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• Pirates Hijack Oil Tankers Off African Coast

• Court Throws Out Berkeley Gas Ban

• Tweet of the Day

Pirates Hijack Oil Tankers Off African Coast

Pirates last week hijacked an oil tanker in the Gulf of Guinea and stole some cargo, after which the vessel was released.

This was the second pirate attack on tankers in the area in less than a month.

It’s a dangerous time for tankers

There’s been a lull in pirate attacks around the African coast, and this resurgence could mean that somebody is not doing their job.

It was thanks to international patrolling efforts that pirate attacks were largely eliminated a few years back.

Now it appears the patrollers are slacking off.

Reports in the media said that “the pirates abandoned the tanker after stealing cargo and the crew’s personal belongings.”

So, let me get this straight, they siphoned off some oil, stole the crew’s toothbrushes, and got off?

Are pirates getting desperate, or what?

It could get worse

Those pirates may have been desperate, but the ones that hijacked the Monjasa Reformer in late March – again in the Gulf of Guinea – were more dangerous.

They seized the tanker, escorted it to the Nigerian coast, and kidnapped six crew members. There hasn’t been news about them in two weeks.

The Gulf of Guinea is shaping up as a new pirate hot spot.

This means tankers could decide to find alternative routes.

The problem is there are no alternative routes for tankers out of Nigeria.

Maritime oil transport just got a lot more exciting, it seems.

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Court Throws Out Berkeley Gas Ban

An appeals court has ruled Berkeley’s ban of gas hookups in new buildings illegal, citing federal legislation that pre-empts such local initiatives.

The ruling is a potentially big win for the gas industry and the restaurant industry…not to mention frugal households.

Berkeley set an example for a dozen cities. It now sets a precedent.

Berkeley was the first city in the U.S. to institute a ban on gas connections in new buildings.

That happened back in 2019 and the argument – you wouldn’t be surprised – was that this would lower emissions.

Just like closing the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant and every gas plant in California would lower emissions.

Yeah, sure it will. With a side order of blackouts when solar’s out for the night.

But Berkeley did set an example…as well as a handful of other cities followed with their own gas bans.

Now they may all face similar court action.

Why keep it simple when you can make it harder?

Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel.

But it is still a fossil fuel, so radical environmentalists have it in their crosshairs.

Bans on gas hookups were one way of trying to enforce lower gas use.

Then that very convenient study linking gas stoves with asthma risk emerged earlier this year and some people started talking about a national gas ban.

Welcome to the gas stove wars, folks!

That sure escalated quickly.

Meanwhile, in real life, natural gas is cheaper than electricity, it is cleaner than either coal or oil, and it is efficient…as any chef would tell you.

It also happens to be regulated under federal legislation, as Berkeley just found out, courtesy of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Could New York City, San Francisco, or Seattle be next to get a dose of reality?

We could hope.

Around the Global Patch

🇴🇲 Oman takes a $10B investment from China.
🇬🇧 Lower demand means plenty of NatGas for the U.K. 
🇨🇦 Canadian energy regulator re-examines mining of oilsands.

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