An arcane Ofgem decision is bearing fruit. The regulator’s move to carve out space for demand-side response in the UK market has triggered a significant £1 billion investment from French energy technology company Voltalis. Demand-side response is often overlooked as a tool to drive decarbonisation. But the reality, according to Voltalis’ CEO Pierre Bivas, is that technology can drive energy savings to balance the grid and bring down prices. UK industry minister Sarah Jones, speaking at an event in London on Wednesday, said demand-side response is the “sweet spot” between two of the eight growth clusters the government seeks to “turbocharge”. Voltalis’ demand-flexibility technology links green energy and AI digital technologies, she said. “We have to grasp the new technologies of the future and that has to be at the forefront of everything we do if we’re going to transform the economy in the way that voters have told us we must do,” she said. “Freeing up that demand at those peak periods of time, using digital technology and AI to do that is exactly where we want to be.” © Supplied by VoltalisPicture shows; Industry minister Sarah Jones. Royal Society of Arts. Supplied by Voltalis Date; 29/01/2025 Tackling fluctuations Demand flexibility can also help combat so-called dunkelflaute, the German term for the absence of wind or sun. It can reduce customers’ energy consumption during periods of low generation. “There needs to be a way to balance supply and demand when renewable generation fluctuates,” Bivas said at Voltalis’ UK launch event at the Royal Society of Arts in London. When energy is scarce and expensive, he said, it “will often be necessary to reduce or delay part of electricity demand until times when solar and wind generation is abundant and cheap”. Bivas quoted the National Energy System Operator (NESO) as

In a release sent to Rigzone by the Enverus team recently, the company’s subsidiary, Enverus Intelligence Research (EIR), revealed that 2024 “closed with $105 billion in U.S. upstream deals” adding that this was “the third highest total tracked by Enverus”. EIR noted in the release that last year “trailed only behind a record-setting $192 billion in 2023 and just under the $108 billion booked in 2014”. It added, however, that “activity tumbled in the back half of the year with $9.6 billion of upstream M&A recorded in 4Q24, the fourth consecutive decline in quarterly value”. “Deal value and volume continued to drop in the final quarter of 2024 from its peak at the end of 2023 as buyers grappled with fewer M&A targets to pursue,” Andrew Dittmar, principal analyst at EIR, said in the release. “There are also quite a few larger E&Ps working to integrate their previous deals before returning to market to acquire more,” he added. “Increased volatility in oil prices may have also deterred some buyers, while there is rising enthusiasm for gas and gas-weighted assets to feed burgeoning demand from LNG and data centers,” Dittmar continued. In the release, EIR stated that the value of gas-focused M&A increased four times in 2024 compared to 2023, “rising above $20 billion for the first time since 2016”. The company noted that the Haynesville is a key area of interest for buyers but added that companies also added assets in other areas like Appalachia. EIR also said in the release that international buyers “are coming back to U.S. shale assets after being discouraged by poor returns a decade ago” and stated that majors might now turn their attention to gas deals. EIR highlighted in the release that the latter “have been more recently focused on adding oil inventory”. Looking

Exxon Mobil Corp. beat earnings estimates as strong production growth cushioned the drop in oil prices and refining margins, easing investor concerns about an increase in capital spending.  Adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of $1.67 a share exceeded the consensus forecast by 12 cents. The beat comes just weeks after many analysts lowered expectations based on weaker-than-expected preliminary performance figures. European rival Shell Plc’s disclosed adjusted net income that was well below forecasts on Thursday.  Exxon surprised investors last month by raising capital spending to more than $30 billion annually over the next five years as Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods expands production to levels not seen since the 1970s.  Woods has argued that new oil projects in Guyana and the Permian Basin, along with liquefied natural gas investments, have such high margins that they will drive Exxon’s breakeven oil price down to just $30 a barrel by the end of the decade, ensuring profitability however the energy transition pans out.  The international Brent crude benchmark averaged roughly $74 a barrel during the fourth quarter, down 11% from a year earlier. The slide pressured the biggest oil companies’ capacity to fund shareholder-friendly outlays such as dividends.  Exxon generated $36 billion of free cash in 2024 and handed nearly all of it to shareholders in the form of buybacks and dividends, making it the sixth highest cash distributor in the S&P 500 Index. The company intends to buy back $20 billion of shares annually through 2026. “We’re seeing higher and higher production but that production is coming at lower cost of supply, higher profit barrels,” Chief Financial Officer Kathy Mikells said in an interview. “It’s important to remember that all barrels are not created equal and ours are very advantaged.” Exxon posted net income excluding certain items of $7.4 billion, according to a release Friday, down from

Chevron Corp. raised dividends by 5% even as profit underperformed expectations amid shrinking crude prices and fuel-making margins.  Adjusted fourth-quarter earnings were $2.06 a share, a nickel below the average estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey. The miss came a day after competitor Shell Plc also disclosed disappointing end-of-year profits. Despite the weak result, Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth is betting the start-up of the giant Tengiz project in Kazakhstan and renewed capital-spending restraint will improve finances amid global supply-and-demand uncertainty. “We’re building from strength to strength and have $10 billion of additional free cash flow growth through the end of 2026,” Wirth said in an interview. New projects in Kazakhstan and the newly-named Gulf of America will drive the increase, he said. There are signs his plan is working. Chevron shares are up almost 8% this year, dwarfing the 1.9% advance of arch rival Exxon. Output from the Tengiz project, which is operated and 50% owned by Chevron, will ramp up to 1 million barrels a day later this year.  Brent crude averaged about $74 a barrel in the fourth quarter, down 11% from a year earlier, putting pressure on the industry’s ability to fund hefty shareholder payouts without resorting to debt. Refining margins also contracted.  Chevron generated $4.4 billion in free cash flow during the quarter, short of the roughly $7.5 billion doled out in the form of dividends and buybacks. Wirth has previously noted his preference for repurchasing shares through the commodity-price cycle, even if it means increasing debt.  The company will lower capital spending this year for the first time since the pandemic. The move signals an effort to harvest cash flow from the Permian Basin while slowing growth. That’s in contrast to Exxon Mobil Corp., which is increasing outlays as it pursues long-term growth.  Chevron shares

Valero Energy Corp. on Thursday reported $207 million in adjusted net profit for the fourth quarter of 2024, down from $1.21 billion for the same three-month period 2023 as refining margins fell. However, the San Antonio, Taxas-based fuel producer’s adjusted earnings per share of $0.64 still beat the $0.13 Zacks Consensus Estimate, an average of projections by brokerage analysts. Valero closed lower at $135.42 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. Before adjustments for extraordinary or non-recurring items, Valero’s net earnings landed at $281 million, compared to $1.2 billion for the fourth quarter of 2023. Valero’s refining margin per barrel of output dropped from $12.89 in the fourth quarter of 2023 to $8.44 in the fourth quarter of 2024. Throughput volumes in the October-December 2024 period totaled 2.3 million barrels a day (MMbd), flat compared to the same quarter in 2023. Yield volumes slightly increased from 3.021 MMbd to 3.028 MMbd. Valero’s refining segment averaged three MMbd in throughput. For its renewable diesel segment, it reported an average sales volume of 3.4 million gallons per day. For the remaining segment, ethanol, Valero reported an average production volume of 4.6 million gallons a day. The refining segment logged $437 million in operating income for the fourth quarter of 2024. Renewable diesel had $170 million in operating income. Ethanol had $20 million. Operating activities generated $1.07 billion in net cash, compared to $1.24 billion for the fourth quarter of 2023. Revenues totaled $30.76 billion, compared to $35.41 billion for the fourth quarter of 2023. Renewable diesel contributed $1.25 billion to the fourth-quarter 2024 figure. Ethanol accounted for $1.11 billion. Capital expenditure totaled $547 million for the fourth quarter of 2024. Of the total, $452 million went to sustaining the business, including costs for turnarounds, catalysts and regulatory compliance.  Valero returned $601

Energean plc has posted 2024 production of 153,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), a 24 percent increase year over year, in line with its previous guidance. Production from continuing operations for the period was 114,000 boepd consisting of 85 percent gas, which is a 28 percent boost compared to the previous-year value and at the upper end of its guidance. For 2025, Energean forecasts production from continuing operations of 120,000 to 130,000 boepd. The company’s development and production capital expenditure is projected to be between $400 million and $430 million, with $380 million to $400 million earmarked for Israel. The vast majority of the expenditure is associated with the company’s Katlan development, while the remainder is for the completion of the second oil train and other asset integrity and maintenance expenditures, it said. Further $20 million to $30 million will be allotted to Europe, including infill drilling on the Scott field in the United Kingdom (UK), as well as other routine annual maintenance costs in the UK and Greece. The London-based company’s Katlan development in Israel is progressing on schedule, with first gas expected in the first half of 2027, as previously announced, it said in a statement. Energean’s sale of its portfolio of gas-weighted exploration and production assets in Egypt, Italy, and Croatia to an entity controlled by Carlyle International Energy Partners is expected to close in the first quarter, subject to customary regulatory approvals. In December 2024, Carlyle received unconditional clearance from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Competition Commission, which was the final remaining anti-trust approval, according to the release. Energean CEO Mathios Rigas said, “2024 marked another year of growth for Energean in both sales and profitability with group revenues of [$1.784 billion] and adjusted EBITDAX of [$1.166 billion] up 26