BP PLC said Wednesday it had signed a deal to divest its convenience, mobility and BP Pulse businesses in the Netherlands to local fuels distributor Catom BV. “The transaction includes around 300 bp-owned or branded retail sites – some with on-site EV charging infrastructure – as well as 15 operational bp pulse EV charging hubs, eight under development and the associated Dutch fleet business”, a joint statement said. BP Pulse is BP’s multinational electric vehicle charging business. The parties did not disclose the price of the transaction, expected to be completed by year-end subject to regulatory approvals. The assets will grow Catom’s retail network to over 400 sites across the Netherlands. Catom sells conventional and renewable fuels and lubricants under the OK brand. “With this acquisition, we’re on our way to becoming the number one brand in our industry in the Netherlands”, commented Catom chief executive Jan Willem Westerhuis. “Catom was ultimately selected as the successful bidder as they presented the best overall offer, including future plans for the business and protection of terms and conditions of employees”, the statement said. Emma Delaney, BP executive vice president for customers and products, said, “We have built a high-quality retail and convenience business in the Netherlands but as we look to focus our downstream as part of a reset bp, we believe a new owner is best placed to take our Dutch business forward”. BP expects to sell $3-4 billion worth of assets this year, including $1.5 billion signed or completed in the first quarter. “Further progress on divestment proceeds will be provided as part of 2Q25 results”, Wednesday’s announcement said. Under a “reset” plan announced February, which involves scaling down renewables investment and cutting costs, BP targets $20 billion in divestment proceeds by 2027, including from solar developer Lightsource BP Renewable Energy Investments

Germany’s Uniper SE said Wednesday it had sold its 18.26 percent interest in AS Latvijas Gaze, which is involved in natural gas trading and sales in the Baltic neighborhood primarily in Latvia, to co-venturer Energy Investments SIA. “The sale of this non-strategic minority equity participation in AS Latvijas Gaze is part of the conditions that Uniper must fulfill under EU state aid law”, the gas and power utility said in a brief statement online. Uniper was referring to fair-competition guardrails imposed by the European Commission in approving its bailout by the German government in late 2022. Latvijas Gaze sells gas in Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania. In Latvia’s household sector, it is the biggest gas supplier, Latvijas Gaze says on its website. Latvijas Gaze had a EUR 159.8 million ($187.59 million) revenue last year, according to Uniper. Energy Investments has now increased its stake to 41.11 percent. JSC Rietumu Banka owns 28.97 percent, LLC ITERA Latvija 16 percent, UAB Haupas 6.15 percent and Port Investment Co. SARL 5 percent. Other shareholders hold 2.77 percent, Latvijas Gaze confirmed separately on Wednesday. In February Uniper completed the sale of its North American power portfolio also as part of the conditions under the European Commission’s approval for the German state aid. The divestment covered “power purchase and sale contracts and energy management agreements in the North American power markets ERCOT (North, South, West and Houston), WEST (WECC and CAISO) and CENTRAL (MISO and SPP) through a number of transactions with several counterparties”, Uniper said in a press release. The North American dispositions excluded Uniper’s gas portfolio and hydrogen-related activities. In January Uniper completed the sale of its natural gas-fired power plant in Gonyu, Hungary, to the local subsidiary of France’s Veolia SA. Commissioned 2011, the power plant generates up to 430 megawatts, according

Kuwait’s state energy company said OPEC+’s latest super-sized supply hike and recent interactions with customers suggest persistent demand growth beyond the summer driving season.   “We’re seeing some potential tightness in the market, which gives us an opportunity to capture market share in the future,” Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah, chief executive officer of Kuwait Petroleum Corp., told Bloomberg TV in an interview on the sidelines of a seminar held by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna.  Tanker tracking by Bloomberg shows that the Gulf state’s crude exports surged to a 19-month high in June as the OPEC+ alliance brought curbed barrels back. Most of Kuwait’s oil flows to Asian countries, including China, Japan and South Korea. Sheikh Nawaf said recent demand has been driven by Asia in particular, noting that KPC’s global business partners have been asking the company if it has additional barrels. There are indications that the customer isn’t concerned about a peak in demand, “certainly in China, and also is looking toward quality of the supplier, and that is us, because we are committed to a low-cost and low-carbon intensity barrel, and will continue for decades to come.” Producers are seeing a market that will continue to grow, Sheikh Nawaf said, with anywhere between 1 million to 1.3 million barrels a day of additional demand growth over the year.  Bloomberg News hasn’t received accreditation to cover the OPEC seminar, despite multiple requests. No explanation has been given. Sheikh Nawaf spoke outside the event. As tensions between Israel and Iran escalated last month into open conflict, KPC communicated closely with its Gulf partners to ensure a steady supply of oil to the market, according to Sheikh Nawaf. There had been concerns that the fighting could disrupt tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint

Oil held steady as traders weighed a large gain in US crude stockpiles against fresh US efforts to crimp Iranian crude exports. West Texas Intermediate swung between gains and losses before settling above $68 a barrel, narrowly extending a winning streak to a third day. US crude stockpiles rose 7.1 million barrels last week, the biggest gain since January, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. At the same time, the US Treasury Department sanctioned 22 foreign entities for their roles in facilitating the sale of Iranian oil. “Despite a material drop in imports week-on-week, a tick lower in refining activity and subdued exports have encouraged a sizeable crude inventory build,” said Matt Smith, Americas lead oil analyst at Kpler. The sanctions helped to soothe investors’ uncertainty surrounding US policy on Iranian exports, just weeks after US President Donald Trump baffled markets by encouraging China to carry on buying Tehran’s crude. Those surprise remarks represented a reversal of years of US sanctions and briefly allayed concerns that the Israel-Iran conflict would severely disrupt supplies. Still, sanctions news will have limited upside until the market sees a material loss of barrels, said Joe DeLaura, global energy strategist at Rabobank. “It’s all kayfabe,” he said. “By the end of the week, all those sanctioned companies will exist under new names in new locations, and the oil will flow.” Renewed Houthi attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea — a key trade route for oil — have also notably failed to inject a risk premium into oil prices. The attacks have so far killed at least three crew members and sank two vessels. “Most ships are already avoiding the Red Sea,” said Rebecca Babin, a senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Group. The developments “indicate some escalation, but do not really change

Dive Brief: Projections around U.S. data center growth and the electricity necessary to power AI are almost certainly overstated due to global constraints in semiconductor chip production, according to a new analysis completed by London Economics International for the Southern Environmental Law Center. Demand forecasts have alarmed utilities that are rushing to add energy resources, despite concerns over impacts on power bills. Projected data center demand from the U.S. power market would require 90% of global chip supply through 2030, according to London Economics. “Such a scenario is unrealistic,” the report concluded. Dive Insight: The United States is rushing to add new generation and transmission to power a variety of sectors — including transportation, buildings and industry — but data centers are expected to require an outsized portion of the resources. The U.S. Department of Energy on Monday published a report estimating an additional 100 GW of new peak capacity is needed by 2030, with half of it needed for data centers. Schneider Electric’s 2030 AI power demand scenarios range from about 16 GW to 65 GW.  The uncertainty, and an “upward bias” in projections identified by London Economics, is putting ratepayers at risk, according to SELC. “Such speculative infrastructure investment creates significant economic risks for ratepayers, who ultimately bear the financial burdens,” SELC Senior Attorney Megan Gibson said in a statement. “Regulators must urgently prioritize transparent, realistic, and evidence-based analyses to ensure infrastructure developments are truly necessary and beneficial, safeguarding communities and promoting sustainable growth in the Southeast and throughout the country.”  The report appears to reinforce some analyst observations that many data center requests appear to be duplicative. Astrid Atkinson, a former Google senior director of software engineering and now co-founder and CEO of grid optimization software provider Camus Energy, told Utility Dive earlier this year that utilities

Mol Nyrt., the Hungarian oil company that’s faced criticism for maintaining strong reliance on Russian energy, sees a pipeline from the Ukrainian port of Odesa as its best bet at diversification. The company wants to gain access to the Odesa-Brody crude pipeline that runs from Ukraine’s Black Sea port to near the nation’s border with Poland – allowing it to get seaborne supplies from a number of global producers, said Szabolcs Pal Szabo, Mol’s senior vice president for value chain management.  Flows could then be routed to Hungary via the southern Druzhba link, which currently carries Russian oil to the country and connects to the Odesa pipeline close to the Ukrainian-Polish border. “The Odesa pipeline would mean access to all sorts of alternative crude due to the sea link,” Szabo said in an email to Bloomberg. “This pipeline would serve regional, EU and Ukrainian supply security.” While Hungary was exempted from the European Union’s Russian crude oil ban in 2022 – allowing the landlocked country to keep receiving Russian crude via Druzhba – the country is under pressure to phase out those supplies amid an EU push to end energy imports from Russia by 2027.  Connecting to Ukrainian infrastructure wouldn’t be straightforward, since Odesa has been a frequent target of Russian missile attacks and the pipeline – which is currently out of commission – would require massive investments. The Black Sea around Ukraine’s coastline has also been heavily mined since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. It would also require political acrobatics from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a pro-Russian leader who’s called on the EU to cut support for Ukraine and end its sanctions on Russia. Orban has locked in a number of energy deals with Moscow and is currently campaigning for re-election by vowing to block Ukraine’s EU accession process.    Mol wants the