Oil fell as the dollar strengthened and conviction waned that the US will reach agreements with key trade partners ahead of a deadline next week. West Texas Intermediate crude slid more than 1% to settle near $65 a barrel after President Donald Trump said the US has a 50-50 chance of striking a trade deal with Europe, a contrast to the optimism the bloc’s diplomats expressed this week. Trump also said most tariff rates are essentially settled now. The effective US tariff rate is at the highest in a century, by some estimates, a potential threat to energy demand. In another headwind, Trump indicated he had no plans to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, boosting the dollar and making the commodities priced in the currency less attractive. Crude has remained in a holding pattern this month, but is down for the year as increased supply from OPEC+ adds to concerns of a looming glut. The group will next meet on Aug. 3 to decide on production levels. On Thursday, one member, Venezuela, was given a production reprieve by a US decision to let Chevron resume pumping oil in the country. “We expect crude to slowly sell off this fall, driven by steady acceleration of stock builds, softening physical markets, reduced refinery margin support and continued deescalation of geopolitically driven supply risk,” Macquarie Group analysts including Vikas Dwivedi wrote in a note. Oil Prices WTI for September delivery fell 1.3% to settle at $65.16 a barrel. Brent for September settlement slipped 1.1% to $68.44 a barrel. What do you think? We’d love to hear from you, join the conversation on the Rigzone Energy Network. The Rigzone Energy Network is a new social experience created for you and all energy professionals to Speak Up about our industry, share knowledge, connect with

BP Plc will exit its role in a massive green hydrogen production facility planned in Australia as the British oil major refocuses on the fossil fuels that drive its profits.  The company told its partners in the Australian Renewable Energy Hub that it plans to leave the project as both operator and equity holder, according to a statement from a BP spokesperson. It’s the latest setback for green hydrogen, a fuel once touted as a key way for Big Oil to profit from the energy transition that has so far proved too costly for mass production and consumption.  The AREH project company will take over as operator over coming months with support from founding partner InterContinental Energy, according to an AREH spokesperson. BP’s decision to exit the project doesn’t reflect the opportunity the hub presents to decarbonize the Pilbara and support the creation of a green iron industry, they said.  BP’s entry into the project – once estimated to cost about $36 billion – came at a time when the company sought to rapidly build up a business in low-carbon energy and shrink its oil business. But after years of stock under-performance compared with its peers and the departure of the plan’s architect – Chief Executive Officer Bernard Looney – BP has refined its strategy to focus more squarely on profits than green goals.  The company is far from alone in leaving its ambitions for green hydrogen behind. Scores of companies that once saw the fuel as the next big thing in energy have cut back plans as hoped for cost declines failed to materialize. Also on Thursday, Fortescue Ltd. said it would abandon plans for a $550 million Arizona Hydrogen Project in the US and a $150 million PEM50 Project in Gladstone, Australia – resulting in a pretax writedown of $150 million. Meanwhile, Woodside

Eni SpA reported profit that beat analyst estimates as proceeds from asset sales and sweeping cost cuts helped counter a weak oil market. While crude prices were lower in the second quarter — weighing on earnings at other European oil companies — Eni has been buoyed by a cost-reduction program introduced earlier this year, while asset disposals brought down debt. Adjusted net income fell 25% from a year earlier to €1.13 billion ($1.3 billion), the Italian energy company said Friday in a statement. That exceeded the €932.6 million average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Eni said it’s now targeting €3 billion of cost cuts this year, up from €2 billion previously. The company has also reaped billions of euros by offloading stakes in its renewables arm and mobility division, and is in talks to sell half of its carbon capture unit. “The combination of divestments set to come through this year, ongoing ‘self-help,’ as well as the additional cash flow from new ramp-ups sets Eni up for a strong second half of 2025 and 2026,” RBC Europe Ltd. analyst Biraj Borkhataria said in a note. He expects “growing free cash flow and a more resilient balance sheet than we’ve seen for many years.” The shares rose as much as 0.6% at the open in Milan, before trading little changed as of 9:08 a.m. local time. Eni confirmed plans for shareholders’ returns this year. It expects free cash flow before working capital of about €11.5 billion at $70-a-barrel crude, up from previous guidance of €11 billion. The company also raised its forecast for annual earnings from its gas division to €1 billion from €800 million. Net debt shrank to €29.1 billion at the end of June. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of

Chevron will “consolidate or eliminate some positions” as part of its integration with Hess Corporation, a Chevron spokesperson told Rigzone. “Chevron completed the merger with Hess Corporation on July 18,” the spokesperson said. “We are working quickly to integrate the Hess workforce and are focused on maintaining safe and reliable operations throughout the transition period,” the spokesperson added. “As part of the integration, we will consolidate or eliminate some positions. As required by the WARN Act, Chevron has provided notice of a planned workforce reduction to appropriate state and local government representatives for Downtown Houston and North Dakota,” the spokesperson went on to state. When asked by Rigzone to confirm how many positions will be affected, the Chevron spokesperson said, “for the WARN Notices issued on July 21, Chevron anticipates a reduction of approximately 575 employees in Downtown Houston and 70 employees in North Dakota”. The spokesperson told Rigzone that “these are difficult decisions which … [the company does] not make lightly”. “We understand the impact this news may have on employees, their families and the communities where we operate,” the spokesperson said. “Our priority is to support our employees through this transition. We are offering severance benefits and outplacement support,” the Chevron representative added. In a statement posted on its website on July 18, Chevron announced that it had completed its acquisition of Hess Corporation following the satisfaction of all necessary closing conditions, including a favorable arbitration outcome regarding Hess’ offshore Guyana asset. “This merger of two great American companies brings together the best in the industry,” Chevron Chairman and CEO Mike Wirth said in that statement. “The combination enhances and extends our growth profile well into the next decade, which we believe will drive greater long-term value to shareholders,” he added. In this statement, former Hess Corporation CEO

Abbe Ramanan is a project director at Clean Energy Group. In 2020, the Virginia Assembly passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act, a law that required the state’s largest utility, Dominion Energy, to generate all its electricity from renewable resources by 2045. However, Dominion has found a useful loophole to get around the law’s requirements — data centers. Viriginia hosts the largest data center market in the world, and is home to at least 150 hyperscale data centers, with more being proposed. In its recent integrated resource plan, Dominion cited projected energy demand from these data centers as a key reason to delay retiring existing power plants, including the Clover Power Station, a coal-powered peaker plant in Halifax County, a disproportionately low-income region. In addition to delaying peaker retirements, Dominion has proposed building new gas-powered generation, including a 1-GW peaker plant in Chesterfield, a community that already shoulders an undue environmental burden from existing natural gas- and coal-fired generation. Similar stories have played out across the country as data centers become more and more ubiquitous, particularly in the Southeast. Utilities in Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina have proposed building 20,000 MW of new gas power plants by 2040. Data centers driving the projected load growth are being used to justify this buildout. In Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina, data centers are responsible for at least 65% of projected load growth. Data centers are also delaying the retirement of fossil fuel power plants nationwide, with at least 17 fossil fuel generators originally scheduled for closure now delaying retirement. This new gas buildout, as well as the delayed retirement of fossil fuel generators, overwhelmingly harms Black and brown communities, who face higher energy and environmental burdens. The gas bonanza is especially concerning because the projected demand from data centers could be

Dive Brief: General Motors and battery recycler Redwood Materials have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to accelerate the deployment of stationary energy storage systems built using both new modules and second-life batteries from the automaker’s electric vehicles, according to a July 16 press release. The plans are part of a new business unit launched by Redwood Materials in June named Redwood Energy that’s focused on assembling and deploying low-cost stationary energy-storage systems to help meet growing power demands of AI data centers and other applications. “Electricity demand is climbing, and it’s only going to accelerate,” Kurt Kelty, VP of batteries, propulsion, and sustainability at GM, said in the release. “To meet that challenge, the U.S. needs energy storage solutions that can be deployed quickly, economically, and made right here at home.” Dive Insight: Redwood Materials plans to establish a domestic supply chain to manufacture batteries to support energy storage applications via its Redwood Energy unit. The company currently repurposes around 20 gigawatt hours of batteries annually, which is the equivalent of 250,000 EVs or roughly 90% of all lithium-ion batteries and battery materials currently recycled in North America, according to its website.    GM is already providing the battery recycling company with used batteries to help power what Redwood calls “the largest second-life battery development in the world and the largest microgrid in North America” at an installation in Sparks, Nevada, per the release. The electricity produced by the microgrid is being used by AI infrastructure company Crusoe. “Electricity demand is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, driven by AI and the rapid electrification of everything from transportation to industry,” said JB Straubel, founder and CEO of Redwood Materials, in the release. “Both GM’s second-life EV batteries and new batteries can be deployed in Redwood’s energy storage systems, delivering fast,