Oil companies declined to bid in a US government auction for drilling rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, as industry interest wanes in a region that’s rich with crude but difficult to develop.   The Interior Department said it received no bids for the auction mandated by Congress before those offers were set to be unsealed Friday. It marked the second time in four years an auction of oil and gas leases in the refuge’s 1.6-million-acre coastal plain flopped, coming after a 2021 sale held under President-elect Donald Trump drew just 11 high bids, most of which were lodged by an Alaska economic development corporation.  Ultimately, all of the leases sold in that 2021 auction were forfeited, with two relinquished and seven others canceled by Interior. The industry’s no-show this week underscores the legal, social and economic challenges of drilling in the Coastal Plain, despite US Geological Survey estimates the region might hold between 4.3 billion and 11.8 billion barrels of technically recoverable crude.  “The lack of interest from oil companies in development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge reflects what we and they have known all along: There are some places too special and sacred to put at risk with oil and gas drilling,” said Laura Daniel-Davis, the acting deputy Interior secretary.  Congress in 2017 mandated two coastal plain oil auctions by late 2024 as a way to pay for the Trump-era tax cuts, based on arguments the sales and oil development would yield more than $2 billion in government revenue over a decade. But the lackluster industry interest in the resulting sales has “exposed the false promises made in the Tax Act,” Daniel-Davis said.  The failed sale also sets up a challenge for the incoming president. Trump has vowed to “drill, baby, drill” and unleash domestic energy production — even at the cost

As banks redefine their net zero commitments, the cost of capital is rising, which could hamper decarbonisation efforts. The UK’s market review of transition financing recommended new benchmarks for financing decarbonisation projects, but has been accused of a lack of clear “progress”. Banks are withdrawing from the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), a United Nations group to align lending with net-zero goals, following pressure from regulators. Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan left the net-zero alliance this month, following the recent withdrawal of other big banks including Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. The mass exit of banks from a pivotal international climate alliance comes amid growing scrutiny of their commitments to environmental, social and governance pledges. The Republican-led House judiciary committee wrote to 60 asset managers in December to ask them to justify what Republicans described as “woke” climate pledges. In July, Republican committee chair Jim Jordan sent letters to key members of the NZBA, including BlackRock and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, over what he described as the “potentially harmful effects” of a ‘coordinated’ agreement to decarbonise assets. The NZBA operates alongside the Glasgow Financial Alliance, which is run by former Bank of England governor Mark Carney, the UN’s special envoy for climate action. © BloombergFormer Bank of England governor Mark Carney. ‘Messy’ “The energy transition – it is messy,” said Bruce Huber, chief executive of Alexa Capital, a London-based independent investment bank with an office in New York that focuses on energy infrastructure. “In that post-pandemic period, we’ve had a whole bunch of energy transition funds raised under Article 9, which means that they’re prohibited from investing in anything but the low-carbon economy.” In Huber’s view, the mass exit from the NZBA is “more about keeping the capital flowing into conventional energy groups”, especially

Bill Petrie, “oilfield legend” and stalwart of the oil and gas industry, has died aged 70. Having worked in the industry in the north-east since the 1970s, he is perhaps best known for his time at Wireline Engineering. Tributes have flooded in for the firm’s former chairman, managing director, and co-owner. Ellon-born Orcadian who made Balmedie home for decades Born in 1954 in Ellon, Bill’s family roots were in Orkney, but he was the only one of six siblings to be born after they moved to mainland Scotland. He grew up just outside Perth. In 1972 he went to Aberdeen University to study physics, chemistry, geography and geology. © Supplied by suppliedBill Petrie with his wife of 48 years, Jess. There he met his wife Jess, whom he married in 1976 in Lossiemouth. The couple, who went on to have two sons, never left the Balmedie area after settling there in 1986. Oil and gas breakthrough led to Middle East move After gaining diplomas in Business Management and Marketing from Robert Gordon’s Institute of Technology, and faced with a difficult labour market, Bill secured a labouring job with John Fleming Timber Merchants in 1977. However, it wasn’t long before his potential was spotted. A move to an office job gave him the experience needed to begin his business career. Bill finally got his breakthrough in the oil and gas industry in 1978, with The Analysts, a subsidiary of Schlumberger. © Supplied by suppliedBill as a young father after returning from Egypt. In 1982 he and Jess moved to Egypt where Bill spent a year setting up a new base for Middle East operations in Cairo. Wireline opened up world of opportunities for Bill In the 1980s and 90s Bill went on to work with Geo Vann and Neyrfor Weir, among

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), decreased by 1.0 million barrels from the week ending December 27 to the week ending January 3, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) highlighted in its latest weekly petroleum status report. Crude oil stocks, excluding the SPR, stood at 414.6 million barrels on January 3, 415.6 million barrels on December 27, and 432.4 million barrels on January 5, 2024, the report revealed. Crude oil in the SPR came in at 393.8 million barrels on January 3, 393.6 million barrels on December 27, and 355.0 million barrels on January 5, 2024, the report showed. Total petroleum stocks – including crude oil, total motor gasoline, fuel ethanol, kerosene type jet fuel, distillate fuel oil, residual fuel oil, propane/propylene, and other oils – stood at 1.628 billion barrels on January 3, the report revealed. This figure was up 5.3 million barrels week on week and up 13.0 million barrels year on year, the report outlined. “At 414.6 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about six percent below the five year average for this time of year,” the EIA stated in its latest weekly petroleum status report. “Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 6.3 million barrels from last week and are about one percent below the five year average for this time of year. Finished gasoline inventories decreased last week while blending components inventories increased last week,” it added. “Distillate fuel inventories increased by 6.1 million barrels last week and are about four percent below the five year average for this time of year. Propane/ propylene inventories decreased by 2.5 million barrels from last week and are nine percent above the five year average for this time of year,” it continued. In the report, the EIA noted that U.S. crude

OPAL Fuels Inc. has agreed to supply renewable natural gas (RNG) to five fueling stations to an integrated logistics solutions provider. OPAL Fuels said in a media release that the five stations are currently under construction and will also be serviced by the company under existing long-term agreements. The company said that the new station supply agreement builds upon a decade-long collaboration between the companies in the United States. The six-year RNG supply agreement anticipates a combined annual volume of approximately 12 million gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) once all stations are operational, OPAL Fuels said. Two of the new stations are set to be commissioned this month with the remaining three stations over the next six to twelve months, it said. The combined annual volume across the five fueling stations lands at 60 million GGEs. “This significant agreement with a leading freight logistics provider underscores both their and OPAL’s commitment to decarbonize heavy-duty trucking through RNG”, Adam Comora, Co-CEO of OPAL Fuels, said. “With its proven financial and sustainability benefits, the demand for RNG as a diesel alternative is only set to grow in the coming years. We are thrilled to leverage our vertically integrated platform to provide a ‘Cleaner, Cheaper, Now’ fuel solution helping fleets lower both their operating costs and their carbon footprint”. OPAL Fuels specializes in the capture and conversion of biogas into low-carbon intensity RNG and renewable electricity. The company is also a major player in the marketing and distribution of RNG to heavy-duty trucking and other hard-to-decarbonize industrial sectors. For the first nine months of 2024, the company sold 54.7 million GGEs as transport fuel, an 81 percent increase compared to the prior-year period. Its Fuel Station Services segment sold, dispensed, and serviced an aggregate of 110.3 million GGEs of transport fuel for the nine

Seoul and Washington on Wednesday finalized an agreement on civil nuclear energy cooperation and principles concerning nuclear exports. The Memorandum of Understanding on Principles Concerning Nuclear Exports and Cooperation “reflects the two countries’ mutual dedication to maximizing the peaceful uses of nuclear energy under the highest international standards of nuclear safety, security, safeguards, and nonproliferation”, a joint statement said. The pact builds on over 70 years of cooperation in nuclear power between the allies and will bolster each country’s export controls on civil nuclear technology, according to the statement published online by the United States Department of Energy (DOE). “It will also provide a pathway to help both countries keep up with the emergence of new technologies in this sector”, the statement added. The U.S. is also building civil nuclear cooperation with Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union. In April 2024 the US DOE and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology agreed to cooperate on research and the development of the supply chain for the societal deployment of fusion energy. The seal emanates from a 2013 agreement between Japan and the U.S. for research and development in science and technology (STA). The partnership will “address the scientific and technical challenges of delivering commercially viable fusion energy for various fusion systems, through activities conducted pursuant to the STA”, said a joint statement April 10, 2024. In March 2024 at a meeting of the US-EU Energy Council, Washington and Brussels agreed to explore cooperation to curb the globe’s reliance on Russia in the nuclear energy supply chain. “The United States and the EU intend to intensify cooperation to reduce dependency on Russia for nuclear materials and fuel cycle services, and support ongoing efforts by affected EU Member States to diversify nuclear supplies, as appropriate”, said a joint