The intrigue: Sources tell AFP delegates were still "far apart on several issues — from adopting the latest environmental science to how future climate action is funded," they report.

• And, the BBC reports: "One of the biggest challenges facing the talks is the sheer number of decisions that have been passed up to around 100 ministers from all over the world who have travelled here to Katowice."

AP's story says one tricky question facing negotiators is how to create an international market for carbon credits, while another is financing to help developing countries.

• "Poor countries insist that they should get support not just to lower emissions and adapt to climate change, but also to make up for the damage already caused by global warming," AP notes.
• Measures on tracking and verifying nations' progress on their emissions pledges are also a key part of the talks.

Pro tip: Carbon Brief's Simon Evans is tracking the details carefully on Twitter.

What they're saying: Liz Burdock, executive director of the Business Network for Offshore Wind, tells me it's a clear sign of plans to move forward with major projects.

By the numbers: The totals obliterate the previous high from last year.

• Last December a single area offered off New York's coast drew a $42 million winning bid from Norwegian oil-and-gas giant Equinor, which is increasingly moving into renewables.
• Now, the high bids thus far for the 3 areas off Massachusetts are $93 million, $91 million and $101 million.

The current amount of U.S. power from offshore wind is close to zero — there's only a single small project operating off Rhode Island.

• But a number of projects are in the development pipeline off Atlantic states like New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, where Vineyard Wind is planning a major project 14 miles off the coast.

Several forces are driving the trend, including falling tech costs, state-based renewables policies (including a procurement mandate in Massachusetts), Interior Department backing, and interest from European energy giants with experience.

• Danish energy giant Orsted in October announced the $510 million purchase of the U.S. company Deepwater Wind.
• Several key bidders authorized to participate in the Massachusetts auction are the American arms of huge European players, such as Equinor and EDF.
• Vineyard Wind is co-owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables, part of the Spain-based energy giant Iberdrola Group.

The big picture: Burdock notes that the U.S. industry has evolved from the early days when small developers were trying to get projects going. She adds ...

“Now the developers are well-capitalized utilities and-or oil and gas companies that have the balance sheets and the expertise with which to deliver these projects.”

What's next: The International Energy Agency sees the U.S. adding 1.3–2.1 gigawatts of capacity by 2023 (and the agency is often knocked for being too conservative).

• The consultancy Bloomberg New Energy Finance sees U.S. offshore wind growing to 10 GW by 2030, according to this Bloomberg news piece on the Massachusetts auction.

• "While the US was not present in Vienna, nobody could ignore its growing influence," IEA notes.
• The report flags the recent moment when the U.S. briefly became a net exporter (by a small margin) of crude and petroleum products combined.

Why it matters: Today's monthly IEA report is the first since OPEC and Russia struck a deal in Vienna last week to trim output beginning next year.

• "The agreement aims to achieve relative stability and to bring the market towards balance. So far, the Brent crude oil price seems to have found a floor, remaining close to [$60 per barrel] much where it was when the ministers met," IEA said (emphasis added).

But, but, but: IEA cautions that "time will tell how effective the new production agreement will be in re-balancing the oil market." And indeed Brent crude has dipped below $60 at times in trading this morning.

What they're saying: "[E]ven if it proves to be an isolated data point, the long-term trend is clear," IEA said about U.S.' net exporter moment, adding that net imports in 2018 are well under a third of what they were just a decade ago before shale took off.

• "As production grows inexorably, so will net imports decline and rising US exports will provide competition in many markets, including to some of the countries meeting in Vienna last week," IEA said.