Liberal Party Leader Mark Carney argued that he represents change from Justin Trudeau’s nine years in power as he fended off attacks from his rivals during the final televised debate of Canada’s election. “Look, I’m a very different person from Justin Trudeau,” Carney said in response to comments from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, his chief opponent in the election campaign that concludes April 28. Carney’s Liberals lead by several percentage points in most polls, marking a stunning reversal from the start of this year, when Trudeau was still the party’s leader and Poilievre’s Conservatives were ahead by more than 20 percentage points in some surveys. Trudeau’s resignation and US President Donald Trump’s economic and sovereignty threats against Canada have upended the race. Poilievre sought to remind Canadians of their complaints about the Liberal government, while Carney tried to distance himself from Trudeau’s record.  Poilievre argued that Carney was an adviser to Trudeau’s Liberals during a time when energy projects were stymied and the cost of living soared — especially housing prices. Carney, 60, responded that he has been prime minister for just a month, and pointed to moves he made to reverse some of Trudeau’s policies, such as scrapping the carbon tax on consumer fuels. As for inflation, Carney noted that it was well under control when he was governor of the Bank of Canada.  “I know it may be difficult, Mr. Poilievre,” Carney told him. “You spent years running against Justin Trudeau and the carbon tax and they’re both gone.” “Well, you’re doing a good impersonation of him, with the same policies,” Poilievre shot back. Trudeau announced in January that he was stepping down as prime minister and Carney was sworn in as his replacement on March 14. He triggered an election nine days later. “The question you have

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and Swiss commodities trading firm Gunvor are among companies that have been shortlisted to buy Shell Plc’s downstream assets in South Africa, according to people familiar with the matter.  The two companies are strong contenders for the assets that are valued at about $1 billion, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. Previous potential bidders including Trafigura’s Puma Energy, Sasol Ltd. and South Africa’s PetroSA are no longer in the running, two of the people said.  “While Adnoc Distribution regularly reviews opportunities for domestic and international growth, we don’t comment on market speculation,” Adnoc’s fuel retail unit said. Shell, Gunvor, Trafigura and Sasol declined to comment. PetroSA did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Shell has been looking to offload the assets, which include about 600 fuel stations and trading operations in Africa’s biggest economy, as part of a broader strategy to focus on regions and businesses that offer higher returns. The assets are attractive for trading firms since they ensure demand for fuels that they can then supply. Adnoc and other Middle East oil companies such as Saudi Aramco have been expanding their trading arms as they look to break into new markets.   Shell is working with adviser Rothschild & Co and a winner could be announced in the coming weeks, the people said. Talks are continuing and there’s no certainty there will be a final sale, they said. Saudi Aramco has also been involved in the process, but it wasn’t immediately clear if it was still in the running, the people said. Aramco declined to comment. A deal would give the buyer about 10% of South Africa’s fuel stations. The market in the country has changed significantly in recent years with trader Glencore Plc acquiring

ICYMI— The Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council) today announced increased transparency and accountability for the federal permitting of two Department of Energy (DOE) critical minerals projects. The projects — Michigan Potash and the South West Arkansas Project — are part of the first wave of critical minerals projects added to the Permitting Dashboard in response to President Trump’s Executive Order, Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production. Once completed, both DOE-supported projects will help meet President Trump’s commitment to bolster domestic production of America’s vast mineral resources, support more American jobs and reduce reliance on foreign supply chains. The Michigan Potash Project, supported by DOE’s Loan Programs Office, is projected to produce the largest American-based source of high-quality potash fertilizer and food-grade salt using mechanical vapor recompression technology and geothermal heat from subsurface brine. Once completed, this project will reduce reliance on potash imports, support American farmers, improve food security, and create 200 permanent and 400 construction sector jobs. DOE announced a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $1.26 billion to Michigan Potash in January 2025. The South West Arkansas Project, under DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, supports the construction of a world-class Direct Lithium Extraction facility that will produce battery-grade lithium carbonate from lithium-rich brine in North America. Once completed, this project will help secure the domestic lithium supply chain and is expected to create roughly 100 direct long-term jobs and 300 construction sector jobs. These additions to the Federal Permitting Dashboard reflect the Administration’s commitment to strengthen domestic supply chains for critical minerals and materials, reduce dependence on foreign sources, and advance President Trump’s bold agenda for American energy dominance through a more secure, affordable, and reliable U.S. energy system. The Department looks forward to working with federal partners, project

This week, Wood provided updates on Sidara’s proposed £250 million takeover, NESO declared war on zombies in the grid queue, and Equinor and Orsted warned of the impacts of wake loss. Aberdeen-headquartered Wood received a non-binding takeover bid from Dubai-based rival Sidara worth £250m, a significant drop-off compared to last year’s £1.5 billion bid. Our reporters discuss this, Wood’s shares being suspended and the impacts of yet another Scottish company being bought over by international competitors. Next up, the UK’s National Energy System Operator (NESO) unveiled plans to get rid of ‘zombies’ from the grid queue in a collaboration with regulator Ofgem. This could see up to 360GW of projects on the current queue have their contracts downgraded because they are not ready. What does this mean, and is it a result of too much dithering from the UK? Finally, European energy giants Equinor and Orsted have said offshore wind revenues could take a £363m hit due to other projects getting in the way of their turbines. Although those in the Tour de France peloton don’t mind the frontrunner taking the brunt of the wind resistance, turbine operators do. Does the industry need to share its survey results so that everyone can benefit from the North Sea breeze? Listen to Energy Voice Out Loud on your podcast platform of choice.

The Trump administration issued two policy directives Apr. 10 to curb energy regulations, the same day the president’s choice to lead the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) pulled her nomination.  Kathleen Sgamma, former head of Western Energy Alliance (WEA), an oil and gas trade association, withdrew her nomination after a memo was leaked on X that included critical remarks following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. In the memo to WEA executives, Sgamma said she was “disgusted” by Trump “spreading misinformation” on Jan. 6 and “dishonoring the vote of the people.” The Senate was to conduct a confirmation hearing Apr. 10.  Prior to her withdrawal, industry had praised the choice of Sgamma to head the agency that determines the rules for oil and gas operations on federal lands.  Deregulation On the deregulation front, the Interior Department said it would no longer require BLM to prepare environmental impact statements (EIS) for about 3,244 oil and gas leases in seven western states. The move comes in response to two executive orders by President Donald Trump in January to increase US oil and gas production “by reducing regulatory barriers for oil and gas companies” and expediting development permits, Interior noted (OGJ Online, Jan. 21, 2025). Under the policy, BLM would no longer have to prepare an EIS for oil and gas leasing decisions on about 3.5 million acres across Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.  BLM currently manages over 23 million acres of federal land leased for oil and gas development.  The agency said it will look for ways to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a 1970 law that requires federal agencies to assess the potential environmental impacts of their proposed actions.  In recent years, courts have increasingly delayed lease sales and projects,

In its 2024 annual report, Viva Energy confirmed it will complete the project at a final cost of $350 million (Aus.), $200 million of which is dedicated to Australian procurement and construction contracts mostly awarded to businesses in the Geelong region. The budget increase follows the federal government’s December 2023 announcement that fuel quality and noxious vehicle emissions standards would come into effect from December 2025 to ensure Australia’s fuel quality aligns more closely with international standards. In compliance with the regulatory timeline, Viva Energy confirmed expanding the ULSG project to certify that—in addition to all of Geelong’s ULSG conforms to 10 ppm sulfur content—aromatics limits of the refinery’s RON95 mid-grade gasoline production conforms to the pending legislation’s stricter requirement of less than 35%. Both the ULSG and aromatics upgrades are part of Viva Energy’s ongoing transformation of the Geelong refinery into a modern energy hub that supports Australia’s energy security while also playing an important role its energy transition, the operator said. Future refining plans In its 2024 annual report, Viva Energy said it was continuing to explore options to replace crude oil with biogenic and waste feedstocks at the Geelong refinery, with potential biofeedstock and waste processing projects for the site slated for development throughout 2025. After confirming in its 2024 half-year results presentation undertaking of engineering design for infrastructure to store and co-process biogenic feedstocks at Geelong, Viva Energy said in its latest annual report that, by yearend 2024, it had completed a first investment in infrastructure to support co-processing at Geelong involving the injection of used cooking oil and soft-plastics pyrolysis oil into processing activities to produce recycled polyproylene and biopolymers. Additionally, the operator said work remained under way on the scope and phasing of co-processing biofeedstocks at the refinery to produce renewable diesel, with the