The Scottish government has given SSE Plc consent to build what would be the world’s biggest offshore wind farm. The Berwick Bank wind farm, located off the eastern coast of Scotland, could provide power to 6 million homes. The 4.1 gigawatt project has been in development for about a decade and this was the final major stage before it can start bidding for government subsidies in the next wind auction starting in August. The project could be crucial to the UK’s ability to meet a goal to almost completely decarbonize the power grid by 2030. But its construction also risks adding further costs to consumer bills, already among the highest in the world, as it would likely exacerbate costly constraints on the nation’s electric grid and drive further investments to alleviate them. The move comes just after a visit to Scotland by US President Donald Trump who voiced his dislike of wind farms, especially ones off the coast of his golf courses there. While Scotland is pivoting from an oil past to lead the world in wind energy, Trump insisted that Aberdeen was the “oil capital of Europe,” and pushed for more expansion in that sector. Berwick Bank could bring GBP 8.3 billion of value into the UK economy and create 9,300 jobs, the company said in a statement. Scotland would benefit from 4,650 of these jobs. UK-based utility SSE said in a statement that it plans to bid into an upcoming government auction to subsidize new renewable energy projects. If it wins at that auction, the project would be able to sell power at fixed prices for a period of 20 years. Any subsidies it receives during that period would be paid by levies on consumers’ bills. What do you think? We’d love to hear from you, join the

CNOOC Ltd. has begun production at the Dongfang 1-1 Gas Field 13-3 Block Development Project in the South China Sea, its ninth announced startup offshore China in 2025. “The project is the first high-temperature, high-pressure, low-permeability natural gas project offshore China”, CNOOC Ltd., majority owned by China National Offshore Oil Corp., said in a press release. The project is in the Yinggehai Basin, in waters with an average depth of about 67 meters (219.82 feet), the company said. CNOOC Ltd. expects the project to reach its capacity of around 35 million cubic feet a day next year. CNOOC Ltd., the sole owner, plans to develop six wells. The project uses existing facilities of the Dongfang gas fields and a new unmanned wellhead platform. “The existing facilities are used to connect the Dongfang 1-1 gas field and Dongfang 13-2 gas field. CNOOC Limited has thereby successfully established an integrated offshore gas production network in the Yinggehai Basin”, the company said. “It will facilitate the stable and reliable supply of natural gas in the region, providing strong support for the economic and social development of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Hainan”. Just last week CNOOC Ltd. announced the startup of phase I of the Kenli 10-2 Oilfields Development Project, which it called “the largest shallow lithological oilfield offshore China”. The project is in the Bohai Sea, part of the Yellow Sea. The project has an average water depth of approximately 20 meters, according to CNOOC Ltd. The 100 percent owner expects the project to achieve its peak rate of 19,400 barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2026. CNOOC Ltd. plans 79 wells: 33 cold recovery wells, 24 thermal recovery wells, 21 water injection wells and one water source well. “Kenli 10-2 Oilfield is the first lithological oilfield with proved in-place volume of

Cox Abg Group SA has agreed to buy Iberdrola SA’s remaining Mexican assets, including over 2.6 gigawatts (GW) of installed generation capacity, for $4.2 billion. The divestment includes 15 operational power plants, consisting of about 1.37 GW combined-cycle and co-generation and around 1.23 GW wind and solar, according to separate statements by the Spanish companies Thursday. “It also includes the largest qualified user supplier in Mexico, with a 25 percent market share and more than 20 tWh distributed across over 500 large clients”, said Seville-based Cox, an integrated energy and water utility. Cox plans to put into operation additional projects initiated by Iberdrola in the Latin American country. “As these projects are completed, the buyer would make payments to Iberdrola in addition to the agreed $4.2 billion”, Iberdrola said. Iberdrola’s workforce of over 800 professionals in Mexico will transfer to Cox, Cox said. In February 2024 Iberdrola said it had sold more than half of its Mexican presence to a trust led by Mexico Infrastructure Partners for approximately $6.2 billion. The sale included 13 mostly gas-fired combined-cycle generation plants with a total installed capacity of about 8.64 GW. Iberdrola said at the time it was retaining a renewables portfolio of over six GW in Mexico. On Thursday, it said the sale of its remaining Mexican operations to Cox “responds to expectations of organic investment of EUR 55 billion in transmission and distribution electricity networks in its subsidiaries in the U.S. (Avangrid Networks), the UK (ScottishPower Energy Networks), Brazil (Neoenergia) and Spain (i-DE), which will almost double its regulated asset base to EUR 90 billion in the coming years”. “This strategy has already led Iberdrola’s British subsidiary, ScottishPower, to acquire the Electricity North West distribution company, which serves the northwest of England, just a year ago for EUR 5 billion”. Iberdrola

In a report sent to Rigzone by the Standard Chartered team on Tuesday, analysts at the company, including Standard Chartered Bank Commodities Research Head Paul Horsnell, offered a prediction for the next OPEC+ 8 meeting, which is currently scheduled to take place on Sunday. “The ‘OPEC+ eight’ (the eight members who agreed additional voluntary output cuts in November 2023) meet on August 3, and we expect a decision to complete the unwind of that tranche of cuts, adding back 548,000 barrels per day to September targets,” the analysts said in the report. “This will effectively pass the torch for decisions at the margin to the ‘OPEC+ nine’ (i.e., the eight plus Gabon) that agreed voluntary cuts of 1.66 million barrels per day in April 2023,” the analysts added. In the report, the Standard Chartered Bank analysts said rolling back the November 2023 tranche of voluntary cuts has improved market transparency and allowed traders to obtain a more realistic picture of spare capacity. They added that they think removing the April 2023 tranche would have a similar effect. “With low inventories, steady demand indications and faltering non-OPEC+ supply growth, we see scope for further accelerated unwinding,” the Standard Chartered Bank analysts noted in the report. “We think a rapid removal of the April 2023 tranche of cuts is possible; we do not expect actual output to increase by as much as nominal increases given existing overproduction and compensation requirements from some members, and capacity constraints in others,” they said. “A drive for compensation for past overproduction remains to the fore. The OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee met virtually on 28 July to review May and June production data,” they continued. “The communiqué issued after the meeting noted overall conformity among OPEC+ members, with a request for the submission of updated compensation

Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Microsoft to develop an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled economy in Malaysia and help advance energy transition efforts in Asia. “At Petronas, innovation goes beyond technology – it is about shaping a future where energy is smarter, cleaner, and sustainable for not only the organizations involved, but also the nation and its people”, Mohd Yusri, Senior Vice President of Projects, Technology and Health, Safety, Security and Environment (PT and HSSE) at Petronas, said.   “By harnessing our joint expertise in innovation and sustainability, we are steadfast in advancing adoption of AI and Cloud capabilities in a manner that promotes sustainable energy practices, in support of Malaysia’s aspirations of building an AI economy with a robust ecosystem in which everyone thrives”, he added. The collaboration aims to develop an ecosystem in Malaysia that empowers organizations to leverage AI for economic growth and social benefits. Focusing on nation-building, these companies will aid Malaysia in establishing regional leadership in AI and cultivating a robust local AI community through joint programs, Petronas said. As part of this MoU, Petronas and Microsoft plan to pursue additional initiatives to enhance AI and energy innovations, utilizing Microsoft’s new Malaysia West cloud region, Petronas said. They will focus on integrating Agentic AI, Microsoft Copilot, data analytics, cloud computing, and cybersecurity, among other technologies, to improve operational efficiency and sustainability throughout Malaysia’s value chain, it said. “As a trusted technology partner to Petronas, we are thrilled to strengthen our collaboration to help advance their digital and AI transformation. With Microsoft’s new cloud region in Malaysia, we are committed to supporting Petronas with secure, scalable, and sustainable cloud solutions that will drive growth and innovation in Malaysia’s energy sector”, Laurence Si, Microsoft Malaysia Managing Director, said. The parties will also

NEO Energy Group Ltd. and Repsol Resources UK Ltd. have completed their combination, touting the resulting company as one of the biggest producers on the United Kingdom continental shelf (UKCS). The combined entity, NEO NEXT Energy Ltd., is 55 percent owned by European energy investor HitecVision and 45 percent by Repsol E&P Group. Repsol E&P is 75 percent owned by Spanish integrated energy company Repsol SA and 25 percent owned by the United States’ EIG Global Energy Partners. “This equity split reflects the contributions and strategic alignment of both parties in the creation of a market-leading entity in the UKCS, with a projected 2025 production of approximately 130,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day”, Repsol said in a statement online announcing completion. According to the announcement of the deal in March, Repsol Resources UK owns stakes in 48 producing and non-producing oil and gas fields, while NEO’s portfolio in UK waters includes Penguins, Culzean, Gannet, Shearwater, Britannia Area and Elgin Franklin. NEO NEXT will operate 11 production hubs and “substantial undeveloped reserves”, the companies said March. “This combination creates a jointly governed business which will call upon the key strengths of both shareholders”, Francisco Gea, executive managing director for exploration and production at Repsol, said in comments for the closure of the transaction. “Repsol contributes operational capabilities on production, development and decommissioning activities which will be combined with NEO Energy expertise on financial and commercial matters. “We believe this combined business has many more opportunities for profitable growth in the basin and beyond”. NEO NEXT chief executive John Knight said, “Our strategy can be summarized as ‘Resilience, Yield and Growth’: the combined company has much more scale and diversity and opportunities for cost consolidation and portfolio high-grading, giving resilience despite the tough conditions in the UK”. “The benefits of synergies