Karoon Energy Ltd’s Brazilian subsidiary, Karoon Petróleo & Gás Ltda., has completed the acquisition of the Baúna floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO), the Cidade de Itajaí, from Altera & Ocyan (A&O). The total consideration for the FPSO was $115 million plus approximately $8 million in transaction costs, with the final payment of $85 million made on April 30, Karoon said in a news release. The company said it signed a transition services agreement with A&O to ensure continuity of operations and a smooth handover process as Karoon assumes greater operational control of the FPSO, which operates in the southern post-salt region of the Santos Basin, Brazil. The tender process for a new service provider(s), who will support Karoon as operator of the FPSO into the future, is “progressing as planned” and is expected to be completed in mid-2025, the company said. Karoon Managing Director and CEO Julian Fowles said, “Taking ownership of the Cidade de Itajaí FPSO marks a significant milestone in Karoon’s evolution over the past five years from an explorer to an operator of offshore oil and gas production assets. Owning the FPSO gives Karoon direct strategic control over the facility. This will enhance our ability to manage operational performance and reduce long-term operating costs, as well as provide us with greater flexibility to revitalize the facility, thereby potentially extending field life and increasing the value of the Baúna Project. We are grateful to A&O for their partnership and support throughout the sale and transition process and look forward to continuing our focus on safe, reliable and efficient operations”. The Cidade de Itajaí FPSO has been operating on the Baúna project production since the field came onstream in 2013. It has a nameplate fluid handling capacity of approximately 80,000 barrels of liquid per day and a

Just over a week ago, Spain’s electricity grid faltered. Portugal quickly followed. In the media, speculation swirled: Was it a cyber attack? Sabotage? Hackers? No. Investigations continue, yet the truth looks simpler and far more worrying: this was a failure of energy planning. The power outage that took down two national grids wasn’t caused by some hostile force – it was caused by a sudden drop in renewable energy output and a failure to back it up with sufficient storage. This wasn’t a freak event. It was entirely foreseeable. And unless Scotland, and the wider UK, get serious about balancing its own energy system, we’re next. I’ve spent over 30 years in the roofing and renewable energy sector, and I’ve never seen a more urgent need for honest, practical thinking about our energy future. We’re electrifying more of our economy – transport, homes, industry. But we’re not updating our energy infrastructure with the same urgency or realism. The fundamental truth is this: renewables are intermittent, and we ignore that at our peril. When the sun disappears behind the clouds, solar output drops in seconds. When the wind dies down – as it often does during periods of high pressure – turbines stop turning. In Spain, this happened in real time, and without a balanced backup in place, the system couldn’t cope. The frequency of the grid dipped below its 50 Hz threshold, and everything dropped or stopped. This concept – grid frequency and system “balance” – may sound technical, but it’s absolutely central to keeping the lights on. It’s not enough to simply generate clean electricity. We must balance the generating technologies we deploy, and we need to balance generation with storage. Without this, the more we depend on renewables, the more fragile our system becomes. Pumped hydro In Scotland,

In its first quarter 2025 results statement, which was published on its website recently, ExxonMobil revealed its oil and gas production figures for the first quarter of this year. According to that statement, the company’s output averaged 4.551 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first quarter of 2025. ExxonMobil’s production came in at 4.602 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in the fourth quarter of 2024 and 3.784 million barrels of oil equivalent in the first quarter of last year, the statement highlighted. Exxon’s net production of crude oil, natural gas liquids, bitumen and synthetic oil averaged 3.139 million barrels per day in the first quarter, the statement showed. Of this figure, the U.S. contributed 1.418 million barrels per day, Asia contributed 796,000 barrels per day, and Canada/Other Americas contributed 760,000 barrels per day, the statement revealed. In the fourth quarter of last year, Exxon’s net production of crude oil, natural gas liquids, bitumen and synthetic oil averaged 3.213 million barrels per day, and in the first quarter of 2024, it averaged 2.557 barrels per day, the statement showed. The U.S. contributed 1.468 million barrels per day to the fourth quarter 2024 figure and 816,000 barrels per day to the first quarter 2024 figure, while Asia contributed 694,000 barrels per day to the fourth quarter figure and 711,000 barrels per day to the first quarter figure, and Canada/Other Americas contributed 825,000 barrels per day to the fourth quarter figure and 772,000 barrels per day to the first quarter figure, according to the statement. Exxon’s net natural gas production available for sale averaged 8.47 billion cubic feet per day in the first quarter of 2025, 8.33 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, and 7.36 billion cubic feet per day in the first quarter of last

North America dropped 11 rigs week on week, according to Baker Hughes’ latest North America rotary rig count, which was released on May 2. The U.S. dropped a total of three rigs week on week and Canada dropped a total of eight rigs during the same period, taking the total North America rig count down to 704, comprising 584 rigs from the U.S. and 120 from Canada, the count outlined. Of the total U.S. rig count of 584, 567 rigs are categorized as land rigs, 14 are categorized as offshore rigs, and three are categorized as inland water rigs. The total U.S. rig count is made up of 479 oil rigs, 101 gas rigs, and four miscellaneous rigs, according to Baker Hughes’ count, which revealed that the U.S. total comprises 523 horizontal rigs, 46 directional rigs, and 15 vertical rigs. Week on week, the U.S. land rig count dropped by four, its offshore rig count increased by one, and its inland water rig count remained unchanged, the count highlighted. The U.S. oil rig count decreased by four week on week, its gas rig count rose by two, and its miscellaneous rig count dropped by one, the count showed. Baker Hughes’ count revealed that the U.S. horizontal rig count dropped by four week on week, while its directional rig count increased by one, and its vertical rig count remained unchanged during the period. A major state variances subcategory included in the rig count showed that, week on week,  Ohio and Texas each dropped three rigs, and Louisiana added three rigs. A major basin variances subcategory included in Baker Hughes’ rig count showed that the Utica basin dropped three rigs, the Permian basin dropped two rigs, and the Eagle Ford basin cut one rig week on week, while the Haynesville basin added

It seems to me that with recent electoral victories for Reform UK in England, and Ed Miliband’s comments implying that anyone who goes against net zero is a Reform UK supporter, we are entering an unfortunate period in British politics. A period where things start to focus on what is wrong, who is doing it, and why the ‘other side’ is to blame. It reminds me a little of growing up in Northern Ireland, where things revolved around whether you were ‘themuns’ or ‘usuns’. That worked out hugely well … So what we need is a mature and sensible debate. One which focuses on what needs to be done as opposed to one that blames others for problems. We are all part of the solution – whether (like me) you think we are abandoning oil and gas too soon, or whether you support the net zero approach. © Supplied by Owen Humphreys/PA WiReform UK leader Nigel Farage poses outside The Waterford Lodge, Morpeth, in Northumberland, whilst on the local election campaign trail. Because ultimately what we have to do is remember one thing. This is about the people of Aberdeen, the north-east and the UK. The workers impacted by policies, and the consumers impacted by higher prices. This is not a time for ideology. It is a time for pragmatism, realism and understanding. The first part of that is beginning to understand that we cannot abandon oil and gas overnight. We need to continue to exploit those reserves we have to meet (as OEUK says) some 50% of our energy needs. That provides stability of supply and security from the vagaries of others – and in this modern world of President Trump, we should not underestimate the impact of vagaries. © Shutterstock FeedDonald Trump signs an executive order to start

The PJM Interconnection on Friday said it selected 51 projects to join a fast-track interconnection review process as part of a broad effort to ensure the grid operator has adequate supplies to meet its needs. PJM has been warning that it faces looming power supply shortfalls as its supply isn’t keeping up with demand. That dynamic was reflected in the jump in clearing prices from PJM’s last capacity auction, which sparked backlash over rising electric bills and moves by the grid to boost supplies. Gas-fired generation accounted for 69% of the selected capacity, followed by battery storage at 19%, nuclear at 12%, and coal at 0.1%. The projects consist of 39 uprates to existing power plants and 12 new power facilities. PJM expects 90% of the projects will be operating by 2030. PJM selects 11.8 GW in Resource Reliability Initiative Gas-fired generation accounts for two-thirds of selected capacity. PJM estimates that the selected projects will provide 9.4 GW of unforced capacity, a measure of how much capacity the resources are expected to supply during periods of the highest reliability risk. The solicitation results will be discussed at a PJM Planning Committee meeting on Tuesday. Among selected projects, PJM opted to advance 450 MW in uprates at four power plants owned by Alpha Generation in Maryland, New Jersey and Ohio, according to Jack Lynch, a spokesman for the independent power producer. The projects, which were assessed based on certain reliability and commercial operation date criteria, will be added to the just-started interconnection Transition Cycle 2 process, which already contains about 550 projects totaling about 50 GW in nameplate capacity. PJM estimates the selected projects will be able to come online 18 months earlier than if the projects followed the grid operator’s normal interconnection process. The RRI attracted 94 applications totaling 26.6