Friday, 25 September 2026

S&P's baseline forecast projects Asia-Pacific gross domestic product to expand 4.6% this year, according to S&P.

The upgrade marks a 0.2 percentage point increase from the projection S&P issued a quarter earlier.

Looking further out, S&P sees regional growth easing to 4.4% in 2027.

The District of Squamish has rejected a proposed agreement under which Woodfibre LNG would have paid $142 million over 10 years, according to CBC.

Council voted 5 to 2 against the arrangement between the municipality and the company.

Councillor Jenna Stoner said the proposed community enhancement contributions would not be indexed to inflation, and argued the overall deal exposed the district to greater risk and liability, as reported by CBC.

Without the agreement in place, the district will continue to rely on regular property taxation.

Diesel prices have climbed to record highs worldwide, driven by disruption in the Strait of Hormuz and to supplies from Russian refineries, according to the Financial Times.

French President Emmanuel Macron has written to Brussels urging a temporary and exceptional easing of fuel-quality specifications, the Financial Times reported.

European leaders are pressing for joint policy action, including relaxed fuel-quality standards and revised biofuels regulations, to bring costs down before peak winter demand, according to Hellenic Shipping News.

Lloyd's Register has identified 200,000m³ LNG carriers as a credible option for renewing the global LNG fleet, arguing the larger design could lift cargo capacity and cut transport costs without forcing major changes at existing terminals.

The classification society's analysis found that 88 LNG terminals worldwide could handle the 200,000m³ concept, against 97 terminals compatible with the conventional 174,000m³ vessel.

Lloyd's Register's modelling points to a potential owner benefit of roughly USD 85.5 million over 30 years from the larger carrier.

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides urged Chevron to speed up development of the Aphrodite gas field and move toward a final investment decision that would open the way to natural gas production, according to NewsFire.GR.

Christodoulides met Chevron's President of Base Assets and Emerging Countries, Javier La Rosa, in New York on Tuesday, and described Aphrodite's development as a strategic priority for Cyprus, according to Greek City Times.

Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said the meeting reaffirmed a shared commitment between Cyprus and Chevron to advance the deposit under an approved development and production plan, Cyprus Mail reported.

Discussions also covered progress on technical and commercial workstreams and the next steps required to reach a final investment decision on the project, Letymbiotis said, according to the Famagusta Gazette.

The Environmental Defense Center and other conservation groups filed a federal lawsuit on Sept. 22 challenging a special permit that cleared Sable Offshore to restart oil production at its Santa Ynez Unit off the coast of Santa Barbara County, according to Pacific Coast Business Times.

The contested permit waives certain federal pipeline safety regulations for the onshore pipeline, RTT News reported.

The complaint alleges the permit violates the Pipeline Safety Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act by omitting required environmental reviews and pipeline-safety findings, according to RTT News. The lawsuit further alleges that PHMSA unlawfully took jurisdiction over the pipeline away from California.

London's FTSE 100 held roughly flat at 10,705.26 points, with a rally in energy shares offsetting weakness elsewhere, according to reporting from AOL and LSE.

Oil prices moved back above $100 a barrel after five consecutive sessions of declines, and energy stocks on the index rose 2.2%. The gain in crude producers helped absorb losses in other sectors.

Pharmaceutical stocks were the heaviest drag on the blue-chip index, falling 1.5%. The midcap FTSE 250 slipped 0.7%.

In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark British gilt climbed to 5.353%.

Northern Ireland has enough sustainable feedstock to produce 8 TWh of biomethane a year, covering almost half of the region's economy-wide gas demand and more than the entire gas load of homes and businesses, according to a Green Gas Taskforce report cited by Bioenergy News.

South of the border, Padraig Fleming told Enlit that Ireland's biomethane sector is gaining momentum, but said new support and investment will be key to reaching 5.7 TWh by 2030.

Richard Kennedy, chief executive of Carbon AMS, told Radio Kerry that farmers in Kerry could help end Ireland's reliance on imported natural gas. Carbon AMS is developing Ireland's first agricultural biomethane plant, according to the broadcaster.

Kenyan households could face higher cooking gas bills from next month as rising international propane and butane prices threaten to push up local liquefied petroleum gas costs, according to Diaspora Digital Media.

Saudi Aramco data cited in the report showed butane prices climbed 25.8%, while propane rose 23.2%.

The report frames the movement in global feedstock prices as the trigger for the expected pass-through into Kenya's retail LPG market.

Nigeria's Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has approved petrol import permits covering about 830,000 metric tonnes for the fourth quarter of 2026, according to Premium Times.

An NMDPRA spokesperson said the permits were cleared to prevent supply gaps heading into the end-of-year period.

TV360 Nigeria reported that six companies received the licences: Matrix Energy, AA Rano, AYM Shafa, NIPCO, Pinnacle Oil and Bono Energy.

India and OPEC pressed for tighter cooperation to keep the global energy market stable and predictable.

The two sides used the meeting to work through oil market stability, energy security and the case for adequate and timely investment across the oil industry.

Indian Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said continued producer-consumer dialogue is needed to underpin investment in oil supply.

The eighth high-level meeting of the OPEC-India Energy Dialogue will convene in Vienna, Austria, on a date still to be set.

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has struck natural gas in a deepwater well of the Mahanadi Basin, sited about 43 km off Odisha's Konark coast, Organiser reported.

The well is the first sunk under the government's Samudra Manthan offshore exploration campaign, and the show was logged on September 18, according to Moneycontrol.

Drillers pushed the bore to a target of 1,623 metres, with the gas-bearing section falling between 1,441 and 1,452 metres, Organiser said.

Whether the reservoir holds enough recoverable gas to justify production hinges on further appraisal and commercial evaluation still to come, Moneycontrol added.

Oil prices held near their lowest level in more than two weeks as improving Gulf crude supplies weighed on the market.

Brent crude touched US$97.36 in the previous session, its lowest since September 8.

Alongside the rise in Gulf supplies, hopes for diplomatic talks to halt hostilities in the Middle East added pressure on prices this week.

President Trump said on Tuesday he would support a ban on exports of diesel fuel, according to reporting carried by Yahoo Finance.

Citi analysts, cited in the same report, said a possible diesel export restriction could significantly tighten global supply and benefit Asian refiners.

The analysts argued that refineries would not be able to process all the diesel trapped by such a restriction, which would ultimately reduce total fuel supplies.

A separate report carried by Crypto Briefing said a diesel export ban could severely disrupt global diesel supply chains, lifting prices both domestically and internationally.

Bangladesh raised the price of all types of fuel oil by Tk 20 on the night of September 20, according to Prothom Alo.

Following the diesel price rise and higher transport operating costs, the government issued a gazette notification on Wednesday lifting diesel-run bus and minibus fares by Tk 0.17 per kilometre, with the revised rates taking effect from September 22, UNB reported.

On the downstream logistics side, the government decided to appoint Indonesian company PT Pertamina Trans Kontinental as the operations and maintenance contractor for the single point mooring built at sea to unload oil from large ships and pipe the fuel to onshore storage facilities, according to The Daily Star.

In parallel, State Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam said on Wednesday that the government has allocated Tk 3.7 billion to install rooftop solar panels at five types of local government institutions, The Financial Express reported.

Gran Tierra Energy has filed a definitive proxy statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of a special meeting where stockholders will vote on the sale of its Colombian and Ecuadorian businesses to Maurel & Prom. The filing was lodged on September 15, 2026, according to the company's announcement.

The proposed transaction values the Colombian and Ecuadorian operations at approximately USD 1.33 billion, subject to adjustment, under a Share Sale and Purchase Agreement entered into on August 5, 2026.

Gran Tierra's board of directors unanimously recommends that stockholders approve the Share Purchase Agreement and the transactions contemplated by it, including the sale.

The special meeting will be held virtually on October 9, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time.

OX2, the wind developer owned by private equity firm EQT, has handed over the Green Breeze wind farm in Romania to its owner, Nala Renewables, according to Event Registry.

The site has a capacity of 99.2 MW and is now in commercial operation. Green Breeze is OX2's first project in Romania to reach that stage, per the same report.

Diesel was selling for USD 9.39 per gallon at a Valero station in Fremont, California, with prices at many other stations in the region hovering near or above USD 9 per gallon in recent days, according to The Epoch Times.

GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan identified the U.S.-Iran conflict as the main driver of rising gasoline and diesel prices nationwide.

De Haan warned that gasoline prices would probably remain elevated until there is drastic improvement in geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran or between Ukraine and Russia.

Roughly 20% of global LNG supply has become interruptible for buyers following the Strait of Hormuz crisis, according to Oilprice.

Oilprice reports that LNG exports from Qatar and the UAE remain severely constrained after the collapse of traffic through the strait.

Buyers in Europe and Asia are responding by seeking cargoes from Canada, Mozambique, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Argentina, routes that do not depend on Hormuz, per Oilprice.

Goldman Sachs estimates that European gas prices would need to exceed EUR 100 per megawatt hour during peak winter to destroy additional demand outside Europe if Persian Gulf LNG exports stay very low, according to Peakoil.

Maine Senators Susan Collins and Angus King have asked President Donald Trump to release supplies from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, citing high prices squeezing household budgets in their state, according to a letter sent on Tuesday and reported by Event Registry.

Collins, a Republican, and King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, wrote that a release is needed to protect Mainers from prices that are imposing a difficult financial burden.

The reserve holds 1 million barrels of diesel across four sites from Maine to New Jersey, and was created in 2000 under former President Bill Clinton.

The request comes as diesel, which is chemically similar to heating oil, has climbed to a record above USD 6.50 per gallon. Event Registry attributed the surge to the wars in Iran and Ukraine, which have crimped fuel production and petroleum shipments.

Ørsted and Nuveen Infrastructure have inaugurated Borkum Riffgrund 3, a 913 MW offshore wind farm in Germany, according to reNEWS.

The two partners each hold a 50% stake in the project, which sits about 72 kilometres off the German North Sea coast.

Ørsted described Borkum Riffgrund 3 as its largest offshore wind farm in Germany, saying annual output can cover the electricity consumption of almost one million German households.

China's crude oil imports are likely to stay subdued in the fourth quarter if elevated prices persist, limiting the scope for further gains in global oil prices, according to a Goldman Sachs note.

The bank forecast that fourth-quarter Chinese crude imports would run about 3 million barrels a day below their year-earlier level, even with an expected increase from the third quarter, according to Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs identified a possible escalation of strikes on Middle East crude production and export infrastructure, rather than stronger Chinese buying, as the main upside risk to its crude price forecast.

Uzbekistan is putting USD 20 million into a new manufacturing facility in the Andijan district that will build equipment for small and micro hydropower plants, according to Trend.

The project is scheduled to reach full capacity in 2027, Trend reported. At that point, annual output is set at 100 small hydropower plant complexes, alongside micro-hydropower equipment, machine tools and electrical products, with the yearly production valued at about 70 billion soums, or roughly USD 5.9 million.

UzDaily reported that the site is expected to create 200 jobs.

Türkiye is aiming to commission its first small modular reactor (SMR) in the first half of the 2030s as part of a broader nuclear energy strategy, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Wednesday, according to Daily Sabah.

A U.S.-funded study will underpin the technology selection. It will evaluate SMR designs from four U.S. companies alongside five fourth-generation reactor technologies, examining them on technical, economic, legislative and licensing grounds, Daily Sabah reported.

Pakistan lowered retail fuel prices, with petrol down Rs1.93 per litre and high-speed diesel down Rs4.21 per litre, according to a notification reported by UrduPoint.

The revised petrol price is Rs390.12 per litre, while high-speed diesel is set at Rs414.75 per litre, UrduPoint reported.

The Petroleum Division said the adjustment reflected changes in Platts rates, petroleum premiums and other incidental costs, according to Daily Pakistan.

Bangladesh has pushed up every category of fuel by Tk20 per litre, with the government tying the move to operational losses at the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) and worries that cheaper domestic fuel was leaking across the border.

The hike was declared on Sunday night and applied at once.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit tied the decision to a widening price gap with neighbouring countries and said the domestic market could not sit apart from external conditions.

Amit said Bangladesh will roll back fuel prices once the international market steadies and the Middle East situation calms.

2G Energy has received a 275 MW order from Energy Vault Holding Inc. covering energy infrastructure solutions for AI data centers in the United States, according to a press release issued by 2G Energy.

The company said delivery of the systems is scheduled between Q4 2027 and Q3 2028 under its current project schedule.

Beyond supplying and commissioning the units, the contract includes long-term service provisions, according to the 2G Energy release.

Volkswagen has pushed back the US return of its ID. Buzz electric van to the first half of 2027, when it will arrive as a 2028 model-year vehicle, according to electrive.

Volkswagen of America told its dealers about the revised timeline on 24 September 2026, Automotive News reported, as cited by electrive. The move reverses guidance issued only months earlier: in May 2026, Volkswagen had said the electric van would come back for the 2027 model year, per electrive.

The rescheduling means the US market will miss a second consecutive model year of the ID. Buzz, according to electrive.

The UK government has issued guidance setting the Renewables Obligation level for the 2027 to 2028 period along with the calculation methodology underpinning it, according to UK DESNZ.

The Renewables Obligation scheme places an annual requirement on UK electricity suppliers to present a specified number of Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) per megawatt hour of electricity supplied to their customers during each obligation period, with Ofgem acting as the scheme's administrator, per UK DESNZ.

Cross-market optimization delivered the highest battery revenues in Germany's power market in August, generating EUR 25,300 per MW per month, according to ESS News.

ESS News reported that this result stood 63% above the combined wholesale benchmark and 65% above FCR, the strongest single-strategy performer during the month.

FCR itself edged up to EUR 15,300 per MW per month, making it the top individual battery strategy in August, per ESS News.

The outlet framed the month against a backdrop of noticeably higher electricity prices in Germany, with battery trading opportunities developing differently across wholesale and ancillary service markets.

Geely says an AI-powered fast-charging system it developed can extend electric vehicle battery cycle life by up to 20% by sending micro-pulse currents through cells to reverse part of the damage caused by repeated fast charging, according to Electrek.

The pulse-restoration approach targets lithium ions that accumulate at battery negative electrodes during repeated fast charging, reactivating them, Geely says. That plating of lithium on the anode is one of the mechanisms that shortens the usable life of cells subjected to frequent high-rate charging.

Geely has paired the pulse system with a separate low-rate home-charging strategy designed to gradually repair fast-charging degradation while a vehicle is plugged in overnight, per Electrek. The company frames the two techniques as complementary: fast-charging sessions themselves attempt to mitigate damage in real time, while slow overnight sessions extend the restorative work.

Electrek reports the 20% figure as Geely's own claim rather than an independently measured result.

Green Water & Power has deployed and energized its 10,000th electric vehicle charging port, reaching the milestone in three years, according to Electrek.

The developer began rolling out Level 2 chargers nationwide with hardware partner Autel in 2023, Electrek reported.

The pace works out to nearly 10 chargers going online each day across the three-year span, per Electrek.

Norwegian energy services firm Otovo and EV charging installer InCharge Energy have formed a partnership offering a single service relationship covering solar, battery storage and EV charging equipment, according to Solar Builder.

Under the arrangement, each company can offer the other's preventative maintenance plans for renewable energy projects, Solar Builder reported, citing officials.

Otovo is contributing its Endurance AI platform to the tie-up, using it to log, dispatch and close jobs across the two firms against a single site record, per Solar Builder.

Combining the two companies' service footprints produces a network of more than 100,000 renewable energy assets, according to Solar Builder.

Growatt will increase prices on several inverter and energy storage product lines by roughly 5% to 10% starting October 8, according to PV Magazine.

The adjustment covers string inverters, hybrid and storage inverters, commercial and industrial storage cabinets, and residential storage systems, PV Magazine reported.

The company cited higher raw-material costs, tighter supplies of some core components, and rising manufacturing expenses as the reasons for the move.

Residents of northern Virginia support development restrictions designed to make data centers more transparent and accountable to the public, though the strength of that support depends on the type of regulation, according to The Conversation.

The researchers surveyed 1,004 residents of northern Virginia and the Richmond metropolitan area in fall 2025.

Among six policy provisions tested, public participation ranked second in shaping residents' preferences on data center regulation, according to The Conversation.

Tesla has been named the primary truck supplier for a 2,500 battery-electric Class 8 order placed through a new shipper alliance called ZET SCALE, according to Electrek. Electrek describes the purchase as the largest electric Class 8 order in US history.

The order on its own would nearly double the number of electric Class 8 trucks currently on US roads, Electrek reported.

ZET SCALE says it is targeting more than 10,000 electric Class 8 trucks over time, according to Electrek.

Indian electric two-wheeler startup Ultraviolette Automotive has raised USD 85 million, about EUR 74 million, in a new funding round, according to electrive.

The round was led by Yali Capital and TDK Ventures, electrive reported.

The company has announced plans to enter the U.S. market as part of its continued global expansion. It aims to begin U.S. operations in 2027, per electrive.

Giga Storage has begun construction of the Green Turtle battery energy storage system in Belgium, a 700 MW / 2.8 GWh project that ESS News reports will become the country's largest battery storage site by some margin.

The site sits at the Rotem industrial estate in Dilsen-Stokkem, in Belgium's Limburg province, according to ESS News.

Green Turtle will be built from 640 Tesla Megapack 3 units, with Tesla acting as the EPC contractor covering engineering, construction and battery supply, and providing long-term maintenance, ESS News reports.

Commissioning is scheduled for the end of March 2028.

The Army has conditionally awarded leases to three companies to design, finance, build and operate commercial power generation projects at six installations across four states, according to Power Engineering.

The projects could bring natural gas generation, nuclear power and battery energy storage to the sites, the outlet reported.

Development could begin as early as 2027, with initial operating capability targeted by or ahead of 2030, per Power Engineering.

The Army will not pay for construction of the projects.

Researchers in South Korea have developed a method to upcycle high-purity silver nanoparticles reclaimed from end-of-life silicon solar panels into electrocatalysts for high-rate carbon monoxide production, according to PV Magazine.

The recycled-silver gas diffusion electrode carries a rough surface texture that, PV Magazine reported, helped prevent flooding inside the electrolyzer.

In testing, the end-of-life silver electrode ran continuous CO2 electrolysis for more than 600 hours in a 10 cm² zero-gap cell at a current density of 100 mA/cm², per PV Magazine. Pushed to 200 mA/cm², the electrode operated for 55 hours while holding carbon monoxide selectivity at around 95%, the outlet reported.

NANO Nuclear Energy, IP3 Corporation and Cybernetic Intelligence have signed a letter of intent to jointly pursue nuclear-powered artificial intelligence, national security, computing and other infrastructure opportunities in the United States and select international markets, according to a GlobeNewswire release.

Under the framework, NANO Nuclear is named as a preferred provider of nuclear technology and services to IP3 and Cybernetic Intelligence for opportunities pursued through the collaboration, the release said.

As an initial workstream, the parties intend to identify and commence a mutually agreed pilot program, selected on factors including project readiness, strategic priority and available resources.

InstaVolt will keep CHAdeMO connectors as a permanent fixture of its UK fast-charging network, according to electrive.

The charge point operator told electrive that at least one CHAdeMO connector will remain available at each of its UK sites. Every existing and new InstaVolt location pairs CHAdeMO with CCS, electrive reported.

Omega Subsea has signed a five-year deal to supply remotely operated vehicle services aboard NKT's newbuild cable-laying vessel NKT Eleonora, according to Offshore Engineer. The contract extends an existing tie-up between the two firms that already covers the NKT Victoria.

Offshore Engineer reports that the Eleonora agreement follows a separate five-year contract announced in June for the NKT Victoria. Mobilization for both vessels is now underway.

Four of the eight new Kystdesign ROV systems scheduled for delivery to Omega Subsea in 2026 will be assigned to NKT projects, per Offshore Engineer.

Germany, Austria and Luxembourg have launched a dual-auction mechanism to accelerate the European market expansion of renewable electricity-based sustainable aviation fuel (eSAF), according to PV Magazine.

Germany will contribute up to EUR 2 billion to the program, while Austria and Luxembourg will each provide up to EUR 60 million, PV Magazine reported.

The scheme is designed to connect eSAF producers with buyers, with public subsidies covering the residual price gap between supply and demand.

Aramco has picked SLB for four integrated well construction contracts in Saudi Arabia that cover more than 450 oil and gas wells over an initial three-year term, Offshore Engineer reported. Each of the four contracts also carries an option to extend by up to two years.

World Oil reported that SLB will handle the full scope of well construction work for Aramco across different operating settings in the country. Offshore Engineer described the awards as an expansion of the contractor's integrated well construction business in Saudi Arabia.

Oracle has declared force majeure on a large US data center under construction, according to Semafor Net Zero.

Officials in the jurisdiction where the facility is being built have delayed permits needed to power the project, Semafor reported.

Oracle may seek to delay lease payments on the project, per Semafor.

Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has instructed the Eskom board to drive down electricity costs, improve reliability and secure the utility's long-term future, with Mteto Nyati continuing as chairperson, according to SAnews.

The board is expected to produce a single roadmap for the utility spanning three, five and 10 year horizons, SAnews reported.

Ramokgopa said Eskom must fulfil its mandate without relying on repeated fiscal support or sustained double-digit tariff increases as a business model.

As an early step, Eskom Green plans to engage potential partners on approximately 2 GW of renewable capacity, according to the minister.

Spain has awarded EUR 265 million in public funding to 11 pumped hydro energy storage projects under its BORALMAC program, according to ESS News. The allocation covers two rounds of the scheme.

The selected projects together account for almost 4.1 GW of capacity and 49.9 GWh of storage, ESS News reported.

The projects span seven Spanish autonomous communities and are expected to be completed by 2035, per ESS News.

Inpex has agreed to buy Jera's 0.735% participating interest in the Ichthys Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in Australia, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The deal covers Jera's interests in Australian blocks WA-50-L and WA-51-L, which host the Ichthys gas-condensate field, along with shares in the entity that owns the project's gas export pipeline and downstream liquefaction facilities, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

Completion of the transaction remains subject to conditions, including approval from Australian government regulatory agencies.

The transferred stake amounts to 0.735%, per Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The Indian Point nuclear plant in New York is being decommissioned under owner Holtec International, according to Inside Climate News. The plant was previously owned by Entergy before Holtec acquired it for the retirement process.

Inside Climate News reports the facility shut down in 2021 because of unsustainable operating costs.

The plant's future has become a contested issue in New York's 17th Congressional District, where Inside Climate News says it could feature in one of the most closely contested House races in November.

Construction has started on the Kärppiö battery energy storage system in Teuva, western Finland, a 125 MW / 300 MWh project, according to ESS News.

Delta Capacity confirmed Sungrow will supply the batteries, ESS News reported. Nordic electrification specialist NEPower will act as balance-of-plant contractor and deliver electrification and substation works.

With Kärppiö moving into construction alongside AKKU One, Delta Capacity and Sungrow are advancing 600 MWh of battery storage in Finland within a month, per ESS News.

Filling a family car now costs almost GBP 5 more than at the start of September, according to the RAC.

The motoring group expects UK petrol and diesel prices to keep climbing while crude oil trades above USD 100 a barrel. The RAC cites the ongoing war in Iran as a major factor behind the rise in fuel prices.

Atlas Energy Solutions disclosed two power equipment contracts worth a combined $613.5 million in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Investing.com.

The larger contract covers balance-of-plant equipment priced at roughly $340.5 million, scheduled to ship over the second half of 2027. Costs on that purchase are backstopped by a reimbursement agreement with an AI lab, not named in the filing, that will also take the project's power output.

The same day, subsidiary Atlas Energy Solutions Shackelford 1 struck a $273.0 million deal with Wyoming Machinery Company for about 328 MW of generation kit and engineering work, with installments running from September 2026 to January 2028.

Ormat's Dixie Valley geothermal project in Nevada was selected for up to USD 25 million in DOE funding, according to Investing.com. The company's Cove Fort geothermal project in Utah was selected for up to USD 9.7 million from the same program.

Investing.com reported that the funding remains subject to completion of award negotiations with DOE.

Ohio will route USD 137 million of a federal grid modernization award to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO), which will deploy advanced transmission technologies alongside transmission utilities in the state.

Governor DeWine announced the PUCO allocation as part of the total grant, according to New Americans Magazine.

PUCO has identified that the grant-funded upgrades could add the equivalent of 5,820 MW of capacity to the state grid, effectively displacing the need to build additional power plants or transmission lines.

Allseas has hired ABL to act as marine warranty surveyor on the single-lift removal of the Statfjord A topside in the North Sea, World Oil reported. The lift forms part of the decommissioning of the Equinor-operated platform.

ABL is tasked to run independent technical reviews of the project procedures and deliver marine assurance work checking that the proposed vessel fleet is fit for the job.

The firm will also put personnel offshore to witness the removal and sign it off.

ABL's Norwegian arm will lead the survey, backed by its wider North Sea decommissioning team.

The Energy Workforce & Technology Council is pressing U.S. policymakers to reject a proposed ban on diesel exports, arguing the measure would push Gulf Coast refineries to cut production without delivering lasting relief on fuel prices, according to World Oil.

Group President Tim Tarpley said transportation constraints stop surplus diesel produced along the Gulf Coast from being redirected to U.S. regions where supplies are tighter, per World Oil.

Tarpley warned that if the restriction prompts refineries to cut output, it risks worsening the supply problem the policy is meant to address.

Navitas Petroleum has assumed operatorship of Block 1 CBK offshore South Africa after Eco Atlantic completed the farm-down of a 37.5% working interest, following regulatory approval from the South African government.

Eco retains a 37.5% working interest in the license after completion, with an option to move up to 47.5% through an arrangement with OrangeBasin Energies. Navitas assumes operatorship with a matching 37.5% working interest, and can also rise to 47.5% if the Eco-OrangeBasin Energies option is exercised.

The transfer of operatorship shifts day-to-day control of the block from Eco Atlantic to Navitas Petroleum, while leaving the two companies with equal headline stakes.

Some solar panels in Australia are being discarded when they are only two years old, according to RenewEconomy.

A photovoltaic expert cited by RenewEconomy said a retirement fee could address the practice of retiring panels so early in their working life.

RenewEconomy did not attach a volume, jurisdiction-specific rule, or fee design to the proposal in the cited reporting.

WTI crude traded through a $12-per-barrel high-low spread during the week, according to Oil & Gas Journal, in a session the outlet described as whipsawed by several factors.

October WTI hit its weekly high of $101.10 per barrel on Monday and bottomed at $88.70 on Wednesday, Oil & Gas Journal reported.

October Brent crude peaked on Thursday at $108.25 per barrel, with the week's low of $97.35 printed on Tuesday, according to the same report.

By the close of the week, WTI was down while Brent finished essentially flat, per Oil & Gas Journal.

Pembina holds a stake in the Greenlight Electricity Centre (GLEC), which Oil & Gas Journal describes as the first large-scale gas-to-power project in Canada supplying a major data center. The project was sanctioned in July 2026 to provide behind-the-meter power to an upcoming 1 GW Meta data center.

GLEC involves a 932 MW combined-cycle plant sited alongside Meta's CAD 13 billion data center in Sturgeon County, within Alberta's Industrial Heartland, according to Oil & Gas Journal. The generator has secured all major regulatory approvals, including clearance to expand capacity to 1,864 MW. In-service is anticipated in the second half of 2030.

Total project cost is expected to run about CAD 4.6 billion, a figure that includes CAD 600 million of interest during construction and other financing costs, Oil & Gas Journal reported. The commercial structure rests on a 20-year tolling agreement between Greenlight and Meta, generating capacity payments alongside usage-based payments covering fuel and operations and maintenance.

Pembina executive Scherman said the company is evaluating further gas-to-power opportunities tied to prospective data center developments, including marketing a second phase of GLEC and assessing recently acquired land in Alberta's Industrial Heartland for future projects, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

Colorado's Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) voted unanimously on Sept. 18 to adopt the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 2024 methane standards for existing oil and gas operations, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

The vote makes Colorado the first state to fully adopt the existing-source methane standards under the EPA's 2024 rule, Oil & Gas Journal reported. The commission acted as the Trump administration moves to reconsider the Biden-era rules.

The final package sets requirements for closed-vent systems, covers, and enclosed combustion devices at existing oil and gas operations.

NineDot Energy has energized a 20 MW battery storage installation in the Hunts Point neighborhood of The Bronx, according to Solar Builder.

Company officials said the site is fully operational and will deliver nearly 20 MW of power to the Hunts Point community. NineDot said the stored energy is enough to supply about 20,000 homes during peak grid hours, framing the project as a response to what the company describes as environmental injustice in the neighborhood, per Solar Builder.

Tesla has handed over the first series-production units of its Semi electric truck to customers in Nevada, according to electrive.

The company described the Nevada handover as the start of higher-volume production of the battery-electric heavy truck, electrive reported.

Tesla has not disclosed the Semi's current production rate or its pricing, according to electrive.

A 100 MW/200 MWh battery energy storage system near Deniliquin in southern New South Wales has cleared planning, winning development consent despite more than 70 public objections, according to ESS News.

An executive director at the New South Wales planning department signed off on the project on Sept. 24, ESS News reported, citing the New South Wales Planning Portal.

The project, developed by Bess Arctic, carries an estimated development cost of AUD 118 million, per ESS News. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027.

EWS partly credited shading and microclimate changes beneath its tracking photovoltaic arrays for a higher winter wheat yield recorded at an agrivoltaic site, according to PV Magazine.

The company said the result is still under evaluation. EWS also noted that agricultural yields depend on multiple factors and that longer-term research is needed to establish the effects of agrivoltaics on crop output.

Participants at COP31 in Antalya will carry a duty not to interfere in Türkiye's internal affairs, under the hosting agreement between the Turkish government and the UN climate secretariat, according to Climate Home News.

The provision sits inside a binding agreement that sets out responsibilities over logistical arrangements and details participants' rights and obligations, Climate Home News reported.

The clause had been dropped for last year's climate summit in Brazil. Human rights groups warned that its revival could put activists at risk, according to Climate Home News.

Fitch Ratings has raised several short-term price assumptions for metals and mined commodities, citing year-to-date prices and supply-and-demand dynamics, according to Marketscreener.

Copper assumptions for 2026 and 2027 were revised upward, with Fitch pointing to a tight supply-demand balance and solid demand growth.

Coking coal assumptions for the same two years were also lifted. Fitch attributed the change to higher prices since the start of the year, break-even operating costs, resilient demand in China, and a tight supply-demand balance.

Lithium moved the other way. Fitch cut its 2026 price assumption for the battery metal.

Climate Adaptive Infrastructure has entered an equity partnership with SMT Energy that provides up to USD 268 million in parent-company capital to expand SMT's U.S. battery energy storage platform, according to a statement carried by citybiz.

The commitment builds on prior backing. Climate Adaptive Infrastructure had already deployed USD 32 million into SMT Energy assets before the new agreement.

Alongside tax equity and project-level debt, the capital will fund the development, construction and operation of battery storage projects across the United States.

Expedition Infrastructure Partners, or XIP, served as financial advisor to SMT Energy on the transaction.

A housing development and school in Johnson County, Texas were built on land previously used to dispose of oil and gas drilling waste, according to the Texas Observer.

The site, known in records as the Joshua Land Farm, received more than 4 million barrels of drilling waste plowed into the North Texas land between 2009 and 2015, the Texas Observer and Truthdig reported. That property is now the location of the Silo Mills development.

Many residents of Silo Mills say they were told nothing about the former landfarm when they purchased their homes, according to reporting by the Texas Observer and Truthdig.

Truthdig reported that it is unclear whether the developers had a duty under Texas law to disclose the property's history as a waste site to the new owners or to Godley Independent School District.

A turbine blade at the Vineyard Wind 1 project broke apart on July 13, 2024, roughly 15 miles off the southwest coast of Nantucket.

Six public beaches on the island's south shore were closed to swimming after debris washed ashore, according to CBS News Boston as cited in the reporting.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement suspended construction and power generation across the entire Vineyard Wind 1 project within days of the failure, not just at the damaged turbine. The suspension held for six months and lifted in mid-January 2025.

A year after the failure, in July 2025, Nantucket and turbine manufacturer GE Vernova announced a $10.5 million settlement.

In a separate development, Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport Ismail Vadi launched an R80 million road rehabilitation project between Bronkhorstspruit and Ekangala, in the City of Tshwane. Vadi said the D670 road carries heavy traffic volumes, particularly coal trucks running between mines and power stations, and has deteriorated to the point of requiring major rehabilitation.

Two Bank of England deputy governors warned that persistently high energy prices may force the central bank to tighten monetary policy, according to statements reported this week.

Deputy Governor Clare Lombardelli said in prepared remarks that policy is increasingly likely to need to tighten if elevated energy prices persist, absent clear evidence of disinflation or weaker activity.

Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden said it looked increasingly appropriate to raise rates as oil prices rose above USD 108 a barrel, adding to global price pressures.

Breeden framed the risk in terms of duration and scale. The larger and longer the shock, she said, the more likely second-round effects emerge that policy needs to respond to.

Lombardelli pointed to the transmission channel from energy costs into broader inflation dynamics. The longer higher energy prices persist, she said, the greater the risk that indirect effects build and that inflation expectations, wage bargaining and price-setting behaviour begin to adjust.

Jacobs has extended its engagement on thyssenkrupp Steel's direct reduction iron (DRI) project in Duisburg, Germany, as construction progresses toward first iron production at the facility, according to Chemanalyst.

Under the extended scope, Jacobs will continue to provide project management office, construction management and assembly management services for the hydrogen-capable plant, Chemanalyst reported.

Once completed, the Duisburg plant is expected to produce approximately 2.5 million metric tons of direct reduced iron per year, giving thyssenkrupp Steel a lower-carbon ironmaking route, according to the same report.

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Energy denied that the Kingdom bought 25 oil tankers and rejected assertions that such purchases raised the cost of transporting Iraqi crude.

Separately, Iraq has opened a tender to sell 2 million barrels of Basrah Heavy crude via ship-to-ship transfer off the coast of Oman, outside the Strait of Hormuz, according to IDN Financials.

Italy's Senate has cleared a bill setting up a regulatory framework for a possible return to nuclear power, according to slguardian.org. The measure passed by 81 votes to 51, with seven abstentions.

The legislation does not authorize the construction of nuclear reactors. It establishes the regulatory framework needed before future projects can be proposed, assessed and approved.

The bill grants Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government authority to prepare implementing regulations within the next 12 months.

Capital spending by the 30 largest publicly traded US exploration and production companies dropped 49% year over year in 2025, according to Baystreet. Over the same period, oil production by the group reached an all-time high, the outlet reported.

The divergence between falling budgets and rising barrels marks a shift from earlier cycles in which the largest US producers leaned on heavy reinvestment to grow output.

Chevron's spending trajectory illustrates the earlier retrenchment phase. According to PM Parrot, Chevron cut its capital program by 20%, and planned a capital and exploratory budget of USD 14 billion for 2021.

Electricity supply to the townships of Kyaukme and Hsipaw has been restored after outages that ran for more than two years, according to Eleven Myanmar.

The outlet reported that national-grid electricity to Kyaukme was cut off on June 25, 2024, with Hsipaw disconnected the following day, on June 26, 2024.

Repair work began on November 15, 2025, when the Ministry of Electric Power and Energy started reconstruction in the two townships after the Tatmadaw regained control of them, per Eleven Myanmar.

Global oil price shocks no longer push the United States into recession, according to research by economists Diego R. Känzig, James H. Stock, and Luca Zanotti. The authors attribute the shift to the shale revolution, which turned the country from a petroleum importer into a net exporter.

The historical link between oil shocks and U.S. downturns decoupled around 2010, per the research.

The domestic production boom flipped the United States from a net petroleum importer into a net exporter, reshaping how oil price swings transmit through the economy.

Nvidia's new qualification programme for battery energy storage systems (BESS) at AI facilities has named Hitachi Energy, LG Energy Solution and Tesla as its first approved suppliers, according to Energy-Storage.news.

LG Energy Solution said its BESS met the applicable DSX Ready requirements for AC energy storage solutions, and told Energy-Storage.news the technology can help customers bring power online faster while addressing power management challenges specific to AI sites, including AI load smoothing, voltage ride-through and power reliability enhancement.

Hitachi Energy said its qualification covers its power conversion systems (PCS) and power plant controller (PPC), two capabilities the company enhanced through its acquisition of Spanish power electronics manufacturer Eks Energy.

Two infrastructure financings closed in the same news cycle, one funding solar construction robots and the other packaging a multi-state site portfolio into bonds.

Planted, an Oakland company that builds solar power plants using its own construction robots, raised USD 31.8 million to expand its fleet and launch a next-generation machine, according to a report published on completeaitraining.com.

Separately, Accelerate Infrastructure Opportunities finalized a USD 450 million securitization, with bonds secured by a diversified pool of infrastructure sites across 39 states that support digital infrastructure, renewable energy and transportation projects, according to asreport.americanbanker.com.

West Texas Intermediate gained 1.95% on Thursday, according to Investing.com analysis, as Iranian officials issued fresh threats against two critical maritime energy corridors.

An Iranian senior adviser warned that Iranian forces and Houthi allies could respond to any new U.S. attack by opening a front targeting Red Sea energy supplies, per the same analysis.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would restrict freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz as long as U.S. sanctions and a blockade remain in place, Investing.com reported.