Perenco Holdings’ Perenco Congo SA is investing in a new platform, Kombi 2, which will be installed on the Kombi-Likalala-Libondo II (KLL II) permit area. The unit is currently under construction at the Nieuwdorp shipyard (Netherlands) by Dixstone, a sister company of Perenco. The new platform targets to recover approximately 7 million cubic feet of gas per day, Perenco said in a media release. “Kombi 2 is fully in line with our commitment to performance, operational safety, and environmental responsibility. This new milestone demonstrates our ability to combine technical innovation, compliance with the most demanding standards, and a direct contribution to the country’s development”, Stéphane BARC, Managing Director of Perenco Congo, said. Perenco said it will be able to generate the necessary electricity using two gas turbines connected to a 33 kV electrical hub, enhance surface treatment and develop an additional 10 million barrels of reserves through the optimization of existing wells, and integrate a well-bay module to accommodate new wells, with a potential of 10 million additional barrels. The Kombi 2 construction project, comprising upcoming drilling phases, involves an investment of over $200 million. The platform is due to leave the Netherlands in October 2025 and become operational in Pointe-Noire by early 2026, the company said. The recent renewal of the Ikalou II and Likouala II permits, initially for 20 years, strengthens Perenco’s presence in Congo, it said. This move is set to trigger a global investment plan worth nearly $900 million, including work-over campaigns, development drilling, and the rollout of cutting-edge infrastructure, the company added. Perenco said it is supporting the country’s ambition to hit production of 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030. To contact the author, email [email protected] What do you think? We’d love to hear from you, join the conversation on the Rigzone

Petroliam Nasional Bhd. and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team have agreed to launch a South-South initiative to study carbon capture and storage (CCS) in mangrove ecosystems. The Blue Carbon Collective will expand an existing research collaboration between Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and University of Sao Paulo (USP). UPM will conduct research in the Sungai Santi Forest Reserve and apply established methodologies from Brazil. The research will “include carbon stock assessment and monitoring of soil quality and ecosystem health in Malaysia, enabling comparative analysis between the two countries”, Petronas said in an online statement. “The Blue Carbon Collective aims to deliver several research objectives including identifying the impact of land use changes, understanding carbon stabilization mechanisms, and developing and applying a soil quality index”. “The five-year collaboration is expected to generate vital research data to advance carbon emissions reduction strategies, help conserve mangroves, and create local job and business opportunities”, Petronas said. “The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team will support the research activities”. Professor Tiago Osorio Ferreira, project coordinator from USP, said, “These findings will support the development of process-based models for carbon dynamics in Blue Carbon ecosystems at a global scale and produce evidence-based climate policies grounded in nature-based solutions”. Petronas unveiled the initiative as it announced biodiversity and resource efficiency goals at the inaugural Petronas-hosted Energy and Nature Forum in Kuala Lumpur. By 2030 Petronas aims to have “Biodiversity Action Plans” for all “very high” and “high” risk areas that host sites under Petronas’ operational control. “From 2030, PETRONAS aims to maintain the habitat size for all sites within their operational control located in protected areas and/or key biodiversity areas”, Petronas said. “Where not feasible, PETRONAS establishes comparable areas to substitute the loss. “From 2030, PETRONAS’ decommissioning plans or equivalent documents, will include ecosystem rehabilitation measures for operations/projects in protected

Google and conductor manufacturer CTC Global on Tuesday said they are partnering to ask states, utilities and transmission developers to identify areas to deploy advanced conductors, which can carry more power than standard transmission lines but use existing towers and poles. Responses to a request for information are due on July 14, and a request for proposals will “shortly follow,” Google and CTC Global said in a release shared in advance with Utility Dive. “Applications are encouraged from areas where Google has existing or announced data centers, as well as their associated wholesale markets,” the release states. The partnership will focus on U.S. transmission lines that have the most potential to accelerate grid capacity using CTC Global’s conductors, and it will prioritize projects that would “deliver the greatest immediate impact and that support load growth where Google operates,” the release said. Advanced conductors are one of the alternative transmission technologies that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Order 1920 requires transmission providers “in each transmission planning region to consider more fully.” FERC said in an explainer that the order’s goal “is to identify efficient and cost-effective solutions to meet transmission needs and optimize the transmission system without the need to build additional transmission facilities.” Google and CTC Global invited states, utilities and transmission developers to start responding to the RFI immediately. They said “selected partners and projects” will gain access to cost assistance, workforce training on the deployment of CTC Global’s ACCC conductors and “support for technical project studies … to validate the technology’s integration and impact.” CTC Global CEO J.D. Sitton said in the release that the partnership is a “positive turning point to lower electricity costs, generate economic growth, and advance U.S. energy dominance … [helping] ensure that the U.S. invests in cost-effective solutions for the long-term that help the U.S.

Malaysia’s national oil and gas company has signed a deal with Eni SpA to combine their upstream assets in Malaysia and Indonesia. Separately Petroliam Nasional Bhd. (Petronas) penned multiple agreements with TotalEnergies SE to jointly explore several offshore blocks in Malaysia and signed another agreement for a farm-down in Indonesia to the French company. The joint venture agreement with Italy’s state-backed Eni, expected to be finalized in the fourth quarter, would deliver 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) a day in the medium term. The combined portfolio would consist of about three billion boe of reserves and 10 billion boe of exploration potential, according to the companies. “This collaboration will unlock new opportunities for us to contribute to the energy security in the region and deliver long-term value across Malaysia and Indonesia”, Petronas president and chief executive Muhammad Taufik said in an online statement. The partnership would create “synergy in terms of assets, expertise and financial capabilities, in a transformational model that further strengthens the huge potential of the two countries”, Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi said separately. “The new company will have a strong regional impact on gas production, bringing additional energy, infrastructures and employment for the benefit of both Indonesia and Malaysia”. Meanwhile Petronas’ agreements with TotalEnergies in Malaysia and Indonesia involve offshore blocks in different maturation stages and covering over 100,000 square kilometers (38,610.19 square miles), TotalEnergies said in a press release. “TotalEnergies will notably hold, alongside PETRONAS through its wholly-owned subsidiary Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd., a 50 percent operated working interest in Blocks SK301b and SK313, where significant gas discoveries (more than 4 Tcf) were made and are expected to be developed to support gas supply to Malaysia LNG from 2030”, TotalEnergies said. “TotalEnergies will also hold, alongside PETRONAS, interests in several exploration blocks offshore Malaysia.

US President Donald Trump left the Group of Seven leaders meeting in Canada early to deal with the Israel-Iran conflict, but played down the chances of a ceasefire. On Tuesday morning, he returned to Washington and criticized French President Emmanuel Macron for saying the move was possibly a sign he was working on a truce. “Wrong!,” Trump said in reference to Macron on Truth Social. “He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that. Stay Tuned!” Trump hasn’t clearly spelled out his next steps as he returns to the US capital. Israel and Iran continue to strike on one another. While global markets have calmed since hostilities started on Friday with Israel bombing Iran, there are still widespread fears the war will spread to other countries in the oil- and gas-producing region. Despite Trump’s latest comments, top US officials said the president remains hopeful a peace deal can be achieved between Israel and Iran. The diplomatic flurry followed another 24 hours of intense bombardments, with Iran firing ballistic missiles and Israel striking targets across the Islamic Republic, including the capital of Tehran. The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group is now sailing to the Middle East ahead of schedule, marking the first significant move of American military assets to the region since Friday.  “Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign,” Trump wrote in an earlier social media post, referring to nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington that are now on hold. “What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” It wasn’t clear if Trump knew of a

European Union member states need around EUR 241 billion ($278.62 billion) through 2050 to grow the share of conventional nuclear in their energy mix toward meeting their decarbonization, industrial competitiveness and energy security goals, according to official analysis. The 27-member bloc had 101 operational nuclear power reactors, with a combined capacity of 98 gigawatts electric (GWe), as of last year, the European Commission said. These are spread across 12 member states: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Finland, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. In 2023 the units supplied 22.8 percent of the EU’s electricity generation. Three more reactors are under construction: one in Slovakia (Mochovce 4) and two in Hungary (Paks II), according to the Commission. While the EU’s top economy, Germany, shut down its three remaining nuclear power plants in April 2023, the new German government signaled it would drop its opposition to nuclear power, according to a Reuters report May 20, 2025, citing a French official. The estimated investment need, EUR 241 billion in present-value terms, is based on generation gaps identified in National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs). The estimate, a “base case scenario”, accounts for the existing fleet, ongoing constructions and planned newbuilds. Additional investment is needed for small modular reactors (SMRs), advanced modular reactors (AMRs) and microreactors, the Commission said, though it did not quantify the investment need. Newbuild projects account for EUR 205 billion. Lifetime extensions would need EUR 36 billion, according to the Commission. In the base case scenario, the Commission projects an increase in nuclear generation capacity to 109 GWe in 2050, assuming at least some of the existing reactors extend their operating life beyond 60 years and planned newbuild reactors are delivered on time. “The Commission estimates that over 90 percent of electricity in the EU in 2040 will