EOG Resources, Inc. said it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Encino Acquisition Partners (EAP) from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP) and Encino Energy for $5.6 billion, inclusive of EAP’s net debt. EOG expects to fund the acquisition through $3.5 billion of debt and $2.1 billion of cash on hand, the company said in a news release. The transaction is expected to close in the second half, subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and other customary closing conditions, EOG said. The acquisition of Encino’s 675,000 net core acres increases EOG’s Utica position to a combined 1.1 million net acres, representing more than 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent of undeveloped net resources, with pro forma production totaling 275,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), according to the release. EOG said that the acquisition significantly expands its contiguous liquids-rich acreage, adds premium-priced gas exposure, and increases working interest. The company averages 65 percent liquids production, with 235,000 net acres for a combined contiguous position of 485,000 net acres. On the natural gas front, the acquisition adds 330,000 net acres along with existing natural gas production with firm transportation exposed to premium end markets. In the northern acreage, where the company has delivered outstanding well results, EOG increases its existing average working interest by more than 20 percent, the company stated. “This acquisition combines large, premier acreage positions in the Utica, creating a third foundational play for EOG alongside our Delaware Basin and Eagle Ford assets,” EOG Chairman and CEO Ezra Yacob said. “Encino’s acreage improves the quality and depth of our Utica position, expanding EOG’s multi-basin portfolio to more than 12 billion barrels of oil equivalent net resources”. “We are excited to execute on this unique opportunity that is immediately accretive to our per-share metrics

In a research note sent to Rigzone late Thursday by Natasha Kaneva, Head of Global Commodities Strategy at J.P. Morgan, analysts at the company, including Kaneva, asked if oil prices are “$10 too low or $20 too high”. The analysts highlighted in the note that, during the company’s two weeks of marketing in Europe and Asia, J.P. Morgan “encountered both perspectives”. “Some clients believe that current oil prices are $10 too low, while others argue they are $20 too high,” the analysts said. The J.P. Morgan analysts outlined “the bullish argument” and “bear…reasons” in the note.  “Incoming hard data on the economy has held up so far, and oil demand has been relatively robust,” the analysts said under a subcategory for the former. “Perspectives are shifting away from concerns about a U.S. recession to optimism about growth-boosting deregulation and tax cuts,” they added. “Similarly, views on China are evolving. We were surprised by the positive sentiment in China. Chinese copper demand, a reliable indicator of the health of the Chinese economy, increased by 6-7 percent in the first quarter, with sufficient underlying momentum beyond frontloading to sustain growth into the second half of the year,” they continued. “China has a clear policy direction focused on growth, aiming at proactive expansion of domestic demand,” they went on to state. Under this subcategory, the analysts also noted that “healthy refinery margins are encouraging high utilization rates and product cracks are strong, yet global product inventories are stubbornly low”. “Strong demand for crude is reflected in the prompt spreads of both Brent and WTI, which are trading at 58-64c/bbl backwardation,” they added. Under the bear case subhead included in the note, the analysts said, “despite robust demand so far this year, averaging 1.0 million barrels per day year to date, visible inventories have

A statement posted on OPEC’s website on Saturday announced that Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman “will implement a production adjustment of 411,000 barrels per day” next month. The statement noted that “the eight OPEC+ countries, which previously announced additional voluntary adjustments in April and November 2023 … met virtually on 31 May 2025, to review global market conditions and outlook”. “In view of a steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories, and in accordance with the decision agreed upon on 5 December 2024 to start a gradual and flexible return of the 2.2 million barrels per day voluntary adjustments starting from 1 April 2025, the eight participating countries will implement a production adjustment of 411,000 barrels per day in July 2025 from June 2025 required production level,” it added. The statement noted that this “is equivalent to three monthly increments” and highlighted that “the gradual increases may be paused or reversed subject to evolving market conditions”, adding that “this flexibility will allow the group to continue to support oil market stability”.  “The eight OPEC+ countries also noted that this measure will provide an opportunity for the participating countries to accelerate their compensation,” the statement went on to note. “The eight countries reiterated their collective commitment to achieve full conformity with the Declaration of Cooperation, including the additional voluntary production adjustments that were agreed to be monitored by the JMMC during its 53rd meeting held on April 3rd 2024,” it continued. The statement also noted that the eight countries “confirmed their intention to fully compensate for any overproduced volume since January 2024”. “The eight OPEC+ countries will hold monthly meetings to review market conditions, conformity, and compensation. The eight countries will meet on 6 July 2025 to

Ukraine’s Naftogaz Group and Poland’s ORLEN SA have signed another energy collaboration agreement, after an earlier one that aims to help the war-hit country secure natural gas supply. Under the new memorandum of understanding, “the parties will seek to increase natural gas deliveries via Poland to Ukraine and to advance joint projects in oil and gas extraction”, ORLEN said in an online statement. “These initiatives are expected to strengthen Ukraine’s resource security and flexibility. “Naftogaz also stands to benefit from ORLEN’s technical expertise in the modernization of the Kremenchuk oil refinery, as well as in the refurbishment of gas infrastructure damaged during the war. “In addition, both companies intend to pursue joint investment projects across fuel distribution and development of the biofuels segment”. ORLEN added it currently supplies Ukrainian customers with refined oil products including gasoline, diesel and bitumen. The state-owned companies previously penned a liquefied natural gas (LNG) agreement. “The agreement is a framework arrangement aimed at strengthening cooperation to enhance Ukraine’s energy security through the diversification of gas supply sources and routes to the country”, ORLEN said in a press release March 7. The LNG agreement has contracted 300 million cubic meters (10.59 billion cubic feet) of gas for Ukraine. Meanwhile Naftogaz is intensifying negotiations with international financial institutions to help Ukraine buy enough gas for the heating season. Discussions were held with representatives of the European Investment Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission, Naftogaz said Friday. “[W]e have made significant progress in attracting additional financing”, new chief executive Sergii Koretskyi said. On April 28 the company said it had secured a EUR 270 million ($308.62 million) loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and a EUR 140 million grant from the Norwegian government to buy nearly one billion cubic meters of gas.

Over the last two decades, electric utilities have reactively transformed their Transmission business processes and ecosystems—using digitization and simple analytics. Today, with increasing load growth, regulatory orders, aging infrastructure and the ever present need to operate the grid more efficiently, Transmission operators and developers are leveraging new technologies, including Generative AI. While other industries were early adopters, embracing AI for competitive edge, the traditionally cautious power and utility sector needed clear line-of-sight to the value proposition for GenAI—particularly in their transmission functions. Network models are the digital DNA of transmission functions, powering planning simulations, real-time operations and supporting asset management decision making. Yet many utilities still struggle to maintain accurate, up to date and relevant models, due in part to the sheer scale and complexity of modern utility infrastructure. GenAI changes the game—automating model upkeep, enriching simulation fidelity and enabling decision making with greater precision and speed. Challenges Facing Transmission Models Transmission Planning Transmission planning hinges on accurate and timely data and asset models to simulate power flows, project load growth, identify optimal points of interconnection and grid operations under contingency scenarios. However, current modeling applications and platforms are often outdated or incomplete, plagued by fragmented data from engineering teams, third-party consultants and GIS systems. Challenge: Long planning cycles with incomplete data inputs and manual model updates increase the risk of missed opportunities and compromised long-range plans. Transmission Network Operations Transmission System operators require real-time network visibility for grid stability, congestion management and response to disturbances. Additionally, proper Transmission switching can alleviate transmission violations and reduce operating costs.  SCADA, EMS and outage management systems depend on models that reflect current network topology, operational states and equipment status to support operators’ decisions. Challenge: Manual updates to operations models cannot keep pace with daily and compromised network changes, especially as renewable penetration

For decades, power systems engineers have relied on modeling and simulation to ensure efficient and reliable power generation and distribution. Electromagnetic field analysis helps them design grid infrastructure components, structural and acoustics simulation is used to mitigate issues like transformer vibration and noise and electric breakdown and corona discharge analyses are used to accurately predict the performance and safety of high-voltage transmission line systems.  Now, thanks to built-in simulation software capabilities that enable engineers to build custom model-based apps for users without modeling expertise, the scope of who can access advanced simulation technology in power systems organizations has dramatically increased. By building and distributing their own simulation apps, power grid companies are able to extend the benefits of simulation-based decision making to more collaborators within the R&D workflow and even to colleagues in the field. What follows is effective collaboration and accelerated innovation. Simulation Supports Efficient Transformer Design Take a company that develops power transformer equipment, for instance. Transformers are inherently noisy, but they can be designed to be as close to silent as possible. As with most things in this world, transformers involve many interconnected physics — electromagnetics, acoustics and structural mechanics, in this case — which means that multiphysics simulation software is the tool for the job when optimizing their designs. The R&D engineers responsible for coming up with one manufacturer’s new transformer designs all knew how to use finite element analysis (FEA) software, but they worked closely with other teams and departments without such expertise. For example, the designers tasked with building the final transformers had no familiarity with FEA. Instead, they preferred to use spreadsheets and other tools based on statistics and empirical models, which worked well for transformers they built frequently, but not for new designs or scenarios where different dimensions were introduced. In these