ORLEN SA has agreed to deliver an additional 140 million cubic meters (4.94 billion cubic feet) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States to Ukraine’s Naftogaz Group via Poland. This is the fourth LNG supply contract signed by the state-owned companies this year, bringing Naftogaz’s total contracted gas volumes from ORLEN to 440 million cubic meters, Naftogaz said in an online statement. The contracts are part of a cooperation pact signed by ORLEN and Naftogaz last March to diversify Ukraine’s gas supply sources, ORLEN said separately. After arriving from the U.S., the LNG is planned to be regasified at the Swinoujscie terminal in Poland or the Klaipeda terminal in Lithuania and then transported to Ukraine via Poland. “Naftogaz is diversifying its sources and routes of gas supply”, said Naftogaz chief executive Sergii Koretskyi. “This enhances Ukraine’s energy security and resilience amid the ongoing full-scale war with Russia”. “Signing an additional contract for the supply of American LNG is an important element of our preparations for the coming winter heating season and a big step toward ensuring reliable gas supply for Ukrainians”, Koretskyi added. ORLEN chief operating officer Robert Soszynski said, “Thanks to our continually developed trading expertise, proprietary fleet of LNG transport vessels and reserved regasification capacities, we are well-positioned to support Ukraine in diversifying both the sources and supply routes for natural gas”. “The summer period, which is crucial for replenishing storage facilities, adds to the importance of these deliveries”, Soszynski added. “ORLEN not only ceased all Russian gas imports over three years ago, but today we are also in a position to assist neighboring countries, such as Slovakia and Ukraine, on their path toward energy independence from Russia”, Soszynski said. On Monday ORLEN said it had also eliminated Russian oil from its supply chain when the

The European Commission proposed Wednesday an amendment to the European Union Climate Law to set a goal of a 90 percent net reduction in regional greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 compared to 1990, toward a climate-neutral economy by 2050. The proposed intermediate target “does not prescribe specific policies, technologies or measures, leaving Member States flexibility, taking into account the regulatory framework to achieve greenhouse gas emission reduction targets”, the official text says. The nearer intermediate aim of a 55 percent net reduction by 2030 comes with binding policies toward the legally binding target of net zero by 2050. The 2040 proposal is based on an impact assessment by the Commission that found “a reduction of 90-95 percent was the most proportionate to bring the EU economy to climate neutrality by 2050 and for the EU to contribute to global climate action in accordance with the Paris Agreement temperature goals of limiting the temperature increase to well below 2ºC above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1,5°C above pre-industrial levels”, the text states. The impact assessment took into account progress toward the 2030 reduction aim. The assessment used economic modeling to analyze the evolution of emissions by sector and the contribution of technologies needed to reach net-zero emissions. A Commission analysis published May said the EU was on course to fulfil the 2030 aim, despite saying efforts needed to go beyond existing policies. The projection relies on the 27 member states fully implementing their National Energy and Climate Plans. In a statement for the 2040 proposal, the Commission said, “One central element is flexibilities that the Commission will consider in designing the future legislative instruments to achieve this 2040 climate target”. “These include a limited role for high-quality international credits starting from 2036, the use of domestic permanent removals in the EU Emissions

Oil climbed in light pre-holiday trading after US President Donald Trump said he had reached a trade deal with Vietnam. West Texas Intermediate rose 3.1% to settle above $67 a barrel after Trump said he had reached a pact with the Southeast Asian nation that eliminated the nation’s import tariff on US goods. The deal is the third announced following agreements with the major trade partners UK and China, with investors pricing in a tentative optimism that more will be reached ahead of a July 9 deadline. Oil’s jump was probably amplified by low liquidity ahead of Friday’s July Fourth holiday in the US. The price gains came despite government data Wednesday showing a buildup in US crude inventories of 3.85 million barrels. The increase is the largest in three months, and more than five times the 680,000 barrel increase projected by the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday. Trading activity in crude futures has declined overall since the truce between Israel and Iran led prices to plunge early last week, with volatility returning to the lower levels seen before the war. The market is likely to turn its attention to a glut forecast for later this year, with an OPEC+ meeting this weekend expected to deliver another substantial increase in production quotas. “Speculators who are already net-long are trying to protect their position,” said Robert Yawger, director of the energy futures division at Mizuho Securities USA. “The problem is that they are running into a OPEC+ meeting with no place to hide over the long weekend.” Investors will also hone in on a slew of inputs expected in the coming days, ranging from a jobs report Thursday to an OPEC+ output decision at the weekend. Oil Prices WTI for August delivery rose 3.1% to settle at $67.45 a barrel

Chevron Corp. and TotalEnergies SE are competing in Libya’s first energy exploration tender since the 2011 conflict, the country’s state-run oil firm said, as the OPEC member looks to oil majors to help ramp up production to a record. Eni SpA and Exxon Mobil Corp. are also among the 37 companies that have lodged interest, with contracts due to be signed with successful bidders by the end of 2025, National Oil Corp Chairman Massoud Seliman said in an interview in the capital, Tripoli.  “Almost all well-known international companies” are vying for the 22 offshore and onshore blocks, he said. Foreign firms stepping back into exploration would mark a watershed for the North African country, which is home to the continent’s largest reserves but has seen production hobbled by more than a decade of conflict.  Libya is split between dueling governments in its east and west, and sporadic stoppages and rounds of violence have left much of its energy infrastructure neglected and damaged. A representative for TotalEnergies declined to comment. Eni and Exxon Mobil didn’t respond to requests for comment. Chevron said it constantly reviews new exploration opportunities, but doesn’t comment on commercial matters. Authorities target daily oil output of 2 million barrels before 2030 — surpassing the 1.75 million-barrel peak reached during strongman Muammar Qaddafi’s reign in 2006. Libya currently pumps about 1.4 million barrels a day. Libya last held a bidding round in 2007, four years before the NATO-backed uprising in which Qaddafi was killed. Winners of the new tenders will bear the costs for seismic surveys and other exploration steps though they can recoup those if commercial quantities of hydrocarbons are discovered, the chairman said. NOC is awaiting approval of a development budget of about $3 billion, which will help raise output to 1.6 million daily barrels within a year, according

Dive Brief: California Gov. Gavin Newsom, D, approved a $321 billion state budget last week that cut about $18 million in previously appropriated funding from grid reliability programs and deferred decisions about future spending on the programs to a later date, clean energy advocates said. The affected programs — Demand Side Grid Support and Distributed Electricity Backup Assets — are designed to shore up the state’s energy resources by providing on-call emergency supply or load reduction resources during extreme weather events such as heat waves or other grid emergencies. Earlier proposals called for allocating $473 million to the programs through 2028, an amount that was later reduced to $50 million in a revised draft budget in May. The final adopted budget cut $18 million from DSGS without including any new funding for either program, advocates said, as legislators and the governor agreed to hold off on most decisions about the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and voter-approved climate bonds. Dive Insight: Advanced Energy United, a trade group representing a diverse array of energy, transportation and tech companies, said in a statement that the budget leaves “crucial clean energy and climate programs in limbo” at a time when California is facing heat waves that strain the grid and a pullback of federal support.   “We recognize the difficult fiscal environment and uncertainty around federal funding, but California cannot keep deferring on tough decisions,” said Edson Perez, California lead at the organization. “Reliability programs like DSGS have delivered real results by keeping the lights on with clean energy and should be strengthened, not scaled back.”  Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In his past public statements, the governor blamed California’s budget shortfall on President Donald Trump’s “economic sabotage,” including his on-again, off-again tariffs, and market volatility. The state’s finance department had not updated its budget

Iraq’s electricity grid lost around 15% of its generation capacity after gas supplies from neighboring Iran were more than halved on Tuesday, highlighting the country’s vulnerability to energy shocks despite its oil wealth. Iranian gas deliveries currently stand at 25 million cubic meters per day, less than half the 55 million cubic meters agreed under a bilateral deal, Iraq’s Electricity Ministry said in a statement. The lost volumes have resulted in the shutdown of some gas-fired power plants and a loss of about 3,800 megawatts of generation.  High domestic demand combined with maintenance work in Iran was cited as the reason for the drop in gas supply, said Saad Freih, director of the ministry. The shortfall has strained Iraq’s already fragile power grid at a time of high summer demand and the ministry said it’s coordinating with the Oil Ministry to secure diesel as an emergency fuel. Iraq, OPEC’s second-biggest oil producer, doesn’t have enough gas to operate its mostly gas-fired power plants and suffers from crippling blackouts every summer when demand peaks. It’s also been trying to reduce the amount of wasteful gas flaring from its own fields, and has been looking at buying LNG for years as a way to fill the shortages. Iraq receives Iranian natural gas from two pipelines, but flows have been interrupted several times in recent years. In 2023, Iran cut volumes in half because of unpaid bills, which Baghdad said arose due to US sanctions on Iran.  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.