Executives at the CERAWeek Conference in Houston explained that artificial intelligence has accelerated oil and gas drilling, and prompted companies to reconsider areas they previously deemed too expensive or difficult to develop. AI was a major topic in several sessions of the largest energy conference. Oil producers are looking for ways to stay profitable amid a plummeting price of oil and concerns that U.S. president Donald Trump's tariffs may slow down global energy demand. Ann Davies, BP’s senior vice-president of wells, revealed that the UK oil giant BP uses AI to predict problems and steer drill bits before they occur....

The best way to navigate the challenges that the U.S. president Donald Trump's inconsistent and erratic trade policies are posing for the global commodity markets is to ignore the noise and concentrate on the fundamentals. While the media focuses on every headline-grabbing announcement or social media post regarding new and retaliatory duties from the U.S. president and his administration the commodity markets continue to do what they have done in the past: adapt to rapidly changing conditions. It's important to distinguish between commodities that are already affected by Trump's policies and those likely to be impacted in the future. There...

On Wednesday, Turkish Energy minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced on the social media platform X that TPAO, Turkey's national oil company, had signed a joint-venture agreement with U.S. producer Continental Resources for the development of shale deposits in Diyarbakir Basin. This cooperation will contribute greatly to our goal to bring Turkiye’s oil and natural gas resources into our economy. "I hope that this agreement will benefit all parties, as it opens up a new phase in Turkiye's exploration," he wrote in the blog. The Turkish oil and gas industry is not very large. Continental Resources CEO Doug Lawler stated in an...

On Tuesday, the Premier of Ontario who imposed a 25 percent surcharge on exports of electricity to the United States said that he wouldn't back down until U.S. president Donald Trump removed his tariffs against Canadian imports. Doug Ford reiterated his threat from Monday and said that he wouldn't hesitate to reduce the supply if necessary. Ontario exports electricity to 1.5 million homes across New York, Minnesota, and Michigan. We will not retreat. We will not back down. Ford apologized to the American public for President Trump's unprovoked attacks on our country. This was shortly after Trump announced he would...

The government announced on Thursday that an international arbitration court would hear the dispute between Guyana, a consortium headed by Lindsayca of the United States and a consortium awarded a contract to build a gas-fueled plant and a plant for natural gas liquids. The consortium says it was late in gaining access to the site, and that this has caused construction to be delayed by about three months. In a press release, the Energy Ministry said that the International Chamber of Commerce would hear from the Guyana government, Lindsayca, and CH4 Systems regarding the delays. The project will lower the...

The U.S. Department of Energy announced on Wednesday that it had approved a permit extension for exports of natural gas liquefied from the Golden Pass LNG LLC, a joint venture between QatarEnergy ExxonMobil, which is being built in Texas. The $10 billion Sabine Pass project, currently under construction in Texas, will be able to export LNG to major markets in Asia and Europe with the approval of this extension. Exports could start as soon as this year. The DOE stated that it would become the ninth major export terminal in the United States once built. QatarEnergy holds 70% and ExxonMobil...

The European Commission on Wednesday proposed that EU gas storage targets and requirements be maintained for another two years despite concerns from some countries about the goal's impact on gas prices. In the proposal, the EU executive favored keeping until 2027 the target of filling EU gas storage caverns up to 90% capacity by November 1 of each year. It also proposed a number of intermediate targets for the months preceding November. Now, the proposal will be discussed and voted on by EU member states and the European Parliament. In its proposal, the Commission said that the target for Nov....

Yonhap News Agency reported that South Korea as a major fossil fuel importer has expressed an interest in a $44billion gas pipeline in Alaska, which would be a joint project between South Korea and the U.S., Japan included. Yonhap reported that unnamed sources in the government said that during his visit to Washington D.C., last month, South Korean Industry minister Ahn Duk Geun expressed interest in joining Alaska Gas Project through trilateral collaboration. The ministry said that during his visit Ahn met senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Interior, and co-chairman of the White House...

MPLX, a midstream company that focuses on expanding its Permian presence, announced Friday that it will purchase the remaining 55% of the BANGL pipeline from affiliates WhiteWater and Diamondback Energy. The deal is worth $715 million. The pipeline sector is booming with deals as companies seek to reduce costs, increase scale, and gain access attractive oil and natural gas producing regions on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The 425-mile BANGL Pipeline transports natural gasliquids from the Permian Basin of Texas to fractionation marketplaces along the Gulf Coast. The pipeline will allow liquids to reach MPLX Gulf Coast fractionation facility, which is...

Trading Hub Europe in Germany will be responsible for implementing any changes in the rules regarding gas storage filling that are decided by national and European policymakers in response to claims that rigid targets inflate prices. According to a draft EU report due to be released next week, The European Commission intends to work on more flexible goals for EU countries in order to fill their gas storage before winter. The unwieldy acronym THE is the state-mandated manager of the gas market. He has stated that there are no decisions yet made on the timing and shape of the changes...

Dutch wholesale gas contracts recovered earlier losses which sent prices to near four-week lows. Prices also rose after an EU draft will be working on more flexible targets for filling gas storage. A draft EU document revealed that the European Commission would work to develop more flexible targets so EU countries can fill their gas storage before winter. This follows concerns from some governments about Europe's strict deadlines for filling up. According to LSEG, the benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF Hub reversed earlier losses, and rose by 1,63 euros, or $15.16/mmBtu to 49.45 Euros per megawatt hour The...

A draft of the Clean Industrial Deal, which was released on Tuesday, showed that the European Commission would propose next week a wide range of measures designed to help struggling EU industries. These include helping to reduce risk in power purchase agreements and simplifying state aid rules. Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission in her second term, has focused on reversing Europe’s industrial decline. Von der Leyen released a Competitiveness Compass in January that outlined the Commission's goals for the next two-years. The Clean Industrial Deal is one of the most important packages that the Commission...

Under the dark seas of southern England, 400 millions mussels are encrusted on ropes that hang from buoys scattered over an area as large as the largest airport in the country. The Holmyards built Europe's biggest offshore mussel farming in Lyme Bay. They believed that it would be able to handle the millions of gallons sewage that is pumped into UK water each year. Even if the bacteria are far away, they can still pollute the water and block exports for several weeks to Europe. This could damage the business of a company that produces sustainable food. Sarah Holmyard, the...

The shares of European truck manufacturers fell Thursday after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would begin efforts to reverse Biden's administration's vehicle emission rules. Analysts say that trucking fleet companies had expected to "pre-buy", trucks before the new rules came into effect, which would have driven up demand. This is unlikely to happen now. Pal Skirta, an analyst at Metzler, said that the market is likely to assume the tighter regulations are going to be reversed. This means there's no expectation of a surge in pre-purchases for the second half 2025-2026. Skirta stated that this was the...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Wednesday that it would narrow the definitions of waters that could be federally regulated in order to comply with 2023 Supreme Court ruling. Republican legislators from agricultural states applauded this move. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin stated that the agency would work to create a simple definition "that will stand the test of time". He said that the previous administration's definition of "waters of the United States" placed unfair burdens on American citizens and increased the cost of doing businesses. This announcement is part of what Zeldin called a "ping-pong" of policy changes around...

The European Parliament's largest lawmaker group announced on Wednesday that it would attempt to overturn the European Union’s main climate policy for vehicles – a 2035 prohibition on the sales of new CO2-emitting cars – during a review this year. Supporters of the ban say that it is vital to Europe's green goals and for guiding automotive industry's low carbon transformation. Critics say the ban will hurt European automakers who are already facing a weak market, Chinese competition, and disappointing sales of electric vehicles. Jens Gieseke is the European People's Party (EPP)'s negotiator for car policies. He told the group...

According to new research, microplastics can cause bacteria to become resistant. Researchers from Boston University said that E. coli bacteria exposed in test tubes to microplastics became resistant to several types of antibiotics commonly used. The report was published on Tuesday in Applied and Environmental Microbiology. In a press release, Neila Gross, the study leader explained that these tiny bits of plastic provide a surface to which bacteria can attach and colonize. They create a biofilm, a sticky substance which acts as a shield to protect the bacteria and keep them firmly affixed. Gross stated that "we found the biofilms...

Nigeria has been battling an outbreak of Lassa fever with 535 cases confirmed and 98 deaths across 14 states reported since the beginning of this year, a case fatality rate 18.3%. Officials from Nigeria's Ministry of Health confirmed that a patient who had recently visited the United Kingdom, died after returning home. This has prompted contact-tracing efforts to be undertaken in both countries. The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control has released a new advisory, urging increased awareness and prevention measures. This is especially important for healthcare workers as well as those who are in affected areas or traveling there. The...

Sources said that the Trump administration was considering canceling the lease for a support office of a well-known Hawaiian climate research station. This raises concerns for the future of important work tracking the impact on global warming of carbon emissions. Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, which is led by billionaire Elon musk, has proposed that the leases of over 20 offices rented by U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration be terminated in order to save money. On the DOGE's website, there is a listing for a NOAA office located in Hilo, Hawaii, and an estimate on how much money...

A nonprofit environmental group sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Saturday and Citibank, requesting billions of dollars to fund solar and other projects that have been frozen by the bank due to the Trump administration's cuts in federal spending. Climate United Fund claims that by freezing grant money approved by Joe Biden’s administration, "EPA has acted in order to prevent Citibank's disbursement of funds, harming Climate United and its borrowers as well as the communities they are serving." This is just one of many lawsuits filed by nonprofits, state attorneys general, and others to fight President Donald Trump's Republican...

Six British water companies defeated Friday mass lawsuits worth over $1,9 billion for allegedly not reporting sewage discharges. Utility companies, such as Britain's largest provider of water, Thames Water, have been accused of misleading the industry regulator Ofwat regarding the number of pollution events, allowing them to increase prices for customers. The case was brought by environmental and water consultant Carolyn Roberts. It was the first action brought under the Environmental Competition Law in the United Kingdom. The six companies, which include Anglian Water Northumbrian Water Severn Trent United Utilities, Yorkshire Water and Severn Trent argued that the cases should...

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments about whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is authorized to issue licenses for nuclear waste storage. The states of Texas and New Mexico along with the oil industry objected. The U.S. Government and a company, which was granted a license to operate an operation in western Texas by the NRC (the federal agency responsible for regulating nuclear energy in the United States), have appealed the ruling of a lower court that declared this storage arrangement illegal. Arguments were still ongoing. In several important rulings, the Supreme Court's conservative majority of 6-3 questioned the...

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is authorized to issue licenses for nuclear waste storage sites. Texas and New Mexico have objected to this as has the oil industry. The U.S. Government and a company, which was granted a license to operate an operation in western Texas by the NRC (the federal agency responsible for nuclear energy regulation in the United States), have appealed the ruling of a lower court that declared this storage arrangement illegal. In several important rulings, the conservative-majority Supreme Court, with a 6-3 majority, questioned the authority of federal...

On Wednesday, two Trump nominees for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to lead its deregulatory effort are expected to be questioned by the Senate about the agency’s plans to eliminate the basis of greenhouse gas emission regulations. The question is whether or not the agency will unwind its 2009 "endangerment findings", which opened the door for regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the U.S. Clean Air Act. This finding also formed the basis of numerous EPA climate regulations, such as those on power plants and vehicle exhaust fumes. According to two sources with knowledge of the situation, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin...