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TRUMP ACCUSES GERMANY OF BEING ‘CAPTIVE’ TO RUSSIAN OIL AND GAS: President Trump accused Germany Wednesday of being “captive” to Russia because of a plan to expand a “massive” oil and gas pipeline to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany.

‘Very sad’: “It’s very sad when Germany makes a massive oil and gas deal with Russia where we’re supposed to be guarding against Russia and Germany goes out and pays billions and billions of dollars a year to Russia,” Trump said before meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday morning.

Trump added: “If you look at it, Germany is a captive of Russia, because they supply — they got rid of their coal plants, got rid of their nuclear, they’re getting so much of the oil and gas from Russia. I think it’s something NATO has to look at.”

“We’re protecting Germany, we’re protecting France, we’re protecting all of these countries. And then numerous of the countries go out and make a pipeline deal with Russia where they’re paying billions of dollars into the coffers of Russia … I think that’s very inappropriate.”

What he means: Trump is referring to Russia’s plan to expand the controversial Nord Stream gas pipeline to Europe, and Germany’s strict renewable energy goals that have prompted the country to close coal and nuclear plants.

The U.S. opposes the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project that would transport natural gas from Russia to Germany, arguing it would threaten stability in the region.

Russia is a top supplier of natural gas to Europe, which the Trump administration is seeking to change by encouraging the export of U.S. natural gas to the continent now that America the top producer of the fuel.

Need for gas: German Chancellor Angela Merkel backs the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to import more gas, despite criticism from other EU governments.

Oil and gas imports from Russia make up about 20 percent of Germany’s energy use.

‘Can cope with it’: German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen responded to Trump’s Nord Stream 2 criticism in a BBC interview at the NATO summit in Brussels:

“We can cope with it. We’ve heard him before and seen the tweets. We have an independent energy supply, we are an independent country, we are just diversifying.”

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MINING INDUSTRY WANTS MINERALS POLICY PASSED IN DEFENSE BILL: The National Mining Association is prodding lawmakers to recognize mining as a national security priority as they hash out a new defense spending bill.

House and Senate members will meet later on Wednesday to begin the process of mending both chambers’ versions of the National Defense Authorization Act into a bill they can send to the president to sign.

House version: The industry wants to make sure a provision in the House version makes it into the final bill.

Minerals security: “Congress has an opportunity to address this vulnerability in the upcoming National Defense Authorization Act by maintaining the robust minerals security provision that was included in the House bill,” said Hal Quinn, president of the mining group.

U.S. too ‘import-reliant’: The group argues that the U.S. is too “import-reliant” when it comes to minerals and metals that military technology has become increasingly reliant on.

Mineral supply chain equals fighter jets: “Our defense industrial base supply chain begins with minerals,” said Quinn. “Without minerals like beryllium, copper and nickel, our troops wouldn’t have fighter jets, body armor and advanced imaging technologies.”

Mining permits: He explained that the government’s “onerous mine permitting process” has made the U.S. “increasingly import-reliant, forcing us to look abroad for the minerals we already have here at home.”

What the bill does: The House defense bill’s mining provision would help minimize permitting delays, introduce formal review timelines and schedules for completing the permitting process, and track progress against those goals while maintaining environmental safeguards, according to an industry summary.

Polling voters: The mining group released the results of a new poll that showed 62 percent of voters support action by the federal government “to encourage the use of domestically-mined minerals and decrease reliance on foreign-imported minerals,” according to the trade group.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S $200B IN NEW TARIFFS ON CHINA INCLUDES PETROLEUM: The White House announced Tuesday the specific list of $200 billion in products from China that it plans to hit with 10 percent tariffs, on top of the previous 25 percent tariffs placed on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports.

The list of new items still has to go through administrative procedures, including a public comment period next month, and won’t be finalized until late August at the earliest.

The list of products covered includes meat and agricultural products such as fish and other seafood, fruits, nuts, and tobacco, as well as leather and textiles, petroleum oil, various metals, industrial tools and mechanical components.

MIKE POMPEO SAYS US COULD GIVE WAIVERS TO IRAN OIL SANCTIONS: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that the U.S. will “consider” granting waivers to countries seeking to avoid being sanctioned for buying oil from Iran.

“There will be a handful of countries that come to the United States and ask for relief …. We’ll consider it,” Pompeo told Sky News Arabia during a Tuesday visit to Abu Dhabi.

Pompeo added that countries not granted waivers would pay a price.

“Come Nov. 4, there will be a U.S. sanction that prevents crude oil from passing from Iran to other countries,” he said. “It will be sanctionable activity. We will enforce those sanctions.”

Wiggle room: The statements show the Trump administration is offering wiggle room to what it had previously described as a hard-line policy.

In June, the Trump administration said it would take a zero-tolerance approach to enforcing sanctions on Iran after it abandoned the nuclear agreement with Tehran in May.

The U.S. expects all countries to cut oil imports from Iran to “zero” by November or risk sanctions cutting their access to U.S. markets and financial institutions, a senior State Department official told reporters at the time.

US OIL PRODUCTION TO SURPASS 12 MILLION BARRELS PER DAY, EIA SAYS: U.S. oil production will surpass 12 million barrels per day late next year for the first time ever, the Energy Information Administration said Tuesday.

If that were to happen, the U.S. would be the world’s largest crude producer, ahead of Russia.

The EIA expects U.S. oil production this year to be 10.8 million barrels per day, unchanged from last month’s forecast.

BUT CRUDE OIL SUPPLIES ARE FALLING: U.S. crude oil supplies fell by 6.8 million barrels for the week ended July 6, according to the American Petroleum Institute, the largest oil and gas trade group.

Supplies of gasoline, meanwhile, dropped 1.6 million barrels during the same time.

The drop in domestic supply could be because the U.S. is exporting faster in response to retaliatory tariffs from China.

NATURAL GAS POWER PLANTS COULD BREAK RECORD THIS SUMMER: Despite the Trump administration’s desire to stand up ailing coal and nuclear plants, natural gas continues to dominate the U.S. electricity market this summer with the other two energy resources taking a back seat.

The Energy Information Administration’s new short-term outlook for July expects natural gas power plants to provide 37 percent of the nation’s electricity demand this summer when demand for air-conditioning is its highest.  

Gas goes high: The 37-percent mark will “near the record-high” for natural gas-fired power plants market share in summer 2016.

Coal continues downward spiral: At the same time, the federal energy agency “forecasts the share of generation from coal-fired power plants will drop slightly to 30% in summer 2018, continuing a multi-year trend of lower coal-fired electricity generation.”

Trump’s order: Just over one month ago, Trump ordered Energy Secretary Rick Perry to devise a plan to save coal and nuclear plants slated to close over the next four or five years.

The plan will most likely make use of rarely used emergency powers to order grid operators to adopt some form of market-based incentive to keep the plants humming.

Trump favors coal over gas: Trump made comments in West Virginia last week that suggest he favors coal over natural gas for national security reasons, despite the fact that natural gas is supplying almost 40 percent of the nation’s electricity.

Low prices is the reason: “The share of electricity generation supplied by natural gas-fired power plants has increased over the past decade, while the share supplied by coal has fallen, primarily as a result of sustained low natural gas prices, increases in natural gas-fired capacity, and retirements of coal-fired generating capacity,” according to the agency.

EPA FLACK FOLLOWS THE BOSS’S LEAD BY RESIGNING: Jahan Wilcox, the Environmental Protection Agency spokesman who once called a reporter “a piece of trash,” has officially resigned from his post less than a week after his boss Scott Pruitt chose to do the same.

Wilcox is leaving Washington to work on Republican political campaigns, he said in a statement.

Focus is on midterms: “It’s been a privilege to advance President Trump’s agenda of environmental stewardship and regulatory reform,” Wilcox said in a statement on Tuesday. “Now it’s time to focus on helping Republicans in November.”

More on the way out: Hayley Ford, EPA’s White House liaison, and Lincoln Ferguson, with EPA’s communications office, are also slated to depart the agency this week. The EPA confirmed the additional departures to John.

Thanked for their service: “I thank all those who are moving on to new endeavors for their service to EPA,” EPA Chief of Staff Ryan Jackson said in a statement on Wednesday.

DEMOCRATIC AMENDMENT WOULD ENSURE PRUITT PROBES CONTINUE: Democratic Reps. Gerry Connolly and Don Beyer of Virginia introduced an amendment Wednesday to an Interior-Environment appropriations bill that would ensure the EPA’s Inspector General can continue its investigations into Pruitt.

Block funding: The amendment would block funding for EPA rulemakings initiated by Pruitt until the inspector general’s investigations finish.

IG probes: There are currently at least six inspector general investigations into Pruitt, including his first-class travel, spending on office supplies, his expensive security detail, and his use of multiple email accounts.

A NEW DAY AT EPA AS ANDREW WHEELER ADDRESSES EPA EMPLOYEES: EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler will address all agency employees Wednesday afternoon.

Open to press: The EPA is allowing press to attend the address, and is broadcasting a live stream.

“I’m looking forward to addressing EPA employees today about how we work together to improve the Agency’s core functions,” Wheeler said in a Twitter post. “As a former EPA career staffer, I deeply appreciate the work they do for the Agency & the American people.”

Open doors: The open meeting is another sign the EPA under Wheeler is trying to be more transparent with the public after Pruitt was accused of being overly secretive, signaling a shift in tone, even if the policy stays similar.

ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS ASK WHEELER TO ENFORCE GLIDER RULE: Three environmental groups wrote to Wheeler Tuesday asking him to keep enforcing an Obama-era restriction on the manufacturing of trucks that use old engines built before modern emissions standards.

The EPA in its own modeling has projected that so-called glider trucks emit 20 to 40 times as much of the pollutants nitrogen oxide and soot as trucks with new engines.

‘Cloak of darkness’: The EPA before Pruitt resigned last week said it would stop enforcing, through the end of 2019, an annual cap of 300 gliders per manufacturer that had been imposed in January.

“It is telling that this indefensible decision to stop enforcing this vital regulation took place under cloak of administrative darkness, during the final night of Mr. Pruitt’s tenure,” wrote the Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund, and Center for Biological Diversity. “This decision mocks basic norms of transparency and accountability, as well as the rule of law, and it severely and needlessly harms the public that EPA is entrusted to serve.”

OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL OPENS CASE ON ZINKE’S SOCKS:  The U.S. Office of Special Counsel has opened a case file on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke after receiving a complaint alleging he may have potentially violated the Hatch Act when he posted a photo of himself wearing a pair of “Make America Great Again” socks on social media.

The Hatch Act prevents Cabinet-level officials from taking part in political activity, including wearing any item of clothing that could been construed as a campaign endorsement.
“I can confirm that OSC received the complaint and has opened a case file,” Office of Special Counsel spokesman Zachary Kurz told the Washington Examiner. “However, I’m unable to comment on or confirm whether an investigation has been opened.”

Rock em sock em: The complaint, made by Campaign for Accountability in June, came after Zinke donned a pair of socks emblazoned with a Trump-like figure and Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan when he attended the Western Governors’ Association’s annual meeting in South Dakota, also in June.

Zinke then posted an image of the socks on Twitter, before deleting the tweet and writing an apology on the social media platform.

US EMBASSY IN HAITI CALLS FOR SECURITY REINFORCEMENTS AMID VIOLENT FUEL RIOTS: The U.S. Embassy in Haiti is calling for security reinforcements after riots broke out in response to a government plan to raise fuel prices by 50 percent.

Send the Marines: A U.S. Defense official told NBC News that the U.S. Embassy in Haiti is requesting additional Marines and State Dept. security personnel “to augment the existing forces at the Embassy” amid the riots in the capital of Port-au-Prince.

It’s all about government subsidies: Protests erupted on Friday just hours before the government price hike was set to raise fuel prices by 50 percent.

After three days of violence, burned store fronts, looting, and clashes between police and protesters, calm has fallen on Port-au-Prince, but only because the taxis and bus services are on strike.

IMF’s fault? The Haitian government’s decision to raise the price of transportation fuel was prompted by the Washington-based International Monetary Fund’s recommendations for the government to cut subsidies for fuel. The government decided not to implement the plan after the violence broke out.

IMF recommendations good, results bad: The IMF, which is overseeing a plan to improve the country’s social services and infrastructure, came to a preliminary agreement with the Haitian government earlier this year to transition away from subsidies.

“This will include measures to improve tax collection and efficiency, and to eliminate excessive subsidies, including on retail fuel,” according to the IMF.

Next on the IMF’s list — electricity reform: Other reforms will seek to stem the losses of Haiti’s public electricity company, which has amounted to a sizable portion of the public deficit, the international fund said in February.

Trump export agenda: U.S. fuel oil exports to Haiti doubled earlier this year, while the Commerce Department just updated its analysis in June on the potential for more U.S. energy exports to the island nation.

Trump’s focus is on power plants: The Trump administration’s main focus is on improving Haiti’s electricity infrastructure, saying there is at least a $5 million opportunity there if a U.S. company were to export services and equipment to upgrade Haiti’s power plant fleet.

Renewables: The administration also says there is a huge opportunity for renewable energy development as another export opportunity for U.S. firms.

RUNDOWN

Wall Street Journal Oil’s new technology spells end of boom for roughnecks

New York Times Tesla’s latest aim: build 500,000 cars a year in China

Denver Post Colorado oil and gas ballot initiative would bar extraction on more than 80 percent of non-federal land

Houston Chronicle West Texas company to build large Permian pipeline system

Wall Street Journal Rising gas prices raise concern for U.S. economy