The boards of Sintana Energy Inc and Challenger Energy Group PLC have agreed on the terms of Sintana’s acquisition of the entire issued and to-be-issued share capital of Challenger for an implied diluted price of around GBP 44.72 million/ CAD 83.63 million ($59.72 million) or 16.61 pence per share. London-listed Challenger’s main assets are a 40 percent stake in Chevron Corp-operated AREA OFF-1 and a 100 percent ownership in AREA OFF-3, both exploration blocks offshore Uruguay. “Combined, these represent a total license holding of approximately 27,800 square kilometers (net to Challenger approximately 19,000 sqkm), making Challenger one of the largest offshore acreage holders in Uruguay and the only ‘junior’ with a position in offshore Uruguay and the broader offshore region (including northern Argentina and southern Brazil)”, Sintana said in a statement on its website. Challenger also holds legacy exploration assets in The Bahamas, for which the government has not responded to a request for license renewal, Sintana noted. Sintana, whose stock trades in Toronto, owns onshore and offshore exploration licenses in Namibia and Colombia’s Magdalena Basin. “The combination of Challenger and Sintana is expected to create a leading exploration platform spanning the Southern Atlantic conjugate margin, with a combined portfolio offering high-impact exposure to two of the world’s currently most active and emerging hydrocarbon exploration geographies with a diversified portfolio of licenses at various levels of maturity, underpinned by partnerships with majors that provide significant financial and operational support to reach material milestones”, the statement said. The expanded Sintana would own interests in eight licenses in Namibia – including the Mopane discovery – and Uruguay, as well as legacy assets in The Bahamas and Colombia, Sintana said. Under the transaction, Challenger shareholders would receive about 0.4705 common shares of Sintana for each Challenger ordinary share held. Immediately after the completion of the merger, Challenger

Oil prices are rebounding modestly after last week’s sharp declines driven by U.S.-China tensions and demand destruction fears, XMArabia Analyst Nadir Belbarka said in a statement sent to Rigzone on Monday. “President Trump’s plan for 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods from November 1, alongside geopolitical risks in Ukraine, Gaza, and Russia, has heightened volatility,” Belbarka said in the statement. “Late-session reassurances, including a potential Xi meeting, stabilized sentiment, but the oil market remains fragile,” the analyst warned. “Price action is driven by macro expectations rather than supply fundamentals, with markets sensitive to Washington’s signals,” Belbarka added. In the statement, Belbarka noted that, “with a thin economic calendar, oil prices hinge on geopolitical tone and positioning flows”. “Trump’s aggressive stance keeps crude volatile, with investors eyeing U.S. storage data and potential OPEC/IEA [International Energy Agency] updates,” Belbarka said. Belbarka went on to state that oil’s near-term path will likely be shaped more by political signals than supply-demand fundamentals until fresh data emerges. In a separate market analysis sent to Rigzone today, Samer Hasn, Senior Market Analyst at XS.com also highlighted that oil prices rebounded today, “rising by more than two percent after suffering sharp losses that brought them to their lowest levels since May”.  “The upward move in oil comes as investors digested signs of trade relief following recent remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump, alongside stronger than expected Chinese trade data,” Hasn said in the analysis. A statement posted on the Donald J. Trump Truth Social page on October 10 stated, “it has just been learned that China has taken an extraordinarily aggressive position on Trade in sending an extremely hostile letter to the World, stating that they were going to, effective November 1st, 2025, impose large scale Export Controls on virtually every product they make, and some not

OPEC+’s spare capacity will be dwindling as it keeps bringing oil back into the market, even as total capacity for the group as a whole is growing. That’s what Ed Morse, Senior Adviser and Commodities Strategist at Hartree Partners, and previously the Global Head of Commodity Research at Citi Group, told Rigzone in an exclusive interview recently. Morse also highlighted a couple of issues with this spare capacity in the interview. “One main issue is the definition,” he said. “Is it oil that can be brought to market in one month, three months or six months? And is it a production level that can be sustained for a while – and is that ‘while’ six months, 12 months or even longer,” he added. “And then there is the issue of the domestic and international political risks to deliverable capacity,” Morse continued. Morse went on to tell Rigzone in the interview that some have spare OPEC+ capacity “at a fairly robust level”. The Hartree Partners strategist noted that, “from a definition of what can be brought to market in a four to six week period of time”, his own judgment is that OPEC+ capacity is about 2.75 million barrels per day. “Given what could happen in Russia and Iran alone, that isn’t a lot of oil to calm the market,” Morse warned. So, what does that mean for the oil market? Responding to this question, Morse told Rigzone that oil market consequences depend on when a disruption to supply would take place.  “The current market is physically range bound and weakening, with OPEC+ producers exporting around two million barrels per day more now than in mid-summer given the tangible and actual increases in the group’s production and the end of summer burn for power generation,” he said. “It remains backwardated but time

For decades, electric utilities, suppliers and grid operators have faced a fundamental dilemma when evaluating energy-intensive customers: how do you serve Bitcoin miners, AI, HPC and other energy-intensive operations without exposing your organization to catastrophic financial risk? The traditional answer has been simple but limiting—demand massive upfront collateral or walk away from the business entirely. But what if there was a better way? OBM’s Real-Time Settlements (RTS) is fundamentally changing how forward-thinking power suppliers approach large-load customer risk management by automating daily payment cycles and eliminating traditional collateral requirements. The collateral trap: Why traditional risk management limits market growth Traditional risk management operates on a simple premise: require enough collateral to cover potential non-payment losses, typically 45-60 days of estimated usage. For a 15-megawatt Bitcoin mining operation consuming roughly $550,000 monthly in electricity, this translates to collateral requirements between $825,000 – $1,100,000 — amounts that eliminate most potential customers from consideration entirely. This approach artificially constrains your addressable market, forcing you to reject high-revenue customers who could significantly improve your load factor and profitability. Traditional collateral requirements also assume that payment risk is binary—either a customer pays their full monthly bill or they default entirely. This ignores the reality that most payment issues emerge gradually and can be addressed through early intervention rather than massive collateral draws. Real-Time Settlements: A financial innovation game-changer Real-Time Settlements fundamentally redefines payment risk by automating daily settlement cycles and providing instant response capabilities when payment issues emerge. Instead of hoping customers will pay monthly bills totaling millions of dollars, RTS automatically processes smaller daily payments directly from customer bank accounts, dramatically reducing exposure while improving cash flow predictability. The mathematics are compelling. Under traditional monthly billing, power suppliers face 45-day payment cycles with maximum exposure of millions per customer. RTS reduces this cycle to

The Hispanic American Construction Industry Association (HACIA) has officially launched its Clean Energy Contractor Incubator (CECI) Program under the Illinois Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) grant, a first-of-its-kind initiative designed to prepare small and diverse businesses for success in Illinois’ rapidly expanding clean energy economy. With the demand for renewable energy projects, electrification, and sustainable construction practices on the rise, Illinois is investing in workforce development programs that ensure historically underrepresented firms have pathways to participate in this evolving industry. HACIA’s CECI program directly addresses this need by providing business owners with the tools, technical assistance, and market access they need to thrive. A key focus of the CECI program is supporting businesses located in Illinois’ R3 zones (restore, reinvest, renew) and Environmental Justice communities, communities that have been historically disinvested yet hold tremendous potential to contribute to the state’s clean energy future. By intentionally directing resources and training to these areas, HACIA and CEJA are working to ensure that the transition to sustainable infrastructure is not only equitable but also inclusive of entrepreneurs who may otherwise face barriers to participation. For HACIA, this aligns directly with its mission to create pathways for small and diverse businesses to succeed, while helping CEJA meet its goal of bringing economic growth and clean energy opportunities to the communities that need them most. A phased approach to building capacity The CECI program is structured in three phases: Component 1 (Workshops): Participants engage in a series of hybrid workshops covering technical, operational, and clean energy–specific topics. Component 2 (Technical Assistance): Firms will participate in a 9-week cohort-based learning model following a curriculum called Small Business Skills, aimed at small business owners to provide technical training in topics such as construction drawing comprehension, estimating, project management, and bidding. Component 3 (Sustainability Track): Businesses select a focused pathway

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he was “very disappointed” with Russia’s decision to offer only a gas deal that runs until the end of the year, after months of talks over a longer agreement.  Vucic had been seeking a three-year contract with Gazprom, following two meetings this year with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Speaking to the tabloid Informer, he suggested the delay was linked to US sanctions on oil refiner Naftna Industrija Srbije that came into full effect earlier this month after several temporary waivers expired. “We begged the Americans for months and managed to secure eight months; unlike some others, we’re not thieves,” Vucic said. He added that Serbia has enough reserves for the next three months and rejected suggestions that Belgrade might nationalize NIS, which is controlled by Russia’s Gazprom Neft, to bypass sanctions. “The Americans told me, ‘Mr. President, sign it, there will be no sanctions, just tell us that you need time to nationalize your oil industry,’” he said. “I told them, ‘That’s unacceptable to me. Our country isn’t communist or fascist, and we don’t like to seize other people’s capital and other people’s property.’” Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of state-owned Gazprom, holds a 56 percent stake in NIS. Its chief executive, Alexander Dyukov, will meet Vucic in Belgrade on Monday for talks. “I hope the Russians will resolve this with the Americans,” said the Serbian leader. Any gas shortages this winter could add to pressures on Vucic, who has been grappling with domestic turmoil as tens of thousands of anti-government protesters have taken to the streets since November last year. The marches were triggered by the collapse of a concrete canopy at a train station in Novi Sad that killed 13 people – an incident protesters blame on corruption and poor oversight in the station’s renovation. What do you