Shale billionaire Harold Hamm said oil companies need guarantees that their assets won’t someday be seized by Venezuela if they help revive the nation’s crude production. “There is a lot of geopolitical risk in Venezuela. Exxon had been there twice and been nationalized, ” Hamm said in an interview Thursday with Bloomberg Television. “There have got to be guarantees against that. We have seen other companies burned real bad there.” Hamm, one of the oil industry’s most outspoken supporters of US President Donald Trump, said Venezuela is a much safer place as a result of the US removing former President Nicolás Maduro from power. The wildcatter was part of a group of oil executives who met with Trump at the White House last week to talk about boosting output in the South American nation, home to some of the world’s largest crude reserves. Trump has called on US oil companies to invest at least $100 billion in order to revive production in Venezuela after years of corruption, underinvestment and neglect ravaged output. Crude producers, however, are moving cautiously. Exxon Mobil Corp. Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods told Trump at the meeting that the country is currently “uninvestable.” Guarantees against Venezuela nationalizing US oil assets should come in the form of physical security but shouldn’t need to include financial assurances, Hamm said in a separate phone interview Thursday. As for companies that have had their assets in the country nationalized, “I’m sure they’re pretty dang cautious,” he added.  Asked if his Oklahoma City-based company, Continental Resources Inc., planned to enter Venezuela, Hamm told Bloomberg Television that he was monitoring the geopolitical situation and looking at the geology.  “That is what I have related to the president, and I think a lot of other executives did the same thing,” he said, adding in the

Oil fell the most since June after the US held off on attacking Iran for now as the country pledged not to execute protesters. West Texas Intermediate slumped 4.6% to settle near $59 a barrel on Thursday after a 10% jump over the past week. The New York Times reported that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked US President Donald Trump to postpone plans for a military attack on Iran. The news reduced the likelihood of an immediate US response to a crackdown on a domestic uprising against the regime and of disruptions to Iranian production or key shipping lanes. That comes after Trump told reporters Wednesday that he had been informed the “killing in Iran is stopping,” adding he would be “very upset” if the country continued to execute protesters. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated on Thursday that there would be “grave consequences” if the violence continued, keeping investors on their toes. The US Treasury Department, meantime, announced sanctions on Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and 18 individuals and entities part of what it says is a shadow bank network, reinforcing expectations conflict is not immediate. “Developments in Iran, so very much part of the driving force behind the recent rally, have taken a much less anxious turn overnight,” said John Evans, an analyst at brokerage PVM. “The ladder of risk premium has been lost.” Oil has pushed higher in the new year as turmoil in OPEC’s fourth-largest producer, along with upheaval in Venezuela, added geopolitical risk to prices. There’s also been material disruption to Kazakh exports in the Black Sea due to a combination of drone attacks, maintenance and bad weather, which has also bolstered prices. Crude’s major swings in recent days have also been driven by financial flows. Bullish options volumes are

MidOcean Energy LLC, a liquefied natural gas company founded by EIG, is in talks to join Argentina’s signature LNG venture, according to people familiar with the matter. The $20 billion project led by state-run YPF SA and Italy’s Eni SpA envisages construction of at least two floating liquefaction vessels with annual capacity for 12 million tons off Argentina’s Atlantic coast. YPF executives have ambitions to incorporate a third vessel. Talks are at an early stage and MidOcean may yet walk away from the project known as Argentina LNG, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information is private. Saudi Aramco is an investor in MidOcean. President Javier Milei met MidOcean executives in Buenos Aires this week, according to a statement from his office that didn’t provide details of the meeting. “We were pleased to meet with President Milei to discuss opportunities in Argentina’s energy sector as part of our regular assessment of business development opportunities globally, and we look forward to continued engagement,” EIG said in an email, without providing further comment on the talks.  YPF declined to comment. Eni didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. MidOcean holds stakes in gas-export plants in Australia, Peru and Canada, and has been looking to expand its portfolio. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.’s overseas investment arm, XRG, agreed in November to join as an equity partner in Argentina LNG but hasn’t yet inked a binding deal. Argentina LNG is a key part of efforts to turn Argentina’s booming Vaca Muerta shale patch into a significant global provider of oil and gas. The exports could, in turn, drive a generational shift to stabilize the country’s crisis-prone economy. What do you think? We’d love to hear from you, join the conversation on the Rigzone Energy Network. The Rigzone Energy Network

Mozambican President Daniel Chapo expects TotalEnergies SE’s $20 billion liquefied natural gas project to restart as early as this month, reviving a potentially key revenue source for the cash-strapped government. There are already signs of construction preparation at the project that shut in 2021 after insurgent attacks near the site, Chapo said in an interview in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. He played down the risk that Islamic State-linked militants will halt construction again. The Mozambique LNG project promised to transform one of the world’s poorest economies and bring in billions of dollars in revenue to the state, some of which it earmarked to pay down debt. Repeated setbacks caused by security concerns have pushed out first exports to 2029, just as a wave of supply from Qatar and the US is forecast to hit the global market. A restart would be welcome news for Mozambique’s economy that’s also struggling to recover from post-election unrest. “If everything goes well, we may be able to resume effectively in late January or early February,” said Chapo, who was sworn in as the nation’s leader a year ago. “We are pleased with the way work is progressing.” Total, the operator of Mozambique LNG with a 26.5% stake, previously said it wants the government to approve $4.5 billion in additional costs incurred during the almost five-year freeze before fully relaunching the project. The sides have agreed to allow the development to proceed while the approval process is under way, said Chapo. He was unable to give a timeline for Mozambique’s audit of costs because of the complexity of the process. Total, in a response to a request for comment, referred to remarks by Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanné in December that the company is mobilizing workers and contractors at the development. Chapo said he has an “excellent” relationship with

In an EBW Analytics Group report sent to Rigzone by the EBW team on Thursday, Eli Rubin, an energy analyst at the company, highlighted that the February natural gas contract “collapsed” yesterday. Rubin outlined in the report that the February natural gas contract fell to $3.068 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) on Wednesday “on (i) chances for a dissipating Alaska ridge opening milder February risks and (ii) a Webber Research report that Golden Pass LNG Trains 2-3 may be delayed until 2027”. “Weakness was compounded by volatility: yesterday’s $3.120 close is within 1.1 cents of Friday’s low,” Rubin added. In the report, Rubin pointed out that daily LNG demand “dropped to a two month low” yesterday, “mitigating weather driven Henry Hub spot price upside to clear at $3.12 per MMBtu”. He also noted that “LNG could jump 3.5 billion cubic feet per day – adding to a 12.4 billion cubic foot per day increase in weather-driven demand into Tuesday”. Rubin went on to outline in the report that “consensus projections” for the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) next weekly natural gas storage report – which is scheduled to be released later today and will include data for the week ending January 9 – “are for an 87-91 billion cubic foot draw”. “The bigger story is likely to be rising physical market strength into a cold Martin Luther King holiday weekend,” Rubin added. “Healthy storage surpluses suggest NYMEX futures may try to continue to look past near term cold, however,” he continued. The EBW report highlighted that the February natural gas contract closed at $3.120 per MMBtu on Wednesday. It outlined that this marked a 29.9 cent, or 8.7 percent, decrease from Tuesday’s close. In Thursday’s report, EBW predicted a “mixed signals” trend for the NYMEX front-month natural gas contract

Chile’s National Petroleum Company (ENAP) has signed an agreement with Oxiquim allowing ENAP to transfer and store fuels at Oxiquim’s terminal in the municipality of Coronel, Región del Biobío. The agreement allows ENAP to use the Escuadrón Maritime Terminal starting this quarter, ENAP said in a press release. Oxiquim general manager Cecilia Pardo, in comments about the deal, noted of “limited infrastructure available for fuel storage and difficulty in executing new projects”.  Escuadrón is one of three terminals operated by Oxiquim for bulk liquid raw materials and chemicals, fuels and liquefied petroleum gas in Chile, Oxiquim says on its website. The other two are the Mejillones and Quintero terminals. “The agreement is consistent with ENAP’s recent announcement to consolidate its logistics business as a key pillar of the company, incorporating strategic partners and high service standards”, ENAP said. “This is based on the fact that ENAP has logistics assets exceeding $3 billion and that its operations span from Arica to Punta Arenas”. ENAP general manager Julio Friedmann said, “[S]ome of the main areas of work in the immediate term are to generate greater storage capacity and to develop future partnerships with third parties, always for the purpose of strengthening fuel supply throughout the territory”. Last year ENAP consolidated its logistics assets under a “Corporate Logistics Management” and announced an investment plan of $540 million over the next five years for its logistics business. “Among the main areas of focus of this new management are operational excellence, efficiency and profitability of the logistics chain, and the adaptation of infrastructure to meet current and future needs”, ENAP said in an online statement September 5, 2025. “Currently, ENAP manages logistics assets valued at over $3 billion, including a large land fleet, 11 ships, 830 kilometers [515.74 miles] of pipelines, three million cubic meters [105.94 million