WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, vice-chair and chair of the National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC) respectively, today joined Mid-Atlantic governors urging PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) to temporarily overhaul its market rules to strengthen grid reliability and reduce electricity costs for American families and businesses by building more than $15 billion of reliable baseload power generation.  The initiative calls on PJM to conduct an emergency procurement auction to address escalating electricity prices and growing reliability risks across the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The action follows a series of PJM policies over the years that have weakened the electric grid, including the premature shutdown of reliable power generation.  President Trump declared a National Energy Emergency on his first day in office, warning that the previous administrations energy subtraction agenda left the country vulnerable to blackouts and soaring electricity prices. During the Biden administration, PJM forced nearly 17 gigawatts of reliable baseload power generation offline. For the first time in history, PJM’s capacity auction failed to secure enough generation resources to meet basic reliability requirements. If not fixed, it will lead to further rising prices and blackouts.  “High electricity prices are a choice,” said Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “The Biden administration’s forceful closures of coal and natural gas plants without reliable replacements left the United States in an energy emergency. Perhaps no region in America is more at risk than in PJM. That’s why President Trump asked governors across the Mid-Atlantic to come together and call upon PJM to allow America to build big reliable power plants again. Our directives will restore affordable and reliable electricity so American families thrive and America’s manufacturing industries once again boom. President Trump promised to unleash American energy and put the American people first. This plan keeps

Russia’s revenues from its oil and gas industry, vital to financing its war in Ukraine, dropped to a five-year low in 2025 as crude prices slumped and gas exports declined. The nation’s budget received a total of 8.48 trillion rubles ($108 billion) in oil and gas taxes last year, Finance Ministry said on Thursday. That’s 24 percent less than in 2024 and the lowest level since the start of the decade, historic figures show.  Russia, a top-three global oil producer and home to the world’s largest gas reserves, heavily relies on tax revenues from the two industries to fill its state coffers. The decline, mainly driven by a combination of weaker global oil prices, stronger ruble and energy sanctions against Russia, comes as the Kremlin has boosted military spending significantly above what it planned to fund the war, which is about to enter a fifth year. To bridge the widening gap between revenues and spending, the government in Moscow has eaten into more than half of the country’s National Wellbeing Fund – a buffer against economic shocks – and turned to expensive borrowings that will take years to pay back.   Oil revenues dropped more than 22 percent year on year to 7.13 trillion rubles, reaching the lowest level since 2023, Bloomberg calculations show. Concerns about an oversupply in the global crude market, and discounts for Russian barrels in particular due to western sanctions, hit the flow of money into state coffers. The official data show that the average price of Urals, Russia’s main oil-export blend, for tax purposes was $57.65 a barrel in 2025, a 15 percent drop from a year earlier.   Starting from November, when the US blacklisted two major oil producers Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC, the discount of Urals to the Brent benchmark widened to about $27 a barrel at

(Update) January 16, 2026, 3:39 PM GMT: Article updated with context throughout. Harold Hamm, the billionaire wildcatter who helped kick off the US shale oil revolution, said he’s about to shut down his company’s drilling in North Dakota’s Bakken for the first time in decades because of low crude prices. “This will be the first time in over 30 years that Harold Hamm has not had an operation with drilling rigs in North Dakota,” Hamm, the founder of shale driller Continental Resources Inc., said in a telephone interview Thursday. “There’s no need to drill it when margins are basically gone.” It’s a significant milestone for the Bakken. The shale patch in North Dakota is where Hamm, 80, first proved that fracking and horizontal drilling techniques could be successfully applied to previously untouchable oil reserves. The fracking revolution ushered in a new growth era in US oil and the country went on to become the world’s top producer. Operators in the US shale patch, once the world’s leader in oil production growth, are now closely watching commodity prices as they hover near the level that makes drilling profitable for producers. If prices drop into the low $50-per-barrel range for several months, companies are expected to make more drastic cuts to drilling and fracking.  While each shale basin has different cost levels, the Bakken in particular is seen as a bellwether for the direction of US crude output. The average well in the Bakken requires a minimum of $58 a barrel to cover costs and generate a small profit, according to a report from BloombergNEF. That’s up almost 4% from a year earlier, largely due to rising drilling expenses. Meanwhile global oil prices have steadily declined in the past several months on expectations of a glut. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, has fallen

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), increased by 3.4 million barrels from the week ending January 2 to the week ending January 9. That’s what the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) highlighted in its latest weekly petroleum status report, which was released on January 14 and included data for the week ending January 9. According to this EIA report, crude oil stocks, not including the SPR, stood at 422.4 million barrels on January 9, 419.1 million barrels on January 2, and 412.7 million barrels on January 10, 2025. The report highlighted that data may not add up to totals due to independent rounding. Crude oil in the SPR stood at 413.7 million barrels on January 9, 413.5 million barrels on January 2, and 394.3 million barrels on January 10, 2025, the report showed. Total petroleum stocks – including crude oil, total motor gasoline, fuel ethanol, kerosene type jet fuel, distillate fuel oil, residual fuel oil, propane/propylene, and other oils – stood at 1.713 billion barrels on January 9, the report revealed. Total petroleum stocks were up 6.4 million barrels week on week and up 88.1 million barrels year on year, the report pointed out. “At 422.4 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about three percent below the five year average for this time of year,” the EIA said in its latest weekly petroleum status report. “Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 9.0 million barrels from last week and are about four percent above the five year average for this time of year. Finished gasoline inventories decreased, while blending components inventories increased last week,” it added. “Distillate fuel inventories slightly decreased last week and are about four percent below the five year average for this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories decreased 2.4 million barrels from

Ares Management Corp and ENGIE SA have added one wind and two solar projects already operating in the ERCOT market to their renewable energy partnership in the United States. The new assets have a combined capacity of 730 megawatts, a joint statement said. “ENGIE will retain a controlling share in the portfolio and will continue to operate and manage the assets”, the partners said. “The continued growth of our relationship with Ares reflects the strength of ENGIE’s portfolio of assets and our track record of delivering, operating and financing growth in the U.S. despite challenging circumstances”, said Dave Carroll, chief executive and chief renewables officer of ENGIE North America. “This transaction supports ENGIE’s strategy of continued investment in North America by deepening its partnership with a leading infrastructure investor, recycling capital to facilitate continued expansion of renewable generation to meet strong demand for power in the U.S.”, the joint statement said. French state-backed utility ENGIE has over 16 gigawatts (GW) of renewable generation projects in operation or under construction across the U.S. and Canada. Globally it has an installed capacity of 52.7 GW of renewables and energy storage, with a goal of 95 GW by 2030, the statement said. In the U.S., ENGIE has announced two projects this year, the Knox 2A and Knox 2B community solar farms in Galesburg, Illinois. The facilities are designed to deliver a combined 8.2 kilowatt hours a year to the state grid. The capacity represents an avoidance of over 7,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, the same as taking off nearly 1,700 cars off the road for a year, ENGIE said in a press release January 6, 2026. Also in Illinois ENGIE and co-venturer Solstice Power Technologies LLC started up the 2.5-MW Harmony community solar project late last year. “The Harmony community

Mitsubishi Corp announced Friday a deal to acquire producing shale gas positions in Louisiana and Texas from operators related to Aethon Energy Management LLC for $5.2 billion. “This transaction marks MC’s entry into the U.S. shale gas business across the value chain, from upstream ownership through domestic sales and export of produced gas”, the diversified Japanese group said in an online statement. Mitsubishi signed an agreement to buy all equity stakes in Aethon III LLC, Aethon United LP and related entities (collectively Aethon) with existing shareholders including Aethon Energy Management, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and RedBird Capital Partners, the statement said. Mitsubishi said it would purchase a total of nearly 1.7 million units. The parties expect to consummate the transaction in the second quarter. “Building on MC’s established North American energy platform – which includes upstream shale gas development with Ovintiv in British Columbia, midstream marketing and logistics through CIMA Energy in Houston, LNG exports via LNG Canada and Cameron LNG, and power generation through Diamond Generating Corp – this acquisition further strengthens MC’s integrated energy and power business”, the statement said. Mitsubishi said it plans to expand its U.S. presence into data center development, chemicals production and related businesses. “Aethon’s shale gas assets are primarily located in the Haynesville Shale formation, spanning Texas and Louisiana, and currently produce approximately 2.1 Bcfd [billion cubic feet a day] of natural gas (equivalent to about 15 million tons per year of LNG)”, the company noted. “Haynesville is a major supply source of natural gas for the growing southern U.S. market and offers favorable access to multiple LNG export terminals, including Cameron LNG, where MC holds liquefaction capacity rights under a tolling agreement. “Aethon’s natural gas is currently sold in the U.S. southern market, and part of this volume is being considered for export as LNG