Portfolio investors took a breather last week after the earlier rush to repurchase short positions lifted oil and gas prices significantly since the start of the year. Hedge funds and other money managers sold the equivalent of 14 million barrels in the six major petroleum futures and options contracts over the seven days ending on March 12. Fund managers had sold a total of 32 million barrels in the two most recent weeks after purchasing 325 million over the previous 11 weeks, according to exchange regulatory records.
The U.S. Energy Department (DOE) on Tuesday will unveil final rules that will significantly soften its proposal that would have slashed electric vehicles' (EV) mileage ratings to meet government fuel economy requirements in 2027, sources said. The decision first reported by Reuters is a win for the Detroit Three automakers and the United Auto Workers union that raised alarm that the proposal could have resulted in U.S. automakers facing $10.5 billion in fines through 2032 for not meeting fuel economy requirements.
The U.S. must improve its mine permitting process if it hopes to boost domestic supplies of critical minerals to power the clean energy transition, the CEO of copper giant Freeport-McMoRan said on Monday. "The U.S. government needs to stop giving lip service to permitting," Richard Adkerson told Reuters on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. Earlier, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told the conference that she supported efforts in the U.S. Congress to reform the country's mining laws, some of which were first approved in the 19th Century.