WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Wednesday, Daily on Energy readers! Maydeen and Callie will be attending the Washington Press Club Foundation’s 80th Annual Congressional Dinner this evening. If you’re also attending, be sure to say hello! 🥂🙂
Today, the State Department held its critical mineral ministerial meeting, featuring over 50 countries, where Vice President JD Vance said the administration will seek to establish a trading bloc with allied countries to counter China’s grip on the market. We got all the details below. 🪨⛏️
Meanwhile, the Interior Department has announced its second offshore oil and gas lease sale, which is expected to take place next month.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
STATE DEPARTMENT HOLDS CRITICAL MINERAL MINISTERIAL: The State Department’s Critical Mineral Ministerial kicked off today with over 50 countries in attendance to discuss ways to reduce dependence on China’s critical mineral supply chain.
At the beginning of the conference, Vice President JD Vance told the delegations that the administration will seek to create a trading bloc with allied countries to set price floors and coordinate financing on critical minerals.
The Trump administration proposed a system that would counter China’s unfair practices. Vance said the system would set minimum prices for critical minerals and maintain those prices through adjustable tariffs to prevent cheap critical minerals from undercutting domestic manufacturers.
“Every single one of us represented in this room has become dependent on arrangements we did not choose, and right now, arrangements that we cannot control,” Vance said in opening remarks at the conference.
China has used its grip on the global critical mineral market as leverage against the U.S. and other countries by imposing export restrictions on materials necessary for the energy and defense sectors.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that 55 countries are in attendance in the talks, noting that many have already signed on. Rubio said, “We understand that this is a global challenge that requires a global response.”
Read more by Maydeen here.
More critical mineral news: The House is set to vote shortly on a bill that would codify provisions of President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at speeding up and boosting the domestic mining of critical minerals.
Minnesota Republican Rep. Pete Stauber’s bill, the Critical Mineral Dominance Act, would order the Department of the Interior to report on the economic cost of critical minerals imports, fast-track permitting for mining projects, identify regulations causing bottlenecks, and prioritize accelerating geological mapping of the U.S. to identify mineral deposits.
“We need to mine more, and we need to mine now,” Stauber said as he testified yesterday before the House Committee of Rules.
WYOMING WIND PROJECT SCRAPPED AMID TRUMP-CAUSED DELAYS: A massive wind farm expected to span an area the size of Chicago in southwest Wyoming has been officially scrapped by its developer, after the project continued to hit delays caused by the Trump administration’s crackdown on renewable energy.
The details: Renewable energy developer NextEra Energy confirmed to the New York Times this week that it is scrapping its 600 megawatt wind farm project, known as Jackalope Wind. The project, which was expected to be operational by summer 2027, signed an agreement in late 2024 with Idaho Power to sell energy produced by the farm over the course of 35 years.
Little progress has been made on the project, in a large part thanks to the Trump administration’s increased regulatory and permitting related obstacles put in place over the last year. By September 2025, Idaho Power canceled contracts related to the project, according to the New York Times. The utility, which is Idaho’s largest electric utility, said at the time that the decision was due to “uncertainties related to the federal permitting process.”
Jackalope Wind is just one project facing the ire of Trump, who has vowed not to let a single new wind turbine be constructed under his administration. The Interior and other agencies have taken numerous actions to make it more difficult to build renewable energy projects, including by having all agency-related decisions and actions related to wind and solar undergo elevated reviews by the secretary himself. Interior has also been ordered to only permit “energy projects that are the most appropriate use of federal land and resources.”
Engie North America, which develops wind, solar, battery, and gas energy projects, told the New York Times that roughly 40% of its planned renewable projects could be slowed or stopped by the Trump administration’s permitting restraints.
Key quote: “There’s a real intention to slow these things down,” Engie CEO David Carroll told the outlet.
NEXT OIL AND GAS LEASE SALE IN THE GULF SET: The Trump administration is moving forward with expanding oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, which was renamed the Gulf of America early last year, announcing a second offshore lease sale required by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The details: Earlier today, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said in the March lease sale it would be offering approximately 15,066 unleased blocks for development, spanning 80.4 million acres in the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf region. These blocks are located as close as 3 miles to the shore and as far out as 231 miles offshore, with water depths spanning from 9 feet to more than 11,100 feet.
The lease sale is expected to take place on March 11, starting at 9 a.m. CST.
“Lease Sale BBG2 is a key step in advancing BOEM’s offshore oil and gas program in the Gulf of America,” BOEM Acting Director Matt Giacona said in a statement. “Following the strong industry response to Lease Sale BBG1, this proposed sale aims to ensure continued investment in the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf and support American energy independence.”
Some background: This is the second of 30 oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf required to take place through 2040 under the reconciliation law passed and signed last summer. The first sale, which was the first since 2023, was held in December. That sale garnered significant interest from oil and gas developers, generating more than $300 million in high bids for just 181 blocks across the Gulf.
VENEZUELA RECEIVES FUNDS FROM OIL SALE: The Venezuelan government has officially received all $500 million generated from the initial U.S. sale of its oil last month, Reuters reported.
A U.S. official confirmed to the outlet yesterday that Caracas received the last $200 million associated with the oil sale. The official said the funds will be “disbursed for the benefit of the Venezuelan people at the discretion of the U.S. government.”
The funds had been sitting in a Qatari bank following the sale temporarily to ensure all the money would go to Venezuela, the official said.
The administration’s long-term goal is reportedly to place the proceeds from future crude sales into a fund located in the U.S., and authorize spending by the Venezuelan government consistent with agreed-upon terms, Reuters reported.
ICYMI – BURGUM FLOATS SUPREME COURT AS A PATH TO KILL WIND: The Trump administration dismissed the offshore wind court losses it saw in recent weeks yesterday, with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum suggesting that the crackdown on offshore wind could make its way to the Supreme Court.
During an appearance on Fox Business, Burgum was pressed on how the administration would be able to “kill the wind industry” in the U.S. if federal courts continue to block any attempts to pause under construction projects.
“These initial court judgments were all at the district level. And of course, there’s always the possibility to keep moving that up through the chain,” Burgum replied, appearing to refer to the high court.
The Interior Secretary reiterated the administration’s claim that offshore wind farms pose a “tremendous threat” to national security due to a supposed humming sound underwater that could interfere with sonar.
A reminder: National security threats were first alleged by the administration in December, as support for its decision to pause leases for five offshore wind farms. Federal judges have rejected the national security claims for all five projects, saying the government has failed to show it is such an imminent risk that it must be halted.
RUNDOWN
Inside Climate News Colorado River Negotiators Are Nearly Out of Time and Snowpack
Axios The AI boom is making natural gas great again
New York Times Chevron’s Oil Deals in Venezuela Could Worsen Pollution in Mississippi
