Latest News
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Navantia Seanergies Delivers Second Substation Jacket for French OW Farm
Navantia Seanergies, Spanish shipbuilder Navantia’s green energies division, has delivered its second substation jacket for Ocean Winds for the offshore wind farm at Dieppe Le Tréport in France.The jacket departed from the south basin of the Puerto Real shipyard, bound for its destination on France’s Atlantic coast.The structure – almost 54 metres tall and weighing approximately 1,900 tonnes – was fully fabricated at the Puerto Real facility and was loaded out on May 13, 2025. Since, adjustment and mooring operations have been carried out to prepare it for transport.A year ago, Navantia Seanergies delivered to Ocean Winds a jacket with similar characteristics, also built at Puerto Real, which is now installed at the Îles d’Yeu et Noirmoutier offshore wind farm in France.The jackets, constructed in Puerto Real, form part of the collaboration between Navantia Seanergies and Ocean Winds, a Madrid-based offshore wind company established as a joint venture between EDPR and ENGIE.Under this partnership, a capacity-reservation agreement was signed for the manufacture of components destined for future international offshore wind farms, including floating structures for forthcoming projects in Spain, Portugal and elsewhere in Europe.The 496 MW Dieppe Le Tréport offshore wind farm will feature 62 wind turbines will supply 850,000 people with electricity each year.
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Bloomberg News reports that the US is planning to grant Chevron a license in Venezuela for minimal maintenance.
Bloomberg News reported that the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump is about to issue Chevron a license which will allow it to maintain essential operations in Venezuela with minimal effort. According to the report, which cited people with knowledge of the issue, the U.S. Treasury Department intends to grant the waiver, allowing Chevron only to perform safety and maintenance functions in Venezuela. Chevron and the U.S. State Department as well as Treasury Department have not responded to immediate requests for comments. The U.S. business license in South America is due to be renewed. Expiration Date Most partners of Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA, which is sanctioned by the United States, have asked for extensions. Treasury and State Departments in the United States would have to approve any extension. The State Department gives Treasury guidance on changes to sanctions regimes. Venezuela is home to some of the largest oil reserves in the world, but it's crude production remains a fraction of its previous level after a decade of mismanagement, lack of investment and U.S. sanctions against Venezuela's energy sector since 2019. Since 2023, the licenses granted to Chevron as well as other foreign companies have helped Venzuelan oil exports and production recover. Reporting by Gursimran K. Kaur, Bengaluru. Editing by Kate Mayberry
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Australia begins cleaning up after floods that killed 5, damaged 10,000 properties
Australian authorities began cleaning up efforts Saturday, after flooding in Australia's southeast claimed five lives and flooded more than 10,000 homes. New South Wales' emergency services agency has said that damage assessments are being conducted in the state, for the mid-northcoast region following the flooding this week which cut off towns and destroyed homes. In a press release, the agency stated that "early estimates suggest at least 10,000 homes may have been affected by record flooding." It said that conditions had improved in the affected areas of Australia's largest state since Friday. State Emergency Services Commissioner Mike Wassing told a Sydney media conference that hundreds of residents who were affected by the floods are still in evacuation centers, despite 52 flood rescues occurring overnight. Police said that the latest death linked to flooding was a man aged 80, whose body had been found in a flooded house about 50 km from Taree. Taree is one of Australia's worst-hit cities. The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was forced to cancel his trip to Taree on Friday due to flooding. He said that it was "disgusting" to hear of any more deaths. Albanese issued a statement saying, "All our thoughts are now with his family and community." After days of non-stop rain, the floods submerged street signs and intersections in towns along the mid-northern coast. They also covered cars to their windshields. The floods, at their height, isolated 50,000 people. Climate change, according to some experts, is the cause of more extreme weather in Australia. Since early 2021, after devastating bushfires and droughts at the end last decade, floods have caused havoc. (Reporting from Sydney by Sam McKeith and Canberra by Peter Hobson; editing by Tom Hogue.)
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Tanure, a Brazilian tycoon, offers to purchase Braskem's petrochemical company.
A securities filing on Friday showed that Brazilian businessman Nelson Tanure had made an offer to purchase a controlling interest in Braskem. Tanure is looking to expand his investment portfolio by partnering with Latin America's biggest petrochemical company. Local media reported Tanure's proposal earlier in the day. This boosted Braskem shares traded in Sao Paulo by more than 9%. It was the largest gainer of the benchmark Brazilian stock index Bovespa which closed at 0.4%. According to a filing by the petrochemical company, which cited Novonor’s letter, the tycoon wants to buy the controlling stake of Braskem from conglomerate Novonor for an undisclosed amount. Tanure confirmed in a separate press release that he is committed to long-term investments to strengthen Braskem. Both parties have agreed that they will only hold exclusive discussions about a potential deal. The state-owned oil company Petrobras, which is also a major shareholder in Braskem, has been looking to sell its stake for many years. It has failed to reach a successful agreement despite numerous talks with companies such as Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, LyondellBasell and Unipar Carbocloro. Petrobras has the right to evaluate the deal as it is the preferential buyer of the Braskem stake if it were to be sold. Novonor creditors would also have to approve the deal as the stake was pledged as collateral. Tanure stated that Braskem would not have a promising future without a joint, constructive, and lasting partnership with Petrobras. Tanure suggested partnering the two companies for the use natural gas from Brazil’s pre-salt, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Petrobras has declined to comment. Tanure has also promised to find a solution to the 2018 Maceio disaster, in which officials claim Braskem’s salt mines caused the ground to destabilize, cracking houses and forcing thousands of residents out of their homes. Tanure said that "a consistent deleveraging program will be crucial to strengthening Braskem’s capital structure". Tanure is known to invest in companies that are undergoing restructuring. He is a major investor in Rio de Janeiro’s energy distributor Light, oil producers Prio, and homebuilders Gafisa. Odebrecht was synonymous with corruption in Brazil in the 2010s due to its involvement in the Car Wash corruption probe. In 2020, it changed its name from Odebrecht to Novonor to try to erase that past after a "five-year transformation". Reporting by Luciana Magnhaes, Sao Paulo. Additional reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier, Rio de Janeiro. Writing by Gabriel Araujo. Editing by Rosalba o'Brien.
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ENAMI, a Chilean lithium company, says that a joint venture with Rio Tinto will begin production in 2032.
Ivan Mlynarz, the company's chief, said that ENAMI, Chile's state-owned mining firm, aims to start production of its new Rio Tinto Lithium partnership at Altoandinos in 2032, with 35,000 metric tonnes per year. Production will then increase over three years, to 75,000 tons. Rio Tinto will play a key role in the lithium industry of Chile with the Altoandinos and Maricunga projects, which it spearheaded this week alongside the state-run copper manufacturer Codelco. Rio Tinto is committing $425 million initially to the project. ENAMI estimates that a total of $3 billion will be required. Estimated previously Altoandinos' project capacity was initially estimated at 60,000 tons per year. However, new studies revealed that there were more resources available than anticipated, especially on the La Isla flat of salt. Mlynarz stated that ENAMI intends to begin the project with direct lithium extraction, a method that is yet to be tested in Chile and that Rio Tinto has been testing at its Rincon Project in Argentina. ENAMI is testing DLE solutions from various companies. Mlynarz says that early results for Rio Tinto’s technology are promising and pave the way for the potential use of this technology on the project. Mlynarz stated that the results with Rio Tinto were encouraging, and the operator was able to use its own technology. He said that the partnership needs approval from international regulatory bodies, but in the interim, ENAMI will continue exploration studies in the hopes that Rio Tinto takes the lead in 2026. Mlynarz stated that both ENAMI Rio Tinto understand the importance of timing.
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Southern California Edison pays $82.5 Million for Bobcat Fire Damages
The Justice Department announced on Friday that Southern California Edison had agreed to pay the U.S. Government $82.5 million in order to cover costs for fighting the 2020 Bobcat Fire as well as repairing damages to the Angeles National Forest. According to the Justice Department, this is the largest settlement related to wildfires ever reached in California's Central District. SCE has not responded to comments immediately. The Bobcat Fire began in September 2020, and it burned over 114,000 acres (approximately 180 square miles), nearly 100,000 of which were in the Angeles National Forest. In September 2023, the U.S. filed suit on behalf of Forest Service against SCE & Utility Tree Service in order to recover the costs incurred by the Forest Service fighting the Bobcat Fire as well as the extensive damage it caused to Angeles National Forest. The federal government stated that the fire was caused by trees that were not properly maintained coming into contact with electricity lines. SCE agreed to the settlement agreement without admitting any fault. The amount must be paid within 60 days after the May 14 agreement. Jason Kuiken, acting Regional Forester for the Pacific Southwest Region of the U.S. Forest Service, said that these settlements were essential to restoring landscapes following wildfires. SCE announced last week that it had submitted to California's Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety a plan for wildfire mitigation over a period of three years.
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Trump approves Nippon Steel’s bid to acquire US Steel and blesses the 'planned partnership.'
Donald Trump, the U.S. president, appeared to have given his approval on Friday to Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion offer for U.S. Steel. He said that the "planned partnership between the two" would create jobs and benefit the American economy. Investors interpreted Trump's post on Truth Social as a sign that Nippon Steel had cleared the final major hurdle in its takeover of U.S. Steel. In a Truth Social post, Trump stated that the planned partnership between United States Steel (USS) and Nippon Steel would create at least 70.000 jobs and add 14 Billion Dollars in revenue to the U.S. economy. Trump stated that the majority of this investment will occur within the next 14-month period. He said he will hold a protest at U.S. Steel, in Pittsburgh on Friday. Two companies didn't immediately respond to requests for comments. The White House didn't immediately respond to questions regarding the announcement. This week, it was reported that Nippon Steel had said that if the merger were approved, they would invest up to $14 billion into U.S. Steel operations. That includes $4 billion for a new mill. (Reporting and editing by Jasper Ward, Steve Holland and Anna Driver.
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US approves Utah Uranium Mine after Two-Week Environmental Review
Anfield Energy’s proposed Velvet Wood uranium mining project in Utah was approved by the Trump administration on Friday following a rapid environmental review of 14 days. This is part of a process designed to speed up permitting for energy and mining projects. These studies can take many years to complete due to the potential environmental impact of uranium mining. The Canadian project is the first to be approved under an emergency process Interior Department must permit energy installations on federal land. The new procedures were created in response to the national energy emergency declared by President Donald Trump on his first official day of office in January, in an attempt to increase domestic energy supplies, lower fuel prices, and strengthen national security. According to documents posted on the Interior Department website, Anfield filed their plan of operation for the mine on 1 April. In a press release, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum stated that "this approval marks a pivotal moment in the way we secure America's future mineral resources." By streamlining the review processes for important mineral projects such as Velvet-Wood we are reducing our dependence on foreign enemies and ensuring that our military, energy and medical sectors have the resources needed to thrive. Mineral security in action. Anfield wasn't immediately available to comment. The Velvet-Wood Mine Project in San Juan County produces uranium for both nuclear energy production and nuclear weapons, as well vanadium which can be used to strengthen steel or other alloys, or in batteries. The site is the former location of a mining operation. (Reporting and editing by Leslie Adler, Cynthia Osterman, and Nichola Groom)
Sumitomo and Builders Vision, both Japanese companies, have invested in the US startup Phoenix Tailings.
Sumitomo Corporation of Japan and Builders Vision, a fund that invests in impact investments, have invested in Phoenix Tailings of Phoenix, a U.S. rare earths processing company. This is the latest investment by manufacturers looking to increase production outside of China.
Rare earths is a grouping of 17 metals, used in the production of magnets for electric cars, cell phones and electronic devices.
After its development in the 1950s, the solvent extraction process, which is the current standard for the refinement of these minerals, has gradually become unpopular in America. However, Chinese companies have perfected it.
China's rare earth exports have ceased, causing a rush for substitutes in the West. Phoenix claims its process produces rare earths with minimal or no emissions from recycled ore and mined ore.
Sumitomo’s Presidio venture unit, along with Yamaha Motor and Builders Vision and venture capital funds Envisioning Partners and Escape Velocity joined a $33-million tranche for Phoenix’s Series B financing round, which closed April 25, according to the company.
Phoenix refused to reveal the funding of each investor.
The funding will be used to build a 13 million dollar facility in Exeter, New Hampshire that is capable of producing 200 metric tonnes of rare earths per year. It should open by the end of this year.
The company closed its Series B round in December last year with a $43 million first tranche, bringing total funding to $76 millions.
A $10 million Series A round of funding closed in August 2021. (Reporting and editing by Margueritachoy)
(source: Reuters)