Eni SpA (NYSE: E) raised its oil and gas production guidance and said it would accelerate the pace of share buybacks after reporting on Friday better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter, driven by its upstream division. The Italian energy major booked an adjusted net profit of $1.63 billion (1.5 billion euros) for the second quarter of 2024, down by 21% year-over-year but ahead of the analyst consensus estimate of $1.54 billion (1.42 billion euros). Oil and gas production rose by 6% from a year earlier, to 1.71 million barrels of oil…

Exxon this week sealed its fourth carbon capture and storage deal, this time with ammonia producer CF Industries. Under the deal, Exxon will capture and store half a million tons of carbon dioxide from a CF Industries facility in Mississippi, starting in 2028. The deal will enable CF Industries to reduce emissions from the site by 50%, the supermajor said. The deal, which is the fourth CCS contract for Exxon and the second such deal with CF Industries, will bring the total amount of carbon dioxide it would be capturing and storing to 5.5 million…

Baker Hughes reported a 13% annual increase in second-quarter revenues and a 41% annual increase in net profits, beating analyst expectations on its strong international business. Like fellow oilfield service majors, Baker Hughes posted a strong quarter overseas and not so much at home. The company cited deals with Algeria’s Sonatrach and Brazil’s Petrobras among the largest contributors to its financial performance during the quarter, as well as Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy entity, SOCAR. Baker Hughes reported a 12% quarterly…

Crude oil prices looked on track for a third weekly loss in a row, pressured by the perception of weaker-than-desired Chinese demand. Even so, oil made some gains earlier in the week, mostly on substantial inventory draws as reported by the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Information Administration. The latest push for oil prices came from the U.S. Commerce Department, which reported GDP growth of 2.8% for the second quarter, attributing it to higher consumer spending and business investment. More U.S. economic data is due out later…

The clean energy sector is trudging through a bearish stretch with high interest rates, low power prices, and uncertainty around U.S. climate policy taking a toll on renewable energy stocks. The solar sector, in particular, is enduring a torrid season with investors shunning solar investments. Indeed, Mercom Capital Group has reported that Solar companies recorded the highest amount in debt financing in a decade during the first half of 2024, with solar companies raising $12.2 billion in debt deals, good for a 53%Y/Y increase. Solar companies…

Sitting on the world's largest oil reserves, Venezuela is mostly known as a crude producer—and a very troubled one. However, it also has significant gas reserves that it has been unable to develop fully. Venezuela needs gas investments and it needs them now. Venezuelans are voting for president this Sunday. According to Reuters, the gas supply issue will feature among the key priorities for voters as production declines and people resort to wood-burning stoves. Venezuela used to pump some 8 billion cu ft of natural gas back in 2016,…

Despite continued growth in coal-fired power generation, China reached a momentous milestone in clean energy in the first half of the year, as rising hydropower, solar, and wind output pushed down the share of coal in power generation to below 60% for the first time ever. While it is too early to toast a successful Chinese energy transition, the decline in coal's share—largely helped by soaring hydropower after two years of drought—is the latest chapter in a trend in recent years. China's share of clean power has been rising, while…

With Donald Trump back in the presidential race, many are wondering what his winning would mean for the U.S. energy sector following three yeas of strong climate policies and restrictions on new oil and gas development. Would Trump pursue greater oil and gas investment in the coming years, or would he continue the path President Biden is forging for a green transition?  During his term in government, Trump continually voiced his aims for greater energy independence. This meant approving widespread oil and gas production, aimed at enhancing…

Via Metal Miner   Chinese geologists recently discovered two new minerals – oboniobite and scandio-fluoro-eckermannite – at Inner Mongolia’s Bayan Obo, the world’s largest rare earths mine. According to media reports, the discovery was a joint effort by the CAS Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Union Co., Ltd., Baotou Research Institute of Rare Earths, and Central South University. As announced by Li Xianhua from the CAS Institute of Geology and Geophysics, the International Mineralogical…

A new World Bank report gives Tajikistan passing grades for its present economic performance but cautions that an excessive state role in the economy poses a significant threat to continuing stability. The bank’s report on Tajikistan specifically focuses on “the impact of enterprises with state participation and competitive neutrality.” It starts with praise, noting that the Tajik economy grew by 8.3 percent in 2023 and 8.2 percent during the first quarter of this year. Growth, the report adds, was driven by increased revenue…

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2024, revealing a notable decrease in net income. The company reported net income attributable to Valero stockholders of $880 million, or $2.71 per share, down significantly from $1.9 billion, or $5.40 per share, in the same period last year. In the refining sector, Valero saw a decline in operating income to $1.2 billion from $2.4 billion in Q2 2023. Despite this, the company highlighted robust performance in its U.S. wholesale system, with sales surpassing…

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2024, revealing a notable decrease in net income. The company reported net income attributable to Valero stockholders of $880 million, or $2.71 per share, down significantly from $1.9 billion, or $5.40 per share, in the same period last year. In the refining sector, Valero saw a decline in operating income to $1.2 billion from $2.4 billion in Q2 2023. Despite this, the company highlighted robust performance in its U.S. wholesale system, with sales surpassing…

Chinese engineers and the Taliban government officially started work on a massive project in Afghanistan to mine the world's second-largest deposit of copper. At the July 24 event at Mes Aynak, some 40 kilometers southeast of the capital, Kabul, Taliban officials along with Chinese businessmen and diplomats carried out a ribbon-cutting ceremony as work began on the construction of a road to the mining site. A $3 billion deal signed in 2008 gave the Chinese state-owned China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC) a 30-year mining concession, but…

Authored by Andrew Phillips via RealClearEnergy, The rise of AI data centers, growing electrification, and industrial growth is heralding a new era of U.S. power consumption. As our country advances, so too must our power grid. Building new transmission lines can take a significant amount of time and investment. With America’s growing power appetite not slowing down and an increasing need for renewables to meet net-zero targets, interim steps can be taken to ensure continued reliable, affordable electricity to keep pace with our growing economy.…

France, the biggest net electricity exporter in Europe, plans to limit power exports to neighboring countries, which could lead to higher prices in other European power markets such as Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, and Germany. France, which derives about 70% of its electricity from nuclear energy, returned last year to the top spot of Europe’s net power exporters, as its nuclear fleet returned from maintenance and domestic demand was lower, analysts at Montel EnAppSys said early this year. The Montel EnAppSys analysis published…

Rystad Energy’s latest research shows global recoverable oil reserves held largely steady at around 1,500 billion barrels, down some 52 billion barrels from our 2023 analysis. Of this year-over-year decrease, 30 billion barrels are due to one year of production, and 22 billion barrels are mostly due to downward adjustments of contingent resources in discoveries. The largest downward revisions are seen in Saudi Arabia, where development priorities have shifted from offshore capacity expansions to onshore infill drilling. The only country with…

There is no discord between Russia and OPEC+ over Moscow’s recent poor compliance with the group’s production cuts, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday. The overproduction of some OPEC+ members – most notably Iraq, Kazakhstan, and Russia – has been an issue for the alliance, which has tentative plans to start easing part of the voluntary cuts in the fourth quarter of this year, market conditions permitting. “We don’t have any friction, as you put it,” Novak told reporters in Moscow…

There is no discord between Russia and OPEC+ over Moscow’s recent poor compliance with the group’s production cuts, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday. The overproduction of some OPEC+ members – most notably Iraq, Kazakhstan, and Russia – has been an issue for the alliance, which has tentative plans to start easing part of the voluntary cuts in the fourth quarter of this year, market conditions permitting. “We don’t have any friction, as you put it,” Novak told reporters in Moscow…

There is no discord between Russia and OPEC+ over Moscow’s recent poor compliance with the group’s production cuts, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday. The overproduction of some OPEC+ members – most notably Iraq, Kazakhstan, and Russia – has been an issue for the alliance, which has tentative plans to start easing part of the voluntary cuts in the fourth quarter of this year, market conditions permitting. “We don’t have any friction, as you put it,” Novak told reporters in Moscow…

The owner of British Gas, Centrica, has blamed “normalising” market conditions after two years of bumper results for its heavy slide in profit in the first half of this year. Centrica—the FTSE 100 constituent that owns British Gas and looks after Scottish Gas and Bord Gáis—reported a near 50 percent decline in adjusted operating profit for the six months to 30th June, from £2.1bn to £1bn. Basic earnings per share dropped from 25.8p to 12.8p, and its free cash flow fell from £1,377m to £816m.…