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Oil & Gas

Oil & Gas

Iran threatens US missiles with new missiles after threatening to create a new Gulf "exclusion zone"

Iran threatened the United States with "economic warfare" on Tuesday and said it had ?fired an advanced missile at U.S. warships,underscoring the risks of further escalation in the war only days after both sides traded blows again. The six-month war has been marked by periodic flare-ups and pauses. Last Saturday, U.S. forces attacked three Iranian oil tanks. Iranian state media reported on Sunday that Iran had fired the Qassem Basir rocket. Iran continues to block shipping in the Strait of Hormuz despite U.S. efforts to open it. There is also no progress toward a diplomatic breakthrough which could end the...

Oil & Gas

TotalEnergies nears Papua LNG investment decision after cost cuts, Exxon deal

TotalEnergies announced on Monday that it had cleared a number of?commercial and contractual hurdles in its Papua LNG Project, bringing the project closer to a decision. The French energy giant said that it had completed the tendering process for the engineering, procurement, and construction work of liquefied gas facilities. Contracts are now awaiting approval from its joint-venture partners. TotalEnergies reported that by rebidding?contracts and optimising project design, they have been able to save close to $4 billion in costs since 2024. This has brought down the capital spending?to?around $14 billion. ExxonMobil already operates the nearby PNG LNG plant. The company...

Oil & Gas Refining

Dominion Energy, NextEra secure shareholder approvals for merger deal

According to Thursday's regulatory filings, shareholders of Dominion Energy & NextEra Energy have approved the $66.8 Billion merger. The two companies announced their merger plan in May. This is expected to result in one of the largest electric utilities around, with an expansion of data centers that use a lot of energy to support artificial intelligent. Dominion, a Virginia-based company, serves the world's largest concentration of data centres. After nearly two decades stagnant electricity consumption, a resurgence of electricity demand has led to a wave major utility mergers. The deal is pending regulatory approvals and will create the third largest...

Oil & Gas

Analysis shows that the US munition was most likely responsible for the deadly strike on an Iranian wedding.

Weapons experts reviewed video and images verified by the Iranian authorities and concluded that it was likely a direct strike by an American munition, not a ricochet from another target. The incident in Kuhestak, a small town in Iran, has reignited concern about the civilian cost of the U.S.-Iran war. It is the most dramatic case to date since a missile hit an Iranian primary school and killed scores of students and teachers in February. U.S. Central Command announced that its forces had carried out multiple strikes in Iran's southern region on Sept. 1. These targeted air defense systems, radars,...

Oil & Gas Refining

Dominion Energy receives approval from shareholders for merger with NextEra

Dominion Energy announced in a regulatory document on Thursday that its shareholders had approved the previously announced $66.8 billion merger with NextEra Energy. 671.32 millions votes were cast "in favor" of the 'deal. In May, the companies announced their merger plan. This is expected to result in one of the largest electric utilities in the world. Dominion, a Virginia-based company, serves the largest concentration of data centres in the world. After nearly two decades stagnant electricity consumption, a resurgence of electricity demand has led to a wave major utility mergers. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and will create...

Oil & Gas

US Energy Secretary says Venezuelan oil production will more than double within the next few years

Energy Secretary Chris Wright of the United States said that after arriving in Venezuela on Tuesday, the oil companies in the U.S. as well as?other countries will sign deals in Caracas tomorrow that will result in a more-than-doubling in crude production over the next few year. Wright is in Venezuela for a day-long visit, his second trip since U.S. troops seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro's office in January. Venezuelan oil production peaked at over 3 million barrels a day in the late 90s, but then plummeted due to a lack investment, poor management and U.S. sanction. In recent months, it...

Oil & Gas

These power and cooling companies are also riding the data centre boom, which is worth trillions of dollars.

Nvidia may be synonymous with AI, but a group of lesser-known power and cooling equipment providers is also cashing in on the global data center construction boom as developers rush to avoid infrastructure bottlenecks. The energy-hungry data centers have created a surge of demand for equipment from transformers to advanced cooling systems. This has created winners throughout Asia's supply chains, though earlier stock price gains have moderated. McKinsey predicts that data centres will be worth $7 trillion by 2030. Nvidia said last week it expected AI spending to continue for many years. It is getting harder to build data centres...

Oil & Gas

Bessent: U.S. to announce Iran banking sanctions this week

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated on Tuesday that the United States will likely announce sanctions against a bank in this week as part of its economic campaign against Iran. "We will probably announce a sanction against a bank this week and another the following week." Bessent stated that he was speaking with our allies in the area, who had all expressed their support. The treasury secretary said that the United States was targeting airline leasing companies and other entities who did business with the Islamic?Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) at an event held on the sidelines of a meeting of 20...

Oil & Gas

Sony and Warner Music sue Anthropic for songs used in AI training

The music publishing divisions of Sony Music 'and 'Warner Music sued Anthropic at the federal court in California for allegedly using their copyrighted compositions as a basis to train Claude AI models. Sony and Warner stated in their complaint filed on Friday that Anthropic had pirated hundreds song lyrics and sheet songs from The Beatles to Taylor Swift to Michael Jackson to train Claude to respond to human prompts. This lawsuit is part of a series of similar cases filed by copyright holders, including publishers, authors, music labels, and news outlets, against tech companies for using their work in AI...

Oil & Gas

Trump will host oil executives following his accusation that refiners are ripping off consumers.

Donald Trump has accused U.S. refiners of ripping off Americans. He also called for an investigation by the Justice Department and encouraged companies to use their profits to'reduce gasoline prices, which spiked during the conflict with Iran. He is expected to welcome many of these companies to the White House on Tuesday to celebrate their efforts to maintain a well-supplied market in an effort to manage gasoline prices, which currently average over $4 per gallon. Executives have had to make an unusual calculation because of the timing. According to those familiar with the plans and the timing, companies received the...

Oil & Gas

South Korea's SK On signs deal with US company NeoVolt Power for energy storage batteries

SK On, a South Korean battery manufacturer, announced on 'Monday that it had signed a contract to supply U.S. -based NeoVolta Power 9 Gigawatt Hours (GWh), of lithium iron phosphate?battery cells. These will be used in energy storage systems over a five-year period starting 2027. In a press release, SK On said that the pouch-type cells would be manufactured at its factory in Georgia. SK On has not disclosed the value of the deal but industry estimates place it at approximately 1.5 trillion won ($1.09billion). SK On has entered into an agreement to expand its energy storage systems business in...

Oil & Gas

WSJ reports that the US will take a 35% stake in Venezuelan oil mogul Betancourt’s venture.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that the U.S. Government plans to acquire a 35% passive stake in North American Blue Energy Partners of Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, citing "people" involved in the negotiations. The WSJ reported that the U.S. plans to also secure preferential rights for the purchase of 20% of the production costs at the company. The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital intends to?structure the investment through penny-warrants that would give the U.S. a?equity ownership in the business? without significant capital investments, according to the WSJ. The report was released just a day after U.S. president Donald...

Fossil Fuels

Fossil Fuels

Opposition leader: Oil investors need a democratic Venezuela to be stable

Maria Corina Machado, Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader, said in a video on Thursday that only a "serious democratic government" could provide investors with the stability they need. In a signing event overseen by Delcy Rodrguez, interim president of the United States and Chris Wright, U.S. Secretary of Energy, international energy firms committed to expanding their projects in the country on 'Wednesday. Eni, GE Vernova, and Chevron are among the companies that have signed agreements to revive Venezuela's oil industry. The country produces only about 1.25 million barrels of crude oil per day, a far cry from its...

Fossil Fuels

These power and cooling companies are also riding the data centre boom, which is worth trillions of dollars.

Nvidia may be synonymous with AI, but a group of lesser-known power and cooling equipment providers is cashing in as developers rush to avoid infrastructure bottlenecks. The energy-hungry data centers have created a surge of demand for equipment from transformers to advanced cooling systems. This has created winners throughout Asia's supply chains, though earlier stock price gains have moderated. McKinsey predicts that data centres will be worth $7 trillion by 2030. Nvidia said 'last week' it expected AI spending to continue for many years. It is getting harder to build data centres quickly enough to meet the demand. According to...

Fossil Fuels

These power and cooling companies are also riding the data centre boom, which is worth trillions of dollars.

Nvidia may be synonymous with AI, but a group of lesser-known power and cooling equipment providers is taking advantage of a global construction frenzy as developers rush to avoid infrastructure bottlenecks. The energy-hungry data centers have created a?surge in demand for equipment from transformers and advanced cooling systems. This has resulted in?winners throughout Asia's supply chains, although earlier stock price gains have moderated. McKinsey predicts that nearly $7 trillion will be invested in data centres worldwide by 2030. Nvidia said last week it expects AI expenditures to continue for many years. It is getting harder to build data centres quickly...

Crude Oil

Refined Products

Refined Products

Supply concerns about a prolonged Mideast conflict have heightened the price of oil

The oil prices continued to rise?on?Tuesday, as the risks of a long-term conflict in the Middle East increased after Iran threatened retaliation against any new U.S. attack on its assets. This heightened concerns over supply disruption. Brent crude futures rose 34 cents or 0.35% to $97.34 per barrel at 0000 GMT. U.S. West Texas?Intermediate Crude was $92.63 per barrel, up $1.15 or 1.26%. Brent reached its highest level in the previous session since?July 24, as traders built a risk premium to prices amid increased?tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. This is a major artery for crude oil shipments around the...

Fuel Oil

Iran's government will raise fuel prices for heavy users

Iran will increase the price of gasoline starting Tuesday for those who use more than 110 litres of fuel per month, according to a government spokesperson. Fatemeh Mohajerani, in comments reported by the state media, said that the price for the first and second quotas (which include 110 litres) will remain the same, but that the price for the third quota would be increased to 100,000 Iranian Rials per litre. This is equivalent to around?4 U.S. Cents at the current free-market price. The government discussed and delayed the increase in the price of?Iran’s gasoline, which is among the lowest in...

Power Markets

A ceasefire negotiated for repairs to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant has been implemented

The IAEA announced that a local ceasefire brokered by it took effect Saturday in order to allow repairs at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, controlled by Russia, to be made to restore external power. Since August 20, the plant has been relying on diesel emergency generators to cool vital safety systems. The U.N. Nuclear Watchdog said that if power is not restored to the facility or additional fuel cannot be delivered, a blackout could occur within days. IAEA stated that Ukrainian technicians would begin working on the damaged Ferosplavna electric line after demining the area. In the first weeks following...

Oil Storage

Gas prices in the US hit record highs for Labor Day Weekend

The war in the Middle East is still driving up energy costs. Americans are facing record high gasoline prices for Labor Day Weekend, just as midterm Congressional election campaigns begin. Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy analyst, says that the national average gas price is likely to reach $4.03 per gallon on Labor Day. This will be a significant increase over the previous record of $3.83 set in 2012. De Haan, in a blog post, wrote that "Gasoline is not at all-time highs, but it's at the highest level ever recorded for this late in the year. This means Americans may see...

Refined Products

Holiday schedule for US economic and other data

Labor Day, which falls on Monday, September 7, will impact the release of major economic, energy, and commodities reports in Washington for the week ending Sept. 6. The schedule is below. The times are in EDT/GMT. Treasury announcements are subject to change. Monday, September 7 Labor Day. Labor Day. Tuesday, September 8, National Federation of Independent Business releases Small Business Optimism Index, August 0600/1000 Conference Board releases Employment Trends for August 1000/1400 Treasury Dept. Treasury Dept. The U.S. Department of Agriculture releases weekly U.S. Export Inspections for Grains, Oilseeds at 1100/1500. Note: this week's inspections are delayed due to the...

Refined Products

Crude oil prices set to rise by the most since mid-July as US-Iran tensions fuel oil price gains

As tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated, oil prices rose on Friday. They are now heading towards their steepest weekly gains since mid-July. Brent crude futures rose by 54 cents or 0.6% to $96.06 per barrel at 0100 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude crude futures gained 80 cents or 0.9% to $92.10. Brent and WTI both saw weekly gains of 7.6%, while WTI gained 10.4%, the biggest since the week ending July 20. The U.S. attacks on Iran this week, which killed and injured dozens of civilians including Iranians, were the most violent clashes that have occurred between...

Refined Products

Oil prices drop as investors assess the uncertainty surrounding U.S.-Iran strike

Oil prices fell on Thursday, as investors weighed the risk of a disruption in Middle East supplies due to renewed military strikes by the U.S. Brent 'crude futures dropped 43?cents or 0.45% to $95.2 a.barrel.at 0029 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures were also down 24 cents or 0.26% at $90.77. The war is now in its seventh full month, and the latest attacks are the most significant exchange of fire since July between the U.S. Brent and WTI fluctuated between gains of up to $2 per barrel and losses as low as $1 during the previous session. Both...

Refined Products

US energy chief: Venezuelan oil production to double within a few years

Chris Wright, the U.S. Energy Secretary, said that after arriving in Venezuela on Tuesday that the 'deals' that oil companies from the U.S. The oil companies from the United States and other countries will sign deals in Caracas tomorrow that will result in a more-than-doubling of crude oil production over the next few decades. Wright is on a one day trip to Venezuela, the founding OPEC member. This is his second visit since U.S. troops seized Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro as leader in January. Venezuelan oil production peaked at over 3?million barrels a day in the late 1990s, but then?plummeted due...

Refined Products

FOREX Dollar gains as oil and yield increases raise inflation fears

The dollar gained on Tuesday, as renewed U.S. - Iran hostilities sent the oil prices higher. This fueled?inflation fears and sparked a global 'bond saleoff. After the first direct attack in a week, U.S. president Donald Trump has threatened to strike again against?Iran?. This has pushed oil prices over 2% higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note reached its highest level since January 2025. Karl Schamotta is the chief market strategist for Corpay. He said that the dollar was rising as a result of the hostilities between Iran and the U.S., which increased inflation risks and raised the possibility...

Oil & Gas Refining

Japan's oil imports rose 17% in July, as US supplies jumped

Japan's crude oil imports increased by 17% from the previous year in July, as a result of a surge in U.S. Official data released on Monday showed that?shipments, a resurgence in Saudi Arabian purchases and lower supplies from Middle Eastern producers were offset by a rise in?supplies. The Ministry of Trade, Economy and Industry reported that imports increased to 2,38 million barrels a day (11.72 millions kilolitres) for the second consecutive month despite disruptions caused by the U.S./Israeli war against Iran. Imports to?the Middle East dropped 21.4% from July. The United Arab Emirates, Japan's two largest suppliers, and Saudi Arabia...

Refined Products

Sources say that the US is close to a deal with Venezuela to gain long-term access its oil reserves.

Sources familiar with the negotiations confirmed on Thursday that officials in the Trump administration are working to reach a long-term agreement to give the United States, which oversees Venezuela's oil exports, access to a part of Venezuela's crude reserves. Sources?said that the agreement, which is expected to be signed and made public soon?, would allow the U.S. Government to lock in?a group Venezuelan oilfields that will be developed by American firms, and that the supply would be?guaranteed for? the U.S. One of the sources stated that "this is real and being discussed on the highest level of the U.S. government...

Refined Products

Russell: Crude oil imports from Asia remain soft in August, despite US claims about the Hormuz blockade

Asia's crude oil imports in August were still far below levels before the Iran conflict began, which raises questions about how much crude actually leaves the Middle East. According to Kpler's data, the top-importing continent will see arrivals of 23,12 million barrels a day (bpd). This is a slight decrease from July, when 23.36 million bpd was recorded. Imports are also down by almost 4 million barrels per day (or 14%) from the average of 26.91 million barrels per day in the three-month period ending February. The United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran on 28 February, prompting...