Guido Núñez-Mujica is director of data science at the Anthropocene Institute. As the world doubles down on net-zero targets, carbon markets have become a cornerstone of our global climate response. But their credibility hinges on one critical question: Are we truly valuing all forms of low-carbon energy? Right now, the answer is an emphatic no. And one glaring omission proves it: nuclear power. Despite being the second-largest source of low-carbon electricity on the planet, nuclear energy is still largely excluded from voluntary carbon markets. Major standards like Verra and Gold Standard currently do not allow nuclear projects to generate carbon credits. This omission doesn’t just weaken the integrity of the system: it distorts the entire market. Nuclear power prevents 430 million metric tons of CO2 emissions each year. That’s more than the annual emissions of Japan. Finland reduced their coal use by 70% after their latest nuclear reactor went online. Nuclear plants operate at high capacity, providing reliable baseload power that complements variable renewables like wind and solar. And yet, the enormous climate value of that contribution goes unrewarded — financially and symbolically. To put it in perspective: while wind and solar generation often fluctuate with the weather and time of day, nuclear plants run more than 90% of the time. This makes them a crucial anchor in a clean energy grid — one that allows intermittent renewables to expand without sacrificing reliability or stability and able to replace fossil fuels 24/7. This has serious implications. Around the world, aging nuclear reactors are being decommissioned without adequate replacements. In many cases, they are replaced by fossil fuels. When Germany shut down its nuclear fleet, coal use spiked. In California, emissions rose after San Onofre closed. In New York City, shutting down Indian Point led to such an increase in emissions that the Texas grid is cleaner now

BP Plc is to forgo building a biofuels plant in the Netherlands as the UK energy giant continues to focus its downstream portfolio, following a strategic pivot earlier this year to return to focusing on its core oil and gas business. The decision, confirmed by a company spokesperson on Monday, marks the second Dutch biofuels plant to not move ahead this year, after Shell Plc shelved its facility under construction in favor of shedding low-carbon businesses to boost profitability.  BP hadn’t begun construction of its site in Rotterdam, and previously stopped plans to build biofuels plants at its Kwinana facility in Australia. BP has also paused work at plants in Germany and the US, leaving its Spanish site of Castellon as the possible long-term option for development. Reuters first reported BP scrapping plans to build the Dutch plant. BP has previously said it needs a 15% return on investment on biofuels investments.  The London-based company plans to invest $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year through 2027 on energy transition businesses, down from plans of spending more than $5 billion annually on the transition. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

In an oil and gas report sent to Rigzone late Monday by the Macquarie team, strategists at Macquarie, including Walt Chancellor, revealed that they expect U.S. crude and product draws this week. “We are forecasting U.S. crude inventories down 3.3 million barrels for the week ending September 19,” the strategists said in the report. “This follows a 9.3 million barrel draw in the prior week, with the crude balance realizing tighter than our expectations,” the strategists added. “For this week’s balance, from refineries, we model another reduction in crude runs (-0.2 million barrels per day). Among net imports, we model a large increase, with exports modestly lower (-0.3 million barrels per day) and imports higher (+0.6 million barrels per day) on a nominal basis,” they continued. The strategists warned in the report that the timing of cargoes remains a source of potential volatility in this week’s crude balance. “From implied domestic supply (prod.+adj. +transfers), we look for a reduction (-0.2 million barrels per day) on a nominal basis this week. Rounding out the picture, we anticipate a smaller increase (+0.3 million barrels) in SPR [U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve] stocks this week,” the strategists said in the report. The strategists went on to note in the report that, “among products”, they “look for modest draws across the board (gasoline/ distillate/jet -1.3/-0.6/-0.3 million barrels)”. “We model implied demand for these three products at ~14.4 million barrels per day for the week ending September 19,” they strategists added in the report. In its latest weekly petroleum status report at the time of writing, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) highlighted that U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the SPR, decreased by 9.3 million barrels from the week ending September 5 to the week ending September 12. That EIA report was released

Dive Brief: Construction work will resume “as soon as possible” on the 700-MW Revolution Wind project offshore Rhode Island, joint owner Ørsted said Monday after a judge granted the project a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration’s August stop work order. “Revolution Wind has demonstrated likelihood of success on the merits of its underlying claims,” U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Royce Lamberth said in his Monday ruling. “It is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction … maintaining the status quo by granting the injunction is in the public interest.” Ørsted said the ruling will allow the project to “restart impacted activities while the underlying lawsuit challenging the stop-work order progresses. Revolution Wind will continue to seek to work collaboratively with the U.S. Administration and other stakeholders toward a prompt resolution.” Dive Insight: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is enjoined from imposing the stop work order until the court decides otherwise, Lamberth ruled. Reuters reported Monday that Lamberth said during a hearing that if Revolution Wind “cannot meet benchmark deadlines, the entire project could collapse … There is no doubt in my mind of irreparable harm to the plaintiffs.” Revolution Wind, a subsidiary of Ørsted and a 50/50 joint venture between Ørsted and Global Infrastructure Partners’ Skyborn Renewables, is fully permitted with 80% of its construction done. The project is slated for completion in 2026, at which point it will deliver power to Connecticut and Rhode Island.  The attorneys general for Connecticut and Rhode Island also filed suit against the Trump administration earlier this month, requesting an injunction on the basis that the federal government “arbitrarily reversed course and issued a Stop Work Order without explanation … despite the States’ and others’ deep reliance interests.” BOEM said in its stop work

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a program to accelerate large-scale power transmission and generation projects. “The Speed to Power initiative will help ensure the United States has the power needed to win the global artificial intelligence race while continuing to meet growing demand for affordable, reliable and secure energy”, DOE said in a statement on its website. To kickstart the initiative, DOE issued a Request for Information (RFI) for projects that the agency could prioritize for siting and permitting support, technical assistance or funding. “DOE is interested in identifying geographic areas or zones where targeted federal investment in transmission, generation or grid infrastructure could unlock or accelerate large-scale economic activity tied to electric load growth”, stated the RFI, published online. “These may include regions experiencing substantial near-term demand from data centers, manufacturing or other large load users, as well as areas with untapped development potential constrained by inadequate grid infrastructure”. The RFI said, “In addition, DOE is requesting stakeholder input on how to best utilize its funding programs and authorities to rapidly expand energy generation and transmission grid capacity to meet electricity demand growth across the country in a reliable and affordable manner”. Responses are due November 21. According to a DOE report July 2025, 104 gigawatts (GW) of firm capacity are set to be retired in the U.S. by 2030. While the DOE’s analysis projects 209 GW of new capacity by the end of the decade, only 22 GW of these would come from firm baseload sources. “Even assuming no retirements, the model found increased risk of outages in 2030 by a factor of 34”, the report said, blaming in part a shift to “intermittent” sources. “[T]he average year co-incident peak load is projected to grow from a current average peak of 774 GW to

Hess Midstream LP has revised its financial and operational guidance for 2025, 2026 and 2027. This update is based on an anticipated reduction in Bakken rig activity by Chevron, which will decrease from four to three drilling rigs starting in the fourth quarter of 2025, Hess Midstream said in a media release. Hess Midstream said it continues to expect long-term growth in gas throughput volumes in the Bakken through at least 2027, while oil throughput volumes are now expected to plateau in 2026 as a result of lower planned rig activity. The company said it expects throughput volumes to generally stay above already-established minimum volume commitments. The company earlier projected, for 2025, gas gathering of 475-485 million cubic feet per day (MMcfd), crude oil gathering of 120,000-130,000 barrels per day (bpd), gas processing of 455-465 MMcfd, crude terminal volumes of 130,000-140,000 bpd, and water gathering of 125,000-135,000 bpd. In its latest update, Hess Mindstream said its full-year gas throughput guidance has been shifted based on adverse weather conditions and maintenance in the third quarter and lower expected third-party volumes in the fourth quarter. In 2025, full-year gas gathering volumes are now anticipated to average between 455 and 465 MMcd, and gas processing volumes are now expected to average between 440 and 450 MMcfd. For the year ending December 31, 2025, the company earlier provided unaudited financial guidance with a net income projection of $685-735 million, and Adjusted EBITDA of $1,235-1,285 million. Capital expenditures are expected to be approximately $300 million, with adjusted free cash flow forecast to be between $725 million and $775 million. Hess Midstream said that it now expects significantly lower capital spending in 2026 and 2027 based on the suspension of early engineering activities on the Capa gas plant and removal of the project from its forward