U.S.-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) company Excelerate Energy Inc. has named Nisha D. Biswal to its board of directors effective January 21, 2015. The company said in a media release that Biswal would serve on the Audit and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees. Steven Kobos, President and Chief Executive Officer of Excelerate, said, “Her extensive international background and experience guiding U.S. investments in developing markets aligns well with Excelerate’s strategy and plans for growth”. “Nisha also brings a wealth of experience specifically with respect to South Asia which represents approximately 20 percent of the world’s population and a growing source of demand for global LNG supply”, Kobos added. Biswal has over 30 years of experience in U.S. foreign policy, international economic development, and trade, serving in U.S. government agencies, Congress, and the private sector. Most recently, she was Deputy CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), managing operations and strategy for a $60 billion portfolio financing private sector projects globally in energy, infrastructure, health, agriculture, and financial inclusion. Her prior government service includes roles as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs and Assistant Administrator for Asia at USAID, as well as various Congressional staff positions, Excelerate said. Before the DFC, Biswal was senior vice president for international strategy and global initiatives at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, leading the U.S. India Business Council and the U.S. Bangladesh Business Council, it said. Biswal‘s appointment comes after Carolyn J. Burke resigned from the company’s board after nearly three years of service. Burke’s resignation is also effective January 21, 2025. Paul Hanrahan will step up as Chairman of the Compensation Committee, Excelerate said. “On behalf of the Excelerate Board of Directors and management team, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Carolyn for her

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he’s ready to discuss crude oil prices and other energy issues at a face-to-face meeting with US leader Donald Trump. Both Russia and the US are top global oil producers and consumers, Putin said in an interview with state-owned Rossiya 24 TV. Price movements in the commodity impacts both economies, he said. “We have a lot to discuss here, and there are other energy issues that might be mutually interesting,” Putin said. “I doubt that Mr. Trump — even if we are hearing about the possibility of additional sanction on Russia — would make decisions that could hurt the US economy.”  Putin’s comments follow Trump’s Thursday address to world leaders in Davos, when he urged Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to “bring down the cost of oil.”  “If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately,” Trump added. Earlier this week, Trump also stepped up pressure on Russia to make a peace deal with Ukraine “soon,” or else he would “have no other choice” but to impose additional taxes, tariffs and sanctions on Russian imports to the US, along with “other participating countries.”  Earlier this month, the US imposed its harshest sanctions so far on Russia’s energy industry, the key source of the Kremlin’s revenue that funds the war in Ukraine. The restrictions could disrupt Russia’s exports of petroleum and reduce the global supply surplus. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed. MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR Bloomberg

President Donald Trump plans to speed power plant development for co-located artificial intelligence data centers using his energy emergency declaration, he said Thursday. “I can get the approvals done myself without having to go through years of waiting,” Trump told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “I’m going to give emergency declarations so that they can start building them almost immediately.” Earlier this week, Trump hosted several of the founders of the Stargate Project at the White House. The Stargate Project is a joint venture between SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle and MGX. The project envisions “immediately” spending $100 billion on co-located data centers with an initial focus on a site in Abilene, Texas. “We need to double the energy we currently have in the United States … for AI to really be as big as we want to have it” to compete with China and other countries, Trump said. Co-locating generation and data centers “was largely my idea,” Trump said. “Nobody thought this was possible … I told them that what I want you to do is build your electric generating plant right next to your plant as a separate building connected.” Coal-fired generation could be used as a backup for the data centers, according to Trump. “Nothing can destroy coal, not the weather, not a bomb, nothing,” Trump said. “It might make it a little smaller, might make it a little different shape, but coal is very strong as a backup.” Trump’s co-location comments appear to align with newly appointed Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie, according to ClearView Energy Partners. “Chairman Christie has supported co-location on the condition that developers site data centers adjacent to new power plants,” the research firm said in a client note on Thursday. “He has raised concerns about data centers or other energy-intensive facilities

President Donald Trump appears to have opened the door for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, the controversial oil conduit that even its former developer doesn’t want to build.  A Biden administration executive order that revoked Trump’s March 2019 permit for the pipeline was among the directives rescinded by the newly elected president Monday. The decision appears to have put Keystone XL back in play — even if it may now be little more than symbolic.  It’s unlikely that the multibillion-dollar 1,200-mile project to build the pipeline from Canada to Nebraska would proceed anytime soon — if ever. South Bow Corp., the oil pipeline business spun off from TC Energy Corp., hasn’t indicated interest in a revival.  “We’ve moved on from Keystone XL,” South Bow’s chief executive officer, Bevin Wirzba, told Bloomberg last June. Former President Joe Biden revoked Trump’s permit allowing Keystone to cross the US-Canada border hours after taking office in January 2021.  Since then, parts of the system — which runs through Alberta, Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska — have been dismantled. ‘Virtually all of the permits along the way have expired,” Anthony Swift, a senior director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in an interview. “So it would be starting from ground one to resuscitate the project.” A White House spokesman didn’t comment on the matter.  Trump and other Republicans attacked Biden’s decision to kill the pipeline, blaming the move for increasing gas prices and using it to paint Democrats as anti-oil. The pipeline’s shift in fortunes unfolded despite Trump’s insistence that the US doesn’t need Canadian crude oil.  “We don’t need their oil and gas,” Trump said Thursday in a remote presentation to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “We have more than anybody.” The case of the Keystone pipeline underscores his zeal to revoke many Biden

Oil posted its first weekly decline this year after President Donald Trump threatened trade wars and demanded OPEC+ lower crude prices. West Texas Intermediate settled little changed above $74 a barrel after fluctuating between gains and losses for most of the session. Earlier on Friday, crude extended losses after Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated he’s open to discussing Ukraine and oil prices with Trump. This week, Trump had threatened more penalties on Moscow if Putin doesn’t “make a deal” to end the prolonged war in Ukraine. Recently imposed US sanctions on Russia’s oil have been tightening the global market, and loosening them may increase supplies available to customers in Asia that had been scrambling to seek alternatives. The sanctions were introduced before Trump took office to boost Ukraine’s leverage in possible peace negotiations. Oil markets have been reacting to Trump’s statements since he took office on Monday. The first week of his new term began with tariff threats aimed at Canada, Mexico and China, followed by a pledge that he would ask the OPEC+ producer group to “bring down the cost of oil.” “He just wants the price lower,” Nadia Martin Wiggen, a director at Svelland Capital, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “He wants gasoline prices lower for the consumer, and he wants oil prices just to be lower, at least than what the Biden administration had. On the flip side, he wants producers to keep producing and especially American ones, and that’s where we see him in a tough situation.” Futures in New York fell 4.1% this week, but remain higher for the year amid cold weather in the Northern Hemisphere and the Russia sanctions. Some of the strength in crude and freight markets that followed the sanctions has since cooled. One of Trump’s executive orders this week

There is no doubt that with climate change comes more extreme weather. In the UK, the Met Office has been naming storms now for ten years. These have been coming with greater regularity, often bringing devastation in their wake. The 2023/24 storm season saw 12 named storms, the greatest number of named storms since the first season in 2015. Storms often cause devastation on the infrastructure that delivers our energy and for the workers responsible for keeping the lights on. Storms can cause billions of pounds of damage and can even put lives at risk. As the UK awaits the impact of Storm Eowyn, which is bringing gusts of up to 100mph across Ireland and Scotland, we have brought together some of significant impacts recent storms have caused. Wind turbine bursts into flames A wind turbine burst into flames as hurricane-force winds battered parts of Scotland in 2011. Firefighters were called as the huge 330ft turbine in North Ayrshire caught fire in the afternoon. However, the blaze died out within minutes of their arrival. North Sea rig floats away Dozens of workers were evacuated after Storm Babet in 2023 caused a North Sea oil rig east of Aberdeen lose anchors amid turbulent waves. Forty-five non-essential staff working aboard the Stena Spey were airlifted to other sites after four out of eight anchors became detached due to the severe weather. WATCH: Wind turbine sheds blades In December 2023, an Ayeshire wind turbine lost its blades and disintegrated as it was battered by Storm Gerrit. An onlooker captured the astonishing moment the 35m turbine at Auchencloigh farm span out of control. Irish Sea oil rig evacuated Last year 30 workers were evacuated from this oil rig in the Irish Sea but it was a preventative measure to ensure their safety. Petrofac (LON:PFC)