In a statement posted on its website recently, Great British Energy (GBE) announced that it has launched the “Aberdeen Energy Taskforce”. The taskforce is defined in the statement as “a new leadership group designed to ensure that the energy transition delivers for the Northeast of Scotland – securing good local jobs, investment, and opportunity as Britain moves to clean power”. In the statement, GBE said the taskforce will act as a bridge between national ambition and local opportunity. “It will advise the company’s board and executive team on how to ensure GBE’s investment reflects the strengths, needs, and aspirations of Aberdeen and the wider region,” the statement noted. “The move supports the Government’s Clean Power Mission to secure home-grown energy and achieve clean power by 2030, while ensuring that communities are not left behind in the transition,” it added. GBE highlighted in the statement that Aberdeen has been the energy capital of Europe for decades but said job losses and market volatility in oil and gas have hit the region hard. “The taskforce will help ensure the wealth of skills and experience developed in oil and gas fuels Britain’s next generation of clean energy industries – from offshore wind and green hydrogen to carbon capture and storage (CCUS),” the statement noted. According to the GBE statement, the taskforce’s core objectives include; “championing Aberdeen’s global role in the clean energy transition across offshore wind, hydrogen, CCUS, and workforce reskilling”; “securing a fair transition, ensuring that GBE investment delivers secure, well-paid, low-carbon jobs and skills for oil and gas workers, young people, and underrepresented groups”; maximizing regional value by helping shape capital and procurement decisions that unlock local supply chains, innovation, and manufacturing”; “embedding community benefit at the heart of GBE delivery, through engagement with local authorities, anchor institutions, and residents”; and

The UK slapped sanctions on Russia’s biggest oil producers and two Chinese energy firms that deal with Moscow as London seeks to intensify pressure on the Kremlin over the war in Ukraine. Britain blacklisted state-run oil giant Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC on Wednesday, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said in a statement. It also targeted Chinese firms that handle Russian energy for the first time: a terminal handling Russian liquefied gas and an oil refiner. Western nations are turning the screws on Russia’s energy sector in a bid to curb the flow of petrodollars to the Kremlin and limit President Vladimir Putin’s ability to finance the war. Taxes from the oil and gas industries account for about a quarter of the federal budget. “As Putin’s aggression intensifies, we are stepping up our response,” UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves said in a separate statement.  The UK sanctioned China’s Beihai liquefied natural gas terminal, which has become the key offloading point for cargoes from Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project, as well as Chinese oil processor Shandong Yulong. While the UK previously imposed wide-ranging sanctions on tankers transporting Russian oil and gas, the targeting of two big oil producers – as well as Chinese firms – marks an escalation.  Rosneft and Lukoil account for more than half of all oil produced in Russia and undertake business of “strategic significance” to the government, the UK government said. The UK also sanctioned a liquefied natural gas import facility and a company that processes Russian oil. Of the three major sanctioning authorities targeting Russia – the others being the US and EU – the UK’s measures have had the least impact on Russia’s oil tankers, so it’s not clear how effective these measures will be. A greater concern for Moscow might be if Washington and Brussels followed suit. The sanctioning of

Sable Offshore Corp said Wednesday the Santa Barbara Superior Court had issued a tentative ruling indicating the court would deny the company’s claims against the California Coastal Commission (CCC), in a permitting dispute over repairs on the Santa Ynez Unit (SYU) pipeline system. However, Houston, Texas-based Sable insisted even if the court decision becomes final, “the ruling would have no impact on the resumption of petroleum transportation through the Las Flores Pipeline System”. “Additionally, oil and gas production from the federal Santa Ynez Unit and the flow of petroleum from the Santa Ynez Unit to the Las Flores Canyon processing facilities or to a potential offshore storage and treating vessel (OS&T) would be unaffected by rulings in the Coastal Commission litigation”, it said in a statement on its website. SYU is Sable’s sole operation. SYU ceased flows 2015 after an oil spill that, according to the CCC, released 123,000 gallons of oil and caused environmental damage to 150 miles of coastline. SYU was then owned by Plains Pipeline LP, which sold it to Exxon Mobil Corp 2022. Sable acquired SYU from ExxonMobil February 2024. Nonetheless Sable plans to escalate such a final judgment by the Superior Court to the California Court of Appeal. “Sable is suing the Coastal Commission for the damages it has caused Sable by erroneously issuing cease and desist orders during Sable’s anomaly repair program on the Las Flores Pipeline System”, the statement said. “The anomaly repair program and hydrotesting of the Las Flores Pipeline System was [sic] completed in May 2025 in accordance with the Federal Consent Decree. “Sable intends to continue its pursuit of the writ of mandate in the Court of Appeal as well as declaratory relief and inverse condemnation claims in excess of approximately $347 million”. Sable added it “continues to work diligently with the

Monumental Energy Corp said Wednesday it has agreed to fund New Zealand Energy Corp’s (NZEC) share of workover costs to restart flows at several wells in the Waihapa/Ngaere field in the onshore Taranaki basin. “These workovers will follow the same royalty structure as that established for the successful Copper Moki programs, whereas Monumental will earn a 25 percent royalty on NZEC’s production share after full recovery of its capital investment, which will be repaid from 75 percent of NZEC’s net revenue interest”, Vancouver, Canada-based Monumental said in a press release. Monumental is a shareholder in NZEC. L&M Energy will shoulder the remaining part as NZEC’s equal partner in the campaign, Monumental said. The workovers involve the Waihapa-H1 well and the Ngaere 1, 2, and 3 wells. “The Waihapa-H1 well, drilled in the early 2000s, initially flowed oil at rates of approximately 1,500 barrels per day from fracture porosity within the Tikorangi horizontal section”, Monumental said. “Production ceased due to a collapse in the upper section of the wellbore. “A workover program proposed to return the well to production includes jetting clean-out and the installation of new tubing. The well site is located approximately 600 meters from, and easily connected to, the Waihapa production facility. “The Ngaere 1, 2, and 3 wells historically produced oil from the Tikorangi Formation. However, a review of electric logs and drilling data has identified multiple shallower, hydrocarbon-charged sand intervals in each well that present opportunities for additional oil and gas production. A field redevelopment program has been designed to access and produce these bypassed pay zones. “The steel casing in each well will be perforated at the target intervals, followed by production testing. All three wells are connected via existing pipelines to the Waihapa production and export facilities, allowing for immediate oil and gas sales

A consortium between the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and Saipem SpA has won contracts for a $2.9-billion compression project in the BP PLC-operated Shah Deniz field on Azerbaijan’s side of the Caspian Sea, BP and Saipem said. The compression project will access low-pressure gas and enable the production of an additional 50 billion cubic meters (1.77 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas and 25 million barrels of condensate, according to BP. Italy’s Saipem and SOCAR affiliates BOS Shelf International FZCO and BOS Shelf LLC jointly won three contracts totaling $700 million, with a $600 million share for Saipem, Saipem said in a press release Wednesday. “Saipem’s scope of work encompasses the transportation and installation of a new 19,000-ton compression platform in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea, as well as the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of approximately 26 kilometers of offshore pipelines to connect the new compression platform to the existing facilities, and all major permanent subsea works”, Saipem said. It expects to start work in the third quarter of 2026, to be completed 2029. Saipem will deploy the Khankendi subsea construction vessel, owned by the Shah Deniz co-venturers, and the pipelay barge Israfil Huseynov, owned by state-owned Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping CJSC. “The use of local naval assets and the integration with Azerbaijani partners confirm the commitment to the enhancement of skills and technologies of the country and the contribution to local content”, Saipem said. The contracts will be executed under last year’s “framework agreement” between the Saipem-SOCAR consortium and BP that lays out the terms for Khankendi’s deployment to the Shah Deniz and Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields in Azerbaijani waters in the Caspian. The agreement for the vessel lasts three years with a two-year extension option, as announced by Saipem July 12, 2024. All onshore

Oil extended a slump to a fresh five-month low as mounting concerns over a long-anticipated supply glut outweighed broader financial market strength. West Texas Intermediate eased to settle near $58 a barrel, the lowest since May. Prices fluctuated in choppy trade for much of the day after losing roughly 7% over the past five sessions. While equities rebounded on the Federal Reserve signaling another rate cut later this month, oil remains under pressure after the OPEC+ alliance decided this year to return shuttered production faster than expected, adding to worries about a glut. “Oil is still strongly influenced by trade tensions and shifts in risk sentiment, but with equity markets in positive territory there is some modest support,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said. The International Energy Agency increased its estimate for record oversupply next year, and some oil-trading giants say the long-anticipated excess is already starting to emerge. Traders will also likely hone in on an industry report on US oil supplies due later Wednesday. Key physical US crude grades have also weakened to the lowest in about two months as the trade spat between US and China escalated and sent shipping rates surging. “WTI faces significant resistance around $60 a barrel, and headline risk surrounding US-China tensions remains elevated,” said Rebecca Babin, a senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Group. The ongoing tit-for-tat between Beijing and Washington, the two biggest oil consumers, escalated this week, though US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer predicted the tensions would soon ease. Some market metrics are also flashing softness. A closely watched timespread — the gap between the two nearest December contracts for WTI — has flipped into contango, a bearish structure where prices for supplies available near term is cheaper than deliveries further out. Oil Prices WTI for November fell 0.7% to