BW Energy Gabon has received approval from the Ministry of Oil and Gas of the Gabonese Republic to extend the Dussafu Marin production license offshore Gabon, West Africa. The license period has been extended to 2053 from 2028, inclusive of three 5-year option periods from 2038 onwards. The prior contract was until 2038 inclusive of two 5-year option periods from 2028 onwards. The extra time “provides long-term visibility for production, investments, and reserve development” of the operator’s “core producing asset,” the company said in a release Apr. 7. Ongoing license projects include MaBoMo Phase 2, with planned first oil in second-half 2026, and the Bourdon development following its discovery last year. The timeline also “strengthens the foundation for future infrastructure‑led growth opportunities across the adjacent Niosi and Guduma licenses, both operated by BW Energy,” the company continued. The Dussafu Marin permit is a development and exploitation license with multiple discoveries and prospects lying within a proven oil and gas play fairway within Southern Gabon basin. To the northwest of the block is the Etame-Ebouri Trend, a collection of fields producing from the pre-salt Gamba and Dentale sandstones, and to the north are Lucina and M’Bya fields which produce from the syn-rift Lucina sandstones beneath the Gamba. Oil fields within the Dussafu Permit include Moubenga, Walt Whitman, Ruche, Ruche North East, Tortue, Hibiscus, and Hibiscus North. BW Energy Gabon is operator at Dussafu (73.50%) with partners Panoro Energy ASA (17.5%) and Gabon Oil Co. (9%). Dussafu.

Santos Ltd. has started development planning in the Quokka Unit on Alaska’s North Slope after further delineating the Nanushuk reservoir. The Quokka-1 appraisal well spudded on Jan. 1, 2026, about 6 six miles from the Mitquq-1 discovery well drilled in 2020. It was drilled to 4,787 ft TD and encountered a high-quality reservoir with about 143 ft of net oil pay in the Nanushuk formation, demonstrating an average porosity of 19%. Following a single stage fracture stimulation, the well achieved a flow rate of 2,190 bo/d. Reservoir sands correlated between the two discoveries, coupled with fluid analyses, confirm the presence of high‑quality, light‑gravity oil, supporting strong well performance and improved pricing relative to Pikka oil. Together with additional geological data, these results underpin the potential for a two‑drill‑site development with production capacity comparable to Pikka phase 1, the company said.  Rate and resource potential for the two-drill-site development is being evaluated. Resource estimation is ongoing and appraisal results will be evaluated as part of the FY26 contingent resource assessment. In FY25, Santos reported 2C contingent resources of 177 MMboe for the Quokka Unit. Based on these results, Santos has started development planning, including the initiation of key permitting activities. Santos is operator of the Quokka Unit (51%) with partner Repsol (49%).

Fluor Corp. and Axens Group have been awarded key contracts for America First Refining’s (AFR) proposed grassroots refinery at the Port of Brownsville, Tex., advancing development of what would be the first new US refinery to be built in more than 50 years. Fluor will execute front-end engineering and design (FEED) for the project, while Axens will serve as technology licensor of core refining process technologies to be used at the site, the service providers said in separate Apr. 7 releases. The AFR refinery is designed to process more than 60 million bbl/year—or about 164,400 b/d—of US light shale crude into transportation fuels, including gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. Contract details Without disclosing a specific value of its contract, Fluor said the scope of its FEED study will cover early-stage engineering and design required to define project execution, cost, and schedule based on a complex that will incorporate commercially proven technologies to improve efficiency and emissions performance while processing domestic shale crude. As technology licensor, Axens said it will deliver process technologies for key refining units at the site, including those for: Naphtha, diesel hydrotreating. Continuous catalytic reforming. Isomerization. Alongside supporting improved fuel-quality specifications, the unspecified technologies to be supplied for the refinery will also help to reduce overall energy consumption at the site. Axens—which confirmed its involvement since 2017 in working with AFR on early-stage development of the project—said this latest licensing agreement will also cover engineering support, equipment, catalysts, and services across the refinery’s process configuration. Project background, commercial framework Upon first announcing the project in March 2026, AFR said the proposed development came alongside an already signed 20-year offtake agreement with a global integrated oil company covering 1.2 billion bbl of US light shale crude, as well as capital investment to support construction. As part of the

US crude oil inventories for the week ended Apr. 3, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, increased by 3.1 million bbl from the previous week, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). At 464.7 million bbl, US crude oil inventories are about 2% above the 5-year average for this time of year, the EIA report indicated. EIA said total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 1.6 million bbl from last week and are about 3% above the 5-year average for this time of year. Finished gasoline inventories increased while blending components inventories decreased last week. Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 3.1 million bbl last week and are about 5% below the 5-year average for this time of year. Propane-propylene inventories increased by 600,000 bbl from last week and are 71% above the 5-year average for this time of year, EIA said. US crude oil refinery inputs averaged 16.3 million b/d for the week ended Apr. 3, which was 129,000 b/d less than the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 92% of capacity. Gasoline production decreased, averaging 9.4 million b/d. Distillate fuel production increased, averaging 5.0 million b/d. US crude oil imports averaged 6.3 million b/d, down 130,000 b/d from the previous week. Over the last 4 weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.6 million b/d, 9.1% more than the same 4-week period last year. Total motor gasoline imports averaged 571,000 b/d. Distillate fuel imports averaged 152,000 b/d.

Crude oil prices plunged sharply on Apr. 7 after US President Donald Trump announced a conditional 2-week ceasefire agreement with Iran, contingent on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and restoring safe passage for energy shipments. Both Brent and WTI crude oil fell towards $95/bbl, marking their largest single-day decline since 2020. Under the agreement, Iran signaled willingness to halt attacks on shipping and allow transit through Hormuz while broader negotiations continue. The US also indicated it would assist in clearing a backlog of tankers and stabilizing maritime traffic. Benchmark crude prices initially surged above $110/bbl in early April amid fears of prolonged supply disruption after Iran effectively restricted traffic through the strait—a corridor responsible for roughly 20% of global oil flows. The blockade, triggered by escalating US-Iran hostilities, caused tanker traffic to collapse and stranded millions of barrels of crude and refined products in the region. Despite the price correction, analysts caution that supply disruptions and infrastructure damage will continue to constrain markets. The conflict has already impaired regional energy assets, including LNG infrastructure in Qatar, and forced producers across the Middle East to curtail output or delay exports. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) warned that fuel prices may remain elevated for months even if flows normalize, citing logistical bottlenecks, depleted inventories, and continued geopolitical uncertainty. “In theory, the 10–13 million b/d of crude oil and product supply stranded behind the Strait should now be gradually released. Whether the pre-March status quo will be re-established depends entirely on whether the truce can be turned into a permanent peace during the negotiations in Pakistan,” said Tamas Varga, analyst, PVM Oil Associates. “What appears evident, at least for now, is that the current quarter, the April–June period, will be the tightest, as the scarcity of available oil, both crude and refined

Global oil markets have entered a period of acute volatility, with prices expected to surge into second-quarter 2026 as war-driven supply disruptions in the Middle East constrain flows through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA)’s April Short-Term Energy Outlook. The agency estimates that Brent crude averaged $103/bbl in March and will climb further to a quarterly peak of about $115/bbl in second-quarter 2026, reflecting a sharp tightening in global supply following widespread production shut-ins across key Gulf producers. The disruption stems from the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint that typically carries nearly 20% of global oil supply. The US-Iran war in the region has forced producers including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and the UAE to curtail output significantly. EIA estimates that crude production shut-ins averaged 7.5 million b/d in March and will rise to a peak of 9.1 million b/d in April. In this outlook, EIA assumes the conflict does not persist past April and that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz gradually resumes. Under those assumptions, EIA expects production shut-ins will fall to 6.7 million b/d in May and return close to pre-conflict levels in late 2026. The scale of the outage has rapidly flipped the market from prior expectations of oversupply into a pronounced deficit, with global inventories drawing sharply during the second quarter. Despite an assumption that the conflict does not persist beyond April, the agency warns that supply chains will take months to normalize, keeping a geopolitical risk premium embedded in prices through late 2026. EIA forecasts the Brent crude oil price will fall below $90/bbl in fourth-quarter 2026 and average $76/bbl in 2027, about $23/bbl higher than in its February STEO forecast. This price forecast is highly dependent on EIA’s assumptions of both the