Energy

Bloomberg US coal production will fall even more sharply than expected this year as the coronavirus forces businesses to close down, dragging down demand for electricity. Mines will supply about 537 million tons of coal this year, down 22% from 690 million tons last year, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said. A month ago, before lockdown orders took effect ...

Bloomberg Some old-guard Texas oil drillers are urging state regulators to clamp down on crude production to halt a price collapse more severe than any of them have ever lived through. The largest US oil-producing state hasn’t restricted crude production in almost 50 years but a growing chorus of explorers and related industries are advocating just such a move. The ...

Bloomberg State-owned China Three Gorges Renewables Group Co is seeking to raise 25 billion yuan ($3.5 billion) in what could be one of the country’s biggest initial public offerings this year. The company plans to sell as many as 8.57 billion shares in Shanghai, according to a prospectus posted on the website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The assets ...

Bloomberg The few gasoline stations still open in Caracas are manned by armed soldiers, and those waiting to fill their vehicles in day-long lines are only security personnel and designated medical and food suppliers. Under coronavirus quarantine like most of the world, Venezuelans are used to shortages after seven years of economic meltdown. But in the past few weeks, as ...

Bloomberg The world over, one mainstream fuel — diesel — has managed to remain a decent profit centre for the oil refining industry at large as the novel coronavirus ravages economies and their wider demand for petroleum products. Diesel has risen in value relative to crude in recent weeks due to a combination of continued industrial usage and purchasing of ...

Bloomberg Harris Associates, a multibillion-dollar asset manager that has touted responsible investing, agreed to enact a series of investor-driven measures after it was disclosed that one of its top managers helped fund groups that question the consensus on climate change. Brunel Pension Partnership, one of Britain’s largest retirement pools, said it looked into Harris’s investment practices following a report by ...

Bloomberg Airlines’ carbon emissions could drop by more than one-third this year as travel demand sinks, a trend that could continue as businesses reassess their need to fly, according to the Australia Institute. The industry’s carbon-dioxide emissions between February 1 and March 19 fell by more than 10 million tons from the same period a year ago as airlines scrapped ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump said he doesn’t think he’ll have to impose tariffs on imported oil to blunt the impact of a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, but held out the option to protect US oil producers. “I would use tariffs if I have to,” he said at a White House news conference, restating his position from an ...

Bloomberg When the coronavirus hit China late last year, America’s solar industry immediately started worrying about manufacturing. Asia is the main source of panels and other equipment, and with residential installers anticipating a bumper year, a bottleneck in the supply chain could be a major hindrance. Turns out the industry’s biggest 2020 quandary is very different: dwindling demand. Many homeowners ...

Bloomberg In just a matter of weeks, Ryan Sitton went from being a lame-duck commissioner of an obscure Texas agency to one of the key figures in a global effort to save the oil market from plummeting prices. Sitton, a Republican who lost the primary election for his own seat on the Texas Railroad Commission just one month ago, said ...