WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright today issued an emergency order to keep a Colorado coal plant operational to ensure Americans maintain access to affordable, reliable, and secure electricity. The order directs Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association (Tri-State), Platte River Power Authority, Salt River Project, PacifiCorp, and Public Service Company of Colorado (a subsidiary of Xcel Energy), to take all measures necessary to ensure that Craig Unit 1 is available to operate at the direction of the Southwest Power Pool (SPP). For the duration of this Order, SPP is directed to take every step to employ economic dispatch of Craig Unit 1 to minimize costs to ratepayers.   Unit 1 of the coal plant was originally scheduled to shut down at the end of 2025, but in December 2025 and again in March 2026, Secretary Wright issued emergency orders directing Tri-State and the co-owners to ensure that Unit 1 at the Craig Station remains available to operate. “Taking reliable generation off the grid compromises energy reliability and needlessly raises energy costs for Americans,” said Energy Secretary Wright. “During peak summer demand, Coloradans deserve continued access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy to power and cool their homes.” Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, coal plants across the country are being saved from premature retirement and reversing plans to shut down. In 2025, more than 17 gigawatts of coal-power electricity generation were saved. According to DOE’s Resource Adequacy Report, blackouts were on track to potentially increase 100 times by 2030 if the U.S. continued to take reliable power offline as it did during the Biden administration. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment warns that the WECC-Rocky Mountain assessment area faces challenges from an aging thermal resource fleet, which can lead to unplanned outages, exacerbated by supply chain issues, and vendor availability. This order

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today released a new analysis finding that nationwide adoption of the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) would significantly increase housing construction costs and burden American families with costly Green New Scam mandates. DOE’s analysis found that the 2024 IECC would increase residential construction costs by more than $9.2 billion annually compared to the 2006 code levels, adding more than $127 billion in cumulative costs nationwide. If states choose to update their energy codes to the 2024 IECC, construction costs for a typical single-family home could increase by as much as $14,000. These costly mandates force American families to pay thousands of dollars more upfront for a new home, while projected energy savings may take decades to materialize. In most states, estimated payback periods exceed 10 years, with some exceeding 20 years—locking American families into decades-long repayment timeframes and restricting consumer choice. “American families should not be forced to pay more for a home because of nonsensical energy-related mandates,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “For too long, climate activists have pushed regulations that increase housing costs, reduce consumer choice, and make it harder for Americans to build and own a home. Thankfully, President Trump will continue fighting for the American people so they can enjoy affordable energy access and the ability to buy the home they desire with the features they choose.” “This analysis shows how unnecessary regulations and ineffective building codes have drastically increased housing costs with little to no benefit for homeowners or communities,” said Assistant Secretary of Energy (EERE) Audrey Robertson. “An average payback period of 11 years—as long as 22 years in some cases—for new residential building codes is unacceptable. Standard-setting bodies should take note: we prioritize the American homeowner and will not allow erroneous building requirements to push

WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Qatari Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ekperikpe Ekpo, and Algerian Minister of State, Minister of Hydrocarbons Mohamed Arkab yesterday sent a letter to the Leaders of the European Commission, European Council, and European Union (EU) Member States, regarding the European Union’s proposed EU Methane Regulations (EUMR). Click here to read the letter or see the full text below. Open Letter to Leaders of the European Commission, European Council, and European Union (EU) Member States on the EU Methane Regulation Dear President von der Leyen, President Costa, and EU Member State Leaders: As your largest energy suppliers, we are committed to strengthening our economic and strategic partnerships and ensuring Europe’s energy security. We fully support your objectives of increasing EU economic competitiveness, prosperity, sustainability, and energy security through provision of reliable energy supplies for the European Union and its citizens. It is with these shared goals in mind that we write to urge the EU to take swift, necessary actions to clarify and to adopt targeted amendments to the EU Methane Regulation (EUMR), some of which have already been requested by several EU Member States, industry, and members of European Parliament. These amendments should also be preceded by the: (i) adoption of a stop the clock mechanism, to provide time to develop necessary methodologies and compliance pathways that work for all; (ii)grandfathering of new contracts signed while these additional legislative adjustments are underway; and (iii) removal of penalties for noncompliance during this transitional period. As a large and diverse importing region, the EU purchases oil and natural gas from a wide variety of exporters, the majority of which cannot meet the EUMR methane emissions measuring, reporting, and verification (MRV) requirements on the prescribed timeline.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) issued a conditional loan commitment to finance the purchase of long-lead time items needed to rebuild America’s commercial nuclear supply chain. The $17.5 billion American Nuclear Supply Chain Loans will help finance five eligible projects sponsored by utilities and energy companies nationwide to accelerate the deployment of 10 large-scale commercial nuclear reactors across the United States by up to three years. The project marks a major step toward advancing President Trump’s Executive Order, Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base, by supporting the objective of having 10 new large nuclear reactors with complete designs under construction by 2030. “Just over one year ago, President Trump directed the Energy Department and its agency partners to unleash the next American nuclear renaissance,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said. “To accomplish that mission, these conditional loans will play an important role in reviving the supply chain needed for America to once again build large-scale commercial reactors. They will also help accelerate the timeline of building those large-scale reactors by up to three years, lowering construction costs and ensuring the United States is able to deliver on President Trump’s bold and ambitious energy addition agenda.” Westinghouse’s AP1000® units are the only licensed large-scale advanced commercial reactors operating in the United States today. Long-lead items are complex components of a nuclear power plant that require the longest time for manufacturing and delivery.   EDF financing will support up to five loans, each loan supporting two reactors at a project site. Westinghouse will partner with up to five eligible utilities and energy companies nationwide to procure the long-lead items at a fixed price. Each project will be jointly owned by Westinghouse and a utility or energy company partner. Both Westinghouse and the partner are required to

BW Offshore completed the Interim Performance Test (IPT) for the BW Opal floating production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO) as part of the commissioning program for the Santos Ltd.-operated Barossa LNG project about 285 km offshore from Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. The milestone is part of early-stage technical testing and adjustments following  first gas from the FPSO in September and the beginning of flow from subsea wells. BW Offshore confirmed that key production, processing, and utility systems on the FPSO were operating in an integrated manner and capable of delivering stable performance under production conditions. Following the restart of production in early May, BW Opal has continued gas production and export. Production is being managed in close coordination with Santos during this phase of the ramp-up and commissioning program. BW Opal contains a 358-m hull and accommodation for up to 140 personnel. It has gas handling capacity of 850 MMscfd and condensate handling capacity of 11,000 b/d. The FPSO will feed the Darwin LNG plant for the next two decades. The Barossa LNG project consists of the FPSO, a subsea production system, supporting in-field subsea infrastructure, a gas export pipeline, and a Darwin pipeline duplication. Up to eight subsea wells are planned (six wells from three drill centers) with contingency plans for an additional two wells. Gas and condensate is gathered from the wells through the subsea production system and then brought to the FPSO via a network of subsea infrastructure. Santos operates the Barossa LNG project (50%) with joint venture partners PRISM Energy International Australia Pty Ltd. (37.5%) and JERA Australia (12.5%).

Equinor Energy AS is considering further development of the Johan Sverdrup area resources in the North Sea. Production from discoveries in Tonjer west and east and Geitungen would form the basis for the maturation of a potential phase 4 development in the northern part of the field. The volumes would be developed via subsea tieback to existing Johan Sverdrup infrastructure. Tonjer lies in the northernmost part of the Geitungen terrace in the Johan Sverdrup area. Oil was discovered in the area, but volumes and potential have been uncertain. The drilling of two appraisal wells and a sidetrack have provided a more precise assessment of the resource base.  Preliminary estimates for Tonjer and Geitungen combined are 20-30 MMboe. Further analyses of subsurface data will form the basis for more precise resource estimates. Phase 4 is now being matured towards an investment decision with a possible production start-up in 2029. Johan Sverdrup Johan Sverdrup, which accounts for about one third of Norwegian oil production, lies on the Utsira High (Utsirahøyden) in the central part of the North Sea, 65 km northeast of Sleipner field in water depths of 115 m. The main reservoir contains oil in Upper Jurassic intra-Draupne sandstone. The reservoir depth is 1,900 m. The quality of the main reservoir is excellent with very high permeability. The remaining oil resources are in sandstone in the Upper Triassic Statfjord Group and Middle to Upper Jurassic Vestland Group, as well as in spiculites in the Upper Jurassic Viking Group. Oil was also proven in Permian Zechstein carbonates. Equinor is operator of Johan Sverdrup (42.62%) with partners Aker BP (31.57%), Petoro (17.36%), and TotalEnergies (8.44%).