Vermilion's Westbrick deal worth $745 million strengthens Canada’s Deep Basin position
Vermilion Energy, a Canadian company, announced on Monday that it would acquire Westbrick Energy, a privately-held oil and gas company. The deal will be for C$1.075 Billion ($746.53 M), mostly in cash. This acquisition will strengthen Vermilion Energy's position in Alberta's Deep Basin. In premarket trading, U.S. listed shares rose 1.8% to $9.03 per share. This acquisition will likely add 50,000 barrels per day of equivalent oil…
Sources say that Northern Oil and Gas is in the process of acquiring Granite Ridge, a smaller rival.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Northern Oil and Gas made a purchase offer for Granite Ridge Resources. Granite Ridge Resources is a small U.S. oil and gas producer that operates in the Permian and Eagle Ford basins. Sources said that Northern, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has made at least two bids for Granite Ridge. The latest offer, which was made within the last few weeks, came at roughly a 20% premium over the target's stock price.
The copper giant Peru predicts another plateau in production by 2025
According to analysts and the top mining association in Peru, copper production will remain flat for the third consecutive year in 2025, due to declining ore grades. The South American nation is a global powerhouse in the copper industry, ranking third behind Chile and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2023, the Congo will overtake Peru as the second-largest producer. The decline in ore grade after many years of mining makes it difficult for mines to maintain production levels.
The copper giant Peru predicts another plateau in production by 2025
According to analysts and the top mining association in Peru, copper production will remain flat for the third consecutive year in 2025, due to declining ore grades. The South American nation is a global powerhouse in the copper industry, ranking third behind Chile and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2023, the Congo will overtake Peru as the second-largest producer. The decline in ore grade after many years of mining makes it difficult for mines to maintain production levels.
US pressures EU to align LNG methane regulations
A letter obtained by showed that U.S. officials redoubled their efforts to convince EU counterparts that shipments of liquefied gas meeting current U.S. regulations on methane would automatically meet the new European standards for gas imports. On December 17, the administration of President Joe Biden sent a second email to Ditte J. Jorgensen (EU Director-General for Energy) to increase support for…
Galp, a Portuguese company, plans to produce biofuels by 2026
Galp Energia, a Portuguese oil refiner and producer, announced on Thursday that it expects to produce biojet fuel and biodiesel from waste at an industrial scale unit being built in its Sines refinery by 2026. Galp and Mitsui, a Japanese company, entered into a joint venture last year to invest 400 millions euros ($415million) in a plant that will produce 270,000 tons of hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO).
BP and Iraq agree on technical terms for redeveloping Kirkuk oilfields
The British oil giant BP announced on Thursday that it had reached an agreement with the Iraqi Government on the technical conditions for redeveloping the Kirkuk Oil and Gas Fields. In August, the company signed an agreement to explore and develop the Kirkuk oilfield located in the north of Iraq. This will include the construction of solar power plants and other energy infrastructure. Sources have said that unlike historic contracts…
AI's hunger for energy fuels geothermal startup but rivalry over natgas clouds the future
The number of geothermal energy startups is on the rise, as Big Tech companies look to power their AI data centers with natural gas. However, long-term investment remains uncertain because oil majors are doubling down on natural gases. Meta and Alphabet’s Google are two of the tech companies that have partnered with startups to create geothermal energy to power their data centres. The energy demands of artificial intelligence are being met by large datacenter operators…
The spot price rises on the drop in wind and nuclear demand, as well as higher French demand
European power prices rose Thursday as the main wind producer Germany was expected to experience a sharp drop in wind production output, and French nuclear availability fell sharply. LSEG's analysis painted a positive picture. It noted that the demand for electric heating in France was increasing as temperatures dropped. The French day-ahead baseload electricity gained 45.5% since the close of trade, reaching 80 euros ($83.34 per megawatt-hour) by 0945 GMT.
Indonesia will increase crude palm oil export tax to 10%
Indonesia's chief economic minister announced on Thursday that it will increase the export levy on crude palm oil (CPO), from 7.5% to 10%, to fund higher biodiesel subsidy. Airlangga Hartarto stated that the levy would be implemented as soon as the Finance Ministry has issued its relevant regulation. Indonesia, which is the largest palm oil producer in the world, collects levies for its mandatory biodiesel program…
US graphite miners ask Washington to impose tariffs of 920% on Chinese competitors
On Wednesday, North American miners of graphite asked the U.S. Government to impose tariffs as high as 92% on Chinese suppliers for the battery metal to combat what they call Beijing's "malicious" trade practices. This is the latest effort by Western suppliers of critical minerals to counter China's control over the extraction and processing of building blocks used in electric vehicles and electronic devices. Graphite can be produced synthetically or from natural sources.
Prices for European gas rise as renewed Russian focus on gas is renewed
The Dutch and British wholesale gas price rose on Tuesday afternoon due to renewed concerns about Russian gas supplies to Europe starting in January. By 1505 GMT the benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF hub had risen 1.87 euros to 41.83 euros/MWh, or $12.87/mmbtu. This was a continuation of the gains made in the morning. It fell to 39.10 euros/MWh intraday on Monday, its lowest since November 6. The front-month contract in Britain firmed up by 3.85 pence, to 104 pence/therm.
Banks assist in the recovery of Australian shares; energy and miners lag behind
The Australian share market ended its five-day loss streak on Tuesday, as gains in the banking sector outweighed losses in mining and energy stocks. Investors around the world pondered whether U.S. policy will ease beyond this week. By 2335 GMT, the S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.2% to 8264.9. The benchmark index ended Monday 0.6% lower. The Financials subindex topped the benchmark index by 0.4%. Shares of the "Big Four banks" rose between 0.2% to 0.4%.
Oil Falls as Chinese Demand Sags, Fed Ponders Rate Cut
Oil futures slipped from the highest levels in several weeks on Monday on weakness in consumer spending in China, which is the world's largest oil importer, and as investors paused buying ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate decision.Brent crude futures fell 39 cents to $74.10 a barrel by 1:10 p.m EST, after settling on Friday at their highest since Nov. 22.U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude shed 35 cents to $70.94 after registering its highest close since Nov.
Gazprom says that high interest rates are a concern for oil service firms
Alexander Dyukov said that the high interest rates in the oil industry could have a negative impact on firms providing support services. This raised "serious concern".According to a recent poll, the Russian central bank will likely increase its key rate this week by 200 basis points, to 23%, due to the high inflation caused by a weaker ruble.Dyukov told reporters that his company is strong enough to withstand high borrowing costs…
Palm oil ends lower due to losses in soyoil; weaker Ringgit limits decline
Malaysian palm futures fell for the second consecutive session on Monday, giving up gains made at midday following losses by rival soyoils. However, a weaker Ringgit helped limit losses. Bursa Derivatives Exchange benchmark contract dropped 1.2% at close to 4,758 Ringgit ($1,069.21). The contract dropped more than 4% in the last week. Anilkumar bagani, head of commodity research at Mumbai's Sunvin group…
Sources say that Russia's Novatek employs lobbyists in order to improve relations with the US.
Two sources familiar with the situation said that Novatek, Russia's largest producer of liquefied gas, is working with lobbyists to try and rebuild U.S. relationships after Washington imposed sanctions against its mammoth Arctic LNG 2 Project. After the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the relationship between the United States and Russia reached a post Cold War low. President Joe Biden’s administration imposed sanctions on hundreds entities and individuals who supported the war effort.
Venture Global Louisiana Plaquemines LNG Plant "on track"
U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) company Venture Global LNG's Plaquemines export plant under construction in Louisiana was on track to pull in enough natural gas on Friday to produce first LNG, according to data from financial group LSEG and energy analysts.Plaquemines was on track to pull in about 0.16 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of pipeline gas on Friday, up from 0.10 bcfd on Thursday and an average of 0.04 bcfd during the prior seven days…
Palme ends the week with a loss of more than 4%
Malaysian palm oils futures continued to lose money on Friday as they tracked the weakness of rival vegetable oil at Chicago and Dalian and recorded a loss for the week. On the closing, the benchmark palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia's Derivatives exchange for February delivery fell 17 ringgit or 0.35% to 4,904 Ringgit ($1,102.77). The contract dropped 4.37% in the last week. The futures appear to be trading in a range, waiting for a new lead.
Indonesia's plans for renewable energy may endanger forests
Indonesia, which is heavily dependent on coal for electricity, needs to move away from fossil fuels. It aims to generate 75 gigawatts from renewable sources over the next fifteen years. This compares with the 13 gigawatts it produces today. This push will be based on the use of biofuels that burn cleaner, i.e. organic material converted into liquid fuel. The government claims that biofuels will reduce Indonesia's dependence on costly fuel imports and greenhouse gases…
