Natural Gas








Asia

North America

Refined Products

APA sells New Mexico assets at $608 million following quarterly profit success

APA Corp announced on Wednesday it would sell New Mexico Permian assets to focus on its core business. This was in an effort for the company to streamline its operations and concentrate on areas of strength. It also beat Wall Street's expectations for first-quarter profits. These assets, which generate about 12,400 barrels equivalent of oil per day (boepd), are less than 5% APA's overall Permian production. The company stated that the deal with Permian Resource is expected to close by the end of the second quarter and proceeds will be used to reduce the debt. This move comes after APA...

Natural Gas

EIA: Oil wells in the Lower 48 US States have more than doubled in the past decade.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration announced on Wednesday that they estimate that the average number oil wells completed within 50 feet from each other simultaneously in the Lower 48 States has more than doubled since the last decade. The agency stated that the number of wells completed simultaneously per location has increased from 1 1/2 wells per location in December 2014 to over three wells per location in June 2024. This will allow operators to "accelerate production timelines and reduce costs per well." The EIA defines wells that are drilled within a 50-foot radius of each other as being at...

Oil & Gas Exploration

Coterra Energy, a producer of shale gas, reports higher quarterly profits and cuts its spending target

Coterra Energy, a U.S. producer of shale gas, reported an increase in its first-quarter profits on Monday. However, it said that due to the macroeconomic uncertainty they would reduce their annual budget for capital expenditures. The U.S. Energy Sector is preparing for possible fallout due to President Donald Trump's sweeping trade tariffs and a fierce trade war with China - factors that could decrease demand for oil and gas. Diamondback Energy, earlier today, also reduced its annual capital budget as well as production forecasts due to macroeconomic uncertainties affecting the global energy demand. Coterra CEO Tom Jorden said: "As we...

Oil & Gas

Diamondback reduces its capex plan and production forecast amid macroeconomic uncertainties

Diamondback Energy, a U.S. shale oil and gas producer, lowered its production and capital budget forecasts for 2025 on Monday as global energy demand is impacted by macroeconomic uncertainty. The tariffs imposed by Donald Trump have increased uncertainty in the oil industry. A trade war that follows is expected to reduce global economic growth, and, therefore, energy demand. The company announced that it would reduce its capital budget for 2025 by approximately $400 million, to between $3.4 and $3.8 billion. The company said that during the current period of macro-instability, it would drill and complete fewer oil wells to maximize...

Electric Utilities

DTE Energy's quarterly profits rise on the strength of its gas and energy trading

DTE Energy announced increased first-quarter profits on Thursday. This was aided in part by its strength in the gas and energy trading segment. It also said it expects tariff impacts to be manageable. DTE's $30 billion capital spending plan is expected to have a limited impact. The power industry has been bracing itself for potential tariff costs as a result of the U.S.-Canada trade war. DTE Energy has partnered with GM, Ford, and BMW in order to increase the use of renewable energy in Michigan. It also said that it has a margin risk between 3% and 4% due to...

Fossil Fuels

TC Energy's quarter profit misses due to power segment weakness

Canadian pipeline operator TC energy missed analyst's expectations for the first-quarter profits on Thursday due to weakness in its power solutions and natural gas operations, while higher interest costs offset gains in their natural gas operations. Shares of the company listed in the United States were down by 4%. As energy demand grows in North America, the demand for electricity that is renewable and emits less pollution will also increase. TC Energy invested in ten power-generation plants with a total generating capacity of 4,600 megawatts. The company's core profit in its power and energy solutions division fell by 30%, to...

LNG

S&P downgrades Woodside's credit rating to 'negative" after LNG investment decision

S&P Global Ratings changed the outlook of Australia's Woodside from "stable" to "negative" after the company made a final decision on investment for $17.5 billion in its Louisiana liquefied gas project. The rating agency stated that Woodside's decision to move forward with the project, without a substantial sell-down of the offtake exposure, has reduced the headroom for ratings. The agency has affirmed Woodside's 'BBB+ long-term issuer rating' and 'BBB+ long-term issuer ratings'. The Australian oil and Gas Company approved an LNG project worth billions of dollars in Louisiana earlier this week. They were confident that the U.S. government would be...

Oil & Gas Exploration

Hess beats first-quarter profit estimate despite weak oil prices

Hess announced a decline in its first-quarter profits on Wednesday. The lower oil price was to blame, but the shale producers still managed beat Wall Street's expectations. Benchmark Brent crude averaged $75.16 a baril during the quarter of January-March, an 8.2% drop from a year ago, due to weak global demand, and increased oil supplies by OPEC+. The average realized crude oil price of the company fell from $80.06 per barrel to $71.22 a barrel in the first three months, down from $80.06 barrels a year earlier. Hess will be acquired by Chevron, the industry leader and bigger rival in...

Natural Gas Utilities

Bloomberg News reports that Woodside is in talks with Kuwait Petroleum to sell its Louisiana LNG stake.

Bloomberg News reported Monday that Woodside Energy was in discussions with an overseas division of Kuwait Petroleum about selling a stake in their Louisiana liquefied gas plant. The report was based on people familiar with the matter. Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration is also looking at securing LNG from the project. Other companies are interested in both LNG and equity, according to the report. Woodside Energy and Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration did not respond immediately to comments. Woodside, Australia’s largest gas producer, agreed earlier this month to sell a 40 percent stake in its Louisiana Liquefied Natural Gas plant to U.S....

Natural Gas

CenterPoint will spend more on AI power despite a fall in quarterly profits

CenterPoint Energy announced a decline in its first-quarter profits on Thursday. However, the U.S. utility increased its capital expenditure plans to meet anticipated demand from data centres used for artificial intelligence technology. In January, a winter storm along the U.S. Gulf Coast slowed down major cities such as Houston and New Orleans and broke the record for coldest day in the region. Damage to power lines, and the widespread outages that followed, increased operating and maintenance costs for utilities. CenterPoint reported that its O&M cost rose by 5.4% compared to a year earlier, reaching $747 million in the third quarter....

Crude Oil

Vance wants closer US-Indian ties but warns that a 'dark period' is coming if not

On a Tuesday visit to India, JD Vance, the Vice President of the United States, said that the United States was looking to sell more defence and energy equipment to India. He added that the ties between India and the United States will shape this century. In a speech delivered in Jaipur, a city in northwestern India, he stated that if India and the United States worked together effectively we would see a prosperous and peaceful 21st century. "But I believe that the 21st Century could be very dark for humanity if we do not work together effectively." After their...

Environment

Report: Restarting coal plants after Trump's executive order makes no economic sense

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis said that reopening coal plants decommissioned to achieve this goal would be "no longer economically viable". IEEFA reported that Trump's executive order could delay the closing of coal-fired plants and encourage restarting of 102 coal-fired units recently closed. The report states that the units have had a total generation capacity of 36.566 megawatts for the last four years. However, only a few are likely to be reopened. As coal plants age, their maintenance costs rise. This in turn increases the cost of generation. IEEFA stated that in addition to these costs any...

Europe

Fossil Fuels

In April, Russia's oil and natural gas revenues were down by 12% year-on-year.

The Russian budget revenue from oil and natural gas sales dropped by around 12% compared to April last year. The Ministry of Finance blamed the sharp fall in oil prices. The Kremlin's most important cash source has been oil and gas revenue, which accounts for between a third and a half the total federal budget revenues over the last decade. According to the Finance Ministry, revenues reached 1.09 trillion Russian roubles (13.49 billion dollars) in April, down from 1.23 in April 2024, but slightly up from March's 1.08 trillion. This was more than the 0.96 trillion roubles that. In January-April,...

Power Markets

EUROPE GAS: Prices rangebound amid geopolitical concerns and warm weather

The Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas traded within a narrow range Wednesday morning due to the warm weather, a soft demand and stable supplies while market participants continued to monitor Russia and Ukraine peace talks. According to LSEG, the benchmark Dutch front-month contracts rose 0.10 euros to 31.90 euro per megawatt hour (10.63/mmBtu) at 0835 GMT. The British day-ahead contracts were up 0.23 pence, at 76.23 p/therm. Meanwhile, the front month contract increased 0.25 pence to 76.50 p/therm. LSEG analyst Yuriy Onyshkiv stated that robust LNG sendouts, stable Norwegian flows and a warmwave this week in Northwest Europe...

Natural Gas

Cornwall Insight reports that Britain's cap on energy prices will fall by 9% this July.

The cap on domestic energy prices in Britain is expected to drop by around 9% this July, after wholesale energy costs fell amid the warmer weather conditions and U.S. tariffs announcements fuelled fears about economic growth. The government would welcome a reduction in the cap, as it is under pressure to keep its promise to reduce household energy costs. The benchmark British gas price has fallen by around 40% in the last few months as warmer weather has curtailed demand. In addition, the EU Parliament endorsed weaker storage regulations for gas and there are growing fears about a global trade...

Western Europe

East Asia

Fossil Fuels

Sources say LNG Canada is preparing its plant to begin production in June.

Two people who are familiar with the process said that LNG Canada had completed cooling down its Kitimat liquefied gas plant and was preparing to produce the first LNG at the plant in June. To ensure the production of super-cooled gas, cooling an LNG plant is essential. It's also a crucial step before starting operations. LNG Canada will be the first LNG export facility in Canada. It is expected to export 14 million metric tons per year (MTPA). LNG Canada confirmed on Saturday that the Maran Gas Roxana left the plant after delivering a shipment to the plant on April...

Refined Products

Taiwan offers another $10 billion in aid to help deal with US tariffs

Taiwan's Premier proposed on Thursday another $10 billion as a budget special to help the economy cope with the impact U.S. Tariffs. Taiwan was due to receive 32% U.S. Tariffs in two weeks, but President Donald Trump suspended his "reciprocal Tariffs" for 90-days. At a press conference held in Taipei on Tuesday, Premier Cho Jung Tai said that the initial T$88.9 billion ($2.71billion) aid package will be increased up to T$410.9 billion ($12.61billion), which includes financing assistance for businesses, measures to stabilize the job market, and subsidies for electric. The special budget must be approved by the parliament. Opposition parties,...

Coal

Japan's crude imports for FY2024 down 7.1%; second consecutive year of decline

The Ministry of Finance (MOF), on Thursday, reported that Japan's crude oil imports cleared by customs in 2024 fell 7.1% from the previous year, and the value of the imported crude oil dropped 5.7%, to 10.65 trillion Japanese yen ($74.7billion), due to the lower oil price. The preliminary data show that Japan, which is the fourth largest crude buyer in the world, imported 2,32 million barrels of crude oil per day (134,67 million kilolitres), for the period ending March 31. The MOF reported that this was the second consecutive decline in value and volume year-over-year. The volume of Japan's LNG...

Natural Gas Liquids

Tohoku Electric aims to eventually stop Russian LNG purchases

Kojiro Higachi, the president of Tohoku Electric Power in Japan, said that Tohoku Electric Power should review its LNG procurement strategy if it is to stop buying from Russia. Under a contract that runs for 20 years, the utility will import 420,000 metric tonnes of LNG per year from Russia's Sakhalin-2 Project. Higuchi stated that this accounted for approximately 10% of the LNG produced by his company. He said at a press conference that "we must think about (our future procurement plans) assuming we will eventually stop purchasing from Russia." Later, the company stated that no decision had been made...

LNG

Russell: China's impact on US energy trade is minimal at first.

After Beijing retaliated to President Donald Trump’s tariffs by imposing its own measures, the trade between China and the United States in crude oil and liquefied gas is now effectively dead. China, which is the largest importer of three energy commodities in the world, imposed import duties on Tuesday of 15% for U.S. coal and LNG, and 10% for crude oil and farm machinery. Beijing made its move after the Trump administration imposed a 10% additional tariff on all Chinese imports into the United States. The 10% tax was less than the 60% Trump had threatened during his last-year campaign...

Energy Markets

Japan's JERA, Toho Gas to build 2 gas-fired power plants in Chita

Japanese power generator JERA and city gas supplier Toho Gas stated on Monday they will develop the No. 7 and No. 8 gasfired power systems at JERA's Chita thermal power station in central Japan, targeting operations in 2029. The 2 new systems, each with a capability of 659.9 megawatts ( MW), will replace the decommissioned No. 1- No. 4 gas-fired systems, which had actually an integrated capacity of 225.8 MW, a JERA spokesperson said. Ownership of the new units will be split in between the 2 business, with JERA taking a 75% stake and Toho Gas 25%. Electrical energy output...

Energy Markets

Japan targets 40-50% power supply from renewable energy by 2040

Japan wants renewable energy to account for approximately 50% of its electrical energy mix by fiscal year 2040 with nuclear power using up another 20%, according to a. draft of its revised standard energy policy, as it makes a tidy. energy push while meeting rising power need. As the world's second-largest importer of melted natural. gas and a major consumer of Middle Eastern oil, Japan and its. fundamental energy plans are drawing worldwide attention from oil, gas. and coal producers. Thermal power usage, particularly from inefficient. coal-fired power plants, is set to decrease to in between 30% and. 40% by...

Energy Markets

Russia's crude oil and LNG shipments to Asia slip a little in 2024: Russell

Asia's imports of Russian crude oil and melted natural gas are set to log little declines this year and while coal had a bigger drop, there's little evidence that Western sanctions are working well. Russia has concerned depend on Asia, the world's most significant purchaser of energy products, to absorb freights that are no longer able to be sold to buyers in Europe and elsewhere as an outcome of sanctions put against Moscow in the wake of the February 2022 intrusion of Ukraine. China and India became significant buyers of Russian crude, coal and LNG after the invasion, taking freights...

Oil & Gas Refining

PetroChina's Q3 profit down 5.3% on fuel sales decrease, lower oil prices

Asia's biggest oil and gas manufacturer PetroChina Co Ltd reported a 5.3% yearonyear decline in thirdquarter net revenue as weaker fuel sales and lower oil rates exceeded growing gas and oil output. Net revenue was up to 43.91 billion yuan ($ 6.15 billion), the business said in a stock filing on Tuesday. Revenue fell 12.4% to 702.4 billion yuan. PetroChina's net profit stayed the highest amongst domestic peers. Offshore oil and gas manufacturer CNOOC Ltd posted record quarterly revenues of 36.93 billion yuan while top Asian refiner Sinopec Corp's halved to 8.5 billion yuan in the exact same three-month duration....

LNG

Japan's JERA H1 earnings halves, complete year projection unchanged

Japan's leading power generator, JERA, said on Tuesday its AprilSeptember internet earnings halved, hit by a steep drop in gains from lagged fuel price modifications and its U.S. power generation organization. The utility adhered to its annual earnings price quote of 200 billion yen ($ 1.3 billion), that included the impact of the shutdown of its Taketoyo coal-fired power plant following a fire on Jan. 31. No date has been set yet for rebooting the plant. JERA, an unlisted business jointly owned by Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power, reported internet profit of 138.9 billion yen for the six...

Natural Gas

United States FTC enables Chevron-Hess offer, bars John Hess from board

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission allowed Chevron's $53 billion purchase of Hess Corp on Monday, in an order that disallowed Hess CEO John Hess from Chevron's board. The FTC's order leaves Exxon Mobil's difficulty to the deal, which is anticipated to stretch deep into next year, as its final difficulty. The proposed merger included a Chevron board seat for Hess when it was first revealed last October, and the FTC sent a. second details demand to Chevron 2 months later on. Hess had actually interacted publicly and privately with members of. the Company of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). group...

Refined Products

Inpex H1 revenue falls 14.5%, unveils dividend walking, share buybacks

Japan's biggest oil and gas explorer Inpex on Thursday reported a 14.5% drop in its firsthalf net profit, but raised its yearly dividend forecast and revealed an additional share buyback strategy to improve shareholder returns. For the complete year, it stayed with its earnings forecast of 360 billion yen ($ 2.5 billion) regardless of lower than predicted output at its crucial Ichthys liquefied natural gas project in Australia. Net profit for the 6 months through June 30 was up to 212.6 billion yen from 248.5 billion a year previously due to increased expedition expenditures in Australia and higher tax payments....