The Texas oil and gas industry continued a hot streak in 2024 with production volumes surpassing records that were set in 2023, the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) said in a statement posted on its website recently. In the statement, the RRC noted that it tallies production reports submitted by operators and outlined that the latest reports show that oil production came in at 2,003,844,281 barrels, and natural gas production hit 12.62 trillion cubic feet, last year. The RRC highlighted in the statement that this was the first time oil “surpassed the two billion threshold”. The RRC statement pointed out that Texas’ top five crude oil and condensate production years came in 2024, at 2.00 billion barrels, 2023, at 1.99 billion barrels, 2022, at 1.87 billion barrels, 2019, at 1.86 billion barrels, and 2020, at 1.77 billion barrels. Texas’ top five gas production years, including gas well and casinghead gas, were seen in 2024, at 12.62 trillion cubic feet, 2023, at 12.30 trillion cubic feet, 2022, at 11.43 trillion cubic feet, 2021, at 10.51 trillion cubic feet, and 2020, at 10.24 trillion cubic feet, the statement highlighted. “These latest records further demonstrate Texas’s position as a global leader in oil and gas production,” RRC Chairman Christi Craddick said in the statement. RRC Commissioner Wayne Christian said in the statement, “Texas oil and gas powers the state, nation, and the world both with energy and economics”. “The Texas ‘Economic Miracle’ happens because of oil and gas, which brings in hundreds of billions of dollars that has financially enriched the Lone Star State’s education, infrastructure, health care, and more,” he added. “Energy independence is key to a secure and prosperous nation, and Texas’ production is vital to making that a reality,” Christian continued. RRC Commissioner Jim Wright said in the statement, “yet another

BP PLC is initiating a marketing process to divest its retail sites, associated fleet and electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in Austria, as well as its stake in the Linz fuel terminal. “This decision is the latest example of bp’s strategy to reshape and focus its downstream businesses”, the British energy major said in an online statement. BP previously exited the retail sector in Switzerland and Turkey and recently initiated retail and downstream divestments in Germany and the Netherlands. The Austria sale includes over 260 retail sites, of which about 120 are owned by BP, and the associated fleet; EV charging assets including those under development; and BP’s interest in the company operating the Linz fuel terminal non-operated joint venture. BP plans to complete the sale this year, subject to regulatory approvals. “Over recent years we have grown the business to become number two major branded retailer in the market”, said Emma Delaney, executive vice president for customers and products at BP. “As bp now looks to focus downstream and reshape our portfolio, we believe that a new owner will be best placed to unlock the business’s full potential”. On February 6, 2025, BP announced a marketing process for the potential sale of Ruhr Oel GmbH-BP Gelsenkirchen (ROG), which operates in Germany and the Netherlands. Sale completion is targeted 2025. “bp needs to continually manage its global portfolio as we position to grow as a simpler, more focused, higher-value company”, Delaney said then. With a workforce of about 2,000 employees, ROG’s German operations include 2 plants in Horst and Scholven in Gelsenkirchen that form a refining and petrochemical site. The refinery can process up to approximately 12 million metric tons of petroleum a year. ROG also owns the Bottrop tank farm, DHC Solvent Chemie GmbH and Nord-West Oelleitung GmbH, which

Empire Petroleum Corp. has posted a $16.2 million net loss for 2024, affected by operational challenges on the initial production optimization associated with enhanced oil recovery (EOR) efforts in the Starbuck drilling program in North Dakota. I had recorded a net loss of $12.5 million for 2023. Empire said in a media release that its total product revenue in 2024 reached $44 million, $4 million above 2023. The Starbuck drilling program helped the company increase oil sales volumes. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was $0.7 million for 2024, compared to negative $2.4 million in EBITDA for 2023. “As an emerging, agile company, Empire Petroleum has a unique ability to pivot quickly as we receive new data and insights. This flexibility is a tremendous advantage in the dynamic energy sector, allowing us to efficiently allocate capital and resources to the most promising opportunities where they will have the greatest impact”, chair Phil Mulacek said. Empire said that during the fourth quarter of 2024, it obtained authorization from the North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) to transform two additional oil wells into injectors, further progressing its enhanced oil recovery strategy. The previous conversion of three wells resulted in a reduction of its short-term output but has improved prospects for long-term production growth, according to the company. In February 2025, Empire also said it had secured NDIC approval for five new drilling permits for horizontal wells. 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

Dive Brief: Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have called on eight environmental organizations that received grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to submit documents, communications and other internal records related to the funding they received. The probe, announced Thursday, is spearheaded by Committee Chair James Comer and seeks to investigate the funding disbursed to recipients under the Biden administration’s EPA, including grants from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The $27 billion fund was established as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, the former president’s landmark climate law. Comer said in his March 27 letters that the committee is “examining potential entanglements or conflicts of interests” between the environmental nonprofits and the Biden administration’s EPA. All eight groups received grants collectively worth $20 billion from the GGRF — a financial commitment Republicans have dubbed an “unprecedented arrangement.” Dive Insight: Comer sent letters to Climate United, Coalition for Green Capital, Power Forward Communities, Opportunity Finance Network, Inclusiv, Justice Climate Fund, Appalachian Community Capital and Native CDFI Network on Thursday. The letters requested that all eight groups provide information on employees, salaries and communication that took place between them and the former EPA administration related to GGRF grants by April 10. Earlier this month, the EPA — under Trump-nominated Lee Zeldin — froze access to the $20 billion grants committed through the GGRF, leaving recipients in a precarious financial situation. Climate United Fund, a grantee and one of the eight organizations that received a letter from Comer Thursday, said at the time the abrupt halt on funding impacted its ability to make payroll for employees and disburse funding to its contracted borrowers. In his March 3 letter to the EPA’s Acting Inspector General Nicole Murley, Zeldin said the structure of the IRA-backed fund was fraudulent and made

Dive Brief: Pairing natural gas generation with carbon capture could provide large data centers with another low-carbon option for reliable, off-grid electrical generation, according to a white paper from carbon management firm Carbon Direct. Integrating carbon capture with new gas-fired generation could deliver power at $70-100/MWh, putting it within the same range as other options for 24-7 low-carbon electricity, according to Carbon Direct. Large data centers are expanding their search for electrical supply that is not subject to interconnection delays, and carbon capture is one option they’ve considered, said Colin McCormick, a principal scientist at Carbon Direct. Dive Insight: Large AI data centers, some of which can draw 1 GW of electricity or more, need reliable 24-7 electrical supply, and their operators don’t want to wait for interconnection and permitting delays, and they prefer to minimize their carbon emissions, McCormick said. That makes these operators a market force that could put carbon capture on the map, he said.  Following inquiries from clients looking to build new data centers, Carbon Direct crunched the numbers on the cost of behind-the-meter gas generation with carbon capture, McCormick said. The company’s clients were intrigued by the potential time to deployment — new gas generation can be brought online in less than 24 months in some cases, he said. They were less familiar with carbon capture and its limitations — and there will be some limitations, McCormick said, particularly around the storage and transportation of waste carbon in regions where the appropriate pipelines don’t exist, but the final numbers look promising. The 45Q tax credits created by the Inflation Reduction Act for carbon capture and sequestration bring the cost of integrating such systems into new gas plants down to reasonable levels, McCormick said, potentially bringing the cost of generation from a new plant with carbon capture

Dive Brief: Nuclear power’s long-term role in the U.S. electricity generation mix depends on still-unresolved questions about plant economics, technology selection, federal policy and financial support, fuel availability, waste disposal and public attitudes, analysts for strategic consultancy ICF said in a whitepaper released Thursday.  Despite interest from utilities and large electricity consumers that has led to multiple planned reactor restarts and several gigawatt-scale partnerships between nuclear companies and offtakers, the industry faces “significant challenges and limitations that will determine whether it will expand its role as a core technology underpinning the U.S. energy system,” the authors said. Despite higher revenue potential than most competing technologies, capital costs for new nuclear plants could range from $456/kW-year to $863/kW-year, significantly above those for wind, solar, gas combustion turbines and 4-hour battery energy storage systems, they said. Dive Insight: Since 2023, the owners of three recently retired nuclear power plants — the 800-MW Palisades plant in Michigan, 835-MW Crane Clean Energy Center in Pennsylvania and 601-MW Duane Arnold plant in Iowa — have announced plans to resume operations. The Pennsylvania restart is supported by a 20-year power purchase agreement between Microsoft and Constellation Energy. Meanwhile, “hyperscale” tech companies like Amazon, Meta and Google have inked tentative partnerships with advanced nuclear technology developers. Data center operator Switch and steelmaker Nucor have shown interest in advanced nuclear as well. In December, Switch and Oklo announced a 20-year, 12-GW nonbinding “master power agreement” through which the advanced nuclear company would develop, build and operate nuclear plants to power Switch facilities. “Should these new investments in nuclear energy come to pass, they could make a dent in the growing electricity demand. But a nuclear renaissance isn’t written in stone,” whitepaper authors Ian Bowen, Dino Vivanco, Vinay Gupta, George Katsigiannakis and Shanthi Muthiah said. Technology selection and design