WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced today the contract awards for the exchange of approximately 53.3 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve’s (SPR) Bayou Choctaw, Bryan Mound, Big Hill, and West Hackberry sites. Today’s announcement marks the next phase of DOE’s execution of the United States’ 172-million-barrel contribution to the International Energy Agency’s collective action to stabilize global oil supplies. It follows DOE’s Request for Proposal (RFP) issued at the end of April. Deliveries will begin immediately as the Department continues to move swiftly to address short-term supply disruptions and strengthen U.S. energy security.  “With today’s announcement of contract awards, we are advancing the President’s commitment to carrying out this historic emergency exchange,” said DOE Assistant Secretary of the Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office Kyle Haustveit. “These actions continue to move oil swiftly into the market, address near-term supply needs, and ensure that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve remains strong through the return of premium barrels.” Under President Trump’s leadership, the Department has executed a historic, record-speed series of SPR exchange solicitations—the largest in the Reserve’s 50-year history—moving critical crude oil supplies quickly to market to address short-term disruptions. President Trump and Secretary Wright are managing the SPR as the critical national security asset it was designed to be, helping stabilize oil markets, protect Americans from supply disruptions, and strengthen energy security at home and abroad. To date, approximately 35 million barrels have been delivered to the market, while President Trump’s historic effort has generated approximately 35 million barrels of additional volume for the SPR at no additional cost to taxpayers.  With these awards, DOE will move forward with an exchange of more than 53.3 million barrels of crude oil, while securing an approximately 28 percent return premium—representing 15.1 million barrels. This action builds on earlier exchange actions, which have already awarded approximately 80 million barrels from the Bayou

US crude oil inventories for the week ended May 1, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, decreased by 2.3 million bbl from the previous week, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). At 457.2 million bbl, US crude oil inventories are about 1% above the 5-year average for this time of year, the EIA report indicated. EIA said total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 2.5 million bbl from last week and are about 4% below the 5-year average for this time of year. Finished gasoline inventories increased while blending components inventories decreased last week. Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 1.3 million bbl last week and are about 11% below the 5-year average for this time of year. Propane-propylene inventories decreased by 1.3 million bbl from last week and are 56% above the 5-year average for this time of year, EIA said. US crude oil refinery inputs averaged 16.0 million b/d for the week ended May 1, which was 42,000 b/d less than the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 90.1% of capacity. Gasoline production decreased, averaging 9.6 million b/d. Distillate fuel production decreased, averaging 4.9 million b/d. US crude oil imports averaged 5.5 million b/d, down 273,000 b/d from the previous week. Over the last 4 weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 5.6 million b/d, 2.4% less than the same 4-week period last year. Total motor gasoline imports averaged 755,000 b/d. Distillate fuel imports averaged 123,000 b/d.

Diversified Energy Co., in partnership with investment firm Carlyle, have agreed to acquire a portfolio of oil and natural gas properties and related assets in the Anadarko basin of Oklahoma from Camino Natural Resources, Denver, for $1.175 billion. The assets are contiguous with Diversified’s existing Oklahoma assets, creating “an immediate line of sight to future operating efficiencies and general and administrative savings,” the company said in a release May 6. The acquisition is expected to add about 300 MMcfed (51,000 boe/d) of production (about 55% gas, 30% NGLs, 15% oil) for the next 12 and about 1,478 bcfe of reserves. The assets include an approximate 101,000 acres in the SCOOP/STACK/MERGE with over 100 identified, drill-ready locations in an active development area, the company continued. Camino will retain its ownership of the Chickasha development area. The deal will be financed through a bespoke asset-backed securitization (ABS) structured and arranged by Carlyle. A new special purpose vehicle (SPV) will hold the producing assets and issue debt backed by underlying cash flows. Carlyle will hold majority ownership interest in the SPV that issues the ABS, with Diversified serving as asset operator and manager of the ABS. Diversified will retain ownership of the undeveloped assets outside the SPV. Diversified will fund a net amount, inclusive of customary purchase price adjustments, of about $210 million for the acquisition through its senior secured bank facility. The deal is expected to close in this year’s third quarter, subject to customary conditions.

Shell plc reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $6.9 billion, up from $5.58 billion in first-quarter 2025 and $3.26 billion in fourth-quarter 2025. “Shell delivered strong results enabled by our relentless focus on operational performance in a quarter marked by unprecedented disruption in global energy markets,” Shell chief executive officer Wael Sawan said in a statement. Shell announced a 5% increase and launched a new $3.0 billion share buyback program expected to be completed by the second-quarter 2026 results announcement. Total shareholder distributions during the quarter amounted to $5.3 billion, including $3.2 billion in share repurchases and $2.1 billion in cash dividends. Net debt increased to $52.6 billion at the end of the first quarter from $45.7 billion at the end of fourth-quarter 2025, reflecting working capital outflow and a $3 billion non-cash net debt increase in variable component of long-term shipping leases in the current macro environment. Shell said commodity price volatility had a significant impact on earnings and working capital during the quarter. The company indicated that unprecedented volatility in commodity prices affected inventory values and receivables, contributing to a working capital impact of $11.2 billion. Gas, LNG operations to reflect declines and Qatar disruptions Integrated Gas adjusted earnings were $1.8 billion in first-quarter 2026, compared with $1.7 billion in fourth-quarter 2025. LNG liquefaction volumes were 7.9 million tonnes, compared with 7.8 million tonnes in the prior quarter, while production averaged 909,000 boe/d, down from 948,000 boe/d in fourth-quarter 2025. QatarEnergy shut in production across all LNG infrastructure on Mar. 2, 2026, and subsequently declared force majeure, although QatarEnergy LNG N(4) was not directly impacted by the attacks. Shell also said damage to Train 2 at the Pearl gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Qatar is expected to require about 1 year of repairs.  Stay updated on oil price volatility,

Leaders of Permian Resources Corp., Midland, Tex., plan to continue ramping workover activity to capitalize on higher oil prices and have lifted their full-year oil production guidance by about 2%. Permian Resources roughly doubled its workover rig count during the first quarter and is building on that ramp this quarter, co-chief executive officer (CEO) James Walter told analysts. From replacing hardware on fewer than 40 wells early this year, Permian Resources teams are now completing about 90 workovers per month. That work will lead to a slight increase in spending from early this year but Walter and fellow CEO Will Hickey aren’t committing capital to adding rigs as some of their peers in the Permian basin are adding. “We have the flexibility that, with the existing kind of equipment we’re running today, we can accelerate TILs [turned-in-line] above and beyond what our original base plan highlighted,” Hickey said on a May 7 conference call with analysts and investors. “The general plan today is to really kind of hit the gas pedal but do it within the confines of the equipment we’re running today.” Permian Resources’ average total production totaled nearly 413,000 boe/d (192,300 b/d of oil) in the 3 months ended Mar. 31, which was an increase of more than 10% from first-quarter 2025. Executives credited strong runtime and good performances from new wells for that number, which they’re looking to increase slightly this quarter. The midpoint of the full-year oil production target is now 192,500 b/d versus 189,000 b/d in February. The operator is looking to turn in line 250 wells this year. Hickey said that number could grow by 5% or more by teams “doing the easy things” such as compressing cycle times and drilling more quickly. “Easy is probably understating it,” Hickey joked on the conference call.

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office (HGEO) will invest $36 million to advance carbon dioxide (CO2)–based enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in the Bakken shale through a program led by the University of North Dakota’s Energy & Environmental Research Center. The Bakken Enhanced Oil Recovery–Cracking the Code (Bakken EOR-CC) effort will combine laboratory research, reservoir modeling, artificial intelligence (AI), and field work to evaluate EOR strategies, potentially unlocking billions of additional barrels of incremental oil and extending the life of the state’s coal-fired power plants by utilizing their captured CO2 for EOR, DOE said in a release May 8. Unconventional formations typically yield only about 10% of oil in place, leaving significant volumes unrecovered.  “This program is essential to maximize the full potential of our valuable hydrocarbon resources in the Bakken. By ‘cracking the code,’ these integrated pilot projects will help establish a clear path for the broad commercial deployment of enhanced energy recovery across the nation,” said DOE Assistant Secretary for the Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office Kyle Haustveit.  Bakken pilot projects  The Bakken EOR-CC program will assess multiple injection strategies, reservoir conditions, and operational approaches across six pilot projects, building a technical basis for commercial-scale EOR in the play.  Bakken EOR-CC will include DOE’s investment of $36 million along with $9 million in cost-share from the University of North Dakota’s Energy & Environmental Research Center and project partners for one of the six pilot projects. State and private sources are providing about $100 million in funding for the remaining five pilot projects. AI and machine-learning tools will be used to analyze performance data, identifying best practices and operational benchmarks across the pilots to accelerate broader deployment. DOE said the integrated pilot effort is intended to create a unified technical foundation that supports wider adoption of EOR