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voltsdaily

Friday, 4 September 2026

46 briefs so farlast update 22:56 UTC

Key points

  • Holtec Starts Loading Fuel Into Palisades Reactor Vessel in Michigan.
  • Milei Pledges Tougher Sanctions on Companies Drilling Around Falkland Islands.
  • Brazil's Senate Passes Critical Minerals Bill, Sending Rare Earth Rules to Lula.
  • New Mexico Bars New Uranium Leasing on State Lands.
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Oil & Gas

Chinese Oil Use Down 9% in Q2, Sinopec Chairman Says Demand Has Peaked

Oil consumption in China fell 9% in the second quarter, and transportation fuel use dropped 16%, based on figures from the National Bureau of Statistics of China that Carbon Brief analyzed, Electrek reported.

That contraction was enough to cut national CO2 emissions by 1% in the quarter, according to Electrek, which noted the decline came alongside higher coal use.

Electric vehicles account for a large share of the displaced fuel. Across the first half of the year, Electrek reported that Chinese EVs displaced a volume of oil exceeding total UK consumption in the same window.

Refiners have taken notice. Sinopec Chairman Hou Qijun put the peak in Chinese oil demand in 2025, saying a recovery next year would not reach the prior year's level and that it was "very likely demand peaked last year".

Chinese per capita CO2 emissions sit just over 8 tons. The US figure peaked near 22 tons per capita and now runs around 14 tons a year, according to Electrek.

Source: electrek.co (opens in a new tab)1 sourcePermalink

Chart showing cited values: Drop in oil use pulled Chinese CO2 emissions down: -1%; Chinese overall oil use: -9%. Data as cited.
Chart: voltsdaily, data as cited

Oil & Gas

Australian Oil Reserves Fall 6.8% as Santos and Woodside Shift Output Offshore

Australia's commercial proven and probable oil reserves stood at 213.4 million barrels at the end of 2024, down 6.8% from a year earlier, according to Geoscience Australia figures cited by IEEFA.

Domestic output has fallen to 46,600 barrels per day, a level IEEFA describes as not seen since the late 1960s.

The import dependence that follows is stark. Australia imported about 95% of its daily refined fuel consumption of 1.08 million barrels a day last financial year, based on Australian Petroleum Statistics data cited by IEEFA.

IEEFA reports that Santos developed the 80,000bpd Pikka oil field in Alaska, which holds 400 million barrels of gross 2P oil reserves plus 600 million barrels of contingent, potentially recoverable reserves. The Alaskan project went ahead despite the company's discovery of the Dorado oil and gas field in the Bedout Basin offshore Western Australia, whose contingent light oil and condensate resources total 162 million barrels.

Woodside shows the same pull overseas. Its Sangomar field offshore Senegal accounted for more than half of the company's international oil output in the first half of 2026, and more than double its oil production in Australia, according to IEEFA.

The drilling money has not disappeared from the country. Oil and gas exploration spending in Australia reached a 10-year high in the March quarter of 2026, IEEFA said. That spending has yet to arrest the reserves decline recorded through the end of 2024.

The gap between the two producers' domestic discoveries and their offshore developments is a matter of scale. Pikka's 400 million barrels of gross 2P reserves alone exceed the entire Australian commercial 2P reserve base of 213.4 million barrels reported by Geoscience Australia, and Dorado's 162 million barrels of contingent light oil and condensate sit well below the Alaskan field's booked total.

Source: ieefa.org (opens in a new tab)1 sourcePermalink

Oil & Gas

Nigeria Targets 3 Million Barrels a Day by 2030 After Joining IEA as Associate Member

Nigeria is aiming to nearly double its oil production to 3 million barrels per day by 2030, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The target follows the country's admission to the IEA as an associate member in July, after member countries including the United States, Germany, Italy and Japan unanimously approved its application, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

Birol said the Dangote refinery processes about 700,000 barrels of crude a day, and that exports from the plant have helped ease fuel-supply pressures in Europe in recent months.

Source: oedigital.com (opens in a new tab)1 sourcePermalink

AI-generated illustration for: Nigeria Targets 3 Million Barrels a Day by 2030 After Joining IEA as Associate Member
AI-generated image

Oil & Gas

US Average Gasoline Price Near USD 4.11 a Gallon as Refining Margins Hit Record, Grist Reports

The U.S. average gasoline price on Thursday stood at around USD 4.11 per gallon, more than 90% above the level a year earlier, according to Grist.

Refining margins are carrying part of that increase. Grist reported that the crack spread, the gap between crude oil prices and the prices of refined gasoline and diesel, climbed to a historic high of more than USD 70 per barrel.

Supply-side responses have come from two directions. The Pentagon said it would take a stake in North American Blue Energy Partners, a private Venezuelan company that controls around 20% of the country's reserves, according to Grist.

Chevron said on Wednesday it would double its production in Venezuela, signing an agreement with the Rodriguez government at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Grist reported.

Fuel-blending rules have also been loosened. The Environmental Protection Agency ended its summer ethanol blending requirements early, Grist reported, and issued a set of waivers exempting refineries from having to integrate biofuel into their diesel and gasoline products.

Source: grist.org (opens in a new tab)1 sourcePermalink

AI-generated illustration for: US Average Gasoline Price Near USD 4.11 a Gallon as Refining Margins Hit Record, Grist Reports
AI-generated image

Oil & Gas

Baker Hughes Wins bp Well Stimulation Contract for UK North Sea

Baker Hughes has won a contract from bp to supply offshore well stimulation services across bp's UK North Sea portfolio, according to World Oil. The work covers new well development and enhanced recovery from mature fields.

The scope centres on a vessel-based stimulation system built around the company's StimFORCE modular stimulation package, World Oil reported.

Baker Hughes will run the services from its UK operating base, drawing on its local supply chain.

Neither the value of the award nor its length were disclosed, according to World Oil.

Source: worldoil.com (opens in a new tab)1 sourcePermalink

Oil & Gas

First Commercial Shale Gas Shipped From Beetaloo as Developers Eye LNG Route

The first commercial volumes of shale gas from the Beetaloo sub-basin in Australia's Northern Territory were shipped this week from Tamboran Resources' Shenandoah gas project, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

Output from Beetaloo currently stands at 40 terajoules a day, the outlet reported.

Developers working the basin say they intend to repeat the liquefied natural gas boom seen in the state of Queensland, but avoid the duplicated infrastructure and overspending of the 2010s. Queensland now supplies more than a third of Australia's LNG exports, and the country ranks as the world's second-largest LNG exporter, per the same report.

Alex Underwood, chief executive of Beetaloo Energy, said there had been "massive overexpenditure" on LNG infrastructure, pointing to Gladstone in Queensland, where three LNG plants operate.

Pipeline capacity into the basin is contested. Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG), APA Group and Jemena have each said they believe there is room for all of them in Beetaloo, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The Beetaloo sub-basin was surveyed more than 30 years ago, and the shipment from Shenandoah marks the first commercial gas volumes to leave it.

Source: oedigital.com (opens in a new tab)1 sourcePermalink