Energy industry

The Florida community bank, which raised $46 million earlier this summer, is moving ahead with its efforts to expand its national solar and renewable energy line of business.

The Florida bank plans to expand its solar lending operations while Senate Republicans look to end most tax breaks for clean energy.

Some of the country's largest banks, including Bank of America, Citi and Morgan Stanley, said they support efforts to increase capacity, highlighting nuclear's role in the clean energy transition.

Emerging clean technologies championed by the Biden administration — ones that commercial banks may be too risk-averse to back at the scale needed — stand to lose a critical funding source if Trump is elected.

The San Antonio-based bank is in the midst of a yearslong expansion effort spanning Houston, Dallas and Austin — all of which are fueling loan growth.

Pledges to get to net-zero funded emissions by 2050 appear to be falling by the wayside as oil companies expand their fossil fuel extraction operations.

Bankers are hopeful that the rebound in oil prices and a spike in natural gas use are precursors to more borrowing. But banks are maintaining above-average levels of reserves in case the delta variant stifles economic momentum.

The agreement will allow the state-backed investment fund to meet surging financing demand for renewable energy projects. It is the largest-ever private fundraising deal by a green bank in the U.S.

As banks pull back from energy lending, some of the world’s biggest hedge funds are rushing in to fill the gap in oil country.

Oil and gas companies — flush with cash from rising oil prices — are catching up on debt payments and will seek new credit later in the year as the economy recovers, the Oklahoma company says.

House and Senate GOP members have stepped up criticism of a plan to include banks in a global push to cut emissions, saying it could cut off financial services access for energy and fossil fuel companies.

For now, banks say they have no plans to curtail lending to oil and gas firms, but recent moves by the new administration — including a halt in drilling on federal land and an effort to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline — could cause them to re-evaluate their long-term commitment to the fossil fuel industry.

Citigroup found that the rapid enactment of a carbon tax would likely lead to a significant increase in losses on loans the bank has made to certain oil and gas companies.

While banks are reporting steady declines in deferrals, hard-hit borrowers such as airlines, commercial real estate developers and hotel operators will almost certainly struggle to regain their footing.

The emergence of vaccines has boosted travel forecasts — and crude prices. The expected bump at the pump could help oil and gas companies get back on track with loan payments.

The Bank Policy Institute submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency requesting the agency's analysis used in crafting the plan.

In November, the Sierra Club singled out Bank of America as "the only major U.S. bank not to rule out financing for the destruction of the Arctic refuge" after its five biggest competitors updated their policies this year.

Global regulators are considering a universal stress test for climate change that requires lenders to use a 30-year horizon, a difficult and speculative projection of the energy industry that could harm bank financials.

The industry is asking for more time to comment on a regulatory proposal that aims to prohibit banks from denying services to oil and gas companies and other firms in politically sensitive industries.

The Ohio company, which has beefed up its loan-loss reserves, raised the possibility of more sales of oil and gas credits and talked up strong retail segments such as its marine and RV loans.