Norwegian energy major Equinor ASA has expanded its collaboration with HCL Technologies Limited (HCLTech) to cover Equinor’s IT landscape across several key strategic areas. The two companies agreed to accelerate Equinor’s digital transformation through the acceleration of cloud migration and standardization of services across operations. Furthermore, HCLTech said it will enhance Equinor’s cyber resilience and network performance, improve workplace experience through automation, and enable advanced user experiences with technologies like augmented reality (AR).   “We’re pleased to continue our long-standing collaboration with Equinor”, Sandeep Kumar Saxena, Executive Vice President, HCLTech, said. “This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to innovation and sustainability”. Over the last ten years, HCLTech has assisted with the company’s international growth, infrastructure developments, and cybersecurity enhancements. This partnership has progressed from managed services to a strategic alliance that aligns with Equinor’s broader digital and business goals, HCLTech said. Earlier HCLTech was recognized as a Responsible AI Partner by Microsoft. “This citation validates HCLTech’s AI offerings as meeting high standards of responsibility and security, built with robust guardrails, enabling compliance, reducing bias, and enhancing explainability”, the company said last month. The company said responsible AI is integrated throughout HCLTech’s GenAI solutions and services, including its service transformation platform, AI Force; its value stream innovation platform, AI Foundry; its physical AI engineering-driven development capability, AI Engineering; and its global experiential spaces, AI Labs – ensuring that governance is incorporated from the design phase through to deployment. To contact the author, email [email protected] WHAT DO YOU THINK? Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed. MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR

Angola raised the diesel price by 33%, the third increase this year as authorities press ahead with fuel-subsidy cuts that have been encouraged by the International Monetary Fund. The price will rise to 400 kwanzas ($0.43) per liter on Friday from 300 kwanza previously, the Petroleum Derivatives Regulatory Institute said in a statement late Thursday. The increase is part of a “gradual adjustment of fuel prices,” it said. Previous hikes were announced in March and April. The IRDP said prices of other fuels, including gasoline and liquefied-petroleum gas, will remain unchanged in Angola, Africa’s third-largest oil producer. The IMF said in February that Angola should do more to eliminate subsidies that cost about $3 billion last year — similar to the amount the government spent on health and education last year. The latest hike follows an IMF-World Bank review of Angola’s financial system that ended last month. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

Key OPEC+ members brought forward to Saturday an online meeting where they’re set to consider a fourth bumper oil production increase, delegates said.  Saudi Arabia and its partners have been discussing another output hike of 411,000 barrels a day for August as their base-case scenario as they seek to recoup lost market share. The video-conference was moved one day earlier because of scheduling issues, said the officials, who asked not to be identified since the change isn’t yet public.   The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has roiled markets in recent months by speeding up the return of halted output, despite faltering demand and an impending surplus. Their strategy shift is dragging crude prices lower, offering relief to consumers and playing into calls from US President Donald Trump for cheaper fuel. Eight major OPEC+ members have already agreed to restart 411,000 barrels a day in May, June and July, triple the rate they initially scheduled. Officials have said that Riyadh is eager to revive more idle production as quickly as possible to regain market share ceded to US shale drillers and other rivals. The kingdom’s pivot away from years of supply restraint aimed at shoring up crude prices has upended traders’ assumptions about what role the OPEC+ alliance will continue to play in world oil markets. Brent crude futures traded near $68 a barrel in London on Friday. The international benchmark plunged 12% last week as a tentative truce between Israel and Iran allayed fears over the threat to Middle East energy exports.    Further OPEC+ increases threaten to create a glut. Global oil inventories have been building at a brisk clip of around 1 million barrels a day in recent months as demand cools in China and supplies continue to swell across the Americas.  Markets are headed for a substantial surplus later this year,

Methane emissions tracking satellite MethaneSAT lost contact with mission operations, and it is “likely not recoverable,” the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) said in a statement. “After pursuing all options to restore communications, we learned this morning that the satellite has lost power,” the EDF said. “The engineering team is conducting a thorough investigation into the loss of communication. This is expected to take time. We will share what we learn,” the nonprofit organization added. Launched in March 2024, MethaneSAT had been collecting methane emissions data over the past year. It was one of the most advanced methane tracking satellites in space, measuring methane emissions in oil and gas producing regions across the world, according to the statement. “The mission has been a remarkable success in terms of scientific and technological accomplishment, and for its lasting influence on both industry and regulators worldwide,” the EDF said. “Thanks to MethaneSAT, we have gained critical insight about the distribution and volume of methane being released from oil and gas production areas. We have also developed an unprecedented capability to interpret the measurements from space and translate them into volumes of methane released. This capacity will be valuable to other missions,” the organization continued. MethaneSAT had the ability to monitor both high-emitting methane sources and small sources spread over a wide area, according to the release. It is designed to measure regions at intervals under seven days, regularly monitoring roughly 50 major regions accounting for more than 80 percent of global oil and gas production, according to an earlier statement. “The advanced spectrometers developed specifically for MethaneSAT met or exceeded all expectations throughout the mission. In combination with the mission algorithms and software, we showed that the highly sensitive instrument could see total methane emissions, even at low levels, over wide areas, including both

A new analysis piece published on the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) website recently, which was penned by Mickey Francis, Program Manager and Lead Economist for the EIA’s State Energy Data System, has outlined how U.S. energy use has changed since the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. The piece highlighted that, according to the EIA’s monthly energy review, in 2024, the U.S. consumed about 94 quadrillion British thermal units (quads) of energy. Fossil fuels – namely petroleum, natural gas, and coal – made up 82 percent of total U.S. energy consumption last year, the piece pointed out, adding that non-fossil fuel energy accounted for the other 18 percent. Petroleum remained the most-consumed fuel in the United States, the piece stated, outlining that this has been the case for the past 75 years. It also highlighted that, last year, nuclear energy consumption exceeded coal consumption for the first time ever. The analysis piece went on to note that, when the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, wood was the largest source of energy in the United States. “Used for heating, cooking, and lighting, wood remained the largest U.S. energy source until the late 1800s, when coal consumption became more common,” it added. “Wood energy is still consumed, mainly by industrial lumber and paper plants that burn excess wood waste to generate electricity,” it continued. The piece went on to highlight that coal was the largest source of U.S. energy for about 65 years, from 1885 until 1950. “Early uses of coal included many purposes that are no longer common, such as in stoves for home heating and in engines for trains and ships. Since the 1960s, nearly all coal consumed in the United States has been for electricity generation,” the piece said. The analysis piece went on to state that petroleum has

Subsea services firm Ocean Installer has been awarded a fast-track engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract by Var Energi for further development of the Balder Phase VI project for the further development of the Balder area in the North Sea. This project is part of Var Energi’s hub development strategy in the Balder area, which is centered around the newly installed Jotun floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO), Ocean Installer said in a news release. Ocean Installer said it will execute subsea umbilicals, risers, and flowlines (SURF) activities including the fabrication and installation of flexible flowlines and umbilicals. Financial details of the contract were not disclosed. The project is scheduled to deliver first oil by the end of 2026, reinforcing both companies’ shared commitment to efficient development of subsea tie-backs on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), according to the release. “Var Energi is a key customer for Ocean Installer and the wider Moreld group. It’s exciting to see that Ocean Installer signs a new contract within the same week that the Jotun FPSO starts producing first oil as part of the Balder Future project, in which Ocean Installer has played a key role,” Moreld CEO Geir Austigard said. The contract is called off under the strategic partnership contract entered into with Vår Energi in June 2022. It is also a continuation of a multi-year collaboration between Vår Energi and Ocean Installer in the Balder area, where Ocean Installer has been engaged since 2019, the release said. “We are happy that Vår Energi continues to place their trust in us. Subsea tiebacks have been the core of our business for 14 years, and as the NCS transitions to more marginal fields, our expertise is valuable in enabling faster and more cost-efficient developments. Working together with Vår Energi to utilize