Global energy ,automotive news, commentary and analysis
London, January 29, 2025 (Oilandgaspress) –- New U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy signed an order on Tuesday directing U.S. regulators to rescind landmark fuel economy standards issued under President Joe Biden that aimed to drastically reduce fuel use for cars and trucks.In a memo, Duffy directed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to reconsider the 2022 model year through 2031 model years for cars and trucks. according to various media reports. President Donald Trump signed an executive order promising to eliminate what he incorrectly labels “the electric vehicle mandate” imposed under former President Joe Biden
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a $525 million civil penalty against Hino Motors Ltd. and its U.S. subsidiaries, resolving claims for falsified data for heavy-duty diesel engines, as well as related civil claims by the United States on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
This settlement is part of a larger resolution of the federal government’s criminal and civil claims, and other claims by California, against the companies. It is also the largest settlement that NHTSA has been involved in, and it was reached after an extensive investigation by NHTSA in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. DOT Office of Inspector General, the EPA and CBP.
Hino failed to comply with NHTSA fuel consumption requirements and, as Hino admitted, the company submitted false or fraudulent carbon dioxide emissions test data for the model year 2017 and 2018 J05E engines, resulting in false fuel consumption values being submitted for Hino’s heavy-duty engines.. Read More
(QNA) – China’s newly installed capacity of renewable energy in 2024 accounted for 86 percent of China’s total newly installed power capacity, while the cumulative installed capacity of renewable energy made up a record high of 56 percent of the nation’s total, according to new data from the National Energy Administration (NEA). The NEA data released Monday showed that China’s renewable energy sector added a new installed capacity of 373 million kilowatts in 2024, representing a year-on-year increase of 23 percent. Hydropower and wind power contributed 13.78 million kilowatts and 79.82 million kilowatts, respectively, while solar power and biomass power increased by 278 million kilowatts and 1.85 million kilowatts.. Read More
(QNA) – Oil prices slid on Wednesday, giving up some of last session’s gains, as an increase in US crude stockpiles and easing worries over Libyan supplies weighed on prices, although the decline was limited by potential US tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports.
Brent crude futures fell 18 cents, or 0.2%, to $77.31 a barrel, while US crude futures declined 15 cents, or 0.2%, at $73.62 a barrel.
US crude oil and gasoline stocks rose last week, while distillate inventories fell, market sources said on Tuesday, citing American Petroleum Institute figures.The price of Kuwait crude oil declined on Monday to $81.47 per barrel, down from $81.80 in last Friday’s trading. Read More
Oil prices remained somewhat depressed today following a jump on Tuesday as protesters in Libya threatened to block crude oil exports via two terminals in the Oil Crescent. After the state oil company talked to the protesters, it said exports were running at normal rates. Read More
| Oil and Gas Blends | Units | Oil Price | Change |
| Crude Oil (WTI) | USD/bbl | $73.03 | Down |
| Crude Oil (Brent) | USD/bbl | $76.71 | Down |
| Bonny Light 28/01/25 CBN | USD/bbl | $79.91 | Down |
| Dubai | USD/bbl | $80.65 | Up |
| Natural Gas | USD/MMBtu | $3.33 | Down |
| Murban Crude | USD/bbl | $78.63 | Down |
| OPEC basket 28/01/25 | USD/bbl | $79.56 | Down |
Nigeria is taking bold steps to revive its faltering power sector, aiming to attract $15 billion in private investments while keeping its most vulnerable citizens in mind. At a World Bank energy summit in Tanzania, the government outlined a plan that combines higher electricity tariffs with fresh subsidies to ease the burden on households. Under the proposal, households will receive 50 kilowatt hours of subsidized electricity monthly, either through direct consumption or vouchers. This is part of a broader effort to address a massive $23 billion funding gap in the power sector and bring electricity to the 86 million Nigerians still living in the dark. Despite being Africa’s top natural gas producer with abundant hydro and solar resources, Nigeria generates a paltry 13,000 megawatts of electricity for over 200 million people. For comparison, South Africa, with just 62 million people, produces 52,000 megawatts. Frequent blackouts and widespread reliance on private generators have become the norm for Nigerians who can afford them. Read More
The Ukrainian Association of Geologists estimates that the country has as much as 5% of the world’s critical minerals resources, including titanium, uranium, lithium, gallium, manganese, beryllium, rare earth elements, bulk ores like iron and scores of other minerals. It is hardly a stretch to imagine that Kyiv and Moscow are aware of their strategic value. Resource wars typically bring oil to mind. However, cleantech is changing how nations conceive of energy security. Where fossil fuel crises are immediate — these fuels are produced or imported, used only once and sometimes have storage constraints — the clean energy crises of the future come from disruptions to the supplies of metals required to build essential technology. In turn, these metals are processed from ores that, in their raw form, can be stacked in warehouses indefinitely.
Proponents of the financial windfall from these minerals might rethink the scale of the markets involved. In tonnage equivalent, the world consumes over 5 billion tons of crude oil and its derived products every year. Financial markets trade oil product futures equivalent to 2.5 trillion tons, the combined markets of which generate trillions of dollars of trading activity. Among critical minerals, copper is king with a physical trade of about 30 million tons a year, worth closer to $270 billion with a comparatively small futures market footprint. Lithium — a hot topic for Ukraine’s mineral riches — is closer to 1.5 million tons and lacks a liquid futures market for now, generating more like $30 billion a year. Critical minerals are indeed critical but do not generate the same financial muscle as oil to finance recovery or provide tax revenues. Read More
16 Just Stop Oil supporters are appealing their draconian sentences at the Court of Appeal today and tomorrow. The mass appeal concerns 16 political prisoners with combined sentences of 41 years handed down between July and September 2024.[1]
All 16 Just Stop Oil supporters were jailed in the months following the publication of a report to the government written by a paid lobbyist for the oil and arms industry that called for groups such as Just Stop Oil and Palestine Action to be banned in a similar way to terrorist organisations. John Woodcock, formerly a Labour MP and now a crossbench peer, published a report on ‘political violence’ in May 2024, which was falsely presented to the public and Parliament as ‘independent’ Read More
Baker Hughes Rig Count: U.S. U.S. -4 to 576 Canada +16 to 245
U.S. Rig Count is down 4 from last week to 576 with oil rigs down 6 to 472, gas rigs up 1 to 99 and miscellaneous rigs up 1 to 5.
Canada Rig Count is up 16 from last week to 245, with oil rigs up 18 to 174, gas rigs down 2 to 71 and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 0.
International Rig Count is down 10 rigs from last month to 909 with land rigs unchanged at 712, offshore rigs down 10 to 197. International Rig Count is down 46 rigs from last year’s count of 955, with land rigs down 23, 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 | 24 January 2025 | 576 | -4 |
| Canada | 24 January 2025 | 245 | +16 |
| International | December 2024 | 909 | -10 |
| Baker Hughes |
The Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth is gradually switching to an innovative and more environmentally friendly process for painting its truck cabs: The new cab painting process marks the launch of a production technology that makes it possible to significantly improve the CO2 footprint of Mercedes-Benz truck production. Painting is the largest single energy consumer within production. In the future, up to 40 percent of this energy can be saved thanks to the new cab paintwork. So-called ultra-high-solid paint materials are the key to the new painting process, which is significantly leaner, more energy-efficient and therefore more sustainable. Thanks to the new materials, wet-on-wet application of the paints is possible and drying between the application of the various layers is no longer necessary. After priming, subsequent coats of paint can be applied completely in just one single paint box. At the same time, the new systems are extremely efficient when applying the paint and require significantly less paint material. The number of painting stations required and the associated energy consumption are also significantly reduced: Five space- and energy-saving boxes and two dryers will replace 15 painting stations and four dryers in the future. In the new system, the driver’s cabs can be dried without fossil fuels.The Wörth plant has ambitious environmental targets. Read More
Porsche and Frauscher set new standards in the maritime world with E-Performance – and were awarded the two most important prizes in Europe for their work. The 850 Fantom Air electric sports boat with propulsion technology from the Porsche Macan Turbo continues to cause a stir – not only on the water, but also at the industry’s top-class award ceremonies. The result of the collaboration between two innovative traditional companies – the hull and deck come from the Austrian Frauscher boatyard, the drive and some design elements from sports car manufacturer Porsche – is highly praised by experts and trade journalists. At the world’s largest boat and water sports trade fair, the “boot Düsseldorf 2025”, the Frauscher x Porsche 850 Fantom Air was named “Powerboat of the Year” in the “Electric” category as part of the glamorous Flagship Night. Read More
Porsche set a Guinness World Records title for the longest continuous vehicle drift on ice by an electric vehicle: At the wheel of a Taycan GTS, instructor Jens Richter managed to complete a total of 132 laps in controlled oversteer. In 46 minutes, he covered exactly 17.503 kilometers. With this new record, the electric sports car from Porsche has collected its fourth Guinness World Records title. The record hunt with Porsche Experience instructor Jens Richter behind the wheel began on the afternoon of January 14, 2025 under difficult external conditions. “Under the extreme continuous load of the drifting Taycan, the ice track deteriorated faster than expected,” says Jens Richter, describing the challenges. “We therefore had to abort the first attempt after around 11 kilometers.” Read More
McDermott International, Ltd announced a 125-to-1 share consolidation, also known as a reverse stock split, which will consolidate the number of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares (the “Class A Ordinary Shares”) outstanding as of January 28, 2025, from 3,552,951,586 Class A Ordinary Shares, par value $0.001 per ordinary share, to approximately 28,423,613 Class A Ordinary Shares, par value $0.125 per ordinary share.
The specific ratio was determined by the Company’s Board of Directors with reference to the Company’s share price at the close of trading on January 16, 2025, and is within the range approved by the Company’s members at a special general meeting held on December 2, 2024. The Company expects that the Class A Ordinary Shares will begin trading on a share consolidation-adjusted basis on January 29, 2025.
For a period of 20 business days, the Company’s Class A Ordinary Shares will trade under the symbol MCDID. After this 20 business day period, the Company’s Class A Ordinary Shares will resume trading under the symbol MCDIF. Read More
The 3rd generation Duster had an exceptional year, winning more than 25 awards in Europe in 2024. These awards, won in many countries and by various specialist juries, recognise the design, performance and accessibility that make Duster a must-have SUV on the market and the best value for money SUV in its category.
Duster won the ‘Best buy car of Europe’ award from the AutoBest jury, which recognises the best vehicle in terms of value for money, performance, design, innovation and ability to meet the needs of European consumers.
Duster has also won prestigious awards in several European countries:
Romania
Car of the Year 2025 – Romanian Automotive Press Association
The Most 4×4 SUV – Auto Pro
Poland
Car of the Year Polska 2025 – The Car of the Year
Champion of Value 2024 (in the medium SUV category) – Auto Swiat
Fleet Derby 2024 – The best in SUV / crossover category
France
New Car of the Year – Trophées de L’argus
SUV of the Year – Automobile Awards
SUV of the Year 2024 – Grand Prix Auto-Moto (Auto-Moto Magazine)
Readers’ Choice Award in the SUV category – Auto Plus
Best Hybrid of the Year – Association des Médias Auto-Moto (AM-AM)
Jury’s favourite – Association des Médias Auto-Moto (AM-AM)
Spain
Best Car of the Year – The Renting Automotive Awards
Best SUV – Car & Driver. Read More
.Suzuki Motor Corporation (Suzuki), DAIHATSU MOTOR CO., LTD. (Daihatsu), and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) have decided to aim for the release of their mini-commercial van electric vehicles (BEVs) respectively in fiscal 2025.
This mini-commercial van BEV, jointly developed by the three companies, combines Suzuki and Daihatsu’s expertise in creating small-size cars with Toyota’s electrification technology and is equipped with a BEV system suitable for mini-commercial vehicles. Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies Corporation also participated in the planning to achieve a vehicle with optimal specifications for efficient last-mile logistics.
The three companies Suzuki, Daihatsu, and Toyota are committed to driving the initiative forward to achieve carbon neutrality. This will be done through the supply of mini-commercial van BEVs that can meet customers’ needs in the delivery industry by providing practical and sustainable means of transportation.. Read More
Alfa Romeo has abandoned a plan to go all-electric by 2027 in favor of a multi-energy strategy, Alfa Romeo North America chief Chris Feuell said. The Italian brand previously said the Tonale plug-in hybrid crossover would be its last model introduced with a gasoline engine when it debuted in 2023.. Read More
(Reuters) – Volvo Cars has signed an agreement to buy struggling Swedish battery maker Northvolt’s stake in their joint battery venture NOVO Energy, the Sweden-based automaker said on Wednesday, without disclosing the price.
Volvo Cars and Northvolt, which is under bankruptcy protection, formed the joint venture in 2021 to build a battery factory in Gothenburg on Sweden’s west coast. The carmaker said in October it would need a new partner to keep plans for the factory on track. Volvo Cars in October said it planned to take over Northvolt’s stake in NOVO Energy, saying Northvolt had breached a shareholders agreement. Read More
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OilandGasPress Energy Newsbites and Analysis Roundup | Compiled by: OGP Staff, Segun Cole @oilandgaspress.
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