• The Environmental Protection Agency has granted Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) and his administration the authority to regulate environmental issues in Native American territory, including lands inside historical tribal reservation boundaries. The oil and gas industry supported the EPA’s decision, while local tribal leaders denounced the move, saying that it curtails tribal jurisdiction in their own territory and that better decisions are made when there is collaboration between them and the state. (The Associated Press)

• A BloombergNEF report forecast that the residential solar industry in the United States will set a record in 2020 for installations at 3 gigawatts despite limited demand earlier in the year due to the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on door-to-door sales. The report said that a shift to digital sales helped boost demand, putting this year’s installations on track to surpass the previous record of 2.8 GW last year and setting a course for 3.6 GW to be installed next year. (Bloomberg)

• Exxon Mobil Corp. said it plans to cut up to 1,600 jobs in its European workforce by the end of next year, which comes after the oil giant announced voluntary layoffs in Australia in September. Exxon said the country-specific European layoffs will depend on the company’s local business presence and market conditions. (Reuters)

EPA union has ‘no confidence’ in agency’s plan to reopen during pandemic
Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill

The union for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees slammed the agency’s reopening plan, arguing it will fall short of keeping workers safe amid the pandemic.

Small energy players lean on taxpayers and Wall Street for coronavirus aid
Devika Krishna Kumar and Tim McLaughlin, Reuters

Several publicly traded energy companies took millions of dollars in U.S. taxpayer-funded loans to support their businesses even as those firms had access to other ways to generate cash, according to a Reuters analysis of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other government data.

US Labor Dept. should be withdraw ‘redundant’ proposed ESG rules: ACORE
Jeffrey Ryser, S&P Global Platts

The US Department of Labor’s proposed rules on environment, social and governance investing are “redundant to the requirements of existing law” and should be withdrawn or modified, the American Council on Renewable Energy called said Oct. 5.

Biden wins over Pennsylvania union leaders worried about his climate plan
Josh Siegel, Washington Examiner

Joe Biden has persuaded some leaders of fossil fuel-heavy building trade unions in Pennsylvania that his climate policies won’t harm them, a key development in a swing state expected to be decided by small margins.

Bill Gates-led Breakthrough Energy expands D.C. advocacy
Ben Geman, Axios

The Bill Gates-founded group Breakthrough Energy has formally registered lobbyists for the first time.

Oil Rises After Biggest Surge Since May on Stimulus Optimism
Ann Koh et al., Bloomberg

Oil rose further after the biggest gain since May on growing optimism for more U.S. fiscal stimulus and as President Donald Trump left hospital following treatment for Covid-19.

Hurricane Delta Strengthens, Heading for Mexico, U.S. Coast
Brian K. Sullivan, Bloomberg

On its current path, the storm will likely cause oil and natural gas production offshore Louisiana to shut down, and it poses a threat to onshore refineries and shipping, said Jim Rouiller, lead meteorologist with the Energy Weather Group. Output from the Gulf has been disrupted several times this year from tropical storms and hurricanes moving through the region.

Oil Pipeline Operators Offer New Discounts as Demand Craters
Sheela Tobben, Bloomberg

U.S. oil pipeline operators are slashing fees to encourage customers in Texas to keep using their networks to ship barrels to the Gulf Coast as the pandemic wreaks havoc on profits.

Workers protest BP’s use of non-union labor at Toledo refinery
Laura Sanicola, Reuters

Three dozen refinery workers represented by Toledo, Ohio’s local building trades union protested in front of their workplace in the city early Monday over BP’s hiring of non-union contractors from Texas to perform their work.

Fossil fuel suppliers face battle for survival as transition builds
Derek Brower, Financial Times

Oil majors must decide whether they can remain ‘last man standing’ or pivot towards clean energy.

‘Work from work:’ How a U.S. energy firm’s office return left some employees bruised
Liz Hampton and Erwin Seba, Reuters

As the world experimented with working from home, U.S. energy firm Phillips 66 Co went the other way: it imposed a “work-from-work” policy for staff at its Houston headquarters in May even as the city became a hot spot for the pandemic.

NextEra’s Duke Energy bid faces plethora of regulatory hurdles
David French, Reuters

NextEra Energy Inc Chief Executive James Robo joked last week he does not pursue small acquisitions because the reward is not worth the “brain damage” of getting them past regulators.

FERC carbon pricing conference shatters attendance records, but where were the state voices?
Catherine Morehouse, Utility Dive

A historic nine and a half hour discussion on carbon pricing attracted at least 2,000 viewers and broke previous attendance records for a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission technical conference, according to Chairman Neil Chatterjee.

Toyota Adds to Hydrogen Bet With N. American Fuel-Cell Semi
Edward Ludlow, Bloomberg

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to develop a hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered big rig for the North American market with its subsidiary Hino Motors Ltd.

Hydrogen roadmap lays out steps to make the gas 14% of US energy demand by 2050
Andrew Moore, S&P Global Platts

Hydrogen could help meet 14% of US energy demand by 2050, the equivalent of more than 2,468 TWh or 8.4 billion MMBtu per year, according to a study issued Oct. 5 by the Washington-based Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association.

‘Silver bullets’ compete with energy solutions already at hand
Myles McCormick, Financial Times

A mass scale-up of proven renewable power technology is needed to meet climate targets, say experts.

From hydrogen fuel-cells to giant airbags, construction and roadworks are changing
Anmar Frangoul, CNBC

Often involving thousands of people, large infrastructure projects comprise a range of stakeholders, including architects, designers, engineers and construction workers. The way these schemes operate is changing, with technology and ideas focused on sustainability and efficiency becoming increasingly important.

Behind the Coal Industry’s Trump-Era Lobbying War
Eric Lipton, The New York Times

The story of Navajo Generating Station in rural Arizona, in a way, is a story about the United States: the extraordinary coal-fueled expansion of the country after World War II, the continued extraction of natural resources from Native American lands and then the rapid move in recent years away from coal to natural gas and renewable energy. The way many of the now-unemployed coal miners in Arizona see it, it is also a story of a Republican president who made a promise and then failed to honor it.

‘The Coal Industry Is Back,’ Trump Proclaimed. It Wasn’t.
Eric Lipton, The New York Times

For decades, waves of electricity poured from this behemoth of a power plant on the high desert plateau of the Navajo reservation in northern Arizona, lighting up hundreds of thousands of homes from Phoenix to Las Vegas as it burned 240 rail cars’ worth of coal a day. But as the day shift ended here at the Navajo Generating Station one evening early this year, all but a half-dozen spaces in the employee parking lot — a stretch of asphalt larger than a football field — were empty.

‘We don’t give up really easy’: Navajo ranchers battle climate change
Stephanie Keith and Andrew Hay, Reuters

The Navajo Nation – covering a 27,000 square mile area straddling the U.S. states of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah — competes with growing cities including Phoenix and Los Angeles for its water supply.

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In a pandemic winter, dinner comes with a side of propane
Amy Harder, Axios

Americans’ plans to socialize outside in colder weather — when COVID-19 will still be a threat to indoor gatherings — are prompting an expensive and environmentally questionable rush on outdoor heaters.

The future of work in oil, gas and chemicals: Opportunity in the time of change
Duane Dickson et al., Deloitte

Although attracting new talent may not be an immediate priority—and understandably so given the slowdown in production and the pressure to reduce costs—retaining top employees and tackling the challenge of an aging workforce (median age of above 44 years) are of utmost concern for the industry. Existing OG&C employees having fungible digital skills are at the risk of migrating to other industries (e.g., technology and consulting firms, digital solution providers, etc.) where the prospects of career growth seem to be brighter.