In an oil and gas report sent to Rigzone late Monday by the Macquarie team, Macquarie strategists, including Walt Chancellor, revealed that they are forecasting that U.S. crude inventories will be up by 5.0 million barrels for the week ending January 9. “This follows a 3.8 million barrel draw in the prior week, with the crude balance realizing relatively close to our expectations,” the strategists said in the report. “For the week ending 1/9, from refineries, we look for a modest reduction in crude runs (-0.1 million barrels per day). Among net imports, we model a healthy increase, with exports sharply lower (-0.9 million barrels per day) and imports up slightly (+0.1 million barrels per day) on a nominal basis,” they added. The strategists stated in the report that timing of cargoes remains a source of potential volatility in the weekly crude balance. They also noted in the report that they “see some lingering potential for noise from year-end effects”. “From implied domestic supply (prod.+adj.+transfers), we look for a small nominal increase (+0.1 million barrels per day),” the Macquarie strategists went on to note. “Rounding out the picture, we anticipate another small increase (+0.2 million barrels) in SPR [Strategic Petroleum Reserve] stocks for the week ending 1/9,” they said. The Macquarie strategists also highlighted in the report that, “among products”, they “again look for another large build led by gasoline (+7.1 million barrels), with distillate (+2.4 million barrels) and jet stocks (+0.7 million barrels) also higher”. “We model implied demand for these three products at ~13.6 million barrels per day for the week ending January 9,” the strategists went on to state. In its latest weekly petroleum status report at the time of writing, which was released on January 7 and included data for the week ending January 2, the

Vitol Group and Trafigura Group are in talks with large Indian and Chinese refiners over potential sales of Venezuelan crude, days after they obtained a preliminary green light from the US to market the oil. The traders contacted leading Asian buyers over the weekend, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly. Conversations are at an early stage and no formal offers have been made, they added. Indicative price levels for the touted Venezuelan volumes, for arrival to Asia in March, were pegged at about an $8 a barrel discount to the Brent benchmark, said traders in the spot market who track regional crude flows. The global oil market is on alert for a redirection of exports from Venezuela following the US intervention earlier this month, when forces seized leader Nicolás Maduro and President Donald Trump asserted control over the nation’s energy industry. The country has the world’s largest proven crude reserves. The two trading houses, among the world’s largest, are also in talks with US refiners to gauge interest. Vitol and Trafigura declined to comment. Asia has been a vital market for Venezuela’s Merey crude through years of US sanctions and restrictions. China took the lion’s share, usually sold at a discount. After Washington’s move, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Fox News that the US would not cut the country off from accessing Venezuelan oil. India’s Reliance Industries Ltd., meanwhile, has taken cargoes after securing a waiver, only to pause purchases last year when US President Donald Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on nations buying from the Latin American producer. Processors in India and China are now eager to explore renewed access to Venezuelan crude, potentially another source of supply in an already plentiful market. State-owned

Uniper SE and AM Green Ammonia India Pvt Ltd have signed a “long-term” offtake agreement for the German power and gas utility to buy up to 500,000 metric tons a year of renewable energy-produced ammonia from AM Green Ammonia’s projects. AM Green Ammonia – a consortium of India’s AM Green, Gentari of Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority – is developing several plants in the Indian cities of Kakinada and Tuticorin and the Indian town of Kandla, according to a joint statement between AM Green Ammonia and Uniper. The first was sanctioned by the consortium in 2024 and will rise in Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh state. “First shipment is expected to happen as early as 2028 from AM Green Ammonia’s first 1 MTPA, under-construction plant in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh”, the joint statement said. AM Green founder Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty said the deal represents “one of the first large-scale supply corridors between India and Europe”. “For Uniper, the agreement represents a significant step forward in developing a diversified portfolio of renewable and low-carbon molecules for European customers”, the joint statement said. “As a feedstock and a potential hydrogen carrier, renewable ammonia will help decarbonize industrial sectors such as chemicals, fertilizers, refining, and, over time, shipping”. The ammonia would be certified as a Renewable Fuel of Non-Biological Origin according to European Union standards, according to the joint statement. “Uniper and AM Green Ammonia will continue working with certification bodies to ensure traceability and high integrity reporting for European end-users”, the companies said. At home, Uniper recently partnered with thyssenkrupp Uhde GmbH for the construction of six commercial ammonia plants toward the establishment of a scalable hydrogen import terminal in Wilhelmshaven. On November 26, 2025, the German multinationals announced a “framework agreement” with thyssenkrupp Uhde building

Woodside Energy Group Ltd said Tuesday the Scarborough Energy Project’s floating production unit (FPU) had arrived at the project site offshore Western Australia. The project includes the development of the Scarborough gas field off the coast of Karratha, the construction of a second gas processing train for Pluto LNG with a capacity of five MMtpa and modifications to Pluto Train 1, according to Woodside. The FPU, built in China by Houston, Texas-headquartered McDermott International Ltd, will process gas from the field. Excluding train 1 modifications, Scarborough Energy was 91 percent complete at the end of the third quarter, according to Woodside’s quarterly report October 22, 2025. “Our focus now shifts to the hook-up and commissioning phase in preparation for production, and ultimately, first LNG cargo which is on track for the second half of this year”, Woodside acting chief executive Liz Westcott said in a statement on the company’s website Tuesday. Woodside called the FPU “one of the largest semisubmersible facilities ever constructed”. The vessel totals about 70,000 metric tons, according to Woodside. “It features advanced emissions-reduction systems and is designed to treat and compress gas for export through the trunkline”, the statement said. “It can also accommodate future tie-ins to support the development of nearby fields”. The Perth-based company expects the project to produce up to eight million metric tons a year of liquefied natural gas and supply 225 terajoules per day to the Western Australian market. Court Clearance Last year Australia’s Federal Court upheld regulatory approval of the environmental plan (EP) for Scarborough Energy, in a challenge put up by Doctors for the Environment (Australia) Inc (DEA). In a statement August 22, 2025, about the court win, Woodside noted the EP, approved by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) in February 2025, represented the last

Oil rose to the highest level since early December as unrest in Iran raises the specter of supply disruptions from OPEC’s fourth-biggest producer, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that President Donald Trump is leaning toward striking the country. West Texas Intermediate settled above $59 a barrel on Monday after jumping more than 6% over the past three sessions. Trump said Tehran had offered to enter negotiations with Washington over its yearslong nuclear program. But he is leaning toward authorizing military strikes against the Middle Eastern country over its treatment of protesters, the newspaper said, citing US officials familiar with the matter. Fresh political or military unrest in Iran could threaten disruption to the country’s roughly 3.3 million barrels-per-day oil production. Iran’s foreign minister repeated government claims that rioters and terrorists killed police and civilians, while footage was broadcast on state TV saying calm had been restored nationwide. “Traders must now balance odds of a smooth transition to regime change, odds of a messy transition potentially impacting oil production and exports, odds of a military confrontation or miscalculation, and odds the regime change may pivot towards a deal on US terms, which would bear the most negative implications for energy markets,” said Dan Ghali, a commodity strategist at TD Securities. The possibility of a disruption to Iran’s daily exports has tempered concerns over a global glut that caused a slump in prices and made investors increasingly bearish. The scale of risk has shown up clearest in options markets, where the skew toward bullish calls is the biggest for US crude futures since June and volatility is surging. The two weeks of protests in the country are the most significant challenge to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei since a nationwide uprising in 2022. It follows a surge in oil prices during

Former Alaska Representative Mary Peltola launched a campaign Monday to challenge Republican Dan Sullivan for one of Alaska’s Senate seats, putting the race in play for Democrats in November’s midterms.  “Systemic change is the only way to bring down grocery costs, save our fisheries, lower energy prices and build new housing Alaskans can afford,” Peltola said in a video announcing her candidacy. “No one from the Lower 48 is coming to save us, but I know this in my bones, there is no group of people more ready to save ourselves than Alaskans.”  Peltola held Alaska’s sole House seat until narrowly losing to a Republican in 2024. Democrats for months tried to recruit Peltola, who was also considering a bid for governor.  While President Donald Trump won Alaska by 13 points in 2024, the state’s down-ballot politics are often more issue-based than ideological. Peltola, an Alaskan Native, ran her previous campaigns on “fish, family and freedom” as a way to frame positions on issues like health care, taxes and abortion that are in line with the Democratic mainstream — as well as support for oil drilling and gun ownership that can be at odds with the rest of her party.  Early polling shows Sullivan vulnerable to a Peltola challenge, and Republicans across the country are preparing for midterms that have historically been difficult for the party in power. Democrats need to net four seats to take back the Senate majority.  Alaskans who get health insurance through the Affordable Care Act face some of the highest premiums in America after this month’s expiration of Biden-era subsidies. Sullivan, who had previously sought to repeal the ACA, voted last month to start debate on a Democratic proposal to extend expanded ACA subsidies for three years. The state, which already faces high prices for