PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk. has agreed to acquire Fortuna International (Barbados) Inc. from Repsol E&P S.a.r.l. The company said in a media release it will shell out $425 million in the process. It expects to close the transaction in the third quarter of 2025. MedcoEnergi said Fortuna International holds an indirect 24 percent interest in the Corridor Production Sharing Contract (PSC). The Corridor PSC has seven producing gas fields and one producing oil field, all located onshore in South Sumatra, Indonesia, MedcoEnergi said. The gas is sold under long-term contracts to high-quality buyers in Indonesia and Singapore, it said. “This acquisition supports our strategy of owning and developing high-quality, cash-generative assets and reaffirms our commitment to national development where natural gas is a vital bridge to a lower-carbon future”, Hilmi Panigoro, President Director, stated. Last month MedcoEnergi signed a gas swap agreement through its subsidiaries, Medco E&P Natuna Ltd. (part of the West Natuna Group Supply Group) and Medco E&P Grissik Ltd. (from the South Sumatra Sellers). The agreement, signed with various key parties including PT Pertamina (Persero) and PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (Persero) Tbk (PGN), reallocates gas volumes. Specifically, the West Natuna Supply Group will now supply gas to Singapore, replacing volumes previously sent from the South Sumatra Sellers. These redirected South Sumatra volumes will then be supplied to PGN to meet Indonesia’s domestic gas demands, MedcoEnergi said. Additionally, Medco E&P Natuna Ltd., along with Premier Oil Natuna Sea B.V. and Star Energy (Kakap) Ltd., signed a separate Domestic Gas Sales Agreement with PGN. In other developments, MedcoEnergi earlier this month started commercial operations at its 25-megawatt peak East Bali Solar Photovoltaic Plant, PT Medcosolar Bali Timur, located in Karangasem, East Bali. To contact the author, email [email protected] What do you think? We’d love to hear from you,

The Trump administration has eased recent export limits on a critical petroleum product that’s used to make plastics — a shift that represents a modest pullback on curbs used as leverage in trade negotiations with China.  Under the change, Enterprise Products Partners LP and Energy Transfer LP are being allowed to load that gas, known as ethane, onto tankers and transport it to Chinese ports. However, they are still barred from unloading that cargo for use by Chinese entities, said people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named.  Enterprise Products “may not complete” ethane exports to Chinese entities “without further BIS authorization,” the US Bureau of Industry and Security said in a letter Thursday to the firm. Energy Transfer was also notified of the change, the people said. The shift follows weeks of lobbying by oil industry advocates who told administration officials the restrictions were inflicting more pain on the US than China. The use of ethane, which China depends almost entirely on America for, as a trade war bargaining chip has disrupted supply chains and redirected flows. While US inventories of ethane — essentially a byproduct of shale production in West Texas — climbed, expensive ships purpose-built to carry the fuel have been forced to idle or sail to new destinations like India after previously only plying dedicated routes between the US and China.  As of late last week, INEOS Group Holdings SA had one tanker full of ethane waiting to ship and Enterprise Products Partners had three to four cargo ships stuck in limbo, according to a person familiar with the matter. Representatives of Enterprise Products, Energy Transfer and the Commerce Department, which oversees BIS, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the shift, first reported by Reuters.  While the revised licensing requirements will ease congestion at US Gulf

Oil held steady as traders grappled with conflicting signals about how much US military strikes hobbled Iran’s nuclear program and whether Washington will continue to target Tehran’s oil flows. West Texas Intermediate edged up to settle near near $65 a barrel while Brent closed little changed near $68. WTI had climbed as much as 2.3% earlier after the Financial Times reported that European capitals believe that Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile remain largely intact following US strikes. President Donald Trump, in a social media post, denied reports that Iran successfully moved nuclear material from its sites before the attacks. At the same time, an Iranian law to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog came into effect. Prices eased off intraday highs after CNN reported that Washington has discussed offering incentives to restart talks with Iran, including possibly easing sanctions. At a news conference on Wednesday, Trump indicated that US financial penalties are doing little to stop China from buying Iran’s supplies, contradicting earlier comments that he’s “not giving up” on a strategy of targeting Tehran’s petrodollars. “If they’re going to sell oil, they’re going to sell oil,” Trump said. “China is going to want to buy oil. They can buy it from us. They can buy it from other people.” In another headwind, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that there are no imminent plans to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. She also said there were no plans for nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran and reiterated that the US destroyed Iran’s nuclear capabilities. The developments highlight the fragility of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, with traders still on edge over potential disruptions to energy supplies from the Middle East. Still, the large geopolitical risk premium in the market only a few sessions ago has mostly

Diversified Energy Co. PLC and Carlyle have formed a partnership to invest up to $2 billion in proven developed producing (PDP) natural gas and oil assets across the United States.  “This exclusive partnership will combine Carlyle’s deep credit and structuring expertise, led by Carlyle’s asset-backed finance (ABF) team, with Diversified’s market-leading operating capabilities and differentiated business model of acquiring and optimizing portfolios of existing long-life oil and gas assets to generate reliable production and consistent cash flow”, a joint statement said. “Under the terms of the agreement, Diversified will serve as the operator and servicer of the newly acquired assets”, the companies added. “As investments occur, Carlyle intends to pursue opportunities to securitize these assets, seeking to unlock long-term, resilient financing for this critical segment of the nation’s energy infrastructure”. Diversified Energy chief executive Rusty Hutson Jr said, “This arrangement significantly enhances our ability to pursue and scale strategic acquisitions in what we believe is a highly compelling environment for PDP asset consolidation”. “Diversified is a leading operator of long-life energy assets and a pioneer in bringing PDP securitizations to institutional markets”, commented Akhil Bansal, head of Carlyle ABF. “We are excited to bring institutional capital to high-quality, cash-yielding energy assets that are core to US domestic energy production and energy security. “This partnership underscores Carlyle’s ability to originate differentiated investment opportunities through proprietary sourcing channels and seek access to stable, yield-oriented energy exposure”. Carlyle ABF, part of Carlyle’s Global Credit platform, focuses on private fixed income and asset-backed investments. Carlyle ABF supports businesses, specialty finance companies, banks, asset managers and other originators and owners of diversified pools of assets. It has deployed around $8 billion since 2021 and has about$9 billion in assets under management as of the first quarter of 2025, according to Washington-based Carlyle. Birmingham, Alabama-based Diversified Energy

Eight utility commissions in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s footprint are challenging the U.S. Department of Energy’s emergency order to keep a coal-fired power plant running in Michigan past its May 30 retirement date. DOE failed to show that emergency conditions exist in the MISO footprint warranting its May 23 order directing Consumers Energy to delay retiring the 1,560-MW,  J.H. Campbell power plant in West Olive, the Organization of MISO States said in a June 23 rehearing request to the department. In its decision ordering the Campbell plant to run through Aug. 21, DOE cited the North American Electric Reliability Corp.’s 2025 Summer Reliability Assessment as the main evidence that there is an emergency in MISO, according to the rehearing request. However, the OMS-MISO Resource Adequacy Survey, MISO’s 2025/2026 Planning Resource Auction, MISO’s summer readiness assessment and Consumers Energy’s plans do not show a regional reliability emergency, shortfall or an unmet reliability criterion that justifies reversing the approved power plant retirement, OMS said. MISO’s most recent capacity auction cleared above its reserve margin target for this summer, the utility commissions noted. The auction cleared with a 10.1% summer reserve margin — a buffer above expected power supply needs — for MISO’s north and central regions compared to a 7.9% reserve target, according to MISO. Also, NERC’s long term reliability and seasonal assessment have limited value due to the inconsistent data collection methods between regional transmission organizations, unverified data inputs and doubtful evaluation metrics, according to the OMS commissions signing the rehearing request. “At their core, the NERC [Long Term Reliability Assessment] and seasonal assessments are undependable because they lack stakeholder input and verification,” the utility commissions said, noting they have been called into question in recent years. Most recently, MISO’s independent market monitor raised his concerns about NERC’s assessments at

The Senate is planning for gentler cuts to the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits as it continues to negotiate its version of the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ budget legislation, with Republican leadership hoping to start voting on the bill by Friday, senators said Tuesday. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said the Senate’s cuts to the IRA may ultimately be “a little more generous” than the House’s cuts, Reuters reported. Those cuts sought to claw back funding by winding down most credits much earlier than originally laid out in the IRA. Cramer also said there is “work being done” to revise the cuts to the residential solar tax credit, or 25D, which was eliminated in both the final bill passed by the House of Representatives and the version of the bill passed out of the Senate Finance Committee. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Axios Tuesday that he expects the Senate will begin voting on the bill Friday and “grind it out until … whenever.” Congressional Republicans have set a self-imposed deadline to deliver final legislation to President Donald Trump by July 4. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., warned House Republicans on Tuesday “not to leave town” in the coming days in case of a vote, Politico reported. Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough announced on Monday that multiple provisions included in the Senate Finance Committee’s version of the bill wouldn’t qualify for budget reconciliation under the Byrd Rule, and have to be removed or will trigger a 60-vote threshold requirement.  Several of those provisions are energy-related, including one deeming offshore oil and gas projects “automatically compliant” with the National Environmental Policy Act, and one which would remove the Secretary of the Interior’s “discretion to reduce fees for solar and wind projects on Bureau of Land Management land,” according to Senate