Global Energy , Automotive News and Analysis: U.S. Rig Count +7 to 592
London, December 11, 2024 (Oilandgaspress) –- Global oil prices. eia expects the Brent crude oil spot price will remain close to its current level in 2025, averaging $74 per barrel for the year, as oil markets will be relatively balanced on an annual average basis. Growth in oil production next year will come mostly from non-OPEC countries because of ongoing production restraint on the part of OPEC+. At its December 5 meeting, OPEC+ announced that it would delay production increases until April 2025. Those increases had been set to begin in January 2025. We forecast that global oil production will increase by 1.6 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2025, and we expect almost 90% of that growth will come from countries that do not participate in OPEC+. Read More
.Hydro will contribute NOK 500,000 to support UNICEF’s efforts to save children’s lives and defend their rights. This year’s holiday contribution will support UNICEF’s work where it is most needed and to help children in need in countries like Sudan, Palestine, and Ukraine.
Millions of children are living in difficult conditions, in crises and with insecurity. This year has been marked by war, disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and political instability and it is the most vulnerable who pay the highest price. Read More
Toyota Times News features the Medical Mover, developed by Toyota Auto Body.
The Medical Mover is a vehicle that was developed to deliver medical services to people living in places with no hospital nearby, such as mountain villages and remote islands. It is being used for online consultations, which have seen increasing demand.
The vehicle is based on a HiAce van and has a large monitor installed that enables patients to speak face-to-face with a doctor located remotely during their appointment. Patients sit on a bench sofa with the corner cut away, making it easy to move their legs to face the doctor on the screen. The movable handrail has been adjusted to a height and length that enables them to get in and out easily.
A member of the development team, Tomoya Hirakawa from Toyota Auto Body, says, “We still don’t know a lot about medical care, so we go to where it’s being used and work to improve our vehicle.”
This Medical Mover is also in operation on the Noto Peninsula, which experienced strong earthquakes last January. Here, it is used not only to provide medical services but also to deliver relief supplies. Read More
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. has announced the appointment of a new leadership team, effective January 1. Nissan is carrying out its recently announced turnaround actions, designed to restructure the company’s operations for enhanced efficiency and resilience. As part of these actions, the appointments are aimed to respond quickly to current issues, restructuring the management following the appointment of a chief performance officer (CPO) effective December 1. In April 2025, Nissan will make further changes to management to create a lean, flat structure that can respond flexibly and quickly to changes in the business environment.
Stephen Ma, currently chief financial officer (CFO), is appointed as chairperson of the Management Committee for China. He will continue to report to Makoto Uchida, chief executive officer (CEO). With extensive experience and knowledge of China, along with his global leadership background, Ma will focus on shaping the future strategy for the region and enhancing local operations.
Jeremie Papin, currently chairperson of the Management Committee for Americas, is appointed as CFO. In this role, he will report to CEO Uchida. Prior to his current role, Papin amassed many years of experience in finance, strategy, and business development within Nissan and the Alliance. Papin also worked more than 10 years in investment banking focusing on the automotive sector.
Christian Meunier joins Nissan and is appointed as chairperson of the Management Committee for Americas. He will report to Guillaume Cartier, chief performance officer (CPO). Most recently, he served as the CEO for Jeep and was a member of the Executive Committee at Stellantis. Meunier returns to Nissan with a wealth of marketing and sales experience from his previous leadership roles in Nissan US, Canada, Brazil, and global INFINITI. Read More
Woodside Energy has again demonstrated its commitment to supporting energy security in eastern Australia with the completion of its Expression of Interest (EOI) process for sales of gas into the domestic market across 2025 and 2026. The EOI process resulted in executed sales of 77 petajoules of gas across 14 customers in the manufacturing and energy sectors. “Every molecule of natural gas Woodside sells in eastern Australia is consumed by local manufacturers, power generators and homes,” said Woodside Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer Australia Liz
Westcott. “There was very strong interest from a range of buyers in the sales process, which was oversubscribed. “The outcome was a win-win for Woodside and our customers, who have secured the gas volumes they need over the coming two years. It demonstrates the important ongoing role of gas in underpinning energy security and manufacturing in southeastern Australia, in turn supporting jobs and helping keep the lights on and homes cool or warm. Read More
Toyota Australia and BHP have announced a trial of the first-ever Battery Electric HiLux double cab ute prototype.
The trial of the electric HiLux double cab will see it deployed at BHP’s Port Hedland operations in Western Australia where it will be used in a range of applications traditionally performed by diesel-powered light vehicles.
Starting in late November, the trial will run for about 12 months, with BHP to provide feedback to Toyota after the conclusion of the trial.
Toyota Australia President and CEO Matthew Callachor said the trial marked an exciting opportunity for both companies and was a significant milestone in the HiLux’s history. “Toyota has long advocated a multi-pathway approach towards decarbonisation, and when we do something, we want to make sure we do it right,” Mr Callachor said.
“Joining with BHP to help further develop this HiLux BEV prototype is an important step in creating low-emission technologies in the light commercial vehicle space, particularly for use in harsh and demanding mining environments.
“This trial is also a demonstration of the commitment shown by both parties to the Memorandum of Understanding signed last year, which leverages the strengths of both companies to develop new, safe and exciting technologies to address decarbonisation,” he said. Read More
Hyundai Motor Company has appointed Randy Parker as the chief executive officer of Hyundai and Genesis Motor North America effective Jan. 1, 2025. Parker will lead all Hyundai operations and functions in the U.S., Canada and Mexico and Genesis in the U.S. and Canada, along with oversight for Hyundai’s manufacturing facilities in Alabama and Georgia. Parker succeeds José Muñoz in that role, who has been promoted to president and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company. Parker will also remain the CEO of Hyundai Motor America.
“Randy Parker is an outstanding leader with a proven track record for driving sales growth and effectively serving our dealer partners, customers, employees and other stakeholders, and I am proud to announce him as the new CEO for Hyundai and Genesis Motor North America,” said Muñoz. “As I transition to the role of global president and CEO, I’m confident in the continued momentum of the North American market under Randy’s leadership.”
Parker’s leadership at Hyundai Motor America has been instrumental in the company’s remarkable sales growth. He joined the company in 2019 as vice president of national sales and in February 2021 was promoted to senior vice president. In August 2022, Parker became CEO of Hyundai Motor America, making history as the first African American to lead a major OEM regional market. Under his guidance, Hyundai became one of the fastest-growing mainstream brands in the United States, setting all-time retail sales records for three consecutive years Read More
Back-to-back wins in the ultra-competitive automotive technology space tend to be few and far between. However, that’s exactly what Hyundai’s MyHyundai with Bluelink app has just accomplished. Today, for the second year in a row, J.D. Power has ranked MyHyundai with Bluelink first among automakers’ ICE mobile apps in the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. OEM ICE App ReportSM. Hyundai’s app outperformed all others evaluated in the study, achieving a score of 895 — 153 points higher than the report average of 742 and 92 points higher than last year.
“Our team is always hungry to improve,” said Manish Mehrotra, vice president, digital business planning and connected operations, Hyundai Motor North America. “To win, we listen very carefully to our customers. We are always looking to push boundaries and improve continuously to deliver the best mobile app experiences for our customers.” Key contributors to the success: Read More
Ever since the 2021 season, the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” has been proving that electric rally sport is not only dynamic and fascinating, but also sustainable and divers. When the participants face each other in the world’s first electric rally one-make cup in their near-production, 100 kW (136 hp) Opel Corsa Rally Electric, exciting competitions are guaranteed. A recipe for success that is now entering the next round. Because Opel and the ADAC are sending a clear signal and hosting the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup for the fifth time in 2025.The ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup in particular shows the way to the future of rallying: this year the diversity in the field of participants was greater than ever. Participants from eight nations took part in the 2024 season, including a total of eight female drivers. The national motorsport federations of France (FFSA), Belgium (RACB) and the Netherlands (KNAF) use the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup as the perfect platform for efficiently promoting young talents. Read More
EcoPulse, the distributed hybrid-electric propulsion aircraft demonstrator developed jointly by Daher, Safran and Airbus – has concluded its flight test campaign, delivering crucial insights to meet the decarbonization goals for air transport by 2050. This collaborative project, which is emblematic of the French aerospace sector, has provided unique experience in the design, certification, production, and operation of hybrid-electric aircraft.
Pioneering flight tests
EcoPulse performed its first hybrid-electric test flight on November 29, 2023, from Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport. Since its maiden flight, EcoPulse accumulated 100 flight hours and performed some 50 test flights with the distributed hybrid propulsion system, the last of which took place in July 2024. These tests enabled the demonstration of unprecedented onboard electric power levels for distributed electric propulsion, with a network voltage of approximately 800 volts DC and a power output of 350 kilowatts.
The flight tests yielded significant findings, including an objective evaluation of hybridization technologies’ maturity, a performance assessment when integrated into the aircraft, and an identification of operational limitations. Read More
Odfjell has now exercised purchase options for an additional four vessels currently on long-term lease to the company. With these agreements, Odfjell is set to purchase a total of seven chemical tankers over the next 14 months.
All vessels are fully stainless-steel chemical tankers, classified as super-segregators with sizes ranging from 35 to 41,000 dwt. The vessels were built between 2016 and 2020, two in Japan and five in China.
All seven vessels are part of the core fleet today and are currently on lease to Odfjell, five on operational lease, two on financial lease. The operating leases’ purchase option prices are around 30 % below current market prices.
Six of the vessels will be acquired during first half 2025 and financed by a syndicate of Odfjell’s relationships banks under a new revolving credit facility of up to USD 242 million, secured on favorable terms. The facility is set to close early in 1Q25.
With these transactions, Odfjell has secured long-term ownership for seven of its core vessels and in average reduced the cash break-even for these vessels by more than USD 3,000 per day given the attractive purchase prices and competitive financing. Read more
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has concluded the Article IV consultation with Kuwait. A press release issued by IMF outlined the main points highlighted during the consultation: The economy is in recession due to OPEC+ production cuts, but the nonoil sector is recovering, and inflation is moderating.
Real GDP contracted by 3.6 percent in 2023, driven by a 4.3 percent decline in the oil sector and a one percent contraction in the non-oil sector. In the second quarter of 2024, real GDP contracted by 1.5 percent year-on-year, with a 6.8 percent decline in the oil sector, partially offset by a 4.2 percent rebound in the nonoil sector.
Headline CPI inflation decreased to 3.6 percent in 2023 and further moderated to 2.6 percent in September 2024. Lower oil prices and production have weakened Kuwait’s external and fiscal balances, but financial stability remains intact.
The external position remains strong, with the current account surplus moderating to 31.4 percent of GDP in 2023. Official reserves stood at US$47.6 billion at the end of 2023, covering 9.2 months of projected imports. The fiscal balance of the central government shifted to a deficit of 3.1 percent of GDP in the 2023/2024 fiscal year. Read More
The 189th (Ordinary) Meeting of the Conference of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) convened , 10 December 2024, under the Chairmanship of its President, HE Marcel Abeke, Minister of Petroleum of the Gabonese Republic and Head of its Delegation.
The Conference welcomed new ministers: HE Eng. Mohsen Paknejad, Minister of Petroleum of the Islamic Republic of Iran; HE Tareq Sulieman Ahmad Al-Roumi, Minister of Oil of the State of Kuwait and Chairman of the Board of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC); and HE Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez, Vice President and Minister of People’s Power for Petroleum of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
The Conference also thanked their predecessors in office — His Excellency Eng. Javad Owji of the Islamic Republic of Iran, His Excellency Dr. Imad Mohammad Al-Atiqi of Kuwait and His Excellency Eng. Pedro Tellechea of Venezuela — for their contributions to OPEC.
The Conference elected HE Eng. Mohsen Paknejad, Minister of Petroleum of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as President of the OPEC Conference for one year, effective 1 January 2025, and HE Hayan Abdulghani Abdulzahra Alsawad, Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil of the Republic of Iraq, as Alternate President for the same period, and expressed its utmost appreciation to the outgoing President of the OPEC Conference, HE Marcel Abeke, Minister of Petroleum of the Gabonese Republic, for his exemplary leadership in 2024.
The Conference appointed Mr Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, Governor of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for OPEC, as Chairman of the Board of Governors for the year 2025, and HE Eng. Adeeb Al-Aama, Governor of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for OPEC, as Alternate Chairman for the same period. The Conference reviewed the Secretary General’s report and the report of the Economic Commission Board (ECB), as well as various internal matters. The Conference received an update on the 9th OPEC International Seminar, scheduled for 9-10 July 2025 in Vienna, Austria. It noted that the Seminar has become a truly global platform for discussing the challenges, as well as opportunities, facing the oil and energy industries. The Conference renewed the term of office for Mr Haitham Al Ghais as Secretary General of OPEC for a further period of three years with effect from 1 August 2025. The Conference thanked HE Haitham Al Ghais, Secretary General of OPEC, for his distinguished achievements over the past couple of years as Secretary General of OPEC, and the able staff members of the Secretariat. The Conference resolved that its next Ordinary Meeting will convene on 28 May 2025 and noted that September 2025 will mark the 65th Anniversary since the Organization’s founding in Baghdad in 1960 and the 60th Anniversary since the OPEC Secretariat was moved to Vienna, Austria. Read More
| Oil and Gas Blends | Units | Oil Price | Change |
| Crude Oil (WTI) | USD/bbl | $69.18 | Up |
| Crude Oil (Brent) | USD/bbl | $72.76 | Up |
| Bonny Light 10/12/24 CBN | USD/bbl | $73.94 | — |
| Dubai | USD/bbl | $71.96 | Up |
| Natural Gas | USD/MMBtu | $3.25 | Up |
| Murban Crude | USD/bbl | $72.68 | Up |
| OPEC basket 10/12/24 | USD/bbl | $71.92 | Down |
Crude in Volatile Market
WTI for January delivery rose 0.3% to settle at $68.59 a barrel in New York.
Brent for February settlement was little changed at $72.19 a barrel. Traders are now looking ahead to market outlooks from OPEC and the International Energy Agency later this week, as well as Wednesday’s US consumer price index data, the final major reading before the Fed’s policy meeting. In the Middle East, tensions continue to simmer. Read More
Since 2002, Vestas’ facilities on the Isle of Wight have played an integral role in the manufacture of turbine blades for wind projects across the world. At present, our factory focuses on manufacturing blades for the V174 offshore turbine. Demand for this product is coming to an end, and constraints at the site mean it is not suitable for the next generation of offshore blades.
However, following an agreement in principle with the UK Government, Vestas intends to repurpose the factory to build onshore blades, mainly to support the UK market. Vestas greatly appreciates that the current UK Government has leaned forward to enable this change.
This transition to onshore blades will see the facility help meet increased demand for onshore wind energy in the country, which has been boosted following the Government’s decision to remove the de facto onshore wind ban in England and with its focus on building domestic supply chains.
Current manufacturing operations at the Isle of Wight employ approximately 600 people across manufacturing, logistics and support functions. The agreement in principle with the UK government to transition to new activities will sustain approximately 300 jobs in manufacturing activities. In addition, Vestas will offer a significant number of opportunities in other parts of our business. These opportunities will include roles supporting UK operations and other Vestas factories.
Our technology activities which employ approximately 140 people on the island, are not impacted by this decision and will remain a company centre of excellence for blade research, design and development. Read More
Baker Hughes Rig Count: U.S. +7 to 592 Canada -11 to 194
U.S. Rig Count is up 7 from last week to 589 with oil rigs up 5 to 482, gas rigs up 2 to 102 and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 5.
Canada Rig Count is down 11 from last week to 194, with oil rigs down 10 to 124, gas rigs unchanged at 70 and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to 0.
International Rig Count is down 31 rigs from last month to 919 with land rigs down 14 to 712, offshore rigs down 17 to 207. International Rig Count is down 59 rigs from last year’s count of 978, with land rigs down 46, offshore rigs down 13.
The U.S. Offshore Rig Count is unchanged at 16, down 5 year-over-year.
The Worldwide Rig Count for October was 1,754, up 4 from the 1,751 counted in September 2024, and down 22, from the 1,776 counted in October 2023.
| Region | Period | Rig Count | Change |
| U.S.A | 06 December 2024 | 589 | +7 |
| Canada | 06 December 2024 | 194 | -11 |
| International | November 2024 | 919 | -31 |
Dana Incorporated announced today that Nora LaFreniere has been appointed to the company’s board of directors, effective immediately.
Ms. LaFreniere serves as the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Otis Worldwide Corporation, a global, publicly traded company. In this role, she oversees the company’s global legal, compliance, business development, intellectual property, security, government relations, quality, and environmental, health, and safety functions.
“I am delighted to welcome Nora to the Dana board of directors,” said R. Bruce McDonald, Dana Chairman and CEO. “Her extensive experience in industrial businesses focusing on strategy formulation and executing complex M&A transactions will be invaluable to Dana as we implement our plan to transform the company and accelerate value creation.” Nora holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Notre Dame and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of California, San Diego. She has been named to the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers and is a member of the DirectWomen Board Institute. . Read More
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