GOLDEN, COLORADO—U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright received strong support from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Lab and nuclear weapons assembly plant directors after he announced expedited permitting reforms for construction projects on Energy Department lands. These common sense reforms will save at least hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars and rapidly accelerate project completion dates, helping better unleash American innovation, restore energy dominance, and modernize America’s nuclear stockpiles.  What America’s National Lab Directors Are Saying: “The recent guidance issued by the Department of Energy related to how the Laboratory executes our construction activities is intended to provide new tools to improve our operations and increase our effectiveness. This guidance will have positive impacts on our construction scheduling, budgeting, work execution and safety. We believe this guidance will have a net positive impact on most of our construction activities now costing less than $300,000,000 including, Energetic Materials Characterization modular facilities and Pajarito Corridor Office Complexes (PCOCs). The new guidance will save the federal government tens of millions of dollars on projects at LANL like these by reducing costs and avoiding overruns due to delays. In addition, allowing the Laboratory to better utilize existing Occupational Health and Safety Administration standards (OHSA) will increase the number of construction companies that can bid on work at LANL and provide a more competitive bidding process that will assist in lowing the costs of construction.” — Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Thom Mason “I appreciate Secretary Wright’s bold action to empower the National Laboratories to more efficiently deliver transformative scientific and technological outcomes that will benefit American taxpayers.  This is the most substantive and quickest change in improving lab operations that I have seen in my many years with DOE.” —Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Director Dr. Steven Ashby “Secretary Wright’s decisive actions in easing permitting rules and regulations

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following a rigorous competitive selection process, the Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that Strategic Storage Partners, LLC has secured a $1.4 billion contract to manage and operate the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). This includes the operation and maintenance of facilities and related systems located in Louisiana and Texas over a five-year period, with an option for DOE to extend the contract for an additional five years.  After a transition period, Strategic Storage Partners, LLC, will assume responsibility for management and operation of the SPR on June 15, 2025. The SPR’s mission is to safeguard the United States from significant petroleum supply disruptions through the acquisition, storage, distribution, and management of emergency petroleum stocks, fulfilling U.S. obligations under the International Energy Program. Federally owned oil stocks are stored in underground salt caverns at four sites located in Texas and Louisiana. The SPR has a longstanding history of protecting the U.S. economy and livelihoods during emergency oil shortages.  This announcement underscores President Trump’s commitment to advancing initiatives that support American jobs, strengthen domestic supply chains, and reinforce the United States’ position as a global energy leader.                                                                                                 ###

Russia reaped less money from oil taxes last month as production fell and global crude prices declined. Oil-tax proceeds dropped by more than 15 percent from a year earlier to 956.8 billion rubles ($11.4 billion), according to Bloomberg calculations based on Finance Ministry data published Thursday.  Global crude prices have fallen amid slower demand growth in China, ample supplies from North and South America and the fallout from US President Donald Trump’s increasingly aggressive tariff policy. Expectations for weaker global demand are “putting pressure on commodity prices,” Russia’s central bank said earlier this week. In February, the bank estimated an average 2025 Urals crude price for tax purposes of $65 a barrel and $60 in the next two years. Now it says the chance of lower prices has “increased somewhat.” For the latest data, the Finance Ministry calculated taxes based on an average Urals price of $61.69 a barrel in February. That’s down almost 10% from a year earlier and compares with a drop of almost 16 percent in the global Brent benchmark.  The decline in tax proceeds also follows a reduction in oil output, with Russia saying it’s brought production into line with its OPEC+ quota. The country last year was among the group’s laggard members, and it still needs to make up for the months it overshot targets. March’s total oil and gas revenue slumped 17 percent from a year earlier to 1.08 trillion rubles, the ministry’s data showed. Almost 89 percent of that came from crude and refined products. State subsidies to Russia’s refiners have also dented the federal budget, with the government paying 100.3 billion rubles to producers of gasoline and diesel to supply the domestic market.  Proceeds from the gas industry alone fell by almost a third from a year earlier to 124.5 billion rubles in March. That was driven

Aker BP ASA has extended its alliance agreement with SLB (Schlumberger Limited) and Stimwell Services Ltd. for another five years. The alliance formed in 2019 has supported Aker BP’s operated assets in meeting production targets. Aker BP said in a media release the alliance will work on further accelerating and boosting oil production. The alliance has established new standards for safe, efficient, and cost-effective operations through collaboration, digitalization, and innovative technology, according to Aker BP. Key achievements include simultaneous operations with jack-up rigs, a decreased backlog of locked-in barrels, and the first-ever autonomous intervention operation globally. Currently, both planning and execution utilize digital workflows, leading to enhanced productivity, reduced risk, and higher success rates, the company said. “Strategic partnerships are essential to shaping the future of our industry. At Aker BP, we remain committed to the alliance model, which creates value through long-term collaboration. It enables us to increase productivity, maintain world-class performance, and deliver oil and gas with low cost and low emissions. This is how we position ourselves as the E&P company of the future”, Aker BP CEO Karl Johnny Hersvik said. The alliance strategy aims to transform offshore well intervention.  Over the next five years, the partners aim to deliver top-quartile performance while developing future-proof capabilities, enhancing digital integration between subsurface and operations, expanding Aker BP’s Integrated Operations Centre for remote operations, and accelerating new technology deployment, Aker BP added. Furthermore, the alliance will focus on bringing wells onstream across Aker BP’s projects, using a newly upgraded stimulation vessel to optimize the Valhall PWP wells, contributing significantly to future production. “Increasing production and recovery from maturing assets is a top priority across the industry, and this alliance demonstrates how we can drive progress together through the power of partnership. The complex challenges facing our industry will increasingly

BP chairman Helge Lund has announced his plans to step down from his position. The company’s board of directors has initiated a succession process to select a new chair, with the succession process being led by Amanda Blanc in her capacity as senior independent director. Although a timeline for Lund’s resignation was not established, BP said it would most likely be during 2026. Until then, Lund will work with the successful candidate for his replacement to ensure an orderly transition ahead of taking on the role of chair. Whilst this succession process progresses, the board’s focus will remain on overseeing management’s delivery of the new strategy and this will continue to be their key priority under the new chair. Lund said: “Having fundamentally reset our strategy, BP’s focus now is on delivering the strategy at pace, improving performance and growing shareholder value. “Now is the right time to start the process to find my successor and enable an orderly and seamless handover. The board and I are committed to supporting Murray and his team, and to overseeing bp’s delivery of its strategic and financial objectives as we set out in our recent Capital Markets Update.” Lund has held the position of BP chairman since 2019, having served with three CEOs – Bob Dudley, Bernard Looney, and the current chief executive Murray Auchincloss. His last few years as chairman have been marked by BP committing, then rowing back on its climate commitments. Amid tighter economic conditions, BP’s investors have been looking for the company to refocus on its core oil and gas operations to boost revenues and share prices. This includes selling its lubricants business Castrol and divesting 50% of its solar business Lightsource BP. Amanda Blanc added: “We are starting a comprehensive search to identify chair candidates with the credibility

Norwegian ocean services provider DeepOcean will support Vattenfall’s European offshore wind farms with operations and maintenance on subsea cables. Under a new series of framework agreements, DeepOcean will provide a range of services, including project management, engineering, pre-installation surveys, offshore transportation of cables, trenching, cable installation and jointing, termination and testing, post-installation surveys, plus recovery and disposal of damaged cables. The deals are valid for four years and cover Vattenfall’s operating assets in Denmark, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Vattenfall’s UK offshore wind farms include three projects in Kent, Thanet, Kentish Flats and Kentish Flats Extension, the Ormonde offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea, and the Aberdeen offshore wind farm. In addition, the company is part of the Muir Mhòr floating project, along with Fred Olsen Seawind, which will be located off the east coast of Scotland. DeepOcean CEO Øyvind Mikaelsen said: “We welcome the opportunity to support Vattenfall’s generation of renewable energy through this framework agreements. We have over 25 years’ experience in subsea installation and inspection, maintenance and repair (IMR) work.” DeepOcean, which has a branch in Aberdeen, will utilise its personnel in Norway and the UK to perform the work. The company added that a first call-off under the agreement has already been done, with DeepOcean performing O&M work at an unspecified one of Vattenfall’s European offshore wind farm. The group mobilised the subsea vessel Olympic Ares, which was converted with cable lay equipment and a jet trencher onboard, for the scope and future offshore renewables assignments. Vattenfall head of generation Pavlo Malyshenko added: “With a substantial asset base in offshore wind and a promising long-term project pipeline, we have historically enjoyed strong relationships with our suppliers and industry. “This partnership with DeepOcean aligns with our mission to deliver reliable, and cost-effective energy solutions