• BLM leased 74 parcels totaling 33,530 acres in NM and TX, generating ~$4.008B in receipts — the largest U.S. onshore oil-and-gas auction on record, past the prior $972M mark from 2018. Per Efficient Markets: 61 vetted bidders, 1,072 bids, top three took 98% of revenue.

• Devon paid ~$2.6B for 16,300 net Delaware Basin acres in Lea and Eddy counties — ~$160k per net acre, ~400 net two-mile locations, on 10-year leases with 87.5% NRI and all-depth rights. A cash bid for duration the same quarter Devon closed Coterra.

• The policy assist: BLM used the new 12.5% federal onshore royalty rate, down from the 16.67% rate established under the IRA. Tier-1 shale inventory is still scarce, strategic, and wildly expensive — and now slightly cheaper to lift.

• 15-year take-or-pay at Polaris Forge 3 — 300 MW critical IT load (430 MW gross utility), same U.S.-based investment-grade hyperscaler as Delta Forge 1. Lease value ~$7.5B base / ~$18.2B with renewals. Initial ops August 2027.

• Total contracted lease revenue: $31B across four AI Factory campuses ($73B with renewals); 1,200 MW critical IT / ~1,670 MW gross utility. The scarce asset isn’t GPUs — it’s entitled land, utility power, and the balance sheet to bridge construction.

• $15B Missouri investment anchored by a new data center in New Florence; Google has contracted >1 GW of new generation in Missouri and is supporting another 500 MW via Ameren. $20M Energy Impact Fund for state energy bills + efficiency.

• Google, Ameren, and Evergy imported the Capacity Commitment Framework to Missouri — large-load customers pay for the power and infrastructure they trigger, without shifting costs to existing ratepayers. Hyperscalers are now selling grid politics, not data-center jobs.

• Actuate Energy launched as a European BESS investment + operating platform with a substantial NGP equity commitment. CEO Ben Skinner is a 15-year European storage operator; strategy is buy ready-to-build, then commercialize, construct, and operate — playing arbitrage, ancillary services, and capacity revenues.

• NGP’s two-trade week: Kimbell/Mesa Royalties Tuesday (US royalties for DPI), Actuate today (Europe BESS for the next vintage). NGP’s Phil Deutch on the gap: “the supply of institutional-quality operators is nowhere near meeting the demand.”

• 300 MW / 600 MWh standalone BESS in Texas City, ~$450M package — $225M construction (First Citizens / Investec lead, Nord/LB JLA, East West MLA), $96M preferred equity (Nuveen/TIAA), ~$126M ITC transfer. Mortenson building, Sungrow PowerTitan.

• COD 2027; Spearmint’s operating portfolio crosses 1.5 GWh on completion. ERCOT volatility is bankable when sponsors can pair merchant upside with structured tax-credit monetization.

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