Britain’s BP PLC and the United States’ Chevron Corp and Murphy Oil Corp led the first oil and gas area auction under the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Act, winning 51, 24 and 14 blocks respectively in federal waters in the Gulf of America, according to official results published Wednesday. “Lease Sale Big Beautiful Gulf 1” is the first of at least 30 lease sales required by the 2025 budget “reconciliation bill” for the Gulf of America, which President Donald Trump renamed from Gulf of Mexico after he assumed office for his second non-consecutive term. Out of nearly 15,200 blocks spanning 81.18 million acres offered, 181 blocks got winning bids. Thirty companies participated, submitting 219 bids, worth a total of $371.88 million. Winning bids totaled $300.43 million, according to the “Sale Day Statistics” released by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). “Lease Sale Big Beautiful Gulf 1 marks a renewed, proactive offshore energy strategy focused on strengthening national security, expanding economic opportunity and responsibly stewarding America’s abundant natural resources”, Interior said in an online statement. Britain’s Shell PLC and Spain’s Repsol SA completed the top five winners, each of the two landing 12 blocks. Rounding up the top 10 successful bidders are Houston, Texas-based Talos Energy Inc with 11 blocks, Covington, Louisiana-based LLOG Exploration Offshore LLC (11 blocks), Australia’s Woodside Energy Group Ltd (eight blocks), Houston-based Occidental Petroleum Corp (eight blocks) and Norway’s majority state-owned Equinor ASA (seven blocks). BP, Chevron and Woodside spent the most for successful bids, totaling $61.88 million, $53.1 million and $38.08 million respectively. Rounding up the top five bidders in terms of the sum of their winning bids are Murphy ($27.39 million) and Houston-based Beacon Offshore Energy LLC ($20.06 million). Chevron offered the biggest single winning bid at $18.59 million, for Block

In a blog posted on GasBuddy’s website this week, the company outlined that the average U.S. gasoline price reached a “fresh multi-year low”. “Gas prices continued to decline in most states last week, while some price-cycling states saw temporary spikes to restore margins,” Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at the company, stated in the blog, which was published on Monday. “With the national average falling further, we’re now at multi-year lows heading into Christmas. Diesel prices are also easing, and in the cheapest cities, averages have dipped into the low-$2 range, with a few stations still offering gas under $2 per gallon,” De Haan added. “Barring any major disruptions, prices are likely to stay relatively low into the new year,” he continued. In Monday’s blog, GasBuddy noted that the nation’s average price of gasoline had fallen 5.0 cents over the last week and pointed out that it stood at $2.90 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 down 17.6 cents from a month ago and is 7.3 cents per gallon lower than a year ago,” GasBuddy highlighted in the blog. “The national average price of diesel has fallen 5.1 cents in the last week and stands at $3.671 per gallon,” it added. GasBuddy stated in the blog that the most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $2.79 per gallon, which it said was down 20 cents from last week. This was followed by $2.89, $2.69, $2.99, and $2.59, GasBuddy highlighted. “The median U.S. gas price is $2.79 per gallon, down four cents from last week and about 11 cents lower than the national average,” GasBuddy said. “The top 10 percent of stations in the

In a market update sent to Rigzone by the Rystad Energy team late Wednesday, Rystad highlighted that the price of oil “[did] not shift… on the Fed’s cut”. Rystad pointed out in the update that the Fed lowered its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, bringing it to a range of 3.50-3.75 percent, describing the action as “a move that was largely in line with expectations”. “Fundamentals are still the primary drivers of change in commodity markets, with the price of oil not shifting based on the Fed’s cut,” Rystad noted in the statement. “Market participants and investors are paying closer attention to the forward-looking view shared by the central bank,” it added. “The Fed said that uncertainty about the economic outlook remains elevated, and it remains attentive to the risks to its dual mandate of achieving maximum employment and maintaining the inflation rate at two percent,” it continued. In Rystad’s update, Claudio Galimberti, Rystad Energy Chief Economist and Global Director of Market Analysis, stated that “the Federal Reserve’s divided decision to cut rates today [Wednesday] underscores a central bank that is easing cautiously while signaling a potential pause”. “For commodity markets, the message is clear: monetary policy is no longer a dominant driver of price direction. The Fed is cutting, but only reluctantly, and its projections show limited easing ahead despite a still-uncertain labor market and inflation that remains above target,” he added. Galimberti noted in the update that, in the near term, the rate cut modestly loosens financial conditions and may weaken the U.S. dollar at the margin, which he pointed out is typically supportive for crude, metals, and some agricultural commodities. He added, however, that “the signal of a pause tempers that boost, reminding markets that the Fed is unwilling to validate the two-cut easing path

Exxon Mobil Corp and Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco) have agreed to evaluate upgrading their Samref refinery in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, with plans to expand the site into an integrated petrochemical complex. The facility currently has a declared oil processing capacity and storage capacity of about 400,000 barrels per day and 13.2 million barrels respectively. It produces mostly gasoline, as well as diesel fuel, heating oil, jet fuel, liquefied petroleum gas and others, the joint venture says on its website. “The companies will explore capital investments to upgrade and diversify production, including high-quality distillates that result in lower emissions and high-performance chemicals, as well as opportunities to improve the refinery’s energy efficiency and reduce emissions from operations through an integrated emissions-reduction strategy”, Aramco said in a press release. Aramco downstream president Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani said, “Designed to increase the conversion of crude oil and petroleum liquids into high-value chemicals, this project reinforces our commitment to advancing downstream value creation and our liquids-to-chemicals strategy. It will also position Samref as a key driver in the growth of the Kingdom’s petrochemical sector”. ExxonMobil senior vice president Jack Williams said, “We look forward to evaluating this project, which aligns with our strategy to focus on investments that allow us to grow high-value products that meet society’s evolving energy needs and contribute to a lower-emission future”. Aramco said, “The companies will commence a preliminary front-end engineering and design phase for the proposed project, which would aim to maximize operational advantages, enhance Samref’s competitiveness and help to meet growing demand for high-quality petrochemical products in the Kingdom”. “Plans are subject to market conditions, regulatory approvals and final investment decisions by Aramco and ExxonMobil”, it said. Samref is equally owned between Aramco and United States energy giant ExxonMobil. In other downstream expansion activities Aramco recently completed

Naftogaz Group has secured a fresh UAH 5 billion ($118.82 million) loan from local bank JSC CB PrivatBank to procure more natural gas for Ukraine. “To get through the winter steadily, Naftogaz needs to import 4.4 billion cubic meters of gas [155.38 billion cubic feet], with a total cost of about EUR 1.9 billion [$2.22 billion]”, the state-owned integrated energy company said in an online statement, noting local production has fallen due to war damage. Earlier Naftogaz sealed local loans totaling UAH 9.4 billion from PrivatBank and PJSC JSB Ukrgasbank, each committing UAH 4.7 billion, to buy gas for the heating season, as announced by Naftogaz in July. Chief executive Sergii Koretskyi said then, “At the same time, we continue to work with international financial institutions and partner countries”. Also in 2025 JSC State Saving Bank of Ukraine agreed to lend Naftogaz UAH 3 billion for gas import, as announced by Naftogaz October 9. On November 13 Naftogaz and the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced a grant of EUR 127 million for the procurement of gas for Ukraine, in addition to a EUR 300 million EIB loan to Naftogaz that was disbursed October for the same purpose. The loans are guaranteed under the Ukraine Investment Framework (UIF), part of the European Union’s Ukraine Facility. The facility aims to mobilize up to EUR 50 billion – EUR 33 billion in loans and EUR 17 billion in grants – from 2024 to 2027, according to the European Council, which approved the facility February 2024. The UIF aims to mobilize up to EUR 40 billion of investments for recovery, reconstruction and modernization, according to its implementer the European Commission. On August 13 Naftogaz and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said they had agreed on a EUR 270 million loan for gas purchases.

CNOOC Ltd has started production in the Weizhou 11-4 Oilfield Adjustment and Satellite Fields Development Project in the Beibu Gulf Basin of the South China Sea. This is the company’s 12th announced startup offshore China this year, and the sixth in the South China Sea. Including two projects in Brazilian waters and Guyana’s Yellowtail, the publicly listed arm of China National Offshore Oil Corp has now announced 15 upstream startups in 2025. CNOOC Ltd expects the newest startup to reach its capacity of about 16,900 barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2026. The oil is light crude, according to the company. The development plan eyes 35 wells: 28 for production and seven for water injection. “The main production facilities include a newly-built unmanned wellhead platform and a central processing platform, which are connected to an existing platform through a trestle bridge”, CNOOC Ltd said in a press release. “The project has adopted a coordinated development plan of ‘three offshore processing centers + one onshore terminal’, serving as a gathering and transportation hub to release the resource capacity and ensure stable energy supply in the region”, the sole owner said. The project has an average water depth of around 43 meters (141.08 feet), according to CNOOC Ltd. Earlier this year it put online five projects in the South China Sea: the Dongfang 29-1 field, the Panyu 11-12/10-1/10-2 Oilfield Adjustment Joint Development Project, the Weizhou 5-3 field, the Wenchang 16-2 field and phase II of the Wenchang 19-1 field. In the Bohai Sea, CNOOC Ltd put onstream four projects in 2025: phase I of the Bozhong 26-6 field, the Caofeidian 6-4 field adjustment, phase I of the Kenli 10-2 Oilfields Development Project and phase II of the Luda 5-2 North field. In the Yinggehai Basin, two came online this year: the Dongfang 1-1 Gas