Author: omc_admin

Global LNG demand growth will be supported not only by higher power and gas consumption but also by surging demand from the shipping industry, where liquefied natural gas is poised to become key to replacing the dirtier fuel oil and other oil-based marine fuels. Demand for LNG bunkering is expected to at least double by the end of the decade, industry executives and experts have told Reuters.“LNG is great because the infrastructure is there. It’s readily available … maybe later on it’s going to be, hopefully, quite cheap as well,” Tuomas Maljanen, associate director for LNG and new energy at shipbroker…

Berkshire Hathaway has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Occidental Petroleum’s chemical business, OxyChem, in an all-cash transaction valued at $9.7 billion. The sale, expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025 pending regulatory approvals, represents one of the largest U.S. petrochemical transactions in recent years.  Vicki Hollub, CEO of Occidental Occidental said it intends to use $6.5 billion of proceeds to reduce debt, aiming to lower principal obligations below $15 billion following its late-2023 acquisition of CrownRock. The company noted that the divestment is designed to reinforce its balance sheet while sharpening its focus on oil…

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), increased by 1.8 million barrels from the week ending September 19 to the week ending September 26, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) highlighted in its latest weekly petroleum status report. This report, which was released on October 1 and included data for the week ending September 26, showed that crude oil stocks, not including the SPR, stood at 416.5 million barrels on September 26, 414.8 million barrels on September 19, and 416.9 million barrels on September 27, 2024. The report highlighted that data may not add…

The Republic of Congo expects its Parliament to pass soon a new natural gas code that would spur foreign investments in the country on the western coast of central Africa, Minister of Hydrocarbons, Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua, said on Wednesday.  Oil producer and exporter Congo, an OPEC member since 2018, wants to develop its natural gas resources, too, according to the minister. “We are guided by a strong conviction: the future of Congo cannot rely solely on oil, it must also rely on gas,” Itoua said at an African energy conference in Cape Town, as carried by Reuters.“This is why we have placed…

Baker Hughes said it was awarded a contract by engineering company Bechtel Energy Inc. to supply key liquefaction equipment for Sempra Infrastructure’s Port Arthur LNG phase 2 project in Jefferson County, Texas. Building upon the technology solutions provided for phase 1, Baker Hughes’ scope for phase 2 includes four Frame 7 turbines paired with eight centrifugal compressors across two liquefied natural gas (LNG) trains, supporting a nameplate capacity of around 13 million metric tons per annum (mtpa), the company said in a news release. Additionally, Baker Hughes said it is set to provide two electric motor-driven compressors for the plant’s…

Saudi state oil giant Aramco has signed a joint development agreement with U.S. conglomerate Honeywell and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) of Saudi Arabia to co-develop a novel direct Crude-to-Chemicals (CTC) technology. The collaboration will focus on developing and scaling up the full CTC, to significantly reduce both capital and operating costs associated with CTC conversion, the Saudi university said on Thursday, as the world’s top crude oil exporter is boosting downstream operations and collaborations to lock in future demand for its oil. The new CTC technology is designed to extract significant value from each barrel of crude oil…

Eni SpA said it has signed an exploration contract with the Ivorian Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Energy for the CI-707 offshore block in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The license covers an area of around 1,130 square miles (2,926 square kilometers) in the Ivorian sedimentary basin, at a water depth of between 3,280 and 9,843 feet (1,000 and 3,000 meters). The planned exploration period has a maximum duration of 9 years, Eni said in a news release. The area covered by the license is geologically continuous with the nearby CI-205 block, where Eni announced the discovery of Calao in March 2024,…

PARIS (AP) — Protesters took to the streets of more than 200 towns and cities across France on Thursday to denounce spending cuts and demand higher taxes on the rich. In Paris, thousands of workers, retirees and students started marching on Thursday afternoon from Place d’Italie. The Eiffel Tower informed visitors in a statement it was closed due to the strike. A board at the closed Eiffel Tower during a new round of strikes and protests to denounce spending cuts and demand higher taxes on the rich Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) A board at the…

In a report sent to Rigzone late Tuesday by the Macquarie team, the company revealed its latest oil price forecasts for 2025 and 2026. According to that report, Macquarie sees the Brent price averaging $67.95 per barrel this year and $60.75 per barrel next year. Macquarie projected in the report that the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil price will average $64.13 per barrel in 2025 and $56.63 per barrel in 2026. The Brent price will average $68 per barrel in the third quarter, $63 per barrel in the fourth quarter, $57 per barrel in the first quarter of next year,…

Daily Light Crude Oil Futures From a technical perspective, WTI crude is trading below the 200-day moving average ($63.06), the 50-day moving average ($63.56), and a long-term pivot at $64.21. This alignment underscores the bearish tone in the market. Prices have already broken below key swing bottoms at $61.61 and $61.34, exposing the September 5 low at $61.10 and the August 13 bottom at $60.77. A confirmed break under $60.77 could trigger an acceleration toward the late May bottom at $55.74. That level would likely act as a major downside target for traders managing risk or building short-side exposure. Geopolitical…