Energean plc has posted 2024 production of 153,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), a 24 percent increase year over year, in line with its previous guidance. Production from continuing operations for the period was 114,000 boepd consisting of 85 percent gas, which is a 28 percent boost compared to the previous-year value and at the upper end of its guidance. For 2025, Energean forecasts production from continuing operations of 120,000 to 130,000 boepd. The company’s development and production capital expenditure is projected to be between $400 million and $430 million, with $380 million to $400 million earmarked for Israel. The vast majority of the expenditure is associated with the company’s Katlan development, while the remainder is for the completion of the second oil train and other asset integrity and maintenance expenditures, it said. Further $20 million to $30 million will be allotted to Europe, including infill drilling on the Scott field in the United Kingdom (UK), as well as other routine annual maintenance costs in the UK and Greece. The London-based company’s Katlan development in Israel is progressing on schedule, with first gas expected in the first half of 2027, as previously announced, it said in a statement. Energean’s sale of its portfolio of gas-weighted exploration and production assets in Egypt, Italy, and Croatia to an entity controlled by Carlyle International Energy Partners is expected to close in the first quarter, subject to customary regulatory approvals. In December 2024, Carlyle received unconditional clearance from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Competition Commission, which was the final remaining anti-trust approval, according to the release. Energean CEO Mathios Rigas said, “2024 marked another year of growth for Energean in both sales and profitability with group revenues of [$1.784 billion] and adjusted EBITDAX of [$1.166 billion] up 26

Mads Nipper will step down as CEO and group president of Ørsted (CPH: ORSTED) on 1 February 2025. The Danish renewables group’s board of directors has appointed Rasmus Errboe, currently serving as deputy CEO and chief commercial officer, to replace Nipper. Nipper, 58, spent over two decades at LEGO Group, including as chief marketing officer from 2011 to 2014. He moved onto pump manufacturer Grundfos before he joined Orsted as its CEO in December 2020. The end of his four-year tenure comes ahead of Ørsted publishing its annual report for 2024 next week on 6 February 2025. Chair of Ørsted’s board of directors Lene Skole said: “The renewable energy market has fundamentally changed since January 2021. The impacts on our business of the increasingly challenging situation in the offshore wind industry, ranging from supply chain bottlenecks, interest rate increases, to a changing regulatory landscape, mean that our focus has shifted. “Therefore, the board has today agreed with Mads Nipper that it’s the right time for him to step down and the board has appointed Rasmus Errboe to take over as CEO.” Ørsted troubles It hasn’t been an easy couple of years for Ørsted. Between rising raw material and capital costs in the wake of the Covid pandemic and Russian invasion of Ukraine, the company announced in late 2023 that it had been hit with 28.4 billion Danish kroner (£3.1b) of impairments. This was driven largely by worsening economics at its US portfolio, which saw the company abandon development of its Ocean Wind 1 and 2 projects, accounting for 19.9b kroner (£2.2b) of the impairments. These challenges were hardly Ørsted’s alone, with other developers finding that rising prices meant previously struck deals were no longer enough to finance projects. But Nipper was under pressure to return the company to an even track,

Ship classification organization American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has granted approval in principle for a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel for blue ammonia designed by MODEC Inc. and TOYO Engineering Corp. Blue ammonia is ammonia produced using natural gas with emission mitigation technology such as carbon capture. The MODEC-TOYO FPSO is intended to use associated gas conventionally reinjected into the reservoir. For carbon dioxide (CO2) mitigation, the vessel would include a facility to capture and store emissions from the process of converting gas to ammonia, as well as CO2 from gas turbine generators, according to MODEC. “The concept of producing blue ammonia offshore is achieved by combining MODEC’s expertise in overall layout, hull design and mooring technology, cultivated in Oil & Gas FPSO projects, with TOYO’s expertise in ammonia production process design and FPSO equipment design”, MODEC said in a press release Thursday. The FPSO’s hull, which stores and offtakes the produced ammonia, was developed with help from Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. TOYO meanwhile has partnered with Houston, Texas-based engineering firm KBR Inc. for its ammonia production technique. “This blue ammonia is expected to serve as an alternative fuel and hydrogen carrier in the energy transition”, MODEC said. “MODEC considers this AiP [approval in principle] as an initial step in the development of a floating solution for alternative energy production and will continue to strive to refine and mature this concept to address the key challenges for commercialization identified through this development, aiming to provide a safe and affordable alternative energy supply solution”. The blue ammonia FPSO is positioned as the first concept design among floating alternative energy production systems envisioned in MODEC’s business plan for 2024-26. MODEC also aims to develop floating facilities for hydrogen and methanol, according to the plan published February 14, 2024. Under the plan,

In a release sent to Rigzone on Thursday, Baker Hughes announced “major gas technology orders for Venture Global LNG”. Baker Hughes said in the release that it has been awarded a major contract to provide a modularized liquefied natural gas (LNG) system and power island to support Venture Global LNG projects in the United States. The company added that it has also signed a multi-year services frame agreement, including maintenance, inspection, repairs and engineering services, to support phases one and two of Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG project in Louisiana. Baker Hughes noted in the release that the equipment order and services agreement were both secured in the fourth quarter of 2024. The company did not provide the value of the deals in the release. Rigzone asked Baker Hughes how much the deals are worth and if they will result in more jobs or job retention. A Baker Hughes spokesperson told Rigzone the company was “unable to disclose the value of the deals mentioned, as this information isn’t public”. The spokesperson added that Baker Hughes “can’t provide further details about the project at this time”. “As power demand surges, LNG has a critical role to play in providing a reliable, flexible fuel source that can be quickly scaled to meet rising demand,” Lorenzo Simonelli, the chairman and CEO of Baker Hughes, said in the release. “We have been a trusted partner in natural gas operations for more than 30 years, and our collaboration with Venture Global is a key example of what our industry needs more of today: businesses coming together to leverage best-in-class technologies and services that can deliver reliable and efficient natural gas operations to support sustainable energy development,” he added. Mike Sabel, the CEO of Venture Global, said in the release, “Baker Hughes continues to be a trusted partner

The European Commission said Thursday it plans to award nearly EUR 1.25 billion ($1.3 billion) in grants to 41 cross-border energy infrastructure projects, mostly in the study stage. The funding is from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for Energy, which supports the implementation of the European Union’s Trans-European Networks for Energy (TEN-E) Regulation. The regulation aims to link national and regional power, low-carbon gas, hydrogen and carbon dioxide infrastructure. Thursday’s announcement constitutes “the largest call for proposals under the current CEF Energy program, both in terms of applications received and funding awarded and goes beyond the call’s initial indicative budget of EUR 850 million”, the Commission said in an online statement. The call was made last year as the inaugural grant deployment of the revised TEN-E Regulation, put into effect June 2022 to align with the EU’s goal of turning into a net-zero emissions economy by 2050. The selected projects announced Thursday, consisting of 36 studies and five work proposals, had obtained the status of Project of Common Interest or Project of Mutual Interest in 2024 under the TEN-E Regulation, the Commission said. Almost EUR 750 million has been earmarked for eight power grid projects, including offshore and smart grids. The bulk of the grid allotment at EUR 645 million will support the Bornholm Energy Island project. The project involves the building of a first-of-a-kind hybrid interconnector in the Baltic Sea that links to Denmark and Germany. The project will integrate three gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity, according to the Commission. “Another grant for construction works of almost EUR 33 million will go to Danube InGrid, a cross-border smart electricity project between Hungary and Slovakia that will integrate renewable energy and more efficiently balance the system”, the Commission said. The other six – located in Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Slovakia and Spain – will receive study support. “To help decarbonize

The UK submitted a plan to the United Nations to cut its CO2 emissions by at least 81 percent by 2035, just as the country’s status as a global climate leader comes under increased scrutiny. The government fleshed out the goal Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced at the COP29 summit in November, touting its credentials as the first Group-of-Seven country to phase out coal, its phaseout of new cars relying solely on the combustion engine by 2030 and its policy of not issuing new oil and gas exploration licenses. By submitting its so-called Nationally Determined Contribution, the UK is marking itself out as one of the few large economies boosting its ambitions against a backdrop of inflation and concern over the cost of the climate transition.  “The UK’s bold new climate plan means it is even better placed to cash in on the climate action boom,” said Simon Stiell, executive secretary of UN climate change. “Other countries, across the G20 and around the world, should follow suit.” Still, the Labour government’s green credentials have been questioned as it pushes to build a controversial third runway at London’s Heathrow airport. It’s also facing a key test over how it will deal with a court challenge to fossil fuel developments in the North Sea. There’s growing concern over global climate action. US President Donald Trump is set to pull the world’s highest historical emitter out of the landmark Paris Agreement of 2015, which committed countries to keeping global warming below 2C and ideally 1.5C. The European Union is also facing a stiff challenge from climate skeptic parties across the continent. “The UK has demonstrated it is back in the business of climate leadership,” according to the plan published Thursday. “There is no global stability without climate stability.” All countries have to submit their