Oil climbed in choppy trading as the market weighed geopolitical tensions against a price cut on Saudi Arabia’s main grade of crude to Asia. West Texas Intermediate rose 1.2% to settle below $60. Ukrainian negotiators will have a new round of talks in Florida as Russian President Vladimir Putin said some points in a US-backed peace plan to end Moscow’s war were unacceptable to him. That means a lifting of sanctions on Russian oil is still elusive, offering support to prices. Lending further support, Putin emphasized that his country’s energy cooperation with India “remains unaffected.” He added that a Russian oil company has been “continuously expanding operations” of an Indian refinery, and Moscow’s oil flows to India are running smoothly. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump reiterated on Wednesday that the US will start striking alleged drug cartels on land in Venezuela very soon. Military intervention could force the South American nation’s oil production and exports to drop. Still, signs of a surplus are proliferating in global oil markets. State producer Saudi Aramco will reduce the price of its flagship Arab Light crude grade to a 60-cent premium to the regional benchmark for January, according to a price list seen by Bloomberg. The cut brings prices to the lowest level since 2021. Crude prices are down about 17% this year as booming supply from the Americas, coupled with hikes from the OPEC+ group itself, has exceeded subdued demand growth. Canadian crude prices have fallen to their weakest point relative to the US benchmark since March. And the International Energy Agency has predicted a record glut in 2026, while Wall Street banks expect futures to head lower. While lower prices are a pain point for producers, they offer a boon for consumers. US gasoline prices fell below $3 a gallon for the

Kraken Technologies Ltd., a software platform that helps utilities manage the transition to cleaner energy, has kicked off a fresh funding round to raise about $500 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The platform owned by Octopus Energy Group Ltd. has been in talks with prospective investors, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. Kraken is seeking a valuation of about $15 billion in the funding round, the people said. Deliberations are ongoing and details of the fundraising could still change, the people said. A representative for Octopus Energy declined to comment. In September, Octopus Energy said it plans to spin off Kraken, which has been key to its growth into the UK’s largest electricity supplier, leapfrogging industry incumbents to serve more than 7 million customers in the country. The software allows it to balance out power flows to households as energy-transition technologies like electric vehicles, home batteries, solar panels and heat pumps become more widespread. Kraken’s platform is already being licensed to other energy providers such as Electricite de France SA and Tokyo Gas Co., supporting more than 70 million utility customers globally, its website shows. It’s poised to sustain a 25% annual account growth to reach 100 million by 2027 through multi-sector global licensing, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Joao Martins and Patricio Alvarez wrote in an Oct. 31 note.  Octopus Energy said in January that it had become the UK’s largest energy supplier just nine years after the company started, overtaking legacy providers such as Centrica Plc’s British Gas. The rapid decarbonization of the country’s electricity has transformed the business landscape for utilities, occasionally sending power prices below zero when wind power generation surges. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments

Saudi Arabia cut the price of its flagship crude grade to the lowest level in five years, amid persistent signs of a surplus in global oil markets. State producer Saudi Aramco will reduce the price of its Arab Light grade for Asian customers to a 60-cent premium to the regional benchmark for January, according to a price list seen by Bloomberg. It’s the lowest since January 2021 and a drop that was largely in-line with a survey of refiners and traders. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies affirmed over the weekend a previous decision to pause production increases in the first quarter of next year, citing a period of weaker seasonal demand during winter months across much of Asia, Europe and North America. Crude prices are down about 16% this year as booming supply from the Americas, in tandem with hikes from the OPEC+ grouping itself, exceeded subdued demand growth. The International Energy Agency has predicted a record glut in 2026, while Wall Street banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. see futures heading lower.  Aramco cut all of its prices to Asian buyers, with its Arab Medium crude flipping to a discount for the first time since late-2020. Global benchmark Brent futures erased an earlier gain to trade little changed after the prices were released. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

In an EBW Analytics Group report sent to Rigzone by the EBW team on Thursday, Eli Rubin, an energy analyst at the company, outlined that the “$5.00 [per million British thermal units (MMBtu)] psychological threshold” is “still a relevant market driver” for natural gas. “The January natural gas contract traded as high as $5.039 [per MMBtu] yesterday before closing at $4.995,” Rubin said in the report. “Technicals appear supportive of further upside, physical prices strong, and very cold forecasts intact,” he added. “DTN’s forecast for Weeks 2 and 3 added another 4 gHDDs in the past 24 hours, and the Week 4 forecast highlights enduring cold risks into Christmas. If frigid late-December forecasts roll forward, it could present further tailwinds for NYMEX upside,” he continued. Rubin highlighted in the report that consensus projections for this morning’s U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly natural gas storage report are for a 14 to 18 billion cubic foot draw. “The subsequent four EIA weeks, however, may total 218 Bcf (7.8 Bcfpd) tighter than the five-year average,” he said. “LNG remains up 5.1 Bcfpd and November production upside seems to be stalling. Our most likely storage projection for the end of March dipped below 1,600 Bcf,” he added. “While winter 2025/26 storage appears adequate, concerns over rebuilding storage next year have led the 2026 injection season contracts to add 16.3 cents since Friday – even outpacing January contract gains (+14.5 cents) week to date,” he continued. The EBW report outlined that the January natural gas contract’s Wednesday close of $4.995 per MMBtu marked a 15.5 cent, or 3.2 percent, increase from Tuesday’s close. In the report, EBW predicted a “test higher and relent” trend for the NYMEX front-month natural gas contract price over the next 7-10 days and a “volatile path higher” trend over

In a report sent to Rigzone by the Morningstar team this week, Morningstar analysts said they believe oil demand “still has five to 10 years of decent growth before plateauing in the early 2030s”. “Demand doesn’t start declining until the late 2030s,” the analysts said in the report, which is titled The Future of Oil to 2050. “We project oil demand to grow from 104 million barrels per day in 2024 to a peak of 108 million barrels per day in 2032, then decline to 96 million barrels per day in 2050,” they added. The analysts highlighted in the report that the 2050 projection represents a cumulative eight percent drop versus 2024, “or 0.3 percent annually”. The Morningstar analysts stated in the report that, as a result of their demand outlook, they’ve recently upgraded their midcycle oil price to $65 per barrel from $60. “Over 2025 to 2034, they expect Brent oil prices to average $65 per barrel in inflation-adjusted terms,” the analysts said in the report. “This is close to the current Brent price at $63 as of November 2025, and a bit below the 2015-24 average real Brent price of $76,” they added. “We use this 10-year average through 2034 as our midcycle price. By the 2040s, we project oil prices to surge over $100 per barrel in real terms,” they continued. Morningstar analysts highlighted that The Future of Oil to 2050 report is an update to the company’s 2021 report, The Future of Oil Demand. “Our bullish thesis on oil demand remains essentially unchanged from that earlier report,” the analysts added. “New in this year’s report is a price forecast through 2050, derived by combining our in-house demand view with Rystad’s supply-side projections,” they added. The analysts pointed out in the report that Morningstar’s methodology includes a

Chevron Corp said Wednesday it expects organic capital spending for consolidated subsidiaries to be $18-19 billion next year, at the lower end of its annual capex guidance of $18-21 billion through 2030. On investor day on November 12 Chevron set a “structural cost reductions” goal of $3-4 billion by the end of 2026. It expects the United States to account for $10.5 billion of next year’s projected capex, more than half of the total figure. “Nearly $6 billion is expected for U.S. shale and tight assets that include Permian, DJ and Bakken, underpinning anticipated U.S. production of more than two million barrels of oil equivalent per day”, Chevron said in an online statement Wednesday. U.S. upstream capex is projected to be $8.9-9.2 billion. “Spend related to the power business [is] expected to be primarily incorporated into U.S. upstream segment, pending final commercial agreements”, Chevron noted. “Global offshore capex is expected to be approximately $7 billion, primarily supporting growth in Guyana, Eastern Mediterranean and Gulf of America”, it said. Upstream capex for 2026 is pegged at $17 billion. “Included in upstream spend is about $0.4 billion in capitalized interest, primarily related to Guyana assets”, Chevron said. On September 23 operator Exxon Mobil Corp announced a positive final investment decision on the Hammerhead field in the Stabroek block offshore Guyana after receiving regulatory approvals, earmarking $6.8 billion for the 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) development. Hammerhead represents the first project approved in Stabroek with Chevron as a partner. ExxonMobil and China National Offshore Oil Corp had tried to prevent Chevron’s entry into Stabroek by initiating arbitration, asserting their preemption rights. Preemption would have prevented Hess Corp from selling its stake to Chevron as part of Chevron’s acquisition of Hess. The arbitration ruling favored Chevron, as confirmed separately by Chevron and ExxonMobil in July.