The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed its latest U.S. regular gasoline retail price forecast in its July short term energy outlook (STEO), which was released on July 8. According to this STEO, the EIA sees the U.S. regular gasoline retail price averaging $3.09 per gallon in 2025 and $3.04 per gallon in 2026. In its previous STEO, which was released in June, the EIA projected that the U.S. regular gasoline retail price would come in at $3.09 per gallon this year and $3.08 per gallon next year. The EIA’s latest STEO forecasts that the U.S. regular gasoline retail price will average $3.11 per gallon in the third quarter of this year, $2.99 per gallon in the fourth quarter, $2.93 per gallon in the first quarter of 2026, $3.12 per gallon in the second quarter, $3.16 per gallon in the third quarter, and $2.96 per gallon in the fourth quarter of 2026. In its previous STEO, the EIA projected that the U.S. regular gasoline retail price would average $3.14 per gallon in the third quarter, $2.97 per gallon in the fourth quarter, $2.95 per gallon in the first quarter of next year, $3.17 per gallon in the second quarter, $3.21 per gallon in the third quarter, and $3.01 per gallon in the fourth quarter. Current Prices In its latest gasoline fuel update, which was released on July 15, the EIA showed that the U.S. regular gasoline price averaged $3.164 per gallon on June 30, $3.125 per gallon on July 7, and $3.130 per gallon on July 14. The July 14 price was $0.366 lower than the year ago price, the EIA fuel update outlined. Of the five Petroleum Administration for Defense District (PADD) regions highlighted in the EIA’s latest fuel update, the West Coast was shown to have the highest regular

The decommissioned 2.7-gigawatt (GW) Bruce Mansfield Power Plant will be redeveloped from a coal-fired station into a natural gas-fired station, the Frontier Group of Companies (FGC) said Tuesday. The conversion project, Shippingport Power Station, will be “a significantly larger state-of-the-art natural gas generation plant with new incremental onsite generation”, FGC said in a press release with partners. “Additionally, FGC has secured a partner to build a collocated data center facility to support America’s demand for AI infrastructure”. The project is also expected to supply over one GW of excess capacity to the PJM interconnection region, which comprises all or parts of the District of Columbia and 13 states:  the original core of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland, plus Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. FGC intends to award the gas supply contract to EQT Corp. “Shippingport Power Station is expected to utilize approximately 800 million cubic feet per day of natural gas produced by the Marcellus and Utica shales, located in Western Pennsylvania”, the announcement said. A separate project in Indiana County to redevelop the site of the decommissioned coal-run Homer City Generating Station has also entered into an agreement in principle with EQT for gas supply from the Marcellus shale. National Fuel Gas Co. meanwhile will serve as the transporter for a “significant portion” of the gas deliveries to the Shippingport Power Station. “We look forward to supporting this significant investment in Western Pennsylvania, leveraging our interstate pipeline network to provide reliable deliveries of Appalachian Basin natural gas directly to the facility, with new transportation capacity expected to come online as early as Fall 2026”, said National Fuel Gas president and chief executive David P. Bauer. “The redevelopment project is expected to benefit Pennsylvania with more than $6 billion of new economic

Homer City Redevelopment LLC (HCR), tasked with transforming the decommissioned coal-burning Homer City Generating Station, said Tuesday it had signed an agreement in principle with EQT Corp. for the supply of natural gas to the Homer City Energy Campus. The Homer City Energy Campus will transform the site that was home to Pennsylvania’s largest coal-fired power plant into a 3,200-acre artificial intelligence and high-performance computing data center complex. It is planned to have a 4.4-gigawatt fully integrated on-site gas-run generating station. Startup is expected 2027. “Under the Agreement, HCR will have an unparalleled level of gas supply redundancy for the site with the ability to source gas from both the Texas Eastern Transmission and Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage pipeline systems”, HCR and EQT said in a joint statement. “HCR and EQT will unlock natural gas supply of up to 665,000 MMBTUs [million British thermal units] per day. The transaction is one of the largest single-site natural gas purchases in North American history”. HCR chief executive Corey Hessen commented, “This agreement ensures long-term energy security for the data center campus, while demonstrating our commitment to powering the future with Pennsylvania gas, Pennsylvania power and ultimately, Pennsylvania data centers”. GE Vernova Inc. has bagged a contract to supply its high-efficiency 7HA.02 gas turbines for the redevelopment project. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based power technology company will deliver seven units. Kiewit Power Constructors Co. has won the construction rights. Construction is expected to start this year. The former coal power station, which had a two-gigawatt capacity, ran from 1969 to 2023. The redevelopment project was announced last April. “Much of the critical infrastructure for the project is already in place from the legacy Homer City plant, including transmission lines connected to the PJM and NYISO power grids, substations and water access”, a press release said.

Has the first half of 2025 been good for oil hiring in the United States? That’s the question Rigzone asked Brian Binke, the President and CEO of Michigan based the Birmingham Group, an affiliate of Sanford Rose Associates. Responding to the question, Binke told Rigzone that “it’s been slower than expected – especially upstream” but added that “there’s been steady movement tied to maintenance, optimization, and a few targeted build outs”. When asked why this was the case, Binke said “operators are staying disciplined”. “Rig counts are down, prices have been soft, and most companies are being selective with headcount. That said, hiring hasn’t disappeared – it’s just a lot more focused,” he added. Looking ahead, Rigzone asked Binke if he expects the second half of this year to be good for oil hiring in the country. “There’s potential for a stronger second half, especially if prices tick up or if gas stays active,” Binke told Rigzone, responding to the question. “We’re not expecting a hiring boom, but things could trend up modestly,” he added. When asked why, Binke told Rigzone, “the Trump administration has definitely been more supportive of domestic energy, which helps, but hiring takes more than policy – it depends on market confidence, project timelines, and margins”. “If a few variables line up, we’ll see more demand in key roles before year-end,” he said. Rigzone has asked the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for comment on Binke’s statements. At the time of writing, neither have responded to Rigzone. According to Baker Hughes’ latest North America rotary rig count, which was released on July 11, the U.S. dropped two rigs week on week. The total U.S. rig count stands at 537, according to Baker Hughes’ rig count, which showed that the U.S.

State-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. (EGAS) has contracted a second floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) from New Fortress Energy Inc. (NFE). FSRU Energos Winter, which has a capacity of 138,250 cubic meters (4.88 million cubic feet), will operate at EGAS’ liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Damietta for five years, New York City-based energy infrastructure company NFE said in a press release. Energos Winter will join Energos Eskimo in Egypt as early as August, NFE said. “EGAS is pleased to strengthen its long-standing partnership with New Fortress Energy through the execution of a second Regasification Service Agreement. Under this agreement, NFE’s second FSRU, Energos Winter, will provide regasification services at the Damietta terminal, contributing to the security of natural gas supply for the Arab Republic of Egypt over the next five years”, commented EGAS executive managing director Yasseen Mohamed. The 10-year charter for the earlier FSRU, which has a capacity of 160,000 cubic meters, was signed late last year. It was to be deployed at EGAS’ LNG import terminal in Ain Sokhna starting in the 2025 summer. On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources, that the North African country was delaying some LNG deliveries as new import facilities have yet to become operational. According to people familiar with the matter, a small number of cargoes due in July were being rescheduled for August, Bloomberg said. “[I]mports so far remain in line with recent months’ levels despite peak summer demand in the nation”, Bloomberg wrote. “Supplies have been coming in through the country’s only operational floating import terminal, the Hoegh Galleon vessel, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show”. Rigzone emailed comment requests to Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy. According to the Bloomberg report, Egypt has also leased FSRU Energos

In a report sent to Rigzone by the Macquarie team late Monday, Macquarie strategists revealed that they are forecasting that U.S. crude inventories will be up by 1.2 million barrels for the week ending July 11. “This follows a 7.1 million barrel build in the prior week, with the crude balance again realizing significantly looser than our expectations,” the strategists stated in the report. “For this week’s crude balance, from refineries, we model another small reduction in crude runs (-0.1 million barrels per day). Among net imports, we model a modest reduction, with exports (+0.7 million barrels per day) and imports (+0.4 million barrels per day) up on a nominal basis,” they added. The strategists warned in the report that timing of cargoes remains a source of potential volatility in this week’s crude balance. “From implied domestic supply (prod.+adj.+transfers), we look for a reduction (-0.7 million barrels per day) on a nominal basis this week,” the strategists went on to note in the report. “Rounding out the picture, we anticipate a small draw in SPR [Strategic Petroleum Reserve] stocks (-0.3 million barrels) this week,” they said. The strategists also highlighted in the report that, “among products”, they “look for muted stats this week, with a gasoline draw (-0.8 million barrels), a jet build (+0.6 million barrels) and distillate stocks minimally lower”. “We model implied demand for these three products at ~14.5 million barrels per day for the week ending July 11,” they added. “We again note with the July 4th holiday falling on a Friday this year, the timing/magnitude of holiday impacts (particularly for distillate demand) could introduce additional volatility in this week’s stats,” the strategists continued. “Should the bulk of the July 4th distillate demand loss manifest in this week’s figures, a looser distillate balance could be realized,” they