WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Friday, readers! We’ve got some good news for those living in the DMV region. Lower dew points and lower levels of humidity are poised to roll in in the coming days – much needed relief for those of us melting the second we step outside.
With a little help from our editor Joe Lawler, today’s edition of Daily on Energy dives into the details on Chevron’s successful takeover of Hess and its Guyanese oil assets. Plus, keep reading to find out more about President Donald Trump’s latest pick to fill out the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
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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.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Several Republican members of Congress say the Trump administration is going too far in opposing the wind and solar industry, criticizing the Department of Interior’s decision to impose strict reviews on renewable projects.
“Every energy project needs to be permitted as fast as possible regardless of resource,” West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito told Politico, pointing to past frustrations over the Biden administration’s hesitancy to approve gas and drilling projects.
“We know what that feels like,” she continued, adding, “I just think it should be a fair playing field and we ought to move forward with all types.”
CHEVRON DEFEATS EXXON, MOVES FORWARD WITH HESS MERGER: Chevron secured its $53 billion acquisition of Hess today, ending Exxon’s years-long bid to block the deal and gaining more control of a critical oilfield in South America.
The details: Chevron announced today that it completed its acquisition of Hess, taking over its coveted assets in the Stabroek Block oilfield off the coast of Guyana. The deal was first announced in 2023 but had been held up in the courts for years by Exxon, which holds a 45% stake in the Guyana oil project. Exxon claimed the arrangement would infringe on its own operations. Their claims were dismissed by an arbitration panel with the International Chamber of Commerce this week. Exxon said it disagreed with the decision.
The geopolitical risk: The Guyana offshore oilfield is considered to be one of the most promising regions worldwide for increased crude production, as it is estimated to contain around 11 billion barrels’ worth.
The potential riches have also attracted the attention of neighboring Venezuela. The country has since made new claims to parts of Guyana, including the rich oilfields. In May, an armed Venezuelan naval vessel sailed off the coast of Guyana, in and around waters containing the oil deposit. Fears of an escalated conflict have previously caused Hess’s shares to drop, though Chevron has not appeared to be concerned about the risk.
TRUMP TAPS WHITE HOUSE ADVISOR TO ENERGY COMMISSION: President Donald Trump has selected attorney and White House advisor David LaCerte to serve on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, filling the seat left by Democratic commissioner Willie Phillips.
The details: LaCerte currently works as a principal White House liaison and senior advisor to the Office of Personnel Management. He has previously served on the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board and served in OPM during the first Trump administration.
LaCerte is involved in conservative circles, having been listed as a contributor to Project 2025, which called for FERC to stop favoring “special interests and progressive causes” and focus more on reliability issues rather than grid planning to support new renewable energy resources.
A puzzling pick: If confirmed, LaCerte would appear to have the least amount of experience in the energy sector of a commissioner currently sitting on the committee. A review of his work experience listed on LinkedIn found that LaCerte practiced energy litigation while serving as special counsel for Baker Botts in Houston, Texas, between January 2023 and January 2025.
His nomination came as a surprise for the industry, as reports indicated he does not have much influence in federal energy circles. If confirmed by the Senate, LaCerte would shift the political balance of the commission to a Republican majority of 3-2. While an independent agency, this would likely make it less likely that the administration will butt heads with FERC and advance its energy dominance agenda.
BYE, BYE BP WIND: British oil and gas giant BP has agreed to sell its U.S. wind business amid its transition back to fossil fuels, echoing the U.S. government’s own shift in focus.
The details: BP announced today that it will be selling its U.S. onshore wind business to LS Power. The deal consists of offloading the company’s share in 10 operating windfarms that have a total generating capacity of around 1.3 gigawatts. The agreement is expected to be finalized by the end of the year. The value of the deal was not released.
This is the latest step from BP to shift its focus back to oil and gas production, amid pressure from shareholders to abandon green goals and investments in cleaner forms of energy. BP first indicated that it would be scaling back its renewable investments earlier this year, and started the transition by selling 50% of its solar assets.
TRUMP EXEMPTS COAL, CHEMICAL PLANTS FROM BIDEN-ERA EMISSIONS RULES: Trump is amping up his support for the coal industry, allowing coal-fired power plants to bypass numerous environmental regulations imposed under the Biden administration.
The details: Yesterday, Trump signed four proclamations aimed at providing “regulatory relief” from “burdensome restrictions” for coal plants and chemical factories involved in semiconductor and energy supply chains.
The facilities have been granted two-year waivers from Environmental Protection Agency rules that pose restrictions on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, mercury, and other pollutants emitted during operations. Trump granted the waivers on the grounds that these facilities are critical to national security interests.
The proclamation claims the EPA rules would risk the premature shuttering of coal-fired power plants and chemical manufacturing facilities, sparking broader risks to the electrical grid, energy security, and U.S. economy.
The exempted facilities include coal plants in Ohio, Illinois, and Colorado, as well as chemical facilities in Louisiana, Indiana, Texas, Alabama, Florida, Virginia, Georgia, and Michigan.
Key quote: “These sectors are critical to maintaining national security and economic stability,” the White House said in a fact sheet. “Shutdowns could compromise our grid and lead to electricity shortages and reliance on foreign energy, increase our reliance on foreign supply chains for semiconductors, reduce our ability to provide sterile medical equipment for public health and military readiness, and reduce the supply on steel that we need to support critical infrastructure.”
INDUSTRY BACKLASH TO PENTAGON DEAL WITH MP MATERIALS: Industry figures are complaining about the Pentagon’s move to take an ownership stake in rare earths producer MP Materials.
Unnamed industry executives told the Financial Times that the deal is reminiscent of the “Chinese model” of industrial policy.
Gracelin Baskaran, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the publication that the deal represented “the level of intervention you’d normally see in China.”
Specifically, the deal guarantees a price of $110 per kilogram for neodymium-praseodymium products, critical for advanced magnets, well above the market price.
In sum: The administration made the unusual deal as part of its bid to ensure that the U.S. is not dependent on China for rare earths needed for defense and tech applications. Now it is facing criticism that it is engaging in the same sort of distortionary market interventions as China.
JAPAN NUCLEAR REVIVAL WATCH: In the latest update in Japan’s re-embrace of nuclear power following the 2011 Fukushima disaster, utility Kansai Electric Power Co. reportedly aims to begin planning the first new reactor since the meltdown, according to Bloomberg.
Specifically, it is beginning geological surveys at its Mihama Nuclear Power Plant on the west coast of the largest of Japan’s main islands.
As a reminder, Japan shut down all its nuclear plants after the disaster. Today, 14 have resumed operations, according to Bloomberg, as the country tries to ramp up clean baseload electricity production to meet growing demand.
PEBBLE MINE PROJECT OWNERS HAMMERED AS HOPES DIM FOR GREEN LIGHT: The share price of Northern Dynasty Minerals has halved on the news that it is turning to the courts to try to force the administration to sign off on the Pebble Mine in Alaska.
The news: Northern Dynasty filed a motion yesterday in federal district court, trying to work toward a summary judgment in the case over the EPA. That’s been taken as a bad sign because it had previously said that negotiations with the agency, rather than litigation, was the best way forward.
The background: The company has touted the project in southwest Alaska as the largest undeveloped copper and gold resource in the world. But the project could have knock-on effects for Bristol Bay, a major wild salmon fishery, and was effectively blocked by the Biden administration.
While there have been hopes that the Trump administration would look more favorably on the project, some Trump-allied fishing advocates and conservationists have opposed it – most notably, Donald Trump Jr.
ICYMI – CALIFORNIA SUES TRUMP OVER HIGH-SPEED RAIL FUNDING ROLLBACK: California Gov. Gavin Newsom has fueled his feud with Trump with another lawsuit, this time targeting the administration’s decision to terminate $4 billion in federal grants for a high-speed rail project.
The details: Newsom announced yesterday that the High Speed Rail Authority of California filed the lawsuit against the administration, claiming that the termination of the grants was “petty” and “political retribution.” The Transportation Department pulled the funding one day prior, after months of threats from the president himself.
“This project was Severely Overpriced, Overregulated, and NEVER DELIVERED,” Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social this week. “Thanks to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, not a SINGLE penny in Federal Dollars will go towards this Newscum SCAM ever again.”
Some background: The project was first approved by state voters in 2008, and at the time was estimated to cost $33 billion. California had hoped to build the high speed rail line between San Francisco and Los Angeles by 2020. After years of delays, developers hoped to have the project completed by 2033, with costs now soaring to around $128 billion.
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