Shell abandons plan to cut output
Shell has effectively abandoned a plan to cut oil production by 1-2% per year until the end of the decade.
Europe’s largest energy company argued Wednesday that it had already met the target it had set for itself in 2021 through asset sales. It said it has seen its production drop from 1.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2019 to 1.5 million in 2022.
New Chief Executive Wael Sawan insisted the company was still committed to decarbonizing its operations, reiterating the goal that Shell will become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050. Shell and other oil giants have faced increasing pressure to do more to fight emissions from climate activists.
Senator wants investigation of Energy Secretary
The top Republican on the Senate Energy panel is calling for an investigation of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, after she told the committee she mistakenly provided false information about her family’s stock holdings in testimony earlier this year.
Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso on Wednesday asked the Energy Department’s inspector general to look into what Barrasso called “multiple instances of questionable ethical conduct since the start of her tenure” in 2021.
Barrasso’s request came after Granholm sent a letter to the committee revealing she owned financial stocks as recently as May, contradicting testimony she gave to the panel in April.
Granholm also said her husband, Daniel Mulhern, owned previously undisclosed stock in Ford Motor Co., a key player in the Biden administration’s efforts to improve fuel efficiency for cars and trucks and boost sales of electric vehicles.
Granholm said at an April 20 budget hearing that she did not own any individual stocks, saying she was only invested in mutual funds. That comment was a mistake, Granholm said. “I should have said that I did not own any conflicting stocks,” she wrote in a June 9 letter to Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, chairman of the energy panel.
FAA eyes new rules for commercial jets
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a final rule Wednesday that will require commercial planes built after mid-2025 to have secondary barriers for extra security when the main cockpit door is open.
Pilot groups have been lobbying for the change. Officials call the rule an important step to give pilots more protection.
In 2018, Congress ordered the FAA to require secondary barriers, but the agency didn’t issue a proposal until 2022.