Russia’s oil-export revenues in April fell to the lowest in nearly two years as global crude prices declined amid sluggish demand, according to the International Energy Agency. The nation earned $13.2 billion from the export of crude oil and petroleum products last month, the lowest since June 2023, the Paris-based agency said in its monthly market report on Thursday. The decline came as the average-weighted price for Russian crude slumped further down in April, reaching $55.6 a barrel, well below the price-cap imposed by the international Group of Seven nations, the IEA estimated. “Russian oil prices followed international trends,” the agency said in the report. “Increased trade uncertainty is expected to weigh on the world economy and, by extension, oil demand.” The price of the Brent benchmark is more than 14% down so far this year as concerns mount over the global effects of US tariff policies and lower demand in China. Increased oil flows from Iran, which is currently in talks with the US, could add to a potential glut later this year after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies last month started bringing back some of the barrels withheld since 2022. Russia’s budget is especially vulnerable to oil-price declines, as the oil and gas industry account for roughly 30% of its revenues. The nation’s budget deficit widened in April, underscoring the Kremlin’s financial challenges if oil prices remain lower for longer amid record levels of spending on the war in Ukraine. Total Russian oil export volumes in April remained slightly above levels shown in the previous two months, at 7.55 million barrels a day, the IEA estimated. Flows of the nation’s premium ESPO crude reached a record high, exceeding 1 million barrels a day, according to the agency. “The deeper discounts attracted alternative buyers,” even

Eni has chosen ABB to be the main automation contractor for the HyNet North West carbon capture and storage (CCS) cluster, which received approval to begin construction in late April. HyNet is one of two CCS clusters in the UK government’s Track 1 industrial decarbonisation programme. The project centres around a network of CCS infrastructure that is expected to support several low-carbon industries in North West England and North Wales, including cement manufacturing, energy-from-waste and hydrogen production. The project will involve both existing infrastructure that will be repurposed and new infrastructure that will be built. Emissions captured across the cluster will be stored in depleted natural gas fields in the Irish Sea, which will form part of Eni’s Liverpool Bay CCS project, financing for which was also announced last month alongside the start of construction on HyNet. Since then, several contractors for HyNet have been announced, of which ABB is the latest. ABB said that under the contract, it would deploy its Ability System 800xA Integrated Control and Safety System (ICSS) to manage the automation, telecoms and cyber security project scope for the transportation and storage of the captured carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted across the cluster. “CCS has an important role to play within the current energy transition, but navigating the complexities of operating an industrial cluster is highly technical and challenging,” said ABB Energy Industries president Per Erik Holsten. “The HyNet project is clear evidence of how business and government can combine to implement pragmatic and effective industrial policies to accelerate the energy transition,” added Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi. “ABB’s automation expertise will be invaluable in providing an integrated and end-to-end common control solution spanning all main EPC providers involved in HyNet.” ABB did not provide further details, such as the value of the contract. Development of HyNet aims

Oil prices have risen strongly over the past week, analysts at Standard Chartered Bank, including the company’s commodities research head Paul Horsnell, said in a report sent to Rigzone by Horsnell late Tuesday. “At [the] time of writing they had gained more than $8 per barrel from their 5 May low of $58.50 per barrel, breaking above a series of key Fibonacci retracement levels and the 20-day moving average in the process,” the analysts said in the report. “The 14-day Relative Strength Index stood at a near-neutral 51.0 at settlement on 12 May, adding to a market sense of short-term normalization and unwinding from the extremes of recent weeks,” they added. “However, we think the rally from the 5 May low primarily reflects market positioning and macro news flow, rather being an adjustment to a new stable price range,” they warned. In the report, the Standard Chartered analysts said money-managers have not traded crude oil with maximum bearishness recently. “The lowest our crude oil money-manager positioning index reached in April was -67.9, well short of the -100.0 maximum bearishness last reached in September 2024,” they highlighted. “However, money-managers have been sufficiently bearish – particularly in WTI, but across the energy complex in general – for a short-covering rally to be triggered by a flow of more positive macro news,” they added. “Some of this news flow might not mark a decisive turning point in trade wars, but it was still an improvement on the highly recessionary outcomes that the oil market had priced in,” the analysts continued. The Standard Chartered Bank analysts noted in the report that they think oil reacted differently to most other risk assets. “Other markets thought the potential outcomes were so damaging that they would have to be mitigated, whereas oil appeared to price in an

Aberdeen-based engineering firm Wood has extended the Sidara takeover deadline as its acquisition saga continues. This prolongs the ongoing uncertainty facing the north-east business, as shares are still unable to be traded due to delays in Wood publishing its financial results. Wood has said there is a possible 35p per share offer on the table, which would value the company at £240 million. Following the extension, the firm’s Middle Eastern suitor has until close of play on 12 June to submit an offer. However, the deadline can be extended further. Last month, Wood extended the Sidara ‘put up or shut up’ (PUSU) date to 15 May after the firm launched a fresh takeover process in April.  “The board of Wood is continuing to work with Sidara in relation to the pre-conditions to the possible offer set out in that announcement,” Wood wrote in a shareholder update. “In particular, Wood and Sidara are continuing to engage with Wood’s lenders and noteholders in relation to both the debt modifications and the Sidara Liquidity Arrangements (as defined in that announcement), and Wood is continuing to work with its auditor towards the publication of Wood’s audited accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2024.” Wood said shares would suspend trading on 30 April after it missed the deadline to publish its 2024 financial results. The business confirmed that it would temporarily suspend listing and trading of its shares from 1 May, until it publishes the 2024 results. Sidara was in talks with Wood about a potential takeover last year, which ultimately fell through. Sidara’s previous “final offer” valued the company at 230p per share, valuing Wood at around £1.5bn. However, the deal fell through “in light of rising geopolitical risks and financial market uncertainty,” Sidara explained at the time.  Wood has found itself

INEOS Group and its partners on Wednesday named and launched what they call the first Europe-built carbon dioxide (CO2) carrier for capture and storage. Adapted for handling CO2 under pressure and at low temperatures, Carbon Destroyer 1 was built at the Royal Niestern Sander shipyard in the Netherlands to serve the Denmark-based Project Greensand. The vessel used the EasyMax design developed by Dutch shipping majors Royal Wagenborg and Royal Niestern Sander. The Project Greensand partners – diversified British company INEOS, London-based Harbour Energy PLC and Danish national oil and gas company Nordsøfonden – expect the ship and the other CCS components to become fully operational by the end of 2025 or early 2026. Project Greensand aims to store 400,000 metric tons a year of CO2, with plans to ramp up to as much as 8 million metric tons annually by 2030. “The launch of Carbon Destroyer 1 is an important next step for Carbon Capture and Storage in Europe. We are demonstrating that Carbon Storage is commercially viable and a far better way to decarbonize Europe without its deindustrialization”, INEOS chair Jim Ratcliffe said in a joint statement by the Project Greensand partners and the shipbuilders. Wagenborg chief executive Egbert Vuursteen said, “As the first European-built offshore CO2 carrier, this vessel positions us – and our partners – at the forefront of the energy transition in Europe”. In Denmark’s Port of Esbjerg construction is underway on a new CO2 terminal that will serve as the onshore hub for receiving, storing and loading liquefied CO2 onto Carbon Destroyer 1. The terminal is designed to have six large storage tanks and infrastructure to support continuous and scalable CO2 transport to the offshore storage site. Captured CO2, initially from Danish biogas plants, will be delivered to the terminal by truck, temporarily stored then transferred to the

In an exclusive interview with Rigzone on Thursday, Bill Farren-Price, Senior Research Fellow and Head of Gas Research at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, said the oil price is down today on U.S. President Donald Trump “saying [the] U.S. [is] in serious talks with Iran for long term peace”. Farren-Price told Rigzone this implies the possible lifting of sanctions on Iran oil.  Lucas Herrmann, the Head of Oil & Gas Equity Research at BNP Paribas Exane, told Rigzone in a separate exclusive interview on Thursday that the oil price is dropping today because of “dovish Iranian dialogue [on a] U.S. and Iran nuclear [deal]”. Herrmann added that there is “less perceived risk of Trump going hard on Iranian exports”. In an oil report sent to Rigzone by the Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB) team on Thursday, Ole R. Hvalbye, a Commodities Analyst at the company, stated that “Iran is currently in the spotlight, having signaled its willingness to sign a nuclear deal with the U.S. in exchange for lifting economic sanctions”. In a separate oil report sent to Rigzone by the SEB team on Tuesday, Hvalbye said the market was “pricing in relaxed restrictions on Iranian crude exports after President Trump signaled progress in nuclear negotiations over the weekend”. “Further talks are expected within the next week,” Hvalbye added in that report. Inki Cho, Financial Markets Strategist Consultant to Exness, said in a market analysis sent to Rigzone on Monday that “U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations have the potential to bring additional Iranian crude to the market should a deal be reached, elevating the risk of renewed price pressure in the short term”. Rigzone has contacted the White House and the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment on Farren-Price, Herrmann, Hvalbye, and Cho’s statements. At the time of writing, neither have responded