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Next BP CEO likely to be existing exec; Moody's ups view on Warrior Met Coal

Top News

Solar stocks battered by China headwinds

Solar stocks took a beating at the end of September as concerns mounted over the outlook in China, underscoring the outsized influence that the world's biggest solar market continues to wield even as the industry diversifies geographically.

Industry, safety groups praise major gas pipeline rule after years of criticism

Energy industry trade groups and safety advocates expressed relief after federal regulators revealed major revisions to gas pipeline regulations that are years overdue.

Analysts say BP's next CEO likely to be existing company executive

London-based BP PLC's next CEO is likely to be an existing company executive, market analysts said after reports that Bob Dudley is planning to step down from the role by the end of 2020.

Moody's upgrades outlook for Warrior Met Coal to 'positive' due to debt decrease

Moody's Investors Service upgraded its outlook for Warrior Met Coal Inc. from "stable" to "positive" following a decrease in debt and continued progress, according to a Sept. 30 release.

Quoted

"I would be very surprised if there was a midstream IPO [during] the remainder of this year and would be shocked if it were to be an IPO of a [gathering and processing] business operating in the Northeast," said CBRE Clarion Securities portfolio manager Hinds Howard, on indications that investors are becoming more wary as Permian drillers trim spending.

Power

* A group representing a number of Northeastern and mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia has posted for public comment a draft framework for a proposed regional cap-and-trade style program to reduce transportation sector emissions. The Transportation & Climate Initiative will accept comments on the draft through Nov. 5.

* Duke Energy Carolinas LLC identified early retirement plans for five coal units in an annual depreciation study filed with North Carolina regulators as part of its new rate case.

* Conservation groups filed a lawsuit to invalidate the Bureau of Reclamation's 20-year operating plan for the Glen Canyon Dam for failing to account shrinking flows on the Colorado River, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Natural gas

* Columbia Gas Transmission LLC secured a positive environmental review from the National Park Service in the application process for a permit that would let the company build the Eastern Panhandle natural gas pipeline expansion under the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park near Hancock, Md.

* Environmental groups filed a lawsuit to protect dunes sagebrush lizards, saying its survival is being threatened by the oil and gas drilling in New Mexico and Texas.

* State investigators traced a Sept. 27 gas leak in Lawrence, Mass., to a valve that should have been disabled by NiSource Inc. subsidiary Columbia Gas of Massachusetts during restoration work following a fatal series of explosions and fires on the utilities' pipeline system in 2018.

* Russian gas company PAO NOVATEK could slow liquefied natural gas shipments because of the ongoing U.S.-China trade war, the Financial Times reported, citing traders and analysts. According to the report, almost half of the tankers Novatek uses have been hit by U.S. sanctions.

* Gulf Energy Development Public Co. Ltd. is partnering with Thailand state-owned and PTT PCL to build a $1.3 billion LNG terminal and port on the country's east coast, according to Reuters.

* NextDecade Corp. issued $15 million of common stock to a Bechtel Oil, Gas and Chemicals affiliate as part of engineering, procurement and construction contracts for the first three trains of the Rio Grande LNG project.

* Israel would supply 85.3 Bcf of natural gas to Egypt, nearly 35% more than what the parties agreed in 2018, Bloomberg News reported. Delek Group Ltd. and Texas-based Noble Energy Inc. are leading the development of Israel's natural gas fields.

Oil

* Independent oil and gas producers are taking steps that investors have long demanded and are seeing their share prices drop anyway, Goldman Sachs said in a sector update.

* The Trump administration has agreed on a new plan to boost renewable fuels, Bloomberg News reported, citing three people familiar with the matter.

* Industry experts are split on whether MPLX LP's potential separation from parent Marathon Petroleum Corp. would benefit the pipeline master limited partnership and its shareholders amid an activist investor's bid to make it an independent entity.

* The U.S. Justice Department has closed its investigation of Italian oil company Eni SpA with respect to alleged corrupt activities in Algeria and Nigeria.

* Ecuador plans to leave OPEC in January 2020 in a bid to boost oil revenues, Bloomberg News reported.

* Norway's sovereign wealth fund will divest its stake in some 95 crude producers, while keeping its holdings in oil refining and other downstream companies, the country's Ministry of Finance said.

* Minnesota regulators decided to send back the environmental impact statement for Enbridge Inc.'s Line 3 crude oil pipeline project for revision, the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune reported. The move could let the project move forward.

* Moncrief Oil has decided to permanently retire its oil and gas lease in the Badger-Two Medicine area in Montana as part of an out-of-court settlement, according to The Associated Press. The Blackfeet tribe considers the area sacred.

* Parkland Fuel Corp. has completed its acquisition of Tropic Oil Co. Inc., a distributor and marketer of fuels and lubricants across the central and south Florida region.

Coal

* Ameren Missouri plans to appeal a U.S. district court judge's ruling that the utility must install pollution controls at two of its coal-fired power plants.

* During hearings before state regulators, Georgia Power Co. executives defended its request to recover $937 million in additional revenues, resulting in a $2.2 billion revenue requirement, with several environmental groups questioning the utility's intent to use rates to cover costs from coal ash cleanup.

ChartWatch

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Some analysts are echoing activist investor calls for management change at Marathon Petroleum, saying that rather than splitting the company, management and board changes may be enough to assuage investor concerns.

New from RRA

* A proposed order issued by a Maryland public utility law judge Sept. 30 calls for the Maryland Public Service Commission to approve an unopposed settlement authorizing Washington Gas Light Co. a $27 million, or 5%, gas distribution rate increase. The proposed order will be deemed a final order of the commission Oct. 15 unless an appeal of the proposed order is filed by one of the parties to the case before then.

The day ahead

* The U.S. Energy Information Administration petroleum status report is due out today.

* Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. equity markets. To view more SNL equity market indexes, click here. To view more SNL Energy commodities prices, click here.

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Click here to read about today's financial markets, setting out the factors driving stocks, bonds and currencies around the world ahead of the New York open.

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