Australia’s Santos Ltd. said the BW Opal floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel arrived at the Barossa gas field. This is a critical milestone on the path to first gas in the third quarter of 2025, Santos said in a media release, adding that the FPSO has been hooked up with final commissioning already in progress. The FPSO is the production centerpiece of Santos’ Barossa liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. Santos said it and joint venture partners SK E&S and JERA Co. Inc. have invested $3.95 billion (AUD6.07 billion at today’s rates) on the Barossa LNG project to date. “The project has come a long way since regulator acceptance of the Offshore Project Proposal in 2018. The project remains on track for first gas in the third quarter of 2025, and within the original cost guidance, which is a remarkable achievement”, Kevin Gallagher, Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, said. “Barossa is a world-class asset and, together with the Pikka phase one project in Alaska, is expected to deliver a 30 percent increase in production over the next eighteen months or so compared to 2024.  These projects will set the company up with long-term, stable cash flows to underpin compelling shareholder returns”. Furthermore, the Darwin LNG life extension (DLE) project, which will support the Barossa LNG project, is on track to be completed by the start of the third quarter of 2025, with 90 percent of the work now done, Santos said. The DLE project and its associated infrastructure have created 300 construction and maintenance jobs in Darwin, with a total investment of AUD 1 billion. Santos’ operations at Darwin LNG, which employ a 100 percent local workforce, are expected to generate around AUD100 million per year in supply and service opportunities for Northern Territory businesses, Santos said.

Lakes Blue Energy NL has secured AUD6.5 million to fund the proposed drilling of Wombat-5 in Petroleum Retention Lease 2 (PRL 2). The company said in a regulatory filing that it received firm commitments for a placement of 8,663,667 shares, which will also provide sufficient working capital to June 2025. According to Lakes, the placement is subject to its reinstatement to trading on the Australian Securities Exchange Ltd. (ASX). The placement will raise a total of AUD 6,497,750.25 in two tranches. The first tranche will bring in around AUD 6 million, and the second tranche is set to bring in an additional $502,500. The company added its directors intend to participate in the placement in consideration of outstanding amounts due to directors for a total of up to AUD636,024, subject to shareholder approval at its general meeting. Shares in the placement will be issued at AUD 0.75 per unit, a 25 percent discount to the last traded share price of AUD 1.00 on September 30, 2023, before suspension from quotation on October 2, 2023. Morgans Financial Ltd. acted as lead manager. “Lakes is delighted with the market’s response to our placement, and we look forward to utilizing these funds to drill Wombat 5 and hopefully developing a substantial gas field to assist Victoria alleviate its forecast gas shortages”, Roland Sleeman, Chairman of Lakes, said. The company earlier received approval from Lily D’Ambrosio MP, Victoria’s State Minister for Energy and Resources, to drill Wombat-5. Lakes said it had already secured an agreement with Condor Energy Services Ltd. for the supply of their Rig #1 for drilling the proposed lateral well, with spudding expected to start July. To contact the author, email [email protected] What do you think? We’d love to hear from you, join the conversation on the Rigzone Energy Network. The

WASHINGTON— U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright testified today before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on the Department of Energy’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request. Earlier this month, Secretary Wright testified before the U.S. House Energy Subcommittee to outline the department’s FY2026 request. He also appeared last month before both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittees on Energy and Water Development to outline department priorities and provide a comprehensive overview of the budget. The FY2026 Budget delivers on President Trump’s directive to restore American energy dominance, unleash every American energy advantage, and bring commonsense back to Washington. It returns non-defense discretionary spending to the most disciplined levels since 2017 and redirects over $15 billion away from the Green New Scam— a reckless Biden-era agenda that drives up costs, weakens reliability, and undermines U.S. energy strength. The department remains committed to being responsible stewards of American taxpayer dollars while protecting the affordable, abundant, and reliable energy our nation depends on. For more details, view the budget toplines here. Secretary Wright’s opening remarks: Thank you, Chairman Lee, Ranking Member Heinrich, and Members of the Committee, it is an honor to appear before you today as Secretary of Energy to discuss the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget request for the Department of Energy. Under President Trump’s leadership, our priorities for the Department are clear—to achieve American energy dominance, bolster our national security, meet our Cold War legacy cleanup commitments and unleash historic innovation, including AI, for our nation and world. We are driven by a bedrock conviction that an affordable, reliable, secure energy supply is the foundation of a strong and prosperous nation. When America leads in energy, we lead in prosperity, security and human flourishing. We are committed to advancing our critical missions while cutting red

WASHINGTON— The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the start of a new pilot program to expedite the testing of advanced nuclear reactor designs under DOE authority outside of the national laboratories. In accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order, Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy, DOE issued a Request for Application (RFA) and is seeking qualified U.S. reactor companies interested in constructing and operating their test reactors outside of the national laboratories using the DOE authorization process. Today’s action represents an important step toward streamlining nuclear reactor testing and ensuring at least three reactors achieve criticality by July 4, 2026.   “For too long, the federal government has stymied the development and deployment of advanced civil nuclear reactors in the United States,” said Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we are expediting the development of next-generation nuclear technologies and giving American innovators a new path forward to advance their designs, propelling our economic prosperity and bolstering our national security.”  President Trump is committed to re-establishing the United States as a global leader in nuclear energy and securing a reliable, diversified, and affordable energy supply to drive American prosperity and technological advancement. The new reactor pilot program will help to unleash American nuclear energy capabilities, support U.S. jobs and strengthen American innovation.  The pilot program builds on current efforts to demonstrate advanced reactors on DOE sites through microreactor testbeds and other projects led by the Department of Defense and private industry. It is specifically designed to foster research and development of nuclear reactors and not demonstrate reactors for commercial suitability. Seeking DOE authorization provided under the Atomic Energy Act will help unlock private funding and provide a fast-tracked approach to enable future commercial licensing activities for potential applicants.    DOE will consider advanced reactors that have

Oil edged higher after a volatile session as President Donald Trump fanned speculation that the US may join the Middle East conflict. West Texas Intermediate rose 0.4% to settle above $75 a barrel, the highest closing price since January. Markets swung between gains and losses in a $3 range amid sharp reactions to developments in the Israel-Iran conflict. “Implied volatility continues to climb, signaling that underlying market anxiety remains elevated — even if that’s not fully reflected in price action,” said Rebecca Babin, a senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Group. Trump said Iran squandered the chance to make a deal over its nuclear enrichment, but declined to say whether the US plans to join Israel’s offensive aimed at destroying the program. “I may do it. I may not do it,” Trump told reporters Wednesday at the White House when asked if he is moving closer to bombing Iran. “I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.” Earlier, Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said his country won’t surrender to Israel after Trump called for the Islamic Republic’s capitulation as the conflict enters its fifth day. Trump had demanded Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” and warned of a possible strike against its leader in social media posts Tuesday. The US is also moving more military assets into the region, including the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group, which is sailing there ahead of schedule. The oil market’s main concerns are flows from Iran and the threat to vessel traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a quarter of the world’s crude shipments flow. Early data from TankerTrackers.com Inc. show that Iran increased its exports significantly since the attacks began, and there has been no major disruption to the strait. The risks to prices have permeated the oil derivatives

The Department of Energy’s May order directing Consumers Energy to delay retiring a 1,560-MW, coal-fired power plant in Michigan was illegal and based on a nonexistent emergency, Earthjustice and other groups said in a rehearing request filed on Wednesday at DOE. “The order represents an effort to replace the market- and state-led planning process provided by statute with an ill-advised and misinformed exercise in federal command-and-control,” the public interest groups said in their request that DOE rescind its decision. If DOE does not respond to the request within a required 30 days, the groups plan to challenge the 90-day emergency order in court, they said. The Federal Power Act’s section 202(c) gives the DOE secretary the authority to temporarily order power plants to operate during wars and emergencies. In a May 23 order, DOE Secretary Chris Wright said parts of the Midwest faced an “energy emergency” and that Consumers’ J.H. Campbell power plant in West Olive, Michigan, should run until Aug. 21, past its planned May 31 shutdown. DOE cited two reports in finding that an emergency exists in MISO: NERC’s 2025 Summer Reliability Assessment issued on May 14 and the grid operator’s capacity auction results released in late April. Those reports fail to show Michigan faces an emergency that requires the Campbell power plant to keep running, according to the public interest groups. MISO and the Michigan Public Service Commission have said the state and broader Midcontinent system have adequate power supplies this summer, the groups said. Also, MISO and the PSC approved retiring the Campbell power plant, and Consumers acquired replacement power supplies, they noted. “MISO has made clear time and again that the vast region over which it has balancing authority is resource adequate for summer 2025,” the groups said. “This means that MISO is not facing