MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Fri, Oct 31, 2025 [FREE ACCESS]

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Judge reduces Standing Rock verdict against Greenpeace to $345 million; DOE announces new collaboration ‘to build largest DOE AI supercomputer’; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas futures gains on cooler weather; What happened to climate change, the “existential threat” of our time?; US has only ‘scratched the surface’ of its oil potential; INTERNATIONAL: Oil holds steady ahead of OPEC+ talks; Solar overloads Europe’s electricity system; USA Energy Sec says USA is ready to sell more oil, gas to China.

OTHER U.S. REGIONS

Judge reduces Standing Rock verdict against Greenpeace to $345 million
Reuters/Blake Brittain
A North Dakota judge significantly reduced the $667 million jury-awarded damages against Greenpeace to $345 million in a lawsuit filed by pipeline company Energy Transfer over protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Judge James Gion found the original damages were partially excessive or duplicative. Energy Transfer, whose pipeline was met with fierce protests by environmental and tribal groups from 2016-2017, expressed satisfaction that Greenpeace remains “held responsible” but intends to appeal the damage reduction. Greenpeace, which countersued Energy Transfer in the Netherlands, maintains the claims are legally unfounded, asserting the case is an attempt by a wealthy corporation to intimidate and silence critics of its business model. [MDN: The radical Greenpeace probably has as much money as the “wealthy corporation.” And Greenpeace encouraged demonstrators to be violent and to block the construction of the pipeline. Time for these radical, lawless jerks to be held responsible. If the new amount is upheld, it could, potentially, put Greenpeace out of business. That’s what needs to happen.]

DOE announces new collaboration ‘to build largest DOE AI supercomputer’
Rigzone/Andreas Exarheas
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a major partnership with NVIDIA and Oracle to build its largest AI supercomputer at Argonne National Laboratory. The project includes the Solstice system with 100,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs and Equinox (10,000 GPUs), with Equinox expected in 2026. The DOE also announced two AMD-accelerated AI supercomputers, Discovery and Lux, for Oak Ridge National Laboratory, with Lux deploying in early 2026 to focus on national priorities like fusion. Separately, energy companies are also upgrading: Petrobras launched the R$435 million Harpia; ExxonMobil introduced Discovery 6; and Eni completed HPC6, which boasts 606 PFlop/s and ranks as the world’s top industrial supercomputer. [MDN: Interesting that supercomputers are once again a major focus. It’s all related to artificial intelligence and the horsepower needed to run AI.]

NATIONAL

U.S. natural gas futures gains on cooler weather
Wall Street Journal
U.S. natural gas futures rise as the front month switches to December and the EIA reports a a 74 Bcf storage build for last week, in line with market estimates. Residential and commercial use rose as cooler overnight lows expand across the Northeast, Texas, and the Midcontinent, while LNG feedgas flows remain strong, Gelber & Associates says in a note.The tighter daily balance puts the implied storage change at just over 3 Bcf/d “reflecting how rising space-heating load and firm export pull are starting to chew through shoulder-season looseness,” the firm adds. Nymex natural gas for December delivery settles up 3.7% at $3.956/mmBtu. [MDN: Whoa! The NYMEX has jumped, massively, this week. We suppose it was the change from the November to the December contract as the “front month.” Still, we’re now closing in on $4 gas! Not so long ago (a few weeks), we were happy to see the price stay above $3!]

What happened to climate change, the “existential threat” of our time?
Critically Thinking/John Droz
The author, reposting Ron Hart, argues that “Global Warming” is a manufactured political crisis, similar to past government fears like Y2K and Covid lockdowns, used by liberals to justify taxes and gain power. The piece dismisses the climate narrative, suggesting the earth’s temperature changes are merely cyclical, and criticizes the belief that politicians can alter the planet’s temperature with trillions of dollars. It mocks figures like Bill Gates, AOC for her doomsday prediction, and hypocritical celebrity activists like Leonardo DiCaprio. The author contends that the media and the Left bully dissenters with claims of “settled science” to prevent facts, such as the fact that glaciers are gaining, from challenging their agenda of fear and control. [MDN: Excellent insights. Global warming is receding as an issue, finally. It just costs too much to virtue signal on global warming nonsense.]

US has only ‘scratched the surface’ of its oil potential
Fox Business/Taylor Penley
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth asserts the U.S. has only “scratched the surface” of its oil potential, with emerging technology poised to cement America’s energy dominance. He highlights that currently, only about 10% of the oil in the ground can be extracted, but new drilling innovations, including AI-powered systems and fiber-optic sensors, are being developed to significantly increase this figure by fine-tuning fracking operations. This technological advancement and resource strength, particularly in the Permian Basin, has already propelled the U.S. to become the number one oil and gas producer, surpassing Saudi Arabia and Russia combined, transforming the country into a net energy exporter and strengthening its global diplomatic leverage and national security. [MDN: Folks, we’re only just getting started. American ingenuity will ensure that fossil energy remains here 100 years from now. The miracle of shale energy will endure!]

INTERNATIONAL

Oil holds steady ahead of OPEC+ talks
Bloomberg/Mia Gindis, Will Kubzansky
Oil prices were little changed as the market sought clarity on the impact of new US sanctions against major Russian producers on flows to India, a top buyer. While some Indian refiners paused their purchases, one major company affirmed that it would not discontinue them, even as the TotalEnergies CEO suggested that the sanctions’ impact is underestimated. Furthermore, investors await confirmation that China will increase purchases of US crude following a trade truce. Prices also faced pressure after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell tempered expectations for another rate cut, raising concerns about the second-largest crude-importing economy. Crude is on track for a third monthly decline due to expectations that supply hikes from OPEC+ and rival drillers will lead to a global surplus, with the group expected to discuss potentially increasing output further. [MDN: Even with all this negative talk, crude prices were static…and slightly up. WTI for December delivery rose 0.15% to settle at $60.57 a barrel in New York. Brent for December settlement was up 0.12% at $65 a barrel.]

Solar overloads Europe’s electricity system
OilPrice.com/Irina Slav
The rapid growth of solar capacity, a pillar of the EU’s decarbonization plan, is making the European power grid highly vulnerable, as evidenced by the Spain/Portugal blackout. While installations have hit records, the surge is causing problems like negative electricity prices, hurting investment, and a critical 2,000% increase in voltage surges since 2015 due to excess generation. Grid operators must frequently curtail solar output. The EU’s preferred solution is a slow, costly grid transformation to improve flexibility and transmission. However, the inherent inflexibility of solar and the slow upgrade pace mean the grid remains highly exposed to power outages from voltage surges, suggesting the need to address flexibility at the generation level. [MDN: There’s a pretty easy fix for unreliable solar: natural gas. Will the Euro weenies catch on? Doubtful.]

USA Energy Sec says USA is ready to sell more oil, gas to China
Bloomberg/Ari Natter, Annmarie Hordern
Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced that the US is ready to increase oil and natural gas sales to China, conditional on Beijing reducing its energy purchases from Russia. Wright highlighted the potential for “mutually beneficial deals,” noting the US is the world’s largest exporter and China is the biggest importer. This statement comes as Wright prepares for an upcoming trip to Asia, following President Trump’s recent visit. During his Asia trip, Trump secured agreements with Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung to buy more US oil and gas, including a major “very large scale” transaction involving Alaskan resources. Wright also emphasized the opportunity for the US to expand its supply of natural gas, oil, and nuclear technology to South Korea. [MDN: We have mixed emotions about selling more O&G to China. That country is our #1 enemy in the world, and we must never forget it. We like luring them away from buying more O&G from Russia as a way of defunding Russia so it ends its war against Ukraine. However, we don’t want to benefit China. We live in an imperfect world, and this is an imperfect solution.]