Energy News Beat — September 18, 2026 One of the Midwest’s most important diesel and gasoline plants is still dark. ExxonMobil’s Joliet refinery in unincorporated Channahon Township, Illinois — about 40 miles southwest of Chicago — remains offline after a Sunday power outage and a subsequent flood that overwhelmed a pump. ZeroHedge flagged the outage […]
West Texas Intermediate is trading near $101 a barrel. National gasoline is $4.44 a gallon. Those are the conditions that usually refill rig lines and permit queues. In Colorado, they have not. As of September 17, 2026, Colorado operators had filed only 335 drilling permits over the trailing 24 months. In the last 90 days, […]
The U.S. Coast Guard and FBI boarded a Liberian-flagged very large crude carrier bound for Galveston, Texas, and a second energy tanker headed for another Texas port in the Gulf of Mexico after investigators found indications that foreign cyber actors had compromised their networks. Iranian state media claimed hackers seized control of propulsion, navigation, cargo, […]
September 17, 2026 Unseasonable heat is pushing power systems that serve more than 100 million people across the United States and Canada into a tight operating window — just as plants and transmission equipment that were scheduled for fall maintenance are still needed online. Temperatures are running more than 20°F above normal in parts of […]
Hamburg-based Enerparc AG, one of Europe’s largest independent solar park owners, filed for insolvency at the Hamburg Local Court. On September 7, 2026, the court appointed restructuring attorney Stefan Denkhaus of BRL as provisional insolvency administrator. Operations at the parks are continuing while administrators try to stabilize the group. Enerparc reports about 5.5 GW of […]
The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 now sits on President Donald Trump’s desk after the House passed it 262-159 on September 16. The Senate had already approved it 86-11. The bill targets Russia’s energy sector, officials, banks, oligarchs, and shadow fleet while authorizing the president to impose tariffs of up […]
The 7-1-1 Board of Supervisors vote directs staff to draft a resolution for a later October vote, with a proposed retroactive effective date of September 15. Officials emphasized it is not a legal moratorium under Virginia’s Dillon Rule, but a temporary pause on board-level reviews while Phase 2 data-center standards are completed. Board Chair Phyllis […]
On September 16, 2026, the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds target range by 25 basis points to 3.75–4.00 percent, its first hike since July 2023. The decision was unanimous. Chair Kevin Warsh and the FOMC cited elevated inflation and said the move would support a “timelier return” to the 2 percent goal. Economic activity […]
The MOU is not a final development contract. Continental and PDVSA said they intend to convert it into a long-term Contrato de Participación Productiva (CPP) in the coming weeks. Once that agreement is signed, Continental would operate the block with a 100% working interest. The announcement was made in Houston during the G20 energy ministers […]
Moscow is keeping diesel at home through the end of October. That decision lands on a European market that has already lost its old Russian supply line, is watching Saudi crude and product routes seize up, and is about to hear from the Bank of England on interest rates. The combination is not a single […]
