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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.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Brian Greeley, chief banking officer at the Export-Import Bank, said at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce critical mineral summit that success in the critical mineral space is measured not by financing announcements but projects being built. 

“In my mind, it’s not just getting deals done and funded, it’s seeing those projects getting built, the mines getting dug in and getting shafts drilled … getting the refining plants up and operating, and starting to see that supply faucet turned on domestically and in allied nations where we’re operating,” Greeley said. 

“So it’s one thing to say, ‘hey, we’re going to do this, we have all these deals in our pipeline, and we’re going to get money out, even fund some transactions,’” he said. “We need to start seeing things built.” 

BURGUM SAYS THE U.S. HAS ESCORTED TANKERS THROUGH THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the U.S. Navy has been escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz, guiding more than 20 crude oil carriers on some nights. 

On CNBC this morning, Burgum said some of the vessels are ultra-large tankers that hold 2 million barrels of crude. 

“If you’re talking 20 ships out a night, you’re talking substantial amounts of oil that have come out of the strait,” Burgum said. 

President Donald Trump earlier this week claimed that the U.S. has taken 100 million barrels of oil out of Iran as part of a secret military mission he launched last month. 

Burgum noted that the president’s Project Freedom, a plan to escort ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, was discontinued in May. But it was restarted “without any fanfare publicity with Navy ships.” 

The Financial Times reported this week that more ships are using alternative and risky routes to exit the Strait of Hormuz. Oil tankers are beginning to exit the waterway through a route close to the coast of Oman, which is protected by the Navy and air cover. 

Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Chris Wright earlier today said that about 7 million barrels of oil and fuel shipments are moving through the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reports. That is about half of the flow of oil that has been stranded since the start of the war. 

“We have a military effort ⁠that we’ve not talked a lot about, which started ​more recently to get cargoes out,” Wright said at the Bloomberg Energy Security Executive Briefing in Houston. 

He added that no Iranian crude oil is getting out of the strait. Wright noted that if a deal is reached there will be the free flow of all products through the Persian Gulf. However, if a deal is not reached, Wright said, the U.S. military will work to restore the flow in the waterway. 

That’s a big change from earlier this week: The secretary’s remarks are a change of tone from earlier this week, when he told lawmakers during a hearing that he was not aware of the U.S. taking millions of barrels out of Iran. 

PLUS – WRIGHT PUSHES FOR U.S. TO REFINE MORE VENEZUELAN CRUDE: Earlier today, Wright also indicated that oil refineries in the U.S. can take on more Venezuelan crude, helping fill the void left in global markets from Iranian export disruptions. 

During an event at Port Houston in Texas today, Wright revealed that Venezuela is sending half of its total exports of 1.2 million barrels a day to the U.S., according to Reuters. This is roughly triple the amount of exports from December of last year, and the percentage being sent to the U.S. could very likely increase in the coming months. 

Wright teased increased exports to the U.S. earlier this week during the Global Energy Forum hosted by the Atlantic Council. He pointed out that most U.S. refineries in the Gulf region were built in the 1960s and 1970s, when the largest exporter was Venezuela. 

“So, we built our refineries in mind that this is what a major crude slate is going to look like as far as the eye can see,” he said. “So, that Venezuelan crude is perfectly suited for American refineries, which is why more and more of it’s going into them.”

OIL PRICES FALL FURTHER: The Trump administration’s insistence that ships are getting through the Strait of Hormuz, transiting millions of barrels of oil, has put more confidence in traders, as crude prices extended their losses today. 

Both international and domestic benchmarks were in the mid-to-low $80s around 3 p.m. EDT. Brent crude was down 3.83%, selling at $86.92 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate had fallen 3.74% to sell at $84.43 a barrel. 

The price drops are similar to what was seen yesterday, and are an indication that traders are still being cautious about the ceasefire deal teased between Washington and Tehran. Some analysts have said that, in order for markets to see significant, long-term drops in prices, there will need to be hard evidence of de-escalation in the Middle East. 

“Not hopes, not expectations, not promises, actual ships—20 a day would be a good number—passing through Hormuz,” Pavel Molchanov, an investment strategy analyst with Raymond James, told the Wall Street Journal. 

WIND GROUPS FIGHT PENTAGON FREEZE IN COURT: Renewable energy groups have asked a federal court to order the Pentagon to resume reviewing approvals for onshore wind projects, claiming the months-long freeze has cost them billions. 

Over the last several months, the Department of War has halted all military reviews of proposed wind farms located on land. These reviews, which have long been considered routine, are conducted to determine that turbines do not interfere with military operations, local radar, or even flight paths. 

The groups, which include Renewable Northwest and Advanced Power Alliance, claim this freeze has stalled 106 planned wind projects in 21 states. Overall, this has cost states $47 billion in investments, they claim. 

Last week, the groups filed a lawsuit against the Department of War over the delays, claiming it has caused a “total halt of all wind development in the United States,” according to the New York Times. Now, they are asking the court to order the Pentagon to move forward. The request was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. 

SHELL PLANS TO SELL ITS OFFSHORE WIND FARMS: Shell plans to launch a sale of its offshore wind farms that could earn more than $1 billion. 

Shell has tapped advisers from Rothschild & Co. and PJT Partners Inc. to lead the sale, Bloomberg reports. It added that the process could start at the end of the year, with a sale to take place in 2027. 

The British energy giant has shifted its focus away from renewable energy and toward its oil and gas business. 

ICYMI – TRUMP ROLLS BACK BUSH AND OBAMA FISHING RESTRICTIONS FOR PACIFIC MARINE MONUMENTS: Yesterday afternoon, Trump signed a proclamation opening three marine national monuments in the Pacific Ocean to commercial fishing, which has been restricted in some areas for 20 years. 

“We’re officially reopening nearly half a million square miles, wow, of water around [the] northwestern Hawaii Island, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa,” Trump said during an event in the Oval Office. 

He specifically is reopening parts of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument, the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument.

In the proclamation, Trump said that “appropriately managed commercial fishing” would not put historic and scientific objects within the region at risk. 

All three monuments were established under former President George W. Bush in 2006 and 2009. President Barack Obama later expanded the Papahānaumokuākea monument in 2016. These past proclamations imposed restrictions on commercial fishing within certain areas of the monuments. 

Some reaction: While the administration has defended the move as an economic opportunity for coastal communities, conservation groups have lambasted the reopening of the monuments. 

“Marine monuments are investments in healthy oceans by serving as places for fish and wildlife to breed, feed, and grow,” Oceana Fisheries Campaign Director Ben Enticknap said. “They are globally recognized as significant places for endangered sea turtles, reef sharks, dolphins, whales, and other incredible marine life found nowhere else on the planet. This proclamation gambles with some of our most irreplaceable ocean ecosystems for short-term gain.”

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