Axios

The convergence of automation, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and big data analytics is poised to remake the transportation, electricity and manufacturing sectors in ways that could eliminate oil use. This comes just as the same energy innovations are making it easier and cheaper to extract oil and gas.

Why it matters: These technological changes mark an end to the psychology of oil scarcity that made Western democracies more tolerant of erratic actions by OPEC and other oil-producing states.

Researchers studying the potential consequences of dispersing tiny particles into the upper atmosphere, where they would reflect incoming solar radiation and offset global warming, have come up with a way to avoid producing ill effects in some regions, such as drought.

Why it matters: Solar geoengineering, which would involve dispersing sulfate aerosols into the stratosphere, is viewed as a possible way to offset some of the global warming that would result from doubling the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere compared to preindustrial levels. However, concerns have been raised about its potential to unintentionally harm particular countries or regions.

Tesla said Sunday it will only close half as many stores as originally announced, walking back a plan to close all of its 378 stores worldwide.

Our thought bubble from Axios' Joann Muller: Tesla is destroying the value of its brand with a series of flip-flopping decisions on vehicle prices and its store presence. It is not a long-term strategy and instead smacks of desperation as the company tries to find a path to sustained profits.

The U.S. will account for the largest share of global oil production increases over the next five years, according to an International Energy Agency report released Monday.

Trump administration officials are divided over legislation that would allow the federal government to sue OPEC nations for attempting to control oil prices, Axios has learned.

Driving the news: The bipartisan measure, which has been introduced many times over the last 20 years, finally has a shot at becoming law — which experts say would upend global oil markets. President Trump has long been critical of the oil-producing group, and years earlier he backed the bill in question, but division is rampant elsewhere across the government, according to several people familiar with the dynamic.