Top Energy/Automotive News; U.S. data strength pointing to higher rates. As Saudis double down with cuts, central banks continues to raise rates
London, 28 June, 2023, (Oilandgaspress) : Oil prices fell on Tuesday morning as markets continued to focus on sluggish U.S. demand.Europe imported 170 billion cubic meters of LNG in 2022, up 57% year-on-year. American Petroleum Institute (API) showed that U.S. oil inventories shrank by a bigger-than-expected 2.4 million barrels in the week to June 23
In 2022, energy trade between the United States and Mexico increased substantially from 2021 because high commodity prices drove up the value of the trade. Energy trade in 2022 between the United States and Mexico totaled $81.9 billion in real prices, an all-time high. Energy trade value is the combined value of energy imports and exports between two countries. Trade value is driven by both commodity prices and the commodity volumes imported and exported.
For the second year in a row, the value of U.S. energy exports to Mexico in real prices was a record annual high, reaching $55.8 billion in 2022, up from the previous high of $45.4 billion in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which began collecting this data in 1996. Crude oil. The United States imported more crude oil from Mexico and paid more per barrel in 2022 compared with 2021. U.S. crude oil imports from Mexico averaged 536,000 barrels per day (b/d), a 9% increase from 2021. Global crude oil prices rose substantially in 2022. The Brent crude oil spot price averaged $103 per barrel (b) in 2022 compared with $77/b in 2021. With prices that much higher, the 9% volumetric increase corresponded to a 47% value increase in U.S. crude oil imports from Mexico last year compared with 2021. The $20.7 billion in crude oil imports from Mexico in 2022 is consistent with global oil price increases. The United States did not export any crude oil to Mexico in 2022.
Petroleum products. Mexico is the largest export market for U.S. petroleum producers; nearly 20% of all U.S. petroleum products were exported to Mexico in 2022. U.S. petroleum product exports to Mexico averaged 1.7 million b/d in 2022, a 33% increase from 2021. The value of U.S. petroleum product exports—the largest component of energy trade with Mexico on a value basis—increased by more than $10 billion to $44.2 billion in 2022 from $33.5 billion in 2021.
Natural gas. Natural gas trade is mostly pipeline shipments from the United States to Mexico. U.S. natural gas exports to Mexico were 5.7 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2022, which was 4% lower than the 2021 average. But because of higher prices, natural gas trade value in 2022 declined only 1.5% from 2021. Read More
SLB, Baker Hughes awarded drilling contract in Zimbabwe
Invictus announced that following the completion of an extensive tendering process, it has awarded contracts for well services to several leading international oilfield service providers for the drilling of the Mukuyu-2 well.
SLB (previously known as Schlumberger) has been awarded the open-hole wireline logging contract, Geolog International has been awarded the mudlogging contract, while Baker Hughes in combination with NOV have been awarded the directional drilling and logging while drilling (LWD) contracts.
The remainder of the services, including cementing, drilling fluids & mud engineering, tubular running, fishing & abandonment, liner hangers, reservoir technical services and project management have been retained by Baker Hughes. Preparation of tools and services will commence for mobilisation of outstanding equipment to Zimbabwe. Maintenance of equipment retained at the Company’s supply base in Harare from the previous drilling campaign has commenced in preparation for mobilisation, following completion of the move of Rig 202 to the Mukuyu-2 wellsite.
Exalo Rig 202 maintenance completed ahead of rig move to Mukuyu-2 The planned maintenance program for Exalo’s Rig 202 has been completed in preparation for the rig move to the Mukuyu-2 wellsite. Read More
KBR announced it is a subcontractor to McCallie Associates, Inc., a certified small business selected to provide mission and instrument systems engineering services at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Maryland and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
The Systems Engineering Advanced Services II (SEAS II) contract has a five-year period of performance with a total value of $300 million. SEAS II supports NASA’s Mission Engineering and Systems Analysis Division and related Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate organizations.
In addition to mission and instrument systems engineering, the prime/subcontractor team will provide guidance, navigation, and control systems, which include altitude control systems analysis and algorithm/software development. This critical task seeks to integrate and improve end-to-end development processes between the space, ground, science, and operations segments of a mission.
“The world’s leading government agencies and commercial enterprises rely on KBR’s mission-oriented engineering solutions, and we look forwarding to supporting McCallie and NASA on the continuation of this important venture,” said Byron Bright, President of KBR Government Solutions U.S.
KBR is proud to work with small businesses and was recently awarded the Dwight D. Eisenhower Award by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), a prestigious award recognizing large prime contractors that have excelled in their utilization of small businesses as suppliers and subcontractors.
Additionally, KBR has been supporting GSFC for many decades and has extensive experience in all phases of mission engineering and space flight instrument development, including design, analysis, manufacturing, assembly, and testing. Read More
During the period from June 12 to June 16, 2023, Eni acquired on the Euronext Milan no. 6,952,759 shares, at a weighted average price per share equal to 12,9123 euro, for a total consideration of 89.775.913,70 euro within the authorization to purchase treasury shares approved by the Shareholders’ Meeting on 10 May 2023, previously subject to disclosure pursuant to art. 144-bis of Consob Regulation 11971/1999.
On the basis of the information provided by the intermediary appointed to make the purchases, the following are details of transactions for the purchase of treasury shares on the Euronext Milan on a daily basis: Read More
The plans for development and operation of the subsea fields Irpa and Verdande, and the production well Andvare in the Norwegian Sea have been approved by Norwegian authorities. The gas field Irpa will be tied back to Aasta Hansteen, whereas the oil field Verdande and the Andvare well will be tied back to Norne. The Irpa gas volumes may supply just over 2.3 million UK households with gas for seven years. The gas discovery is located almost 80 kilometres from the Aasta Hansteen field, and the development will extend the field’s productive life by seven years, up to 2039. The discovery also supports the 350 person-years of employment (direct and indirect) associated with the operation of Aasta Hansteen during this period.
Irpa, the second subsea field tied back to Aasta Hansteen, will be the deepest field on the Norwegian continental shelf, at 1350 metres.
It was recently announced that Westcon Helgeland will deliver large parts of the Irpa subsea facility as a TechnipFMC subcontractor. Momek in Mo i Rana is a subcontractor of Aibel, responsible for modifying the platform for Irpa gas tie-in. Read More
Hyundai has hired Jim Park as the senior vice president, commercial vehicle and hydrogen business development, Hyundai Motor North America, effective June 12. In this new role, Park is responsible for Hyundai’s hydrogen initiatives in North America, which includes commercial vehicle sales, infrastructure development, commercialization of hydrogen, and related future mobility solutions. Park reports directly to José Muñoz, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor North America and president and Global COO of Hyundai Motor Company, and functionally via dotted-line to Ken Ramirez, executive vice president, head of global commercial vehicle and hydrogen business, Hyundai Motor Company.Park has more than three decades of experience in the automotive industry with leadership roles at both Harman-Samsung and Chrysler. Prior to joining Hyundai, Park was president of Harman International Korea, where he initiated strategies for its automotive business units and Samsung’s Automotive Electronic Business. He managed and led four divisions including connected car, car audio, consumer electronics and professional solutions, and oversaw respective KPI’s such as sales revenue growth, market share, cost management, compliance, and employee development. Read More
Bugatti’s headquarters in Molsheim, France, is set for substantial expansion and development.Part of an ongoing investment program that will support the development of new automobiles beyond the Chiron era, a new facility – located next to the Atelier – is to be added to the Molsheim site in the second half of 2024. The new addition to the Molsheim operations will support ongoing programs, including the production of the Bolide, the most extreme Bugatti ever created, and the W16 Mistral, the ultimate Bugatti roadster, as well as future-focused development projects like the first car that will be produced under the governance of the Bugatti Rimac. The new facility – which will span two floors totaling a 2,120 m2 space – will be a unique place for Bugatti employees to gather, fostering new levels in project management. It will also house new team members that will join the brand. Read More
China-based Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) claims that, pound-for-pound, its new ‘condensed’ battery can store almost double the power of Tesla’s top-of-the-range 4680 cell, itself hailed a game-changer mere months ago with its reported range of 450km (279 miles).
As well as opening up the possibility of long distance motoring without the need to stop for a top-up, CATL says it shatters the technological barriers hampering development of electric-powered passenger flight. EV range has quadrupled in the last decade as the battery industry gears up to meet the accelerating switch to electric. Given that most motorists rarely need a range of 1,000km (621 miles), the innovation could translate to smaller batteries and cheaper EVs. Read More
Solar-driven photoreactors
Scientists led by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have designed panel-like photoreactors relying on a water-splitting photocatalyst that could produce hydrogen on rooftops or dedicated solar farms. They claim the photoreactors have high economic potential because of their ‘extremely’ low costs.The proposed systems mimic the photosynthesis process and use a photocatalyst to drive the required chemical reaction for the electrolysis. The photoreactors contain the photocatalyst and the materials for the chemical reaction themselves. Read More
Prospex Energy PLC (AIM: PXEN), the AIM quoted investment company focused on European gas and power projects, announced that the final safety checks conducted by UNMIG and the local Fire Department on the gas facility at the Selva field in the Po Valley region of northern Italy have been successfully completed. Additionally, the Italian Energy Ministry, The Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (“MASE”) has issued formal documentation, enabling the commencement of production from the Podere Maiar-1 (“PM-1”) gas facility at the Selva field.
Now that MASE has signed and issued the final approval documentation, a mandatory 8-day period is required to finalise all administrative matters before production can begin. Therefore, the operator of the Selva Malvezzi production concession, Po Valley Operations Pty Limited anticipates that the gas production ramp-up at PM-1 will commence in early July 2023. A slickline unit has been mobilised to the well site and has commenced the necessary activities to allow gas production to start. The Company will provide further market updates once production has commenced. Read More
General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) and Element 25 Limited (ASX: E25) announced today an agreement for Element 25 to supply up to 32,500 metric tons of manganese sulfate annually to support the annual production of more than 1 million GM EVs in North America.
Under the agreement, GM will provide Element 25 with a US$85 million loan to partially fund the construction of a new facility in the state of Louisiana for production of battery-grade manganese sulfate — a key component in lithium-ion battery cathodes — starting in 2025. Element 25 will produce manganese sulfate at the facility by processing manganese concentrate from its mining operations in Australia. It is expected to be the first facility of its kind in the United States. U.S. has sustained 357 weather The total cost of these 357 events exceeds $2.540 trillion. Read More
GM Defense, a subsidiary of General Motors, was selected by the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to prototype an energy storage unit. GM Defense’s solution will meet the requirements of DIU’s Stable Tactical Expeditionary Electric Power (STEEP) program. STEEP seeks to support tactical microgrid and energy management capabilities in austere locations, reducing logistical requirements and the reliance on fossil fuels as the primary energy source across the DoD.
GM Defense will leverage GM’s advanced electric vehicle propulsion architecture, the Ultium Platform, to deliver a scalable and adaptable energy storage unit that supports the tactical energy requirements of the warfighter. The prototype solution will provide uninterruptable and sustainable power for mission critical equipment, such as command and control, communications, radar and weapons systems in remote areas or where a stable power grid is absent. GM Defense’s STEEP energy storage system will provide intelligent tactical microgrid capabilities that work with hydrogen-powered generators, stationary and mobile battery electric power or existing fuel-powered generators to support efficient power management and distribution. Read More
BrightDrop Zevo 600 electric delivery vehicles
FedEx Express Canada welcomed its first 50 BrightDrop Zevo 600 electric delivery vehicles at an event in Toronto. The introduction of BrightDrop’s electric vans into the FedEx fleet in Canada is an important step in the company’s goal to transform its entire parcel pickup and delivery (PUD) fleet to all-electric, zero-tailpipe emission vehicles by 2040. Read More
UK advertising watchdog has banned campaigns by Toyota and Hyundai for exaggerating the speed at which electric cars can be charged and misleading consumers about the availability of rapid-charging points across the UK and Ireland.
The Japanese car firm Toyota ran a marketing campaign on its website for its bZ4X model with the text “making electric easy”. The site claimed the vehicle could be charged to 80% in about 30 minutes using a 150kW fast-charging system.
Toyota said drivers could “easily find rapid-charging points in a number of public locations”, especially in areas where “drivers were most likely to need them”, such as main travel points on motorways and large arterial roads.
Hyundai ran a similar campaign – using its own website, a digital billboard in London’s Piccadilly Square and a YouTube film featuring footballers from the Premier League club Chelsea, which the South Korean car manufacturer sponsors – promoting its Ioniq 5 model electric car. The campaign claimed the vehicle could be charged from 10% to 80% in 18 minutes using a 350kW charger. Read More
US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned four companies and one individual connected to the violent Russian military group PMC Wagner (Wagner Group) and its founder and owner Yevgeniy Prigozhin, previously sanctioned by the United States, the European Union (EU), Canada, and the United Kingdom (U.K.). The Wagner Group exploits insecurity around the world, committing atrocities and criminal acts that threaten the safety, good governance, prosperity, and human rights of nations, as well as exploiting their natural resources. The targeted entities in the Central African Republic (CAR), United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Russia have engaged in illicit gold dealings to fund the Wagner Group to sustain and expand its armed forces, including in Ukraine and Africa, while the targeted individual has been central to activities of Wagner Group units in Mali. Read More
Report Assessing Climate-Related Risk, Gaps in Insurance Supervision
U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office (FIO) released a report entitled, Insurance Supervision and Regulation of Climate-Related Risks. The report, which is in response to President Biden’s Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk, assesses climate-related issues and gaps in the supervision and regulation of insurers. While the business of insurance in the United States is primarily regulated by the states, Congress established FIO through the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 to serve an important role at the federal level. FIO is the only federal entity with a mandate focused on monitoring all aspects of the nation-wide insurance industry.
The report, which is one of several steps FIO is taking to assess climate related risk to the insurance sector, finds that there are important existing efforts to incorporate climate-related risk into state insurance regulation and supervision. While commendable, those efforts are fragmented across states and limited in several critical ways. The report encourages state insurance regulators and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to build on their progress. Read More
| Oil and Gas Blends | Units | Oil Price $ | change |
| Crude Oil (WTI) | USD/bbl | $68.54 | Down |
| Crude Oil (Brent) | USD/bbl | $73.02 | Down |
| Bonny Light | USD/bbl | $73.44 | Down |
| Saharan Blend | USD/bbl | $73.77 | Down |
| Natural Gas | USD/MMBtu | $2.69 | Down |
| OPEC basket 26/06/23 | USD/bbl | $74.65 | Up |
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OilandGasPress Energy Newsbites and Analysis Roundup | Compiled by: OGP Staff, Segun Cole @oilandgaspress.
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