INEOS Group and its partners on Wednesday named and launched what they call the first Europe-built carbon dioxide (CO2) carrier for capture and storage. Adapted for handling CO2 under pressure and at low temperatures, Carbon Destroyer 1 was built at the Royal Niestern Sander shipyard in the Netherlands to serve the Denmark-based Project Greensand. The vessel used the EasyMax design developed by Dutch shipping majors Royal Wagenborg and Royal Niestern Sander. The Project Greensand partners – diversified British company INEOS, London-based Harbour Energy PLC and Danish national oil and gas company Nordsøfonden – expect the ship and the other CCS components to become fully operational by the end of 2025 or early 2026. Project Greensand aims to store 400,000 metric tons a year of CO2, with plans to ramp up to as much as 8 million metric tons annually by 2030. “The launch of Carbon Destroyer 1 is an important next step for Carbon Capture and Storage in Europe. We are demonstrating that Carbon Storage is commercially viable and a far better way to decarbonize Europe without its deindustrialization”, INEOS chair Jim Ratcliffe said in a joint statement by the Project Greensand partners and the shipbuilders. Wagenborg chief executive Egbert Vuursteen said, “As the first European-built offshore CO2 carrier, this vessel positions us – and our partners – at the forefront of the energy transition in Europe”. In Denmark’s Port of Esbjerg construction is underway on a new CO2 terminal that will serve as the onshore hub for receiving, storing and loading liquefied CO2 onto Carbon Destroyer 1. The terminal is designed to have six large storage tanks and infrastructure to support continuous and scalable CO2 transport to the offshore storage site. Captured CO2, initially from Danish biogas plants, will be delivered to the terminal by truck, temporarily stored then transferred to the

In an exclusive interview with Rigzone on Thursday, Bill Farren-Price, Senior Research Fellow and Head of Gas Research at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, said the oil price is down today on U.S. President Donald Trump “saying [the] U.S. [is] in serious talks with Iran for long term peace”. Farren-Price told Rigzone this implies the possible lifting of sanctions on Iran oil.  Lucas Herrmann, the Head of Oil & Gas Equity Research at BNP Paribas Exane, told Rigzone in a separate exclusive interview on Thursday that the oil price is dropping today because of “dovish Iranian dialogue [on a] U.S. and Iran nuclear [deal]”. Herrmann added that there is “less perceived risk of Trump going hard on Iranian exports”. In an oil report sent to Rigzone by the Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB) team on Thursday, Ole R. Hvalbye, a Commodities Analyst at the company, stated that “Iran is currently in the spotlight, having signaled its willingness to sign a nuclear deal with the U.S. in exchange for lifting economic sanctions”. In a separate oil report sent to Rigzone by the SEB team on Tuesday, Hvalbye said the market was “pricing in relaxed restrictions on Iranian crude exports after President Trump signaled progress in nuclear negotiations over the weekend”. “Further talks are expected within the next week,” Hvalbye added in that report. Inki Cho, Financial Markets Strategist Consultant to Exness, said in a market analysis sent to Rigzone on Monday that “U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations have the potential to bring additional Iranian crude to the market should a deal be reached, elevating the risk of renewed price pressure in the short term”. Rigzone has contacted the White House and the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment on Farren-Price, Herrmann, Hvalbye, and Cho’s statements. At the time of writing, neither have responded

Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Aramco) on Thursday announced agreements and memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with United States companies spanning its operations from refining and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to artificial intelligence. The 34 deals have a potential value of about $90 billion, the state-owned oil giant said in an online statement. Earlier the White House announced $600 billion in committed investments from Saudi companies and a $142 billion agreement for U.S. arms sales to the kingdom – signed during President Donald Trump’s visit. “Our US-related activities have evolved over the decades, and now include multi-disciplinary R&D [research and development], the Motiva refinery in Port Arthur, start-up investments, potential collaborations in LNG, and ongoing procurement”, Aramco president and chief executive Amin H. Nasser said. “As Aramco pursues an ambitious value-driven growth strategy, we believe that aligning with world-class partners supports further development of our operations, strategic diversification of our portfolio, industrial innovation, and ongoing capability development within the Kingdom”. During the dealmaking round, Aramco finalized an agreement to buy 1.2 million metric tons per annum (MMtpa) of LNG for 20 years from the fourth train of the under-construction Rio Grande LNG project in Brownsville, Texas. Owner NextDecade Corp. is seeking purchase commitments to be able to make an FID (final investment decision) on trains 4 and 5. NextDecade has so far approved three trains, which comprise phase 1 – out of eight planned for the project. Aramco also progressed a heads of agreement with Sempra Infrastructure on Port Arthur LNG 2 into an MOU. Aramco plans to purchase 5 MMtpa for 20 years from the expansion project, which has yet to reach an FID. The MOU also provides for Aramco’s potential acquisition of a 25 percent interest. A non-binding collaboration agreement between Aramco and Australia’s Woodside Energy Group Ltd. that was announced earlier

OPEC+ nations made a careful start to their long-awaited oil production revival in April, ahead of the group’s plans for a much quicker surge in output in the coming months.  The eight countries who had agreed to increase supplies collectively added just 25,000 barrels a day last month, a fraction of the scheduled 138,000 barrels a day, according to a monthly report from the cartel. April marked the beginning of the coalition’s long-delayed process to restart supplies idled since 2022. While group leader Saudi Arabia added roughly the amount agreed, output declined in other nations that had promised restraint to make up for earlier overproduction, such as Kazakhstan and Iraq. Quota compliance has been a top priority for the Saudis, and their frustration with cheating apparently drove recent decisions to accelerate the group’s supply increases by triple the scheduled amount in May and June. Riyadh has even warned of further surges in the months ahead. The announced hikes, coinciding with President Donald Trump’s global trade war, helped slash crude prices. Brent futures crashed to a four-year low below $60 a barrel last month, but have recovered to trade near $66 in London on Wednesday as trade tensions eased.  Based on the data from OPEC’s Vienna-based secretariat, Riyadh’s drive for compliance is showing some tentative signs of success.  Iraq pumped an average of 3.964 million barrels a day in April, implementing part of the so-called compensation cuts it pledged for earlier quota violations. Even the biggest offender, Kazakhstan, reduced output by 41,000 barrels a day, but at 1.823 million barrels a day it was still producing about 400,000 barrels a day above its limit. Its international partners such as Chevron Corp. and Eni SpA have said the country’s government hasn’t even asked them to dial back supply – much to the irritation

Amid job uncertainty in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Statera policy manager Phoebe Finn argued the importance of the 3GW Kintore Hydrogen project. The north-east of Scotland has been hit with a series of job loss stories of late, with Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce counting 600 jobs at risk in the last few weeks alone. Finn pointed to recent news from Harbour Energy that the firm would be slashing a quarter of its Aberdeen onshore workforce, a move that will see 250 people lose their jobs. Speaking at the All-Energy conference in Glasgow, Finn said: “On the jobs front, with the recent announcement from Harbour Energy, and a lot of the anxiety around job losses, it is so important to have projects like Kintore that have the scale to actually provide meaningful jobs in the region. © Supplied by Wullie Marr/ DC ThomHarbour Energy offices, Hill of Rubislaw. “But also jobs that have a very similar skills profile to oil and gas, hydrogen is great for that.” Despite Kintore receiving backing from the local council, “our engagement with the community doesn’t end here,” Finn explained. She said that Statera will continue to communicate with those in Aberdeenshire as the massive hydrogen production facility comes to fruition. “What our focus has been, and will continue to be, is communicating those benefits that are very specific locally,” Finn commented. “Part of the reason why Aberdeenshire is such a great location for a green hydrogen project is because of the existing skills and capabilities in that area.” Harnessign Scotland’s ‘fantastic fabrication and manufacturing capability’ © Supplied by StateraKintore Hydrogen. Statera Energy wants to build the massive 3GW Kintore Hydrogen project near Laylodge. Once constructed, it would be the largest site of its kind in Europe. The site will produce green hydrogen at an

Upheavals in US offshore wind, such as the US government’s order to halt work on Empire Wind, could see funding flowing into projects in Europe. Speaking during All Energy in Glasgow, Haventus chief executive Lewis Gillies said: “There’s a tonne of money in the US looking for a home and it’s looking to Europe. If we can take advantage of that, it’s a great opportunity.” Equinor has been developing the 810MW Empire Wind 1 project in New York since 2017 when it received the lease agreement. However, US president Donald Trump has long been sceptical about offshore wind, having been involved in a legal battle with the Scottish government over the Aberdeen Bay project, which is visible from his Balmedie golf course. On starting his regime in January, he was quick to place an injunction on leasing new seabed for wind energy projects, with the order specifically saying it did not apply to oil and gas developments. And then the US government issued an order to stop work on Empire Wind 1 in April pending a review, bringing the recently started offshore construction to a halt. The decision to stop such a well-progressed project has sent shockwaves through the US offshore wind industry, creating concern that other projects could suffer similar orders. Equinor has even said that it may even abandon the project altogether. But the US’s loss could be the UK’s gain. Gillies noted that there’s still a large appetite among US private equity to invest in companies involved in the global energy transition. “There are now very few opportunities to do that in a US context,” he said. “It’s a huge change from last year, especially considering the US Inflation Reduction Act which ploughed so much money into the energy transition.” However, the UK is still producing poor