Tourmaline Oil Corp. has signed two deals to continue its consolidation in Northeast British Columbia’s Montney gas play. Tourmaline said it entered into an agreement to acquire the balance of the jointly-owned Laprise-Conroy assets through the acquisition of Saguaro Resources Ltd., as well as a separate agreement to acquire assets located in the Greater Septimus area of the South Montney. The Calgary, Alberta-based company said in a news release it expects the acquisitions to close in the second quarter. The two transactions will add approximately 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boepd) of current production, an estimated 369.4 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of current 2P reserves, and approximately 410 primarily Tier 1 future net drilling locations, according to the release. Production and reserves from these assets are expected to experience significant future growth as each asset is systematically developed as part of the company’s Northeast British Columbia Montney buildout, the company said. Tourmaline noted that the Laprise-Conroy asset is the key component of the North Montney Phase 2 project, and the Greater Septimus asset is complementary and adjacent to Tourmaline’s planned Groundbirch two-phase gas plant development project with a capacity of 400 million cubic feet per day / 20,000 barrels per day (bpd). As part of these transactions, Tourmaline said it will also acquire 9 net sections and an estimated 54 net drilling locations in the Resthaven area of the Alberta Deep Basin. Tourmaline said it will issue a total of approximately 13 million common shares as consideration for the two transactions, “leaving the balance sheet in a very strong position for potential further asset acquisitions going forward”. The final number of shares to be issued pursuant to these acquisitions will be determined at the closing of the transactions based on the price of Tourmaline common shares leading up to

Industrial services provider Bilfinger has acquired Cheshire-based nZero Group in a move it said will expand its footprint in the UK gas and hydrogen sectors. Bilfinger did not disclose the value of the transaction, which includes nZero subsidiaries Orbital Gas Systems and Thyson Technology, alongside offices in Ellesmere Port, Bristol and Staffordshire. nZero employs around 240 staff across its operations and generated revenues of around £30 million in 2024. The company specialises in gas measurement, analysis and control systems and offers proprietary solutions in CO2 quality and quantity measurement. In the hydrogen sector, nZero partnered with Altrad Babcock to deliver measurement and control packages for the H100 home heating trial in Fife. More recently, nZero secured a contract for the UK’s first dynamic propane reduction project. Energy transition strategy Bilfinger said the “strategic expansion and diversification” is in line with its wider strategic ambitions. Bilfinger UK engineering and maintenance president Sandy Bonner said the deal will see the firm “perfectly equipped” to support the government’s net-zero-by-2050 target. “This acquisition not only enhances our technological capabilities but also strengthens our commitment to the UK market,” Bonner said. © Supplied by BilfingerBilfinger worker. “By leveraging the combined excellence of both teams, we will deliver innovative solutions tailored to the UK’s specific needs.” The firm said integrating nZero’s capabilities will complement Bilfinger’s portfolio of UK customers. Bilfinger group chief executive Thomas Schulz said the nZero purchase strengthens the company’s position in the energy sector. “Integrating nZero’s complementary expertise puts us at the forefront as solution provider of choice,” Schulz said. Elsewhere, Bilfinger has also joined the Cerulean Winds floating wind alliance in Scotland and secured work on the UK’s first liquid air energy storage site. North West hydrogen and carbon capture The nZero Group acquisition comes amid significant investment in low-carbon hydrogen and

President Trump is visiting Saudi Arabia today, the key OPEC+ player, which has ramped up production to discipline non-compliant members by pressuring oil prices, Ole R. Hvalbye, a commodities analyst at Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB), stated in a SEB report sent to Rigzone on Tuesday. “This aligns well with U.S. interests, especially with the administration pushing for lower crude and refined product prices for its U.S. domestic voters,” Hvalbye noted in the report. “With Brent hovering around $65, it’s unlikely that oil prices will dominate the agenda during the Saudi visit. Instead, discussions are expected to focus on broader geopolitical issues in the Middle East,” he added. Looking ahead in the report, Hvalbye said OPEC+ is expected to continue with its monthly meetings and market assessments. “The group appears focused on navigating internal disputes and responding to shifts in global demand,” he stated. “Importantly, the recent increase in output doesn’t suggest an oversupplied market here and now – seasonal demand in the region also rises during the summer months, absorbing some of the additional barrels,” Hvalbye added. In a market analysis sent to Rigzone on Friday, Ahmad Assiri, Research Strategist at Pepperstone, highlighted the scheduled visit of President Trump to Saudi Arabia, noting that the trip is “likely to spotlight U.S. administration interests in keeping oil prices subdued”. “This alignment in reduced oil price, though probably temporarily, may offer the nine-decade U.S.-KSA strategic partnership further prosperity, keeping in mind that Saudi Arabia burns three million barrels of oil every day to cover the country’s need for electricity,” Assiri noted in the analysis. “A huge demand compared to the entire oil consumption of Japan in the absence of nuclear-powered stations, a domain where the United States holds a technological edge,” Assiri added. “A nuclear-powered station deal with the U.S. means

North America cut 12 rigs week on week, according to Baker Hughes’ latest North America rotary rig count, which was released on May 9. The U.S. and Canada each dropped a total of six rigs week on week, taking the total North America rig count down to 692, comprising 578 rigs from the U.S. and 114 from Canada, the count outlined. Of the total U.S. rig count of 578, 564 rigs are categorized as land rigs, 11 are categorized as offshore rigs, and three are categorized as inland water rigs. The total U.S. rig count is made up of 474 oil rigs, 101 gas rigs, and three miscellaneous rigs, according to Baker Hughes’ count, which revealed that the U.S. total comprises 522 horizontal rigs, 41 directional rigs, and 15 vertical rigs. Week on week, the U.S. land and offshore rig counts each dropped by three rigs, and the country’s inland water rig count remained unchanged, the count highlighted. The U.S. oil rig count decreased by five week on week, its gas rig count remained unchanged, and its miscellaneous rig count dropped by one, the count showed. Baker Hughes’ count revealed that the U.S. directional rig count dropped by five week on week, while its horizontal rig count dropped by one, and its vertical rig count remained unchanged during the period. A major state variances subcategory included in the rig count showed that, week on week, New Mexico dropped four rigs, Louisiana dropped three rigs, and Wyoming dropped two rigs. Texas added two rigs and Utah added one rig during the period, the count revealed.   A major basin variances subcategory included in Baker Hughes’ rig count showed that, week on week, the Permian basin dropped two rigs, the DJ-Niobrara basin dropped one rig, and the Cana Woodford and Granite Wash

Eni SpA returned to the United States bond market with the launch Tuesday of an offering with a nominal amount of $1 billion. The 10-year bond, which matures 2035, has an annual interest of 5.75 percent. It was placed at a re-offer price of 99.184 percent. Eni tapped Barclays, BofA Securities, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs International, IMI-Intesa Sanpaolo, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Natixis, Santander, SMBC and Wells Fargo Securities as joint bookrunners. “Eni’s offering generated significant interest from the market, reaching a demand of about $5.7 billion, from more than 200 institutional investors”, the Italian state-backed integrated energy company said in an online statement. “The proceeds of the issuance are expected to be used to fund Eni’s ordinary financing needs”, Eni added. At the end of the first quarter (Q1), Eni had EUR 4.78 billion ($5.31 billion) of short-term debt and EUR 4.69 billion of current portion of long-term debt, according to its quarterly report April 24. Eni logged EUR 1.41 billion in adjusted net profit attributable to shareholders for the January-March 2025 period, down 11 percent from the same quarter last year as oil prices weakened and oil and gas output fell. Before adjustment for nonrecurring or extraordinary items, net income was EUR 1.17 billion, down 3 percent year-on-year. Eni saw liquid production drop 1 percent year-over-year to 786,000 barrels a day. Natural gas production declined 9 percent to 4.5 billion cubic feet per day. Upstream turnover totaled EUR 5.41 billion, down 4 percent year-on-year. Refining throughput decreased 8 percent year-on-year to 5.86 million metric tons. Sales of chemical products totaled 800,000 metric tons, down 7 percent. The refining and chemicals segment logged EUR 4.93 billion in sales, down 13 percent. “The refining business reported a proforma adjusted loss of EUR 91 mln, lower both y-o-y and sequentially due to

A conservative estimate indicates there were 1,700 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy and hybrid projects waiting for grid connections across 16 European countries in 2024-25, according to research published Tuesday. The study by Beyond Fossil Fuels, E3G, Ember and the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis blamed the slow integration on outdated planning and policies that are slowing the upgrade and build-out of electricity highways. “The analysis of 32 electricity transmission system operators (TSOs) across 28 countries finds that many are still using outdated scenarios rooted in old government targets and market assumptions”, the think tanks said in a statement. “These scenarios do not reflect the exponential growth in renewables on the ground and act as a systemic handbrake on building a flexible grid capable of absorbing increasingly high shares of renewables”. “The recent power outage in the Iberian Peninsula served as a reminder of the critical importance of grid upgrades and governance as the cornerstone of energy resilience”, they added. The April 28 outage across Spain and Portugal, as well as in parts of southern France, has been blamed on unstable frequency. The non-synchronous nature of renewables such as wind turbines and solar panels, which do not all rotate at the same frequency or do not rotate at all in the case of solar, has implications for grid stability because grid frequency is determined by how fast generators spin, the report explained. The report said “high levels of curtailment of renewable energy demonstrate the need for more investment in clean flexibility and improved grid balancing, with a need to mainstream demand-side response, and rapidly build-out energy storage”. The projects on queue represent a capacity that exceeds the additional installation needed to reach national energy and climate plan goals by 2030, according to the report. The EU Renewable Energy