Trinidad: Key gas project in Venezuela is not slowing down, despite US pressure
Trinidad Prime Minister Stuart Young stated on Thursday that companies planning an offshore gas project between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago have "not slowed down" their work despite increased pressure from the United States on Venezuela and uncertainty regarding the extension of the license for the project. After talks with U.S. Young, who spoke to South American and Caribbean nations this week, said that the "landscape" is changing. He was referring the recent announcement by Washington of secondary tariffs for importers of Venezuelan gas and oil.
US considers cutting funding to four of seven hydrogen hubs
According to a source familiar with the issue, the U.S. Department of Energy has considered cutting funding to four of seven hubs for hydrogen that were chosen under a $7-billion federal program. The hubs are part of the effort by former President Joe Biden to decarbonize U.S. economics. They aim to boost the production of clean hydrogen and the infrastructure required to deliver it to industrial users such as steelmakers and Cement plants. Since Trump's inauguration in January, the federal government has provided funding for clean energy projects.
CERAWEEK - IEA chief sees investment needed in existing oil and gas fields
Fatih Birol said that the International Energy Agency in Paris, which is headed by Fatih Birol himself, has a responsibility to invest in oil and natural gas fields for the sake of global energy security. After years of pressure from fossil-fuel advocates, the pro-drilling campaign was relaunched. He said, "I would like to be clear... that there will be a requirement for investment. This is especially true to combat the decline of the existing fields." At the CERAWeek conference on energy in Houston. He said that there was a "need for upstream oil and gas investments".
Guyana's tax agency will begin dispute resolution with Exxon regarding expenses
The Natural Resources Ministry of Guyana has instructed the country's Tax Agency to start a dispute resolution process with Exxon Mobil regarding the recovery from the U.S. Oil Major, about $214 million worth of expenses. Exxon's expenses as part of operations on the Stabroek block offshore are closely watched because a consortium headed by the U.S. giant can export up to 75 percent of the crude oil it produces under the name "cost oil", whereas Guyana is entitled to the other half.
EIA: US power consumption will reach new highs by 2025 and 26.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration stated in its Tuesday Short Term Energy Outlook that the U.S. will reach record levels of power consumption in 2025 and in 2026. EIA projects that the demand for electricity will increase to 4,179 billion Kilowatt Hours (kWh) by 2025, and to 4,239 billion in 2026. This is an increase from a previous record of 4,082 billion in 2024. EIA predicts that by 2025, residential customers will consume 1,524 billion kWh of electricity. Commercial customers will consume 1,458 trillion kWh and industrial customers 1,054 trillion kWh.
Venture Global CP2 export plant in Louisiana to move forward with environmental report
The proposed CP2 LNG export plant of Venture Global, a U.S. liquefied gas (LNG), company in Louisiana has moved a big step closer to being built after the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released a draft report on Friday. As global prices rose, the demand for LNG increased. This was due to the new projects developed by Venture Global, among others, and to supply disruptions as well as sanctions related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Venture Global shares, which had hit a low of $16.00 in the morning session, are now trading at around $16.78.
Portugal is keen to create an offshore wind cluster that could reach up to 10 gigawatts
Portugal's Government said on Friday that it is keen to create a cluster wind farms off the coast of its Atlantic Ocean. The total power of these wind farms could reach around 10 gigawatts. Lisbon approved last week four areas where offshore wind farms could be installed. This is a big step towards the launch of the first offshore license auction that it plans to conduct this year. The plan, which was drawn up by the Economy Ministry in coordination with Environment Ministry, envisages an occupation of over 2,000 square kilometers (772 square miles).
Canada approves Bunge-Viterra merger worth $34 billion with conditions
Canada approved Bunge's $34 Billion merger with Glencore-backed Viterra on Tuesday, subject to conditions. This was the last remaining obstacle for an unprecedented global agricultural tie-up. According to a release from the Transport Ministry, the conditions of the approval are Bunge's divestiture six grain elevators located in Western Canada as well as a binding Bunge commitment to invest C$520,000,000 ($362,000,000) in Canada over the next five-year period.
Shell downplays Namibia's oil discovery as a blow to the country
Shell has written down $400 million in oil discoveries offshore Namibia, which it considered commercially unviable. This is a major blow to Namibia's attempts to become a crude-producing country. Shell, its partners QatarEnergy, and Namibia's National Oil Company discovered hydrocarbons in block PEL39 2022. This discovery along with a second TotalEnergies in a block nearby sparked colossal global interest in this southern African nation that has no oil or gas production. Shell has drilled nine wells on the license in the last three years. In a different licence offshore.
US natgas price slump forces March-April widow maker' Futures into Contango
The price of U.S. Natural Gas Futures for April 2020 traded higher on Tuesday than it did for March 2025, a move that some analysts say signals the market is already giving up expectations for much higher prices in the winter. The April futures traded at a premium of up to 0.5 cents for every million British thermal units. In intraday trading on Tuesday. The winter storage withdrawal period runs from November to March. April is the start of the summer storage injection period, which runs from April to October.
US energy deals fall to $12 billion in Q3 after a year-long frenzy
Enverus, a leading analytics firm, said that U.S. oil deals slowed dramatically in the last quarter as a result of fewer firms being offered and a consolidation wave lasting ten months. Andrew Dittmar, principal analyst at Enverus Intelligence research, reported that the quarter ending Sept. 30 saw the lowest number of deals in six quarters. After 2023, when $192 billion was spent on deals in West Texas and New Mexico's Permian Basin, the biggest shale formation in the U.S.
Sources say that Brazil's Petrobras will reduce its investments for 2025.
Three sources said that Brazil's Petrobras will reduce its planned investments next year despite the government's request for the state-run company to increase CAPEX. Initial estimates from the firm suggest that spending may be reduced to $17 billion. Petrobras didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. Petrobras' current strategic plan for 2024-2028 includes investments of $102 billion. This is a 31% rise over the previous plan. The increase comes amid…
The US has imposed preliminary new tariffs on solar imports from Southeast Asia
The U.S. Commerce Department announced on Tuesday anti-subsidy, countervailing duty on solar cells imported from Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia. A preliminary decision published on Commerce's site shows that the agency has calculated tariff rates ranging from 0.14% to 3,293.61% depending on the company for solar cells from four Southeast Asian countries. Next year, a final decision will be taken. This announcement is the second of two preliminary decisions that the Commerce Department will be making this year on a trade case filed by Hanwha Qcells in Korea…
Occidental delays CrownRock output goals, turns to debt reduction
Occidental Petroleum said on Thursday that it would focus on reducing debt and catching-up with production goals promised before a much anticipated expansion of the cash distribution program. The U.S. Oil Producer posted better than expected second quarter results on Tuesday, thanks to strong production in Colorado and lower operating costs. This, combined with a one-time high midstream earning, sent the shares up by 1.54% during afternoon trading. The company has not been able to produce the 170…
US Prepares Renewal of Chevron's Venezuela License Without Broader Terms
The U.S. Treasury Department is getting ready to renew in the coming days Chevron Corp's license to operate in Venezuela, but likely without the greatly expanded terms the U.S. oil major sought, four people close to the talks said.The last U.S. energy producer in Venezuela asked President Joe Biden's government in March for a license that would allow it a greater say in its joint ventures with Venezuela's state-run PDVSA, a first step to reviving output and controlling where oil is sent.In a reversal of earlier hopes for a broadly expanded authorization…
US Interior Dept Revokes Trump Energy Policies, Focuses on Climate
The U.S. Interior Department on Friday sought to erase the Trump administration's pro-fossil fuels legacy from the nation's public lands by revoking a suite of policies that boosted drilling and mining and ordering that climate change be put at the forefront in future agency decisions.The moves come as the Democratic Biden administration moves rapidly to implement policies aimed at decarbonizing the U.S. economy by 2050.Republican former President Donald Trump…
Schlumberger CEO Says Oilfield Growth Will Be at Structurally Lower Rate
Top oilfield service firm Schlumberger NV expects to return to 2019 level pre-tax margins by the end of next year, a sign the oil industry faces a long-haul to recover from the latest oil-price crash.Chief Executive Olivier Le Peuch told an energy conference on Tuesday that industry growth will be at a structurally lower rate in the future.
Santos Flags $560 Mln Impairment Charge on Virus-led Oil Slump
Australia's Santos said on Tuesday it will book non-cash impairments of up to $560 million after tax, joining a number of global energy majors forced to write down assets after a coronavirus-induced slump in oil prices.The country's second-largest independent gas producer expects to record non-cash charges of between $490 million and $560 million after tax in its 2020 interim results, it said in a statement.Most of the impairment charges relate to Santos's Gladstone Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in its Cooper basin fields in Queensland…
Chevron CEO Sees Continued 'Choppy Economic and Price Activity'
The chief executive of U.S. oil giant Chevron Corp on Monday said the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic has it planning for "choppy" oil prices and economic activity globally.Chevron said on Monday it would buy oil and gas producer Noble Energy Inc for about $5 billion in stock, the first big energy deal since the coronavirus crisis started."The crystal ball is cloudy right now," Mike Wirth said in an interview. "There’s so much uncertainty on the trajectory of the pandemic…
Shell Restarts Operations in Vaca Muerta Block
Oil company Royal Dutch Shell Plc said on Tuesday it had resumed activities at its Bajada de Añelo block in Argentina's Vaca Muerta area after seismic activity in the region led to a halt late last week."Shell Argentina resumed its activities on Pad 22 of the Bajada de Añelo block, after determining that the conditions for a safe and sustainable return to work were guaranteed," the company said in a statement.The oil firm said on Saturday it had suspended activities after seismic movements in an area of Argentina's Neuquén province near the Andes mountains bordering on Chil
