The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday issued a final rule on nitrogen oxide standards for new gas-fired power plants and other stationary turbines. The standards are significantly more lenient than a proposal issued in November during the Biden administration. The EPA determined that the “best systems of emissions reduction,” or BSER, for NOx emissions is the continued use of combustion controls for all but one subcategory of new, modified or reconstructed turbines. The BSER for new large turbines with 12-month capacity factors over 45% is combustion controls combined with post-combustion selective catalytic reduction, or SCR. In November, the Biden EPA proposed finding that for most combustion turbines, the use of combustion controls plus SCR is the BSER. The EPA estimated its final new source performance standards for stationary combustion turbines will cut annual NOx emissions by up to 296 tons by 2032 — significantly less than the 2,659 tons the proposed rule was estimated to cut. The new standards cover facilities that started construction, modification or reconstruction after Dec. 13, 2024. The standards were last updated in 2006. NOx contributes to asthma, bronchitis, respiratory infections and premature mortality by reacting with other volatile organic compounds to form ozone and fine particulate matter, according to the EPA. The standards come amid a surge in proposed gas-fired power plants across the United States, in part driven by rising electric demand forecasts from data centers. The PJM Interconnection, for example, has approved about 8.1 GW of gas-fired capacity for fast-track interconnection review. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator has approved or is reviewing about 9.2 GW of gas-fired generation in its fast-track interconnection process and the Southwest Power Pool is studying about 9.6 GW of gas-fired capacity in its similar interconnection review. The EPA estimated that the final rule will save power plant owners $87 million

A “recovering” late January forecast “spur[red]…” the NYMEX gas “recovery” yesterday, Eli Rubin, an energy analyst at EBW Analytics Group, outlined in an EBW report sent to Rigzone by the EBW team on Tuesday. “The February contract netted a 24.0 cent gain yesterday – reversing Friday’s 23.8 cent decline – as weather forecasts swung back in a colder direction to close January,” Rubin said in the report. “Speculators rotating out of the heaviest short positioning in 13 months may amplify upside, while yesterday’s bounce reset short-term technicals in a bullish direction,” he added. “Today may be the mildest day nationally until late February. Week 2 could see weekly heating demand soar 53 gHDDs and more than 100 billion cubic feet as blowtorch weather flips colder,” he continued. “The Week 3 forecast added 15 gHDDs in the past 24 hours. Other meteorologists also point to chances for reloading cold risks in early February,” Rubin stated. Rubin went on to note in the report that daily LNG feedgas nominations “suggest a record high at 20.4 billion cubic feet per day”. He added, however, that “soaring storage surpluses to year-ago and five-year average levels, and likelihood that the market will manage the coldest days of winter next week without massive disruption, suggest the near-term relief rally may wobble and retreat in the most-likely scenario”. The EBW report highlighted that the February natural gas contract closed at $3.409 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) on Monday. It outlined that this marked a 7.6 percent increase from Friday’s close. In Tuesday’s report, EBW predicted a “test higher and relent” trend for the NYMEX front-month natural gas contract price over the next 7-10 days and a “rebound and retreat” trend over the next 30-45 days. In an EBW report sent to Rigzone on Monday by the

USA Compression Partners LP said Monday it had completed the acquisition of J-W Power Co for around $860 million. “The acquired assets add over 0.8 million active horsepower across key regions, including the Northeast, Mid-Continent, Rockies, Gulf Coast and Permian Basin, creating a combined fleet of approximately 4.4 million active horsepower”, Dallas, Texas-based USA Compression said in an online statement. “This acquisition also brings a diversified, high-quality customer base to USA Compression’s commercial portfolio while further strengthening its position in mid-to-large horsepower compression”. According to the companies’ joint announcement of the deal December 1, 2025, the acquisition includes “aftermarket services and parts distribution, as well as additional optionality associated with specialized manufacturing services”. USA Compression expects “attractive ~5.8x 2026 estimated adjusted EBITDA multiple before expected synergies”, the December statement said. According to the December statement, the J-W Power team was to transfer to USA Compression. USA Compression said it had drawn $430 million from its revolving credit facility to help pay the acquisition. For the remainder of the purchase price, USA Compression said it had issued about 18.2 million common units “based on an effective price at signing of $23.5 per common unit (the 10-day volume-weighted average price as of November 26, 2025 with a collar of $23.25-23.5, resulting in an effective price utilized of $23.5), subject to certain purchase price adjustments”. USA Compression had a revenue of $250.26 million for the third quarter of 2025, according to its latest results published November 5, 2025. That was up from $239.96 million for Q3 2024, despite average horsepower utilization slipping from 94.6 percent to 94 percent. Net profit totaled $34.49 million, while adjusted EBITDA landed at $160.27 million – up from $19.33 million and $145.69 million for Q3 2024 respectively. Distributable cash flow was $103.85 million, compared to $86.61 million for Q3

In a statement sent to Rigzone on Friday by the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), the organization’s president and CEO, Edith Naegele, highlighted that America’s independent producers are experiencing “a challenging price environment”. “America’s independent oil and natural gas producers ushered in the shale revolution and have a proven record of delivering energy securely and competitively,” Naegele said in the statement. “America’s independent producers are committed to producing the energy that powers American lives and competitiveness. IPAA’s member companies support American energy dominance and are the backbone of communities throughout the producing states, providing jobs and economic security in regions across the country,” Naegele added. “This is a challenging price environment for America’s independent producers. America’s independents are known for taking risks, and no matter the basin they desire stability as they make capital allocation decisions,” the IPAA President continued. “As global markets continue to develop and change, and as production opportunities present themselves around the world, IPAA’s member companies will continue to evaluate all prospects to produce oil and natural gas safely and securely,” Naegele went on to state. Rigzone has contacted the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for comment on the IPAA statement. At the time of writing, the DOE has not responded to Rigzone. In a J.P. Morgan research note sent to Rigzone by the JPM Commodities Research team on Friday, J.P. Morgan highlighted that the WTI crude price averaged $59 per barrel in the fourth quarter of last year and $65 per barrel overall in 2025. The company showed that the Brent crude price averaged $63 per barrel in the fourth quarter of last year and $68 per barrel overall in 2025. J.P. Morgan projected in the report that the WTI crude price will average $56 per barrel in the first quarter of 2026 and

Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co PJSC (Masdar) has signed an agreement with Angola’s state-owned offtaker Rede Nacional de Transporte de Electricidade for the 150-megawatt (MW) Quipungo photovoltaic project in Huila province. “The Quipungo project represents the first contracted site under Project Royal Sable, a planned 500 MW renewable energy program across three sites that will strengthen Angola’s southern power grid and support the country’s sustainable development objectives”, Masdar said in a press release. It also marks Masdar’s first power purchase agreement (PPA) in the Central African country, according to the company. Project Royal Sable, expected to power around 300,000 homes and offer over 2,000 jobs, “reflects Masdar’s commitment to developing large-scale, bankable renewable energy infrastructure in emerging markets, supporting national energy strategies while expanding access to reliable, affordable clean power”, Masdar said. “Masdar is now the largest operator of renewables on the continent through its joint venture, Infinity Power, which currently operates 1.3 GW of solar and onshore wind power projects in South Africa, Egypt and Senegal, and has a 13.8-GW project pipeline, including battery storage and green hydrogen facilities, in various stages of development”, it added. “The addition of Project Royal Sable will contribute to Masdar’s target of 100 GW portfolio capacity by 2030”. The offtake deal was signed at the International Renewable Energy Agency assembly in Abu Dhabi, which closed Monday. Recently Masdar also signed its first PPA in Malaysia, agreeing to build what it said is Southeast Asia’s biggest floating solar plant. The 200-MW project will be installed at the Chereh Dam in Pahang state. It would be developed with Malaysian partners Citaglobal and Tiza Global, while the PPA was signed with national utility Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Masdar said in an online statement December 23, 2025. The Chereh project launches the 10-gigawatt renewable energy roadmap agreed between Masdar

In an oil and gas report sent to Rigzone late Monday by the Macquarie team, Macquarie strategists, including Walt Chancellor, revealed that they are forecasting that U.S. crude inventories will be up by 5.0 million barrels for the week ending January 9. “This follows a 3.8 million barrel draw in the prior week, with the crude balance realizing relatively close to our expectations,” the strategists said in the report. “For the week ending 1/9, from refineries, we look for a modest reduction in crude runs (-0.1 million barrels per day). Among net imports, we model a healthy increase, with exports sharply lower (-0.9 million barrels per day) and imports up slightly (+0.1 million barrels per day) on a nominal basis,” they added. The strategists stated in the report that timing of cargoes remains a source of potential volatility in the weekly crude balance. They also noted in the report that they “see some lingering potential for noise from year-end effects”. “From implied domestic supply (prod.+adj.+transfers), we look for a small nominal increase (+0.1 million barrels per day),” the Macquarie strategists went on to note. “Rounding out the picture, we anticipate another small increase (+0.2 million barrels) in SPR [Strategic Petroleum Reserve] stocks for the week ending 1/9,” they said. The Macquarie strategists also highlighted in the report that, “among products”, they “again look for another large build led by gasoline (+7.1 million barrels), with distillate (+2.4 million barrels) and jet stocks (+0.7 million barrels) also higher”. “We model implied demand for these three products at ~13.6 million barrels per day for the week ending January 9,” the strategists went on to state. In its latest weekly petroleum status report at the time of writing, which was released on January 7 and included data for the week ending January 2, the