In early January 2026, U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro and brought him into U.S. custody on drug charges. In subsequent public statements, the Trump administration announced an intent to encourage private-sector participation and investment in Venezuela’s energy sector, despite broad U.S. sanctions on the Venezuelan government.
Aker BP has awarded Aker Solutions a long-term maintenance, modification and operations (MMO) contract covering all Aker BP-operated assets on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
Chevron, through its subsidiaries and in partnership with HELLENiQ ENERGY, has signed lease agreements with the Hellenic Republic for exploration rights to four offshore blocks in Greece, expanding its presence in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The exploration involved multiple wells drilled from the Askeladden rig, with detailed geological data indicating moderate to good reservoir properties. The license partners are considering a tieback to existing infrastructure.
ConocoPhillips and its partners have submitted two plans for development and operation (PDOs) to Norway’s Ministry of Energy for the Albuskjell, Vest Ekofisk and Tommeliten Gamma fields in the Greater Ekofisk Area of the North Sea.
India’s consumption of refined petroleum fuels and products is expected to hit another fresh high in the upcoming financial year 2026-27 (FY27) on the back of steady growth in energy use across various sectors of the economy, as per latest government estimates. According to projections by the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), the country’s consumption of petroleum products seen a proxy for crude oil demand in FY27 is seen rising 2.8% over the revised estimate for FY26 to 250.8 million tonnes.
World oil demand will rise more slowly than expected this year, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday, while warning the global market still faces a sizeable surplus despite outages that cut supply in January.
Turkey has begun a new phase in oil and gas production off the eastern shores of the African continent: the exploration and drilling vessel Çağrı Bey has been sent to the shores of Somalia, where it will begin exploration of oil and natural gas reserves in this region.
Friday’s gain in crude oil prices was small enough that it could almost be described as neutral for the day, largely due to an overall slowdown in U.S. inflation.
The US government has granted licences to five Western oil companies including BP, Chevron, Eni, Repsol and Shell to resume oil and gas operations in Venezuela, Bloomberg reported on Friday.