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TRUMP AVOIDS SANCTIONING SAUDI GOVERNMENT AS GAS PRICES TAKE A BIG DIP: Although yesterday’s U.S. sanctions against 17 Saudi citizens tied to the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi may have ruffled a few feathers between the oil-rich kingdom and Washington, gasoline prices still fell by the most in a year.

What the sanctions mean: The Treasury went after individuals with ties to the Saudi government who are implicated in the death of U.S. resident and Saudi citizen Khashoggi last month in Istanbul, Turkey.

But the sanctions came short of targeting anyone in the upper echelons of the Saudi government, nor did the sanctions target the government in Riyadh directly. So, no harm, no foul for government-to-government relations.

The U.S. announcement was made as Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor announced he was seeking the death penalty for five out of 11 suspects charged in Khashoggi’s murder.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir, soon after meeting with an envoy from Washington on Thursday, used the prosecutor’s news to attack the criticism of Saudi Arabia in the press as “baseless and illogical.”

He claimed that Riyadh is holding all those involved in this crime accountable, and therefore no one should worry about the oil markets becoming destabilized, or Saudi Arabia backing off its efforts to diversify its economy away from oil.

What does that mean for gasoline prices? The Energy Department reported Thursday afternoon that the average gasoline price fell nearly seven cents from last week to $2.69 per gallon on November 12, 2018.

That’s a big dip compared to the previous month, which only saw fluctuations in fuel prices at around a penny per gallon. Diesel prices remain high relative to the price of gasoline, falling only 2 cents.

Trump tricks OPEC: Oil consultants say President Trump tricked Saudi Arabia to increase oil output, instead of curbing it to drive up the price, in the run up to imposing oil sanctions on Iran.

“They got sort of tricked here,” John Kilduff, founding partner of the energy hedge fund Again Capital, told CNBC on Thursday. “The Russians and the Saudis in particular ramped up production, ramped up exports ahead of what was supposed to be severe sanctions on Iran, and when the administration gave the eight waivers to Iran’s largest buyers, it undercut that whole equation.”

Trump said he gave out the waivers to avoid $100 per barrel oil.

Now the market is in a oversupply situation “because of the severe reaction by Russia and the Saudis to cover for Iran losses, which never materialized,” Kiduff said.

Playing the Trump card: Dan Eberhart, a Trump donor and CEO of oil services firm Canary, wrote Friday in an op-ed in Forbes that it sure looks like Trump was trying to play Riyadh.

“One has to wonder if Trump pulled a fast one on Saudi Arabia, promising to eliminate Iranian exports completely to get the kingdom to increase its output sharply, while knowing all along that the US would allow Iran to keep exporting over 1 million barrels a day to keep a lid on prices ahead of the November 6 midterm elections,” Eberhart wrote.

OPEC vs. US shale: The Saudis and Russia are now looking to cut production amid the oversupply situation next month when OPEC meets in Vienna, Eberhart points out. But even if the production cuts come, Riyadh and its partners still stand to lose a big chunk of market share to U.S. shale oil producers, with output expected to reach new record highs of 12 million barrels per day in 2019, he says.

Welcome to Daily on Energy, compiled by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writers John Siciliano (@JohnDSiciliano) and Josh Siegel (@SiegelScribe). Email [email protected] 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 LNG TERMINAL OPENS IN TEXAS A WEEK AFTER SIGNING 24-YEAR EXPORT DEAL WITH POLAND: The company Cheniere announced the grand opening of its massive Corpus Christi liquefied natural gas terminal in Texas, adding the third terminal to the U.S. fleet and to Trump’s energy dominance agenda.

“Today’s ceremony marks a historic step forward in Cheniere’s ability to provide clean, secure and affordable energy to the world, while creating new jobs here at home,” said Jack Fusco, Cheniere’s President and CEO.

Cheniere is the largest LNG exporter in the U.S., and until Thursday only had one terminal in the Gulf at Sabine Pass near the Louisiana-Texas border.

Energy dominance needs terminals: The company’s terminals are key to Trump’s energy dominance agenda, and part of the reason Energy Secretary Rick Perry presided over the company’s export deal with Poland last week.

When asked if Perry will be visiting Corpus Christi any time soon, Cheniere spokesman Eben Burnham-Snyder didn’t have much to tell John except, “We were just with him in Poland!”

But the administration wants more terminals opened, calling on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to expedite a dozen terminal applications, with Perry offering the commission assistance from the Energy Department.

FERC is busy these days: In the last 24 hours, FERC issued draft environmental impact statements for two facilities. The environmental reviews are a key step in approving a license for a project. On Friday, it issued the draft draft environmental review for the Jacksonville Project proposed by Eagle LNG Partners Jacksonville, LLC in Florida. On Thursday, it issued its draft review for the Gulf LNG project in Mississippi.

Perry also presided over the opening of the Cove Point LNG terminal earlier in the year in Maryland. Dominion’s Cove Point is the first LNG export terminal to be built on the East Coast. India and Japan are investors in the project, as well as being beneficiaries of its natural gas.

YOUNG ACTIVISTS STAGE CLIMATE PROTESTS IN OFFICE OF REP. FRANK PALLONE: About three dozen young activists staged a protest Friday morning in the Washington D.C. office of Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the likely incoming chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, demanding stronger action to combat climate change.

The Sunrise Movement rallied in Pallone’s office, and engaged in a brief conversation with the congressman, after conducting a similar sit-in Tuesday in the office of Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California, the expected next House speaker.

The group has a goal, and an important ally: The Sunrise Movement has allied itself with congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a star progressive who campaigned on a platform of eliminating the use of fossil fuels for electricity. Ocasio-Cortez joined the protesters on Tuesday, but was not present Friday, demanding Democrats pursue an aggressive “green new deal” agenda.

“We support Cortez’ plan because it is the only one that actually addresses the scope and scale of the climate crisis in line with what the science demands,” Varshini Prakash, a co-founder of the Sunrise Movement, told Josh outside Pallone’s office. “We need some sort of rapid massive wartime mobilization that is actually going to decarbonize our economy.”

Backed by the Sunrise Movement, Ocasio-Cortez is promoting a resolution that would give a select climate committee that Pelosi wants to revive new power to draft a climate bill by 2020, which would require 100 percent of electricity to come from renewable sources. The previous iteration of the climate committee, which Republicans disbanded upon taking power of the House in 2011, did not have the power to draft legislation.

Veteran committee heads push back: Pallone and other Democratic committee heads oppose the creation of a new climate committee, favoring to address the issue through normal channels.

Pallone, in a statement to Josh last week, said he wants to emphasize oversight of the Trump administration in the new Congress, aiming to hold it “accountable for dangerous policies that make climate change worse.”

He said Friday that he welcomed the young protesters, and would aim to work with them to mitigate climate change.

“I support bold, aggressive action on climate change and I’m proud of the young people pushing for the urgent change we desperately need,” Pallone said in a Twitter post. “Glad to have had the chance to speak with them this morning.”

More protests planned: Prakash of the Sunrise Movement said she was “disappointed” with Pallone’s response to the group’s demands. She said the group asked Pallone to pledge to stop receiving campaign donations from fossil fuel interests, but he was non-committal. Prakash said the Sunrise Movement planned more protests for this coming Tuesday, in Democratic congressional districts across the country.

“We will continue to push because we don’t think this is just a progressive issue,” she said. “All Democrats should be supporting it if they really claim to care about climate change.”

DEATH TOLL, MISSING PERSONS RISE IN CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE: More than 600 people are missing and 63 have died as a result of the most deadly wildfire to ever break out in California, local officials announced late Thursday.

Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea told reporters Thursday evening the number of people missing had more than doubled overnight, from 297 on Wednesday to 631.

The number of fatalities from the Camp Fire in Northern California’s Butte County also jumped from 56 to 63.

The fire has now stripped 140,000 acres and only 40 percent are contained.

Approximately 9,700 single-family homes have been destroyed and 2,100 additional structures have been compromised.

Honea did not cite a cause of the fire. However, Pacific Gas & Electric said in a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week that faulty equipment may have sparked the blaze.

TRUMP TO VISIT CALIFORNIA TO MEET WILDFIRE VICTIMS: Trump will visit California this weekend to meet with residents affected by wildfires.

The White House did not immediately announce the locations that Trump will visit during his second visit to the state as president, as firefighters continue to fight the blazes.

Trump issued a disaster declaration Monday, allowing for federal aid, saying on Twitter that he “[w]anted to respond quickly in order to alleviate some of the incredible suffering going on.”

Two days earlier, Trump tweeted during a trip to France that he may withhold unspecified federal funds due to alleged forest mismanagement, a comment that drew widespread criticism.

ZINKE ARGUES BETTER FOREST MANAGEMENT WILL HELP PREVENT THE NEXT BLAZE: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was back at it Thursday night, tweeting about how California can prevent the next wildfire disaster by better managing its forests.

“Time to actively manage lands and reduce fuel loads so that it never happens again,” Zinke tweeted after two days touring wildfire devastation with firefighters and law enforcement.

Trump had argued last weekend that the Golden State’s mismanagement of its forests is to blame for the devastation. But earlier this week — before Thursday night’s tweet — Zinke had lowered the temperature of the blame game by saying multiple factors — not just clearing underbrush and dead trees — are to blame for the wildfire, including hotter temperatures.

INTERIOR PREPARES MASSIVE ARCTIC OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE SALE: The Interior Department said Thursday it was beginning an environmental review for a oil and gas drilling lease sale next year in 65 million acres of federal Arctic waters.

Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it was preparing an environmental impact statement for a proposed lease sale in the Beaufort Sea, off Alaska’s northern coast.

“We especially need to hear from residents of the Beaufort Sea communities, letting us know how the proposed leasing area is currently being used and what specific areas need extra attention,” said James Kendall, director of BOEM’s Alaska Region. “To address these issues, we will use rigorous science together with traditional knowledge and other input we receive from this early step in the leasing process.”

Alaska oil and gas push: The move is the latest example of the Trump administration aiming to boost Alaskan oil output, despite uncertain industry interest because of high costs and opposition from environmentalists.

Last year, Republicans in Congress, as part of their tax reform legislation, opened a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and natural gas drilling, despite protests from Democrats and environmentalists who worry drilling there would harm the ecosystem of what they describe as one of the wildest places left on earth.

RUNDOWN

Reuters Silicon eyed as way to boost electric car battery potential

Wall Street Journal California to conduct wide-ranging review of PG&E, including possible breakup

New York Times Not far from Flint, contamination has left Detroit school taps dry

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