Friday, 2 October 2026

Henry Hub natural gas futures settled at USD 3.011 per mmBtu on Sept. 29, according to The Brief.

November natural gas futures stayed near the USD 3 mark after the latest weekly U.S. storage report matched Wall Street expectations, according to SSBCrack News. The in-line print left traders without a fresh catalyst to move prices out of their recent range.

Shell has completed its acquisition of ARC Resources, which now operates as a subsidiary of Shell Canada Limited after shareholder, court and regulatory approvals in Canada.

The takeover was valued at USD 16.4 billion, according to Baystreet. The same report identified the deal as this year's key highlight in Canadian oil patch dealmaking.

ARC Resources immediately adds 370,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to Shell's output, Baystreet reported. Its resource base integrates into the broader Shell portfolio under Shell Canada Limited.

Barclays raised its price target on Bloom Energy to USD 308 from USD 276 while keeping an Equal-Weight rating, citing a newly acquired manufacturing facility and a utility filing that could expand the fuel cell maker's market.

The expanded manufacturing footprint in Fremont, California, could lift output capacity to roughly 10-12 GW from the existing site's current 5-6 GW limit, according to Barclays.

Ameren Missouri filed a 20-year Integrated Resource Plan featuring 500 MW of natural gas fuel cells by 2030. Barclays viewed Bloom Energy as the only supplier then capable of deploying fuel cells at that scale.

Relevate Power and Eagle Creek Renewable Energy announced a strategic partnership spanning their portfolios of small hydropower assets, according to Event Registry. Relevate Power is backed by GDEV Management, while Eagle Creek is a hydropower owner and operator backed by Apollo funds.

Under the arrangement, Eagle Creek will manage Relevate Power's portfolio of run-of-river hydroelectric projects from the partnership's start, drawing on its operations team. Local operators currently employed by Relevate Power will move to Eagle Creek to keep continuity at each facility, according to Investing.com.

The two companies said they have identified opportunities to combine their strengths in redeveloping and operating hydropower facilities to achieve operational and cost efficiencies, beginning with asset management as the foundation for a broader relationship.

KB Securities said the solar industry's recent price correction may be overdone, arguing that rising electricity costs are expected to offset higher module prices and interest rates.

The firm's case rests on how small a share modules take within total project costs. Modules account for 31% of utility-scale solar system costs and 11% of household system costs, according to KB Securities.

Because of that limited weight, a 32% increase in module prices would raise total investment costs by only 3% to 10%, KB Securities estimated.

TrueRE Oriana Power, an integrated renewable energy company in India, announced the sale of its 110 MWp commercial and industrial solar portfolio to Actis at an enterprise value of INR 501 crore.

The deal forms part of Oriana Power's proposed divestment of approximately 238 MW of operational solar assets to Actis.

As part of the transaction, Oriana Power transferred its stakes in Truere Guj SPV Private Limited and Truere Current Private Limited to Actis.

Aker BP named a new executive management team that takes effect January 1, 2027, grouping its leadership around stages of the oil value chain from exploration to production, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

During the remainder of 2026, the incoming team will build an operating model meant to move projects through development more quickly and at lower cost, cutting the number of organizational interfaces and reducing internal complexity, according to OEDigital.

Chief Executive Karl Johnny Hersvik heads the group. Petter Sørhaug takes Find & Develop, Tommy Sigmundstad takes Build, Lars Høier takes Produce, Øystein Arvesen takes Optimise, and Knut Sandvik takes PDO Projects.

Strategic and support roles go to David Tønne as CFO, Marit Blaasmo on Services, Thomas Hoff-Hansen on Digital, Paula Doyle on Strategic Innovation, and Rolf Nystein on Transformation.

Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas received final ministerial approval to transfer a 60% participating interest in three offshore exploration licenses in Namibia to BP, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital. The consent cleared the last governmental approval required for the transaction.

The approval covers PEL97, PEL99 and PEL100 in Namibia's Walvis Basin, comprising the Cooper, Guy and Tamar licenses. BP Namibia Energy will assume operatorship of the three licenses.

Eco will receive a one-time cash payment of USD 2.7 million upon completion and retain a 25% participating interest in each license, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

BP will carry 100% of Eco's retained 25% interest during the current exploration phase, along with Eco's proportionate share of interests held by NAMCOR and local partners. NAMCOR holds a 10% interest and local partners hold 5%.

Ocean Breeze Energy has agreed to acquire the 60 MW Alpha Ventus offshore wind farm from EWE, RWE and Vattenfall, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital. The buyer plans to operate Germany's first offshore wind farm beyond its originally planned 20-year service life.

Financial terms were not disclosed, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.

AIQ, a UAE-based energy technology firm jointly owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and AI technology company Presight, has signed an agreement to enter India's oil and gas sector, according to Reuters. The deal widens the ADNOC-backed firm's reach for artificial intelligence (AI) products outside its home market.

AIQ Chief Executive Officer Dennis Jol said the company will roll out its technology at an Indian oil and gas conglomerate's refineries, gas stations and digital stores.

Speaking at a media briefing, Jol would not name the Indian customer and gave no financial terms.

NTPC reported about 13% year-on-year growth in power generation during July-September, according to PSU Watch. Output reached 117.9 billion units in the quarter, up from 104.4 billion units in the year-ago period.

In a separate matter, the JITF-NTPC case produced a point of difference rather than a conventional judgment, according to Millennium Post. The difference was referred to the Chief Justice for placement before a third judge or larger bench, and the case remains open.

Aker BP has appointed a new executive management team that takes effect Jan. 1, 2027, part of a restructuring of its Norwegian offshore operations, according to World Oil.

The reorganization is designed to streamline exploration, development and production activities, World Oil reported. The new leadership structure will be built around the company's upstream value chain, aiming to improve collaboration, reduce organizational complexity and accelerate project execution.

During the remainder of 2026, the incoming management team will develop an operating model intended to improve efficiency and cut costs as projects move from exploration through production, according to World Oil.

The current executive management team will remain in place until the restructuring takes effect.

Bank of America, Barclays, Citibank, Deutsche Bank and Santander did not cut their lending or underwriting for coal activities between 2022 and 2025, according to Climate Home News, which cited data released this week. All five were heavily involved in the net-zero banking alliances.

Around half of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) members engaged in coal financing over that period increased it, while the other half reduced it, according to German environmental research group Urgewald.