Oil futures sank as the escalating global trade war and the possibility that OPEC+ may halt output hikes flashed warning signs for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate futures fell to settle below $67 a barrel after Bloomberg reported that the cartel is discussing a pause in further production increases from October. The early-stage deliberations are taking place as President Donald Trump unveils a new round of tariffs, including a 50% rate on Brazil, which sends some oil to the US. Traders are probably interpreting the OPEC+ talks as a sign that “the market may not be able to cope with more oil,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S. “We are potentially seeing the risk of an oversupplied market” once the peak demand period ends, he said. The US-led tariff war has intensified in recent days, and Trump’s latest salvo of demands has overshadowed earlier deals with major trade partners including China and the UK, which had served to mollify investors. Now, the market is facing some of the highest tariff rates in US history, setting the stage for an uncertain period for global growth. Oil has edged higher this week even after OPEC+ decided over the weekend to raise output by more than expected in August. Energy Aspects said it expects global oil demand to rise by less than 1 million barrels a day in the third and fourth quarters amid pressure from US tariff policies. Director of Market Intelligence Amrita Sen said the consultant was “worried about the fourth quarter and into 2026 because tariff talks are back.” Timespreads also show that perceptions of strength in physical market are waning. While WTI’s prompt spread — the gap between its two nearest contracts — is still in a bullish, backwardated structure, the differential narrowed to

Dive Brief: The Ohio Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved a settlement agreement Wednesday between AEP Ohio and stakeholders setting new terms and conditions for connecting data centers to the grid. The Ohio Consumers Council, which represents ratepayers, and commission staff were parties to the agreement, along with Ohio Partners for Affordable Energy and others.  The Data Center Coalition, an industry group representing Google, Amazon, Microsoft and others, has opposed the agreement since it was proposed in October, saying it would dampen investment by artificially inflating data centers’ costs and impose cumbersome regulation on behind-the-meter energy generation at the facilities. Dive Insight: The commission ordered AEP Ohio to file updated tariffs and lift a moratorium on connecting new data centers as soon as possible.  The order adopted the agreement as it was proposed in October, with a modification requiring the data center customer or the customer’s financial sponsor to put up collateral, as long as the sponsor is a co-signer on the contract. The order sets minimum monthly bills for new data centers larger than 25 MW based on a percentage of their highest previous monthly billing demand over the past 11 months or their contract capacity. That means they will have to pay for at least 85% of the energy they expect to need each month, even if they use less, to cover the cost of infrastructure needed to bring electricity to the facilities. It also requires data centers to show they are financially viable and to pay an exit fee if their project is canceled or they can’t meet obligations. The requirements would be in place for up to 12 years, including a 4-year ramp-up period. The vote comes as regulators, lawmakers and utilities across the country are struggling to manage new interconnection requests from large loads, led by data

Trafigura Group-owned Greenergy has begun consultations on a proposal to halt production at one of its two UK biodiesel plants, as uncertainty about the country’s biofuels industry grows.  Despite cost-cutting efforts, the plant in Immingham, Lincolnshire “has continued to be negatively impacted by market factors, including slower increases in the UK’s biofuels blending mandates compared to European countries and competition from subsidized US-origin products,” the company said in a statement.  Greenergy and British ethanol plants want the government to revise policy to support the sector. The industry is seeking increased blending mandates – above the current 10 percent levels – as cheaper American supplies flood the domestic market. One ethanol manufacturing facility has already started to wind down operations because of the hit from American ethanol supplies. “As European countries are updating their mandates in recent months, the UK has fallen quite a bit behind Europe,” Greenergy Chief Executive Officer Adam Traeger said in an interview. Despite talking to the British government on the lag in policy, “we’re not seeing the action that we would like,” he said. Pressure on the biodiesel industry has come from US companies sending increased volumes of hydrotreated vegetable oil to Britain, following the removal of countervailing duties and anti-dumping tariffs, Traeger said. Changing the blending mandate or encouraging increased use by the maritime or aviation industries would help boost volumes of biofuel used in the UK.  The Immingham plant accounts for more than 25 percent of the UK’s biodiesel production, according to the company. Its larger Teesside plant will replace some of these volumes, Traeger said, otherwise it’ll “have to be replaced with imports coming from other producers either in Europe or around the world.” What do you think? We’d love to hear from you, join the conversation on the Rigzone Energy Network. The Rigzone Energy Network is

Chevron Corp. is reducing local and regional business units in favor of a more centralized model to improve performance and cut as much as $3 billion of costs by 2026.  A single offshore division will operate assets in the US Gulf, Nigeria, Angola and Eastern Mediterranean while shale assets in Texas, Colorado and Argentina will also be brought under one roof, Vice Chairman Mark Nelson said in an interview with Bloomberg Tuesday.  Service centers in Manila and Buenos Aires are set to take on finance, human resources and information technology work that used to be done in multiple countries. Centralized engineering hubs are planned for Houston and Bengaluru, India.  “We’re working so hard to simplify our structure, take some layers out so that we can execute faster,” Nelson said. “Best practices are decided upon and applied across the system regardless of what continent they happen to sit on.” Low oil prices and an uncertain outlook for fossil fuels have led investors to demand more cash returns from the world’s largest energy companies over the past few years, forcing executives to focus on reducing costs to help fund dividends and share buybacks. Even so, energy stocks now make up just 3.1 percent of the S&P 500 Index, less than half the weighting a decade ago, despite the US becoming the world’s largest producer of oil and exporter of natural gas.  Chevron has climbed 5.8 percent this year as of Wednesday midday trading, ahead of the S&P 500 Energy Index’s 3.1 percent increase and the wider market.  “If we’re going to continue to win and be an investment choice in the market, we have to just always be more effective and look for new ways and better ways to work,” Nelson said.  The changes, which include the oil major’s production and refining divisions, are part

Jackson A. Myers and Zakary Kadish are attorneys at the law firm MoloLamken. Imagine the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is considering proposed revisions to your regional transmission organization’s tariff. You support the revisions and get involved at the commission to advocate for them, but FERC rejects the proposal nonetheless. So, you petition a federal appellate court for review, asking the court to reverse FERC’s decision. You lose, but not because the court agreed with FERC’s order — it doesn’t even talk about that. Instead, the court says you couldn’t appeal in the first place, because you didn’t satisfy a legal requirement for seeking relief in federal court called “standing.” This unfortunate scenario is more than a thought exercise — it happened in April in Entergy Arkansas v. FERC, No. 22-1334 (D.C. Cir.). Entergy intervened at FERC to support a Midcontinent Independent System Operator proposal that would require distributors to source half their capacity from outside of MISO’s capacity auction, such as through bilateral contracting.  FERC rejected the proposal, so Entergy petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for review. But Entergy didn’t initially explain why it had standing to appeal, as the D.C. Circuit’s rules require. FERC pounced, arguing that Entergy couldn’t bring the appeal at all. The court agreed, dismissing the case without even addressing FERC’s decision. Entergy Arkansas highlights a potential landmine when appealing a FERC decision:  Participating at FERC doesn’t mean you necessarily get to appeal the commission’s decision, because the requirements for suing in federal court — standing — are more restrictive than those at FERC.  Participating at FERC vs. in federal court Participation at FERC is wide open. Anyone may file a complaint challenging particular rates or RTO procedures. And anyone with “an interest” — self-defined — that “may be directly affected”

General Motors-backed Energy Exploration Technologies Inc. (EnergyX) has signed a binding conditional agreement to acquire Daytona Lithium Pty. Ltd. from Pantera Lithium Ltd. for AUD 40 million.  Daytona Lithium owns 35,000 gross acres on Arkansas’ side of the Smackover formation, which EnergyX sees as “North America’s most promising lithium region”. San Juan, Puerto Rico-based EnergyX already holds 12,500 acres on the Texas side. Last year the company announced Project Lonestar, to rise in the “Ark-La-Tex” region. The project aims to produce 50,000 metric tons per annum (MMtpa) of lithium hydroxide by 2030, with a first phase of 12,500 MMtpa to be put into operation by 2028. “The company has already had samples of lithium from its pilot plant in Austin, TX qualified by cathode customers”, EnergyX said.  “Now with a solid resource footprint for Project Lonestar™, EnergyX will vertically integrate its proprietary LiTAS® Direct Lithium Extraction technology platform to produce low-cost lithium for its growing customer base. EnergyX can unlock unprecedented efficiencies in lithium production, leveraging its patented technology portfolio to achieve faster extraction, higher recovery rates, and reduced environmental impact”. The parties expect to complete the stock and cash transaction in the third quarter, subject to approval by shareholders of West Perth, Australia-based Pantera. EnergyX will issue over 2.34 million shares priced US$9.5 per unit or AUD 34 million in total and pay AUD 6 million in cash in three installments. “This deal allows Pantera to retain strong exposure to the Smackover Play – now the most sought-after lithium province in the United States – while also gaining exposure to EnergyX’s large-scale Black Giant Project in Chile, which is well advanced and targeting production in 2027”, said Pantera executive chair Barnaby Egerton-Warburton. The project in Chile, where Energyx owns about 100,000 acres acquired 2023, targets to produce 7,500 MMtpa LCE in phase