WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Monday, readers! As the Trump administration weighs new sanctions on Russia, Energy Secretary Chris Wright has indicated additional measures will be contingent on Europe ending its imports of Russian energy products.
Meanwhile, OPEC+ has said it will continue to pump more oil into the global markets next month, leaving domestic oil field workers worried about the impact oversupply may have on their jobs.
Plus, it’s going to be a busy week in Washington and abroad regarding permitting and energy deals. Keep reading to see which meetings, conferences and hearings we have our eye on over the next few days.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
NEW MOSCOW SANCTIONS HINGE ON EU ENDING RUSSIAN ENERGY IMPORTS: The European Union must end its imports of Russian oil and gas if the bloc wishes to see stronger sanctions from the Trump administration on Russia, Energy Secretary Chris Wright has said.
“If the Europeans drew a line and said: ‘We’re not going to buy more Russian gas, we’re not going to buy Russian oil.’ Would that have a positive influence on the U.S. leaning in more aggressively [on sanctions] as well? Absolutely,” Wright told the Financial Times in an interview published today.
The energy secretary went on to say that ending all European purchases of Russian oil and gas would be “economically” good for the region as they would then be turning to the U.S. to fill the gap. At the same time, Wright said, it would increase pressure on Moscow to end its war in Ukraine.
Growing pressure: The EU is facing mounting pressure from the Trump administration to end purchases of Russian energy products, including from President Donald Trump himself. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said over the weekend that Europe needs to “follow” the U.S. in placing pressure on Russia, by cutting off imports and imposing secondary sanctions. The EU is currently aiming to phase out Russian oil fully by 2028, but not all member states are on board.
Read more from Callie here.
OPEC+ BOOSTS OIL OUTPUT AGAIN FOR OCTOBER: OPEC+ has once again agreed to increase oil production this fall, despite concerns that markets are inching closer to a supply glut.
Eight members of the oil-producing bloc announced yesterday that they will be increasing crude production levels in October by 137,000 barrels per day, marking the start of a second unwinding of production cuts imposed in recent years. The entire production cut, around 1.65 million barrels per day, was set to remain in place through next year.
Market reaction: Since April, OPEC+ has increased production by around 2.5 million barrels per day, consistently placing downward pressure on global and domestic prices. Analysts have warned that OPEC+ is sending a signal that it is purposefully risking lower prices in order to support market share. As oil demand is expected to slow in the autumn months, there are fears that pumping more oil will cause a supply glut.
Unlike the previous production hikes, oil prices did not collapse on OPEC+’s announcement. In fact, crude futures rose by just less than 1%. As of around 1:30 p.m. ET, Brent Crude was up by $0.50 and selling at $66.00 per barrel. Similarly, West Texas Intermediate rose $0.42 and was priced at $62.31 per barrel.
Concerns from the Permian: These low prices, combined with increasing supply chain costs, have many oil field workers worried that the market conditions will force oil majors and smaller productions to take “devastating” cost saving measures.
Andy De La Rosa, a wireline engineer based in Midland, Texas, told Callie late last week that another output hike from OPEC+ would be “terrible for the American energy field.” De La Rosa, who has worked in the oil and gas industry for 15 years, pointed to recent layoffs seen at Chevron, BP, and ConocoPhillips, saying there will be more.
“If they really do increase production, it’s going to be just like 2015 again, where it was a price war. So it’s just kind of repeating history again,” he said. The global supply glut seen throughout 2014-2016 sent Brent crude as low as the high $20s.
De La Rosa criticized Trump for pushing to send prices lower than current levels saying cities in the Permian can’t afford to see more layoffs or rigs dropped.
“He’s trying to make it as cheap as possible to try to drive down inflation…and don’t get me wrong, that’s good for the bigger picture, for the average consumer,” he said. “But for people who live in the Permian Basin, or say the Eagle Ford [Basin] or the Bakken [Basin], this is our bread and butter.”
SOLAR GROWTH SURGES DESPITE TRUMP POLICIES: The U.S. solar industry installed nearly 18 gigawatts worth of new capacity during the first half of the year, even as the Trump administration has accelerated its crackdown on clean energy projects.
The details: The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie released their US Solar Market Insight Q3 2025 report this morning, revealing that the solar and battery storage industries have continued to dominate the electricity markets.
The report found that, within the first six months of 2025, solar and storage account for 82% of all new power added to the grid. Of the capacity added, around 77% was installed in Republican-leaning states, including Texas, Indiana, Arizona, Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky, and Arkansas.
A warning: While solar and storage has thrived this year, deployment forecasts have significantly reduced in light of Trump administration policies and One Big Beautiful Bill Act measures targeting the clean energy industries. In the report, the groups said these policies put the U.S. at risk of losing upwards of 55 gigawatts worth of solar deployment by 2030.
“Instead of unleashing this American economic engine, the Trump administration is deliberately stifling investment, which is raising energy costs for families and businesses, and jeopardizing the reliability of our electric grid,” SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said. “But no matter what policies this administration releases, the solar and storage industry will continue to grow, because the market is demanding what we’re delivering: reliable, affordable, American-made energy.”
FORMER FERC CHAIR UNDER TRUMP URGES PRESIDENT TO UTILIZE ALL ELECTRONS: Republicans in the energy sector are building pressure on the Trump administration to walk back its policies discriminating against wind and solar energy projects, with the former chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under Trump’s first presidency accusing Trump of making the same mistakes as his predecessor.
The details: Neil Chatterjee, who was appointed to FERC by Trump and served on the commission until 2021, called on the administration to use all energy sources to combat rising electricity prices in an op-ed published with Fox News this morning.
“President Donald Trump has been racing at breakneck speed to keep all his campaign promises. Yet he has only four months left to fulfill his vow to halve electricity prices by the end of his first year,” Chatterjee wrote. “Fighting against the fallout of the Biden administration’s harmful anti-fossil fuel agenda, the president faces stiff headwinds. The only way the president can meet his self-imposed deadline is to change course quickly, reject Biden’s mistakes and unlock the potential of every available electron.”
Chatterjee insisted that Trump will only be able to lower electricity prices, or even just slow price hikes, by massively increasing supply. Chatterjee said that, by actively stifling renewables, the administration is repeating the same mistakes as the Biden administration, which moved to slow fossil fuel growth. In the short term, Chatterjee recommended that the administration accelerate deployment of solar and energy storage technologies, coupled with natural gas peaker plants. These will fill the gap caused by long lead-times for nuclear energy.
“The point is, every energy source and efficiency measure must be deployed if we have any hope of keeping prices in check,” the former FERC chair said.
DOE CLIMATE REPORT AUTHOR PROMISES RESPONSE TO CRITICS: Steven Koonin, one of the authors of the Department of Energy report on greenhouse gases, responded to critics yesterday in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
“Though scientists supporting the so-called consensus on climate change have organized several serious critiques, these at most add detail and nuance to our findings, without negating the report’s central points,” he wrote, echoing Wright’s comments to Callie.
“They still merit response, which will form the next round in an overdue public debate on the effects of greenhouse-gas emissions,” Koonin added.
He noted that nearly 60,000 comments have been submitted on the report.
GEORGIA BATTERY PLANT IMMIGRATION RAID FALLOUT: The Trump administration’s immigration enforcement raid last week on a Georgia battery plant owned by Hyundai and another South Korean firm has raised fears that similar raids could slow the buildout of domestic manufacturing, the New York Times reports.
Andrew Yi, a partner at the consulting firm Roland Berger, told the publication that the crackdown “is creating a dilemma.”
On the one hand, part of the rationale for subsidies for domestic manufacturing was to encourage employment of native U.S. workers – and unions have complained that the plant’s owners were giving jobs to Koreans that should have gone to Americans. On the other hand, strict enforcement “would in the short term delay the completion of the factories that are going up,” Yi said.
NORWAY SPOILED BY OIL REVENUES? A major factor in today’s general election in Norway is the fear that the nation’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund filled by oil tax revenues is undermining the country’s competitiveness.
“I worry that it breeds complacency and makes us all lazier,” one Norwegian CEO told the Financial Times.
The right-of-center parties are saying that public spending facilitated by the sovereign wealth fund has encouraged waste and harmed competitiveness, leading Norway to lag in workforce participation and productivity growth.
“There’s always a danger that we may become complacent and believe that the pension fund will save us,” finance minister Jens Stoltenberg told the publication. “That’s not the case.”
A LOOK AHEAD:
Sept. 8 The 2025 New York Energy Innovation Summit is being held in Manhattan.
Sept. 8 – 11 RE+, the largest clean energy event in North America, is being held in Las Vegas, Nevada by the Smart Electric Power Alliance and the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Sept. 8 – 11 The 2025 Nuclear Energy Conference and Expo is set to take place in Atlanta, Georgia, put together by the American Nuclear Society and the Nuclear Energy Institute.
Sept. 9 The House Natural Resources subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is holding a hearing titled “Exploring the Economic Potential of the Golden Age of American Energy Dominance.”
Sept. 9 The House Natural Resources subcommittee on Federal Lands is holding an oversight hearing titled “The State of Our Nation’s Federal Forests.”
Sept. 9 The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on energy is holding a hearing titled, “Building the American Dream: Examining Affordability, Choice, and Security in Appliance and Buildings Policies.”
Sept. 9 R Street Institute is holding a virtual webinar on the future of permitting reform, featuring keynote remarks from Permitting Council executive director Emily Domenech.
Sept. 9 – 12 The 2025 Gastech exhibition and conference is set to be held in Milan, Italy, featuring remarks from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
Sept. 10 The House Natural Resources Committee is holding a hearing on sweeping permitting reforms, with a focus on the National Environmental Policy Act.
Sept. 10 The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works is holding a hearing to discuss a draft of the Wildfire Emissions Prevention Act and to amend the Clean Air Act.
Sept. 10 The House Agriculture subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture is holding a hearing titled “Promoting Forest Health and Resiliency Through Improved Active Management.”
Sept. 10 – 12 Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, is hosting a Future of Energy Forum.
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