In an oil and gas report sent to Rigzone late Monday by the Macquarie team, Macquarie strategists revealed that they are forecasting that U.S. crude inventories will be up by 4.3 million barrels for the week ending April 25. “This compares to our early look which anticipated a 7.0 million barrel build. On the product side of the ledger, in aggregate, our expectations are little changed,” the strategists noted in the report. “For this week’s crude balance, from refineries, we model crude runs slightly lower (-0.1 million barrels per day). Among net imports, we model a moderate increase, with exports (+0.5 million barrels per day) and imports (+1.0 million barrels per day) higher on a nominal basis,” they added. The strategists warned in the report that timing of cargoes remains a source of potential volatility in this week’s crude balance. “From implied domestic supply (prod.+adj.+transfers), we look for a small increase (+0.1 million barrels per day). Rounding out the picture, we anticipate a larger increase in SPR [Strategic Petroleum Reserve] stocks (+1.0 million barrels) this week,” the strategists went on to state. “Among products, we look for draws in gasoline (-2.3 million barrels) and distillate (-1.3 million barrels), with a build in jet (+0.5 million barrels). We model implied demand for these three products at 14.0 million barrels per day for the week ending April 25,” they continued. In an oil and gas report sent to Rigzone by the Macquarie team late Thursday, Macquarie strategists outlined that they saw “a large U.S. crude build” in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) next weekly petroleum status report. That report is scheduled to be released on April 30 and will include data for the week ending April 25. The EIA’s latest weekly petroleum status report at the time of writing was released

Industrial bodies in the Humber are calling on the UK government to back Harbour Energy’s proposed Viking carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in the region. The backing comes after the UK government reached financial agreements with offshore CCS projects in Liverpool Bay and Teesside in recent months. Harbour Energy’s Viking CCS project was shortlisted for Track-2 status by the previous Conservative government in 2023 alongside the Acorn Project in Scotland. Since taking office last year, Labour has committed £22 billion in funding for the HyNet North West and East Coast Cluster Track-1 CCS projects. But the UK CCS sector has been calling on the government to “urgently” provide funding certainty for Viking and Acorn so they can move ahead. Humber industry backs Viking CCS In a joint statement, a group of Humber and UK trade bodies called on Labour to provide firm backing for Viking. The group includes the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce, Humber Energy Board and the Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA). The trade bodies also backed Immingham gas plant operator VPI’s ambition to be the anchor emitter for Viking. © Supplied by VPIAn overhead view of the VPI Immingham plant in the Humber region. VPI is planning to invest £1.5 billion in a carbon capture facility at its Immingham plant, before using Harbour’s Viking project to transport and store CO2 emissions under the North Sea. The firm estimates the Immingham carbon capture project could create 1,500 jobs at peak construction, alongside a further 20,000 jobs for the wider Viking plans. Establishing Viking could also create a “huge” CO2 import opportunity for the UK, the trade bodies said. Viking will ‘secure the future’ of Humber industry Humber Energy Board executive director Jonathan Oxley said Viking CCS is a “key component” of efforts

In this week’s Charging Forward, investment firm AXA IM has acquired a 50% stake in a major Scottish battery energy storage system (BESS), while Zenobe has secured planning consent for its Carlisle Road development. Meanwhile Glen Earrach Energy has submitted a planning application for its 2GW pumped storage hydro scheme in the Highlands, and more. In international energy storage news, researchers at Pennsylvania State University have developed a novel compressed air energy storage system which utilises geothermal heat from abandoned oil and gas wells. This week’s UK energy storage headlines: AXA IM Alts acquires 50% stake in Coalburn BESS Scottish government approves Zenobe’s Carlisle Road BESS Glen Earrach Energy submits 2 GW pumped storage hydro application Apatura secures consent for two Scottish BESS projects Spanish firm Matrix Renewables takes over two Scottish BESS projects Highland councillors oppose Caithness BESS project Centrica secures licence extension for Rough storage field Statera Energy secures approval for Kintore Hydrogen Statkraft to optimise Eku Energy’s Loudwater BESS RheEnergise nears completion on high density hydro demonstrator International news: Researchers investigate using abandoned oil wells for energy storage AXA IM acquires half of Coalburn BESS Investment firm AXA IM Alts has acquired a 50% stake in the 500 MW Coalburn 1 battery energy storage system (BESS) in Scotland. Denmark’s Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) is developing project, located just south of Glasgow, alongside Susgen subsidiary Alcemi. The Coalburn 1 site will become the largest BESS of its kind in Europe when it comes online in early 2026. The deal marks AXA IM’s debut investment in the UK energy storage sector. © Supplied by CIPThe site of the Coalburn 1 battery energy storage system in South Lanarkshire. Coalburn 1 is one of three BESS projects CIP is developing in Scotland alongside Coalburn 2 and the Devilla BESS in Fife. CIP and

QatarEnergy and Exxon Mobil Corp. on Monday secured regulatory approval to commission their Sabine Pass, Texas liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. The go-ahead from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) applies to Golden Pass LNG’s boil-off gas compression system, LNG storage, liquefaction system, LNG pumps, and end flash gas compression system. The permit was requested December 2023. “[T]his approval does not grant Golden Pass the authority to commission or introduce hazardous fluids into other project facilities at the LNG terminal”, said a letter penned by Ghanshyam Patel, chief of LNG Branch 1 of FERC’s projects office. “Additional authorizations will be released once Golden Pass has demonstrated full compliance with the conditions” set in a December 2016 FERC order granting construction and operation authorization for the project, added the letter published on the FERC’s website. “Furthermore, we note that FERC staff look to continuously identify improvements to the safety and reliability of LNG facilities that may be realized during or after construction and throughout operations and may make recommendations in the future in this regard”. On March 5 the Department of Energy (DOE) granted Golden Pass LNG’s request for a deadline extension for the start of exports by two years. The extension applies to the project’s non-FTA order, while the DOE decided that Golden Pass LNG’s FTA order does not need a deadline. The project now has until March 2027 to dispatch its first non-FTA cargo. Golden Pass LNG is permitted to ship a cumulative 937 billion cubic feet a year of natural gas equivalent to both FTA and non-FTA countries. The permit expires December 2050. Last year the JV, 70 percent owned by QatarEnergy and 30 percent by ExxonMobil, requested the DOE under the Biden administration to move the deadline of September 30, 2025, by 18 months for both FTA

The global oil market is in very rare territory right now, with futures pricing that points to near-term tightness while also flagging a “meaningful surplus” further out, according to Morgan Stanley. “The Brent forward curve has an unusual shape at the moment: downward sloping across the first nine contracts and upward sloping thereafter,” analysts including Martijn Rats and Charlotte Firkins said in a note. “This is so unusual that, in fact, there is little historical precedent,” they said. Crude has been rocked this month by the fall-out from the US-led trade war, moves by OPEC+ to boost supply at a faster-than-expected clip, and growing expectations for a surplus. Those drivers have combined to spur a steep drop in headline prices in April — with Brent 12% lower — but simultaneously suggest a more complex underlying story about the timing of the glut. At present, Brent’s nearer months are still pricier than those next in sequence, a pattern known as backwardation that’s seen as bullish as it shows traders are willing to pay a premium for more prompt barrels. But the curve flips to the opposite structure, known as contango, further into 2026. “The contango after the ninth contract signals a rapid weakening later this year, with slowing demand and robust supply growth driving a surplus,” the analysts said. “In about 30 years’ of historical data, there has not been another period when the forward curve showed a ‘smile’ the way it currently does.” Global benchmark Brent is expected to drop back into the low $60s-a-barrel later this year, according to Morgan Stanley, which retained its quarterly forecasts. Futures for the soon-to-expire front month of June were last below $65 a barrel, while those for July were about $1 lower. “Trade tariffs will turn into a meaningful headwind for oil demand,” the analysts said.

The Grangemouth oil refinery has ceased operations with politicians set to feel the “wrath of voters” over job losses, a union boss said. The writing has been on the wall for Scotland’s last oil refinery for some time, and despite engagement from the Scottish and UK governments, 400 jobs are set to be cut from the site.  Sharon Graham, Unite the Union general secretary, argued that “the UK and Scottish governments have utterly failed to protect refinery jobs at Grangemouth and thousands face losing their jobs as oil refining in Scotland ends”. Last week, UK energy minister Michael Shanks said that the situation at Grangemouth was a “really good example of a transition done badly”. A letter sent to staff on Tuesday morning read: “For over 100 years the name Grangemouth has been synonymous with the refining industry, but the world has changed and the market in Scotland has been unable to support a refinery”. Grangemouth workers thrown on the ‘industrial scrapheap’ © Jane Barlow/PA WireMembers of the Unite union march and rally at the Scottish Parliament in protest at Petroineos plans to close Grangemouth oil refinery. Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire Trade unions kept the pressure up on the UK and Scottish governments to support operations at the site as Petroineos deliberated over its future. Demonstrations have been held both in the Forth Valley town and at Holyrood, calling for public support for the hundreds set to lose their jobs. Last month, the government-backed Project Willow produced a report which claimed a series of clean energy projects at the Grangemouth refinery could create around 800 jobs over the next 15 years. The SNP and Labour administrations also launched a Grangemouth Just Transition Fund with £25m from the Scottish government and £200m from the UK government. However, Graham said not enough