Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. posted better-than-expected results after record oil production cushioned the impact of lower crude prices. Exxon pumped more oil than it has in any second quarter since the historic Mobil takeover more than 25 years ago. Meanwhile, Chevron also lifted output to an all-time high of almost 4 million barrels a day. Shares of both companies climbed. The production bumps fed by booming output in the Permian Basin and elsewhere enabled the titans of the US energy sector to surpass Wall Street expectations even as oil prices slumped and the demand outlook darkened. In the wake of the profit surprise, Exxon is keeping an eye out for more acquisitions just 16 months after its $60 billion takeover of Pioneer Natural Resources Co., Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods said during a conference call with media. Exxon is keen on “creating value” through corporate combinations that would “deliver on this equation of one plus one equaling more than three,” Woods said. “I think there are opportunities out there for us frankly, still. We’re working to see if we can’t bring some of those to fruition.”    Exxon fell 1% at 9:33 a.m. in New York. Chevron rose as much as 2%, making it the day’s best performer among S&P 500 oil stocks. The quarter was marked by wild swings in oil prices as US President Donald Trump’s trade war and OPEC+ output increases confounded supply-and-demand outlooks.  International crude prices were almost $20 a barrel lower during the period on a year-over-year basis, forcing several US producers to slow output growth, particularly in the Permian Basin. But Exxon sees no reason to stop growing in US shale.  Exxon’s worldwide oil and natural gas output reached the equivalent of 4.63 million barrels a day, while Chevron lifted production more

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest fuel update, which was released this week, showed a mixed bag for the U.S. regular gasoline price and the U.S. on-highway diesel fuel price. According to the update, the U.S. regular gasoline price averaged $3.130 per gallon on July 14, before dropping to $3.121 per gallon on July 21, then rising to $3.123 per gallon on July 28. The July 28 price is $0.361 lower than the year ago price, the update outlined. The update highlighted that the U.S. on-highway diesel fuel price came in at $3.758 per gallon on July 14, then rose to $3.812 per gallon on July 21, before dropping to $3.805 per gallon on July 28. The July 28 price is $0.037 higher than the year ago price, according to the fuel update. Of the five Petroleum Administration for Defense District (PADD) regions highlighted in the EIA’s latest fuel update, the West Coast was shown to have the highest regular gasoline price as of July 28, at $3.995 per gallon. The Gulf Coast was shown in the update to have the lowest regular gasoline price as of July 28, at $2.748 per gallon. The West Coast was also shown in the update to have the highest on-highway diesel price as of July 28, at $4.546 per gallon. The Gulf Coast was shown to have the lowest diesel price as of July 28, at $3.454 per gallon. A glossary section of the EIA site notes that the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia are divided into five districts, with PADD 1 further split into three subdistricts. PADDs 6 and 7 encompass U.S. territories, the site adds. According to the AAA Fuel Prices website, the average price of regular gasoline in the U.S. is $3.151 per gallon, as of August

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP (BIP) said Thursday it had completed the purchase of Colonial Enterprises Inc. from a consortium including Shell PLC for an enterprise value of about $9 billion. Colonial owns the namesake pipeline, the biggest pipeline for refined products in the United States in terms of capacity. Spanning 5,500 miles from Texas to New York, it carries up to 2.5 million barrels a day. Colonial says the pipeline transports about 45 percent of fuels consumed on the East Coast, serving over 50 million consumers in 14 states. Colonial was acquired from Koch Capital Investments Co. LLC (28.088 percent), KKR-Keats Pipeline Investors LP (23.443 percent), La Caisse (16.549 percent), IFM Investors (15.795 percent) and Shell Midstream Operating LLC (16.125 percent). “This acquisition was completed at an attractive transaction multiple of 9x EBITDA and we are excited to be the first single owner of this system which has had split ownership since it was constructed”, BIP said in a statement online. “We expect to benefit from a mid-teen cash yield, resulting in a seven-year payback period. “Near-term efforts will be focused on business integration and initiating our value creation activities. “The total equity consideration is approximately $3.4 billion (BIP’s share – approximately $500 million)”. Shell said separately, “The divestment reflects Shell’s focus on performance, discipline and simplification and enables the company to concentrate on areas where it has scale and competitive advantage”. “The sale values Shell’s share of Colonial at $1.45 billion, inclusive of approximately $500 million in non-recourse debt and excluding customary closing adjustments”, it added. Earlier in the second quarter of 2025, BIP completed the sale of its remaining 25 percent stake in its U.S. gas pipeline to co-owner ArcLight Capital Partners LLC. ArcLight now owns 62.5 percent of Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL). Kinder Morgan retains a 37.5 percent interest

Morgan Scott is vice president of global partnerships and outreach at the Electric Power Research Institute. Extreme weather is here. Over the past month, the U.S. has experienced dangerous and deadly flash flooding and extreme heat. Projections for the 2025 wildfire season in the Western U.S. indicate significantly increased fire potential driven by drought expansion and above-average temperatures. Meanwhile, the 2025 U.S. tornado season is on track to be above the 30-year historical average, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts a 60% chance of an above-average hurricane season. Besides the devastating loss of life and the damage inflicted by these types of events, they have something else in common: they often leave communities without power to meet critical needs. Despite the inevitable occurrence of these events, there is good news for people in the paths of these natural disasters. The power sector is not waiting around to reactively address damage from the next severe weather event. Hurricanes or extreme heat may be seasonal, but preparation is not. A coalition of more than 40 energy providers and system operators — along with 100 academics, policymakers, non-profits, government agencies and others — have worked together to develop a data-driven, science-based framework to improve the resilience and reliability of the power system. The public Climate READi framework, issued and developed by independent, non-profit energy R&D institute EPRI, guides energy companies in assessing risk and vulnerability in the energy system across a wide variety of weather and climate conditions. In addition, utilities, regulators and other stakeholders can use this set of guidance, references and tools to evaluate local hazards, prioritize investments and adapt the evolving electric system to the climate of the future. The framework, developed over the past three years, highlights how factoring climate risk into investment decisions is a cost-effective

American Electric Power expects its utilities will interconnect 24 GW of new load by 2030 — up nearly 15% from its previous estimate — with 18 GW coming from data centers, according to William Fehrman, AEP president and CEO. The 24 GW is backed by signed customer commitments and consists of 13 GW in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas market, 9 GW in the PJM Interconnection and about 2.5 GW in the Southwest Power Pool, Fehrman said Wednesday during an earnings call. In ERCOT, the pending load includes about 5 GW in cryptocurrency operations and 2 GW in data centers, according to Fehrman. “Texas is clearly becoming the crypto center for us,” he said. The pending load in PJM includes about 3.7 GW of data centers in Ohio and about 3.1 GW of data centers in Indiana Michigan Power’s service territory, Fehrman said. AEP’s utilities have inquiries about possible new load totaling 190 GW, Fehrman said — a significant increase for a 37-GW system. “Potential customers are drawn to AEP’s footprint because of our advanced transmission network capable of delivering consistent large load power,” he said, adding that the company owns more 765-kV lines than all other utilities combined. AEP’s weather-normalized peak demand grew 12%, to 37.6 GW, at the end of the second quarter, up from 33.5 GW a year earlier, according to Trevor Mihalik, the company’s CFO. Data centers and other industrial customers coming online in Indiana, Ohio and Texas largely drove the increase, he said, resulting in about $200 million in additional revenue. AEP, based in Columbus, Ohio, expects weather-normalized retail electricity sales by its utilities will increase 5.7% this year, up from 3% growth in 2024. The company anticipates sales will jump 8.4% next year and 8.9% in 2027, according to an earnings presentation. In

Carnarvon Energy Limited said it has completed its seismic reprocessing project in the Bedout Sub-basin offshore Australia. In collaboration with its Bedout joint venture partners, Carnarvon completed the Bedout Mega Merge project, “a major advancement in subsurface imaging and exploration prospectivity definition” across the area, the company said in a news release. The project integrates 10 seismic surveys, covering 5884 square miles (15,240 square kilometers) and provides more than 80 percent seamless coverage of the Bedout JV acreage, the company said. The data was reprocessed and merged using modern geophysical techniques by DUG Technology, resulting in a unified, high-resolution dataset, according to the release. The dataset enhances the definition of the Bedout prospective resource base and associated geological risk profile. The joint venture is using the dataset for guidance in identifying areas with high exploration potential, the company said. Insights gained from the dataset will directly inform selection of the 2026 exploration target and guide the future Bedout exploration strategy, Carnarvon said. The joint venture continues to prepare for the submission of the multi-well drilling environmental plan required for future exploration activities, with drilling planned to commence in the third quarter of 2026, the company said. The second phase of the project will apply quantitative interpretation and seismic inversion techniques to refine further subsurface predictions, particularly regarding rock lithology for reservoir and seal characterization. The ongoing phase will support high-grading of prospects for future drilling, according to the release. Carnarvon CEO Philip Huizenga said, “The recently completed Mega Merge Project has provided our technical team an unparalleled, coherent view of the Bedout Sub-basin’s sub-surface, encompassing our discoveries, identified prospects and potential new targets”. “The quality and clarity of the merged dataset enables Carnarvon to confidently assist with finalizing our drilling target for the proposed 2026 drilling campaign with a focus