QatarEnergy has agreed to purchase up to 3 million tonnes/year (tpy) of LNG from Woodside Energy’s Louisiana LNG project under a 20-year contract, further expanding its US LNG portfolio as the export project advances toward first production. The agreement follows QatarEnergy’s recently signed LNG purchase deals with Cheniere and supports the company’s strategy of growing and diversifying its global LNG supply portfolio.  His Excellency Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs and president and chief executive officer of QatarEnergy, said the additional volumes make QatarEnergy “the largest buyer of LNG from the US” and strengthen the company’s ability to meet growing global LNG demand. Under the terms of the agreement, deliveries will be on an FOB basis and are expected to begin in 2030.  Woodside chief executive officer Meg O’Neill said the agreement, coupled with Woodside’s 2025 LNG supply agreement with Germany’s Uniper, help establish the project’s long-term customer base and provide revenue certainty for a portion of Louisiana LNG’s planned production. Louisiana LNG project update Louisiana LNG is under construction near Lake Charles, La., in Calcasieu Parish. The foundation project includes three trains with a combined capacity of 16.5 million tpy and is targeting first LNG in 2029. In its third-quarter report released Oct. 21, Woodside said the project is 32% complete and remains on budget. Train 1 is 41% complete with structural steel and above-ground piping installation progressed. Trains 2 and 3 were 27% and 22% complete respectively at the end of the quarter, with above-ground piping installation started for Train 2 and first concrete foundation poured for Train 3. Woodside said ongoing disruptions in the Middle East continue to affect structural steel supply, but the company is mitigating the impact through alternative logistics routes and fabrication sources.

Shell plc reported third-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $10.81 billion, up from $9.84 billion in the second quarter and nearly double the $5.43 billion reported a year earlier, as record refining margins and stronger Integrated Gas results more than offset lower upstream earnings. Income attributable to shareholders reached $12.06 billion, compared with $10.82 billion in the previous quarter. Higher refining margins, improved realized LNG prices, and increased gas production supported the results despite continued disruptions to Middle Eastern energy supplies. These gains were partly offset by weaker crude and oil products trading, lower realized liquids prices, and higher exploration well write-offs. Cash flow from operations reached $21.04 billion, compared with $21.43 billion in the previous quarter, while free cash flow was $16.32 billion, down from $17.52 billion. Net debt declined to $39.73 billion from $41.75 billion at end-June, reducing gearing to 16.6%. Chief executive officer Wael Sawan credited strong operational performance for the results amid continued disruptions to global energy markets. Shell announced a new $5-billion share buyback program and maintained its quarterly dividend at $0.3906/share. The company lowered its full-year 2026 cash capital expenditure guidance to $23-25 billion from $24-26 billion. Segment results Chemicals & Products adjusted earnings climbed to $3.86 billion from $2.88 billion in the second quarter, driven by record refining margins. Shell’s global indicative refining margin surged to $42/bbl from $24/bbl, while refinery utilization averaged 96%, down from 102%. Processing intake declined to 1.21 million b/d from 1.27 million b/d. Integrated Gas adjusted earnings increased to $3.04 billion from $2.69 billion, supported by higher realized prices and increased production. Production rose to 772,000 boe/d from 631,000 boe/d, mainly reflecting the completion of the ARC Resources acquisition in September. LNG liquefaction volumes declined to 7.4 million tonnes from 7.7 million tonnes due to planned maintenance, while LNG

Expand Energy Corp., Spring, Tex., pulled back on some production during the third quarter, including by dropping a rig in Northeast Appalachia and a completion crew in the Haynesville, because of weaker prices for natural gas. Executives on Oct. 28 told analysts and investors that they’re prepared to curtail more work late this year and into 2027. “As we’ve come into the fourth quarter, we’ve ended up reducing some of our activity,” chief operating officer Josh Viets said on a conference call following the release of Expand’s third-quarter results. “That activity reduction, moving from around 12 rigs down to 10, is in direct acknowledgement that the market is weakening.” Viets was responding to a question from JPMorgan analyst Arun Jayaram, who neatly summed up the factors contributing to soft natural gas prices even though demand growth has been solid. The environment next year could be affected by Super El Niño weather patterns, more supply being transported out of the Permian basin and several LNG infrastructure owners being “a little bit more levered to the back end of the year.” Viets agreed with that assessment of the supply-demand picture for the coming quarters and later said Expand is prepared to revisit the strategy it employed 2 years ago, when it built up its inventory of drilled but uncompleted wells while waiting for prices to climb. “We pushed out about nine turn-in-lines out of Q3,” he added. “We are waiting on those still to think about the optimal time to bring them online.”

Equinor ASA reported adjusted operating income of $12.35 billion for third-quarter 2026, nearly double the $6.22 billion recorded a year earlier, supported by higher oil and natural gas prices, increased production, and stronger refining margins. The Norwegian energy major posted net income of $2.54 billion, compared with a net loss of $204 million in the year-earlier quarter. Adjusted net income reached $2.86 billion, or $1.20/share. Equinor realized an average liquids price of $92.30/bbl and a European natural gas price of $20/MMbtu during the quarter, reflecting tighter energy markets amid Middle East supply disruptions. Production, outlook Equinor’s equity oil and gas production averaged 2.166 MMboe/d in the quarter, up 2% year over year. Production on the Norwegian continental shelf remained broadly stable as contributions from new fields, including Halten East and Verdande, and new wells offset natural declines and unplanned losses at Johan Castberg and Troll. International production increased 21%, driven by higher volumes from Adura in the UK and Bacalhau offshore Brazil, as well as reduced maintenance activity. US production declined due to planned offshore downtime and natural field declines. Citing stronger operational performance, Equinor raised its full-year 2026 oil and gas production growth guidance to about 4% from 3%. “High production in the third quarter enabled us to capture additional value from higher prices,” said Anders Opedal, Equinor’s president and chief executive officer. Refining, financial performance Equinor’s Marketing, Midstream and Processing segment benefited from stronger refining margins, high utilization, and LNG trading activity. The Mongstad refinery in Norway delivered a record earnings contribution during the quarter. Cash flow from operations after taxes reached $8.14 billion. Organic capital expenditures totaled $3.28 billion, while the company’s adjusted net debt-to-capital-employed ratio declined to 3.8% at quarter-end from 10.4% in the previous quarter. Portfolio developments Equinor continued reshaping its upstream portfolio, including acquiring

US crude oil inventories for the week ended Oct. 23, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, decreased by 1.9 million bbl from the previous week, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). At 410.6 million bbl, US crude oil inventories are 4% below the 5-year average for this time of year, the EIA report indicated. Gasoline inventories increased 3.9 million bbl, 2% below the 5-year average. Propane-propylene inventories decreased 100,000 bbl, 12% above the 5-year average. Total commercial petroleum inventories decreased by 3.0 million bbl for the week. Distillate inventories decreased 1.5 million bbl, 10% below the 5-year average. US crude oil refinery inputs averaged 16.5 million b/d for the week ended Oct. 23, which was 123,000 b/d less than the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 92.8% of capacity. Gasoline output averaged 9.2 million b/d, and distillate production decreased to 5.2 million b/d. Crude oil imports increased 616,000 b/d to 6.4 million b/d. The 4-week average of 6.3 million b/d is 9.3% above the year-ago level. Gasoline imports averaged 399,000 b/d; distillate imports averaged 157,000 b/d. Over the past four weeks, total product supplied averaged 20.8 million b/d, up 0.2% year over year. The 4-week average for gasoline product supplied decreased 0.7% year over year to 8.6 million b/d, while the 4-week average for distillate product supplied decreased 0.6% to 4.0 million b/d. The 4-week average for jet fuel product supplied decreased 3.5% year over year.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) today announced the financial close of a $5.1 billion loan package to Alliant Energy to lower electricity costs, expand firm power generation, and strengthen grid reliability in Iowa and Wisconsin. The investments will add more than 2.6 gigawatts (GW) of new or upgraded power generation capacity and deliver more than $1 billion in electricity cost savings for American families and businesses across both states. Today’s announcement advances President Trump’s Executive Order Strengthening the Reliability and Security of the United States Electric Grid by ensuring our nation has the dependable power needed to meet growing electricity demand and strengthen American energy security. “The Energy Department is delivering on President Trump’s promise to lower electricity costs and unleash the full potential of American energy,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. “These investments will drive down energy costs for families and businesses in Iowa and Wisconsin, strengthen our nation’s electric grid, and fuel American prosperity for decades to come.” The projects will add enough electricity to power the equivalent of nearly 2 million homes—lowering costs and strengthening grid reliability in Iowa and Wisconsin. The investments will support new natural gas-fired power plants, energy storage systems, and upgrades to existing generation facilities, create hundreds of construction-related jobs, and deliver affordable, reliable energy for American families and businesses. “Thanks to President Trump and Secretary Wright’s leadership, EDF is putting capital to work to expand America’s reliable energy infrastructure,” said EDF Director Gregory A. Beard. “By bringing new, dependable power online, we are strengthening our nation’s energy security and lowering electricity costs for families and businesses across Iowa and Wisconsin.” This loan marks the Trump Administration’s tenth financial close, and the sixth and seventh utility financing completed through the Energy Dominance Financing Program.