Tuesday, 27 October 2026

Snowy is seeking government money for its pumped hydro project but has not released a business case to justify the project's cost blowout, according to RenewEconomy.

The latest cost review for Snowy 2.0 was approved, RenewEconomy reported, though a revised net present value for the Australian project has not been disclosed.

BYD plans to unveil its new flagship model in Dubai, UAE, around November 5, Electrek reported, citing CarNewsChina and people it described as close to the project.

The car will be BYD's largest and most luxurious electric sedan to date, and may carry coach doors and solid-state batteries, which would be firsts for the company if confirmed, according to Electrek. Electrek said the sedan uses rear-hinged coach doors, a configuration BYD has not fitted before.

Tesla updated the Model 3 Premium Rear-Wheel Drive page on its Canadian website to show 584 km of range and a 5.2-second 0-100 km/h time, according to Electrek.

Those figures match the Fremont-built Model 3 Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive that Tesla sold in Canada two years earlier, Electrek reported.

The Shanghai-built version, which Canadians have not been able to order since early October, was rated at 463 km of range and a 6.2-second acceleration time, at CAD 39,490, per Electrek.

Tesla's Canadian comparison page still listed the Model 3 Premium Rear-Wheel Drive at 463 km, 6.2 seconds and CAD 39,490 as of that afternoon, according to Electrek.

ScottishPower Renewables has completed a subsea drilling and duct pull-in operation at its East Anglia TWO offshore wind development in the UK southern North Sea, according to Offshore Magazine.

The project carries a cost of GBP 4 billion, or USD 5.35 billion, Offshore Magazine reported.

In the Netherlands, DEME has secured a contract to install 69 wind turbines at the Zeevonk offshore wind farm, according to Offshore Magazine.

A 3.75 MWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) built by Viridi has been brought online at Peace Bridge Place, an affordable housing building in Buffalo, New York, Solar Builder reported.

The installation is split across seven battery rooms within the occupied building, according to Viridi officials.

Viridi representatives characterized the deployment as one of the largest indoor battery systems at an occupied residential building in the United States.

EQT Corp. has agreed to acquire Range Resources Corp. in an all-stock transaction combining two of the largest natural gas producers in Appalachia, according to World Oil.

The combined company would have net production of more than 9 Bcfed, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

It would operate more than 3,700 miles of midstream assets and control more than 30 years of inventory across about 2.8 million net acres in Appalachia.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.

Ovintiv Canada ULC agreed to acquire Logan Energy Corp. in an all-cash transaction valued at about USD 890 million, or CAD 1.26 billion, including assumed net debt.

The deal adds about 20,000 boe/d of production, 266,000 net acres and over 400 drilling locations in Alberta's Montney fairway, according to Oil & Gas Journal. Of the net acres, about 200,000 are core acreage and 80% remain undeveloped.

Ovintiv estimates the acquisition will generate about USD 60 million per year in cost synergies, primarily through reduced capital, operating and overhead costs.

The transaction is expected to close early in the first quarter of 2027, subject to Logan shareholder, court and regulatory approvals, according to World Oil.

1947 Oil & Gas was awarded two offshore lease blocks, West Delta 133 and South Timbalier 314, in the US Gulf of Mexico, according to Offshore Magazine. The two blocks add 10,000 gross acres to the company's portfolio.

The bid for the two lease blocks totaled approximately USD 260,000, Offshore Magazine reported.

Both leases now carry a lower 12.5% royalty rate, which the company says will improve the economics of its redevelopment opportunities.

The 2027 Lexus RZ starts at $47,495, according to Electrek. That price is $7,500 more than the Tesla Model Y.

The base RZ 350e delivers up to 301 miles of electric range, Electrek reported. It uses a 79.6 kWh battery and a 221-horsepower front motor.

Lexus said the 2027 RZ will begin arriving at dealerships early next year.

A group of sanctioned Russian tankers became stuck in frozen Arctic waters in July and anchored about 1,300 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, according to newsgram.com.

The ships were caught in the Vilkitsky Strait, a 55-kilometer-wide choke point on Russia's Northern Sea Route to China, newsgram.com reported.

When Arctic ice melts, some sections break apart and float, and in narrow straits this ice can become packed, blocking the passage of ships without an ice class, according to newsgram.com.

Tanker freight rates have climbed to more than 10 times normal levels as armed conflict continues in the Middle East, with the cost of importing crude outpacing gains in product prices, according to Hellenic Shipping News.

The Rotterdam refining margin, a European profitability gauge, stood at minus USD 10.95 per barrel on the 5th, Hellenic Shipping News reported, citing London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) data. Singapore's refining margin, the Asian benchmark, fell below minus USD 4 per barrel on September 10.

Tanker freight costs of about USD 60 million per vessel in late October have made long-distance U.S. crude shipments economically unviable for most Asian buyers, according to RocketNews. Those rates have eased from peak levels but remain elevated.

Johor aims to generate an additional 5 GW of solar energy by 2031 to meet rising electricity demand from data centre development.

The plan includes 4 GW of solar projects in Kota Tinggi and Mersing, expected to start in phases from mid-2029, and a 1 GW project in Segamat.

BMI, a Fitch Solutions company, estimated that Johor's data centres would use about 30 TWh of electricity annually by 2031, equal to 18% of Peninsular Malaysia's total electricity supply, up from 6% this year.

Electric vehicles now account for about 60% of new car sales in China, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told Xinhua in a recent interview. Birol said China's clean energy market is developing rapidly, and he described the country's achievements in clean energy technologies as impressive, crediting them with accelerating the global energy transition.

Ahead of next month's UN climate conference, Birol told Anadolu Agency that the electrification initiative led by Türkiye's COP31 Presidency seeks an international commitment to raise electricity's share of global final energy consumption to 35% by 2035. He said many countries are already ready to join the initiative.

The U.S. Department of Energy expanded a tribal energy funding opportunity from USD 50 million to more than USD 125 million after tribal applications sought roughly 10 times the initial amount, according to Tribal Business News.

The Energy Department selected 63 tribe-led projects across 16 states for what it described as the largest single investment in the Office of Indian Energy's history.

The selected projects include electrification, geothermal development, transmission and energy planning.

The selections remain subject to award negotiations and do not guarantee funding.

The Cypriot government and Eni are proceeding with contracts worth up to USD 1.8 billion to develop subsea natural gas infrastructure in Cyprus, according to The National Herald.

The signing ceremony for the contract covering the Cronos gas field infrastructure is scheduled for Monday at the Presidential Palace, according to The National Herald.

A CEPR column published on voxeu.org argues that the shale revolution altered the way oil shocks move through the US economy.

The column traces the change to the shift from heavy petroleum importer to net exporter. On that reading, bad news about oil supply is now less contractionary and may support economic activity in some cases, with gains reaching past the oil sector itself.

The authors write that the Federal Reserve now faces a more favourable trade-off between activity and inflation, while households and firms still carry exposure to higher energy costs.

Research from the Fuel Bank Foundation suggests that between 40% and half of the energy prepayment customers it supports do not contact their supplier to ask what help is available.

The foundation estimates 200,000 of its users are potentially missing out on supplier support, and said the figure is likely to be much higher across the UK.

Several suppliers have set out assistance for the winter. Octopus Energy says it has handed out more than 110,000 free electric blankets.

EDF will provide GBP 30 million of support for vulnerable customers during 2026/27, according to the Birmingham Mail.

The Lamu refinery project has moved into its construction phase, according to Africa PORTS & SHIPS. Construction equipment has already arrived in Lamu, with activity concentrated on the Kwasasi and Kalavuu villages in Lamu West, the proposed site for the project, according to Nation.

The vessel MV Great Prosperity reportedly discharged 154 units of heavy construction machinery weighing a combined 8,213 tonnes for the planned Dangote East Africa Refinery on Kenya's northern coast, according to Africa PORTS & SHIPS.

Rooppur Unit-1 reached initial criticality on 11 October through its first controlled nuclear chain reaction, according to Daily Sun. The outlet described the milestone as a significant step for the country's first nuclear power project.

The reactor has completed its B-2 stage physics tests and is expected to proceed to the next stage, according to The Financial Express.

The Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC) has begun an electricity infrastructure project to end a 15-year blackout in the Rigasa community of Igabi Local Government Area in Kaduna State, according to Blueprint.

The project held its groundbreaking ceremony on October 23, 2026, performed by Kaduna State Deputy Governor Dr. Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, who represented Governor Uba Sani, Blueprint reported.

According to The Sun, the works comprise a two-kilometre 11kV line, a 1.5-kilometre 33kV line and a 7.5MVA, 33/11kV injection substation.

The Sun reported that the infrastructure is expected to improve electricity supply to homes and businesses in Rigasa.

Stocks on Wall Street closed broadly lower as climbing oil prices increased pressure on the market.

The price of Brent crude oil rose 3.1 per cent.

The S&P 500 fell 0.5 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.2 per cent, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2 per cent.

Brent crude reached its highest level since late April after Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia raised concern over further disruption to energy supplies from the Middle East, according to PerthNow.

The move came during a turbulent week for equities. The Dow Industrials and S&P 500 closed lower, while technology shares steadied to end the week, PerthNow reported.

Ghana's Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) said it had not received Ministry of Finance information on how the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) was used, limiting its ability to fully assess expenditure under the programme, according to PIAC Chairman Richard Ellimah.

PIAC also called on the government to attract fresh investment into the Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) oilfield to improve production, which has fallen below initial expectations.

Russia's frozen Arctic sits at the center of its energy, military and trade strategy as rivalry with NATO and the EU expands, according to Event Registry.

The country holds about 53% of the Arctic Ocean coastline, Event Registry reported. Its Arctic territories contain major oil, gas and mineral reserves, parts of its nuclear deterrent and multiple military bases.

Geopolitical tension and funding cuts have squeezed Arctic wildlife research. Federal research continues in only three of Canada's 14 Arctic migratory bird sanctuaries, according to Mother Jones.

State-owned Oil India Limited (OIL) has reported a natural gas discovery in the shallow-water Krishna-Godavari Basin off India's east coast, according to Indian Defense News.

The gas was struck at the Godavari-1 appraisal well, which targeted the Matsyapuri formation, a geological zone that had not been drilled before.

Oil India plans to drill and evaluate a further zone within the basin to gauge the area's wider resource potential, Indian Defense News reported.

A split has emerged within the UK cabinet over whether to approve drilling at the Rosebank oilfield, with chancellor John Healey backing the North Sea project, according to the Guardian.

Energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh holds responsibility for the decision and was leaning towards rejecting it, the Guardian reported, after granting permission for the smaller Jackdaw gasfield.

Higher fuel prices pushed U.S. CPI inflation to 3.7% in the latest data, according to Moneyweb.

The U.S. Federal Reserve raised its policy interest rate in September after initially taking a wait-and-see approach, Moneyweb reported.

In Canada, the latest inflation increase was largely driven by a 6.1% monthly jump in gasoline prices.