Argentina’s Neuquén province awarded eight blocks to PCR, Patagonia Energy, GeoPark, JPM Energía, the Phoenix–Continental Resources partnership, and Selva María Oil in a round intended to expand exploration of Vaca Muerta. Committed work programs include 11 horizontal wells to assess acreage outside the formation’s main commercial developments. The awards were made Oct. 21 under Round 1/2026 of the Neuquén Exploration Plan, organized by Gas y Petróleo del Neuquén (GyP). The provincial company will retain an interest in all the blocks. The round attracted 20 bids from 10 bidders for eight of the 15 areas offered. Petrolera Comodoro Rivadavia (PCR) secured three blocks: La Tropilla I, Águila Mora Noreste, and Santo Domingo II. Its program includes one horizontal well per block, each with a 1,500-m lateral and 25 hydraulic fracturing stages. The company will also acquire and process 3D seismic data covering a total of 380 sq km. Patagonia Energy secured Corralera Noroeste, where it will drill three horizontal wells with 3,000-m laterals and a combined 150 fracturing stages. Its commitment also includes 85 sq km of 3D seismic. GeoPark will add Corralera Noreste to its portfolio. The initial program comprises two horizontal wells, each with a 2,000-m lateral and 30 fracturing stages, during a 4-year exploration period. The company will hold a 90% working interest, with GyP retaining 10%. JPM Energía secured Pampa de las Yeguas II NE. Its proposal includes one horizontal well with a 3,000-m lateral and 53 fracturing stages. The Phoenix–Continental Resources partnership was selected for Corralera Sur, with a program comprising one horizontal well with a 1,500-m lateral and 14 fracturing stages. Seismic work includes 150 sq km of acquisition and 105 sq km of specialized processing. Selva María Oil secured Chasquivil Sur, where it will drill one horizontal well with a 1,500-m lateral and 30

Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) Ltd. has revealed a proposed 4-year plan involving expanding its existing 45,000-b/sd refinery in Heavy Industrial Area, Tema, Ghana, and building a second plant at the site to raise combined crude-processing capacity up to 200,000 b/sd. TOR’s managing director Edmond Kombat announced the Restoration and Legacy Projects (RLP) program for 2026-29 at a Government Accountability Series press conference on Oct. 26 in Accra, Ghana, the government’s Ghana News Agency reported. As proposed, the RLP program would include a brownfield project to increase the existing refinery’s capacity by 40,000 b/sd to 85,000 b/sd alongside grassroots construction of a new refinery presumably co-located at the site with a design processing capacity of 115,000 b/sd. TOR did not provide any details related to project costs, financing details, construction schedules, or anticipated production yields. The operator said the planned expansion comes as part of a plan to address Ghana’s petroleum-product demand and create opportunities for exports as a value-addition measure to help support the country’s economy. In addition to the proposed refining installations, RLP program will involve construction of social infrastructure in and around Tema, including a planned specialty hospital with a burn and trauma center to serve the Tema industrial enclave and the wider Greater Accra region with specialized care for industrial accidents and thermal injuries. For staff housing, the refinery said it is also working with the Ghana Home Ownership Fund on a domicile project to be built on existing TOR land. The company, however, did not specify the number of homes or a construction timeline involved in the development. Refinery restart prompts proposed expansion The newly announced RLP program follows TOR’s confirmation of the refinery’s return to crude processing in December 2025 after multiple years of inactivity. The late-2025 restart occurred after TOR’s completion of major turnaround

Howard Energy Partners (HEP), San Antonio, Tex., has agreed to acquire Iron Horse Midstream, a portfolio company of Sixth Street, expanding its position in the Anadarko Basin. Financial details were not disclosed. The acquisition includes about 400 miles of high- and low-pressure natural gas pipelines in Canadian, Caddo, and Grady counties in Oklahoma, multiple compressor stations, and the 120-acre Iron Horse processing complex with a capacity of 425 MMcfd of natural gas. The acquisition is supported by multi-decade customer contracts covering about 167,000 dedicated acres, the company said in a release Oct. 27. Herbie Goldstein, HEP’s chief financial officer and head of corporate development, said the company aims to “further develop the infrastructure needed to connect this prolific basin with growing natural gas markets across Oklahoma, Texas, and the Gulf Coast.” With this deal, the private energy infrastructure company will have invested about $2.5 billion in US Midcontinent acquisitions over the past 2 years. Earlier this year, HEP bought the remaining ownership interest in the Midship natural gas pipeline and acquired Superior Midstream, a Tulsa-based natural gas gathering and processing company. With all three deals, HEP’s footprint in Oklahoma will include nearly 2,000 miles of pipelines with about 2 bcfd of capacity, 580 MMcfd of natural gas processing capacity, and 540,000 compression horsepower. The deal to acquire Iron Horse Midstream is scheduled to close by yearend, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Listen to the article 8 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Aalap Shah is president and CEO of Fedsprout, which helps electric cooperatives and utilities manage federal and state awards. If you ask a lineman what it takes for a storm restoration to go well, the answer is usually not about having the right tools or truck. Quick restoration relies on good training, a plan before getting to the first pole and adequate back-office support. Federal funding works the same way and the latest federal programs are demanding even more. Aalap Shah I’ve worked with electric cooperatives across 14 states and I’ve come to realize there is a pattern. Cooperative utilities do not have an eligibility problem, and most qualify for federal and state funding programs. Yet some co-ops never apply for funding. Others win an award and lose part of it because of disallowed costs.  In its October outlook, the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects record electricity demand this year and next, and projects the average U.S. residential electricity price at 18.2 cents/kWh this year, up from 16.5 in cents/kWh in 2024. Co-ops need funding to support load growth and reliability improvements while keeping rates affordable for members.  In my experience, co-ops that win federal and state funding stand apart in four areas, before and after the award: capacity, clarity, cash and compliance. The capacity gap is clearly visible across most rural and small co-ops. At a typical co-op, the person who writes the funding application is the same person who runs finance and human resources. They often manage the award, too. Clarity is not as apparent. Hundreds of federal and state programs are published each year and knowing which one fits the co-op’s needs and what sways the funder needs a

Dive Brief: Despite trade barriers and project cost inflation, the U.S. is set to deploy 30% more energy storage capacity over the next 10 years than expected just six months ago, BloombergNEF said Thursday. BNEF forecasts cumulative U.S. deployments of 213.9 GW by 2030 and 434.4 GW by 2036, BNEF senior energy storage analyst Isshu Kikuma told Utility Dive. The latest edition of the energy consultancy’s semiannual energy storage outlook sees global deployments reaching 3,098 GW/11,106 GWh in 2036, roughly 10 times today’s levels. In the U.S., near-term drivers include favorable economics for colocated storage and renewables and data centers’ growing appetite for both behind-the-meter and front-of-meter capacity, BNEF said. BNEF’s report landed amid signs of continued momentum for the U.S. energy storage industry. On Thursday, Google said it would expand by a factor of 10 the battery-supported virtual power plant it plans to deploy with Voltus in the PJM Interconnection, to more than 1 GW. The same day, the sodium-ion battery manufacturer Peak Energy said it closed $108 million in financing from General Motors and other backers as it works to deploy nearly 5 GWh of capacity by 2030. Dive Insight: Energy storage deployments have far outpaced solar capacity additions in recent years, with the global cumulative installed solar-to-storage ratio falling from 94:1 in 2016 to 7:1 in 2026, BNEF said Thursday.  BNEF sees the capacity ratio stabilizing at 4:1 in 2030, and annual deployments remaining steady at 3:1 thereafter, as the energy storage industry matures. Much of the new solar and storage capacity is colocated. The United States had installed 20.7 GW/66.4 GWh of energy storage projects colocated with 41.3 GW of solar by the end of 2025, about 30% of total colocated solar-plus-storage capacity, according to BNEF. Some 4 GW of storage was colocated with solar in

Timor Gás & Petróleo EP (Timor GAP) agreed to acquire Woodside Energy Ltd.’s entire 33.44% participating interest in the Sunrise joint venture, including interests covering Greater Sunrise fields in the Timor Sea, for $200 million. The acquisition would once again increase Timor GAP’s interest in the project, following its previously announced agreement to acquire Osaka Gas’ 10% interest in the joint venture.  Upon closing of the two transactions, Timor GAP would hold 100% interest in Greater Sunrise, allowing the company to progress toward development via pipeline to Natarbora on Timor-Leste’s south coast. The development concept is enabled under the Maritime Boundaries Treaty between Timor-Leste and Australia. The Sunrise and Troubadour gas-condensate fields, collectively known as Greater Sunrise, lie about 150 km southeast of Timor-Leste and 450 km northwest of Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory. The complex is estimated to hold 5.1 tcf of gas and 226 million bbl of condensate.  The transaction is targeted to close in first-half 2027, subject to government, regulatory, and joint-venture approvals. At closing, Timor GAP will pay base consideration of $13.71 million. A further $11.29 million will be payable within 30 days of a final investment decision, while a production-contingent payment of $175 million will be due within 365 days of first-cargo loading for customer sale.