President Donald Trump said he would soon sign a natural-resources deal with Ukraine that would give the US partial control over revenue from future resource extraction. “One of the things we are doing is signing a deal very shortly with respect to rare earths with Ukraine,” Trump said Thursday during an education event at the White House. The agreement fell apart late last month after a tense Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Under that deal, Ukraine would contribute half of all revenues from future sales of natural resources, including minerals, oil, natural gas, hydrocarbons as well as infrastructure to a reconstruction fund jointly owned with the US. Trump’s comments come one day after his top spokeswoman said the administration was moving beyond the previously negotiated minerals deal with Kyiv to focus more broadly on a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. “We are now focused on a long-term peace agreement,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday. “We’ve moved beyond just the economic minerals deal framework.” Trump’s focus on Ukraine’s commodities has raised questions about what the nation really has to offer. It has no major rare-earth reserves that are internationally recognized as economically viable. Ukraine is an established producer of coal, iron ore, uranium, titanium, and magnesium, and expanding those sectors could be profitable for the US. The president spoke about the Ukraine agreement shortly after he invoked emergency powers to boost the US’s ability to produce critical minerals, and possibly coal, as part of a broad effort to ramp up domestic production and lower reliance on imports.  “I also signed an executive order to dramatically increase production of critical minerals and rare earths. It’s a big thing in this country, and as you know, we’re also signing agreements in various locations to

Newly launched waste-to-energy company Sagepoint Energy LLC said it has acquired two renewable natural gas (RNG) production sites in Kansas state with an expected combined production of 1 billion cubic feet (Bcf) a year. Carmel, Indiana-based Sagepoint said the new assets grow its anticipated production of RNG, or biomethane, to 1.5 Bcf per annum. “These assets support Sagepoint’s mission to provide diversified resource efficiency solutions to its customers and reinforce the Company’s commitment to reducing emissions across the U.S. natural gas supply chain”, it said in an online statement. Lynx Renewable Energy Kansas and Renewable Power Producers (RPP), put into operation 2022 and 2017 respectively, both produce pipeline-quality RNG using landfill gas as feedstock, Sagepoint said. Lynx, adjacent to the Plumb Thicket Landfill in Harper, was acquired September 2024 and is set for expansion “to support various growth initiatives on-site”, Sagepoint said. RPP, adjacent to the HAMM Sanitary Landfill in Lawrence, was acquired February 2025. “We are thrilled to announce the Lynx and RPP transactions, which represent a significant milestone in Sagepoint’s feedstock diversification strategy”, commented Nick Soncrant, Sagepoint vice-president for business development. “We are eager to incorporate these valuable assets into our portfolio and contribute to the continued expansion of our RNG capabilities”. Sagepoint has two other landfill RNG assets. Plumb Thicket RNG in Harper, operational since 2022, is expected to produce 400,000 million British thermal units (MMBtu) a year. Lawrence LNG in Lawrence, operational since 2017, is expected to produce over 600,000 MMBtu a year, according to Sagepoint. Concurrent with the announcement of the two new acquisitions, Sagepoint announced the appointment of Terry Peak as vice president for landfill operations. Peak most recently served as vice president for RNG commercial operations development at Kinder Morgan. Before that, Peak served as chief operating officer at ProLiance Energy and Kinetrex

Global oil demand has made a strong start to 2025, analysts at Standard Chartered Bank, including Commodities Research Head Paul Horsnell, said in a report sent to Rigzone by Horsnell on Thursday. “Based on a variety of national sources and the 19 March Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) release, we estimate that demand averaged 102.77 million barrels per day in January, a year on year increase of 2.19 million barrels per day,” the Standard Chartered Bank analysts said in the report. “This is in line with the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimate for January that put demand at 102.74 million barrels per day and growth at 1.85 million barrels per day,” they added. In the report, the Standard Chartered Bank analysts noted that January is usually the seasonal low point for global demand and said they expect demand “to move above 105.0 million barrels per day for the first time in June before reaching a 2025 high of 105.6 million barrels per day in August”. “Our forecast for 2025 demand growth stands at 1.41 million barrels per day. After weakening in H2-2024, our forecast is now back where it stood at its initiation in January 2024,” they added. “While the main downside risk to demand comes from U.S. tariff policy and the economic uncertainty it creates, for now demand-side fundamentals appear robust despite negative sentiment,” they continued. The Standard Chartered Bank analysts stated in the report that they expect global demand to exceed supply by 0.9 million barrels per day in the second quarter and by 0.5 million barrels per day in the third quarter. Rigzone has contacted the Trump transition team and the White House for comment on Standard Chartered Bank’s report. At the time of writing, neither have responded to Rigzone. In a research note sent to

Voyager Midstream Holdings LLC has completed the purchase of a non-operating stake in a Texas natural gas liquid (NGL) pipeline from Phillips 66. The 254-mile Panola Pipeline, operated by Enterprise Products Partners LP, transports Y-Grade NGLs from Panola County to fractionation facilities in Mont Belvieu city. “Voyager’s interest in the Panola Pipeline is a strategic fit with the company’s existing footprint in East Texas and North Louisiana”, Houston, Texas-based Voyager said in an online statement, referring to assets also acquired from Phillips 66. Voyager chief executive Will Harvey commented, “Panola Pipeline is a critical NGL pipeline connecting the major East Texas gas processing complexes and Gulf Coast demand markets”. “We are excited to work alongside our partners in Panola Pipeline to safely transport liquids to satisfy growing demand for NGLs along the Gulf Coast”, Harvey added. Voyager did not disclose the financial details of the transaction. It said that in conjunction with the acquisition, it has entered into a credit facility with the Bank of Oklahoma. “This credit facility, along with existing equity commitments from Pearl, provides Voyager with substantial flexibility and capital to continue growing its business in support of its customers”, it said. Pearl Energy Investments launched Voyager in 2023 as a platform for the acquisition and development of crude oil, natural gas and produced water infrastructure across key basins in North America. Voyager operates about 550 miles of natural gas pipelines and associated compression. It also has 400 million cubic feet a day of cryogenic gas processing capacity and 12,000 barrels per day of liquid fractionation capacity. It also operates Carthage Hub, a gas trading and delivery hub capable of handling over 1 billion cubic feet per day. Carthage Hub interconnects multiple markets across the United States including LNG markets in Texas and Louisiana. All of these

Energy firm BP has sold a stake worth $1 billion (£733m) in the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) to Apollo as part of the first tranche of a $20bn asset sale target. The US asset manager will take a 25% non-operated stake in BP Pipelines (TANAP) (BP TANAP) which itself holds BP’s 12% interest in TANAP, owner and operator of the pipeline that carries natural gas from Azerbaijan across Turkey. The sale comes after BP chief executive Murray Auchincloss unveiled plans to review assets for a potential sale including its core lubricants business, Castrol and its solar business, BP Lightsource. The $20bn target was announced alongside a “fundamental reset” for the firm as it turns focus to its traditional oil and gas production business. The deal marks the second such sale agreed with US fund manager, Apollo. Last year Apollo snapped up another $1bn BP-owned stake in Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). TANAP, running for approximately 1,120 miles (1,800km) across Turkey, is the central section of the Southern Gas Corridor project (SGC) pipeline system. The SGC transports gas from the BP-operated Shah Deniz gas field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea to markets in Europe, including Italy and Greece. It connects to TAP at the Greek-Turkish border, which crosses Northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before coming ashore in Southern Italy to connect to the Italian natural gas network. BP said the deal allows it to “monetise” its interest in TANAP while retaining control of the asset. BP executive vice president for gas and low carbon energy William Lin said: “This unlocks capital from our global portfolio while retaining our role in this strategic asset for bringing Azerbaijan gas to Europe. BP and Apollo will continue to explore further strategic cooperation and mutually beneficial opportunities.” Apollo partner Skardon Baker

A release posted on the UK government website on Friday announced that the “first major project” for Great British Energy (GB Energy) “is to put rooftop solar panels on around 200 schools and 200 NHS sites, saving hundreds of millions on their energy bills”. Hundreds of schools, NHS trusts and communities across the UK will benefit from new rooftop solar power and renewable schemes to save money on their energy bills, thanks to a total GBP 200 million ($258.6 million) investment from the UK government and Great British Energy, the release stated. “In England around GBP 80 million ($103.4 million) in funding will support around 200 schools, alongside GBP 100 million ($129.3 million) for nearly 200 NHS sites, covering a third of NHS trusts, to install rooftop solar panels that could power classrooms and operations, with potential to sell leftover energy back to the grid,” the release noted. The first panels are expected to be in schools and hospitals by the end of summer 2025, according to the release. The release stated that local authorities and community energy groups will also be supported by nearly GBP 12 million ($15.5 million) to help build local clean energy projects. A further GBP 9.3 million ($12.0 million) will power schemes in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland including community energy or rooftop solar for public buildings, the release added. “Great British Energy’s first major project will be to help our vital public institutions save hundreds of millions on bills to reinvest on the frontline,” Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said in the release. “Great British Energy will provide power for pupils and patients,” he added. “Parents at the school gate and patients in hospitals will experience the difference Great British Energy can make. This is our clean energy superpower mission in action, with lower bills