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OIL PRICES A TOP ISSUE FOR TRUMP, HEITKAMP SAYS: The price of crude oil slipped into a meeting about the Supreme Court vacancy between President Trump and Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota Thursday night.

Trump invited the moderate Democrat to discuss the Supreme Court vacancy and which candidates would have the best chances of passing the Senate, the senator from the large shale oil state said in a video tweet posted Thursday evening.

Oil and trade: But the conversation quickly diverged into other issues, mainly trade and the price of oil, she said.

Trump discussed with her “some of the issues around the oil industry, right now, and what’s happening with oil prices,” she said.

Trump’s focus on OPEC: Trump has been focused on the price of oil, blaming OPEC for global price increases ahead of its decision last week to increase oil production by 600,000 barrels per day. That’s a step toward easing pain at the gasoline pump, but price shocks could still be on their way as Iran pulls back production.

When oil states suffer: Oil producers in Heitkamp’s state have suffered with low oil prices in recent years. Oil prices need to remain above $30 per barrel for U.S. shale oil to be competitive. Currently, the price of oil is hovering around $65-$73 per barrel. That’s more than a $25 per barrel increase from last year, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Trade: Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum are being opposed by oil industry trade groups that say they will drive up the cost of pipelines and other oil and natural gas infrastructure. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg, because other countries’ retaliation against Trump is set to increase taxes on most U.S. commodities, including oil and natural gas. That could make U.S. energy exports less competitive and hurt producers.

Energy diversity: Trump also continued to talk to foreign leaders about diversifying their energy supplies through buying more shale natural gas and oil from the United States.

He discussed his energy agenda with President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of Portugal earlier this week, the White House said.

Perry’s week-long push: The discussions dovetailed with several meetings Energy Secretary Rick Perry had this week on the sidelines of the World Gas Conference in Washington.

The administration has been focused on shoring up demand for U.S. energy exports as the Russia seeks to build a major new pipeline called the Nord Stream 2 through Germany, which could erode demand for U.S. energy.

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ZINKE ‘VERY BULLISH’ ABOUT NATURAL GAS, BUT SHIFT COMING AT INTERIOR: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke closed the World Gas Conference Friday telling a friendly audience he is “very bullish” on natural gas as a major component of the Trump administration’s “all of the above” energy strategy, because it’s “clean” and “dependable.”

“No one does energy better than the U.S.,” Zinke said in a short keynote address. “By the regulatory framework itself we are changing to incorporate best science and technology to increase reliability, safety and environmental stewardship. That’s a shift. Interior and this administration is not an adversary to business. We have to be partners.”

Subtle shift: But Zinke said Interior is transitioning its focus from relaxing regulations to allow more energy production on public lands and water, to restoring aging infrastructure at national parks, reorganizing the structure of his agency, and promoting environmental protection.

“We spent the last year on hurricanes and energy; our next efforts will be on reorganization and being better stewards,” Zinke said.

Big plans: Zinke touted his administration’s plan to create a special fund to pay for billions of dollars of repairs and maintenance in national parks with money the government collects from the development of oil, natural gas, wind, and solar energy on public lands.

He also referred to his proposal to restructure the Interior Department, the first such effort in 150 years, to make it more responsive to people and “emerging technologies.”

INTERIOR’S INSPECTOR GENERAL OPENS ‘REVIEW’ INTO ZINKE REAL ESTATE DEAL: The Interior Department’s inspector general is beginning to assess complaints that Zinke may have violated ethics rules in a major real estate deal, but no formal investigation is underway, according the inspector general’s office.

No probe, yet: “No investigation is currently open,” Nancy DiPaolo, spokeswoman for the Office of the Inspector General, said in an email to the Washington Examiner.

She said the office is conducting a preliminary review arising from reports of Zinke’s involvement in the deal.

One day ahead of Dems: The review was initiated one day ahead of a letter sent by Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee asking the inspector general to open an investigation into Zinke’s “apparent use of official resources for personal financial gain.”

Politico reported last week that a foundation created by Zinke and managed by his wife, Lola, is involved in a real estate project that includes Halliburton Chairman David Lesar.

PRUITT VISITS CALIFORNIA TO DISCUSS FUEL-EFFICIENCY DISPUTE: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said Friday that he is in California to meet with state environmental officials, where he will discuss his plans to set new fuel-efficiency standards.

Pruitt tweeted that he is meeting with Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, as the EPA and California negotiate to avoid a court battle over the fuel standards. He is also visiting California’s regional EPA office.

Sunny outlook: “Good morning, San Francisco! Look forward to the conversations with folks @EPAregion9 and @MaryNicholsCA,” Pruitt said. “These discussions are critical to our goals of cooperative federalism and achieving positive environmental outcomes for Californians and all Americans.”

The EPA said Pruitt and the California Air Resources Board will discuss “cooperative federalism, car and truck greenhouse gas standards, and NAAQS.”

Tough meetings: Meetings between the EPA and California have been contentious. The EPA is seeking to weaken tough standards imposed by the Obama administration for cars and light-duty trucks for model years 2022 to 2025. California, which has a waiver to set its own fuel-efficiency standards that other states may follow, could move to formally separate its rules from the national program if EPA weakens the standards.

FIGHT COMING BETWEEN HOUSE AND SENATE OVER FARM BILL: The environmental group Earthjustice is predicting a fight between the House and Senate over the Farm Bill once it goes to conference committee, and not just because one version includes work requirements for food stamps, while the other does not.

The Senate: The Senate bill passed Thursday is free of controversial policy riders, such as the work requirements, but the House has many of the so-called “poison pills,” said Martin Hayden, Earthjustice’s vice president of policy.

‘Dangerous riders’: “The Senate decided to take the high road and produced a bipartisan Farm Bill without the dangerous riders from the House bill,” Hayden said.

That will make for a difficult situation once the two chambers come together to work out the differences before sending the bill to the president.

Conference: Environmentalists point out that the House bill reduces environmental oversight while eroding provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act.

“While the Senate Farm Bill is not perfect, it doesn’t turn its back on environmental and health protections, conservation, and feeding those families most in need, in sharp contrast to the House bill,” Hayden said.

Senate improvements: Other groups point out that although the Senate bill doesn’t include the riders that the House did, there is still room for improvement.

“Although the Senate maintains overall funding for conservation programs in the bill, it does not significantly increase funding for sustainability, and it cuts some crucial funds to expand other programs,” said the large coalition Environment America.

Energy title in good shape: Energy groups focused on biofuels and other ag-based energy applauded the Senate’s energy section.

Biotech applause: The Biotechnology Innovation Organization said the bill provided “key reforms to the energy title that will allow companies to commercialize renewable chemicals, biobased products, and other industrial biotechnology applications.”

RURAL ELECTRIC COMPANIES DON’T LIKE SENATE FARM BILL: A large segment of the utility industry quickly expressed its displeasure with the Senate Farm Bill’s energy provisions.

Jim Matheson, CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, said the five-year bill proposes “unreasonable changes” to how utilities do business in rural America.  

‘Unreasonable’: The Senate bill’s “unreasonable changes” are to the Rural Utility Service’s electric loan program, which Matheson said “is unacceptable to electric cooperatives.”

He is urging lawmakers to fix the problem in conference.

42 million Americans: “We strongly urge lawmakers to implement significant changes in conference as they work to develop a Farm Bill that can be supported by our members and the 42 million Americans they represent,” Matheson said.

What’s the problem? “Over time, co-ops fund escrow accounts to secure their ability to repay government loans,” he said. The bill would retroactively reduce interest rates on the funds, which would hurt the ability of the utilities to pay back federal loans.

Matheson likes the House’s approach to utility escrow accounts, and wants the Senate to adopt that version instead.

ROBERT POWELSON TO RESIGN FROM FERC: Robert Powelson, a Republican member of the Federal Regulatory Commission, announced Thursday he is resigning effective in mid-August.

Powelson, a nominee of Trump who has been in office for less than a year, took to Twitter to say he is leaving FERC with “mixed emotions” to become president and CEO of the National Association of Water Companies.

Powelson was nominated to FERC in May 2017 and confirmed in August. FERC members serve three-year terms.

Markets first: His departure comes at a crucial time for FERC, which is grappling with how to value different energy sources as the power grid transitions away from coal and nuclear to lower cost natural gas and renewables.

A fierce defender of competitive markets, Powelson has been especially outspoken against Trump’s interest in subsidizing money-losing coal and nuclear plants.

‘No subplot’: Powelson told Politico that policy disagreements with the Trump administration had nothing to do with his decision to leave FERC. There is no “subplot to this,” he said.

PERRY WARNS NORTHEAST STATES OPPOSING PIPELINES WILL FACE ‘RECKONING’: Perry on Thursday warned the leaders of Northeast states who are trying to block natural gas pipelines that they will face a “real reckoning” of higher energy costs and vulnerabilities in their power grid.

“The citizens of New York are paying more for energy,” Perry said during a panel session at the World Gas Conference in Washington. “Their health and well-being is being put in jeopardy. If a polar vortex comes into the northeast part of the country, or a cyberattack, and people literally have to start making decisions on how to keep their family warm or keep the lights on, at that time, the leadership of that state will have a real reckoning. I wouldn’t want to be the governor of that state facing that situation.

Blocking the gas: The Northeast, especially New England, is heavily dependent on cheap natural gas, which accounts for about half of its power generation, for electricity and home heating, as many of New England’s aging and money-losing coal and nuclear plants have retired.

But New England struggles to import enough natural gas from areas that produce it, such as the Marcellus shale formation in the Appalachian states, most acutely during the winter because of a lack of sufficient pipelines.

The implications: ISO New England warned in a February report that, without new infrastructure, “keeping the lights on in New England will become an even more tenuous proposition.”

PERRY ‘QUITE COMFORTABLE’ WORLD’S OIL PRICES CAN PUMP ENOUGH TO STOP HIGH PRICES: Perry said Thursday that he is “quite comfortable” that Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major producers will be able to boost crude oil production enough to offset rising prices caused by supply disruptions.

OPEC and Russia agreed to boost oil production a week ago to head off rising oil prices, as some key producers, such as Venezuela, Iran, and Libya, face output constraints.

Settle down: “We look at this as an opportunity for OPEC members to fill this gap,” Perry said during a press conference at the World Gas Conference. “The market is going to be stressed. I am comfortable that Saudi Arabia is going to be able to increase their production. I am quite comfortable they are going to be able to meet 11 million barrels per day, that Russia will be able to increase their production. So the worldwide crude market does have some stability.”

“We are in the summer driving period, and we have some pressures on the supply side, but I think you will see a settling down in the market,” Perry added.

Market reality: But energy analysts have expressed doubt that the countries can pump enough crude to compensate for lost supply. Those concerns were amplified this week when a State Department official told reporters Tuesday that the U.S. has no plans to give waivers on sanctions to Iran’s oil customers and expects countries to stop imports by Nov. 4. The U.S. benchmark crude oil price has topped $70 per barrel this week for the first time since May, after news spread of the administration’s zero tolerance approach.

OIL INDUSTRY ADDS 43 MEMBERS TO CAMPAIGN TO CUT METHANE: The oil industry announced Thursday that its voluntary environmental initiative started in December has more than doubled in size.

New additions: The industry’s Environmental Partnership said Thursday that it grew by more than 50 percent, adding 43 companies from the oil and natural gas sector.

The list of companies can be seen here.  

Environmental progress: “The initiative highlights how America’s oil and natural gas companies are working together to deliver environmental progress while providing affordable and reliable energy in the cleanest and most efficient ways,” said Matthew Todd, program director of the partnership.

Climate side: The initiative’s focus is on cutting methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas emission, and other pollution from drilling operations and fracking.

Last day of big gas summit: Vaness Ryan from Chevron, who heads the group’s steering committee, addresses the World Gas Conference on Friday on the role of voluntary action in cutting methane.  

EPA COMMITTED TO HELPING COMPANIES REDUCE METHANE EMISSIONS, TOP OFFICIAL SAYS: Bill Wehrum, who leads the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, said Friday morning that the agency is committed to helping companies reduce methane emissions from natural gas, through voluntary measures.

‘Mutual interest’: “Decreasing methane emissions is a mutual interest of industry and EPA,” Wehrum said during a panel event at the World Gas Conference.

Reducing emissions “minimizes waste of an important and valuable resource, and reduces pollution.”

Wehrum noted the economic incentives for oil and gas companies to reduce methane emissions because “every increment being emitted can’t be captured and sold,” so reductions in pollution go “straight to a company’s bottom-line.”

Voluntary programs: He cited various voluntary EPA programs, where the agency partners with companies on technologies and best practices to reduce emissions.

“These programs are some of the best of what government can do,” Wehrum said. “This is a perfect opportunity to bring together real mutual interests and achieve real beneficial goals.”

REFINER THAT RECEIVED WAIVER FROM PRUITT COUNTERS ETHANOL LAWSUIT: Refiner HollyFrontier pushed back in court Thursday against a lawsuit brought by a coalition of farmers and the ethanol industry opposing the EPA waiver program.   

Protecting ‘rights’: “HollyFrontier intervened in this case to protect our rights under the Clean Air Act to receive exemptions where there is proof of disproportionate economic harm,” said Denise Clark McWatters, senior vice president and general counsel for HollyFrontier.

EPA’s decision: The ethanol coalition’s lawsuit pushes back against EPA’s decision to grant the company a waiver to alleviate the cost of meeting the ethanol program’s requirements.

No economic harm: The ethanol groups argue that refiners CVR and HollyFrontier failed to meet the law’s standard for “disproportionate economic hardship” needed to receive a waiver under the Renewable Fuel Standard program.

The court is clear: The refinery company’s court brief points out that the 10th Circuit Court, one of two courts where the ethanol industry is suing EPA, clarified the waiver program last year in a decision that gave greater latitude to EPA.

“The 10th Circuit Court clarified this standard just last year,” Clark said in a statement. “We are confident the 10th Circuit will see this latest petition for what it is: a baseless political ploy to distract from the real economic harm biofuels mandates cause consumers and small refiners alike.”

PRUITT ‘STONEWALLING’ REPUBLICAN SENATORS ON ETHANOL WAIVERS: Sen. Joni Ernst said Pruitt is “stonewalling” her and others on answering their questions about his approval of dozens of waivers for oil refiners not to blend ethanol.

No ‘clear answers’: “We haven’t gotten clear answers on what actually are the qualifications to be considered a ‘hardship’ for those refineries,” Ernst said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. “What defines that? There needs to be very clear guidance, otherwise, in my mind, he’s just granting waivers to friends or whoever comes through the door.”

Spell it out: Ernst wants Pruitt to “spell out” the legal guidance that he is using in granting the waivers.

‘Carte blanche’ Pruitt: “It should not just be carte blanche, up to the EPA administrator to decide who gets a waiver and who doesn’t.”

‘Just handing them out’: She wants to see the guidance. “It has to be somewhere, otherwise they are just handing them out, just to hand them out,” Ernst added.

BARRASSO TOUTS TRUMP TAX CUTS FOR LOW ENERGY RATES: Wyoming’s utility customers got a boost from Trump’s tax cuts on Thursday, which Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the Senate’s Republican environment chief, pointed out adds to the benefits customers there have already received.

Committee chairman chimes in: Barrasso, chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said Thursday that Rocky Mountain Power announced it will lower electricity rates for customers by 3.3 percent in direct response to the tax relief law passed in December.  

Electricity cuts adds to the benefits: “Thousands of people and businesses across Wyoming have already been helped by the new tax cut law in the form of lower taxes, bonuses, pay raises and benefits,” Barrasso said. “Today’s announcement from Rocky Mountain Power adds additional momentum to our economy and more money in the pockets of Wyoming taxpayers.”

COAL GROUP GETS A FACELIFT: The pro-coal American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity named Michelle Bloodworth as its new president and CEO on Friday.  

Former president Paul Bailey will remain as “president emeritus” to work on policy, Bloodworth told John. Policy issues for the coal group are focused on efforts at the Energy Department and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to save coal and nuclear power plants.

ONE FUN FRIDAY THING … HOUSE COMMITTEE STRESSES BIPARTISANSHIP: Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee want you to know they care to work with Democrats, too. The official Twitter account of the committee Thursday posted a photograph with the caption “squad goals” featuring the entire membership of the panel seated in a hearing room, smiling.

See it here.

RUNDOWN

Reuters Spooked by Trump, Europe’s Iranian oil purchases set to plummet

Financial Times BP buys UK’s largest electric vehicle charging network

Bloomberg Scandals haven’t beaten Scott Pruitt. A spat over biofuels might

CBS News How wineries from Oregon to France are adapting to climate change

Wall Street Journal Energy topples tech as top sector for stocks