Latin American oil and gas firm GeoPark Limited has appointed Felipe Bayon as its new CEO and director, effective June 1. Bayon succeeds Andres Ocampo, who is stepping down from the role due to personal reasons, the company said in a news release. Bayon is recognized as one of the most effective energy executives in Latin America with more than three decades of accomplishments in the international oil and gas industry, GeoPark said. From 2017 to 2023, Bayon was CEO of Bogota, Colombia-based Ecopetrol, where he led 18,000 employees, oversaw production of approximately 700,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) and revenues of over $30 billion. He brought Ecopetrol into the unconventional Permian Basin in the USA in partnership with Occidental Petroleum—a project that grew from 0 to around 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) gross in four years, as well as into the Brazilian ultra-deep water pre-salt play in partnership with Shell, according to the release. Bayon is a mechanical engineer who began his career in 1991 with Shell in field operations and projects and then moved to BP plc where he worked for 21 years. He also served as the CEO of Pan American Energy, one of the private hydrocarbon producers in Argentina, from 2005 to 2010. He has served on multiple boards across the energy, utilities, education, and technology sectors, GeoPark said. Ocampo, who served as the company’s CEO for three years and CFO for more than eight years, will continue to support the company and ensure a seamless handover, GeoPark said. Sylvia Escovar, Chair of GeoPark’s board said, “The board is very pleased to welcome Felipe Bayon to GeoPark. We believe he will be a catalyst to unlock the abundant opportunities in our region and drive us to transformational growth. Felipe is a true explorer, operator,

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has launched a $3-billion financing platform to help countries in the continent and the Caribbean bridge the cost of importing refined petroleum products. The Revolving Intra-African Oil Trade Financing Program only supports importation from African refineries. Afreximbank expects the program to back about $10-14 billion of imports. The Cairo-based bank said refined products have accounted for $30 billion of annual oil import costs in Africa, driven by inadequate refining capacity. “This program seeks to leverage the growing refining capacity that Afreximbank has helped establish across the continent, while aligning with the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement, which includes facilitating intra-African trade, promoting industrialization, and creating jobs on the continent”, it said in an online statement. “Afreximbank is on its way to creating over 1.3 million bpd refining capacity and helping to convert the Gulf of Guinea from an exporter of crude oil into an important refining hub for the continent and the world”, the bank said. It said it has financed refineries in Angola, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria, including the Dangote refinery, which started production last year as Africa’s biggest refinery with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd). The funding program will “mainly provide critical trade finance to oil traders (both African and international), banks, and Governments – represented by their Ministry of Finance or Ministry of Petroleum Resources/Energy – and state-owned enterprises mandated to import refined petroleum products, who seek to source refined products from African Refineries for onward consumption within the continent and export opportunities as may be applicable”, the bank said. Afreximbank president and chair Benedict Oramah said, “Whilst the program will have a direct impact on the volume of the refined petroleum products produced and consumed in Africa, it will also have a multiplier effect on the

The UK’s transition towards zero emissions presents a “massive opportunity”, according to the chief of the body responsible for the North Sea transition. North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) chief executive Stuart Payne said, while speaking at the Innovation Zero conference at Kensington Olympia in London on Tuesday, that carbon capture and storage will enable the country to realise its climate targets. The NSTA has a mandate to enable the orderly transition of oil and gas projects in the North Sea, and it can issue fines to operators that fail to decommission old assets, but it is ultimately responsible for ensuring that value is extracted from the region’s natural resources. While the body has the capacity to fine operators up to £1 million for failing to decommission old oil and gas platforms, to date it has taken only limited action to clamp down on delayed decommissioning. “The government is currently consulting on its vision for the future of the North Sea,” said Payne. “The consultation covers many things including licensing, skills and the workforce. But at its core is a recognition of the importance of managing the transition from oil and gas. “If we get it right, the North Sea can have a prosperous future which creates and safeguards employment and generates multibillion pound investments in all offshore energy projects. If we get it wrong, we risk losing the vital support of the public and from investors and risk missing out on opportunities for growth, jobs and energy security.” The regulator’s chief said that despite efforts to decarbonise, he expects oil and gas will remain “part of the picture for decades to come”. Two carbon capture and storage projects have been permitted in five months, the NSTA said, which in Payne’s view will enable the UK to grow its economy on

TotalEnergies SE said Wednesday it would repurchase up to $2 billion worth of shares in the second quarter (Q2), even as its Q1 earnings dropped. The French energy giant redeemed 33.3 million shares in the January-March 2025 quarter for $2 billion, according to quarterly results it published online. TotalEnergies’ board also approved a first interim dividend for 2025 of EUR 0.85 per share ($0.97). That is the same as the prior quarter’s rate but up 7.6 percent from the first three interim dividends of 2024. Chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said the newly declared payouts reflect TotalEnergies’ confidence in its balance sheet despite “a softening price environment with Brent below $70/b [per barrel] since the beginning of April and an uncertain geopolitical and macroeconomic context”. Adjusted net income declined 18 percent against Q1 2024 to $4.19 billion as weaker oil prices offset higher natural gas and liquefied natural gas prices, as well as higher production. Adjusted net profit per share post-dilution was $1.83. TotalEnergies opened lower at EUR 51.19 in Paris on results day. Hydrocarbon output totaled 2.56 million barrels of oil equivalent a day (MMboed), up 4 percent year-over-year thanks to “the continued ramp-up of projects in Brazil, the United States, Malaysia, Argentina and Denmark”, Pouyanne said. Production comprised 1.36 MMbd of oil including bitumen and 1.2 MMboed of gas including condensates and associated natural gas liquids. “The start-ups of the Ballymore offshore field in the United States during the second quarter and Mero-4 in Brazil expected in the third quarter will continue to add high-margin barrels and further reinforce the Company’s 2025 hydrocarbon production growth objective of more than 3 percent”, Pouyanne added. The exploration and production segment generated $2.45 billion in adjusted net operating profit, down 4 percent year-over-year. Integrated LNG logged $1.29 billion in adjusted net operating profit,

Engineering services firm Enteq Technologies has entered administration after failing to find a buyer. The AIM-listed company experienced a sharp drop in its share price in recent weeks after warning of cash flow issues from the development of its SABER drilling technology. The SABER (Steer-At-Bit Enteq Rotary Tool) is an alternative to traditional rotary steerable systems. Enteq acquired an exclusive licence for the SABER technology from Shell in 2019, before embarking on efforts to commercialise the technology. Alongside oil and gas applications, the SABER tool can also be used in geothermal drilling and methane capture. A year ago, the Enteq’s shares traded a £9, but this had fallen to 43p before trading was suspended. In a statement to the market, Enteq said while the company “continues to require funding” the board “now no longer considers that suitable funding can be realistically raised”. “The board has continued to seek advice on its appropriate next steps, and regrettably has concluded that, after detailed consideration of the company’s current financial situation, it will not be able to meet its liabilities as they fall due and is therefore required to take the necessary steps to seek to preserve value for creditors,” the statement continued. According to documents submitted to Companies House, Enteq reported a $3.2 million (£2.4m) loss in 2024, which came after a $1.7m (£1.27m) loss in 2023. Enteq expanded into Aberdeen in 2023 in an attempt to drive sales of the SABER product in the North Sea. At the time, the company employed 11 people across the UK and the US. The company also maintained offices in Cheltenham and Houston alongside its London headquarters.

The scale and speed of the power outage that brought much of Spain and Portugal to a standstill on Monday have raised significant concerns both regionally and internationally. That’s what Rystad Energy stated in a market update sent to Rigzone by the Rystad team on Tuesday, which was penned by the company’s senior analyst Pratheeksha Ramdas. “Spain’s national grid operator, Red Electrica (REE), and Portugal’s E-Redes are investigating the exact causes that led to abnormal oscillations in the high-voltage lines and synchronization failures across the interconnected power grid into France,” Rystad said in the update. “As power has now returned to large parts of the region, the generation mix in each country played a significant role in both the failure and the recovery, preliminary Rystad Energy analysis shows,” it added. Rystad noted in the update that the blackout began with a sharp fluctuation in the Spanish electricity grid, which it said caused the entire electricity system to disconnect from the rest of the European system at around 12.30pm on Monday. “Within minutes, the intense fluctuations led to a complete collapse of the Spanish mainland’s electricity transmission grid,” Rystad highlighted. “The failure had an immediate impact on everyday life, with metro systems grounding to a halt across multiple cities, forcing emergency evacuations of underground transport, while airports, traffic signals, and communications networks ceased functioning,” it added. Rigzone experienced the power outage in Lisbon, Portugal, first-hand, seeing several nonfunctional traffic lights and several petrol stations closed around the area on Monday. In a statement posted on its official X account on Monday, which was translated from Portuguese, the Portuguese government said the GNR (Guarda Nacional Republicana) “appeals to the population to remain calm and serene, paying special attention to road traffic due to the lack of traffic lights, and remains available to