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US court rejects Trump administration's bid to keep Michigan coal plants open
On?Friday, a federal appeals court threw out a President Donald Trump administration order that had?forced a Michigan coal-fired plant to stay open past its planned retirement date. According to court documents, a unanimous?ruling?by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals 'for 'the District of Columbia Circuit determined that the Department of Energy had exceeded its authority in a rarely invoked emergency provision of federal legislation. Michigan challenged the DOE order after DOE instructed J.H. Campbell plant to stay online in 2025, shortly before the planned closure. The decision is a blow to the administration's efforts to maintain coal-fired power at a moment when the demand for electricity in the United States has increased due to the expansion of data centers. The coal-fired electricity is one of the biggest sources of carbon dioxide that contributes to climate change. "By forcing its continued operation, DOE attempted a tactic never before used to illegally support the aging J.H. Campbell coal plant, which nobody wanted to keep. Ratepayers are now stuck with the bill for an aging facility that should have retired over a year ago. "I'm relieved that the Court saw right through this façade and overturned DOE's order, which had no basis in reality," said Michigan Attorney?General Dana Nessel. The Trump administration has been using emergency powers under the Federal Power Act since 2025 to continue operating coal plants that were scheduled for retirement in Michigan, Indiana and Washington State, as well as those in Colorado, Washington State, Washington, and Michigan. DOE did not immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. This decision comes one month after DOE extended an emergency order to keep J.H. Campbell Generating Plant will remain open until November 14. Consumers Energy's plant was scheduled to close by 2025, because it "wasn't economically viable." According to the Michigan Attorney General's Office, the utility spent $295 million between May 2025 and June 2026 on its continued operation. Brian Wheeler, spokesperson for Consumers Energy, said that the company is reviewing this ruling. He said that "while that happens, we will continue to comply with the 90-day Department of Energy Order that keeps the Campbell Plant operating." Environmental groups have welcomed the ruling. Michael Lenoff of Earthjustice said that the 'DOE should stay within its lane and only use emergency powers in actual emergencies. "An emergency power should not be used to prevent the retirement of coal plants due to market forces in order for a coal-friendly agenda to gain traction."
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USDA cuts corn harvest forecast after hot summer weather
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Friday that U.S. farmers will harvest less corn this fall than they had previously anticipated, following hot weather during the summer. Prices recently reached a 'three-year high' due to uncertainty over the size of the crop. Farm diesel fuel is used to run harvesting equipment by farmers. Diesel prices are also at record highs, above $6 per gallon, as they prepare for the harvest of crops in Midwestern fields. Jim McCormick is the chief operating officer of AgMarket.net. He said that "the cost to get this crop out has gotten really expensive." In a report published monthly, the USDA said that farmers will harvest 15,8 billion bushels (or 178.5 bushels) of corn and 4,535 billion bushels (52.8 bushels) of soybeans. USDA estimated corn production in?August at 16.013 billion bushels with an average of 180.7 bushels/acre and soybean production was 4.519 billion with an average yield?of 52.7 bushels. Analysts said USDA could lower its crop estimates further in future reports. Corn futures prices briefly rose on the Chicago Board of Trade. Jim Gerlach of A/C Trading said, "It is not a bad harvest?but by a wide margin it's less than last year's." Farmers have enjoyed the highest prices for about three years, due to uncertainty over U.S. grain yields and disruptions in Russian and Ukrainian grain exports out of the Black Sea area. Prices for soybeans reached a three-year peak on Friday, thanks to optimism over Chinese?demand ahead of a'summit' between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. USDA increased its estimates of average U.S. corn prices by 60 cents per bushel and 30 cents per bushel. Farmers who face fuel and fertilizer prices that have skyrocketed since the U.S. began its war against Iran, causing trade disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, are not guaranteed to make a profit. Many farmers order fuel and supplies for spring planting. Randy Place, an analyst with?the Hightower Report, says that "this is not the time for a large rally" of these prices. It is unclear whether crop prices can remain high for a long time to offset the steep input costs, and reverse the downturn of the agricultural economy in the last four years. Both growers and economists agree that the current business climate is one of the worst since 1980s, when a wave foreclosures and bankruptcy crippled U.S. Farmers. STOCKS ENDING TIGHTEN A lower estimate of corn production could help support prices. According to a poll, analysts had expected a corn harvest of 15,785 billion bushels with a yield average of 178.2 bushels/acre and a soya bean crop of 4,501 billion bushels with a yield average of 52.5 bushels/acre. USDA estimates that U.S. ending corn stocks will reach 1.567 billion bushels by August 31, 2027, after crops are exported to feed livestock in the U.S. and make biofuels. Stocks of soybeans were estimated to be 310 million bushels. Analysts expect 2026-27 corn stocks to be 1.528 billion bushels and soybean stocks to be 298 million bushels. The USDA estimated?corn stock at 1.653 billion?bushels and soybean stocks at 318 million?bushels in August. USDA estimates that the 2026-27 wheat ending stocks will be 717 million bushels. This is unchanged from August, and slightly lower than analysts' expectations (719 million bushels). USDA has lowered its estimate of wheat exports to Ukraine and Russia by 1 million tons metric tons each, as compared with a month earlier.
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White House official: Russian official will attend G20 Energy meeting in Houston next Week, White House official claims
An official from the White House said that a Russian official would attend a G20 Energy meeting in Houston next Friday. The U.S. invited 'Russian Finance minister Anton Siluanov' to a G20 meeting in North Carolina last month. This was the first time that Russia had sent a finance minister to the forum since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Abundance is scheduled to take place between Monday and Wednesday. U.S. officials attending include Interior Secretary Doug Burgum; Energy Secretary Chris Wright; and Jarrod Agen, a White House official. The White House has not yet announced who will be attending the next-week's meeting in Russia. Attendees will include energy officials from Europe and Asia. Auditors said that the European Union's efforts to become independent of Russian oil and gas have faltered, as it enters winter with "unusually low" gas stocks. The wars in Ukraine and Iran, despite the meeting's name, have caused energy security to be a concern for many countries. The price of U.S. Diesel has reached a record of $6 per gallon, and the Strait of Hormuz is largely closed for oil and gas shipments. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said on Wednesday that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a 'great' conversation earlier in the week. He also stated that Putin wanted to make a pact with the U.S. in order to end the conflict in Ukraine. Intelligence officials in the U.S. and Europe, as well as in Ukraine, doubt that Putin is serious about ending "the war" despite recent visits by U.S. ambassadors to Moscow and Kyiv. It is likely that the U.S. House of Representatives, during the G20 summit, will vote 'on new Russian sanctions. But it is not clear if this bill will be passed by the chamber - as it was in the u.s. Senate. The Trump administration imposed sanctions on Russia for its war in Ukraine, first blocking transactions and freezing assets at its two largest oil companies, Rosneft, and Lukoil, in October 2025.
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US court rejects Trump administration's bid to keep Michigan coal plants open
On Friday, a federal appeals court overturned an order of the Trump administration that would have forced a Michigan coal plant to stay open past its scheduled retirement date. According to court documents, a unanimous decision?by a panel of three judges?of the U.S. Court of Appeals for?the District of Columbia Circuit?found that the Department of Energy had exceeded its authority in a rarely-used emergency provision of federal legislation. Michigan challenged the DOE order after DOE instructed that the plant remain online in 2025, shortly before its planned closure. The decision is a blow to the efforts of the administration to maintain coal-fired power in the face of?soaring U.S. electricity demand tied to the expansion data centers. The coal-fired power industry is one of the largest contributors to climate change, with carbon dioxide emissions. The Trump administration has been using emergency powers under the Federal Power Act since 2025 to keep a number of aging power plants that were slated for retirement running, including coal plants in Michigan and Indiana. DOE did not respond immediately to a comment request. The DOE made the decision a month after extending the emergency order for the J.H. Campbell Generating Plant will remain open until November 14. Consumers Energy's plant was scheduled to close by 2025, as it was no long economically viable. According to the Michigan Attorney General's Office, the utility spent $295 million between May 2025 and June?2026 on its continued operation. Consumers Energy will review the ruling, said spokesperson Brian Wheeler. He said that "while that happens, we will continue to comply with the 90-day Department of Energy Order that keeps the Campbell Plant operating." A spokesperson for Michigan’s Attorney General did not respond immediately to a comment request. Michael Lenoff said, "The DOE must stay within its boundaries?and only use its emergency powers?in real emergencies" in a recent statement. Michael Lenoff is an attorney for the environmental group Earthjustice. "Preventing market-driven retirements to advance a coal friendly agenda is not an appropriate use of emergency power."
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Sources say that the White House is evaluating how it can use the Defense Production Act (DPA) to expand US oil refinery capacity.
According to sources familiar with the plans of the administration, the White House is considering?how it can use the Defense Production Act in order to increase U.S. oil refinery capacity. The conflict with Iran has exposed the country's vulnerability due to global crude supply disruptions and price increases. This extraordinary move highlights the growing pressure on the Trump administration to demonstrate that it can control the impact of rising fuel prices for consumers and businesses in advance of the midterm elections scheduled for November. Sources said that the proposal to use the act was brought up at a recent White House meeting with nearly a dozen U.S. refining companies, when officials were trying to figure out how to best utilize federal funding to increase capacity. The sources said that no final decisions were taken, but participants left with the hope that the conversation would continue. Sources said that refining executives informed officials that federal funds would be better spent on making refineries more efficient or expanding existing plants than funding a brand new refinery. This would be more expensive and would take many years to complete. The Defense Production Act is a tool that has never been used before to increase refining capacities. It gives Trump the power to direct industrial resources, and to provide financial incentives to companies for expanding production of materials considered important to national security. The discussions are based on an April 'presidential decision' that authorized the use the Defense Production Act to expand U.S. oil production, refinement and logistics capability. The United States has one of the largest networks of oil refineries in the world, capable of processing millions of barrels a day. However, the average national diesel price is now above $6 per gallon, and gasoline prices are still high. "America's refining capacity is essential for ensuring that the United States continues to have a?continuous?access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy." Taylor Rogers said that expanding this capacity was a priority for President Obama and his energy team. They are currently evaluating concrete options, such as regulatory reform, quicker permitting and additional investment, to increase the refining capability. REACHING MAXIMUM CAPACITY IN REFINING According to the latest statistics, U.S. refiners have already reached 98% utilization. High utilization highlights the challenge that the administration faces: refiners produce at near-capacity, but tight global supply and high demand keep fuel prices high. The U.S. refinery capacity has decreased over the last decade, as less profitable plants have closed. This has led to a concentration of the nation's capacity for refining on the Gulf Coast. The White House has been pointing to the expansion of domestic refining capacities when asked about its plans to deal with fuel price spikes caused the conflict in Iran. This is a long-term strategy to protect against disruptions to global supply and also a part of its wider response to affordability issues ahead the elections. The administration also pushes to increase the access to foreign oil. Trump secured a 35% U.S. equity stake in North American Blue Energy Partners. This private Venezuelan oil firm received the rights to develop 17 oilfields with approximately 65 billion barrels of proved reserves. The agreement grants the U.S. Government the right to purchase Venezuelan oil, including 20% at cost. According to the White House, millions of barrels from Venezuela's new production will be refined in U.S. refineries. TEST CASE The proposed new refinery in Brownsville, Texas has been cited as a case study for Trump's calls to increase the refining capacity of the United States. The project's funding status was not clear. America First Refining plans to build a 168,000-barrel-per-day facility at the Port ?of Brownsville, which Trump announced in March as the first new ?U.S. Refineries have not been built in the United States for nearly 50 years. Reliance Industries in India has backed the project and agreed to a deal for 20 years to purchase the refinery's production. Project also has connections to Trump family and administration. Donald Trump Jr., Trump's son, is a passive investor in America First Refining. According to disclosures by ProPublica about the company and investors, Cantor Fitzgerald is acting as a financial advisor to America First Refining. Howard Lutnick, Cantor's founder, is Trump’s Commerce Secretary. America First Refining has not responded to any requests for comments.
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Wall St. bounces when oil cools and inflation risks keep Fed focused
Stocks in the U.S. rose on Friday, as oil prices fell. This helped to put stocks "on track" to finish a tough week on a positive note. Dell has jumped more than 11%, setting a new record. Hewlett Packard Enterprise jumped nearly 10%, and HP gained around 7% after Oracle's strong results. Gains in the stock market have helped to ease pressure on stocks at a period when fluctuating interest rate expectations, an intensifying Middle East conflict, and high Treasury yields had weighed heavily. After several days of defensive positions, today's movement looks like a regression to mean. "The market might have been temporarily oversold, and now we're seeing some of this unwind," said Andre Bakhos. Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in August after increasing 0.1% the previous month. Consumer inflation increased by 3.4% in the year to August, matching July's gains. Kim Forrest is the chief investment officer of?Bokeh capital Partners. He noted that Thursday's losses may have been exaggerated. The report came after Thursday's slightly higher-than-expected Producer Price Index. According to CME FedWatch, traders?see a 87% chance of an increase?at the Fed’s next meeting. This compares with nearly 70% just before the CPI. Said Haidar is the founder of Haidar Capital Management. He believes that the Federal Reserve should respond in the near future to the concerns of these countries or else risk a repetition of the high inflation experienced during the 1970s. This would be yet another failure for discretionary monetary policies. The time was 11:52 am. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 530.49, or 1.02% to 52,593.73 points; the S&P 500 gained 79.68, or 1.05% to 7,671.38 points; and the Nasdaq Composite rose 318.32, or 1.22% to 26,400.04. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was still on track for its biggest weekly drop since March. Both the S&P 500 (Standard & Poor's 500) and Nasdaq (Nasdaq 100) were set to end their two-week winning streaks. The CBOE Volatility Index (Wall Street's fear gauge) fell by 2.08 points to 15.76. Ten of the eleven major S&P 500 sectors indexes were in green. The communication services and technology sector indexes led the gains. Brent crude futures fell about 3% but were still over $104 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures dropped 3%, but were still close to the $100-a barrel mark. Oracle's stock rose by nearly 1% on Friday after it surpassed estimates for its quarterly results, which showed that the AI investments of Oracle were paying off. ACV Auctions shares soared by 44% following the agreement of online vehicle auctioneer Copart to buy it for nearly $1.9 billion. On the NYSE, advancing issues outnumbered decliners in a ratio of 2.07-to-1 and on the Nasdaq by a ratio of 1.8-to-1. The Nasdaq Composite posted 38 new highs, while the S&P 500 recorded seven new 52-week lows.
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Venezuela's PDVSA restarts cracker catalytic at Cardon refinery sources say
Venezuela's state-run energy company PDVSA ?has restarted the fluid catalytic cracker of ?its 310,000-barrel-per-day Cardon refinery, ?three sources said ?on Friday, ?complementing output of the neighboring Amuay refinery, whose catalytic cracker is also in service. Power outages affected refineries that are part of Paraguana Refining Center earlier this year. Since then, PDVSA has tried to restart the operational units, especially those critical for producing gasoline and Diesel. Sources said that as of 'this week', Cardon has three crude distillation unit, a naphtha Reformer, and a 'catalytic Cracker, while Amuay has two crude distillation units?and the catalytic cracked, which are operational with a combined processing capacity of 287,000 bpd, or 30% of the installed capacity. The cracker at the country's small refinery, El Palito (146,000 bpd), remained un-serviced after repeated attempts to restart the machine following the twin earthquakes which affected the facility. A separate source stated that workers were preparing for a major maintenance program which would begin in the coming weeks. PDVSA didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. To meet the domestic demand, refineries must produce 250,000 bpd gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, and liquefied petroleum gas. This is in addition to the fuel oil that they export.
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Chevron CEO: Depleted crude oil reserves could lead to higher price
Chevron CEO, Mike 'Wirth' said on Friday that the oil buffers which limited crude prices increases during the Iran War have been exhausted and that the conflict may cause the price to rise further in the coming months. Since the beginning of the war in late February, some countries have released crude stocks to the market. The U.S. has also lifted restrictions on oil that is stored on floating ships from countries subject to?sanctions. Wirth, speaking at the University of Texas?at Austin's energy conference, said that those buffers had now "played themselves out". He said that it was difficult to imagine a scenario in which prices would soften so quickly. "I believe the risks are still to the upside in the coming months." Diesel prices in the United States have averaged $6 per gallon for the first time ever. The average price of diesel in the United States hit $6 a gallon on Thursday for the first time. This was due to the Iran War and Ukrainian attacks against Russian refineries squeezing supply. Brent crude futures are on course for an 8% weekly gain. CHEVRON WONT SEE MANY IMPACTS IN KAZAKHSTAN Wirth stated that President Donald Trump's administration had spoken to Ukraine about the attacks on the?oil-infrastructure in Russia's Black Sea and the company has since seen less impact on its operations. Chevron owns a stake in a 'Caspian Pipeline Consortium' that operates an export pipeline between Tengiz and the Black Sea. Wirth said that the company's planned $7 billion investment in Venezuela will be funded entirely by the cash generated from its existing three joint ventures. Chevron has signed a new contract with Venezuela's government that will allow it to expand into?two new oil fields and to more than double production to 600,000 barrels per day by 2031. Wirth stated that "we'll only live within the means to which those ventures are able to generate cash and not bring cash in from outside."
It won't be quick or easy to unravel the "tangled web" of Iran sanctions
Tehran will gain billions from the 60-day reprieve of U.S. Sanctions announced on Monday. However, unwinding four decades of restrictions could take many years.
The question is whether a U.S. interim deal with Iran will translate into lasting economic benefits, given the complexity of dismantling sanctions that encompass U.S. law, international measures, and private sector risk concerns.
Since the late 1970s, the United Nations, U.S., and European Union have imposed "sanctions, trade embargoes, and frozen assets" over Iran's nuke program, human right violations, and support of militant groups in the region.
According to a memorandum signed last week by the U.S., Iran, and other countries, Washington will begin to abolish all sanctions in accordance with a schedule that is to be finalized within 60 days. This period can be extended.
The U.S. Treasury Department issued a temporary license on Monday allowing production, delivery, and sale of crude and petrochemical products and petroleum products with Iranian origin until August 21.
If the remaining sanctions are lifted, it would be a dramatic change in U.S. Middle East policy. The U.S. has been focusing on "reducing Iran's influence" and using financial pressure to weaken the theocratic regime.
This would be difficult as well, since it would require executive action in some cases, congressional approval in others, and close coordination with other countries and the U.N. that have implemented their own "sanctions". After decades of restrictions, companies could also be wary.
Juan Zarate said, "You've got this complicated nest of sanctions. It's not only executive orders; it's also congressional sanctions." Zarate was the deputy national security advisor for combating terror under George W. Bush.
CONGRESS IS SKEPTICAL
Washington sanctioned Iran for the first time in 1979 after students from the revolutionary movement seized and held hostage diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
Since then, Congress passed half a dozen laws on sanctions and the presidents issued executive orders regarding Iran's nuclear programme and its support of groups that the U.S. considers terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as?Yemen’s Houthis.
According to Treasury data, since early 2025 the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury has sanctioned more than 1,000 individuals, vessels, and aircraft.
Jeremy Paner said that OFAC would need at least a year to delist thousands of entities. He is a former U.S. sanction official and a partner in the law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed.
The President Donald Trump has the power to revoke executive orders on Iran. However, some measures, such as sanctions against Hamas and Hezbollah, are required by law. They will need to be amended or removed by Congress. His Republican colleagues have already been very critical of his interim agreement.
Matt Zweig is the managing director of FDD Action's lobbying arm, and he says that it would be hard to undo 40 years of sanctions.
Zweig, an ex-aide to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that removing layers of sanctions would be like peeling off an onion. It would expose the administration to not only legal complications but also political risks.
Some estimates suggest that the license granted on Monday may be worth as much as $3 billion to Iran in two months.
Edward Fishman, senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, says that this could grow to "at lease tens or hundreds of billions" of dollars if it were made permanent. This would erase a discount on Iranian crude oil, allow Tehran to sell its oil to other buyers than China, and increase exports. China buys 90% of Iranian crude oil despite sanctions.
The new license, which is more expansive than the one issued last March, covers not only oil and petroleum products but also banking, transportation, and insurance related to oil trade. This will give Tehran easier access?to their revenues.
There are a lot of thorny questions involved," said Stephanie Connor. She is now a partner at Holland & Knight and a former OFAC employee. She added that lifting the sanctions could result in money flowing to groups which the U.S. views as a threat.
"Are you really going to allow money to start flowing into Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps?" She asked, referring to the powerful paramilitary group that the U.S. designated as a terrorist organization.
WARY COMPANIES
Banks, oil companies and insurers are going to face new regulations, stricter due diligence, and sanctions-evasion risk? tied to Iran's links with China, North Korea, and Russia. The EU, Britain, U.N. and other sanctions remain in place. Zarate explained that "we've beaten up the markets with the risk of dealing with Iran or Iran through the market, so now you can't just flip a switch to say, 'Oh it's OK to do business? with Iran'."
The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act of 2016 allows victims of terrorist attacks to sue companies and investors for assisting designated groups. This act is not likely to be repealed.
According to Brett Erickson of Obsidian Risk Advisors, a principal, such risks may cause companies to avoid working with Iran in order to avoid legal and reputational risks as long as Iran's government is still in power.
He said that he would not be able to make multi-billion dollar pledges until the situation was more stable and firmly cemented. "There's a long road ahead." (Reporting and editing by Don Durfee, Howard Goller and Andrea Shalal)
(source: Reuters)