"The dismissal of Ali al-Naimi as Saudi Arabia’s oil minister puts the country’s deputy crown prince firmly in control of energy policy and makes an agreement to freeze oil production less likely when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meets next month, OPEC officials said."

"Solar power set another record-low price as renewable energy developers working in the United Arab Emirates shrugged off financial turmoil in the industry to promise projects costs that undercut even coal-fired generators."

"Water shortages will deliver a 'severe hit' to the economies of the Middle East, central Asia, and Africa by the middle of the century, taking double digits off their GDP, the World Bank warned on Tuesday."

"Talks between the US and EU over the wide-ranging TTIP trade deal are likely to grind to a halt, according to France's trade minister."

"The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined a request from shareholders seeking to revive their class action lawsuit against BP claiming the British oil company misrepresented its safety procedures prior to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill."

"The Dutch chapter of the environmental activist group Greenpeace leaked on Monday what it called a trove of documents from the talks over a proposed trade deal between the European Union and the United States."

"Halliburton and Baker Hughes, two major oil services companies, have called off their planned $35 billion merger, citing difficulties in obtaining approval from regulators as well as sharply lower energy prices."

"Colorado, which gets 60 percent of its electricity from coal-burning power plants, has set some of the more ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets in the United States. It wants to cut emissions from its power plants 38 percent by 2030. ... One of the immediate problems of the target-setters, however, is that the state lacks plans from its fastest-growing, most energy-hungry users: owners of indoor marijuana farms."