Royal Dutch Shell's sale of its Permian Basin assets to ConocoPhillips can't be untethered from how the industry is positioning itself as it faces pressure on climate change.

Catch up fast: The companies announced the $9.7 billion cash deal yesterday afternoon. ConocoPhillips will get 225,000 acres in Texas it expects will produce 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2022.

Royal Dutch Shell is selling its assets in the prolific Permian Basin shale oil-and-gas basin in Texas to ConocoPhillips for $9.5 billion.

Why it matters: Monday's announcement latest of several big deals in the U.S. oil sector that are bringing consolidation to the shale sector.

Big Oil companies are noncommittal about testifying before a House panel probing the industry's role in spreading misinformation about climate change.

Catch up fast: Top House Oversight and Reform Committee Democrats yesterday sent letters to Exxon, Shell, BP and Chevron — as well as two key lobbying groups — asking top execs to testify Oct. 28.

Chevron is pledging to invest $10 billion through 2028 in a push to expand renewable fuels and gas, hydrogen and carbon capture.

Driving the news: The oil giant this morning announced specific targets for fuels production and CO2 capture levels by 2030.

Oil-and-gas companies are increasingly working with third parties as they face pressure to breathe life into their climate pledges and show they're credible.

Driving the news: Exxon has a new agreement with the nonprofit MiQ to certify and grade methane emissions from a portion of its Permian Basin gas production.

Divers responding to an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico south of Louisiana, which erupted in the wake of Hurricane Ida, uncovered a broken pipeline on the ocean floor as the apparent source on Sunday.

The latest: They found a 12-inch pipeline "displaced from its original trench location, which appears to be bent and open ended," said Talos Energy, a Houston-based company that's paid for the divers and the cleanup, in an emailed statement. Talos said the pipeline didn't belong to the company.

The head of the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan, told the White House in a letter released Monday that she plans to probe mergers of retail gasoline stations in order to avert potentially anti-competitive behavior that could drive up the cost of gas, according to a letter obtained by Axios.

Driving the news: The letter indicates Khan will act on a request White House National Economic Council director Brian Deese made earlier this month.

Hurricane Ida has left over 1 million homes and businesses without power, mostly in Louisiana, after making landfall as a powerful Category 4 storm on Sunday.

Driving the news: Ida also greatly disrupted Gulf of Mexico and Gulf coast oil-and-gas and petrochemical operations, but the full scope of the damage — and environmental hazards — will take time to assess.

Major power and oil companies are funding a tech startup that helps detect risks to critical infrastructure — including energy networks.

Driving the news: Urbint just announced $60 million in Series C funding to scale its platform that uses AI to "stop failures, damages, and worker injuries before they happen."

A federal judge on Wednesday voided the permits for a ConocoPhillips oil project in Alaska's North Slope.

Why it matters: The ruling deals a blow to the Willow oil project, which could produce up to 160,000 barrels of oil per day, after the Trump administration approved drilling for it. The government's support for the project continued into the Biden administration.