Hess Corp. grew its net oil production in Guyana by 52 percent to 195,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the same three-month period in the prior year, according to quarterly results it released Wednesday. The New York City-based company’s net production in the United States’ Bakken shale also rose seven percent year-on-year to 208,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boed). Bakken and Guyana, specifically the Stabroek block, drove an increase in Hess’ proven reserves to 1.44 billion boe at the end of 2024 from 1.37 billion boe at the end of 2023, the oil and gas exploration and production company said. Besides the onshore Bakken, the Gulf of Mexico also contributed to Hess’ U.S. production with 30,000 boed. In Southeast Asia, Hess derived 62,000 boed from the North Malay Basin and the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area. Hess’ net production in the October-December 2024 period totaled 495,000 boed, compared to 418,000 boed in the fourth quarter of 2023. Higher production drove a 7.56 percent year-over-year increase in adjusted net earnings to $542 million, or $1.76 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2024. That beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate, which averages projections by brokerage analysts, of $1.51 per share. Hess has now surpassed the Zacks estimate for the fourth consecutive quarter. Lower realized selling prices and higher exploration expenses offset the effect of higher volumes. Hess’ realized crude oil selling prices averaged $72.1 a barrel in the fourth quarter of 2024, including the effect of hedging. The corresponding figure in the fourth quarter of 2023 was $76.63 per barrel. The average realized natural gas liquids selling price was $23.05 per barrel, up from $20.92 per barrel in the comparable period a year ago. Hess sold natural gas at an average realized price of

Lee Zeldin has been confirmed as administrator of the U.S. EPA. The Senate confirmed the appointment 56-42 on Wednesday. Zeldin, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2013 to 2023, will take the helm of an agency that the Trump administration has vowed to take in a different direction than the Biden administration. “We will take great strides to defend every American’s access to clean air, clean water, and clean land,” Zeldin said in a statement issued after his confirmation. “We will maintain and expand the gold standard of environmental stewardship and conservation that President Trump set forth in his first administration while also prioritizing economic prosperity.” Zeldin’s supporters see him as the right fit for prioritizing economic growth while still protecting the environment. Democrats who opposed the nomination say Zeldin is too aligned with oil and gas company interests that could exacerbate climate change. Zeldin takes the helm “a critical time for EPA, which in recent years has targeted the power sector with unlawful and unachievable regulations,” National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson said in a statement. “Administrator Zeldin now has the opportunity to reconsider these rules and replace them with commonsense policies.” Matheson said repealing and replacing EPA’s power plant greenhouse gas rule “is a top priority for electric cooperatives.” During a confirmation hearing Jan. 16,  Zeldin said he would work with longtime EPA staff, as well as Republicans and Democrats, to familiarize himself with important environmental issues, especially as they impact the U.S. economy. He said he would prioritize compliance and help the agency “be better stewards of tax dollars.” “We can, and we must, protect our precious environment without suffocating the economy,” he said. “A big part of this will require building private sector collaboration to promote common sense, smart regulation that will allow

Newly imposed requirements by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator could disqualify all of Voltus’ 450 MW of demand response resources from the grid operator’s upcoming capacity auction, according to a complaint filed on Friday by the company at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. MISO’s tariff requires that market participants give the grid operator the results of “real power tests” to register demand resources as load modifying resources for capacity auctions if they do not have performance results from an actual MISO event, Voltus said in its complaint. The market participant must also have contractual rights to the demand resources, according to Voltus. On Dec. 19, MISO changed its testing methodology days before the deadline for conducting the tests for the grid operator’s 2025/26 planning year, according to Voltus. On Jan. 15, MISO changed the testing requirements again and set contracting requirements for “aggregators of retail customers,” such as Voltus, according to the complaint. Utilities face a different standard, Voltus said. “MISO’s beyond the eleventh hour changes to these requirements will have catastrophic impacts on market participants,” Voltus said. Load modifying resources face a March 1 deadline to be registered for MISO’s next capacity auction, according to the complaint. It is unlikely that contracts between demand response aggregators and their customers will include the exact information MISO now requires, and it will be impossible to renegotiate contracts ahead of auction deadlines, Voltus said. Hundreds of megawatts will be unable to participate in the auction, reducing resource adequacy and driving up clearing prices, according to the demand response company. MISO’s changes should have been made through its tariff, not by a market notice and at a stakeholder meeting, Voltus said. The company urged FERC to order MISO to revise its demand response-related requirements by changing its tariff. Voltus asked FERC to make a decision

North Sea supporters have claimed a win despite a landmark court ruling found two major oil and gas developments were “unlawful”. Scotland’s Court of Session has overturned approvals handed out on the Rosebank North Sea oil field and the Jackdaw gas field, but allowed developers to continue working on them while they resubmit assessments on their environmental impact. Campaign groups Greenpeace and Uplift, which had lodged the case against the fields, claimed the ruling was “historic victory”. But others said decision subjects developers Shell (LON: SHEL) and Equinor (OSL: EQNR) to a “mere tick box exercise”. Norway’s Equinor and Shell, who are both planning to merge all their North Sea assets into a standalone joint venture by the end of the year, also both welcomed the ruling in Scotland’s Court of Session. The outcome of the assessment demanded by Judge Ericht depends on a review currently being undertaken by the UK government on its approach to oil and gas licensing and whether  Jackdaw, and Rosebank, currently the North Sea’s largest undeveloped field, compromise the UK’s net zero targets. At stake is billions of investment and thousands of jobs both projects could secure. Rosebank is a $3.8 billion project, targeting 300 million barrels of oil in the West of Shetland over two phases. Developer Equinor said it will create up to 2,000 jobs. Shell’s Jackdaw,  which is around 155 miles east of Aberdeen, is now set to be the first project to try out the new UK’s environmental assessment criteria when its review completes. © DC ThomsonEd Miliband (Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero of the United Kingdom) now faces having to decide on the fate of Rosebank and Jackdaw. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson Panmure Liberum analyst Ashley Kelty branded the ruling a “fudgement” which benefited the oil

Gran Tierra Energy Inc. is planning to drill 10 to 14 net development wells in 2025, including several with its new joint venture partner in Canada. The Calgary, Alberta-based company said in a news release that it plans to drill five to seven gross development wells in the Cohembi oil field located in the Southern Putumayo Basin of Colombia. Gran Tierra is also planning facility expansion, gas-to-power generation upgrades, and continued social investment in the area. The company has allotted a capital expenditure budget of $240 million to $280 million for the year. In Colombia’s Acordionero, Gran Tierra said it plans to focus on the optimization of the field through continued waterflood expansion activities, including facility expansions, and gas-to-power generation upgrades. The company is planning an active development drilling program for 2026. Meanwhile, in Ecuador’s Chanangue, the company plans to continue its appraisal program on the highly prospective Arawana/Zabaleta productive trend by drilling two to three appraisal wells. At Simonette in Canada, Gran Tierra plans to drill 2.5 net wells, “targeting two-layer co-development of the Lower and Middle Montney offering improved capital efficiency and lower proportionate infrastructure spending,” it said. Gran Tierra and its joint venture partner, Logan Energy, have started drilling the first two wells being drilled. Both wells are planned to be stimulated by the end of the first quarter or the beginning of the second quarter of 2025. For 2024, Gran Tierra reported total company average production of approximately 34,710 barrels of oil per day, an increase of 6 percent over 2023 and 13 percent compared to 2022. Gran Tierra President and CEO Gary Guidry said, “Following up on a strong 2024, which included a very successful exploration campaign and a new country entry into Canada, we are looking forward to our 2025 development and exploration program”.

In a recent joint release, Chevron U.S.A Inc. and Engine No. 1 announced “the formation of a partnership to build a new company to develop scalable, reliable power solutions for U.S. based data centers running on U.S. natural gas”. The release highlighted that the joint development is “in conjunction with GE Vernova” and “aims to establish the first multi gigawatt-scale co-located power plant and data center during President Trump’s second term”. The first projects are expected to leverage seven U.S. made GE Vernova 7HA natural gas turbines, secured under a slot reservation agreement, on an accelerated timeline, the release noted. The projects are expected to serve co-located data centers in the U.S. Southeast, Midwest, and West regions, the release added, stating that power generation is not designed to flow initially through the existing transmission grid, “reducing the risk of increasing electricity prices for consumers”. According to the release, the joint development plans to deliver up to four gigawatts, “the equivalent of powering 3-3.5 million U.S. homes, with initial in-service targeted by the end of 2027 and potential for project expansion beyond this capacity”. The release noted that the projects are expected to be designed with the flexibility to integrate lower carbon solutions. The release said the companies’ plans directly address the need for affordable, reliable energy to meet the significant demand for electricity to power U.S. data centers, enabling current and future generations of AI to be developed in the United States. The joint release also stated that the joint development is expected to create thousands of jobs and help the reindustrialization of the United States. Rigzone has asked Chevron, Engine No. 1, and GE Vernova what kind of jobs these are likely to be and roughly when recruitment will take place. At the time of writing, none of the