Energy/Automotive News 17 October, 2023| WTI Crude stands at $86.92/bbl, Brent at $90.04/bbl
London, 17 October, 2023, (Oilandgaspress): – Oil futures fell on Monday on reports that the U.S. had agreed a deal to ease sanctions on Venezuela, while investors continued to mull the potential impact of the escalating Israel-Hamas conflict on oil prices.The U.S. and Venezuelan governments reached a deal on Monday to ease U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry in return for a competitive, monitored presidential election in Venezuela next year, the Washington Post reported.
TotalEnergies and its partner SSE Renewables announce that their Seagreen offshore wind farm is now fully operational and running at its design capacity of 1,075 MW. Seagreen is a joint venture between TotalEnergies (51%) and SSE Renewables (49%). It is located in the North Sea, some 27 km off the coast of Angus. It is TotalEnergies’ biggest operational offshore wind farm worldwide and the world’s deepest fixed bottom wind farm, with its foundation reaching nearly 60 meters below sea level. The project, which began construction in June 2020, has been completed in around 3 years for a global investment of around $4 billion, globally in line with the expected capex. The development and construction were led, with the support of TotalEnergies, by SSE which will now operate the offshore wind farm for its expected 25-year lifetime. The 1,075 MW offshore wind farm has the capacity to generate around 5 terawatt hours (TWh), or enough renewable electricity to power almost 1.6 million homes annually, equivalent to two-thirds of all Scottish homes. Seagreen will also prevent the emission of over 2 million tons of CO2 from fossil fuel electricity generation every year. Consistently with its business model, TotalEnergies will commercialize, through Seagreen, its share of production through a mix of a long-term contract at guaranteed price, including a 15-year CfD (Contract for Difference) awarded by the UK Government, and a 15-year private CfD with the SSE Group, and short-term sales on the wholesale market. Read full article
Volkswagen of America, Inc. is pleased to introduce the Basecamp® accessory line for Atlas Cross Sport models, building on the line that has been available for Atlas since 2020. Available individually, or as a complete Basecamp® kit, these custom body-cladding elements create a more rugged overland look. The accessory line also includes unique off-road inspired wheels, that when equipped with all-terrain tires, bolster the versatility of the already capable Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport. Read full article
From now on Lamborghini will have two beating hearts: the overwhelming roar of the V12 and the innovative energy of its electric motors. For the first drive on the road and track Revuelto[1], born in Sant’Agata Bolognese, silently traveled the Bolognese streets of the city center, crossed the hills of Valdobbiadene, continued towards the sinuous mountain paths of Monte Grappa and finished its journey at the Piero Taruffi Vallelunga circuit, near Rome.
On each leg of this journey, the Revuelto convoy in the most representative colors and trims from the extensive range available, emphasized its specific abilities derived from the combination of electric propulsion and combustion engine admirably integrated into a completely new architecture. The first super sports HPEV (high performance electrified vehicle) offers cutting-edge performance: acceleration from 0-100 km/h in only 2.5 seconds and a top speed of more than 350 km/h. These numbers, combined with exceptional dynamism thanks to the introduction of electric torque vectoring and four-wheel drive available in fully electric drive mode, ensure the Revuelto super sports car expresses its amplified qualities both on track and in daily driving. Lamborghini’s tire partner for Revuelto is Bridgestone Read full article
Toyota will be exhibiting at the Japan Mobility Show 2023, to be held from Thursday, October 26 to Sunday, November 5*, with a booth themed “Let’s Change the Future of Cars—Find Your Future.” In this first announcement of models to be exhibited at the booth, Toyota reveals some of the design details for two battery electric vehicle (BEV) concept models, the FT-3e and the FT-Se. The two concept models—the SUV-type FT-3e and the sporty FT-Se—will present a future transformed by electrification and intelligence, along with the new experience value offered by cars. Toyota believes that future mobility will go beyond providing physical transportation tools to becoming a lifestyle partner closely aligned with each customer’s individual values. Alongside the highly responsive controls and captivating designs unique to BEVs, these models evolve into one- of-a-kind cherished vehicles by offering the joy of personal ride customization, as well as convenient functions for stress-free browsing of local area information while onboard. Details of the new experience value offered by cars will be released in upcoming announcements. We look forward to welcoming visitors to the Toyota booth. Read full article
The new Opel Corsa has arrived – more modern, more digital and more diverse than ever. The best-selling small car, which recently celebrated its world premiere at the 2023 IAA Mobility in Munich, impresses with its new styling including the characteristic Opel Vizor brand fascia at the front and the confidently placed nameplate at the rear. The best-selling small car of 2021 and 2022 in Germany and the United Kingdom will be at dealerships as of October.
State-of-the-art technologies make the drive more relaxed. The optional fully digital cockpit – based on the Snapdragon Cockpit Platform from Qualcomm Technologies – features a new intuitive infotainment system with colour touchscreens up to 10 inches in size. The adaptive, glare-free Intelli-Lux LED Matrix Light, which the Corsa brought to the small car segment in 2019, has been further developed and now comprises 14 LED elements. Read full article
Mercedes-Benz is reinforcing its stance in responsible fashion design through the awarding of the Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Prize to Petra Fagerstrom. Selected by the fashion jury of Festival d’Hyères and judged by her incorporation of sustainable learnings from the Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Mentorship, Petra Fagerstrom will receive a monetary grant from the automotive brand. Committed to equip the next generation of fashion design talent with the knowledge and tools they need to push forward in the field of sustainability, Mercedes-Benz hosted a Sustainability Mentorship led by longstanding partners Orsola de Castro and Tamsin Blanchard from Estethica. The fashion sustainability experts offered educational resources and solutions over two group and one-on-one digital sessions ahead of the festival.
Inspired by Mercedes-Benz’s defined path to better sustainable practices, this year’s finalists were encouraged to upcycle Mercedes-Benz materials into a look within their individual collections. The components were repurposed from Mercedes-Benz vehicles and included airbags, seat covers and belts, sun blinds, convertible roof fabric and floor mats. Read full article
BW Energy provided an update on the ongoing Dussafu assets operations. The Company is pleased to inform that production has been re-instated from the DHIBM-3H well on electrical submersible pump (ESP). The ESP on the DHIBM-4H well, which has been producing on natural flow, has also been successfully re-started. The Company is currently working to stabilise production from both wells. The current total Dussafu gross production, with all the Tortue and Hibiscus wells in operation, is in the range from 30,000 to 35,000 barrels of oil per day.
At the Ruche field, drilling and completion activities on the DRM-3H production well have been temporarily suspended. The well was drilled to a depth of 5,351 meters and encountered oil in the Gamba reservoir. However, it has become apparent that an alternative final casing design is needed. The DRM-3H is the longest lateral step-out drilled to date and the company expects to return to complete this well later in the drilling campaign when additional casing material is received. To maximize the use of the contracted drilling rig, the Dussafu partners have initiated drilling of the Hibiscus South exploration prospect (DHBSM-1), located about 5 kilometers southwest of the BW MaBoMo production platform. Hibiscus South holds a mid-case volume potential of approximately 16 million barrels of oil in place (with an estimated 7 million barrels recoverable) in the Gamba reservoir. If DHBSM-1 contains commercial volumes, the plan is to return to the well and complete it as a production well in early 2024. The ongoing Hibiscus / Ruche drilling campaign is expected to bring total oil production on the Dussafu license up to approximately 40,000 barrels per day gross when all wells are completed and on-stream. Read full article
Legal & General and Birkbeck, University of London announce the launch of a three-year partnership combining financial support and corporate-sector expertise with renowned academic research capabilities to:
• Support the expansion and development of Birkbeck’s undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in environment and sustainability, equipping thousands of students with valuable practical skills and knowledge to help build a more sustainable future. Birkbeck’s longer-term intention is to embed sustainability into other areas of their curriculum across different schools.
• Devise and launch a first-of-its-kind accreditation programme that will help to embed benchmarking standards in environmental and sustainability higher education.
• Provide vital financial support to allow students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds to access an education at Birkbeck, an institution that has placed social inclusion at the heart of its mission since 1823.
The partnership will create opportunities for Legal & General employees to share their knowledge with both the academics developing the new sustainability content, and with Birkbeck students – present and future. This could include providing counsel on the potential business application of the academic theory and content, or guest lecturing. Behind the partnership is a shared recognition that building a more sustainable future is as much a people challenge as it is a scientific, technical, or economic one. The partnership aims to develop a cohort of leaders who have the skills and capability to mobilise human capital in order to build the sustainable future that the planet needs. Legal & General has a long history of working with higher education institutions to create social and economic opportunities, including over £5 billion currently committed to science and technology development projects at Oxford and Manchester universities. As at June 2023, Legal & General had invested £1.4bn in clean energy and £8.7bn in social infrastructure. Read full article
Tesla’s (TSLA.O) margins are likely to drop in the third quarter and take a bigger hit in the last three months of 2023, leaving investors fretting about more price cuts needed to boost demand. The electric automaker has given up some profitability to drive sales of its aging vehicle line-up in a high-interest rate environment and amid competition from China’s BYD. Investors will look for details on how CEO Elon Musk plans to ensure the company will deliver a record 476,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter to meet its annual goal of 1.8 million units. Tesla has already cut U.S. prices of its Model 3 compact sedan and Model Y SUV in October. Read full article
BYD pickup truck patent pictures leak, to launch by the end of the year. BYD didn’t share much data about the new car, but Chinese media reported the vehicle will launch in the fourth quarter and will be part of BYD’s Ocean series. As for the powertrain, it will be established as a plugin-hybrid and offer an all-electric version later. The new pickup truck has undergone testing in China in the last few months, and CarNewsChina monitors it. The first pictures of the vehicle in heavy camo appeared in November 2022 in China. Read More
Ferrari (RACE.MI) has started to accept payment in cryptocurrency for its luxury sports cars in the U.S. and will extend the scheme to Europe following requests from its wealthy customers, its marketing and commercial chief told Reuters.
The vast majority of blue-chip companies have steered clear of crypto as the volatility of bitcoin and other tokens renders them impractical for commerce. Patchy regulation and high energy usage have also prevented the spread of crypto as a means of payment. Read More
Saab’s underwater systems supported elements of two ‘operational experimentation exercises’ involving over 2,000 civilian and military personnel from 15 NATO nations, Ireland and Sweden. In September, Saab deployed the AUV62-AT anti-submarine warfare training target, alongside the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), Seaeye Falcon. The Seaeye Falcon was operated from the Portuguese Navy Vessel, Dom Carlos I, while the AUV62-AT was operated from a naval base. Both systems participated throughout the two exercises, REPMUS 23 and DYNAMIC MESSENGER 23, over a total of three weeks. The aim of the exercises were to explore experimental marine unmanned systems in an operational context.
Saab’s AUV62-AT, in co-operation with Sweden’s defence procurement agency, FMV, supported Anti-Submarine Warfare systems brought by navies, industry and academic experts. It did this by being used to mimic the acoustic profile of a submarine, tailored for the exercises, that they could then hunt for and track. The data AUV62-AT collected was then used to provide rapid feedback to the various systems, informing future methods of deployment.
As part of the Critical Undersea Infrastructure aspects of the exercises, Seaeye Falcon demonstrated its operational flexibility and reliability in a range of underwater tasks. It was crucial in the identification, relocation and neutralisation of simulated Underwater Explosive Devices placed on an underwater communications cable. This included the laying of targets and conducting underwater procedures used to make suspicious hazards safe, and their remote recovery for forensic analysis. This phase of the exercise was designed and conducted by Saab UK. “It has been a privilege to collaborate with NATO and industry experts in exploring how we tackle the developing threats against our Critical Undersea Infrastructure, a defensive capability which no doubt will see more activity in the coming years,” says Dean Rosenfield, Chief Marketing Officer and Managing Director, Saab UK. Read More
KBR was awarded a $75 million, five-year recompete task order to perform research and analysis to address the Department of Defense (DoD) critical technology areas of advanced materials, trusted artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy, and renewable energy generation and storage. KBR was awarded this task order under the DoD Information Analysis Center (IAC) Multiple Award Contract (MAC) vehicle. This is a significant recapture of Project Manager Transportation Systems (PMTS) Family of Vehicles (FoV) Analysis IAC MAC contract. This win substantially strengthens KBR’s growth initiative focusing on ground vehicle systems and represents more than 80 percent growth from the previous task order. Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide research and development for engineering, new product design and development, logistics and reliability improvements, and obsolescence and diminishing sources of manufacturing and supply. Read More
The Energy Technology RD&D Budgets free database, with data on energy RD&D spendings up to 2023, is a unique data collection obtained from national administrations. In 2022, the estimated total public energy research, development and demonstration (RD&D) budget for IEA member countries increased by 4% reaching USD 24.6 billion. This was the fifth consecutive year of increase after five years of decrease.
While the prioritisation of some technology groups over other has greatly diversified over the past decades, countries still have specialisation in certain areas. Slovakia for example, has spent above 75% of its total public energy RD&D budget on energy efficiency technologies over the past 5 years, compared to an average of 26% in the rest of the IEA family countries in the database. Read More
Toyota is pursuing a three-pronged approach to eliminating traffic casualties. Chairman Akio Toyoda made the following comment:
“Within the three-pronged approach, how do we educate the people who operate cars? Until now, safety was achieved through new technologies and data use, but I think today provided a new direction for educating people, which is very significant.” Even with all the safety technologies and traffic infrastructure in place, cars are ultimately driven by people. We visited the Toyota Safety Education Center “mobilitas,” which opened in 2005, and an educational genba that has been publishing traffic safety picture books since 1969. Read More
Jaguar Land Rover Automotive plc announced today the results of its three separate offers to purchase for cash any and all of the outstanding series of notes listed in the table below (collectively, the “Notes”). Each offer to purchase a series of Notes is referred to as an “Offer” and collectively, as the “Offers”. The Offers were made upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase dated October 6, 2023 relating to the Notes (the “Offer to Purchase”) and the accompanying notice of guaranteed delivery (the “Notice of Guaranteed Delivery”, and together with the Offer to Purchase, the “Tender Offer Documents”). The Offers expired at 5:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on October 13, 2023 (the “Expiration Deadline”).
In accordance with the terms of the Offers, the withdrawal deadline was the Expiration Deadline. As a result, tendered Notes may no longer be withdrawn, except in certain limited circumstances where additional withdrawal rights are required by law (as determined by the Company).
As described below, the aggregate principal amount of Notes tendered and accepted by the Company is $399,546,120 (applying a conversion rate of Euros to U.S. dollars of €1.000 to $1.053 (the “Currency Conversation Rate”)), excluding the principal amount of Notes for which holders have complied with certain procedures applicable to guaranteed delivery pursuant to the Notice of Guaranteed Delivery.
The Company was advised by D.F. King & Co., Inc., as the Information and Tender Agent, that as of the Expiration Deadline the aggregate principal amount of each series of Notes specified in the table below were validly tendered and not validly withdrawn (excluding the principal amount of Notes for which holders have complied with certain procedures applicable to guaranteed delivery pursuant to the Notice of Guaranteed Delivery). The table below provides the aggregate principal amount of each series of Notes that the Company accepted in the Offers on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Tender Offer Documents: Read More
| Oil and Gas Blends | Units | Oil Price US$/bbl | Change |
| Crude Oil (WTI) | USD/bbl | $86.92 | Down |
| Crude Oil (Brent) | USD/bbl | $90.04 | Down |
| Bonny Light | USD/bbl | $92.78 | Up |
| Saharan Blend | USD/bbl | $93.22 | Up |
| Natural Gas | USD/MMBtu | $3.10 | Down |
| OPEC basket 16/10/23 | USD/bbl | $93.23 | Up |
Renault brand worldwide sales reached 356,747 units* in Q3 2023, marking a notable increase up 11% vs. Q3 2022. Over the first 9 months of the year, Renault sold a total of 1,128,885 units, up 11% vs. 2022.The sharp 48% increase in HEV sales, to 127,224 units, enabled the Renault brand to make significant headway in the electrified market. This surge in HEV sales led to an overall electrified sales rise of 19%, for a total of 200,000 cars sold. With respectively 65% and 55% of their sales in HEV versions, Austral and Arkana played a key role in this noticeable success. In addition, the European launch of Espace has shown a promising start of sales in France and Spain, with plans to expand into other European countries from October 2023.
Megane E-Tech electric achieved over 35,000 sales this year. It contributed significantly to our electric vehicles (EV) sales, accounting for almost 54% of these, which reached 64,854 units. In Europe, Megane E-Tech electric represents 2.2% of the EV market.
To futher diversify the brand’s electric vehicle offer, Scenic E-Tech electric, revealed at the Munich Motor Show last September 2023, will go on full-year sale in 2024. Orders for the Scenic E-Tech electric will open by the end of 2023. Read More
This year’s Autostyle Design Competition was a special edition, not only because it was Automobili Lamborghini’s twelfth consecutive year of participation, but it also marked Autostyle’s twentieth anniversary. One of the world’s most important events in the field of car design, it was held this year on Thursday 12 October at Villa Schiarino, an exclusive location just outside Mantua, and was promoted by Berman, an Italian company that produces OEM parts for some of the world’s major car manufacturers. For the participating brands it was an opportunity to present the latest in design and style. Automobili Lamborghini showcased the Revuelto, the first hybrid vehicle from the House of Sant’Agata Bolognese and a true revolution in the world of super sports cars. This most recent addition was accompanied by current models such as the Huracán STO and Huracán Sterrato as well as cars that shaped the brand’s design history: a 1966 400 GT, and an example of the Gallardo, first created in 2003. The behind-the-scenes story of the development of the Revuelto was presented by Lamborghini’s design team, who shared ideas and novel points of view with the guests. Read full article
Baker Hughes Rig Count: U.S. +3 to 622 Canada +13 to 193
U.S. Rig Count is up 3 from last week to 622 with oil rigs up 4 to 501, gas rigs down 1 to 117 and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 4.
Canada Rig Count is up 13 from last week to 193, with oil rigs up 8 to 116 gas rigs up 4 to 76 and miscellaneous up 1.
| Region | Period | Rig Count | Change |
| U.S.A | 13 October 2023 | 622 | +3 |
| Canada | 13 October 2023 | 193 | +13 |
| International | September 2023 | 940 | -12 |
drilling operations on a given well Rig Count Overview & Summary Count
Oil and Gas News Undiluted !!! �The squeaky wheel gets the oil�
OilandGasPress Energy Newsbites and Analysis Roundup | Compiled by: OGP Staff, Segun Cole @oilandgaspress.
Disclaimer: News articles reported on OilAndGasPress are a reflection of what is published in the media. OilAndGasPress is not in a position to verify the accuracy of daily news articles. The materials provided are for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to provide tax, legal, or investment advice.
Information posted is accurate at the time of posting, but may be superseded by subsequent press releases
Please email us your industry related news for publication info@OilAndGasPress.com
Follow us: @OilAndGasPress on Twitter |
Oil and gas press covers, Energy Monitor, Climate, Renewable, Wind, Biomass, Sustainability, Oil Price, LPG, Solar, Marine, Aviation, Fuel, Hydrogen, Electric ,EV, Gas,
