Oilfield giants shift focus to AI infrastructure after drilling demand declines
SLB, Halliburton, and Baker Hughes, oilfield services giants in North America, are focusing on data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure to fuel their next phase of expansion as they deal with a slowing drilling market and idle rigs. U.S. producers of oil have reduced exploration budgets, as the price of a barrel hovers in the low 60s, under pressure from rising production by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies. Meanwhile, power demand has risen due to the surge of AI workloads.
Wall Street Journal, October 23,
These are the most popular stories from the Wall Street Journal. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch their accuracy. As frustration grows in Washington over the conflict in Ukraine, U.S. president Donald Trump announced new substantial sanctions against Russia's largest oil companies, Lukoil, and Rosneft. He also targeted nearly 30 of their subsidiaries. U.S. officials have confirmed that the Trump administration has lifted an important restriction on Ukraine using some long-range rockets provided by Western Allies.
Brookfield invests $5 billion in Bloom Energy to support fuel cells for AI data centers
Brookfield Asset Management announced on Monday that it would invest up to five billion dollars in Bloom Energy fuel cell technology for data centers. Companies are looking to cleaner energy sources to meet the demands of artificial intelligence. Bloom Energy shares were up 31% in premarket trading at $113.72. As they spend billions on building and expanding their data centers, companies are looking to clean power sources like nuclear, renewables, and fuel cells to meet the demand for AI, Cloud Computing, and digital services.
Chevron expands India Hub to boost AI and digital capabilities
Chevron India opened a 312,000 square foot facility for its Engineering and Innovation Excellence Center in Bengaluru on Thursday, a year and a half after launching this unit. The unit was launched to consolidate its technical work and enhance its digital and AI capabilities. India is playing a growing role in energy transition, as technology plays a central role in cost reduction and competition. The U.S. oil giant also targets cost savings of up to $3 billion by 2026, and streamlines its global operations.
Roundhill launches ETF for tracking meme stocks and retail investing trends
Roundhill Investments has relaunched a exchange-traded funds it closed two years ago. The fund is designed to track a constantly changing universe "meme" stock and the activities retail investors who love these stocks. The Roundhill Meme Stock ETF is a new actively managed fund that trades under the symbol MEME. It aims to capitalize on the trend that has periodically gripped U.S. traders since the pandemic when new retail investors began using social media platforms such as Reddit to discuss their investment theories and to share their top stock picks.
Trump cuts subsidies for US clean energy, bringing an end to the boom.
Bila Solar, a Singapore-based manufacturer of solar panels, has suspended plans to double the capacity of its new Indianapolis factory. Heliene, a Canadian competitor, is reviewing its plans to build a solar-cell facility in Minnesota. NorSun, a Norwegian manufacturer of solar wafers, is evaluating the feasibility of a planned facility in Tulsa. Two offshore wind farms that are fully permitted in the U.S. Northeast could never be built. The major clean energy investments are now under question, after Republicans agreed to end U.S.
Google signs $3 billion US Hydropower Deal in Largest Clean Energy Agreement
Google announced on Tuesday that it had agreed to purchase up to 3 gigawatts (or more) of hydroelectric power in the United States, forming the largest corporate clean energy pact ever for hydroelectricity. This comes as Big Tech continues its expansion of data centers, which are notoriously energy-hungry. The agreement between Google and Brookfield Asset Management includes initial power purchase agreements totaling $3 billion for electricity generated by two hydropower plants in Pennsylvania.
Google signs $3 billion US Hydropower Deal in Largest Clean Energy Agreement
Google announced on Tuesday that it had agreed to purchase up to 3 gigawatts (or more) of hydroelectric power in the United States, in what is the largest corporate clean energy pact ever made. This comes as Big Tech continues its expansion of data centers, which are notoriously energy-hungry. The agreement between Google and Brookfield Asset Management includes initial power purchase agreements totaling $3 billion for electricity generated by two hydropower plants in Pennsylvania.
NAACP threatens El Musk's xAI with a lawsuit over Memphis air pollution
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People sent a letter to Elon Musk’s xAI on Tuesday, indicating its intention to file a lawsuit against the company for air pollution coming from the data center of the AI startup in Memphis. Southern Environmental Law Center sent the letter on behalf of NAACP. It alleges that xAI violated federal laws by using methane turbines in its South Memphis data centre without obtaining permits or "best-available" pollution controls.
Amazon will invest $13 billion over 5 years in Australia's Data Center Infrastructure
Amazon announced in a Saturday blog post that it will invest A$20 Billion ($12.97 Billion) between 2025 and 2029 in Australia to expand, maintain, and operate its data center infrastructure. This investment is expected to boost the country's artificial-intelligence capabilities. Amazon has made its largest technology investment in Australia. The funding will be used to support new server capacity, as well as generative AI workloads. It added that the company will also invest in three new solar farm in Victoria and Queensland.
German utility RWE announces partnership with tech giant Amazon
The German utility RWE announced on Thursday a strategic framework deal with tech giant Amazon, in which the utility will deliver clean energy and receive cloud services in exchange. Cloud services include artificial intelligence and data analysis in exchange for electricity provided by RWE's solar and wind facilities. Some of these are already operational and others are in construction. RWE, a major utility company in Europe, has a portfolio of…
Wall Street stocks finish flat after choppy trading, as Treasury yields decrease
U.S. stock prices finished Thursday little changed, erasing an initial decline, as Treasury yields eased from recent highs following the House of Representatives' passage of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending plan. Stocks were under pressure on Thursday as longer-dated Treasury yields dropped, which allowed stocks to breathe. After reaching its highest level since February, the benchmark U.S. 10 year note yield dropped 5.4 basis points to 4,543%.
Evergy's pipeline for power users such as data centers has jumped to 11,2 GW
Evergy Inc.'s pipeline of very large electricity clients, such as data centers, has increased to 11,2 gigawatts, which is more than its current maximum total demand. Evergy, a Midwestern company that covers Missouri and Kansas in the United States, has announced an increase of 8% on its capital spending plan for 2025-2029, to $17.5 billion. The demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence has pushed up U.S. electricity consumption after a two-decade hiatus. This year, the country is expected to hit record levels.
Utility Public Service Enterprise raises its spending plan and forecasts a higher profit in 2025
Public Service Enterprise Group, a U.S. electric utility and gas company, forecasted a higher profit in 2025 compared to the previous year and increased its five-year plan for capital expenditures. Utilities are experiencing a surge in power demand as Big Tech invests billions of dollars in developing artificial intelligence technology and infrastructure to support it. PSEG expects to spend between $22,5 billion and $26 billion in the five years from 2025 to 2029. This is an increase of $3 billion over its previous plan.
DeepSeek fears subside, US power companies spend more on data centers
U.S. Electric utilities are increasing their spending plans by tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars in order to upgrade the grid and build new power sources as artificial intelligence data centers and cloud computing drives up energy consumption. PPL Corp announced on its earnings call that it will increase capital investment by almost 40%, to $20 billion. Dominion which is the largest provider of data centers in Northern Virginia and Exelon, the utility giant, both revised their capital plans in the past week.
AEP considers a $10 billion increase in its five-year capital expenditure plan to meet data center demand
American Electric Power said on Thursday that it would consider adding $10 billion to the $54 billion capital plan, which is a record. The demand for data centres in the Midwest and Southern service areas of this U.S. utility has increased. The U.S. Power Companies have raised their capital investment and load forecasts as the technology industry invests billions in expanding energy-hungry cloud computing and artificial intelligence data centers. AEP has committed to 20 gigawatts in new power through 2029.
Chevron will build gas plants for data centers in the AI boom
The oil and gas company Chevron announced on Tuesday that it will build natural gas power plants near data centers in the U.S. as the energy demand for artificial intelligence growth is expected to grow. The second largest U.S. oil and gas producer has partnered with Engine No. The project is a partnership between Engine No. 1 and electric service company GE Vernova. Chevron announced the project a day after Chinese startup DeepSeek revealed an AI model it claims uses much less computing power than leading models in the United States.
Upwind, a cloud security company based in Israel and the United States, raises $100 Million
Upwind, a cloud security company based in the United States and Israel, announced on Monday that it had raised $100m from private investors to meet increasing demand as businesses move their data rapidly to cloud storage. Craft Ventures led the round, with new investors TCV, Alta Park Capital, and existing investors Greylock, Cyberstarts and Leaders Fund as well as Sheva founded by former NBA star Omri Casspi. The total funding for the company since its inception in 2022 is $180 million. These funds are mainly used to expand in the U.S.A. and Europe.
MARA, a cryptominer, taps the power generated by U.S. Shale Patch in a new pilot program
MARA Holdings Inc. has announced that it is now producing electricity in the U.S. Shale Patch as part of a program pilot to power 25 megawatts for its mining operations using excess natural gas. The company said that the move was made in response to the intensifying competition between Big Tech AI data centers for electricity, which has caused the crypto industry to change its business strategy and either market AI or find a way around the power battle.
Digitalization: Trust - The Keystone for Digital Transformation
The slowdown of the world economy and plummeting energy consumption have eclipsed most other industry news. Oil exporting countries are coming to terms with limiting production to sustain reasonable prices, and operators are looking for ways to improve efficiency. At the same time, the marketplace created by the pandemic is forcing companies to work differently. Telepresence and remote work have become the norm, and this directly impacts how work is organized and relationships are maintained.