Green energy companies in wind, solar, and storage have shown a sharp split in recent results. A few pure-play or hybrid firms have turned profitable or posted strong growth, while many continue to struggle with execution, pricing pressure, subsidies dependence, and Chinese competition. Utilities have delivered consistent, regulated profitability with rising margins as they invest […]
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Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) has agreed to acquire LyondellBasell’s former Houston Refinery site for $320.5 million and plans to restart 165,000 barrels per day (bpd) of light sweet crude processing capacity by the end of 2027. The deal, announced October 30, 2026, expands Valero’s Gulf Coast refining footprint adjacent to its existing Houston plant […]
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Crude is not scarce. Diesel out of the Atlantic basin is — and the refineries that could make it are not where the barrels are, or configured to run them. American margins are near records while Asian margins have collapsed, and that gap is doing more to set the price at your pump than the […]
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As of early November 2026, U.S. drilling activity shows modest weekly stability or small declines depending on the source, set against a solidly higher year-over-year base. Baker Hughes reported its closely watched weekly rotary rig count at 603 for recent weeks ending in late October (unchanged week-over-week and up roughly 53 from about 550 a […]
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Chevron is sharply increasing its exploration budget by roughly 50%, targeting more than $1.5 billion in 2026 compared with just under $1 billion in 2025. The move, driven by Vice President of Exploration Kevin McLachlan (recruited from TotalEnergies), marks a deliberate return to high-impact frontier basins after years of heavier focus on the U.S. Gulf […]
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Europe’s refinery rethink is real, smaller than the headlines, and exactly the argument California needs to hear. The state cut 21.5% of its refining capacity in seven years, 64% of the entire national decline, and now buys a fifth of its gasoline across a three-week ocean voyage with no pipeline to fall back on. By […]
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Downstream produced 49.7% of Chevron’s third-quarter earnings on 7.8% of its capital spending. The refineries ran at 98% of capacity to do it, and nobody will say what the maintenance bill is. By Energy News Beat | Oct. 30, 2026 | Chevron Q3 2026 earnings release, read Oct. 30, 2026; EIA monthly data through August […]
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ExxonMobil made $7.169 billion refining and $7.088 billion pumping oil in the third quarter, the first time in at least six years the refineries won, with its Gulf Coast crude units at 100%. What it costs to keep them there is the one number neither ExxonMobil nor Chevron will publish. By Energy News Beat | […]
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This was a hoot, and Charlie will be back on the 8th for a follow up post-election. Midterm Madness: Election Predictions and the State of American Politics In this wide-ranging political discussion, four seasoned political analysts—David Blackmon, Larry Schweikart, Charlie Garcia, and Stu Turley—break down the 2024 midterm elections just days before voters head to […]
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Prices are up 82% in a year. Washington has offered to lend out up to 315,000 barrels of emergency heating oil, and is pointing to a gas pipeline as the long-term fix. By Energy News Beat | Oct. 30, 2026 If you heat with oil in Maine, this week brought a number nobody wanted. The […]
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