Saturday, 11 July 2026

Talos Energy and an affiliate of Ridgewood Energy struck a deal to jointly buy deepwater Gulf of Mexico assets from a Shell subsidiary for USD 1.7 billion, Oil & Gas Journal reported. The price carries customary adjustments and contingent payments.

At the center of the deal are two holdings, according to Oil & Gas Journal. The buyers take Shell Offshore Inc.'s 50% non-operated working interest in the Na Kika semi-submersible platform and its associated fields, plus the full 100% interest in the Coulomb subsea tieback.

Affiliates of bp hold a 30-day preferential purchase right over the Na Kika interests, Oil & Gas Journal reported.

The Na Kika platform can handle up to 130,000 b/d of oil and 550 MMcfd of natural gas, Oil & Gas Journal reported. It sits 140 miles southeast of New Orleans in 6,340 ft of water.

Entitlement output for Shell from the assets is projected to average 37,000 boe/d in 2025, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

Year-end 2025 proved reserves stood at 4.3 MMboe for Na Kika and 7.2 MMboe for Coulomb, Oil & Gas Journal reported.

Production tied to the interests Talos expects to acquire averaged about 16,000 boe/d in the first quarter of 2026, with oil making up roughly 77% of that figure, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

Lending for fossil fuel expansion reached $508 billion in 2025 from the world's top 65 banks, up 27 percent from 2024, according to Grist citing RAN's analysis. No year since at least 2016 has recorded a higher figure.

RAN's analysis named Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Mizuho Financial among the banks that raised their fossil fuel expansion financing during the year.

Petrochemicals run through much of that lending. From January 2019 through June 2025, big banks extended at least $591 billion in loans and underwriting to the world's top 15 petrochemical companies, Grist reported. CIEL tied $252 billion of that sum directly to petrochemical activities, with the balance flowing to integrated oil and gas corporations.

"Petrochemicals are not just a general growth area for fossil fuel companies," said Ximena Banegas, a plastics campaigner for CIEL and author of the group's report, according to Grist. "They are a deliberate and pivotal strategy to ensure that we continue using fossil fuels".

The International Energy Agency projects that plastics, agrichemicals, and other petrochemical products could make up more than one-third of oil demand growth through 2030 and nearly half by 2050.

Petrochemicals' annual greenhouse gas emissions reached 1.9 billion metric tons as of 2020, more than double the combined total of aviation and shipping, according to Grist.

The rise in lending came after a voluntary climate coalition unravelled. All six of the largest U.S. banks left the Net-Zero Banking Alliance across 2024 and 2025, and the alliance shut down in October, Grist reported.

Shell has agreed to sell its interests in the Na Kika platform and the Coulomb field to Talos Energy and an affiliate of Ridgewood Energy Corporation for USD 1.7 billion, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

Of that total, USD 850 million is a cash payment net to Talos, subject to customary purchase price adjustments, the company said in the OEDigital report.

The interests carry roughly 23 million barrels of oil equivalent in proved reserves and another 10 million barrels of probable reserves, net to Talos. Output from the assets ran at about 16,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first quarter of 2026, with oil making up around 77% of the volume.

Talos lined up USD 150 million in incremental commitments from its existing lenders to help finance the deal, lifting its borrowing base to USD 850 million from USD 700 million on closing, according to OEDigital.

BP holds a 30-day preferential purchase right over the Na Kika interests.

The deal takes an effective date of July 1, 2025, and the parties expect to close by the end of 2026, pending regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

Aker Solutions has secured a substantial contract to deliver a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) substructure for a European offshore wind project, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital. The customer was undisclosed.

The scope covers engineering, procurement and construction, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

Aker Solutions will book the award as order intake in the second quarter of 2026 within its Renewables and Field Development segment, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

Aker Solutions defines a substantial contract as one valued between USD 250 million and USD 400 million, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

Transocean has reached a conditional deal with Equinor to supply three harsh-environment semi-submersible rigs on the Norwegian continental shelf, lifting its contract backlog by more than USD 1 billion, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The arrangement runs to seven rig years and hinges on license approvals, with additional services falling outside the scope, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

The base day rate stands at USD 399,000, Transocean said, and adjustment provisions kicking in before the contracts start push the effective rate above USD 400,000 at commencement.

Under the deal, the Transocean Enabler will start a three-year assignment in the first quarter of 2028 once it wraps up its current work, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The Transocean Endurance is set to run a two-year program from the second quarter of 2027, following a move back to Norway from Australia.

Chief executive Keelan Adamson said the seven-rig-year award reflects demand in Norway's high-specification harsh-environment market.

Transocean operates and holds full or partial ownership in 27 mobile offshore drilling units, including 20 ultra-deepwater floaters and seven harsh-environment floaters, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

Deputy chief executive Carol Howle is retiring from BP after 26 years, and the company has promoted two executive vice presidents from within to fill senior roles, according to Rigzone.

Executive vice president for people, culture and communications Kerry Dryburgh is also stepping down after 16 years, calling it a personal decision.

Sam Skerry, senior vice president for mergers and acquisitions and business development, moves up to EVP for supply, trading and shipping, taking Howle's post. Sonya Adams, chief of staff to the CEO, succeeds Dryburgh as EVP for people and culture. Both appointments start August 1.

Chief executive Meg O'Neill said the Deputy CEO position will not be filled once Howle leaves.

The same day brought O'Neill's restructuring into effect, folding BP into two business segments, upstream and downstream.

BP's board removed chair and director Albert Manifold over governance concerns weeks earlier, per Rigzone. Ian Tyler is holding the chair on an interim basis while the company runs a search for a permanent successor.

Real-Time Energy Market prices across New England reached $49.24 per megawatt-hour in May 2026, a 50% jump from the same month a year earlier, according to ISO New England Newswire.

Contracts settled a day ahead cleared cheaper. Day-Ahead Energy Market averages hit $45.80/MWh, 30% above the May 2025 level, ISO New England Newswire reported.

Prices rose while the region's dominant fuel got cheaper. Natural gas averaged $2.20 per MMBtu during the month, a 14% drop from a year earlier, according to ISO New England Newswire. That fuel set the tone for the market: gas-fired plants supplied 54% of the power New England generators produced in 2025.

Consumption edged higher. Regional electricity use totaled 8,548 gigawatt-hours in May 2026, up 1.5% year on year, ISO New England Newswire said. Imports covered part of that load, with neighboring regions sending a net 1,261 GWh into New England.

Carbon output moved the other way. Power plants in the region emitted an estimated 1.64 million metric tons of CO2 during the month, 14% below the previous May, according to ISO New England Newswire.

Houlihan Lokey has agreed to acquire Intrepid Financial Partners, expanding its oil and gas advisory business through the addition of an independent energy-sector investment bank, according to World Oil.

World Oil reported that the transaction was signed June 27 and is expected to close before Sept. 30, subject to regulatory approval.

Since its founding in 2015, Intrepid has advised on more than 120 energy transactions valued at over USD 215 billion, according to World Oil.

The deal brings 34 financial professionals from Intrepid's team, expanding the combined practice to more than 70 dedicated energy advisors worldwide, World Oil reported.

Intrepid CEO Hugh "Skip" McGee III will join Houlihan Lokey as managing director and global chairman of Oil & Gas, according to World Oil.

According to LSEG data cited by the company and reported by World Oil, the combined team advised on 23 U.S. energy and power M&A transactions in 2025.