WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office (HGEO) and Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs (IE) today announced nearly $11.1 million in federal funding for eight projects selected for negotiation through the Partnerships for Academic-Industry Career Training (PACT) Initiative. The projects will create or expand hands-on training and industry-recognized credentialing programs designed around regional workforce needs, helping prepare American workers for critical jobs that support oil, natural gas, coal, and geothermal energy industries. “President Trump’s American energy dominance agenda relies on workers with the practical skills to build, operate, maintain, and modernize the systems that power our economy,” said DOE Acting Assistant Secretary for Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Curt Coccodrilli. “These projects will bring industry and educators together to ensure training reflects real-world needs. By investing in job-focused training, the Department of Energy is helping develop the workforce we need to strengthen U.S. energy resilience and supplies.”  “The Tribal energy workforce is vital to unleashing America’s energy resources,” said IE Director Eric Mahroum. “Through targeted jobs and training, Tribes are growing the next generation of Tribal energy leaders. Tribal colleges and universities are essential partners in this mission, and we are proud to select two of these institutions as they prepare workers to tackle the critical energy challenges facing America.”  The selections include almost $8.8 million for six HGEO-supported projects and approximately $2.3 million for two IE-supported projects. By bringing together colleges, technical institutions, employers, and workforce partners, PACT is designed to build a stronger pipeline of skilled workers needed to advance President Trump’s commitment to expand domestic energy production to provide more affordable, reliable, and secure energy to the American people.  Learn more about the selected eight projects here.  

Zhejiang Hengyi Group Co. Ltd. subsidiary Hengyi Industries Sdn. Bhd. (Hengyi Industries) has awarded Honeywell Technologies a contract for delivery of proprietary process technologies and related services for Phase II of the operator’s planned expansion of its Pulau Muara Besar (PMB) refinery and petrochemical complex at Pulau Muara Besar Industrial Park in Brunei. Under the new contract, Honeywell Technologies said in a release Oct. 14 that it will provide technology licensing, engineering, proprietary equipment, catalysts, and technical support for the proposed expansion. Honeywell Technologies’ specific scope of delivery under the order includes its CCR Platforming, Unicracking, Unionfining, Butamer, and C4 Oleflex processes, as well as an aromatics complex based on the service provider’s light desorbent Parex technology. The Phase II PMB expansion project primarily aims to raise the complex’s crude-processing capacity to about 20 million tonnes/year (tpy) from current crude throughputs of between 8-9 million tpy, supporting Brunei’s efforts to create greater value from its oil and gas resources and expand the country’s downstream industries, according to information on Hengli Industries’ website and an earlier release from the operator dated Feb. 12, 2026. Alongside bolstering Hengyi Industries’ plan to increase petrochemical production at the site, Honeywell said its provision of technologies and equipment for the project also are intended to help improve the integrated complex’s efficiency and reliability while enabling greater production of higher-value petrochemicals. Mechanical completion of the Phase II expansion is targeted by yearend 2028 for anticipated startup in early 2029, according to Hengyi Industries. Once online, the project’s planned hydrocracking, aromatics, and dehydrogenation installations will be among the largest of their kind, Honeywell Technologies said. The latest award for Phase II extends work that began during Phase I, for which Honeywell Technologies supplied process technologies, engineering design, equipment, catalysts, and adsorbents, operator training, and technical services for

US crude oil inventories for the week ended Oct. 9, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 8.6 million bbl from the previous week, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The report was released a day later than usual due to the closure of the federal government on Monday, Oct. 12.  At 415.6 million bbl, US crude oil inventories are 3% below the 5-year average for this time of year, the EIA report indicated. Gasoline inventories increased 3.5 million bbl, 4% below the 5-year average. Propane-propylene inventories decreased 1.5 million bbl, 15% above the 5-year average. Total commercial petroleum inventories decreased by 13.4 million bbl for the week. Distillate inventories decreased 2.5 million bbl, 12% below the 5-year average. US crude oil refinery inputs averaged 16.6 million b/d for the week ended Oct. 9, which was 135,000 b/d more than the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 93.5% of capacity. Gasoline output averaged 9.2 million b/d, and distillate production decreased to 5.2 million b/d. Crude oil imports decreased 791,000 b/d to 6.0 million b/d. The 4-week average of 6.1 million b/d is 0.9% above the year-ago level. Gasoline imports averaged 508,000 b/d; distillate imports averaged 145,000 b/d. Over the past four weeks, total product supplied averaged 21.1 million b/d, up 2.0% year over year. The 4-week average for gasoline product supplied decreased 0.4% year over year to 8.7 million b/d, while the 4-week average for distillate product supplied decreased 0.2% to 4.0 million b/d. The 4-week average for jet fuel product supplied increased 2.3% year over year.

BW Energy discovered commercial oil volumes in two appraisal wells on the Dussafu license offshore Gabon, supporting development of two additional production wells with estimated recovery of 8-9 million bbl of oil (gross). The first new production well will be drilled as part of the ongoing MaBoMo Phase 2 campaign. First oil is expected in first-quarter 2027, the operator said Oct. 15. The 10P2 appraisal well encountered a 30-m oil column in the Gamba reservoir at the predicted structural level. Formation evaluation, wireline logs, and pressure data confirmed reservoir quality and indicated potential initial production rates exceeding 5,000 bo/d (gross). Incremental recovery is estimated at 6 million bbl of oil (gross). The 10P1 appraisal well encountered a 16-m oil column in a separate accumulation. Formation evaluation confirmed movable oil and supported development with an additional production well. The rig is moving to the MaBoMo production platform, where BW Energy will replace an electrical submersible pump in an existing Hibiscus well before drilling four MaBoMo Phase 2 producers and a fifth well at the 10P2 location. The company expects the new wells to produce about 5,000 bo/d (gross) each initially. MaBoMo Phase 2 is expected to add as much as 20,000 bo/d (gross) at peak production. After completing the MaBoMo campaign, BW Energy plans to drill an infill well on Tortue field and proceed with the Bourdon Phase 1 development, which is scheduled for first oil in first-quarter 2028. Additional appraisal drilling in the Bourdon area, including the Walt Whitman prospect, is planned in 2028. BW Energy holds a 73.5% operated interest in the Dussafu license, which lies within the 850-sq km Ruche Exclusive Exploitation Area. Average water depth is 116 m. Partners are Panoro Energy ASA (17.5%) and Gabon Oil Co. (9%).

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Equinor Energy AS made an oil and gas discovery in the Grimsnes prospect near Oseberg field in the North Sea about 15 km southwest of the Oseberg Sør (South) platform and 145 km west of Bergen in 96 m of water. Well 30/8-7 S, the fifth exploration well in production license (PL) 190, was drilled by the Deepsea Bergen semi-submersible drilling rig to a vertical depth of 3,752 m subsea. It was terminated in the Drake formation in the Lower Jurassic, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate reported. The primary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks in the Tarbert formation. The secondary target was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic rocks in the Ness and Etive formations. The well encountered a combined oil and gas column totaling 54 m (39-m gas column, 15-m oil column) in the Tarbert formation. The total thickness of the Tarbert formation was 264 m, 111 m of which were sandstone with moderate to good reservoir properties. In the secondary exploration target in the Ness formation, the well encountered a sandstone layer totaling 289 m with variable reservoir quality from poor to very good. The reservoir was aquiferous with a few potential hydrocarbon-filled zones. In the Etive formation, the well encountered aquiferous sandstones totaling 10 m, with moderate reservoir quality. The preliminary volume estimate of the discovery is 19-50 MMboe (3-8 million std cu m). Data has been collected and samples have been taken. The well has been permanently plugged, and the Deepsea Bergen rig will now proceed to Visund Sør field to drill a development well. Equinor plans to quickly tie the discovery back to existing subsea infrastructure and produce the volumes through the Oseberg Sør platform. Grimsnes will most likely be developed with 2-3 wells in a standard 4-slot template. The discovery