27 Jan Energy / Automotive newstrack, commentary and analysis | Surge in gas prices due to weather
(Oilandgaspress) According to media reports refiners were curtailing operations amid the frigid weather that caused a surge in electricity demand and fears that low temperatures could compromise gas supply. Gas production disruption has caused a surge in gas prices that will affect the global LNG markets, given the United States’ dominant role in it. U.S. gas prices surged by 70% before starting to subside last week .
Saudi Aramco has reportedly tapped the debt market for the first time this year amid persistently weak oil prices in the low $60s per barrel. Aramco on Monday announced the start of issuing U.S.-dollar denominated international bonds under its Global Medium Term Note Programme, saying the issuance amount is subject to market conditions.
Saudi Aramco ultimately placed $4 billion in a four-tranche bond, which received more than $21 billion in orders, Reuters reports, citing fixed-income news service IFR. Read More
Energy bills for households and businesses are facing upwards pressure from a surge in wholesale natural gas costs, according to market experts. Both day-ahead and month-ahead contracts rose further on Monday as high demand and supply disruption in the storm-hit United States take their toll on prices across Europe, crucial not just for gas supply but electricity generation. In the UK, the February delivery figure was up more than 45% over the month to date at one stage on Monday. Some of the price pressures are weather related, while others are structural… Related News
Norwegian prosecutors have reportedly charged two citizens and a Norwegian-based oil company with paying around $25 million (€21.1m) in bribes to the Republic of the Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso and his family in exchange for offshore drilling rights. The alleged corruption centred on a 2016 oil licence application in which the defendants offered Sassou Nguesso and his relatives a quarter-share of the concession’s revenues, prosecutor Marianne Djupesland said Monday..The charges represent one of the most significant corruption cases linking a Western firm to an African head of state in recent years.The Republic of the Congo has not commented on the charges. Sassou Nguesso’s government has previously denied corruption allegations while maintaining that the country’s petroleum sector operates in accordance with international standards..Gas Infrastructure Europe data showed that EU gas storage sites were last at 45.6% of capacity, 15 percentage points below the five-year average. Related News
Kazakhstan’s largest oil and gas fields have long been dogged by disputes between international oil companies and the government. Now oil majors that operate the Karachaganak field in Kazakhstan have lost an international arbitration case, leaving them liable to pay as much as $4 billion in compensation to the country’s government, according to people familiar with the matter. The court has yet to determine the specific amount the field’s partners, led by Eni SpA and Shell Plc, will have to pay, the people said, asking not to be named because the the arbitration wasn’t public. The Karachaganak venture may still appeal the decision, they said.
The ruling is a partial victory for Kazakhstan, which was claiming more than $6 billion from the operators of Karachaganak. The tribunal upheld the government’s position that the companies recovered money from the state, through the field’s production sharing agreement, for cost overruns that were unapproved and other expenses that should not have been recoverable, the people reportedly stated. . Related News
Noble Corporation has secured approximately $1.3 billion in new contract awards across nine rigs, including a three-year agreement for the Noble GreatWhite that marks the company’s entry into Norway’s harsh-environment floater market Related News
Dana Gas PJSC announced its group production reached 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) and has been sustained at that level throughout January. This represents a significant increase compared to the Company’s FY 2025 average production of 53,500 boepd across its principal operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) and Egypt and is the highest production for the Company since 2018. This increase will benefit the company’s revenues and profitability starting from the first quarter of this year. Related News
Octopus Electric Vehicles has partnered with Admiral Pioneer, part of the Admiral Group, to develop smarter, fairer insurance for drivers getting an electric car through salary sacrifice. The new partnership removes one of the pain points for drivers switching to electric: insurance costs that don’t reflect how individuals actually drive. Instead of traditional fleet-rated pricing – where everyone pays an average – this new model prices insurance based on individual risk.
That means better value for most drivers. Octopus EV estimates that when the offering launches in spring, more than 3 in 4 new salary sacrifice drivers will benefit from lower insurance costs, with an average driver saving close to £550*. Related News
Hybrid-electric vehicles dethroned purely petrol-powered cars as the top power option among consumers in Europe last year, data showed Tuesday. Some 1.88 million new vehicles were registered in 2025 in the European Union, an increase of 1.8 percent from the previous year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). New car sales “remain well below pre-pandemic levels”, however, the trade association said in a statement. Despite the only modest overall sales growth, consumers continued to shift towards hybrid and battery-electric vehicles.
Sales of hybrid-electric vehicles climbed by 13.5 percent last year to account for 34.5 percent of total sales in the EU last year, putting them ahead of petrol cars at 26.6 percent.
Meanwhile, sales of battery-electric vehicles jumped by 30 percent to account for 17.4 percent of overall sales, although the ACEA noted the gain was from a weak performance in 2024 and needs to rise further to stay on track with the EU’s transition goals. Sales of plug-in hybrids also rose, but sales of petrol and diesel vehicles dropped. The combined market share of petrol and diesel cars fell to 35.5 percent, down from 45.2 percent in 2024. . Related News
ACEA has developed specific guiding principles and policy recommendations for the HDV sector. HDVs require a carefully calibrated policy approach. Trucks and buses are increasingly software-driven, connected and built on complex powertrain architectures, relying on integrated value chains. Any LCR framework must reflect these realities and avoid overly prescriptive or uniform solutions.
The objective of LCRs should be to strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of the European industrial base while ensuring a level playing field across the value chain. LCRs can contribute to this goal, but only as part of a broader policy mix that also addresses energy costs, skills availability, infrastructure deployment and a supportive regulatory environment.
From an industrial perspective, LCRs should be pragmatic and proportionate. Requirements should not be set at individual component level, but applied at vehicle or fleet level, while explicitly recognising EU-based R&D and software development. Simplicity, legal clarity and alignment with existing EU legislation are essential to avoid unnecessary administrative burden. Read More
If the UK is to meet its ZEV ambitions so government’s new public campaign, launched this week The Electric Car Grant is helping but manufacturers are still having to provide billions in EV discounts, with an unparalleled £5 billion spent last year alone. This is patently unsustainable. Furthermore, the impact of government and industry investment will be diminished by a new disincentive – the proposed eVED tax. With EV demand below the levels targeted by the ZEV mandate last year, and this year’s target even steeper, a review of the transition – looking at demand as well as cost and the broader ecosystem – must be brought forward to ensure ambition aligns with natural market demand.
The importance of market decarbonisation is undoubted, but the UK must also ensure it remains a place for making vehicles. That requires a business environment that safeguards our existing manufacturing base while attracting new investment, with local battery output particularly important to underpin future EV production. This week’s report by the UK Commission on Gigafactories includes some welcome recommendations for Britain to compete globally, including lower energy costs, skills support and investment in critical materials and recycling, all of which are essential if we are to produce the 1.3 million vehicles by 2035 envisaged in the Industrial Strategy. Related News
Baker Hughes Rig Count: International -8 to 1,065, U.S.U.S. +1 to 544 Canada +5 to 231
U.S. Rig Count is up 1 from last week to 544 with oil rigs up 1 to 411, gas rigs unchanged at 122 and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 11.
Canada Rig Count is up 5 from last week to 231 with oil rigs up 8 to 158, gas rigs down 3 to 73 and miscellaneous unchanged at 0.
International Rig Count is down 8 from last month to 1,065 with land rigs down 2 to 845, offshore down 6 to 220.
The Worldwide Rig Count for December was 1,783, down 30 from the 1,812 counted in November 2025, and down 82, from the 1,865 counted in December 2024.
| Region | Period | Rig Count | Change |
| U.S.A | 23 January 2026 | 544 | +1 |
| Canada | 23 January 2026 | 231 | +5 |
| International | December 2025 | 1065 | -8 |
| Baker Hughes |
| Region | Period | Rig Count | Change |
| Africa, Land/Offshore | December 2025 | 105 | +4 |
| Middle East, Land/Offshore | December 2025 | 509 | -4 |
| Asia-Pacific, Land/Offshore | December 2025 | 123 | -2 |
| Latin America, Land/Offshore | December 2025 | 129 | -5 |
Baker Hughes |
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