Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. as well as US private equity giant Carlyle Group are among companies interested in Lukoil PJSC’s international assets, a sale hastened by US sanctions due to kick in next month. Suitors are lining up to look at the various parts of Russian energy giant’s sprawling international business, with some potential buyers only interested in specific assets, according to people familiar with the situation. But one potential problem is that Lukoil favors selling the assets as a single package ahead of sanctions due to take effect Dec. 13, one of the people said. This raises the possibility of a two-step process in which one buyer – such as a financial firm – acquires all of Lukoil’s non-Russian assets and then resells them piecemeal over time. A key detail in the process is that the Trump administration would prefer that Lukoil’s global assets are taken over by a US entity, a fact that may limit the pool of potential buyers, people with knowledge of the matter said. A spokesperson for the US Treasury didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.  Lukoil had previously agreed to sell the whole international business to Gunvor Group – a deal that was then dramatically blocked by the US.  Exxon and Chevron are exploring Lukoil’s stake in the West Qurna 2 field in Iraq, said two of the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. Meanwhile Adnoc is looking at various Lukoil assets, with the Russian firm’s natural gas operations in Uzbekistan potentially of most interest, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Spokespeople for Chevron, Exxon, Carlyle and Adnoc’s international investment unit XRG all declined to comment. Lukoil didn’t respond to a request to do so. What do you think? We’d love to

As demand for AI applications accelerates, deploying AI workloads at scale is a challenge many of the world’s most important industries are collaborating to solve. Data centers, power producers and infrastructure providers must all work together to figure out how to generate and distribute enough power to keep next-generation IT equipment powered and cooled.  When data centers are looking to deploy more AI-ready chips, infrastructure enhancements are a must. These chips have incredibly high-power demands, and data centers need to make sure they are ready to deliver power to racks safely and reliably. The standard for uptime in many data centers exceeds 99%, meaning power availability is paramount. Working with such a high level of power, data center designers are taking lessons from the utility industry to manage it. This includes the strategic deployment of engineered building solutions. A Flexible Solution Engineered control buildings are large, modular enclosures that house critical electrical equipment. Traditionally used in the utility sector for transmission, distribution and renewable energy applications, these structures are essential for data centers facing unprecedented power demands driven by AI workloads. These buildings often include switch gear, relay and protection and control equipment that maintain uptime and accelerate deployment. The opportunities to use engineered building solutions address both gray and white space needs. Gray space applications include modular outdoor enclosures that provide primary power with switchgear or back-up power, such as uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and battery systems. These buildings can also feature integrated cooling to ensure system reliability and optimal performance.  Within the white space, IT Pod solutions are prefabricated and shipped to site for installation inside a data center hall. They feature seamless integration of power and cooling and include IT equipment such as racks, making them ideal for scalable, high-density AI deployments.  Modular data centers provide a

Orlen SA agreed to sell 20 percent of the Norwegian North Sea production license (PL) containing the Cassio prospect and about 0.83 percent of the under-development Verdande field to DNO ASA, DNO said Tuesday. Cassio, in PL1135, sits directly north of DNO-operated PL1086, which includes the Othello oil discovery announced December 2, 2024. “An exploration well on Cassio is expected in late 2026”, Oslo-based DNO said in an online statement Tuesday announcing the transaction with Poland’s state-backed Orlen. Currently Orlen operates PL1135 with an 80 percent stake. Source Energy AS holds 20 percent. The license lasts through 2031, according to online information from the Norwegian Offshore Directorate. The statement said DNO would also divest its stake of around 7.6 percent in the Ekofisk Previously Produced Fields project in PLs 018B and 018F to Orlen. “DNO will retain its 7.604 percent in PL018 containing the producing fields Ekofisk, Eldfisk and Embla as well as a share in the Tor Unit”, DNO said. “The acquisition of additional interests in Verdande brings DNO’s total interest in the Verdande Unit containing five licenses to 14.8251 percent, including 3.5 percent from the recently announced asset swap with Aker BP. Verdande, located in the Norne area, is currently in advanced development and scheduled to start production later this year”. “The all-cash transactions are conditional on customary government approvals”, DNO said without disclosing financial details. DNO executive chair Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani said, “As we continue to high-grade our North Sea portfolio, our focus is on increasing near-term cash flow with less spend and more barrels more quickly”. “Ekofisk PPF covers redevelopment of older, shut-in fields with expected production start in 2029, and while the project fits other companies’ portfolios, we have chosen to deploy our share of the significant capital expenditure necessary in ways that play to our

Orlen SA said Tuesday the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection (RDOS) in Gdansk had issued a decision allowing the proposed Baltic East wind project, which has a planned capacity of about one gigawatt (GW), to join Poland’s first offshore wind auction, scheduled next month. Baltic East, the state-backed company’s second offshore wind project, is proposed to rise on a 110-square-kilometer (42.47 square miles) site around 22.5 kilometers (13.98 miles) off Poland’s Baltic coast and adjacent to Baltic Power. Orlen aims to connect Baltic East to the grid by 2032. Meanwhile the under-construction Baltic Power, Orlen’s first offshore wind project with an initial capacity of nearly 1.2 GW, is targeted for startup 2026. “The RDOS decision covers turbines, foundations, offshore substations and inter-array cables”, Orlen said in an online statement Tuesday. “A decision for the grid connection infrastructure is being sought through a separate environmental procedure. “Baltic East already holds a siting decision, a decision on the preliminary grid connection conditions for the transmission system and a permit to lay and maintain cables within internal sea waters and the territorial sea. “Design and engineering work has also begun to prepare the documentation required for building permit applications. “Prior to receiving the decision, a dozen Polish companies carried out comprehensive environmental studies and analyses commissioned by the Orlen Group. Their findings confirmed that the technical and organizational solutions proposed for Baltic East will effectively limit the project’s environmental impact. These include, among other measures, a corridor enabling migratory birds to fly across the offshore wind farm area and appropriate measures to protect the marine environment from underwater noise”. At the auction scheduled December 17, up to four GW of capacity will be offered, as announced by Poland’s Energy Regulatory Office July 2. “Participation in the auction marks a key stage for Baltic

Oil rose as hawkish rhetoric by the European Union’s top diplomat raised expectations that sanctions on Russia will tighten.  West Texas Intermediate gained 1.4% to settle under $61 a barrel on Tuesday, pushing higher after the EU’s Kaja Kallas said that Moscow’s aggression against the bloc should be considered terrorism. The comments come against a background of surging diesel-market tightness, in which Russia is a significant player, with the difference between the two nearest ICE gasoil contracts surging Tuesday. Futures for the European benchmark rose by 4.5%. Adding to bullish sentiment, the price of Russia’s flagship crude plunged to the lowest in over two years, with just days to go before US sanctions take effect against giant producers Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC over Moscow’s ongoing war in Ukraine.  Other impacts are emerging. Major Asian buyers paused at least some purchases. And traders making physical deliveries of diesel under ICE Gasoil contracts will soon be banned from supplying barrels made with Russian crude in third countries, ICE said. Still, US benchmark futures are down this year as expectations for a glut weigh on the outlook, with the International Energy Agency forecasting a record surplus in 2026. The oversupply is being driven by the return of idled output from OPEC and its allies, as well as more supplies from outside of the group. But for now, the price of WTI is staying stubbornly above the $60 mark, according to Frank Monkam, head of macro trading at Buffalo Bayou Commodities. “It’s going to take a lot more than just a repeat of the same negative headlines to push the market below $60 a barrel unless we see a total unraveling of risk assets, particularly equities,” he said. “Absent of that, I think we’re still very vulnerable to an upside push here in

WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright today announced the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) closed a loan to lower energy costs and restart a Pennsylvania nuclear power plant. The $1 billion loan to Constellation Energy Generation, LLC (Constellation) will help finance the Crane Clean Energy Center, an 835 MW plant located on the Susquehanna River in Londonderry Township, Pennsylvania. Today’s announcement, funded by the Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) Program created under the Working Families Tax Cut, highlights the Energy Department’s role in advancing President Trump’s Executive Order, Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base, by supporting the restart of nuclear power plants. “Thanks to President Trump’s bold leadership and the Working Families Tax Cut, the United States is taking unprecedented steps to lower energy costs and bring about the next American nuclear renaissance,” said Energy Secretary Wright. “Constellation’s restart of a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania will provide affordable, reliable, and secure energy to Americans across the Mid-Atlantic region. It will also help ensure America has the energy it needs to grow its domestic manufacturing base and win the AI race.” This announcement marks the first project to receive a concurrent conditional commitment and financial close under the Trump Administration. The loan will partially finance the restart of a reactor which ceased operations in 2019 but was never fully decommissioned. Once restarted, pending U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing approvals, the 835 MW reactor will provide reliable and affordable baseload power to the PJM Interconnection region, powering the equivalent of approximately 800,000 homes. The Crane Restart project will help lower electricity costs, strengthen grid reliability, create over 600 American jobs, and advance the Administration’s mission to lead in global AI innovation and restore domestic manufacturing industries. DOE remains committed to fulfilling this mission to maximize the speed and scale of