states up to be a little bit more flexible and not have a one-size-fits-all implementation mode,” he said. 

The DOT also canceled requirements related to disadvantaged communities and diversity. 

ALASKA GLACIER CAUSING FLOOD EVACUATIONS: The National Weather Service yesterday issued flood warnings for Juneau, Alaska, due to the glacial outbursts from the Mendenhall Glacier, resulting in many to evacuate their homes near the Mendenhall River. The flood this morning reached a record-breaking crest or highest water level at 16.65 feet. The water has begun to retreat as well. 

There were still incidents of flooding on some roads and nearby homes, KTOO reports. The Alaska Electric Light & Power also cut power for some of the affected areas. 

In the last couple of years, the glacier has seen record-breaking flooding due to higher temperatures making melting more prominent. 

SWISS CITY MAKES PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION FREE TO DECREASE POLLUTION: A major city in Switzerland is taking a non-traditional approach to lower vehicle emissions, by offering incentives for residents to ditch their cars entirely. 

The details: The city of Geneva, located in the westernmost part of the central European country, is temporarily offering free public transportation, according to Reuters. Public transportation is relatively cheap, or similar to other major cities, with monthly passes typically costing as much as 70 CHF (around $86). With ozone pollution rising in the region, city officials are looking for any way to convince residents to reduce their time driving. 

The Environment Office for the Canton of Geneva told Reuters that public transportation will be free in the city starting today until they are able to see a meaningful decrease in pollution levels. This means passengers will not be required to have a ticket on board any buses, trams, trains or boats, and all ticket checks will be suspended for the time being. 

In addition to making public transportation more accessible, the city is only allowing low-emitting cars to travel within the center of the city between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. 

Pollution levels: City officials are specifically looking to lower emissions of nitrogen oxide, which is associated with gasoline and diesel engines. Geneva has reportedly seen record levels of ozone pollution in recent days, as high temperatures and low cloud cover have made it more difficult for the pollution to dissipate. Earlier this week, the city reported that pollution levels surpassed an environmental health safety baseline of 180 micrograms per cubic meter over the course of 24 hours. 

RUNDOWN 

Carbon Brief Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop

Axios How gas and power prices have become political experiments

Forbes Israel’s Energy Influence Expands Even During Gaza War