Oil and Gas Pipeline Safety Cases Plunge in First Months of Trump’s Second Term

Commodity

Political

Summary:

Energy Transfer continues to conduct water tests, install advanced filtration water systems at no costs to residents and work with state, federal and local authorities to address the situation

US regulatory actions to ensure oil and gas pipeline safety have plummeted to a record low for the start of a presidential administration as Donald Trump pushes to streamline the government and cut red tape.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration opened 40 enforcement cases between January 20 and the end of June, according to filings from the regulator. That’s the least for the beginning of any presidential term in data going back two decades and a 68% slide compared with Trump’s first months in office eight years ago.

The drop-off in enforcement comes as the White House backs fossil fuels in pursuit of “energy dominance” and moves to reverse regulations imposed by former President Joe Biden, arguing that they burden companies with unnecessary costs. It also coincides with an exodus of senior officials from PHMSA earlier this year amid a move to shrink the federal government.

PHMSA said the slowdown occurred because it was in the midst of issuing two revisions to its pipeline safety enforcement process. The changes, which took effect in May, concerned how the agency calculates civil penalties and discloses records.

“We didn’t want to be issuing new cases while we knew that those pretty significant changes to our process were underway,” Emily Wong, PHMSA’s director for governmental, international and public affairs, said in an interview.

Still, the agency has opened just five enforcement cases since early June, well below the monthly average of around 17, the data going back to 2002 show. PHMSA typically initiates cases when pipeline companies violate federal regulations, or to require steps to prevent future leaks or explosions. Its responses range from warning letters to orders requiring measures from operators. Oil and Gas Pipeline Safety Cases Plunge in First Months of Trump’s Second Term_1

Oil and Gas Pipeline Safety Cases Plunge in First Months of Trump’s Second Term_1

While it’s not unusual for enforcement activity to fall during the transition to a new presidential term, the drop in the first months of the Trump administration was steeper than usual. The low number of cases has stoked concern that a decline in oversight will lead to a ramp-up in pipeline accidents and their severity, putting people living near the conduits at heightened risk and allowing companies to evade accountability for repeat offenses.

Yvette Taylor, chair of the board of supervisors in Upper Makefield Township, Pennsylvania, is among those calling for stronger enforcement in her community. In late January, a leak was discovered on an Energy Transfer LP jet-fuel pipeline running through the town. The company later confirmed that the fuel had contaminated seven private water wells.

Yet several months later, Energy Transfer still hasn’t performed a full remediation of the site, state lawmakers Steven Santarsiero and Perry Warren wrote in a letter to Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in June. Taylor says PHMSA should have ordered the company to shut the pipeline down completely.

“The Township and elected officials requested that the pipeline be shut down and the only response to date is to reduce the flow, which does not address the potential for future leaks,” she said. “We believe that as long as product is flowing through the pipeline, a leak can occur.”

Energy Transfer continues to conduct water tests, install advanced filtration water systems at no costs to residents and work with state, federal and local authorities to address the situation, a company spokesperson said in an email.

“Our work to remediate all impacted areas is ongoing as we are committed to the full cleanup and restoration” of the neighborhood affected, the spokesperson said.

Wong said PHMSA took “very swift and very firm corrective action” in addressing the incident in Upper Makefield, as well as an April spill from South Bow Corp.’s Keystone oil pipeline in North Dakota.

“Regarding Upper Makefield, PHMSA has made clear to the board of supervisors and the community in multiple public forums that we cannot shut down a pipeline without evidence it is hazardous to life, property, or the environment,” Wong said in an email.

“Our investigation is ongoing, but we have seen no evidence that suggests the Twin Oaks pipeline is still leaking or that there is cause for us to shut down the pipeline,” she added.

But some observers remain skeptical. If pipeline operators sense that there’s no one policing the industry, safety lapses could proliferate, said Bill Caram, executive director of the watchdog group Pipeline Safety Trust.

“I certainly worry that we’re going to see an increase in the amount of failures that happen and the severity of the failures that happen,” Caram said.

Source: Bloomberg

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James Whitman

Political

The State Department announced plans to lay off some US-based diplomats and other employees, after the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration can go ahead with plans to slash the size of the federal workforce.

The decision, detailed in a memo by Deputy Secretary of State Michael Rigas, didn’t specify the number of State Department staff who would be laid off. But the department had earlier told Congress it planned to cut about 2,700, or 15%, of its 18,000 US-based workforce through a combination of resignations and layoffs.

“The objective from the start was clear: focus resources on policy priorities and eliminate redundant functions,” Rigas said in the memo.

Senior State Department officials, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said the reorganization is meant to unwind a proliferation of Cold War-era offices they said are ill-suited to President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy. They said it will consolidate redundant human resources, finance and accounting jobs.

They declined to provide details on the teams or number of people affected. But earlier reorganization plans called for downgrading the office that oversees democracy and human rights and shutting offices responsible for women’s issues, global health security, and diversity and inclusion.

The move comes with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, meeting with counterparts from Asia on issues including trade and security. He spoke Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about the administration’s efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine.

The department’s plans had been on hold pending the resolution of legal challenges to the Trump administration’s authority to conduct mass firings of federal workers. But the Supreme Court ruled that Trump can move ahead with those plans, lifting a court order that had blocked more than a dozen federal departments and agencies — including State — from slashing their workforces.

The American Foreign Service Association, both a union and a professional organization for foreign service officers, “unequivocally opposes the State Department’s unilateral changes to the Foreign Service workforce reduction procedures,” according to a statement before the announcement.

The group said the changes “seriously weaken America’s ability to conduct foreign policy at one of the most critical geopolitical moments in recent memory.”

Source: Bloomberg

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Central Bank

Political

White House budget director Russell Vought said in a social media post that Jerome Powell "has grossly mismanaged the Fed" as he published a letter sent to the central bank chairman raising concerns about renovations of the institution's Washington, D.C., offices.

“The president is extremely troubled by your management of the Federal Reserve system,” wrote Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget. “Instead of attempting to right the Fed’s fiscal ship, you have plowed ahead with an ostentatious overhaul of your Washington DC headquarters.”

Powell's testimony about the renovations before a Senate committee last month, according to Vought, raised questions about the project’s compliance. Vought cited what he called cost overruns of more than $700 million, plans for rooftop terrace gardens, VIP private dining rooms and elevators, water features, and marble.

Vought also asked Powell a series of questions about the project and asked for responses in seven days, noting that the "administration takes this matter very seriously."

The letter from Vought is the latest in a series of new pressure points on Powell, who has become the target of President Trump's ire for months now. The president has called repeatedly for the chairman to lower interest rates.

In the last two weeks, Trump has said twice that Powell should resign immediately. On Tuesday, he said in response to a question from a reporter that "it’s OK with me" if Congress investigates the Fed chairman.

The reporter had asked Trump about accusations made by some Republican lawmakers that Powell had misled Congress about renovations at the Fed’s headquarters building.

"I think he is terrible," Trump added.

'Just inaccurate'

The comments that Powell made about the headquarters came as he testified before Senate lawmakers on June 25.

Republican senators asked him about media reports that described the expenses and features of the Fed renovation project and cited allegations that the cost of the renovation has increased by more than 30% to $2.5 billion.

Citing media reports, GOP senators said plans showed the renovated buildings will include rooftop garden terraces, ornate water features, new elevators that drop board members off directly in their VIP dining suite, and use of white marble with a private art collection in the basement.

Powell called the media reports quoted by senators “misleading and inaccurate,” saying that there was no VIP dining room nor new marble. Powell stressed that there are no new water features, no beehives, no rooftop terrace gardens, and no special elevators.

“So all the sort of inflammatory things that the media said are either not in the current plan or just inaccurate,” said Powell.

Vought in his letter said to Powell that his testimony raises serious questions about the project’s compliance with the National Capital Planning Act, which requires that projects like the Fed headquarters be approved by the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC).

The NCPC approved a plan in 2021, Vought said, but Powell’s testimony “appears to reveal the project is out of compliance with the approved plan.”

That, he said, would be a violation of the National Capital Planning Act and require the Fed to halt construction and obtain a new approval from NCPC.

Vought said Powell’s comments led to a need for increased oversight from OMB in conjunction with the NCPC, a group that says on its website that it “represents federal and local constituencies with a stake in planning for the nation’s capital.”

The president appoints three citizens, including the chair, to that commission.

One of those appointees, James Blair, said on X on Thursday, just hours after being sworn in, "Today I expressed my grave concern with the public allegations by others that Federal Reserve Chairman Powell was not honest with the Senate Banking Committee in his late June testimony about design features of the Federal Reserve’s Headquarters Renovation Project.”

Blair is a longtime Trump ally currently serving as Trump's deputy chief of staff, where he has been involved in issues like passing the reconciliation package after a stint as political director of his 2024 campaign.

Blair added in his posts about Powell that he “shared with my co-commissioners that I would be requesting a review of all previous and current building plans for Fed’s HQ renovation project and will be requesting a site visit to the project immediately.”

The chair of the commission is White House staff secretary Will Scharf, who was previously one of Trump's personal attorneys and has gained attention only as his current role often has him handing Trump executive orders to be signed.

Another member of Trump's administration, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, has called for Congress to investigate Powell over the statements he made to Senate lawmakers about the renovations.

"I am asking Congress to investigate Chairman Jerome Powell, his political bias, and his deceptive Senate testimony, which is enough to be removed 'for cause,'" Pulte has said in a post on X.

'Not permitted under the law'

The increased pressure on Powell from the White House comes as the Trump administration is eager for Powell to exit the Fed as it considers its options for replacing the chair and putting its own imprint on the powerful central bank board that helps decide whether interest rates go up or down.

A top Treasury Department official told Yahoo Finance Wednesday he would like to see Powell step down from the central bank's Board of Governors after his term as chair ends next May.

"It has traditionally been the case that when a Fed chairman's term ends, and they're no longer going to be chairman, that they don't stay on the Board of Governors,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender said to Yahoo Finance in an interview.

"I would hope that Chairman Powell follows tradition along those lines."

A new 14-year Fed board seat opens up with Fed governor Adriana Kugler's scheduled departure on Jan. 31. The administration is currently discussing who should fill that seat. It also hopes it will have a second seat to fill when Powell's chairmanship is up next May.

But Powell has not said whether he intends to give that up.

Powell has also been adamant that he cannot be removed by the president. When asked earlier this year whether the president could fire him, Powell simply said, “Not permitted under the law.”

The only language in law pertaining specifically to the removal of Fed board members can be found in Section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act. The law states that each member of the board shall hold office for 14 years "unless sooner removed for cause by the President."

The statute doesn't have any language that specifically addresses the chairman of the Board of Governors, nor does it detail what exactly constitutes "for cause." The term has been interpreted in legal rulings to mean “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance."

But the Supreme Court did make it clear that it might protect the Fed in a May decision allowing President Trump to fire the board members of two other independent agencies.

The high court said "we disagree" with arguments made by members of the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board that their legal challenges "necessarily implicate the constitutionality of for-cause removal protections for members of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors or other members of the Federal Open Market Committee."

Source: Yahoo Finance

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James Whitman

Economic

U.S. President Donald Trump said he plans to impose 50% tariffs on all products from Brazil starting August 1, which could have a sharp impact on South America's agricultural powerhouse.

The U.S. is the second biggest destination for Brazil's exports behind China. Oil is Brazil's main export to the U.S., but the country is also an important market for Brazilian manufactured goods such as aircraft and machinery.

COFFEE

The U.S. has traditionally been the main destination for coffee from Brazil, the world's largest exporter. The U.S. accounts for 16.7% of all the coffee Brazil exports.

Four trade sources told Reuters that U.S. coffee roasters would not be able to pay 50% more for the beans, while Brazilian exporters could not cut prices at the necessary level, which could lead roasters to source their beans elsewhere, while Brazil would likely divert cargos to Europe and Asia.

BEEF

The U.S. is the second largest market for Brazilian beef. Brazilian meatpacker Minerva said the tariffs would cut its net revenue by as much as 5% annually. Other major meatpackers, such as JBS and Marfrig, have a large part of their operations in the U.S., which would likely insulate them from a large impact.

The tariffs could raise beef prices in the U.S. that are already at record highs.

ORANGE JUICE

Trump's new tariff could severely impact Brazil’s orange juice industry, the world’s largest producer, industry group CitrusBR warned on Friday.

In the 2024/25 harvest, which ended on June 30, the U.S. accounted for 41.7% of Brazilian orange juice exports, making it a key market for the sector. CitrusBR said the tariff would be "unsustainable," as profit margins in the industry are too narrow to absorb the additional costs. Other importers would not be able to offset the decline in shipments to the U.S., the group added.

OIL

Exports to the United States accounted for approximately 13% of Brazil's total oil exports last year, government data compiled by commodities consultancy StoneX showed.

The loss for Brazil from the tariff would be relatively "modest," according to BTG Pactual analysts, since the sector has greater commercial flexibility and logistical capacity to redirect shipments to other markets. The U.S. is also not expected to feel the pinch deeply, as Brazil supplied less than 3% of what the U.S. has consumed so far in 2025, according to StoneX.

AIRCRAFT

Brazil's Embraer, the world's third-largest aircraft manufacturer with a huge market in the U.S. for its executive planes and regional jetliners, would be one of the companies most affected by the tariffs.

Brazilian aircraft exports to the U.S., particularly airplanes, represented around 63% of its total aircraft exports last year, according to analysts at BTG bank.

TIMBER

The U.S. accounts for more than 40% of the total timber exported by Brazil last year, according to BTG bank analysts.

Forest products from Brazil would become less competitive in relation to other nations, such as Canada and Chile, said Cogo Inteligencia em Agronegocio, a consultancy.

Suzano, a pulp giant with around 15% of its revenues in the U.S., could face difficulties in the short term, but the company benefits from having low costs, flexibility to reallocate volumes and global scale, according to a Citi report.

MACHINERY, ENGINES AND ELECTRONICS

The U.S. was the destination for around 60% of all exports from Brazil's engine, machinery and generator industry, according to a chart from BTG. The tariff will hurt motor maker WEG, said UBS BB analysts.

The U.S. is also the main destination for Brazilian electronics, according to the Brazilian Electrical and Electronics Industry Association.

Source: Reuters

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China–U.S. Trade War

Economic

U.S. President Donald Trump said he plans to impose 50% tariffs on all products from Brazil starting August 1, which could have a sharp impact on South America's agricultural powerhouse.

COFFEE

The U.S. has traditionally been the main destination for coffee from Brazil, the world's largest exporter. The U.S. accounts for 16.7% of all the coffee Brazil exports.

BEEF

The tariffs could raise beef prices in the U.S. that are already at record highs.

ORANGE JUICE

Trump's new tariff could severely impact Brazil’s orange juice industry, the world’s largest producer, industry group CitrusBR warned on Friday.

OIL

Exports to the United States accounted for approximately 13% of Brazil's total oil exports last year, government data compiled by commodities consultancy StoneX showed.

AIRCRAFT

Brazilian aircraft exports to the U.S., particularly airplanes, represented around 63% of its total aircraft exports last year, according to analysts at BTG bank.

TIMBER

The U.S. accounts for more than 40% of the total timber exported by Brazil last year, according to BTG bank analysts.

Forest products from Brazil would become less competitive in relation to other nations, such as Canada and Chile, said Cogo Inteligencia em Agronegocio, a consultancy.

MACHINERY, ENGINES AND ELECTRONICS

The U.S. is also the main destination for Brazilian electronics, according to the Brazilian Electrical and Electronics Industry Association.

Source: Reuters

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Manuel

Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin (BTC) treasury companies shifted BTC’s spot price by an average of 0.59% per day in 2025, even after adding roughly 725,000 BTC to their balance sheets, according to a July 10 Keyrock research report.

The study measured the price impact using Kyle’s Lambda across all BTC-USDT markets and found that corporate buying seldom moved the benchmark by more than a slight amount.

Muted market impact despite deep buying power

Keyrock tallied 725,000 BTC held by a cohort led by Strategy, which owns 597,000 BTC. The total amount held by companies represents about 3.6% of Bitcoin’s supply.

Yet, daily purchases by these firms rarely accounted for more than incidental slippage, because many transactions relied on structured orders, over-the-counter swaps, or in-kind share exchanges that kept volume off public books.

Twenty One Capital, for instance, secured its initial 42,000 BTC through stock-for-coin deals with Tether and Bitfinex, a path that did not result in spot-market transactions.

Keyrock identified six sessions this year in which acquisitions from established buyers, such as Strategy or Metaplanet, drove Bitcoin’s intraday move above 3%. It also cited a single Strategy tranche from late last year that resulted in a 9.05% swing.

The report also noted that these bursts proved exceptional rather than typical because most treasuries stagger orders or hedge with derivatives to contain slippage.

Premium valuations raise sustainability questions

The report priced the treasury company cohort at an aggregate 73% premium to the net value of their coins, which bolsters access to cheap capital but amplifies refinancing risk if sentiment turns.

Keyrock counted $9.48 billion in outstanding debt and $3.35 billion in preferred equity across the group, with large maturities clustering in 2027 and 2028. The report stated that firms with thin operating cash flow now rely on at-the-market stock issuance to service their coupons.

Debt-funded accumulation accelerated after November 2024, when copycats followed Strategy’s model and public offerings proliferated across jurisdictions from Japan to Brazil. Strategy’s 11-fold increase in Bitcoin-per-share since 2020 set a benchmark many newer entrants seek to match.

The report concluded that, for now, corporate buying represents a limited but episodic catalyst rather than a constant driver of Bitcoin price action, mainly because structured execution keeps order flow discreet.

The researchers warned that concentration risk could intensify volatility if large holders adjust their Strategy, as 82% of treasury holdings are held on a single balance sheet.

Source: Cryptoslate

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Political

Economic

Brazil's stock market was dragged lower by its financial sector on Thursday while the real currency rebounded, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump's shock move to slap 50% tariffs on imports from Latin America's largest economy, citing political disagreements.

Currency volatility gauges were at their highest since the back-end of April's tariff announcements after the real slumped as much as 2.8% on Wednesday in reaction to what Deutsche Bank described as an escalation of tensions. The currency ended down 2.3% Wednesday but bounced on Thursday and was up 0.5% on the day at 5.544 after earlier touching a five-week low of 5.6277 per greenback.

U.S.-listed shares of Brazilian companies fell, with a widely followed Brazil ETF down 1.6%. Itau Unibanco fell 4.2%, Banco Santander Brasil was down 3.2% and Nu Holdings dropped 4.5%, while state oil firm Petrobras lost 0.4% and Embraer fell 4.7%. The main local stock market index (.BVSP), opens new tab shed 0.5%.

Brazil's 10-year local benchmark note yield had been steadily rising since hitting a 2025 low of 13.45% last week, and on Thursday jumped 13 basis points to 13.892%.

"Although U.S. unilateral tariffs on Brazil are not entirely irrelevant, their macroeconomic impact would be modest," said local investment manager ARX Investimentos in a client note. " When combined with a coordinated economic policy response, Brazil is well positioned to neutralize adverse effects and preserve economic stability, even in a scenario of rising global trade protectionism."

Brazil's bonds have been a strong performer in emerging markets this year, with international dollar-denominated bonds returning nearly 8% and local currency ones a whopping 20%. The local stock market hit a record high this month, yet is still among the cheapest in terms of dollars paid for expected earnings.

MSCI's dollar-denominated Brazil stock index is up nearly 25%, too, helped by the year's double-digit surge in the real. Brazil Stocks Slip, Real Rebounds After Trump's 50% Tariff Threat_1

Brazil Stocks Slip, Real Rebounds After Trump's 50% Tariff Threat_1

Graham Stock at RBC BlueBay Asset Management said Trump's reasoning for the 50% tariff level had centred on his grievances around a court case against right-wing former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, as well as legal moves against U.S. social media firms.

"The economic implications are nevertheless fairly modest," Stock said, as just over 10% of Brazil's exports go to the U.S., and were worth only around 1% of the South American country's GDP.

"The risk is that President Lula seeks to exploit his defiance of U.S. interference as a badge of honour in the run-up to the October 2026 elections, in which case de-escalation becomes less likely," he said.

Brazil is a closed economy that has a trade deficit with the U.S., where consumers face sharp price rises on food staples like coffee and orange juice if the 50% tariffs stick, according to traders and experts.

Around a third of the coffee consumed in the U.S., the world's largest drinker of the beverage, comes from Brazil and more than half of all the orange juice sold in the U.S. also comes from the South American agricultural powerhouse.

Wednesday's decision by Trump followed a threat on Monday to impose an additional 10% tariff on the BRICS group of developing nations - of which Brazil is the 'B' - which he called "anti-American." Brazil Stocks Slip, Real Rebounds After Trump's 50% Tariff Threat_2