Indonesia and US firms sign trade, investment agreements worth $7 billion
The U.S. ASEAN Business Council reported that Indonesian & U.S. firms signed 'trade and investment agreements worth more than $7 bn? on Wednesday, a day before Indonesian President Prabowo?Subianto meets with U.S. president Donald Trump for a meeting to sign a final deal. According to a U.S. ASEAN Business Council fact sheet, the agreements were signed during a dinner hosted by U.S. Chamber of Commerce for Prabowo. They include Indonesian companies purchasing 1 million metric tonnes of U.S. corn, 1.6 millions tons of soybeans and 93,000 tons of U.S. cotton over an unspecified period. Indonesia is expected to buy up to 5,000,000 tons of wheat by 2030.
Italy's Tenaris beats estimates for fourth-quarter sales on North America demand
Tenaris, an Italian steel pipe manufacturer, reported a 5% increase in net sales for the fourth quarter late on Wednesday, surpassing analysts' expectations, thanks to strong demand in North America. The net sales of the quarter ending December 31 increased from $2.84 to $3 billion, largely due to a 29% increase in North America tube sales that helped offset declining revenue in South America and Europe. Analysts had expected the Luxembourg-headquartered company to ?report sales of $2.96 billion, according to LSEG data. The company that provides…
Occidental Petroleum tops quarterly profit estimates on midstream support
Occidental Petroleum surpassed Wall Street's expectations for the fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday as its?midstream?unit helped offset lower crude?oil?prices. In extended trading, shares of the 'company' rose by nearly 3%. Occidental realized oil prices dropped to $59.22 a barrel in the fourth-quarter, down from $69.73 a barrel compared to 69.73 if you compare it to 68.73 a barrel. Production rose to 1.48 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboepd), despite Occidental increasing production to 1.48 MMboepd. Brent crude fell more than 9% in the last quarter due to growing concerns over an oil glut.
Junior minister: Austria looks to renewables and African gas to reduce US LNG dependency
PARIS, February 18 - Austria wants to increase renewable energy and import more?gas from Africa in order to avoid becoming too dependent on U.S. Liquefied Natural?Gas? as Europe changes its energy supply. As a result of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, European countries struggle to maintain affordable electricity prices. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has many governments concerned about replacing one dependence with another. "The U.S. cannot be predicted in these times. So for Austria, we are looking very closely to make sure we have LNG coming from different sources," Elisabeth Zehetner said, Austria's State Secretary for Energy.
Nigeria redirects all oil and gas revenues to the Federation account as part of sweeping reform
The presidency announced on Wednesday that President Bola Tinubu signed an order directing all oil and gas revenues due to the government to be paid directly into the federation's account. This is part of a sweeping reform aimed at improving public finances. According to the law, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation retains 30% of the oil and gas profit for frontier exploration within inland basins. According to the presidency, these funds will be "paid into the Federation account and appropriated" by the government. NNPC retains 30 percent of the oil and gas revenue as operating costs, and gets 30 percent of the proceeds from Production Sharing Contracts.
Spain's Naturgy wants to talk with Yamal about the impact of EU's Russian Gas Ban
A senior official at Naturgy said that the company will be holding talks with Russia's Yamal Gas in order to declare force majeure on their long-term contract. This is due to an EU ban on Russian gas imports. In 2013, the Spanish power utility Yamal signed a long-term agreement to import around 3 billion cubic meters of Russian LNG every year. The talks are imminent, but they haven't started yet. This was the message from Manuel Garcia Cobaleda Naturgy's General Counsel, in a conference with journalists after the company's results. Garcia Cobaleda referred to the previous comments of EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen and said that the ban was "force majeure"…
Exxon’s Uaru project and Whiptail project in Guyana is moving ahead of schedule according to an executive.
Exxon Mobil’s President of Guyana Operations said that the company's fifth- and sixth-projects in Guyana, Uaru and Whiptail, are on schedule and within budget. Alistair Routledge (Exxon Guyana president) refused to give a timeline for the start-up of projects when asked by. Whiptail, meanwhile, is expected to begin production in 2027. Uaru will produce 250,000 barrels a day, and Whiptail - 200,000. Guyana's total output will be?1.15m bpd once Uaru begins, and 1.4m bpd after Whiptail comes online. Routledge, in a speech at the Guyana Energy Conference…
Golden Pass is moving closer to producing its first LNG by increasing natural gas flow into the facility
LSEG data show that Golden Pass, a joint venture between Exxon Mobil, QatarEnergy and Exxon Mobil, has pulled in more than 300 million cubic feet on Wednesday, bringing it closer to producing its first LNG. The '18 million metric tons per year project in Texas will be one of the biggest U.S. export facilities of super-cooled gas and help the United States maintain its position as the top exporter. Exxon CEO Darren Woods stated on January 30 that he expects the plant to begin producing LNG in March. This marks an important milestone for the project.
Minister Trinidad is confident that gas projects with Venezuela can proceed.
The energy minister for the twin island nation, Trinidad and Tobago, said that the government was confident two major 'offshore gas' projects with Venezuela, to be 'operated' by Shell, BP and Trinidad National Gas Company, will go ahead despite the political changes in OPEC's country. Since U.S. forces captured Nicolas Maduro in the last month, they have'relaxed sanctions on Venezuelan energy industry. This is part of a 'ambitious $100 billion rebuilding plan. The Venezuelan government is now headed by Interim President Delcy Rodriguez. Venezuela's…
Glencore earned less money from energy sales despite selling more oil for the third consecutive year
The annual earnings of the commodity trader, mining group Glencore showed that it traded more oil in 2013 but made less money?from energy trading? for the third consecutive year. The company stated that "Energy coal and steelmaking coking coal faced a more subdued climate." The company said that "well-supplied markets and geopolitical uncertainties, as well as softer sentiments" affected performance. Glencore announced slightly lower core earnings for 2025 on Wednesday and announced it would return $ 2 billion to its shareholders. In early April, negotiations to merge Rio Tinto and create a global mining company failed.
Junior minister: Austria looks to renewables and African gas to reduce US LNG dependency
PARIS, February 18 - Austria is looking to increase renewable energy and gas imports from Africa in order to avoid becoming too dependent on U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas as Europe reshapes its 'energy supply. As a result of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, European countries struggle to maintain affordable electricity prices. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has many governments concerned about replacing one dependence with another. "The U.S. cannot be predicted in these times. Therefore, for Austria, we are looking very closely to ensure that we have LNG from other sources," said Elisabeth Zehetner. Austria's State secretary for energy.
Gas prices in Europe are expected to fall due to mild weather.
The Dutch and British wholesale gas prices fell on Wednesday morning as the milder weather and forecasts of windy conditions reduced demand and eased fears over storage depletion. The benchmark Dutch 'front-month contract' at the TTF hub fell?0.74 euro?to 29.70 euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh), which is $10.30/mmBtu by 0901 GMT. This was its lowest level since 12 January, according to LSEG data. Arne Lohmann-Rasmussen, Global Risk Management's chief analyst, noted that softer forecasts for the weekend, and the remainder of the month combined with a reduced geopolitical premium, had a negative impact on the prices.
Reports from FT say that Eni, the Italian oil and gas company, is considering a return to trading.
Italian energy major Eni ?is weighing re-entering oil ?and ?gas trading ?as it seeks the outsized returns enjoyed by BP, Shell and TotalEnergies, amid geopolitically-driven price volatility, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. Claudio Descalzi,?Eni's Chief Executive, told FT that he stopped trading in 2019, but other large companies were still traders. Descalzi stated that he has held preliminary discussions with several commodity companies, including Mercuria about forming a joint-venture. "It's not in our DNA." We're not very commercial. "I thought that to be commercial we would need a partner to understand the business," said he.
Santos will cut 10% of its workforce as the growth projects reach their end. The annual profit is below expectations.
Australian oil and ?gas producer Santos Ltd reported a ?steeper-than-expected ?drop in annual profit on Wednesday, hurt by weak commodity prices, and said it would reduce its headcount by about 10% as major growth projects near completion. The shares of Australia's 2nd largest gas producer fell as much as 1.8 percent in early trading. However, they retraced the majority of these losses to trade slightly lower at 0020 GMT. Kevin Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer, said that as the Barossa LNG project was completed and the Pikka Phase 1 project neared completion in?Alaska the growth projects of the company would be transitioned to the "base" business.
Iraq approves an 'amicable agreement' with Russia's Lukoil regarding the transfer of operations for giant fields
According to a press release, the 'Iraqi Cabinet approved a "friendly settlement" with Russia's Lukoil on Tuesday regarding the transfer of the West Qurna 2, a giant oil field in the west of Iraq to the state-run Basra Oil Company. Last month, Iraqi nationalised the oilfields after the U.S. imposed Lukoil sanctions to pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine. West Qurna is the largest oilfield in the world, and it accounts for about 0.5% of oil production globally. West Qurna 2 Oil Field Nationalization comes at a time when talks with U.S. oil major Chevron continue over the field. Lukoil must sell its assets by?February 28, 2019 to comply with U.S. sanctions.
Expand Energy exceeds its fourth-quarter profit expectations and plans to reduce debt by $1 billion in 2026
?U.S. Expand Energy, a natural gas producer, beat Wall Street's estimates for the fourth quarter profit on Tuesday. It aims to improve its balance sheet by reducing debts of at least $1 billion in 2026. The company was able to benefit from the higher prices, as U.S. Natural Gas Futures jumped over 11% sequentially during the fourth quarter. This broke a downward trend that began in the second quarter. Natural gas prices averaged $3.37/Mcf, up from $2.91/Mcf one year earlier. Production averaged 7.4 billion cubic foot per day for the company during the reported 'quarter. This is up from 6.41 bcfe/d the previous?year.
Exxon is committed to moving quickly on Guyana gas project, but it needs demand sources for the gas, says executive
Exxon Mobil's chief upstream said that the company is 'committed' to moving quickly to develop natural gas resources in Guyana, but the government of the South American country must advance industrial projects if it wants to ensure a long-term demand for the gas. Exxon Mobil, the company that leads the oil consortium operating Guyana's Stabroek Block has been pressed by the 'Guyanese' government to develop and build natural gas projects, including petrochemical facilities and data centers, in order to diversify the country's energy industry beyond oil. Exxon Upstream president Dan?Ammann stated that the pipeline constructed by the company was ready to transport gas to Guyana.
Devon's profits beat expectations for the quarter, but forecasts lower production after winter storm
Devon Energy, a U.S. shale producer, narrowly beat Wall Street expectations for the fourth-quarter profits and forecast lower production in the first-quarter after severe winter storms disrupted operations throughout?key producing regions. Analysts and traders estimate that the winter storm knocked down as much as two million barrels of oil per day in the U.S., or 15% of the national output. Volumes began to recover before the winter storm, which highlights the magnitude of the disruption faced by producers like Devon. The global crude oil price has been?pressured? by the growing fears of a glut, and the prospect of more Venezuelan barrels coming back to the market.
EQT Corp beats quarterly profit estimates on higher natgas prices, sales volumes
EQT Corp, a U.S. energy company, beat Wall Street 'estimates' for its fourth-quarter adjusted profits?on Tuesday. It benefited from higher natural gas prices and increased sales volumes. This sent the shares of EQT Corp up more than 1% during extended trading. The demand for liquefied gas (LNG), driven by data centers that are power-hungry, has pushed U.S. gas companies to increase their production. U.S. Natural Gas Futures rose by more than 11% in the third quarter of 2012, driven by increased demand and increased pipeline volumes. This follows two consecutive quarters with falling prices.
Oil minister: Suriname and Guyana will form team to explore joint projects for gas exploration
Suriname’s oil minister said that Suriname and Guyana will 'create' a technical team to investigate the development of natural gas?production between the two South American nations. The team could be set up next month and would represent a significant step forward for Suriname, Guyana and other countries that have been discussing the possibility of collaborating across borders on natural gas exploration. The first gas project for both countries would be any future project. Patrick Brunings said that experts involved in the project would need to 'consider a litany factors…