Global energy ,automotive news, commentary and analysis
Baker Hughes Rig Count: U.S. unchanged at 592 Canada -35 to 199
London, March 14, 2025 (Oilandgaspress) –-Electricity generation from fossil fuels increased by 2.8% year-on-year in the OECD in December 2024. Electricity generation from oil dropped by 7.9% y-o-y (-0.9 TWh), while generation from natural gas and coal increased by 3.8% y-o-y (+10.0 TWh) and 2.1% y-o-y (+3.3 TWh) respectively. The shares of natural gas, coal and oil in the electricity mix respectively stood for 28.8%, 17.2% and 1.1%. The increase in electricity generation from natural gas was driven by OECD Europe (26.1% y-o-y, +12.4 TWh), while the output decreased in the OECD Americas (-0.5% y-o-y, -0.9 TWh) and in OECD Asia Oceania (-3.5% y-o-y, -1.6 TWh).
Electricity generation from renewable sources increased by 2.8% year-on-year (9.0 TWh) in the OECD in December 2024. The highest absolute increase came from solar generation (+26.4% y-o-y, +9.5 TWh), bringing total OECD solar generation to 45.5 TWh (4.8% of total generation). The first region driving this trend was the OECD Americas, where solar generation increased by 37.4% y-o-y (+5.6 TWh) to 20.6 TWh, driven mainly by the United States (+4.8 TWh y-o-y). In OECD Europe, a notable increase was seen in Spain and Italy, with solar electricity generation increasing respectively by 0.7 TWh y-o-y and 0.5 TWh y-o-y. In OECD Asia Oceania, solar power generation in Australia increased by 26.7% y-o-y (+1.4 TWh). On the other hand, hydropower generation in the OECD decreased by 2.1% y-o-y (-2.6 TWh) to 126.1 TWh accounting for 13.3% of total generation. OECD Europe witnessed a decline in hydropower generation, with a -15.4% y-o-y (-9.2 TWh) decrease. Wind generation in the OECD increased by 1.2% y-o-y to 121.2 TWh (12.8% of total generation). . Read Related News
Mercedes-Benz is proud to announce an innovative partnership with FYI, a pioneering AI-powered platform founded by creative artist, producer and tech entrepreneur will.i.am. FYI RAiDiO[1], which launched last year, is an AI-infused interactive, conversational media platform transforming radio as we know it into a new dimension, connecting listeners deeper with the music, talk radio, and cultural content they love.
The integration of FYI RAiDiO as an interactive AI Radio, demonstrates the next step of using AI in the car for an ultimate hyper-personalization when it comes to music and news. Designed to seamlessly integrate third-party radio and broadcast stations, FYI RAiDiO utilizes cutting-edge language models, public web content, music licenses, and personalized voice characters, known as “Personas,” to create an engaging and personalized radio experience. There are currently 16 interactive STAiTiONS on the FYI RAiDiO platform including themed topics like Pop Culture, Sports, Tech and Music, with more stations rolling out in 2025. . Read Related News
With the launch of the all-new CLA, Mercedes-Benz elevates its legacy of setting benchmarks and redefining class standards. It’s an innovation powerhouse that stirs the soul with its striking and athletic design. A launch of this magnitude deserves a backdrop of equal stature, which is why Mercedes‑Benz chose Rome – the metropolis defined by timeless elegance, flair and progressive vision – to unveil the CLA.
“The premiere of the new CLA in Rome – a city just as iconic and timeless as Mercedes-Benz – was more than just another car launch. It marks the beginning of a new era for Mercedes-Benz and for our customers: The CLA will be the most efficient and the most intelligent Mercedes we’ve ever made. It’s the one-litre car for the electric age – and at the same time will also be available as a highly efficient hybrid version. It is the first in a series of new models we’re adding to the Mercedes-Benz family.”
Ola Kaellenius, Chief Executive Officer, Mercedes-Benz Group AG
The new automotive icon brought together a collective of talent spanning multiple creative industries and influential friends of the brand at the stunning Villa Miani. Cultural tastemakers in attendance included Romeo Beckham, Camilla Cabello, Lucien Laviscount, Central Cee, SOMI, ASAP Nast, Peyton List, Jacob Bertrand, Will.i.am, Ice Spice, Colm Dillane, Gustaf Westman, Mimi Keene, Evan Mock, Mustafa the Poet, Daniel Caesar, Kai Isaiah Jamal, Clara Berry, Leo Mandella and many more. With its commanding hilltop position and breathtaking panoramic views of the ‘Eternal City’, it was the perfect setting for the world premiere. At the reveal, Mercedes-Benz surprised guests with an exclusive live performance from South African singing sensation Tyla. Read Related News
The eBike Cross, eBike Cross Performance, and eBike Cross Performance EXC models offer perfectly tuned components for maximum performance on paved roads and off-road trails. A highlight for 2025 is the color updates for the Cross Performance EXC, featuring original Porsche colors. The color catalog is amended with five new shades, adding an exclusive touch and perfectly reflecting the Porsche lifestyle on two wheels.
Porsche Mobility, Extended The Porsche eBike Sport has been optimized with numerous updates, significantly expanding the bike’s range of use. It now seamlessly connects with the Cross models, enabling the eBike Sport to excel not only on city rides but also on light trails. The iconic and ultra-light carbon frame, designed by Studio F. A. Porsche and developed in collaboration with Rotwild, remains the centerpiece. New, however, is the Fox Float 34 Performance Elite suspension fork with 120 millimeters of travel, ensuring sensitive responsiveness and control in rough terrain. Battery capacity varies depending on frame size: size S is equipped with a 504-Wh battery, while sizes M and L feature batteries with a capacity of 630 watt-hours. Read Related News
From the moment that Porsche launched the Taycan with a massive trans-European press drive in 2019, the sports car manufacturer has used the road trip as a means of demonstrating the all-electric sports car’s ability to fast-travel long distances. In the years that have followed, there have been Taycan drives across Australia, from Darwin to Bondi Beach, from Stuttgart to first Seville and then Istanbul, and even across India. This one, arguably a sterner test still, due to the weather and road conditions, is to the Nordkinn Peninsula, the tip of which is the northernmost point of mainland Europe.
Driving under realistic conditions. Four electric models accelerate emphatically into the Arctic dawn – two examples of the new all-electric Macan, and two Taycan Cross Turismo cars. Immediately, it is made clear that this is not to be a carefully controlled hypermiling experiment. The media drive as quickly as the road conditions and speed limits allow, with the heating set to keep the cars perfectly comfortable even though there is as much as 35 degrees Celsius between the temperature outside and in. The charging strategy has not been prescribed either: the Charging Planner, which comes as standard in Macan and Taycan Cross Turismo, works out where they need to stop, and for how long. As it turns out, the whole leg through Sweden and a chunk of Finland is done without having to charge at all, with the first stop in Kautokeino, already 40 km into Norway’s far northern Finnmark district. Read Related News
Lancia is proud to be joined a new, prestigious partner as it makes its return to rally racing: Michelin. The French brand will be the official tire supplier for the Trofeo Lancia, which will take place across the Italian Absolute Rally Championship (CIAR) in six races across five dates. The star of the competition will be the exhilarating Ypsilon Rally 4 HF, which has already received 80 preorders throughout Europe in just three months.
The partnership between the two brands goes way back to the glory days of Lancia racing; and today it is back with cutting-edge solutions thanks to the technological experience and non-stop innovation which sets Michelin tires apart in the motorsport sector. Specifically, to better deal with the challenges of asphalt, Lancia Trophy drivers will be able to rely on three tires from the MICHELIN Pilot Sport range, two for dry asphalt and one for wet asphalt, all of which will be available in 19/63-17 dimensions—the perfect balance between stability, handling, and reactivity. Read Related News
Stellantis Pro One, the Stellantis N.V. business unit dedicated to commercial vehicles, and IVECO, the brand of Iveco Group N.V. (EXM: IVG) that designs, manufactures and markets light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, today announce the signing of agreements for the supply of two all-electric Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) to IVECO for the European market. They will be based on the Stellantis Pro One mid-size and large van all-electric platforms, ranging from 2.8 to 4.25 Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW).
Stellantis Pro One will manufacture the vans at its plants in Atessa (Italy), Gliwice (Poland) and Hordain (France) and deliver the vehicles to Iveco Group. The Group will then distribute the vehicles on the European market – including the United Kingdom – through its established sales and service channels.
With a GVW of respectively 2.8 to 3.1 tons and 3.5 to 4.25 tons, the two future IVECO vans will complement the brand’s battery electric offer for the European market and extend it into this lighter weight segment, providing customers with a broader choice of products to cover all applications. These vehicles expand and enhance IVECO’s LCV portfolio alongside the iconic eDaily, produced in Italy in the historic IVECO plant in Suzzara and electrified in the Brescia facility.
The two companies foresee the commercialisation of the new models by mid-2026, based on a ten-year supply. This represents a significant collaboration in the commercial vehicle sector, a commitment to the transition towards sustainable mobility with a long-term horizon. Read More
The new Opel Grandland, Opel Frontera and Opel Mokka inspire with a bold, clear design, clever technologies and driving pleasure and comfort aplenty. At the same time, the Opel SUV trio sets standards in terms of resource conservation and sustainability. Because all three models clearly demonstrate what Opel understands by ‘Greenovation’. They dispense with chrome elements and design applications on the body, while fabrics and covers made of materials with recycled content are used in the interior. The Opel Grandland, as well as the Frontera and Mokka, consist of up to 95 per cent reusable and 85 per cent recyclable materials. In addition, the electrified drive portfolio of the three newcomers ensures that customers can drive in a resource-saving way and even locally emissions-free and thus enjoy driving pleasure with a sense of responsibility. To further accelerate the rollout of electric mobility, Opel is now making the transition even easier and more affordable with ‘Electric All In’1 – starting with the purchase of a vehicle. Read More
Saab has received a contract modification award from the U.S. Marine Corps for additional Marine Corps Training Instrumentation Systems (MCTIS) equipment. The order value for this award is USD $37 million (SEK 375 million) with deliveries taking place from 2025 to 2027.
This award ensures the U.S. Marine Corps will continue implementing Saab’s deployable and expeditionary MCTIS capability. This advanced, interoperable live training solution helps Marines train in the most realistic environments, significantly improving their performance and survivability on the battlefield.
The system focuses on developing and reinforcing effective tactics, techniques and procedures, while also facilitating joint training with NATO allies during multinational exercises.
“We are honored that the U.S. Marine Corps continues to rely on us as their training partner for the next generation of Marine warfighters,” said Erik Smith, President and CEO of Saab in the U.S. “Our training capability enhances combat readiness by immersing Marines in realistic scenarios and rigorously analyzing their decision-making and actions, ultimately delivering on the objective of saving American lives. We take pride in providing the premier interoperable, land-based live training capability in the world.”
Saab’s collaboration with the U.S. Marine Corps began with a contract awarded in June 2021, marking the transition from the previous Instrumentation and Tactical Engagement Simulation System II (ITESS – II) to the MCTIS training system. Read More
Charge Robotics is developing solar installation factories to speed up the process of building large-scale solar farms. The company’s factories are shipped to the site of utility solar projects, where equipment including tracks, mounting brackets, and panels are fed into the system and automatically assembled. A robotic vehicle autonomously puts the finished product — which amounts to a completed section of solar farm — in its final place.
“We think of this as the Henry Ford moment for solar,” says CEO Banks Hunter ’15, who founded Charge Robotics with fellow MIT alumnus Max Justicz ’17. “We’re going from a very bespoke, hands on, manual installation process to something much more streamlined and set up for mass manufacturing. There are all kinds of benefits that come along with that, including consistency, quality, speed, cost, and safety.”
Last year, solar energy accounted for 81 percent of new electric capacity in the U.S., and Hunter and Justicz see their factories as necessary for continued acceleration in the industry.Hunter and Justicz founded Charge Robotics in 2021 to break through that bottleneck. Their first step was to order utility solar parts and assemble them by hand in their backyards.
“From there, we came up with this portable assembly line that we could ship out to construction sites and then feed in the entire solar system, including the steel tracks, mounting brackets, fasteners, and the solar panels,” Hunter explains. “The assembly line robotically assembles all those pieces to produce completed solar bays, which are chunks of a solar farm.”. Read More
Artificial intelligence (AI) data centers are hungry for power, and Chevron is tapping into natural gas to help nourish that appetite. Working with GE Vernova and Engine No. 1, Chevron is aiming to deliver affordable, reliable energy to U.S. data centers as demand for AI grows. Together, the companies plan to deliver a total of up to four gigawatts (GW) of power—enough to power as many as 3.5 million U.S. homes for one year. By doing so, the companies are leveraging natural gas abundance to drive the nation’s AI leadership. AI is fast becoming an integral part of everyday life, transforming industries and enhancing the way we live and work. However, AI data centers require massive amounts of energy to function. For instance:
They consume as much as 50 times more power per square foot than a typical office building.
A single query on ChatGPT can consume up to 10 times more energy than a Google search.
And many data centers rely on the electrical grid for power, leaving them, as well as industries and individuals, vulnerable to energy outages and capacity limitations. Read More
U.S. Rig Count is unchanged from last week at 592 with oil rigs up 1 to 487, gas rigs down 1 to 100 and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 5.
Canada Rig Count is down 35 from last week to 199, with oil rigs down 31 to 139, gas rigs down 4 to 60 and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 0.
International Rig Count is unchanged from last month at 905 with land rigs down 2 to 711, offshore rigs up 2 to 194.
| Region | Period | Rig Count | Change |
| U.S.A | 14 March 2025 | 592 | — |
| Canada | 14 March 2025 | 199 | – 35 |
| International | February 2025 | 905 | -4 |
| Baker Hughes |
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OilandGasPress Energy Newsbites and Analysis Roundup | Compiled by: OGP Staff, Segun Cole @oilandgaspress.
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