December 23, 2024 Latest Energy / Automotive News and Analysis
London, December 23, 2024 (Oilandgaspress) –-Oil prices inched higher today after U.S. data showed cooling inflation, reviving hopes of further policy easing next year that will support global economic growth and oil demand.
India, Kuwait to strengthen energy ties, explore renewable cooperation
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first official visit to Kuwait concluded on Sunday with the two nations agreeing to elevate their bilateral relationship to a “Strategic Partnership.” The move aims to deepen cooperation in trade, defence, energy, and people-to-people ties. Read More
Scientists have designed a greenhouse system that involves a battery energy storage system, hydrogen production and storage, as well as a semi-transparent PV array. The system was optimized for maximal net present value and minimal dependency on the grid..A research team led by scientists from Turkey’s Final International University has developed a self-powering greenhouse that utilizes a semi-transparent PV (STPV) system, a battery energy storage system (BESS) for short-term energy storage, and hydrogen for long-term storage. The size of the proposed system was optimized to maximize net present value (NPV) and minimize energy dependency (ED) on the grid. Read More
Robert Fico, the prime minister of Slovakia, has escalated his long-running dispute with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, over his decision to completely halt the transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian territory after the end of 2024.
Slovakia, a landlocked country, remains highly dependent on Russian gas, which it gets from Gazprom, the state-owned monopoly, through a pipeline throughout Ukraine.
“If anyone is going to prevent the transit of gas to the territory of the Slovak Republic, if anyone is going to cause an increase in gas prices on the territory of Europe, if anyone is going to cause enormous economic damage to the European Union, it is President Zelenskyy,” Robert Fico said in a combative press conference at the end of a one-day summit of EU leaders in Brussels. “He has a right to be nervous. I would not want to be in his shoes because the country is struggling,” he added, insisting Slovakia would never allow Ukraine to join NATO. Read More
EU officials played down today Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat, after the US president-elect warned of dire consequences unless the bloc ramps up its purchases of American oil and gas.
Trump posted today on his Truth Social social media platform: “I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large scale purchase of our oil and gas. Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!”
Quizzed by reporters at a daily press briefing in Brussels, the European Commission’s trade spokesman Olof Gill responded to what he described as “frequent comments from the president-elect” on EU-US trade matters. Read More
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy today announced approximately $850 million for 43 projects selected for negotiation that will help small oil and gas operators, Tribes, and other entities across the country to reduce, monitor, measure, and quantify methane emissions from the oil and gas sector as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The funding builds on unprecedented action across the Biden-Harris Administration to dramatically reduce methane emissions, with agencies taking more than 100 actions since 2023, including the finalization of an EPA rule that is expected to reduce methane emissions from covered oil and gas sources by 80% from 2024 to 2038 compared to projected emissions without the rule.
Today’s investment incentivizes companies’ near-term actions to conserve valuable energy resources for American consumers, improve operational efficiencies in a global market, and reduce methane emissions. Read More
A 77 year old grandmother has been recalled to prison as her wrists are too small to fit an electronic monitoring tag. Gaie Delap took action in 2022 to demand the government end all new licenses and consents for oil and gas projects- something which is now government policy. [1] [2]
Yesterday evening, police arrived at her home in Bristol, to escort Gaie to HMP Eastwood Park, which has the highest rates of self harm of any women’s prison in England and Wales. She will now spend Christmas in prison and is understandably terrified after her experiences during her last period of incarceration. [3]
Gaie was sentenced, alongside four co-defendants, to 20 months imprisonment in August 2024 for her part in an action on the M25 in November 2022. Four (including Gaie) were released early, three of whom have been successfully tagged.
Gaie was released on 18th November on a home detention curfew (7pm to 7am) with a tag. EMS was unable to fit a tag to Gaie’s ankle due to a health condition, so attempted to fit a tag to her wrist, but failed. This resulted in a warrant for her arrest being issued on 5th December, despite Gaie being fully compliant with the terms of her release. Gaie has met all the conditions of her curfew since her early release on 18th November and maintained regular contact with her probation officer. Read More
.Northvolt’s financial collapse has not entirely crushed Europe’s dream of developing its own electric vehicle batteries, but fulfilling it is likely to require Chinese cash and expertise.
InoBat CEO Marian Bocek’s Slovakian start-up had to work hard to secure funding until China’s fifth-largest battery maker Gotion bought a 25% stake last year and formed a joint venture with InoBat to build European gigafactories.
On Friday, InoBat announced €100 million ($104 million) in Series C funding, taking its total raised to well over €400 million.
Coming just weeks after Northvolt’s downfall, the investment shows European EV battery projects can still raise money. . Read More
North Refineries Co (NRC) said on 18 December that it has expanded CDU capacity at Saladin province’s Sainia refinery from 30,000 b/d to 50,000 b/d. NRC says the project added two 10,000 b/d crude processing units, bringing the total to five with work delivered in six months. Iraq’s refining capacity had already risen above 1mn b/d this year following the gradual ramp up of the 140,000 b/d Karbala refinery, rehabilitation of Baiji’s 150,000 b/d North (Shamal) refinery and upgrades to the 280,000 b/d Basrah refinery (MEES, 16 February). This helped end mid-distillate imports this year, but gasoline self-sufficiency remains elusive with data intelligence firm Kpler putting imports thus far in 2024 slightly above 2023 levels of 66,000 b/d. The country’s refinery fleet continues to produce extremely high fuel oil yields, with the addition of secondary units urgently needed to produce higher-value fuels. Read More
Summit Group, Bangladesh’s largest private sector power generation company, has issued clarifications in response to a recent draft of a government White Paper, and said it welcomes transparency and remains committed to the highest levels of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) in the country. Bangladesh media have reported widely on a draft of the ‘White Paper on the State of the Bangladesh Economy’ released in recent weeks by the interim government led by the Honourable Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus. The document said Bangladesh’s power and energy sector faced challenges such as excess capacity, dependence on imports of gas and under-development of domestic natural gas resources.
Summit Power International Limited (“SPIL”), the Singapore-registered parent of Summit Corporation Limited (“SCL”) – the leading foreign direct investor in Bangladesh’s power sector – has responded to statements in White Paper which referred to SCL’s assets or subsidiaries.
1) The draft White Paper referred to Summit Group as being one of the “selected large conglomerates” which enjoyed “exemptions on project income” and “exemption on income arising from power generation”.
SPIL said these exemptions cited were part of a broader policy initiative that applied to the entire power and energy sector in the country. “The policy, i.e. Private Sector Power Generation Policy framed in 1996, designed to attract investment and meet Bangladesh’s critical energy needs, encompassed approximately 104 projects. These exemptions were not exclusive to Summit Group but were reflective of a sector-wide strategy to enhance Bangladesh’s energy capacity to ensure sustainable development,” SPIL said. . Read More
The Scarborough Energy Project has passed another significant milestone with the final Pluto Train 2 modules arriving at the Pluto LNG facility in Karratha, Western Australia. The successful completion of the Pluto Train 2 module program advances the Scarborough Energy Project
towards the targeted delivery of first LNG in 2026. Since February 2024, a total of 51 modules, weighing a combined 56,000 metric tonnes, have been shipped to Karratha from the module yard in Batam, Indonesia, where they were built. Expanding the Pluto LNG facility to include a second LNG processing train provides an efficient way to process gas from the offshore Scarborough field. Once operational, Pluto Train 2 will have capacity to process approximately 5 million tonnes of LNG per annum. The expanded Pluto facility includes new domestic gas infrastructure and will have the capacity to supply up to 225 terajoules per day to the Western Australian market.
Woodside selected Bechtel to execute the engineering, procurement and construction of Pluto Train 2, with construction activities at the Karratha site commencing in August 2022. Read More
The UK car industry is on course to meet the Government’s electric vehicle sales requirement this year despite some manufacturers complaining it is too tough, according to new analysis.
The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) think tank said this is because the zero-emission vehicle (Zev) mandate takes into account credits earned from selling lower-emission hybrid petrol and diesel vehicles, as well as sales of fully electric vehicles. Read More
Africa Oil Corp. announce that the Company repurchased a total of 885,400 Africa Oil common shares during the period of December 16, 2024 to December 20, 2024 under the previously announced share buyback program.
During this period, the Company repurchased 335,400 Africa Oil common shares on the TSX and/or alternative Canadian trading systems. The repurchases were carried out by Scotia Capital Inc. on behalf of the Company. During the same period, the Company repurchased 550,000 Africa Oil common shares on Nasdaq Stockholm, and these repurchases were carried out by Pareto Securities on behalf of the Company. Read More
Saab has signed a contract with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration regarding the modernisation of Sweden’s coastal anti-ship missile capability. The total order value is SEK 800 million and deliveries will begin in 2026. The majority of the order intake was booked in the third quarter of 2024. The contract includes Saab’s RBS15 Mk3 anti-ship missile integrated on a launcher module installed on a truck. Sweden currently uses the predecessor RBS15 Mk2. The coastal anti-ship missile capability was reintroduced in the Swedish Armed Forces in 2016 and will now be complemented with RBS15 Mk3 on new launcher platforms. “Sweden will receive a significant capability increase with an anti-ship missile featuring a more advanced target seeker, increased range and a larger warhead. RBS15 is specifically developed for the complex environment and harsh weather conditions of the Baltic Sea,” says Görgen Johansson, head of Saab’s business area Dynamics.
RBS15 Mk3 has a range of over 200 km, can be launched from ships and trucks and is primarily used against naval targets. The system is developed and produced by Saab and its German partner Diehl Defence. Read More
| Oil and Gas Blends | Units | Oil Price | Change |
| Crude Oil (WTI) | USD/bbl | $68.83 | Up |
| Crude Oil (Brent) | USD/bbl | $72.18 | — |
| Bonny Light 23/12/24 CBN | USD/bbl | $74.29 | Up |
| Dubai | USD/bbl | $72.76 | Down |
| Natural Gas | USD/MMBtu | $3.63 | Down |
| Murban Crude | USD/bbl | $72.70 | Up |
| OPEC basket 19/12/24 | USD/bbl | $72.88 | Down |
Dispute between Odfjell and joint venture partner Northleaf relating to leverage in Odfjell Terminals US Holdings LLC. (OTUS).
As described in the Third Quarter Report dated 5 November 2024, there is a disagreement between Odfjell Terminals US Holding AS (a wholly owned subsidiary of Odfjell SE) and its JV Partner in OTUS, NCP US Terminals LP (“Northleaf”) regarding leverage levels. The disagreement mainly relates to Northleaf’s insistence on excessively leveraging OTUS. Odfjell firmly rejects this position, as it believes such actions are detrimental to the long-term interests of the OTUS. The parties have not been able to find an amicable solution to this disagreement and the matter was referred to mediation pursuant to the terms of the LLC Agreement. Such mediation took place last week, without success. Odfjell remains committed to resolving this matter constructively through negotiations, but to protect the company’s interest, Odfjell has today filed a complaint for judicial relief for the courts of the State of Delaware. Read More
Equinor has completed the acquisition of 10 percent of the shareholding in Ørsted A/S (“Ørsted”) as announced on 7 October 2024.
Following approvals under applicable Foreign Direct Investment regulations, Equinor has acquired an additional 0.2 percent shareholding (corresponding to 840,764 shares) in Ørsted. The volume weighted average price for the 10 percent stake is DKK 398.5 per share equaling a total consideration of USD 2.3bn based on a USD/DKK exchange rate of 7.15. Read More
Saab has signed a contract with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration regarding the modernisation of Sweden’s coastal anti-ship missile capability. The total order value is SEK 800 million and deliveries will begin in 2026. The majority of the order intake was booked in the third quarter of 2024. The contract includes Saab’s RBS15 Mk3 anti-ship missile integrated on a launcher module installed on a truck. Sweden currently uses the predecessor RBS15 Mk2. The coastal anti-ship missile capability was reintroduced in the Swedish Armed Forces in 2016 and will now be complemented with RBS15 Mk3 on new launcher platforms.
“Sweden will receive a significant capability increase with an anti-ship missile featuring a more advanced target seeker, increased range and a larger warhead. RBS15 is specifically developed for the complex environment and harsh weather conditions of the Baltic Sea,” says Görgen Johansson, head of Saab’s business area Dynamics.
RBS15 Mk3 has a range of over 200 km, can be launched from ships and trucks and is primarily used against naval targets. The system is developed and produced by Saab and its German partner Diehl Defence. Read More
Renault Group acknowledges the announcements made today by Nissan and Honda, which are still at an early stage.
As the main shareholder of Nissan, Renault Group will consider all options based on the best interest of the Group and its stakeholders.
Renault Group continues to execute its strategy and to roll-out projects that create value for the Group, including projects already launched within the Alliance. Read More
Dolphin Drilling announces positive outcome in Nigerian arbitration, Dolphin Drilling AS announces positive outcome in the arbitration vs General Hydrocarbons Limited. Dolphin is today in receipt of the Final Award, which awards certain subsidiary entities of the Group sums of approximately $100 Million. Dolphin will immediately commence collection efforts. Read More
Baker Hughes Rig Count: U.S. unchanged at 589 Canada -25 to 166
U.S. Rig Count is unchanged from last week at 589 with oil rigs up 1 to 483, gas rigs down 1 to 102 and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 4.
Canada Rig Count is down 25 from last week to 166, with oil rigs down 10 to 110, gas rigs down 15 to 56 and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 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 14, 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 | 20 December 2024 | 589 | 0 |
| Canada | 20 December 2024 | 166 | -25 |
| International | November 2024 | 919 | -31 |
Rivian community in Joshua Tree celebrate the opening of its newest Charging Outpost just outside the entrance to Joshua Tree National Park. The Joshua Tree Charging Outpost is the first Rivian fast-charging site open to non-Rivian EVs. It’s strategically located and designed to charge up your vehicles and everyone riding inside for desert adventure, including:
💧 Access to charging, restrooms and water 24/7
☀️ A play area, scenic vistas and shade
☕️ Inside during open hours: trip planning inspiration, complimentary coffee, and shop for snacks and gear
🗺️ Less than a mile from Joshua Tree National Park
🔌 Charges CCS EVs + NACS (with automaker-approved adapter)
💳 Tap-to-pay for use with or without the Rivian app
🌱 Charging powered by 100 percent renewable energy
Visit us and learn more about Rivian’s new Charging Outpost here. Read More
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OilandGasPress Energy Newsbites and Analysis Roundup | Compiled by: OGP Staff, Segun Cole @oilandgaspress.
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