Bapco Energies eyes fourth quarter completion for refinery expansion
Alexander van Veldhoven said that the group chief strategy officer of Bahrain's state oil company Bapco Energies, Alexander van Veldhoven spoke at the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference in Singapore on Monday. He said that the expansion would increase Sitra's refinery capacity from 265,000 barrels per day to "just below 400,000 barrels per days". "We are at the end of this program. He added that the majority of units were already up and running.
Russian Oil Supplies to Hungary and Slovakia Halted After Ukraine Attack
Russian oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia could be suspended for at least five days after a Ukrainian strike on a facility in Russia, Hungarian and Slovakian officials said on Friday, in a widening of the fallout of Russia's war in Ukraine.Russia and Ukraine have stepped up attacks on each other's energy infrastructure, hitting Ukrainian domestic heating supplies, Russia's Druzhba pipeline and other facilities, over the past few weeks as U.S.
South African court cancels TotalEnergies' oil exploration permit
The court's decision, which was seen by, showed that a South African court had revoked the environmental authorization granted to TotalEnergies for its joint venture with Shell to explore oil in a block near the Cape Coast. The court did say that TotalEnergies was given the chance to correct the deficiencies found, such as a failure properly to assess the socio-economic impact of any oil spills or to take climate change into account.
Albemarle confirms that the Chilean lithium plant is operating normally following an incident last week
Albemarle told the press on Tuesday that its La Negra lithium plant in Chile was operating normally following an "incident", which occurred last week. A local legislator had said that authorities were investigating. Albemarle, without giving any further details, said that there were no injuries, and the sales of metal used in lithium-ion battery manufacturing are not expected be affected. It wasn't immediately clear whether operations were temporarily halted last week.
Angola's offshore CLOV phase 3 production starts
Angola’s offshore CLOV Phase 3 developed started oil production Wednesday, adding 30,000 bbls per day to its country's production, according to its national oil and natural gas agency. The satellite project, located in Block 17, will be connected to an existing floating storage and offloading vessel. This will help Angola keep its production at or above 1,000,000 bpd. Angola, Sub-Saharan…
Zelestra, a Spanish renewable energy company, aims to invest $1 billion in Peru's mines.
Zelestra, a Spanish company with a Latin American CEO, plans to invest $1 billion over five years in renewable energy plants that will power mines in southern Peru's copper-rich region. Jose Luis Garcia, in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, said that Zelestra, a subsidiary of the Swedish company EQT and part of their expansion into Latin America, aims to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy (GW) in Peru.
Oil Prices Rise as Investors Consider Market Uncertainties
Oil prices rose over 2% on Friday as investors weighed a tight short-term market against the potential surplus this year forecast by the IEA, while U.S. tariffs and possible further sanctions on Russia were also in focus.Brent crude futures were up $1.68, or 2.5%, at $70.32 a barrel by 1:22 p.m. EDT (1722 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained $1.83, or 2.8%, to $68.40 a barrel.At those levels…
Russia will compensate for overproduction of oil in August and September
Interfax reported that Alexander Novak, Deputy Premier, said on Friday that Russia will compensate in August and September for oil production in excess of the OPEC+ quota. This is in accordance with the current plan. Novak also said that the government is still debating a complete ban on gasoline exports and that any decision would depend on the market price in the coming days. The Russians have to compensate for a cumulative overproduction of 691…
Morocco builds data center powered by renewable energy
Morocco is planning to build a 500-megawatt data center powered by renewable energies to improve the security of data storage. This was announced by its minister for digital transition. Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, a spokesperson for the Western Sahara Government, said that he was unable to provide any details about cost or timeline. These centres are being built by several countries to store and process sensitive data within their national borders.
Gazprom says that the US and Chinese purchases of strategic reserves may offset Russia's oil surplus.
The head of Russian oil producer Gazprom said that the U.S., China and other countries' purchases of strategic oil reserves will offset any global surplus to keep oil prices in check. The eight members, who are OPEC+ and include Russia and other producers, have decided to increase production for the months of April, July and August. Alexander Dyukov CEO of Gazprom, the oil arm from Russian energy giant Gazprom…
German sugar refiner Nordzucker anticipates losses as EU prices remain low
Nordzucker, Germany's second-largest sugar refiner, expects a loss for its new financial period as EU sugar prices remain low. The company announced this on Wednesday. Nordzucker reported on Wednesday a 76% drop in operating profit in its fiscal year 2024/25 to approximately 100 million euros (113.19 millions). Sales dropped 5.2% to 2,770 billion euros. Nordzucker stated in a press…
OPEC+ targets US shale again with output increases
Saudi Arabia and Russia, the group's leaders, are also pushing a secondary objective behind OPEC+’s plan to increase oil production and punish overproducing allies: taking on U.S. shale to win back market shares from the United States. OPEC’s last price war against U.S. producers ten years ago failed, as technological and drilling breakthroughs allowed U.S. shale firms to cut costs, lower prices, and take market share away from the 12-member groups in the years that followed.
TASS: Gazprom is working on a new gas contract with Serbia.
The Kremlin's energy giant Gazprom has been working on a gas supply contract for Serbia, according to TASS. Alexander Novak, Russia's Deputy Premier was quoted as saying this on Monday. Serbia, which has historically had close ties with Moscow, but aspires also to join the European Union is heavily dependent on Russia for its natural gas. It has been trying to renew the contract that expired in March.
Minister: Russia and China discuss Beijing's involvement in Russian LNG projects
Interfax reported that Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev said on Thursday that the Russian and Chinese delegations were discussing Chinese companies' participation in Russian projects for liquefied gas. Tsivilev, when asked about the possibility that Russian companies could enter LNG projects in Ust-Luga and other locations in Russia Tsivilev replied that the topic is "being discussed" at the moment but provided no further details.
Azerbaijan calls on EU to reconsider finance restrictions for gas corridor expansion
Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan said that the European Union needs to reassess their financing and policies regarding long-term contracts in order to continue importing natural gases from Azerbaijan. Baku could also look for other export markets. He cited the European Investment Bank’s ban on new financing for fossil fuels and the lack of long-term contracts to purchase gas as obstacles to increasing exports to EU.
Argentina wants to increase lithium production by 75% by 2025 and sees no danger from trade war
The Argentine Chamber of Mining Companies said that Argentina, which is the fifth largest lithium producer in the world, will produce 130,800 metric tonnes of lithium carbonate (LCE) by 2025. This represents a 75 percent increase over 2024. According to Alejandra Cardona of CAEM, the executive director, a major boost in production will come from the expansion of operations in Catamarca, Jujuy and Salta, which are the provinces north with the biggest lithium operations.
Sources say that OPEC+ is likely to go ahead with its planned increase in oil production for May.
Three sources said that OPEC+ would likely stick with its plan to increase oil production for a second month in a row in May. This is despite the steady price of oil and plans to make some members reduce their pumping to compensate past overproduction. OPEC+, a group consisting of OPEC producers and allies led by Russia and pumping over 40% of world oil. The group plans to increase its output by 135,000 barges per day in the month of May.
OPEC data show that Kazakhstan was the biggest laggard of OPEC+ in February.
OPEC data on Wednesday showed that Kazakhstan contributed over half of the overall OPEC+ rise in oil production during February. However, it lags behind its pledges for reducing production. Kazakhstan consistently exceeded its production quota of 1.468 millions bpd, as per the agreement struck between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) and their allies, including Russia.
Kazakhstan commits to reducing oil production after April. Russia claims OPEC+ could reverse output.
Alexander Novak, the deputy prime minister of Russia, said that the OPEC+ had agreed to increase oil production starting in April. However the group could change its mind if market imbalances occur. Officials from Kazakhstan, who have often exceeded the OPEC+ production quotas in recent years, spoke at a briefing online almost simultaneously with Novak. They pledged to reduce output in March April and May.
Berlin is urged to act quickly by corporate bosses on the weak economy
German business leaders called for Berlin to quickly form a new Government on Monday, warning that Europe's largest economy cannot afford to waste time while companies are suffering from high costs and red tape, as well as increased competition from abroad. The CDU/CSU won the Sunday national elections, clearing the way for a new coalition government with the Social Democrats. This…