24 Aug Latest Oil prices, news and commentary, Murban Crude(October Contract) $103/bbl
(Oilandgaspress) 24/08/26, Jim Johnson, chief executive of Hunting, said the UK had become uninvestable and warned Andy Burnham’s hopes of rebuilding industry were doomed because of punitive oil and gas taxes and unpredictable policy decisions. Mr Johnson reportedly stated: “The reality is that Britain has become uninvestable. Everything your politicians have done has shown me that we cannot trust them. So why would I make a big investment here?
“It will never happen – the UK has become less investable than Venezuela.”
North Sea operators have been squeezed after Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, imposed a 38pc windfall tax on oil and gas profits, which was subsequently raised further by Labour to 78pc. The industry has also been hit by a ban on new drilling, which was introduced by Ed Miliband when he was energy secretary.
| Oil and Gas Blends | Units | Oil Price | Notes |
| Crude Oil (WTI) Oilprice | US$/bbl | $85.38 | Down |
| Crude Oil (Brent) | US$/bbl | $93.03 | Down |
| Bonny Light 14/08/26 CBN | US$/bbl | $98.16 | — |
| Dubai | US$/bbl | $90.27 | Up |
| Natural Gas | US$/MMBtu | $2.83 | Up |
| Murban | US$/bbl | $103.00 | Down |
| OPEC basket 21/08/26 OPEC | US$/bbl | $94.91 | Up |
| At press time August 24, 2026 |
L&T Energy Hydrocarbon Offshore (LTEH Offshore) has secured an ultra-mega order from a prestigious client in the Middle East. The project involves the development of multiple offshore facilities.
LTEH Offshore will execute the project scope encompassing engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) of offshore facilities. A significant portion of the fabrication activities will be carried out at L&T’s integrated, world-class manufacturing and fabrication facilities.
The award reinforces LTEH Offshore’s long-standing presence in the Middle East and reflects the confidence placed by customers in its ability to deliver large and complex offshore projects safely, on schedule and to the highest quality standards.
Backed by integrated in-house engineering, project management, procurement, fabrication and installation capabilities and a dedicated fleet of vessels, LTEH Offshore has delivered some of the region’s most challenging offshore developments. Over the past four decades, the business has successfully executed a wide range of offshore projects, including fixed platforms, subsea pipelines and structures, brownfield upgrades and modifications, deep water subsea structures and pipelines, and decommissioning programmes across global markets.
L&T Energy Hydrocarbon Offshore has secured a batch of orders from the Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for the Pipeline Replacement Project (PRP-X) and Well Head Platforms Project off India’s west coast.
PRP-X involves engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) of multiple subsea pipeline segments, along with associated modification works across ONGC’s offshore fields. The Well Head Platforms Project involves EPCIC of four Well Head Platforms.
LTEH Offshore is a leading provider of integrated EPCIC solutions for the offshore oil and gas industry. Supported by robust in-house engineering capabilities, world-class fabrication facilities and a dedicated fleet of marine vessels, it has successfully delivered complex shallow-water and deep-water developments across global markets.
Over the past four decades, the business has executed a wide range of offshore projects, including fixed platforms, subsea pipelines and structures, brownfield upgrades, as well as decommissioning assignments.
ABB has been selected by Statkraft AS to upgrade the Vikfalli hydropower complex in Vik municipality, 170 kilometers northeast of Bergen on Norway’s west coast. The group of three plants produce 830 GWh a year, which is enough electricity for approximately 53,000 Norwegian homes. The order was booked in the second quarter of 2026. Financial details were not disclosed.
The contract covers the complete modernization of the control, protection, excitation and electrical infrastructure, extending the life of assets that are essential to Norway’s delivery of reliable, low-carbon electricity – with hydropower responsible for almost 90 percent of total electricity generation in June 2026.
The Vikfalli project comprises three power stations – Målset (24 MW), Refsdal (92 MW) and Hove (68 MW) – with a total of five generating units. ABB’s project scope includes installation of the ABB Ability™ System 800xA® distributed control system and monitoring platform, which will be integrated with existing third-party turbine systems to provide a unified operational environment across the complex. The contract covers complete modernization and will deploy UNITROL® 8000 excitation systems for all five generating units, advanced cyber security, low and medium voltage electrical systems, vibration monitoring and protection, digital solutions, cable supply and installation.
ABB has formed a strategic partnership and made a minority investment in LevelTen Energy, the world’s largest marketplace for clean energy transactions including power purchase agreements (PPAs). Headquartered in the United States, LevelTen has facilitated more than 20 GW of clean energy transactions in more than 35 markets across North America and Europe on behalf of a wide array of industry participants, including hyperscalers, commercial and industrial companies, and utilities.
The strategic partnership and investment strengthen ABB’s energy and carbon (E&C) advisory services offering by combining its expertise in electrification, digital solutions and energy management with LevelTen’s market-leading platform. Financial details of the investment were not disclosed.
Ukraine struck fuel and lubricant storage tanks at the Yeysk oil terminal complex in southern Russia‘s Krasnodar Krai in an attack on Aug. 22, the General Staff reported.
The complex is a key part of infrastructure at the Yeysk seaport, used to receive, store, and load petroleum products for maritime transport, the military said. Ukrainian forces attacked the facility on Aug. 22, causing a fire at the site. The General Staff did not specify which weapons were used in the attack.
The port’s terminals can handle about 6.8 million tons of cargo annually, including more than 1 million tons of petroleum products, according to the General Staff.
Ukrainian forces attacked logistics centers belonging to Russian e-commerce giant Ozon for the third consecutive night, as several sites, including in occupied Crimea, were also hit, monitoring channels reported Aug. 24.
Three Ozon-operated logistics centers came under attack overnight on Aug. 24.
A facility belonging to Russian home goods retailer Kuchenland in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar was set ablaze amid the Ukrainian attack, according to independent Russian Telegram channel Astra.
ExxonMobil Holdings Corp. has told Kazakhstan that it’s top oil field has peaked. Tengiz output is set to plateau next year before sliding to about 500,000 barrels a day by 2035 — a slump of about 40% from its high, according to part of a company presentation made to authorities in Astana that was seen by Bloomberg.
Exxon has told Kazakhstan that a potential $80 billion joint investment to expand the Kashagan field is contingent on resolving a long-running $150 billion dispute between the government and international companies and a $5 billion environmental fine, Bloomberg reported previously. ExxonMobil is seeking to invest billions of dollars in a new oil project at the nation’s Kashagan development
Iran’s currency hit a new record low Monday as Washington prepared to announce new sanctions it said would be an “economic D-Day” and would add further pressure on an economy already battered by previous sanctions and a U.S. naval blockade.
The rial dropped to 2.02 million to the U.S. dollar as trading opened on informal currency markets. Iran’s official Central Bank rate stood at around 1.5 million rial to the dollar, but the informal rate is what most Iranians pay.
Iran-linked hackers have been accused of launched a cyber attack that caused a British power plant to be temporarily shut down. The isolated incident involved a small-scale energy generator, according to the UK government, which emphasised that at no point was there a risk to the wider energy system.
The incident does however mark ant escalation in the threat posed by Iran after the UK said it had given permission for the US to launch “defensive” operations against Tehran from British bases. The power plant was shut down for four days as a result of the attack last month, according to the Sunday Telegraph, which first reported the story over the weekend.
Britain on Monday briefed energy company chiefs on steps to protect their assets after media reports said Iran-linked hackers had shut down a small energy facility, saying there was no threat to the wider electricity system.
The Telegraph and Financial Times reported that a cyber attack, which the newspapers said took place in July and attributed to Iran-linked hackers, had forced a small British generator offline for four days. A spokesperson for Britain’s energy department said there was no risk to the wider system, adding that the country had a “highly resilient” energy network.
Marine fuel buyers entered 2026 facing a perfect storm, suffering some of the highest bunker prices ever experienced, paired with a sharp and concerning decline in fuel quality.
Across the traditional marine fossil fuel supply chain, VPS has seen a marked rise in fuel quality issues, with the Middle East conflict playing a major role in driving both price volatility and quality deterioration. For ship owners/operators, the message is clear, today’s fuel market is not only more expensive, it is also becoming more complex and unpredictable, with a higher degree of operational risk.
This deterioration is already showing itself in the test data VPS have produced. Between January and July
2026, VPS issued 29 Bunker Alerts, more than the total issued across the whole of 2024 and already
closing in on the 37 alerts recorded throughout all of 2025. In just seven months of 2026, the scale and
frequency of these alerts underline a clear, accelerating rise in fuel quality problems across the industry.
Of the current 29 Bunker Alerts issued so far, Jan-Jul 2026, the combination of abrasive issues due to
elevated cat-fines, plus fuel stability issues, account for 72% of these alerts.
The ports requiring cat-fines and/or stability-related bunker alerts were, ARA, Balboa, Busan, Callao, Hamburg, Houston, Las Palmas, Philadelphia, Piraeus, Rotterdam, San Roque, Singapore and Valencia.
Following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Norway has become Europe’s largest supplier of natural gas, meeting around 30% of gas demand of both the European Union and Britain. Norway says it will continue developing its oil and gas resources in the Barents Sea regardless of the European Union’s support for a moratorium on Arctic hydrocarbon supplies, and no longer sees itself as Europe’s “green battery”, Energy Minister Terje Aasland told Reuters.
Advanced methods can yield enhanced oil and gas recovery. So far, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate has identified three discoveries on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) that may be suitable for enhanced recovery using advanced methods (EOR). One of them remains unclaimed.
The Linerle discovery in the Norwegian Sea contains a projected 33.7 million Sm³ of oil. The discovery is situated around 25 kilometres from the Norne field. Linerle is one of few discoveries on the NCS that contains relatively high viscosity oil, which is uncommon on the NCS. The companies will be able to apply for Linerle in upcoming APA rounds. This year, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate is working to identify projects that are candidates for profitable development using EOGR (advanced methods for enhanced oil and gas recovery).
Beyond Linerle, the Slagugle project in the Norwegian Sea and Frigg near the Hugin field in the North Sea have been identified as potential candidates for using such methods.
The operators are now continuing to refine various solutions to drain the fields. The Norwegian Offshore Directorate is exploring whether they could achieve enhanced recovery using advanced injection methods.
Vestas announced the following order as part of our Q3 order intake:
| Country | Region | Customer | Project name | MW | Turbine varaint | Service agreement | Delivery & commissioning |
| Italy | EMEA | Undisclosed | Undisclosed | 65 | V162-6.5 MW | 25-year AOM 5000 Service Agreement | Delivery and commissioning planned for second half of 2027 |
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