WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office (AFFO) today announced its intent to award up to $60 million to expand domestic energy production and distribution through novel, high-impact chemicals, fertilizers, fuels, and feedstock technologies. The funding opportunity is in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order, Unleashing American Energy, which calls for expanding domestic supply chains and the production of American energy to lower prices for hardworking Americans, including farmers, ranchers, and small businesses. “President Trump’s administration is strengthening America’s agricultural and energy sectors – both critical backbones of our prosperity and security – enabling our energy independence and benefiting all hardworking American families,” said Assistant Secretary Audrey Robertson. “Under President Trump’s and Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s leadership, we are empowering farmers, ranchers, and energy producers to lower prices, unleash American-made energy dominance, build a strong multi-generational workforce, and ensure the long-term prosperity and success for our great country.” DOE will seek research, development and scale-up projects that harness existing biomass, hydrogen, and pipeline resources to expand domestic energy production, distribution, and fertilizer technologies. AFFO expects to issue a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) in November 2026, addressing the following topic areas: Topic Area 1: Biointermediate Depots – Enhance the production of liquid intermediate-products that are made from biomass and establish pilot sites to produce traditional intermediate products such as high impact chemicals, sugars, bio-crudes, or bio-oils, from biomass and wastes.  Topic Area 2: Refinery Integration – Advance the production of commodity chemicals and fuels from alternative feedstocks using existing refinery assets and achieving production-costs that enable competitive market pricing.  Topic Area 3: Pilot Site for Hydrogen/Natural Gas Blending – Establish pilot sites for hydrogen and natural gas blending and the distribution/utilization of those blends to improve the reliability, scalability, suitability, performance and durability of distribution networks.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office (AFFO) released a pre-publication draft of a federal register notice announcing the Emissions Value Request (EVR) process for the 45Z fuel production tax credit. Modified and extended under the Working Families Tax Cut, the Clean Fuel Production Tax Credit (Internal Revenue Code Section 45Z) provides a production incentive for certain feedstocks produced in the United States, Mexico, or Canada. “Thanks to President Trump’s Working Families Tax Cut, we are creating new opportunities for American farmers and fuel producers to strengthen domestic energy production, reduce costs, and unleash American energy dominance,” said Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson. “Through the Department of Energy’s new 45Z Emissions Value Request process, we are expanding opportunities for American fuel producers to access critical tax incentives, supporting rural economies, and bringing more American-made fuels to market. In short: putting American energy first.” Transportation fuel producers seeking to claim the tax credit must obtain the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions rate of their transportation fuel using the applicable rate table for Section 45Z. If the fuel’s type, primary feedstock, or pathway is not included in the rate table, fuel producers must petition the Secretary of Treasury for a provisional emission rate (PER). The 45Z EVR process is the route through which fuel producers can obtain a rate value from DOE and petition U.S. Treasury for a PER. To request an emissions value from DOE, stakeholders must follow the EVR Application Instructions to submit the following requested materials: Engineering information/analyses consistent with the specified section of the front-end engineering and design (FEED) study or similar indication of project maturity, as determined by DOE. A completed EVR form. In addition to the required documents, an applicant also has the option to include additional information that may be

Supply recovery at risk Global oil supply increased by 2.5 million b/d month over month to 102.3 million b/d in September. OPEC+ accounted for 2.1 million b/d of the increase, led by Saudi Arabia. Renewed attacks on tankers and energy infrastructure threaten further gains, IEA warned. Despite September’s rebound, global supply is forecast to decline by 5.8 million b/d to 100.7 million b/d this year, before rising by 7.7 million b/d in 2027. Next year’s recovery remains contingent on sustained improvements in Hormuz flows. “Crude oil exports from Gulf producers, led by Saudi Arabia, surged by 4.4 million b/d to 13.9 million b/d in September, reaching over 75% of pre-war levels as supply recovered strongly and inventories were drawn down. Robust Gulf of Oman ship-to-ship transfers helped lift total oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz by 3.7 million b/d to 10.9 million b/d, while the swift return of East-West pipeline flows increased overall bypass exports by 970,000 b/d to 5.6 million b/d. The strong rebound raised estimated global supply for third-quarter 2026 by 190,000 b/d compared with last month’s Report. However, due to heightened security concerns amid increased Houthi attacks in the region in October, we have left the projections for the remainder of the year largely unchanged,” IEA said. North Sea Dated averaged $116.89/bbl in September, up $26.17/bbl from August. Diesel, inventories under pressure Global diesel exports in September were nearly 700,000 b/d below year-earlier levels, as increased shipments from other suppliers only partly offset losses from Russia and the Middle East. IEA expects diesel market tightness to extend well into 2027. “Refined product and LPG shipments from the Middle East have risen much more slowly than crude oil flows and remain below half of their pre-war levels. Refined products rose by 210,000 b/d to 1.9 million b/d

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office (HGEO) today announced a five-year contract valued at up to $49.8 million awarded to ASRC Consulting and Environmental Services, LLC (ACES), a subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation Energy Services Alaska, Inc. (AES). The contract will advance research and production testing of methane hydrates, a potential source of natural gas found in subsurface formations on Alaska’s North Slope.  The award supports President Trump’s goal of unleashing American energy and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s focus on advancing energy addition and American innovation by building the scientific and engineering knowledge needed to evaluate methane hydrates as a potential future domestic energy resource. The work will build on technical insights from prior production testing while maintaining a unique research site in the Prudhoe Bay Unit for potential follow-on operations.  “President Trump has made clear that America should use its extraordinary energy resources and innovation to strengthen our energy security and global leadership,” said DOE Acting Assistant Secretary of the Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office Curt Coccodrilli. “This investment will help build on years of field research in Alaska to move methane hydrate research from scientific discovery toward the real-world testing needed to determine its commercial production potential.”  Gas hydrates are naturally occurring, ice-like crystalline solids that hold vast quantities of natural gas beneath the permafrost and offshore. Unlocking these resources represents a vital component of the United States’ long-term energy strategy to secure abundant domestic supplies. Alaska’s North Slope research site provides a unique setting for long-duration field research because hydrate-bearing reservoirs can be studied using established infrastructure and continuously monitored wells.  The project will proceed in two phases. Phase 1 will maintain the existing research site and supporting equipment and develop detailed plans for a potential follow-on production test. Should

Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) has awarded Technip Energies an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for two major units in the lube modernization and bottoms upgradation (LMBU) project at its 9.5-million tonne/year (tpy) Mumbai refinery in Maharashtra, India. The work covers a 550,000-tpy integrated hydrocracker and catalytic dewaxing (IHCD) unit and an 850,000-tpy solvent deasphalting (SDA) unit. Both will be integrated into the operating refinery, Technip Energies said in a release Oct. 12. The new units aim to increase production of lube oil base stocks (LOBS) used in automotive engine oils and industrial lubricants, while upgrading heavier refinery streams into higher-value products, according to the service provider. While Technip Energies did not reveal the precise value of the contract, the company confirmed the order would amount to between €250-500 million of revenue. This latest EPC contract for the project’s IHCD and SDA units follows HPCL’s earlier award to Chevron Lummus Global for licensing of technologies to outfit the IHCD unit. Project overview HPCL’s LMBU project is designed to raise the Mumbai refinery’s output of LOBS to 764,000 tpy from 475,000 tpy, including production of Group II+ and Group III base stocks. The project is also expected to increase bitumen production by about 487,000 tpy through fuel oil upgrading, as well as improve the refinery’s yield of distillate by about 4%, HPCL said in a release Jan. 23, 2025. HPCL began work on the LMBU project during the third quarter of its 2025 fiscal year at an estimated project cost of 46.79 billion rupees (US$541.1 million). Scheduled to be fully completed in March 2028, the LMBU project had reached 9.9% physical completion as of Mar. 31, 2026, at a then-current project cost of 57.40 billion rupees (US$600.4 million), HPCL said in an investor presentation dated May 13, 2026.

The agency intends to eliminate the super-emitter program, which allows EPA-certified third parties to use satellites, aircraft, and other remote-sensing technologies to identify potentially large methane releases. Operators notified by EPA must investigate reported events and take corrective action. EPA said it has legal concerns about the program and does not believe it is necessary to meet Clean Air Act requirements. The agency also plans to ease requirements for marginal wells, proposing two alternatives for establishing separate categories of wellsites with different regulatory requirements. Smaller producers have opposed the requirements as too costly. EPA itself cited research indicating that marginal wells accounted for about 7% of US oil and gas output in 2021 but were responsible for 60% of methane emissions associated with gas production and 40% of those associated with oil production. The proposal also would revisit restrictions on flaring associated natural gas. The 2024 rules established requirements to phase out routine flaring at new sources, subject to specified provisions and exceptions. EPA said it would reconsider its approach to associated gas to give producers more flexibility. Other proposed changes would affect covers and closed-vent systems and provide operators with additional flexibility in requirements for control devices, including flame-monitoring data and visible emissions testing. In April, EPA finalized a narrower set of revisions to the 2024 rules, extending the time allowed for temporary flaring in certain circumstances and changing monitoring and testing requirements. The agency estimated those changes would save the industry $2.5 billion over the period from 2024 to 2038. Separately, Congress and the Trump administration eliminated the Biden-era methane waste emissions charge, which would have imposed fees on certain oil and gas infrastructure with methane emissions exceeding specified thresholds. Environmental groups have criticized the administration’s planned rollback, and the proposal could face legal challenges. EPA has not