UK offshore and subsea technology firm Beam has made more than 100 staff redundant and ceased operations, just months after rebranding from Rovco. Writing on social media, Beam head of talent acquisition and crewing James Reynolds said: “Today marks the end of Beam. “As of today, all employees have been made redundant.” Reynolds said working for Beam has been “one of the most rewarding chapters of my career”. “From the offshore crews who braved tough conditions, to the robotics and computer vision engineers pushing the boundaries of innovation, to the brilliant minds in marketing, sales, and every team in between — it has been an honour to work alongside you,” he said. Formed from a merger of Rovco and Vaarst in September last year, the company had embarked on a recruitment drive in Edinburgh and Aberdeen as part of expansion efforts. According to its most recent accounts submitted to Companies House, Rovco reported a £8.1 million loss before tax in 2023, following an £8.7m loss in 2022. In 2023, Rovco had 106 employees across offices in Bristol, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Rovco and Vaarst Beam chief executive officer Brian Allen founded the Bristol-based remotely operated vehicle (ROV) firm Rovco in 2016, before launching AI-focused sister company Vaarst in 2021. A Rovco employee. Since launching, the two firms have raised close to £50m from investors across three funding rounds in 2019, 2022 and 2024. In May last year, Rovco pledged to create over 100 new jobs in Scotland alongside expanding to the US and Asia. Backers of the Bristol-headquartered firm included Foresight Group, Equinor, and American defence sector investor IQT. Shock at Beam redundancies Since rebranding as Beam, the company unveiled additions to its offshore fleet including the Quantum EV ROV and the Xplorer autonomous surface vessel (ASV). Beam also launched its Scout

OMV AG and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co. PJSC (Masdar) have signed a letter of intent to collaborate on producing renewable power-generated hydrogen and derivatives. The partnership would involve producing synthetic aviation fuel and other synthetic fuels, as well as synthetic chemicals, in Austria, the United Arab Emirates and northern and central Europe. “By leveraging our combined capabilities, Masdar and OMV are looking to produce green hydrogen and derivatives at industrial scale, supporting decarbonization efforts and building the green hydrogen value chain”, Masdar chief green hydrogen officer Mohammad Abdelqader El Ramahi said in a joint statement Wednesday. Martijn van Koten, OMV executive vice president of fuels, feedstock and chemicals, commented, “Our exploration of new opportunities with Masdar in green hydrogen and sustainable synthetic fuels is aiming to deliver concrete business opportunities, as well as to provide a bold step toward reshaping industries and accelerating decarbonization. Together, we aim to drive innovation and set new standards for sustainable solutions both in Austria and the UAE”. State-owned Masdar has set an aim to reach production of 1 million metric tons of renewable hydrogen and derivatives a year by 2030. OMV, partly owned by the Austrian government, wants to fuel its refineries with green electrolytic hydrogen to help achieve its goal of Scope 1-3 net-zero emissions by 2050. Green electrolytic hydrogen is derived from water using a renewable energy-powered process. Also on Wednesday OMV announced the start of production at its first commercial-scale green hydrogen facility, built at home with an annual capacity of 1,500 metric tons. The plant, located at OMV’s Schwechat refinery, uses a 10-megawatt PEM (polymer electrolyte membrane) electrolyzer powered by hydro, solar and wind energy. The process avoids up to 15,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions a year, equivalent to the CO2 consumption of 2,000 persons per year

In a research note sent to Rigzone late Tuesday by Natasha Kaneva, Head of Global Commodities Strategy at J.P. Morgan, analysts at the company, including Kaneva, said “based on numerous recent discussions with institutional and corporate clients”, they “conclude that the sentiment on oil is neutral to optimistic, particularly within the corporate community”. “Many believe we are in a ‘peak Trump’ phase, suggesting that the worst is behind us and we are now entering a period of de-escalation,” the J.P. Morgan analysts stated in the research note. “There is a prevailing view that the tailwinds from trade deal announcements and the administration’s shift in focus from tariffs to taxes and deregulation will drive oil prices back into the mid-$70s following the recent downturn,” they added. In the note, the analysts said this perspective is evident in investor positioning and the term structure of oil and oil products. “Money managers increased their net-long positions in Nymex WTI to the highest level since late January last week, while short positions in Brent fell by the most since October,” they highlighted. “Brent’s prompt spread hit its strongest level since January, and open interest on Brent climbed to a new record, with Brent September $95 calls trading more than 10,000 times last Tuesday,” they added. “Additionally, the Nymex gasoline crack settled at its highest level since the start of the month, following an eight-week consecutive drop in U.S. stockpiles, and despite concerns related to demand, product cracks in the U.S. continue to remain firmly in backwardation,” they went on to state. The J.P. Morgan analysts noted in the publication that the recent de-escalation in trade talks has reduced the probability of a bear case but warned that “the ‘Trump put’ does not extend to energy, as the administration continues to prioritize lower oil prices

The International Monetary Fund downgraded its growth forecasts for oil exporting countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq, citing escalating global trade tensions and lower energy prices. The IMF cut the 2025 outlook for oil exporters in the region to 2.3 percent, 1.7 percentage points lower than the fund’s forecast from October. The projections were announced by the Washington based lender on Thursday in its latest regional economic outlook. The IMF expects oil prices to decline to an average of $66.9 per barrel this year, nearly $6 below the October projection. It cited strong supply growth from non-OPEC+ countries and subdued demand because of a slowing global economy. Prices for Brent crude have slumped around 15 percent this year to roughly $63 a barrel. That’s been down to the US-led trade wars and OPEC+ announcing a faster-than-expected increase in oil output. Iraq got one of the largest downgrades. The IMF now expects its gross domestic product to contract 1.5 percent this year, rather than rise 4.1 percent, as was the presumption in October. Saudi Arabia’s outlook was lowered to 3 percent from 4.6 percent. While non-oil growth is expected to be bolstered by infrastructure projects and other diversification efforts in the Gulf, the IMF says some government spending may be lowered in line with crude prices. There’s been a “recalibration of investment spending plans resulting from softer oil prices, further amplified by the decline in oil prices from the recent escalation of trade tensions,” said the IMF. All the same, the direct impact of changes in tariffs is “generally limited” on the GCC because of the tariff exemption on energy exports and the limited non-oil exports to the US, the lender said. The whole MENA region is expected to grow 2.6 percent this year, 1.4 percentage points lower than October’s

Subsea 7 S.A. has reported $1.5 billion in revenue for the first quarter (Q1), rising 10 percent compared to the corresponding period a year prior. Robust operational results in Subsea and Conventional, along with elevated activities in Taiwan’s renewables sector, helped counterbalance seasonal slowdowns and vessel upkeep, the company said. Net financing expenses amounted to $17 million, coupled with a net loss from foreign exchange of $28 million, leading to a quarterly net income of $17 million, compared to $29 million for the same period last year, the company said. Q1 order intake was $0.9 billion, including $0.4 billion in new awards and $0.5 billion in escalations, resulting in a book-to-bill ratio of 0.6 times. Backlog at the end of March was $10.8 billion, with $4.8 billion expected in 2025, $3.5 billion in 2026, and $2.5 billion in 2027 and beyond, Subsea 7 said. “Subsea7 had a good start to 2025 with solid financial performance underpinned by strong project execution, which offset a heavy vessel maintenance schedule. The group reported 10 percent revenue growth year-on-year and Adjusted EBITDA margin expansion of 380bps, putting us on track to meet full-year expectations”, John Evans, Chief Executive Officer, said. “Although uncertainty in the global economy has increased in recent months, the outlook for long-term energy demand growth remains positive. Subsea 7’s strategy to focus on long-duration developments in cost-advantaged sectors of the deepwater adds resilience to our subsea business, and our exposure to strategic gas developments, such as the Sakarya field in Türkiye, and new oil provinces such as Namibia gives us further confidence”, Evans added. “In offshore wind, we are positive about the opportunities presented by this year’s CFD allocation round in the UK, where it is expected that the volume of projects sanctioned will nearly double year-on-year. We are well-positioned in

PetroChina Company Limited has reported a revenue of RMB 753.11 billion ($103.5 billion) for the first quarter, with a net income of RMB 46.81 billion ($6.4 billion), up 2.3 percent year-on-year. The company said in a media release that it sustained growth in oil and gas output while bolstering momentum in new energies. It said it enhanced cost management in oil and gas production, as well as improved the structure of its overseas assets. Oil and gas output rose 0.7 percent year-on-year to 467 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe). Domestic production rose 1.2 percent year-on-year to 418 MMboe. Wind and solar power generation grew 94.6 percent to 1.68 billion kilowatt-hours. The oil, gas, and new energies business reported an operating profit of RMB 46.09 billion ($6.3 billion). The company responded to market demand by advancing refining and chemical upgrades, optimizing production plans, and focusing on specialty refined products and new materials to boost high-value-added product sales, it said. The company said it is advancing its refining and chemical operations with key projects Jilin and Guangxi Petrochemical, and Dushanzi Petrochemical Tarim Ethane-to-Ethylene. In Q1 2025, it processed 337 million barrels of crude oil, with refined product output at 28.57 million tons. Ethylene output reached 2.27 million tons, chemical commodities totaled 9.96 million tons, and new materials surged by 37.5 percent year-on-year to 0.80 million tons. The company’s chemicals and new materials business generated an operating profit of RMB 5.39 billion ($741.2 million), supported by improved marketing and steady market share growth. It enhanced coordination in product dispatch and inventory management, adopted flexible marketing strategies, and promoted retail sales, maximizing efficiency across the industrial chain. The company said it has also advanced non-fuel businesses and proprietary products, improved its integrated energy service network, and expanded international trade capabilities. Natural gas marketing