Japan’s trade minister said the country aims to curb dependence on Russian liquefied natural gas, but can’t immediately halt imports despite growing pressure from the US. “Japan has steadily reduced dependency on Russian energy in the wake of the Ukraine war,” Trade Minister Yoji Muto said on Tuesday, without providing a timeline or details on when imports could end. LNG supply from the Russian Sakhalin-2 export project accounts for about 10 percent of the nation’s total imports of the fuel and so “plays an important role” in energy security, he added. Japan has often said that it doesn’t plan to immediately stop buying Russian LNG, even as allies in Europe move to ban the fuel to crimp Moscow’s access to funding for the war in Ukraine. The Asian nation is the only member of the Group of Seven that hasn’t committed to a timeline to end Russian gas imports. Muto indicated that replacing Russian supply could prove expensive. The Asian LNG market is expected to remain tight for the time being, and rising procurement costs could lead to higher electricity rates, he said. The comments come as the US ramps up efforts to reduce Moscow’s energy sales in a bid to end the war. The Trump administration expects Japan to stop importing energy from Russia, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato during a meeting last week. Japan’s trading houses own a stake in the Russian Sakhalin-2 plant, the closest LNG export terminal to the country. Furthermore, much of the fuel bought from the project is supplied under long-term purchase agreements, some of which don’t expire until the 2030s. In order to tackle the issue of Russian LNG, the government in Tokyo will work closely with the international community, including Group of Seven nations, based on what is necessary

Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) has contracted Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) for the supply of up to six million barrels of crude. With the one-year agreement, “Petrobras will now supply oil to India’s three main state-owned refiners”, Brazil’s state-owned Petrobras said in a press release. It previously signed contracts for Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Indian Oil Corp (IOC). Under the earlier contracts, Petrobras has exported over 20 million barrels to the South Asian country, Petrobras said. “For years, Petrobras’ commercial relations with India were concentrated among private refiners, with Reliance Industries Ltd still being an important current partner. Recently, however, the company has been focusing on state-owned refiners, which consume medium oils that better match the company’s export profile”, it said. Petrobras “is constantly assessing all markets in search of the best placement for its exported oil volumes, negotiating barrels under both contractual and spot modalities”, the company added. “In addition to India, the company has been increasing exports of different grades of crude oil to South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and, most notably, to the European market. In the refined products market, Africa, the Americas and Asia have gained importance. Beyond crude oil, Petrobras also markets internationally more than 10 different petroleum-derived products”. Claudio Schlosser, Petrobras executive director for logistics, commercialization and markets, said, “India is, unquestionably, one of the main drivers of the global economy today and will be even more so in the near future. It is an extremely relevant market for international oil flows, given its robust economic and population growth, combined with its refining capacity of more than five million barrels per day and its local production covering just over 10 percent of its needs”. “The increase in Petrobras’ participation in supplying oil to India is the result of continuous efforts and market development

BP PLC said Monday it has made 11 oil and gas discoveries this year, the latest being Volans offshore Namibia in the Orange Basin. Operator Rhino Resources Ltd announced October 1 a “high liquid-yield gas condensate discovery” in the Volans-1X well in Block 2914A. “The well found 26m of net pay in rich gas condensate-bearing reservoirs, with the reservoir showing excellent quality petrophysical properties and no observed water contact”, Rhino said in a press release. “Hot shot laboratory analysis on two samples (at the top and base of the reservoir interval) showed a high condensate to gas ratio (CGR) of >140 and a liquid density of around 40° API gravity. “Hydrocarbon samples and sidewall cores were collected through intensive wireline logging operations. Laboratory studies will continue to be conducted on the rest of the fluid samples, side wall cores and cuttings collected during the campaign”. The well reached 4,497.5 meters (14,755.58 feet) of true vertical depth subsea (TVDSS), the Cape Town-based company said. The well was drilled by Northern Ocean Ltd’s semi-submersible Deepsea Mira. “The rig was demobilized on 14 September 2025 to begin drilling in another location, while Volans-1X laboratory testing activities will remain ongoing”, Rhino said. Rhino chief executive Travis Smithard said, “Rhino, in collaboration with our partners Azule Energy, NAMCOR and Korres, will now evaluate the results of the ongoing testing and integrate them into blockwide prospectivity studies”. Rhino owns 42.5 percent in Petroleum Exploration License (PEL) 85, which contains the discovery. BP participates through Luanda-based Azule Energy, the British company’s 50-50 venture with Italian state-controlled Eni SpA; Azule Energy owns 42.5 percent of PEL 85. The other partners in the block are National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia with a 10 percent interest and Korres Investments with five percent. “The Volans-1X well marks the third significant hydrocarbon discovery in 2025 for Azule Energy partners, following the Capricornus-1X light oil find in

European Union energy ministers agreed a joint position on plans to ban all gas supplies from Russia by the end of 2027, as the bloc looks to definitively end its reliance on energy from Moscow. A qualified majority of officials meeting in Luxembourg Monday supported the ban, which starts by prohibiting Russian supplies under existing short-term contracts by mid-June, with an exemption for landlocked countries such as Hungary and Slovakia. A prohibition on long-term deals follows 18 months later. Hungary and Slovakia did not support the ban. The deal on Monday was a procedural step on the RePowerEU regulation, which aims to permanently end Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels. Negotiations with the European Parliament, which is calling for a faster exit from Russian gas and a halting of oil imports from the start of next year, can now start. The aim is to reach a final deal before the end of the year. The EU is pursuing a two-pronged strategy to finally end its addiction to Russian fossil fuels after President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022. The second strand involves a separate proposal to impose sanctions on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas from the start of 2027. It requires unanimity and is still being discussed. Europe has been under pressure from the US to speed up moves to sever its energy ties with Moscow, and buy more American LNG. A joint statement on EU-US trade pledged $750 billion in energy deals between the two over the next three years. The EU receives about 15% of its LNG supplies from Moscow, making Russia the second-largest provider of the fuel to Europe after the US, with the monthly bill for those imports ranging between €500 million ($584 million) and €700 million. “This is not just for the present conflict,”

Oil edged down slightly amid signs of easing tensions between the US and China, while traders took stock of mounting evidence that a long-anticipated surplus is finally starting to emerge. West Texas Intermediate was little changed to settle near $57 a barrel as investors rolled over positions ahead of the November contract’s expiry this week, adding to choppy trading. US President Donald Trump earlier expressed optimism about a potential deal between the world’s top oil consumers. Enthusiasm surrounding this development was limited, though, as oil stored on tankers rose to a fresh high, among the most tangible signs yet that markets are oversupplied. Oil futures have tumbled more than 20% from their summer highs as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting countries and its allies ramp up production, while major forecasters project a flood of supplies continuing into next year. Even so, WTI earlier edged into oversold territory on the nine-day relative strength index for the first time since May, a possible indication that prices lurched lower too fast. It also suggests a reversal may be in the cards. “Crude futures continue to trade on the defensive amid ideas a looming supply surplus is near,” said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president for trading at BOK Financial. Price support for WTI rests at around $56.15, though a close below $55 risks a further price slide, he added. Geopolitical forces are also at play. Prices have been weighed down by limited progress toward a de-escalation of the war in Ukraine, a scenario that could push oil toward $50 a barrel, according to Citigroup Inc. President Donald Trump last week said he would hold a second meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin seeking to end the conflict, though previous talks have done little to stem the hostilities. Meanwhile, China’s economy slowed for a second

Dive Brief: Amid rising threats to operational systems and a chaotic geopolitical environment, electric utilities want Congress to cleanly reauthorize the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, which allows for greater information sharing between the power sector and federal government. The law lapsed October 1. A temporary extension was included in the government funding bill, which failed and resulted in the current shutdown. A bipartisan Senate bill could bring CISA’s protections back into force. It is vital that utilities are able to share threat information as the risks are rising, said Kristine Martz, a principal product advisor at cybersecurity firm Dragos. “Adversaries are becoming aware of the impact that they can achieve against easy to access industrial control systems,” or ICS, she said Friday at a conference hosted by Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Dive Insight: “We’ve seen a consistent rise in threat activity over the years,” Martz said, noting new threat adversaries are focused on operational technology and ICS environments where they can impact the delivery of services. “They get in through these internet-facing devices and just live off the land for a long time to perform reconnaissance, pulling down things like your GIS data, your network maps,” Martz said. “Living off the land” refers to cyber intruders using legitimate network tools to cover their presence and gain information. While utility regulations like the North American Electric Reliability Corp.’s Critical Infrastructure Protection standards have helped create a baseline of security and shored up obvious weaknesses, Dragos has identified new threat groups developing operational and ICS-specific malware which take advantage of the extensive knowledge of utility work environments that hackers can gain from their research, Martz said. Given the threat, and in an environment of rapidly growing electricity demand, it is vital that electric utilities are able to share information