BlackRock Inc. was removed from Texas’ blacklist of companies that boycott fossil fuels, ending a three-year standoff over the environmental policies of the world’s largest asset manager. The move means pension funds and other state-run investment accounts — which manage more than $300 billion of assets — will be allowed to purchase BlackRock shares, invest in its exchange-traded funds and hire the firm for advice and risk management. Inclusion on the list resulted in some Texas entities pulling billions of dollars of assets from the firm. State Comptroller Glenn Hegar said BlackRock had rolled back many of its green-focused initiatives, including exiting the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative and stepping back from the Climate Action 100+, a group devoted to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.  The move marks a win for BlackRock Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink, who has been courting Texas leaders. Last year, he took the stage with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick at a summit focused on shoring up the state’s energy grid, and just months ago BlackRock sponsored a table at the Black Tie & Boots Gala, a celebration of conservative politics in Texas. The company is also backing a Dallas-based Texas Stock Exchange. “We appreciate the Comptroller’s resolution of this matter,” a spokesperson for the firm said in a statement. “BlackRock is proud to help millions of Texans retire with dignity and, on behalf of clients, invests over $400 billion in corporations, local governments, energy infrastructure and other private assets throughout the state. These investments support the continued growth of the Texas economy.” Hegar touted some of BlackRock’s steps. He said while they are “unrelated” to the listing decision, the actions “show a real commitment to overall policy changes and a desire to act as a trusted partner in the growth of the Texas economy.” The company was a major target for conservative activists for years, with

Jadestone Energy plc has appointed Thomas Mitchell Little as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective June 1. The independent upstream production and development company focused on the Asia-Pacific region said in a media release that Little has relocated to its head office in Singapore. Jadestone said Little will be responsible for the delivery of its existing strategy, with the group aiming to become the leading upstream independent in the Asia-Pacific region through both organic and inorganic growth. Little has over 30 years of experience in the upstream oil and gas industry, primarily with Marathon Oil Company from 1987 to 2020. He served as Executive Vice President for Operations, overseeing all operations and development across U.S. unconventional and international sectors, as well as health and safety and supply chain functions. He was part of the Executive Committee and held various technical roles in operations, reservoir management, and drilling internationally. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Wyoming and is a Board Director at Helix Energy Solutions, focused on enhancing oil and gas field outputs. “We are very pleased that Mitch is joining Jadestone as CEO. He brings significant upstream operational and management experience from over three decades in the oil and gas industry with Marathon”, Dr. Adel Chaouch, Executive Chairman of Jadestone, said. “His in-depth operational and technical knowledge across many jurisdictions, particularly in mature asset management, will be of particular benefit to Jadestone, as we seek to maximize the value of our existing operated positions in Australia, Indonesia, and Malaysia and pursue further growth in these core areas”. “Jadestone has a very attractive platform of operated upstream positions in the Asia-Pacific region. This dynamic region will be at the forefront of global energy demand growth for the foreseeable future, and I’m confident that Jadestone is

In an EBW Analytics Group report sent to Rigzone by the EBW team today, Eli Rubin, an energy analyst at the company, said the July natural gas contract “extended its rebound to $3.722 yesterday, recovering nearly the entirety of last week’s losses to close within 0.3¢ of the Friday before Memorial Day”. Rubin added in the report, however, that “exceptional Henry Hub spot weakness dragging prices to $2.82 (90¢ behind the front-month) reveals soft fundamentals and may restrain immediate term upside”. The EBW analyst went on to state in the report that “DTN’s weather forecast is little changed, while other meteorologists suggest falling CDDs [cooling degree days] – impeding higher gas prices”. “Corpus Christi LNG feedgas demand is rising, but extensive maintenance is lingering at Cameron and Sabine Pass,” he added. “Still, production readings remain soft, technicals are bullish, and fundamentals will tighten over the next few weeks,” Rubin noted in the report. “While very weak cash may temper bullish enthusiasm near term, if July can close above the 20-day average at $3.749 or the weather outlook heats up into late June, natural gas prices may race higher ahead of our most-likely scenario,” he said. In a separate EBW Analytics Group report sent to Rigzone by the EBW team yesterday, Rubin said Monday’s 24.7¢ surge in the July contract “rapidly shook off growing pessimism and reset market technicals in a bullish direction”. “However, the huge daily gain largely offset last week’s declines – and soft near-term physical markets may temper the attempt to break out higher in the immediate term,” he added. In that report, Rubin said weather forecasts shifted milder over the past 24 hours, “with cool to seasonal weather in Texas and the Southeast into mid-June”. “LNG feedgas is weak with two trains offline at Sabine Pass, the outage at

Dive Brief: The Port of Los Angeles has adopted a spending plan to help with its transition of drayage fleets to zero-emissions models, according to a May 22 press release. The spending plan, unanimously approved by the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners, will guide how the port allocates revenue from its Clean Truck Fund, or CTF, through June 2028. “The Clean Truck Fund is a short-term strategy to maximize results,” Port Executive Director Gene Seroka said in the release. “This money puts more ZE trucks in Port service faster by lowering the cost of purchasing them while ensuring the charging and fueling infrastructure is there to keep them moving.” Dive Insight: The Port of Los Angeles is moving forward with its efforts to transition to zero-emissions truck fleets, despite legislative uncertainty surrounding the future of electric vehicles. The port collects funds through its CTF rate. Cargo owners pay $10 for every loaded TEU hauled by diesel drayage trucks through the Port of Los Angeles. Larger containers are hit with a $20 fee. Permanent exemptions on the rate exist for cargo owners that use zero-emissions trucks. With the approval from the Board of Harbor Commissioners, the port will continue to prioritize CTF revenue on charging and fueling infrastructure projects along with vouchers to make zero-emissions trucks affordable. “Without vouchers, the average cost of a new Class 8 truck that runs on battery-electric power … is about $420,000 and those fueled by hydrogen average $750,000,” according to the release. But vouchers and funding from the California Air Resources Board can help trucking firms cover up to 90% of the up-front costs of a zero-emissions truck purchase. Currently, 546 zero-emissions trucks operate at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, according to the port. Most of those trucks

A coalition of consumer-oriented groups is asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to lead an effort to improve electricity demand forecasts, which they say are riddled with “uncertainty and lack of transparency.” The issue is critical because of “exponential” load growth that will accelerate in response to new demands from artificial intelligence, data centers and reshored advanced manufacturing facilities, the groups, led by the Electricity Customer Alliance, said in a May 30 letter to FERC. In a May 20 report cited by the groups, ICF said it expects U.S. electricity demand to grow by 25% by the end of this decade and by 78% by 2050 — driving a need for about 80 GW of generation to be added to the grid each year by 2045, double the pace from the last five years. As a result, the consulting firm forecasts that electric utility bills could increase by between 15% and 40% by 2030 compared to 2025, depending on the utility. Electricity rates could double for some utilities by 2050, ICF said. The grid planning needed to meet potential load growth requires “more confidence in load growth forecasts, greater transparency and standardization in how forecasts are constructed, and clearer lines of communication among state and federal regulators, transmission operators, generators, load serving entities, and customers as forecasts are adjusted,” the groups said. Groups signing the letter include the Electricity Consumers Resource Council, the Industrial Energy Consumers of America, the Coalition of MISO Transmission Customers, the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates and the PJM Industrial Customer Coalition. “Artificially low forecasts lead to insufficient infrastructure investment and resulting high costs and potential reliability problems, while artificially high forecasts risk overinvestment, unnecessary rate increases for already burdened customers, and stranded costs,” the groups said. Load forecasts are a key input into resource

Bipartisan legislation proposed in the Senate would allocate $50 million from fiscal year 2025 to 2029 to improve cyber security information sharing across the U.S. energy sector. Experts say the private sector would welcome the new initiative.  U.S. and Canadian electric grids face a growing threat from hackers and physical attacks, and greater communication, coordination and advance planning are required to counter them, officials at the North American Electric Reliability Corp. have warned. The Energy Threat Analysis Program Act would authorize the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Threat Analysis Center to coordinate information sharing on threat assessments and mitigation measures between the DOE, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the intelligence community and the private sector. The legislation was introduced by Sens. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., and has been referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. “Increased risk of cyberattacks requires more diligent information sharing to effectively monitor and mitigate threats to America’s energy sector,” Risch said in a Thursday statement. The new legislation “will support these efforts and better protect the U.S. from future cyberattacks.” According to the legislation, the energy threat analysis program aims to support public-private operational collaboration by developing “actionable operational information” relating to energy sector threats and offering threat mitigation advice and actions. The new program will improve “understanding of national security risks associated with the energy sector that are or could be exploited by adversaries, including nation-states,” and achieve a deeper understanding “of the tactics, capabilities, and activities of threat actors that have the potential to impact systemic risks to the energy sector,” the legislation says. The program would be directed by the Secretary of Energy, managed by the DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response, and supported by its Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. Energy storage and other distributed