The offensive against methane began early in President Biden’s term. Widely considered a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide even though its effect is much more short-lived, methane got into the crosshairs of the federal government as a target in its transition policies. Oil and gas companies were the natural prime target for climate regulation in this respect, and the regulation promptly came, mandating financial penalties for so-called methane leaks.
Natural gas is mostly methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas that is over 25 times more efficient than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere over a 100-year period. The Global Methane Pledge from COP26 acknowledges that methane is one of the most powerful greenhouse gases, responsible for a third of current warming from human activities.
There was a 1-rig bump in drilling activity in the Permian Basin, landing at 305 in the most prolific basin—a figure that is 10 fewer than this same time last year. The count in the Eagle Ford saw no change to the number of active drilling rigs, hovering at 48. Rigs in the Eagle Ford are 4 below where they were this time last year.
“Oil prices came under pressure in February as trade war uncertainty overshadowed sanctions-related supply risks,” ING’s commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey said this week.
Domestic power prices have been very volatile in recent months amid low wind speeds. Germany has been experiencing lower-than-normal winds for four months, which have reduced wind power generation, boosting electricity prices and the reliance on fossil fuels. Electricity prices have been rising this year due to higher natural gas prices in Europe amid a cold winter, lower wind generation, and faster depletion of natural gas inventories.
At the end of January, Sheinbaum sent a draft energy reform to Congress, which aims to accelerate the energy transition and improve access to energy, partially by allowing greater private sector investment in the sector. The Senate approved the reform on the 26th of February with 85 votes in favour, 39 against, and one abstention.
The US has made over 100 GW of data center land acquisition and construction announcements, with estimated commercial operation dates falling between 2024 and 2035. At a global level, this represents roughly 40% of total data center announcements as of 2023. Domestically, data centers are poised to require between 395 and 660 terawatt-hours (TWh) of power by 2035, representing at least 10% of current demand. The surge in announcements is driven by rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies from leading tech firms, alongside continued growth in cloud computing services.
Total petroleum stocks – including crude oil, total motor gasoline, fuel ethanol, kerosene type jet fuel, distillate fuel oil, residual fuel oil, propane/propylene, and other oils – stood at 1.605 billion barrels on February 21, the report showed. Total petroleum stocks were down 2.2 million barrels week on week and up 16.6 million barrels year on year, the report outlined.
The tariffs threaten to disrupt North America’s tightly integrated oil industry and raise demand for US crude to backfill any Canadian or Mexican barrels that are diverted elsewhere to avoid the levies. Still, the tariffs’ effects may be blunted by the fact that many American refineries were built to handle those countries’ heavy crudes, rather than domestically produced light oil, leaving them limited options for substitution. The US receives about about 4 million barrels a day from Canada and about 400,000 barrels a day from Mexico.
Seadrill Limited has reported a fourth-quarter 2024 net income of $101 million, well over the $32 million for the previous quarter. Fourth-quarter operating revenues totaled $289 million, down 18 percent from $354 million for the prior quarter primarily due to lower contract revenues.