Indian refiners are expected to boost oil imports from Russia in the coming months, as trade talks with Washington drag on and discounts widen amid ample supplies. Discounts on Urals crude loading in November are $2-to-$2.50 a barrel to Dated Brent, making it attractive, according to people familiar with the developments. That’s cheaper than discounts of about $1 a barrel in July-to-August, when supplies were tight due to Moscow’s prioritizing local customers. For the current month, ship-tracking data point to an uptick in arrivals. Crude imports from Russia could average about 1.7 million barrels a day in October, according to Kpler Ltd. That would be about 6% higher on-month, but slightly lower than last year’s pace. The US imposed a punitive 50% levy on US imports of Indian goods in August in a bid to pressure New Delhi to curb its appetite for Russian oil, although it’s refrained from similar action against China, another major buyer. In response, India made plain the deals are price-driven and would continue, although it’s also signaled it wants to buy more US energy amid talks with Washington. Still, at this stage it remains unclear whether Indian refiners will continue to maximize purchases of discounted Russian crude given the talks with the US, said the people. Last month, officials from New Delhi described meetings as “constructive”, even with Washington’s demand India stop buying Russian oil. Meanwhile, India’s state processors have begun talks with national oil companies in the Middle East and Africa for term deals for 2026, the people said. Refiners would be seeking for greater volumes from suppliers able to provide flexibility around volumes, such as allowing buyers to resell or optimize cargoes should Russian imports become more viable, they added. Spokespeople for Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. didn’t reply

Oil rose to the highest in a week after a government report showed a decline in domestic product stockpiles, while strength in broader markets supported crude prices. West Texas Intermediate climbed 1.3% to trade above $62 a barrel, aided by gains in US equities. The Energy Information Administration reported a 763,000-barrel weekly drop at the Cushing hub in Oklahoma, as well as lower oil-product holdings across the board. US distillate stocks, in particular, saw the largest decline since late June. Price gains are still capped by the outlook for ample global supplies, with OPEC+ ramping up production and the US forecasting record domestic output this year. Russian exports are also close to a 16-month high as Ukrainian drone strikes against refineries cut domestic processing. “The disconnect continues between paper pricing and the predicted glut in global balances,” said Keshav Lohiya, founder of consultant Oilytics. “We are back to an oil trading world where flat price is firmly in the $65 to $70 world.” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reaffirmed its bearish outlook on oil, saying the global market faces an average daily surplus of about 2 million barrels from this quarter through next year. That will drag prices lower, with Brent expected to average $56 a barrel in 2026, analysts including Yulia Grigsby said in a note. In corporate news, Exxon Mobil Corp. signed agreements that lay the groundwork for it to explore Iraq’s giant Majnoon oil field, ending the company’s near two-year hiatus in the country. Oil Prices West Texas Intermediate for November delivery advanced 1.3% to settle at $62.55 a barrel in New York. Brent for December settlement climbed 1.2% to settle at $66.25 a barrel. What do you think? We’d love to hear from you, join the conversation on the Rigzone Energy Network. The Rigzone Energy Network is

Canada’s Cenovus Energy Inc. increased its takeover bid for rival MEG Energy Corp. one day before investors were due to vote on it, signaling the companies’ original deal didn’t have enough shareholder support.  The new cash-and-stock offer from Cenovus values MEG at C$29.80 per share, or C$7.6 billion ($5.4 billion), based on Tuesday’s closing price. That’s a bump of about 5% from the previous offer, which the MEG board agreed to in August. Including debt, the offer values MEG at about C$8.6 billion. MEG shares were up 5.5% Wednesday at noon in Toronto and Cenovus shares were up 1%. Cenovus is also offering more stock this time: the new proposed transaction is half shares, half cash. The previous bid would have paid shareholders three-quarters cash, and was criticized by some investors for limiting the potential upside for MEG investors.  “While the market will likely express some disappointment from the raised bid, we think the improved offer should support approval from MEG holders and we do believe in the strategic merits of the transaction,” JPMorgan analyst Arun Jayaram said in a note to investors.  MEG’s largest shareholder is Strathcona Resources Ltd., which owns 14% of the company and has put forward its own competing all-stock takeover proposal, which MEG’s board turned down. Strathcona didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The MEG shareholder vote has been delayed until Oct. 22. Cenovus needs two-thirds support for the takeover to succeed.  “We received support from the majority of MEG’s shareholders for our transaction, Cenovus Chief Executive Officer Jon McKenzie said in a statement. “However, many MEG shareholders indicated that they would prefer to receive greater Cenovus share consideration, so that they can more fully participate in the upside of the combined company.”  A takeover of MEG, which operates a single oil-sands site

Kushal Patel, Gregory Gangelhoff, Tali Perelman and Amber Mahone are colleagues at Energy and Environmental Economics. The U.S. electric system is embroiled in a phase of rapid change and great uncertainty. Demand growth is accelerating and sudden policy changes threaten project viability. The path forward will hinge less on predicting exact outcomes and more on preparing for a wide range of possibilities. After years of relatively flat load growth at the national level, electricity demand is growing at the fastest rate in decades. E3’s modeling projects national growth of between 1.1% and 2.2% annually through 2035, driven by data centers, electric vehicles, heat pumps and manufacturing. These sectors continue to expand robustly, despite federal rollbacks on clean energy and advanced manufacturing incentives. Both scenarios show federal trade and tax policy as of July 2025; Low and High scenarios reflect uncertainty in macroeconomic outlook and adoption trends. Even under scenarios with a more conservative outlook on data center growth and adoption of electrified technologies (OBBBA Low), demand increases significantly, driven especially by data centers, EVs and industrial growth. Permission granted by Energy and Environmental Economics But just when new generation development is becoming indispensable for meeting rapidly increasing demand, the economics of building resources have been thrown into turmoil. Federal actions, most notably the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, combined with recent tariffs, have reshaped costs and created unprecedented uncertainty around answering a seemingly simple question: “How much do new renewables, energy storage and natural gas generation cost?” Restrictions associated with Foreign Entities of Concern, or FEOC, in the OBBBA also cast doubt on federal incentives in the near term, separate from the cost impacts above. Trade restrictions are especially affecting the economics of solar and wind. Reciprocal tariffs and Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duties, or AD/CVD, have been finalized on imported

SLB and SBM Offshore announced, in a recent joint statement, an agreement “to enter into an exclusive digital alliance to optimize the performance of offshore production systems”. The companies noted in the statement that the alliance “brings together SLB’s digital and domain expertise in subsurface, subsea, surface production and recovery with SBM Offshore’s digital and full FPSO lifecycle capabilities”. SLB and SBM added in the statement that they “will leverage their respective digital capabilities to create an AI-powered digital ecosystem that enhances FPSO digital asset management – improving uptime performance and reducing total cost of ownership for offshore operators”. The digital ecosystem will integrate SBM Offshore’s operational workflows, data, and lifecycle expertise with SLB’s digital technologies, including its OptiSite solutions which are enabled by Cognite Data Fusion as part of SLB’s Lumi data and AI platform, the companies said in the statement, adding that, “once fully realized, the digital ecosystem will empower offshore asset operators – across operations, maintenance, and engineering – to proactively identify and resolve emerging challenges before they escalate”. This will be achieved through real-time, contextualized insights drawn from the full asset infrastructure, including subsea wells, risers, flowlines and topside systems workflows, according to the statement, which noted that, “by integrating intelligence across domains, the ecosystem will enable more efficient and agile decision-making throughout the lifecycle of offshore production”. In the statement, Rakesh Jaggi, President, Digital & Integration, SLB, said, “this exclusive alliance with SBM Offshore marks a pivotal moment in offshore assets production and recovery”. “By integrating decades of operational data and domain expertise through SLB’s scalable digital platform, we’re not only unlocking actionable insights – we are optimizing the FPSO value chain to enhance asset performance,” Jaggi added. “Together, we are committed to delivering measurable value and operational excellence to our customers,” Jaggi continued. Olivier Icyk,

LandBridge Co LLC said Tuesday it had signed a deal to buy about 37,500 acres on Texas’ side of the Delaware Basin from 1918 Ranch & Royalty LLC. “The acreage to be acquired consists of approximately 22,000 fee surface acres, approximately 3,500 surface acres held pursuant to a long-term management agreement and approximately 12,000 leasehold surface acres”, Houston, Texas-based LandBridge said in a press release. These are spread across the counties of Loving, Reeves, Ward and Winkler. Expected to be completed in the fourth quarter, the transaction will increase LandBridge’s holdings to around 300,000 acres, said the oil and gas-focused land management business operating primarily in the Permian sub-basin. Currently LandBridge owns around 277,000 acres across Texas and New Mexico, according to the company. “Upon closing, this transaction will provide LandBridge with immediate access to high-quality pore space adjacent to its large contiguous surface acreage position in Loving County, Texas”, LandBridge said. “This acreage position is expected to support additional water handling infrastructure necessary to handle escalating commercial produced water volumes in the Stateline region of the Delaware Basin, expanding LandBridge’s ability to deliver economic pore space alternatives to a broader customer base. “Beyond subsurface assets, the contiguous acreage in northern Reeves County to be acquired in this transaction is well-positioned for alternative energy development due to its proximity to industry demand and current and planned transmission infrastructure, aligning with LandBridge’s commitment to continue optimizing the commercial and strategic value of its acreage position”. Last month LandBridge announced an agreement with NRG Energy Inc for a potential 1.1-gigawatt gas power plant that would be built by NRG on a LandBridge site in Reeves County, Texas, to support data center electricity demand. LandBridge chief executive Jason Long said, “This acquisition not only bolsters LandBridge’s capacity to meet rising demand for high-quality pore