Nigeria has launched oil production from a new field in the Niger Delta region, which is expected to raise crude output at Africa’s top oil producer by 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of May. The upstream subsidiary of Nigerian national oil company, NNPC Exploration and Production Limited, and Natural Oilfield Services Ltd (NOSL), a subsidiary of Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production Company Ltd (SEEPCO), announced on Sunday the successful start of oil production at Oil Mining Lease (OML) 13 in Akwa Ibom State,…

One of Chevy's longest running vehicle models has now fallen at the hands of the company's transition to EVs. The Chevy Malibu will be no longer, according to a new report from Car and Driver.  The Chevy Malibu, one of the longest-running and most successful vehicles in history, is being discontinued again. Chevrolet informed Car and Driver that production will end in November 2024 as the automaker invests $390 million in its Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas. Car and Driver reports that GM will also pause production of the Cadillac XT4 in…

Eni is considering spinning off some stakes in oil and gas projects in Asia and Africa to have partners for their development while putting aside more money into lower-carbon energy projects, sources in the Italian major have told Reuters. For years, Eni has been taking a different approach to conventional and green energy development, unlike any of the other major international oil and gas firms. The Italian major is divesting or creating joint ventures to operate oil and gas assets internationally while grouping some low-carbon initiatives and…

Around 43.8 million Americans will travel during Memorial Day weekend—the highest in nearly two decades, AAA projections showed on Monday in what would be a near-record unofficial start to summer travel in the U.S.   AAA expects 43.8 million Americans to head 50 miles or more from home by all means of transportation over the Memorial Day holiday travel period between Thursday, May 23, and Monday, May 27, 2024.    If this projection pans out, this year’s total number of travelers for Memorial Day would be a 4%…

The European Commission will end an investigation into Chinese solar companies after the firms withdrew from bidding for a solar power project in Romania, Thierry Breton, the European Internal Market Commissioner said on Monday.     The European Commission opened in April an in-depth investigation under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation into two companies – ENEVO, which includes LONGi Solar Technologie GmbH, as well as Shanghai Electric UK Co. Ltd. and Shanghai Electric Hong Kong International Engineering Co. Ltd.…

Back in March, S&P Global reported that a record 24 cargoes carrying nearly 1.6 million metric tons of U.S. LNG had reached Asia via the Cape of Good Hope in the first three months of 2024, with exporters choosing the much longer route and shunning the Panama and Suez canals due to various challenges. S&P reported that only 14 cargoes had reached Asia through the Panama Canal during the timeframe, a sharp drop from 40 cargoes recorded during the corresponding period in 2022 after low water levels occasioned by severe drought forced…

After high expectations for U.S. electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, following big promises from market leader Tesla, plans have come crashing down as Musk scraps the company’s expansion scheme. Tesla announced this month that it would not be going ahead with plans for a major EV charging expansion programme. This followed hundreds of layoffs in April, which led many to question Tesla’s plans for sustained growth in the U.S. and global markets. The question now is whether other automakers will step in to roll out their own…

As governments and private companies pump funds into research and development, aiming to achieve the innovation needed to advance renewable energy operations, we are seeing greater progress in the global green transition. With major advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital offerings in recent years, some energy experts believe that this technology can now be used to enhance energy production, boosting the potential of the world’s geothermal energy output. Geothermal energy is a natural form of heat energy that is located…

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists have developed microcapacitors with ultrahigh energy and power density, paving the way for on-chip energy storage in electronic devices. Many readers have seen the populations of capacitors installed to computer motherboards and other power-intensive silicon chip circuit boards. The findings, published in the journal Nature, pave the way for advanced on-chip energy storage and power delivery in next-generation electronics. In the ongoing quest to make electronic devices ever smaller…

OPEC is preparing to replace the ‘call on OPEC’ forecast of global demand for the cartel’s crude oil with ‘call on OPEC+ crude’ in its closely-watched monthly oil market report, signaling that it remains committed to the broader OPEC+ alliance to manage supply to the market.   The change in forecasts of the amount of crude OPEC needs to produce for a balanced supply-demand picture on the market is expected to be published in the Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) for May, scheduled to be released on May 14, sources…

Countries around the globe are racing to decarbonise in pursuit of a green transition. Several governments have created national policies to encourage a shift away from fossil fuels towards renewable alternatives, in a bid to achieve their Paris Agreement climate pledges. Yet, some have been more successful than others at transitioning. The countries with the highest proportion of electricity coming from renewable energy are all endowed with abundant natural resources, such as geothermal, hydro, and wind power, and most have relatively small electricity…

Copper is essential for clean energy applications such as solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles (EVs), as well as for expanding electrical grids. The surge in demand for the metal, driven by the growing adoption of these technologies, presents a unique investment opportunity for early investors in copper mining companies. Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti introduces this chart by Sprott exploring the growing gap between copper supply and demand until 2050, based on projections from BloombergNEF’s Transition Metals Outlook 2023.…

While Xi’s trip dealt with everything from trade ties with the European Union to China’s relationship with Russia amid the war in Ukraine, the tour can be boiled down to one overarching message from China: Xi leads a rising global superpower that can’t be contained and its influence in Europe is here to stay. The Chinese leader received opulent red-carpet welcomes in Paris from French President Emmanuel Macron and from China-friendly leaders like Serbia’s Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade and Hungary’s Viktor Orban in Budapest.…

Despite EU investigations and jawboning from within the industry, it looks as though Europe has faced the inevitable: it needs to "face up" to the fact that Chinese EVs have arrived, and probably aren't going anywhere, anytime soon. Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Paris on Sunday to ease trade tensions with a wary Europe. Accompanied by a business delegation focused on the electric vehicle industry, including Envision Group, SAIC Motor, and Xpeng Motors, the visit served as both a shopping trip and networking opportunity, Nikkei reported.…

While the west has had a considerable amount of success imposing energy sanctions on Russia in response to the ongoing war in Ukraine, Russian nuclear sector exports have proven harder to kick. But now, as more western nations get serious about cutting Russia out of their nuclear energy supply chains, they are pushing more and more economic and geopolitical power into the hands of China.  While it seemed impossible to wean Europe off of Russian oil and natural gas without devastating the economy and dangerously compromising European energy…

Pembina Pipeline Corp (PPL.TO) of Canada is veering away from considering a substantial investment in the recently expanded Trans Mountain oil pipeline (TMX), primarily due to lingering uncertainties surrounding shipping tolls, a top company executive revealed on Friday. While Pembina initially formed a partnership with the Western Indigenous Pipeline Group (WIPG)  in 2021 to explore the possibility of acquiring a stake in the Canadian government-owned pipeline, recent months have seen a notable shift in their stance towards investing in the…

Pembina Pipeline Corp (PPL.TO) of Canada is veering away from considering a substantial investment in the recently expanded Trans Mountain oil pipeline (TMX), primarily due to lingering uncertainties surrounding shipping tolls, a top company executive revealed on Friday. While Pembina initially formed a partnership with the Western Indigenous Pipeline Group (WIPG)  in 2021 to explore the possibility of acquiring a stake in the Canadian government-owned pipeline, recent months have seen a notable shift in their stance towards investing in the…

The U.S. has big plans for lithium production in the coming years as it ramps up output to support the rollout of utility-scale battery storage and greater electric vehicle (EV) uptake. To ensure the U.S. has enough lithium to support the rapid growth of the battery market and reduce reliance on China, President Biden is supporting the development of the country’s lithium industry with funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and other national policies. Meanwhile, the private sector is investing heavily in lithium as the consumer uptake…

Artificial intelligence is shaping up as the hottest topic of the year. Analysts are predicting how it would benefit virtually every industry, and developers are eager to try it everywhere they can. But there is one potentially huge problem with AI: its energy and raw material requirements. The energy problem surfaced last year, with one scientist doing the maths on how much electricity data centers hosting AI hardware would require. Warnings began coming in saying that the utilization of artificial intelligence will reverse the transition…

The Biden administration is expected to make a major announcement on China tariffs as soon as next week that will impact semiconductors, solar power, and electric vehicles, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. While the possibility of additional tariffs has been widely known, the specific industries to be targeted have now been identified. Moreover, Beijing will likely release angry comments after Biden's speech next week, followed by a tit-for-tat response.  Two of the people said the decision to hit China's "new…