The US Interior Department rolled out its schedule for federal offshore lease sales Aug. 19, outlining 15 proposed sales in the Gulf of Mexico and 6 off Alaska’s Cook Inlet from 2025 to 2032. In addition to the proposed Gulf lease sales, Interior would hold another 15 sales in the Gulf from 2033 to 2040, it said. The schedule sets Gulf sales for twice a year, in March and August, from 2026 to 2040. It also has a March 2040 sale on the books, as well as one on Dec. 10, 2025. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will publish a final notice at least 30 days before each sale. Cook Inlet lease sales would occur in March 2026-2028 and again in March 2029-2032, Interior said. President Trump’s recently passed tax law required Interior to publish the long-term lease schedule. The National Ocean Industries Association praised the new schedule. “Today’s announcement restores the stability needed to keep America’s offshore energy future strong,” said NOIA President Erik Milito. “A clear, long-term schedule of lease sales in the Gulf of America and Alaska’s Cook Inlet gives companies the certainty to invest, sustaining jobs and strengthening US energy security.”

Oil rose 1.3% to settle above $64 a barrel as tightening US crude and fuel inventories eased investor fears about a looming supply glut. While prices continue to trade within a $5 band this month, West Texas Intermediate’s so-called prompt spread — a measure of supply tightness — strengthened to the widest in more than a week. The move followed a US government report showing stockpiles at the key Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub fell for the first time in eight weeks while national crude inventories declined by 2.4 million barrels, more than expected. Fuel supplies also contracted, suggesting demand remains robust despite tariffs weighing on longer-term consumption expectations. The bullish data belies a worsening global trade backdrop that has contributed to a 12% drop in US oil futures this year. The US on Wednesday raised its tariff on some Indian goods to 50% — the highest levy applied to any Asian nation — to punish the country for buying Moscow’s oil. But Indian processors plan to maintain the bulk of their purchases, suggesting the trade limits won’t ease investor worries about a global supply surplus, Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief analyst at A/S Global Risk Management. With OPEC+ unwinding output curbs, the International Energy Agency has warned of a record glut next year. Trump, meanwhile, has lauded falling oil prices, saying Tuesday that crude futures would break $60 a barrel “pretty soon.” Oil Prices WTI for October delivery rose 1.4% to settle at $64.15 a barrel in New York. Brent for October settlement added 1.2% to settle at $68.05 a barrel. What do you think? We’d love to hear from you, join the conversation on the Rigzone Energy Network. The Rigzone Energy Network is a new social experience created for you and all energy professionals to Speak Up about our industry,

The world’s biggest climate alliance for banks suspended its activities and proposed a vote on scrapping its current structure after a wave of exits that started on Wall Street grew into a global exodus. The Net-Zero Banking Alliance, which has been virtually wiped off the North American map and is now starting to lose ground in Japan, Australia and Europe, is asking remaining signatories to decide whether the group should continue to exist as a membership-based organization, according to a statement on Wednesday.  The announcement comes four years after the group’s founding members, which included the world’s biggest banks, stated their commitment to aligning their lending and investment portfolios with achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The reality is NZBA “never truly challenged the fossil fuel-oriented business models of major banks,” said Lucie Pinson, the founder of climate nonprofit Reclaim Finance. “For those working to protect the environment and the climate, this underlines once again the limits of voluntary corporate commitments and the urgent need for binding measures, including strong regulatory action, to trigger real change,” Pinson said. Since the unveiling of the Paris Agreement at the end of 2015, banks globally have provided almost $6.4 trillion of bonds and loans to oil, gas and coal companies, compared with about $4.3 trillion for green projects, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Now, NZBA is proposing it continue as an advisory body without members. “The Steering Group believes this is the most appropriate model to continue supporting banks across the globe to remain resilient and accelerate the real economy transition in line with the Paris Agreement,” NZBA said in the statement. The proposed model will also facilitate ongoing “engagement with the global banking industry to develop further guidance and tools needed to support them and their clients,” it said.  The outcome of the

Alissa Jean Schafer is climate and energy director at Private Equity Stakeholder Project, a nonprofit watchdog group focused on the impacts of private firms on people and the planet. Over a year after announcing its plan to take over Minnesota Power, the Duluth-based utility serving more than 150,000 accounts and several large industrial users, Global Infrastructure Partners, wholly owned by BlackRock, is now waiting on one final step for the deal to close: approval from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. If the commission approves, this giant private equity firm would take over ALLETE, the parent company of Minnesota Power. What’s at stake for Minnesota Power ratepayers is their utility being beholden to the private equity business model, notorious for cost-cutting and raising prices for consumers to generate high profits in a short amount of time. If this deal is approved, BlackRock would be making decisions that affect the price people in Duluth pay to light and heat their homes. That risk is not unique to Minnesota. Across the country, private equity firms have been moving into essential public infrastructure — from hospitals to housing to water systems and now utilities — often with similar results: higher costs for consumers, reduced transparency, and decisions driven by short-term investor returns rather than long-term public needs. Minnesota is now on the front lines of this national trend, and what happens here will send a signal to other states about whether regulators are willing to put public interest ahead of Wall Street profit. Against that backdrop, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has the benefit of a lengthy review process before Minnesota Administrative Law Judge Megan J. McKenzie. The commission has pages of expert testimony, cross-examination, and deal details to review, including volumes of information labeled “highly confidential” and blocked from public view. Judge McKenzie has

Gas-fired generating capacity accounted for about three-quarters of the 26,575 MW that has applied to take part in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s fast-track interconnection review process, the grid operator said Tuesday. MISO received 47 applications for its Expedited Resource Addition Study, which aims to bring power supplies online quickly to meet near-term grid needs. The process allows planned resources that meet eligibility criteria to sidestep MISO’s standard interconnection queue reviews. ERAS projects must meet a clear resource adequacy or reliability need, be able to come online in three to six years and have support from a “relevant electric retail regulatory authority,” such as a state utility commission. Most applications were gas-fired projects, while storage projects accounted for about 15% of the proposed capacity and wind, solar and a nuclear project in Iowa made up about 4.5%, 4% and 2.5% of the capacity, respectively, according to MISO’s list of projects. MISO draws 26.6 GW in fast-track review proposals Gas-fired generation made up about three-quarters of the proposed capacity. “This broad mix underscores MISO’s evolving energy landscape and the urgent need to bring new resources online to address growing reliability challenges,” Aubrey Johnson, MISO’s vice president of system planning, said in a press release. “These projects are designed to meet localized and accelerating demand growth.” MISO will study ERAS projects on a first-come, first-served basis, with the first quarterly study beginning on Sept. 2. Under the ERAS process, MISO will study up to 10 projects per quarter, up to a maximum of 68 projects before the program ends on Aug. 31, 2027. Proposals from Louisiana include five gas-fired power plants totaling 6,170 MW and a 208-MW storage project, according to MISO. Potential projects in Indiana include three gas-fired projects totaling 4,100 MW and three storage projects totaling 1,470 MW. Proposals from Minnesota

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act accelerated the phase-out of key tax credits for solar and wind projects but battery energy storage “retains a relatively stronger position,” Stout, a global advisory firm, said Tuesday in a first half energy update. Battery storage projects will have tax credits available through 2033. However, they will still face headwinds including compliance with new Foreign Entities of Concern restrictions that pose “a significant challenge due to the sector’s heavy reliance on Chinese-dominated supply chains,” Stout noted. “While U.S. energy storage capacity is still expected to grow, the administrative burden of demonstrating compliance with FEOC rules and sourcing non-restricted components could slow development and raise costs, hindering the sector’s long-term expansion,” the firm said. The growth outlook for battery storage is evident in the most Short-Term Energy Outlook published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Aug. 7. The report estimates utility-scale domestic storage capacity will rise from about 29 GW at the end of Q1’25 to 65.7 GW at the end of 2026. That’s slightly higher than the 64.9 GW at the end of 2026 that EIA estimated in its June STEO, before the budget bill phasing out renewable tax credits was signed. U.S. developers are planning to bring a total of 64 GW of generating capacity online this year, with more than 18 GW coming from battery storage, EIA said in an Aug. 20 note. Retrieved from U.S. Energy Information Administration. “Battery storage, wind, and natural gas power plants account for virtually all of the remaining capacity additions for 2025,” EIA said in an Aug. 20 note. “If planned capacity additions for solar photovoltaic and battery storage capacities are realized, both technologies will add more capacity than in any previous year. For both technologies, this growth is largely attributable to changes occurring in Texas.”