BP cut planned annual investment in renewable energy businesses by more than $5 billion, from its previous forecast, to between $1.5 billion and $2 billion per year. It now aims to grow oil and gas production to between 2.3 million and 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in 2030. It pumped 2.36 million boepd in 2024.
In September, the Nigerian president attended the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing and carried out a state visit to China, and since then more than 200 Chinese companies have expressed interest in investing in Nigeria. It followed the signing of the Nigeria-China relationship agreement last year, with 74 of those companies specifically focused on the oil and gas industry.
Despite the growing emphasis on natural gas with international majors exploring and putting online gas projects and LNG export facilities around Africa, projections indicate that liquid hydrocarbons will still hold the lion’s share of capex, attracting 60% of the total investment through 2030. But natural gas is gradually gaining ground and its share of annual expenditure is set to increase from around 30% in 2023 to more than 40% by the end of the decade, the African Energy Chamber’s report says.
Cnooc’s focus on extraction leaves its earnings heavily dependent on global oil prices, which averaged about 3% less in 2024 on-year. But it also means the company is relatively unaffected by headwinds to demand faced by downstream peers. Earlier this week, China’s biggest top, Sinopec, reported a tumble in profits as the electric-vehicle boom weighs on fuel consumption.
The latest round of US sanctions on Iran, which now targets Chinese so-called ‘teapot’ oil refineries—small, independently owned facilities—signals a growing determination to tighten the economic noose around the Tehran administration. With potential consequences reaching far beyond Iran itself, these moves could reshape geopolitics, disrupt the global economy and send shockwaves through energy markets.
While there is not yet a “maximum pressure” situation—where Iranian oil exports could drop from 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) to near zero—Washington is stepping up efforts to push Tehran back to the negotiating table for a new nuclear deal. However, escalating pressure could drive oil prices higher, conflicting with US President Donald Trump’s goal of lowering energy costs to fight inflation, as he promised in his January inauguration speech. Rystad Energy’s data on oil trade flows shows that almost all Iranian crude exports make their way to China, so achieving effective maximum pressure would require cooperation from the Chinese government.
The mothballed Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Germany may return to service at some point as Europe’s industry would need some Russian gas to stay competitive, TotalEnergies’ chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said on Wednesday.
“I would not be surprised if two out of the four (came) back to stream, not four out of the four,” Patrick Pouyanne said at an industry event in Germany’s capital city, Berlin, as carried by Reuters.
“There is no way to be competitive against Russian gas with LNG coming from wherever it is,” the executive added.
Oil prices rallied in Wednesday’s session, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that any country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela will pay a 25% secondary tariff on trades with the United States. Trump claims that Venezuela has sent “tens of thousands” of people to the U.S. who have a “very violent nature.” Brent crude for May delivery gained 1.2% to trade at $73.89 per barrel at 11.30 am ET while the comparable WTI crude contract climbed 1.2% to $69.84.
The secondary tariffs will target China, India, Spain, Italy and Cuba–all major buyers of Venezuelan oil. The tariffs could disrupt global oil supply chains, with U.S. oil companies likely to emerge as key beneficiaries of Venezuela’s customers looking for alternative supplies.
Crude oil inventories in the United States saw a decrease of 3.3 million barrels during the week ending March 21, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration released on Wednesday.
Crude oil prices were trading up prior to the crude data release by the U.S. Energy Information Administration after the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday a draw of 4.6 million barrels in U.S. crude oil inventories amid a strong gasoline draw. The Brent benchmark was trading up 0.88% at 9:39 a.m. ET at $73.66—a roughly $3 per barrel increase over this same time last week. The WTI benchmark, meanwhile, was trading up 0.84% at $69.58—just shy of a $3 per barrel rise over last week’s levels.
McDermott has been selected by Shell Global Solutions International for an enterprise framework agreement (EFA) for engineering, procurement and integrated project management team services, the company said on Wednesday.
The EFA has a duration of three years with two one-year optional extensions. The agreement covers McDermott’s full range of services across its low-carbon solutions, offshore Middle East and subsea and floating facilities business lines.
OMV Petrom and ROMGAZ have begun drilling the first gas production well for the Neptun Deep project, OMV said on Tuesday.
Located in the Pelican South field, the well will contribute approximately 8 bcm annually to Romania’s gas production once plateau production is reached, OMV said.
First gas is estimated for 2027.