In an oil and gas report sent to Rigzone late Tuesday by the Macquarie team, Macquarie strategists revealed that they are forecasting that U.S. crude inventories will be down 7.9 million barrels for the week ending January 17. “This compares to our early look for the week which anticipated a 4.7 million barrel draw, and a 2.0 million barrel draw realized for the week ending January 10,” the Macquarie strategists noted in the report. “On the product side of the ledger, in aggregate, our expectations are slightly tighter than our early view, but nevertheless represent a healthy build,” they added. In the report, the Macquarie strategists stated that, “for this week’s crude balance, from refineries”, they “model crude runs lower (-0.6 million barrels per day)”. “Among net imports, we model a large decrease, with exports sharply higher (+1.0 million barrels per day) and imports up slightly (+0.1 million barrels per day) on a nominal basis,” the strategists continued. The Macquarie strategists noted in the report that 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 (-0.5 million barrels per day) following a strong print last week. Rounding out the picture, we anticipate another small increase in SPR inventory (+0.3 million barrels) on the week,” they added. The strategists stated in the report that, “among products”, they “look for builds in gasoline (+3.2 million barrels) and jet (+1.5 million barrels), with a modest draw in distillate (-0.6 million barrels)”. “We model implied demand for these three products at ~13.9 million barrels per day for the week ending January 17,” they added. In an oil and gas report sent to Rigzone by the Macquarie team late last week, Macquarie strategists outlined that they “anticipate a solid U.S.

German Finance Minister Joerg Kukies suggested the European Union might be in a better position if it talks with the US about potential trade tariffs instead of immediately imposing countermeasures. “I would say let’s talk before we think about retaliation,” Kukies said Wednesday in a Bloomberg TV interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “I wouldn’t want talk about retaliation if there is nothing yet to retaliate to and who knows, maybe the way I understood the president’s yesterday there is also scope for discussions.” US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for the EU to buy more American oil and gas if the bloc wants to avoid tariffs. Brussels, as well as some Asian governments, are considering purchasing more energy from the world’s biggest producer of crude and exporter of liquefied natural gas. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen floated the idea last year that imports from the US could replace the bloc’s consumption of Russian LNG. “Germany is already importing very, very substantial amounts of oil and gas from the United States and for us the security of supply of the transition energy is extremely important,” he said. “No matter how policy is formed, it’s always in our interest to be close to our biggest ally and to strengthen the transatlantic relationship.” Trump’s return to the White House comes at a difficult time for Europe’s largest economy, which shrank for a second consecutive year in 2024 and is unlikely to grow much in 2025. Sluggish demand in key industrial sectors, waning exports to China and high energy prices in the wake of Russia’s war against Ukraine hit the country hard. What do you think? We’d love to hear from you, join the conversation on the Rigzone Energy Network. The Rigzone Energy Network is a new social experience

Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck warned Europe against becoming overly reliant on US energy and urged the region to stick together in response to the new Donald Trump administration. Europe should “meet the Trump administration with an outstretched hand, but not have our hand cut off,” he said Tuesday at the Handelsblatt energy summit in Berlin, responding to the climate and energy directives Trump launched hours after taking office. The European Union should define its own interests, said Habeck, who is the Green Party’s lead candidate for Germany’s upcoming Feb. 23 elections. Habeck called it “a fatal signal to the world” that one of Trump’s first official acts as president was to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, which aims to keep a global temperature rise this century below 2C above pre-industrial times. “That is the beginning of a historic failure,” he said.  Habeck also warned that Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on other nations will drive up inflation in the US and Europe and weaken the economy.  “We shouldn’t believe that what is happening there can be a model for us,” said Habeck, who is also Germany’s vice chancellor. “That would destroy the foundations of what we have created here in Germany and Europe.”  While countries across the world are considering ramping up US imports to placate the new administration, a stronger reliance on the US could mean “a form of blackmail that we had in Russia is being repeated,” said Habeck.  After Moscow’s attack on Ukraine, Europe lost most of its Russian gas supplies via pipelines and had to turn to more expensive liquefied natural gas imports, mostly from the US. Its economy — and particularly that of Germany — has been slow to recover from the shock. “In a world in which we have to expect energy supply chains to be exploited for

Aberdeen-based EnQuest (LON: ENQ) has acquired Harbour Energy’s (LON: HBR) Vietnam business as part of a $84 million deal to  “grow its international operating footprint”. The firm’s chief executive Amjad Bseisu said: “As EnQuest continues to work towards a transformational transaction in the UK North Sea, this agreement underlines our commitment to growth, a disciplined approach to M&A, and deploying capital where we see the most favourable returns.” As part of the deal, EnQuest will take over Harbour Energy’s 53.125% stake in the Chim Sáo and Dua fields. The London-listed oil firm said it expects to complete the deal in the second quarter of this year. In addition to the $85 million value for the deal, EnQuest will also fork out net interim period cash flows of around $35m. Speaking on the impact its new assets will have on production, EnQuest told shareholders that net 2P reserves and 2C resources across the fields total 7.5 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) and 4.9 million boe, respectively. Late last year, the firm entered the Malaysian gas market when it was awarded the rights to develop additional resources from its Seligi field. © Supplied by EnQuestEnQuest’s Segli field in Malaysia. EnQuest Petroleum Production Malaysia is developing the project in partnership with Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB) and E&P Malaysia Venture (EPMV) and holds a 50% equity share in the development. Bseisu added: “Our entry into Vietnam is highly complementary to EnQuest’s well-established and high-performing Malaysia business and significantly enhances the scale of our operations and opportunity in South East Asia. “The region is key to EnQuest’s growth and diversification strategy and we are excited by the potential to deploy our proven expertise and operating capability to optimise and enhance the Block 12W assets. “We look forward to welcoming our new employees from

Businesses are increasingly expected to do more than generate profit, and for Balmoral Group this expectation is a guiding principle. With a rich history of over 40 years, Balmoral is not just building successful businesses – it’s building a legacy of sustainable growth and social impact. The group’s unique model of investment, coupled with its commitment to giving back through the Milne Family Foundation and its support for Friends of ANCHOR, offers what the group believes is a blueprint for the future of strategic investment. From strategy to impact © Supplied by Balmoral GroupBalmoral actively supports its community through education, charity, and cultural involvement, with strong backing for Friends of ANCHOR in cancer care and research. At its heart, Balmoral’s success lies in its ability to identify and transform businesses with strong fundamentals and untapped growth potential. Whether it’s enabling Blaze Manufacturing to diversify and triple its turnover, internationalising the Tanks business or spearheading innovative growth in renewables through the Comtec business, Balmoral excels. A prime example is Blaze Manufacturing, which, under Balmoral’s guidance, successfully diversified its operations and tripled its turnover. Similarly, building on decades of expertise in oil and gas, Comtec is seamlessly pivoting to capitalise on the booming renewables market. Set just two years ago, Comtec has already exceeded its ambitious £40 million renewables revenue target. Innovation and diversification are the cornerstones of Balmoral Group. Across its businesses, it is constantly advancing to address the challenges and opportunities of the future. Unlike traditional private equity firms driven by short-term returns, Balmoral operates with patient capital – investing off its own balance sheet. This approach grants the group unparalleled flexibility to support businesses through challenges and deliver growth strategies tailored to their unique needs. For companies like Blaze, this has meant more than just financial backing. Balmoral’s active

The BlueFloat Energy and Nadara Partnership has chosen Sarens PSG to study how floating wind turbines can be deployed on an industrial scale in the North Sea. The programme will be delivered by the existing engineering team at Sarens PSG’s Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence in Aberdeen’s Energy Transition Zone The study will focus on developing methods to deploy completed floating wind structures directly from construction or production facilities to operational sites. It aims to achieve this for production line scale volumes, spanning multiple operational years. By investigating deployment operations, the study will identify key cost, risk, and scheduling implications and assess the impact of these factors on port infrastructure within the context of the partnership’s projects. UK portfolio director at the BlueFloat Energy and Nadara Partnership David Robertson said: “These studies represent a significant step forward in the development of our pipeline of floating offshore wind projects in Scotland and will not only deepen our understanding of some of the most pertinent technical challenges facing our industry, but also leverage local expertise through the regional supply chain.” BlueFloat Energy and Nadara are developing the 99.5MW Sinclair and Scaraben floating offshore wind farms as part of the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round in 2022. They previously brought in Edinburgh-based consultancy Arup to assess emerging technologies needed to deliver the projects, and First Marine Solutions (FMS) to design mooring solutions for the projects. In addition to Sinclair and Scaraben, BlueFloat is developing the Bellrock, Broadshore and Stromar ScotWind projects off the coasts of Aberdeen, Fraserburgh and Caithness, respectively. However, Sarens PSG’s study is expected to help inform the entire pipeline of floating wind projects in Scotland. Sarens PSG managing director Steve Clark said: “While deployment techniques have been trialled in smaller-scale demonstrator projects, scaling these processes to