Today’s ESG Updates
- $1B Trump deal alters U.S. offshore wind plans: French energy company TotalEnergies will halt its U.S. wind projects and redirect investment toward LNG, oil, and shale gas.
- Santos pauses Darwin LNG plant: Equipment upgrades at Barossa project halt production, with restart expected in a few weeks amid global supply pressures.
- UK rejects North Sea boost: Government says new licenses won’t lower bills, even as gas imports rise toward 50% by 2035.
- NextEra secures Texas gas plant: A 5 GW facility for data centers is part of a U.S.-Japan 10 GW gas project plan.
$1B Trump deal ends TotalEnergies’ U.S. offshore wind plans
The Trump administration will pay French energy company TotalEnergies almost $1 billion to stop its offshore wind projects in the U.S. and invest that money into fossil fuels instead. TotalEnergies will stop working on renewable energy projects and instead focus on building liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure in Texas, producing oil, and developing shale gas.
Donald Trump criticized wind turbines as “ugly, costly, and inefficient,” while environmental groups and clean energy advocates condemned the deal. Sam Salustro, senior vice president of the pro-offshore wind group Oceantic Network, called it “political theater,” warning it would raise household energy costs. Lena Moffitt, executive director of climate advocacy group Evergreen Action, described it as a “taxpayer-funded bribe” that favors oil and gas profits over climate goals.
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Further reading: US to pay almost $1bn to French energy company to kill wind project plan
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Santos temporarily shuts down Darwin LNG plant amid global supply tightening
Australia’s Santos has temporarily shut down its Darwin LNG plant for planned equipment replacement on the BW Opal floating production vessel at the offshore Barossa gas project, which supplies the plant. In its quarterly production report, Santos said it expects total production of 101–111 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) in 2026, with Barossa contributing around 19 mmboe. While the company did not provide an exact restart date, it indicated in an email to stakeholders that operations could resume in “a number of weeks.”
The outage occurs amid tightening global LNG markets, partly due to disruptions in Middle East supplies, including attacks affecting Qatar’s exports. Australia is one of the world’s major LNG exporters and a key supplier to Asian buyers.
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Further reading: Australia’s Santos temporarily shuts Darwin LNG plant amid Mideast supply squeeze
Related Articles
Here is a list of articles selected by our Editorial Board that have gained significant interest from the public:
UK government rejects call to boost North Sea oil and gas production
The UK government rejected a call from the energy trade body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) to increase North Sea oil and gas production, despite rising global energy instability. The government said issuing new licenses would not improve energy security or lower consumer bills, as energy prices are set on international markets. OEUK says that increasing domestic production would lower the UK’s dependence on imports, protect jobs and supply chains, and support energy security, while releasing fewer emissions than imported LNG.
The UK’s reliance on gas imports is expected to rise from around 14% in 2025 to over 25% by 2030 and nearly 50% by 2035. Oil and gas currently supply about 75% of the country’s energy needs.
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Further reading: Ministers rebuff trade body’s call to boost North Sea oil and gas production
NextEra moves forward on massive Texas gas plant for data centers
NextEra Energy has secured land in Texas for a large gas-fired power plant intended to supply electricity to a major data-center campus. The project is part of a U.S.-Japan agreement under which the Trump administration has approved two major gas power plants in Texas and Pennsylvania to help meet increasing electricity demand. However, NextEra still needs to secure land and permits for the Pennsylvania site, and must finalize the definitive agreement with the Japanese government before work can proceed.
The combined capacity of the two approved gas plants is expected to be about 10 gigawatts. The Texas facility itself is expected to have more than 5 GW of capacity.
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Further reading: NextEra secures land in Texas for giant gas plant to power data centers, CEO says
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of impakter.com — Cover Photo Credit: The White House
