Brazil’s state-controlled oil producer Petrobras approved dividends slightly below expectations amid a trade war that has created economic uncertainty and undermined oil prices. Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the company is formally known, will pay 11.72 billion reais ($2.1 billion) in first-quarter dividends, it said in a filing Monday. Expectations were for a $2.2 billion payout, according to an average of six analyst forecasts reviewed by Bloomberg.  Brazil’s oil giant has been showering shareholders with robust dividends even though the policy has come under political attack and contributed to the downfall of the company’s previous chief executive officer last year. Investors have been concerned that rising capital expenditures, which surpassed guidance in 2024, could continue and limit future payouts.   Petrobras is sticking with its plans to expand oil production, along with other international oil majors including Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and Shell Plc, despite a decline in crude prices during April and a decision by OPEC+ to crank up output in June. Unlike US shale operators who need more than $60 a barrel to cover costs, Petrobras’s breakeven price is $28 a barrel.  The Rio de Janeiro-based producer reported adjusted earnings before items of 61.1 billion reais, slightly below the 62.2 billion-real Bloomberg consensus estimate. Net income was above expectations at 35.2 billion reais, 48.6 percent up from the year ago period, thanks to higher oil production and a more favorable exchange rate, the company said.     The $4.1 billion in investments was 29 percent below the previous quarter when it had “atypical” spending related to the giant Buzios offshore field, and the decline may bring relief to the market. Still, the company maintained its spending plan and is pursuing a similar strategy to other oil majors including Exxon Mobil and Chevron, who are sticking with investment plans despite lower oil

Energy Secretary Gillian Martin warns more north-east firms could follow Harbour Energy’s job cuts, unless the windfall tax is scrapped. The senior SNP politician said the UK Labour government must “think seriously” about ending the Energy Profits Levy. Her remarks come days after Harbour Energy announced 250 job losses – a quarter of its onshore workforce in Aberdeen. The firm blamed the UK Government’s windfall tax, introduced by the Conservatives in 2022 and raised and extended to 2030 by Labour. Speaking to the P&J during a visit to Torry on Monday, Ms Martin said energy firms have been warning for some time that they need to see an end to the policy because it’s “shaking business confidence”. ‘More might follow’ “The Labour government need to think seriously about bringing an end to the EPL or else more might follow”, she added. “Oil and gas companies and energy companies have been warning the Labour government about the EPL being something that’s going to put investors off; that is going to put their footprint in the north-east in jeopardy, and the Labour government seriously need to listen to that.” Conservatives hit out at Ms Martin’s party last week over repeated delays to publication of its energy strategy. The draft form, which was published more than two years ago and put out to consultation, includes a “presumption against” new oil and gas licences. The energy secretary, who was touring a heat from waste facility, said the government has yet to reach a judgment on new exploration. In January, the Supreme Court ruled the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields were granted unlawfully and their owners must seek fresh approval from the UK Government. Ms Martin added: “People want to know the Scottish Government’s view on the reserved issue of licensing. “The Scottish Government does not

More than half of all MSPs at Holyrood have joined forces with MPs to call for the chancellor to immediately back a major carbon capture project in Scotland. The huge cross-party group – which includes 71 MSPs and 10 MPs – is urging Rachel Reeves to deliver the money needed to progress the Acorn carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Aberdeenshire. Reeves has been warned that any further delay to Acorn “will jeopardise Scotland’s industrial decarbonisation, put significant private sector investment at risk and compromise our energy security”. Carbon capture is the process of trapping emissions produced by the burning of fossil fuels. The Acorn project would take emissions from the country’s biggest polluters and store them in depleted gas reservoirs under the North Sea. Tuesday’s letter to the chancellor says the Acorn project is needed as the country’s green energy transition is failing to happen fast enough to make up for the decline in the North Sea oil and gas sector. “Acorn is Scotland’s only at-scale CO2 transport and storage solution,” it says. “Without it there is no viable route for Scottish industry to decarbonise.” The letter, which includes politicians from the SNP, Labour, Tories and Lib Dems, says the project could generate £17.7 billion for the UK economy, create 15,000 new jobs and protect 18,000 existing jobs. Signatories include former first ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf, Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay, Lib Dem MSP Willie Rennie and Livingston Labour MP Gregor Poynton. The letter states: “If the UK is serious about decarbonisation, economic growth and energy security, we must move faster and more decisively on CCS. “We urge you to take the necessary action to ensure that Acorn is delivered at pace.” The letter also says a decision to fast-track Acorn now could quickly enable SSE’s

ITM Power has been selected to provide electrolysis technology to Uniper’s Humber H2ub (Green) project in Killingholme, in North Lincolnshire. ITM has been tasked with supplying six 20MW Poseidon core electrolysis process modules for the project. This comes after the UK government announced in April that Humber H2ub was one of the 27 green hydrogen projects shortlisted under the Hydrogen Allocation Round 2 (HAR2). These projects have been invited to proceed to the next stage of the HAR2 process – a due diligence phase for which Uniper is to submit a request for information (RFI) form by May 16. The government is expected to decide which of the shortlisted projects to award contracts to in 2026, with successful projects then required to be commissioned by the end of 2029. Humber H2ub (Green) will have an initial capacity of 120MW, with the potential to expand it by an additional 200MW or more further down the line. Uniper signed a collaboration agreement in March 2024 to work towards supplying green hydrogen from the Humber H2ub project to Phillips 66’s Humber Refinery, which is also located in Killingholme, to replace some refinery fuel gas in fired heaters at that facility. Uniper is targeting a final investment decision (FID) on Humber H2ub (Green) in 2026, after which it would bring the project online by 2029, in line with HAR2 requirements. In its announcement, ITM said that Poseidon offered “unmatched efficiency, rapid response times, and an optimised footprint for large-scale projects”. Elsewhere on its website, the company says Poseidon consists of consists of skid-mounted units enabling scale-up, which are suitable for both indoor and outdoor installation. Humber H2ub ITM’s CEO, Dennis Schulz, welcomed the selection of his company for the project, saying Humber H2ub would “contribute to the decarbonisation of the Humber Refinery and create

Oil and most other commodities powered higher, while gold fell, after China and the US ratcheted down trade tensions that had threatened to slash demand for raw materials. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.5% to settle at $61.95 a barrel in New York, while copper advanced 0.8%. European natural gas, soybeans and iron ore also rallied. Shares of the top mining companies surged. The truce between the world’s two largest economies brought some temporary relief to commodity markets roiled by tariffs that dented the outlook for global economic growth in recent weeks. Oil watchers have slashed demand forecasts, and the trade war already was showing signs of reducing the volume of goods arriving in the US. China will reduce tariffs on US goods to 10% from 125%, while America will cut its own curbs to 30% from 145% in an arrangement lasting for 90 days. At a briefing after the talks, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said neither nation wanted their economies to decouple. Both countries said they would establish a mechanism to continue discussions on economic and trade relations. “The oil market got caught up in the euphoria, but the damage has already been done to demand in the short term,” said John Kilduff, founding partner of Again Capital LLC. Still, reduced trade war tensions have removed $3 to $5 of downside from the market, rendering the new price floor near $60 a barrel, he said. Commodities have been volatile ever since President Donald Trump first announced so-called reciprocal tariffs in early April. Oil prices are still down more than 10% since then as the market contends with rising supplies from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies. While commodity trading advisers are still largely betting against crude, they’re moving off their extreme bearish stance. The

Equinor ASA got no new signals that the Trump administration would reconsider the halt imposed on the Empire Wind project when its CEO met with a top White House official last week. Now the company must decide whether it will kill the project.  “If no progress is made within days, Equinor will be forced to terminate the project,” Molly Morris, president of Equinor Renewables Americas, said Monday. “We are still fighting every day to find a resolution.” That came after there was no indication of a change in stance from US officials when the Norwegian oil and gas company’s Chief Executive Officer Anders Opedal and other top officials met with US National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on May 6, spokesperson Magnus Eidsvold said Monday. A termination would cause the company to lose much of its $2.7 billion investment on the project. “It would be a direct impact to Equinor and our balance sheet,” Morris said. The $5 billion project was halted in April when Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the Biden administration had rushed its approvals. Empire 1 was fully-permitted and slated to start commercial operation in 2027. Its 54 turbines were designed to power 500,000 homes. ‘Honoring Contracts’  Now, the paused project is costing the company $50 million a week, Morris said. While work at sea is completely stopped, operations at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in New York continue, and there are costs associated with keeping people and equipment on standby.  The halt on Empire is bigger than Equinor or even offshore wind, Morris said. “It’s about honoring contracts and financial investments made in the US,” she said. “They are setting a dangerous precedent by stopping a project in mid-execution.” Morris said Equinor has operated in the US for almost 40 years and has invested more than $60 billion in the