National Bank of Ukraine: Ukraine will need $2.9 billion in 2025 to purchase gas

Ukraine's National Bank stated on Friday that the country will need $2.9 billion in gas imports by 2025, after Russian missiles and drones damaged Ukrainian gas production plants. In the late winter and spring of 2016, Russia repeatedly attacked Ukrainian gas assets located in the east. This caused a drop of at least 40% in gas production. A certain amount of capacity has been recovered.
African energy exploration company Rhino Resources discovers light oil offshore Namibia

Namibia got a boost Thursday after Rhino Resources found "high-quality" light oil at its latest well. U.S. oil company Chevron also announced that it is considering a drilling campaign for 2026 or 2027. The southern African nation, a global hotspot for exploration, aims to produce its oil by the end of the decade, following a series of recent discoveries by Shell, TotalEnergies, and Galp Energia.
Ukraine's Naftogaz signs a contract with Orlen for 100 mcm gas

Ukraine's Naftogaz signed a contract on Thursday for another 100 million cubic meters (mcm), bringing its total purchase volume from Orlen to 300 mcm. After Russian missiles damaged the production facilities to the east of Ukraine, Ukraine was forced to increase gas imports and withdraw more gas from storage this winter and in the spring.
Sources say that commodity traders will submit bids by May for Italy's IP.

Two sources confirmed on Thursday that global commodity traders Glencore and Gunvor were considering the possibility of buying oil refiner Italiana Petroli API group. State Oil Company of Azerbaijan is also interested in the asset, two sources with knowledge of the transaction said. Glencore, Gunvor, and IP have declined to comment. SOCAR did not respond to a request for comment.
Sources say that commodity traders are expected to bid for Italy's IP in May.

Two sources confirmed on Thursday that global commodity traders Glencore and Gunvor were considering the possibility of buying oil refiner Italiana Petroli API group. State Oil Company of Azerbaijan is also interested in the asset, two sources with knowledge of the transaction said. Glencore and Gunvor have declined to comment. SOCAR and IP did not respond to requests for comment.
EUROPE GAS-Prices remain volatile amid tariff, gas storage target uncertainty
The Dutch and British gas price are not clear on Friday, but they remain close to recent multi-month-lows. This is because the market continues grappling with the effects of the U.S. trade war induced by tariffs on the global economic situation and the EU countries meeting to discuss filling gas storage targets. LSEG data…
The wind generation is increasing, lowering spot prices
The European immediate power prices dropped on Tuesday, primarily due to the bearish impact of forecasts that German wind power production would more than triple in the next day. By 0745 GMT, the German baseload electricity for Wednesday had fallen by 13.7% to 89.5 euros (97.93 dollars) per megawatt-hour (MWH). The same French contract…
EUROPE GAS-Global trade fears fuel market volatility
Dutch and British gas rates recovered some of their earlier losses, after increasing on Monday. However, they then fell back down again as fears about a global war leading to a weaker demand for energy fuelled volatility. LSEG data shows that the benchmark Dutch front-month contract fell 0.55 euros, or $11.55/mmBtu to 35.90 Euros per megawatt hour.
DUH: Germany's Mukran Liquefied Natural Gas terminal is at 5% utilisation during Q1
An analysis released on Monday showed that the German LNG terminal at the Baltic Sea port Mukran was operating at only 5% of its capacity in the first three months of 2025. This is despite local opposition to the project and criticism of the environmental impact. Germany expanded its natural-gas import options in order…
DUH: Germany's Mukran Liquefied Natural Gas terminal is at 5% utilisation during Q1
An analysis released on Monday showed that the German LNG terminal at the Baltic Sea port Mukran was operating at only 5% of its capacity in the first three months of 2025. This is despite the ongoing opposition and criticism from locals over the environmental impact of the facility and its excess capacity. Germany is expanding…
Spain's imports from Venezuela of oil are increasing as the US sanctions deadline approaches
Spain's crude imports from Venezuela increased by 59% in January and Februrary compared to a year ago as the deadline for a major sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump's Administration approaches. Cores, the energy and environment ministry of Spain, released data on Friday showing that in the first two months 2025…
Data shows that Russia's LNG imports fell by 1.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018.

LSEG's preliminary data on Tuesday showed that Russia's LNG exports in the first quarter of this year fell by 1.2% compared to a year ago, reaching 8.1 million metric tonnes. Due to U.S. sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been unable to increase its LNG exports. The new Arctic LNG 2 facility has effectively been frozen due to the Western sanctions.
Can Trump's drive for critical minerals pass the test of copper? Andy Home

The executive order issued by U.S. president Donald Trump on increasing domestic mineral production is designed to cut through the mine permit maze in the United States. According to S&P Global, it takes on average nearly 29 years to bring a new mine from discovery to production. This is the second longest lead time in the entire world, after Zambia. The U.S.
Glencore refinery in South Africa invests in cleaner fuels

Astron Energy, an affiliate of the global commodity trader Glencore will invest up six billion rands ($328 million) in order to install new equipment, and to become compliant with South Africa’s cleaner fuel specification before a 2027 deadline. Astron officials have said that the foundations for a Gasoline Hydrotreating Process…
Russian central bank expects low oil prices to continue for a while

The Russian central bank warned Kremlin policymakers that the United States and OPEC could flood the oil markets and cause a similar price collapse to what occurred in the 1980s, which led to the fall of the Soviet Union. The warning was issued weeks before Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. president Donald Trump began negotiations to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Indian firms look to Dutch Royal IHC in order to explore deep sea mineral deposits

Two sources have confirmed that Indian mining and cement firms approached Dutch shipbuilder Royal IHC to ask for assistance in preparing bids for deep sea mineral blocks. India held its first auction of 13 deep-sea offshore mineral blocks in November. These included three construction sand and lime mud blocks as well as seven polymetallic blocks.
Petrobras animal center at Oiapoque will be ready for inspection by April

Documents seen by on Monday showed that the environmental agency Ibama should be able to inspect the veterinary center operated by Petrobras Brazil in the Amazon region in April. The center is designed to help animals in case of an oil spill. Petrobras has not yet met the demands of Ibama to build an animal care center near the Amapa state town of Oiapoque.
Terna, Italy's grid operator, will invest 23 billion Euros over 10 years

Terna, the state-owned power grid operator in Italy, announced on Friday that it will invest over 25 billion euros (23 billion euros) in network upgrades within the next 10 year to support the energy transition of the country. The group announced that it would increase by 10% its funds for the development of the country's power network between 2025-2034.
Sakhalin LNG and oil production to decline in 2024

According to the local administration, production of LNG, oil and gas on Sakhalin, a Russian Pacific island, will decline in 2024. According to the administration's figures, production of LNG from Sakhalin Energy, a project led by Kremlin controlled Gazprom in Russia, decreased by around 2 percent to 10,2 million metric ton, or about a third of Russia’s total.
British Energy Secretary to visit China to restart energy discussions, sources say
Three sources who have direct knowledge of this plan say that British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband is planning to visit China in march, where he will restart discussions on energy cooperation, and meet with Chinese investors. The Labour government wants closer ties with China amid the worsening U.S. and EU-China relationships.