In a blog posted on the GasBuddy website on Tuesday, Patrick De Haan, the company’s head of petroleum analysis, said, “as we move into the heart of summer”, he believes “we’re likely to see a relatively stable stretch for gas prices as refinery maintenance wraps up”. “Don’t expect the national average to rise above $3.30 per gallon, nor drop much below $3 for now,” he added. However, De Haan warned in the blog that several factors could still influence prices in the weeks ahead, “including growing uncertainty around the upcoming hurricane season”. “We’ll also be watching OPEC+’s meeting this week to see if they boost oil production again for July as well,” De Haan said. The blog noted that the U.S. average price of gasoline has risen, then fallen, and remains just below its week ago level at $3.13 per gallon, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 12 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country. “The national average is up 3.1 cents from a month ago and is 43.0 cents per gallon lower than a year ago,” the blog added. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest gasoline fuel update, which was released on May 28, showed that the U.S. regular gasoline price averaged $3.120 per gallon on May 12, $3.173 per gallon on May 19, and $3.160 per gallon on May 26. The May 26 price is down $0.417 compared to the year ago price, the fuel update outlined. Of the five Petroleum Administration for Defense District (PADD) regions highlighted in the EIA’s latest fuel update, the West Coast was shown to have the highest U.S. regular gasoline price as of May 26, at $4.258 per gallon. The Gulf Coast was shown to have the lowest U.S. regular gasoline price as of May

Equinor ASA has entered into underwriting agreements for the sale of debt instruments with a total principal amount of $1.75 billion. The offering consists of $550 million notes due June 2028 with a 4.25 percent interest, $400 million notes due September 2030 with a 4.5 percent interest and $800 million notes due June 2035 with a 5.125 percent interest. The interests are payable semi-annually, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday. The unsecured notes will be issued in denominations of $1,000 and integral multiples of $1,000 in excess thereof. The underwriters are Barclays Capital Inc., BofA Securities Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and JP Morgan Securities LLC. Equinor Energy AS is guarantor. The offering is scheduled to close June 3. “[T]he net proceeds from the sale of securities will be used for general corporate purposes, which may include working capital, the repayment of existing debt (including debt incurred in connection with acquisitions) or the financing of acquisitions”, Equinor told the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. As of the end of the first quarter the Norwegian majority state-owned company had a current finance debt including lease liabilities of $7.03 billion. Non-current finance debt including lease liabilities stood at $22.74 billion, of which $21.16 billion is unsecured and $1.58 billion secured. Total equity was $45.86 billion. Total finance debt and equity was $75.63 billion. Last week Equinor and Polenergia reached financial close securing over EUR 3 billion for the Baltyk II offshore wind project and over EUR 3 billion for Baltyk III (around $6.76 billion in total). The wind projects on the Polish side of the Baltic Sea will have a combined capacity of 1,440 megawatts (720 MW each), enough to power two million Polish homes, according to the 50-50 co-venturers. Full commercial generation is expected 2028. “The

In a report sent to Rigzone on Wednesday by Emily Ashford, an energy analyst at Standard Chartered Bank, analysts at the bank, including Ashford and the bank’s commodities research head Paul Horsnell, said they expect the eight OPEC+ producers who contributed additional voluntary curbs “to continue with the accelerated unwinding of the November 2023 tranche of 2.22 million barrels per day of voluntary cuts”. “The eight OPEC+ producers who contributed additional voluntary cuts are scheduled to meet virtually on 31 May to discuss production strategy for July loading programs,” the analysts highlighted in the report. “Adding a further 411,000 barrels per day to targets for July would bring the cumulative unwinding over four months to 1.4 million barrels per day,” they added. The analysts noted in the report that the increase in targets has not translated into barrel for barrel increases in OPEC+ output. They outlined that this is “partly because of output constraints in some countries and partly because for the main overproducers the increase simply cuts the extent of the overshoot above target”. “We estimate total OPEC+ crude oil output was 40.994 million barrels per day in March, the last month before the unwind began,” the analysts said in the report. “We expect it to be 41.899 million barrels per day in July assuming the 411,000 barrel per day increase goes ahead, just 905,000 barrels per day higher despite the 1.4 million barrel per day relaxation in targets,” they added. In the report, the Standard Chartered Bank analysts forecast that the global market will be “broadly balanced in both Q2 and Q3, even if the November 2023 tranche of voluntary cuts is fully unwound by the end of Q3”. “We expect the call on OPEC+ crude oil and inventories to average 42.1 million barrels per day in Q3,

Exxon Mobil Corp. has agreed to enter exclusive negotiations with North Atlantic for the Canadian company’s potential takeover of a refining and petrochemical complex in France. The 1,500-acre site in Gravenchon, Normandy hosts the second-biggest refinery in France and one of the largest integrated chemical complexes in Western Europe, North Atlantic noted. With two distillation trains, several conversion units and associated logistics facilities, the site can process up to 230,000 barrels a day of crude and other feedstocks. The planned transaction involves the divestment of an 82.89 percent stake in Esso Société Anonyme Française SA (Esso SAF), which manages the refinery, and 100 percent of ExxonMobil Chemical France SAS (EMCF), which manages the site’s petrochemical operations, from ExxonMobil France Holding SAS to North Atlantic France SAS. All affected employees, about 1,350, would be retained by the prospective new owner on the same employment terms, according to an online statement from ExxonMobil. “ExxonMobil has been operating in France for over 120 years and we plan to maintain a significant commercial presence with the Esso brand at around 750 retail sites across the country”, said Tanya Bryja, senior vice president of ExxonMobil Product Solutions. “France remains an important market for us, and we will continue to support customers with sales of chemicals, finished lubricants, base stocks, synthetics, and other specialty products as well”. ExxonMobil will keep trademark registrations and other intellectual property rights owned by Esso SAF and EMCF. “ExxonMobil continually evaluates its business globally and the proposed sale is aligned with its business strategy”, the company said. “Europe is an important region for ExxonMobil where there will continue to be a meaningful presence”. ExxonMobil is high-grading its portfolio by selling non-strategic assets. The planned sale to North Atlantic follows ExxonMobil’s sale last year of the Fos-sur-Mer refinery in France to a Trafigura consortium,

OPEC+ ratified group-wide production quotas for this year and next, ahead of a decision by eight key members at the weekend whether to bolster output again in July. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners reaffirmed their longer-term targets for 2025 and 2026, which underpin its current supply restraints, according to a statement after a video conference on Wednesday.  A more market-sensitive discussion on whether to continue their 411,000 barrel-a-day hikes, which have sent prices crashing over the past two months, will be finalized in a call on Saturday, according to delegates who asked not to be identified. The sequencing of the meetings underscores how oil quotas for the full 22-nation OPEC+ alliance have receded in importance over the past two years, as actual supply adjustments are carried out by sub-group of eight countries, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia. It was these nations that shattered market expectations on April 3, when they announced their first super-sized hike — triple the volume originally scheduled. The shock move, unveiled just hours after President Donald Trump launched a global trade war, helped send crude futures to a four-year low below $60 a barrel in the ensuing days, marking a rupture with years of efforts by the coalition to try to shore up prices.   Brent contracts have since stabilized near $65 as Trump has reversed some of his trade tariffs.  OPEC+ delegates have offered a range of explanations for the policy reversal: from satisfying summer fuel demand to punishing over-producing members, and from placating President Trump to recouping lost market share. At Wednesday’s gathering, they also agreed to “develop a mechanism” for setting production baselines in 2027 based on their maximum sustainable capacity, according to the statement. The 22-nation alliance will hold its next full ministerial meeting on Nov. 30. Its Joint Ministerial

Brad Meissner is director of product management at Generac. Global energy demand is on the rise and will continue to experience significant growth — particularly electricity use, which is expected to grow at an annual rate of around 4%, according to the International Energy Agency.  As this trend persists, driven by factors like the electrification of transportation and the rising demand for data centers, microgrids are emerging as essential solutions to address the challenges of modern energy systems. These decentralized systems self-generate, store and distribute power intelligently, alleviating strain on traditional grids. However, while the potential of microgrids is vast, they are still largely fragmented and custom-designed, limiting scalability. The integration of artificial intelligence is transforming this space, enabling more efficient, resilient and secure energy management solutions. The future of energy isn’t just about generation — it’s about intelligent, adaptive networks that maximize reliability and sustainability. Is your business ready to embrace this shift?  Let’s unpack how AI-powered microgrids are overhauling energy systems — optimizing distribution, enhancing resilience and reducing reliance on traditional grids. Current state of microgrid projects and the need for clear standards Today, microgrid projects are mostly tailored to specific needs, making them bespoke solutions that vary widely in design and operation. While this customization meets particular requirements, it creates a fragmented market where the integration of various energy resources (e.g., solar, battery storage and backup generators) is often cobbled together. This lack of standardization leads to inefficiencies and higher costs, limiting scalability and interoperability. The lack of a cohesive framework makes it difficult to achieve the kind of seamless integration needed for large-scale deployment. For example, integrating renewable energy sources into microgrids, while essential for sustainability, adds complexity when each project uses different hardware, software and operational models. To address these challenges, the industry needs clear