Chevron and TotalEnergies just flipped the switch on oil production from the Ballymore project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, with the project expected to pump around 75,000 barrels of oil per day at its peak.  The field, discovered back in 2018, sits about 160 miles southeast of New Orleans and is now officially flowing oil through a tieback to Chevron’s existing Blind Faith platform, cutting down costs and time in a significant victory for Big Oil in this volatile oil price landscape.  Chevron leads the project with a 60% stake,…

Chevron and TotalEnergies just flipped the switch on oil production from the Ballymore project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, with the project expected to pump around 75,000 barrels of oil per day at its peak.  The field, discovered back in 2018, sits about 160 miles southeast of New Orleans and is now officially flowing oil through a tieback to Chevron’s existing Blind Faith platform, cutting down costs and time in a significant victory for Big Oil in this volatile oil price landscape.  Chevron leads the project with a 60% stake,…

It is sometimes difficult in the multi-dimensional world of Middle Eastern geopolitics to see the bigger picture, and this has certainly been true for many looking at the ongoing conflict between the south and the north of Iraq. The most notable superficial manifestation of this in recent times has centred on the continued embargo of independent oil sales from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) in the north by the Federal Government of Iraq (FGI) in the south. However, this dispute has never fundamentally been about oil. It is instead…

When the going gets tough, the EU buys American gas. Or at least that’s the emerging strategy as Brussels preps a shiny new road map to wean itself off Russian fossil fuels—while simultaneously dangling a $350 billion olive branch in front of President Trump in hopes he’ll holster the tariff threats. European Council President Antonio Costa has told Bloomberg this week that the May 6 plan—to be imminently released—will send a clear political signal to energy companies: start sourcing more LNG from the good ol’…

When the going gets tough, the EU buys American gas. Or at least that’s the emerging strategy as Brussels preps a shiny new road map to wean itself off Russian fossil fuels—while simultaneously dangling a $350 billion olive branch in front of President Trump in hopes he’ll holster the tariff threats. European Council President Antonio Costa has told Bloomberg this week that the May 6 plan—to be imminently released—will send a clear political signal to energy companies: start sourcing more LNG from the good ol’…

Tesla has set its Q1 2025 earnings call for Tuesday, April 22, at 4:30 p.m. CT / 5:30 p.m. ET. As usual, the event will be livestreamed, with a recording available later on Tesla’s website. The Q1 Update Letter will be released after markets close that same day. This quarter, as multiple Tesla blogs like Teslarati have pointed out, Tesla is also adding a new element: a “Company Update.” For the first time, the term appeared in both its vehicle delivery report and on the company’s official X account. “In addition to…

U.S. refiner Phillips 66 told shareholders on Monday that they should keep in mind that activist investor Elliott, which wants to break up one of the biggest U.S. refiners, may not necessarily act in Phillips 66 shareholders’ interests as it is pursuing an acquisition of Citgo, a direct competitor of Phillips 66. Activist hedge fund Elliott Investment Management has called on Phillips 66 to spin off its midstream business and tighten up operations. However, Elliott is also pursuing an acquisition of Citgo, the U.S.-based refiner…

U.S. refiner Phillips 66 told shareholders on Monday that they should keep in mind that activist investor Elliott, which wants to break up one of the biggest U.S. refiners, may not necessarily act in Phillips 66 shareholders’ interests as it is pursuing an acquisition of Citgo, a direct competitor of Phillips 66. Activist hedge fund Elliott Investment Management has called on Phillips 66 to spin off its midstream business and tighten up operations. However, Elliott is also pursuing an acquisition of Citgo, the U.S.-based refiner…

U.S. refiner Phillips 66 told shareholders on Monday that they should keep in mind that activist investor Elliott, which wants to break up one of the biggest U.S. refiners, may not necessarily act in Phillips 66 shareholders’ interests as it is pursuing an acquisition of Citgo, a direct competitor of Phillips 66. Activist hedge fund Elliott Investment Management has called on Phillips 66 to spin off its midstream business and tighten up operations. However, Elliott is also pursuing an acquisition of Citgo, the U.S.-based refiner…

The U.S. move to penalize China-built and China-owned vessels calling at U.S. ports could lead to an oil supertanker made in China and operated by a Chinese company facing a fee of up to $5.2 million per call at a U.S. port, shipbrokers have estimated. The U.S. last week announced fees on vessel owners and operators of China based on net tonnage per U.S. voyage. The previous proposal was a per-port-entry fee of up to $1.5 million on Chinese-built vessels, and up to a $1 million per-port-entry fee on any vessel (Chinese-built or non-Chinese-built)…

Saudi Aramco and the top Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, BYD, will explore closer collaboration in the development of new energy vehicle technologies, Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant said on Monday. Aramco’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Saudi Aramco Technologies Company (SATC), and BYD have signed a joint development agreement to explore innovative EV technologies that boost efficiency and the environmental profile of new energy vehicles. “Aramco is exploring a number of ways to potentially optimize transport efficiency, from…

Chinese privately held firm ENN Natural Gas has signed a 15-year deal to source LNG from ADNOC’s new liquefied natural gas export project, in the biggest agreement between China and the United Arab Emirates on LNG supply so far. ENN LNG (Singapore), a wholly owned subsidiary of ENN Natural Gas, has signed the long-term LNG sale and purchase agreement the national oil and gas firm of the UAE, under which ADNOC will supply approximately one million tons per annum (mtpa) of LNG to ENN NG for a period of 15 years, the Chinese firm said on Monday.…

China slashed its imports of many U.S. energy and agricultural commodities in March amid intensifying trade and tariff tensions with the United States, which are set to further reduce Chinese purchases of American goods this month and in the coming months. China’s LNG imports from the United States crashed to zero in March as China slapped tariffs on American LNG and other energy products, making these uneconomical for Chinese buyers. Last year, U.S. LNG represented about 5% of China’s imports of the super-chilled fuel. Similarly to…

This week, the Interior Department axed a major offshore wind power project in New York. The grounds for the decision to halt construction at Empire Wind 1 was a sub-par environmental assessment. The wind industry was shocked, and more shocks are coming. Yet it won’t be Trump’s administration that could eventually kill the transition. It would be the transition itself. The Trump presidency has certainly ushered in even harder times for energy transition industries than they were having to deal with before. Tariffs are a big problem,…

Last week, tech moguls pleaded with the United States Congress to ramp up energy production to meet soaring energy demand driven by artificial intelligence. The already considerable energy footprint of data centers is sharply on the rise, and is projected to keep gaining steam in the coming years. As a result, industry insiders are lobbying congress to ramp up energy production so that the U.S. tech sector can stay competitive with China.  “We need energy in all forms,” said Eric Schmidt, a former Google CEO who now leads a think…

Via Metal Miner   Tata Steel recently signed an agreement to install a new pickling line at its Port Talbot site in Wales. The steel industry leader’s latest move will offer 50% more capacity than the existing line. According to the company’s April 9 announcement, the new equipment will have an annual capacity of 1.8 million metric tons and will employ up to 220 people during construction. The UK Steel Industry Should See the New Line by 2028 A source within the company told MetalMiner that Tata expects to commission the line in…

Australia has been developing its critical mineral sector in recent years, aiming to become a major producer and processor of the high-demand minerals and metals needed to support a global green transition. In addition to launching a national strategy and providing billions in funding for the sector, the government recently established a tax incentives law for critical minerals that is expected to attract greater investment in the sector.  The demand for critical minerals is expected to increase dramatically over the coming decades as countries…

Rising market and policy uncertainties forced companies to cancel $8 billion in investments in U.S. clean energy projects in the first quarter of the year. In a dramatic surge in cancellations of projects amid the chilling effects of the Trump Administration’s trade policy and attempts to repeal part of the green energy incentives, companies have withdrawn $7.9 billion in investments since January, clean energy business group E2 said in a monthly update this week. The value of the canceled investments in the first quarter alone was more than…

The fate of US Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell looks increasingly uncertain as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on the central back to cut rates faster. Powell has been resolute that he will not be influenced by Trump’s attempts to sway the Fed, instead sticking to its mission of bringing down any inflation that could be caused by tariffs raising prices. “He [has] indicated that the Fed would probably put its anti-inflation mandate ahead of the target to see full employment in the USA if price pressures ticked higher,”…

The U.K. is already a world leader in wind energy, having rapidly expanded both its onshore and offshore wind capacity over the last decade. Now, under the new Labour government, the U.K. hopes to expand its wind power sector even further through the massive expansion of the Rampion offshore wind farm. This is expected to help the government progress towards achieving its net-zero carbon ambitions.  In 2023, 46.4 percent of the UK’s electricity was generated using renewable energy sources, of which wind energy contributed 61 percent.…