All articles tagged with #oil and gas
BP has ousted its chairman Albert Manifold over serious governance and conduct concerns, appointing Ian Tyler as interim chair; the move follows shareholder opposition at the AGM and comes as BP reports about $3.2 billion in Q1 profit boosted by higher oil prices and trading gains.
Ukraine said its forces hit Russia's Sheskharis oil terminal and the nearby Grushova depot in the Black Sea, sparking a fire, and reported damage to a tanker Chrysalis; Kyiv has escalated strikes on Russian oil refining and transport facilities to cut Moscow's war revenues. Kyiv-linked drone forces said they attacked 13 major Russian oil facilities in May, and claimed six of Russia's 10 largest refineries had halted crude processing, though Reuters could not verify all claims. Zelenskiy also cited a drone strike on Metafrax Chemical in the Perm region, and Brovdi said Ukrainian drones hit a Russian frigate and a hovercraft near Novorossiysk; the extent of damage remained unknown.
Colorado lawmakers are racing to draft a last-minute bill to blunt Initiative 177, a voter-led effort to enshrine a constitutional right to natural gas. Supporters say the measure protects consumers from energy costs, while critics warn it could conflict with climate goals and air-quality regulations and complicate existing oil-and-gas rules as the signatures are gathered for a statewide vote.
Two LNG carriers from Abu Dhabi reportedly sailed through the Strait of Hormuz amid Iran’s blockade, signaling a possible resumption of Gulf LNG flows, while Qatar-origin cargoes bound for Pakistan neared the strait but turned back. Pakistan canceled two spot purchases, hoping Qatar shipments would resume, with ongoing talks among Islamabad, Doha and Tehran. Increased numbers of ships turning off AIS made tracking harder, and experts say silencing transponders is not a durable workaround; any sustained restart will depend on broader political progress and a deal to end the blockade.
The Iran war and Hormuz disruptions have boosted energy volatility and prices, lifting profits for European oil majors (BP, Shell, TotalEnergies) and boosting bank trading revenues; defense contractors report strong demand and backlogs as governments replenish stocks. Renewables firms like NextEra, Vestas and Orsted benefit from a push toward cleaner energy, with solar, heat pumps and EV demand rising as households face higher fuel costs.
Amid rising energy prices and Iran tensions, the article argues the crisis is accelerating a global pivot from oil and gas to renewables, with surging EV and solar adoption (notably in India and Korea), energy-security shifts (UAE exits OPEC, Vietnam weighs renewables over LNG), and a geopolitical realignment that may outlast the current crisis, even as US policy under Trump slows clean-energy progress.
Trump says he will use the Defense Production Act, a Cold War–era authority, to bolster domestic oil production and electricity by enabling federal support, purchases, and financing for energy projects. The memos cover oil refining, coal-fired power, natural gas pipelines, and grid upgrades, aiming to counter bottlenecks and supply-chain constraints and to strengthen energy security, though direct impacts on projects remain unclear.
The Supreme Court, in an 8-0 ruling on a procedural issue, allows oil and gas defendants like Chevron/Texaco to move a Louisiana coastal-erosion case from state court to federal court, part of a broader effort to shift dozens of long-running lawsuits that accuse them of wetlands destruction; a Plaquemines Parish jury previously ordered about $740 million for cleanup, while Louisiana warns of massive ongoing land loss linked to coastal infrastructure; the decision concerns forum, not merits, and Justice Alito recused.
The Supreme Court reversed a Fifth Circuit ruling, siding with oil companies like Texaco/Chevron in long-running Louisiana coastal-wetlands lawsuits and potentially ending many such claims. The decision affects about a quarter of dozens of cases and was welcomed by industry groups as legal clarity, while critics warn it could hinder coastal restoration efforts. Justice Alito recused himself due to financial ties to ConocoPhillips.
Liberty Energy, founded by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, paid no federal corporate income taxes last year despite $193 million in pre-tax income and receiving over $10 million in tax benefits; Wright left Liberty in 2025 to join the administration, and the White House says he complied with the law, while critics point to depreciation tax breaks that let profitable firms avoid taxes and note the issue among 88 companies highlighted by ITEP.
OPEC’s March production fell 27% from February to 20.8 million barrels per day, the largest monthly drop on record, as Iran’s actions and related attacks cut exports through the Strait of Hormuz, with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iraq among the hardest hit.
China’s manufacturing backbone is coming under acute strain as the Iran conflict drives higher energy prices and disrupts key inputs—petrochemicals, feedstocks, and industrial gases—raising costs for producers and prompting calls for diversification and stockpiling to safeguard growth.
Family offices have stepped into oil and gas investments as Iran-driven price gains lift crude, compensating for private equity pullback and lighter ESG constraints; leveraging long horizons, they back sizable deals and minerals funds to obtain cash-flowing, inflation-hedging assets uncorrelated to stocks, though high prices can slow dealmaking and raise macro risk if the rally persists.
Interior will reimburse TotalEnergies up to $928 million to renounce two offshore wind leases (Attentive Energy in the New York Bight and Carolina Long Bay off North Carolina) and reinvest the funds in oil and gas, a move framed as steering away from renewables; meanwhile, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project began delivering power to the grid, showing wind progress even as the administration pivots toward fossil fuels.
Putin asked Russia’s oil and gas majors to use their Iran-war windfall to pay off domestic bank debts, arguing a mature decision as Brent crude tops $100 a barrel amid Middle East disruption; the price surge could mean up to $150 million in additional daily revenue for Russia’s budget, aided by a U.S. sanctions waiver allowing certain Russian oil shipments.