Tuesday, 3 November 2026

Aker BP has awarded Subsea7 a contract worth up to USD 300 million for the Lyra field development in the northern North Sea, according to World Oil. The field, formerly known as Kjøttkake, is a fast-track project targeting first oil in 2028, only three years after discovery.

The contract covers engineering, procurement, construction and installation of gas lift and production pipelines and associated subsea infrastructure. Offshore installation using vessels from Subsea7's fleet is scheduled across 2026, 2027 and 2028.

Political opposition to data centers is mounting in the US and abroad, with more than 300 state and local moratoriums threatening the buildout, according to Semafor Net Zero.

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has moved to revise his earlier pro-data center policies, Semafor Net Zero reported. His Democratic opponent has pledged a stringent moratorium that could affect about 29% of net capacity additions planned nationally for 2028.

The pushback extends beyond the US. A massive data center project in Australia lost its construction timeline after a regulator extended its review period, according to Semafor Net Zero. Singapore-linked projects in Indonesia have faced local environmental opposition.

Energized EV has opened four fast-charging ports at a Hardee's restaurant in Temple, Georgia, launching what the company says will be a broader deployment across Hardee's and Carl's Jr. locations in the US.

The site features two dual-port XCharge C7 DC fast chargers, each rated at 240 kW, according to Electrek. Both NACS and CCS1 connectors are available at the location.

Energized EV president and CEO Devin Grandis called Temple "the beginning of a much larger expansion," Electrek reported. No site count or rollout schedule has been disclosed.

MARAD approved ST LNG's deepwater port license application, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

The approval clears a federal regulatory hurdle, but ST LNG must still meet outstanding federal and state requirements, secure customer commitments, arrange financing, and reach a final investment decision.

The US Department of Energy has authorized ST LNG to export LNG to countries with qualifying US free trade agreements, Oil & Gas Journal reported.

The central challenge facing the U.S. power industry is not how much generation to add but how to deliver electricity where and when it is needed, according to Power Magazine.

Data centers, advanced manufacturing, and broader electrification are all driving rising electricity demand across the country. Yet the question of total capacity alone fails to capture the problem, Power Magazine reported. Grid resilience depends on the ability to route power to the right locations at the right times as load patterns shift.

Offshore drilling operators are reclassifying waste management from a disposal afterthought to a drilling performance variable, according to TWMA CEO Halle Aslaksen, as reported by Offshore Magazine.

Aslaksen said at-source processing of drilling waste cuts transport requirements, emissions, costs, and operational bottlenecks while allowing valuable base fluids to be recovered and reused, Offshore Magazine reported.

Since 2014, TWMA has processed more than 600,000 tonnes of drilling waste at source across multiple UAE fields, according to the company. That work eliminated more than 70,000 kilometers of transport and reduced emissions by around 50%, TWMA said.

TotalEnergies signed agreements with Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, PTTEP, and KUFPEC to acquire a 30% operated interest in the Lang Lebah and B14 gas fields offshore Sarawak, Malaysia, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

The transactions are subject to regulatory approvals. Once completed, the ownership structure would give TotalEnergies a 30% operated stake, with PTTEP holding 25%, KUFPEC 25%, and Petronas Carigali 20%, Oil & Gas Journal reported.

An integrated development plan is expected to unlock more than 6.5 tcf of gas resources and supply the existing Malaysia LNG liquefaction plant at a production plateau of around 10 billion cubic meters per year, TotalEnergies said, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

Two long-term producer agreements will underpin a gas gathering and processing expansion by San Mateo Midstream LLC in New Mexico's Delaware basin, Oil & Gas Journal reported.

The project centers on the Marlan complex in Eddy County, New Mexico, where San Mateo intends to build a 300-MMcfd processing train alongside a nitrogen rejection unit. Roughly 20 miles of new gas pipeline would link freshly dedicated acreage to the facility, which will also gain a field treating unit designed for CO2 removal.

San Mateo targets completion by yearend 2028, contingent on permitting, procurement, and construction.

The finished expansion would lift San Mateo's total gas processing capacity past 1.3 bcfd, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

Operator Transdev Rhein-Main added nine electric buses manufactured by Ebusco to Frankfurt am Main's fleet, bringing the city's zero-emission bus count to 109 out of 418 total vehicles, according to electrive.

The 109 locally emission-free buses are either battery-electric or fuel-cell powered. Frankfurt's network now runs more than 100 such vehicles, roughly a quarter of its bus operations.

A photo of a BYD Flash Charger with both charging connectors wrapped in a thick chain and secured by a padlock has been circulating on Chinese social media, according to electrive. The chain prevented customers from using the station without risking damage to their vehicles.

The perpetrator had not been identified, and BYD had not commented on the incident, electrive reported.

Xpeng has introduced the L05, known locally as the Mona L05, in China, according to electrive. The manufacturer plans to bring the mid-size SUV to Europe and Germany.

The L05 is set to arrive in Germany in early 2027, electrive reported. Xpeng plans to disclose pricing, equipment, and drivetrain options for the European version at the Brussels Motor Show, scheduled for 8 to 17 January 2027.

Renewable hydrogen produced at Lingen reached Marl Chemical Park on August 4, 2026, covering roughly 120 kilometres through Germany's emerging hydrogen backbone, according to CleanTechnica.

RWE and its partners said the delivery marked the first time electrolysers, converted natural gas pipelines, and industrial receiving infrastructure operated as an integrated chain during commissioning, CleanTechnica reported.

Delegates will gather in Antalya, Turkey, for climate negotiations against a backdrop of war, energy crisis and climate extremes, according to Carbon Brief.

At COP31, nations will seek agreement on climate finance for developing countries and a global "just transition" toward a cleaner economy, Carbon Brief reported. The summit features an unusual joint presidency: Australia is leading the negotiations while Turkey hosts the conference.

Carbon Brief analyzed around 100 documents to track parties' positions on key COP31 negotiating points and wider issues.

Financing and market structures in the US favor established lithium-ion battery energy storage systems, potentially limiting investment in alternative technologies better suited to storing electricity for eight hours or longer, according to ESS News.

Lithium-ion dominates the energy storage market because it is considered bankable, even when it may not be the best fit for a given application, ESS News reported. Will McNamara, grid energy policy analyst at Sandia National Laboratories, said lithium-ion batteries are commercially mature, economical, and acceptable to project financiers but remain limited to about four hours of storage duration.

McNamara defined long-duration energy storage as technologies able to provide at least 10 hours of duration, extending to days, weeks, or months, according to ESS News. Four hours, he said, is a generous extension of the long-duration label.

The gap between the four-hour ceiling of bankable lithium-ion and the 10-hour threshold for genuine long-duration storage leaves a range where alternative chemistries and technologies could serve grid needs but struggle to attract financing.

Singapore-based Equator Renewables Asia has developed a modular, relocatable photovoltaic system packing up to 250 kW of solar capacity into a standard 40-foot high-cube shipping container, according to pv magazine.

The system, called SolarBox, integrates 235 kW to 250 kW of PV capacity. Its reference configuration uses 368 n-type TOPCon bifacial modules rated at 640 W each, delivering approximately 235.5 kW of DC capacity, pv magazine reported.

Samsung C&T acquired a majority stake in Powertech, an Australian electrical engineering, procurement, and construction contractor, in a deal valued at approximately AUD 100 million (USD 70 million), according to ESS News.

Powertech's management will retain a minority stake in the company.

The firm employs 300 engineers and technicians and operates across Western Australia, Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Singapore, ESS News reported.

Electric trucks accounted for 50.3% of all heavy trucks sold in China in September, according to Electrek, crossing the majority threshold in the segment for the first time.

The country sold 33,100 electric heavy trucks during the month, a 37% increase from a year earlier. The broader heavy-truck market moved in the opposite direction, shrinking 21% over the same period, according to Electrek.

The divergence is feeding through to fuel markets. China's diesel demand is on track to fall by about 230,000 barrels per day in 2026, with trucks running on batteries and natural gas doing most of the work, Electrek reported.

Rapid Support Forces drones attacked an oil pumping station and an energy infrastructure facility in Hayya, a city in Sudan's Red Sea State, the Sudan Tribune reported citing local sources.

The October 31 strikes ignited fires at both sites. Several crude oil tanks at the pumping station caught fire after the drone hit, according to the Sudan Tribune.

A separate drone struck a transformer substation in Hayya that was in the final stages of construction and intended to bolster Port Sudan's power supply.

Climate campaigners gathered outside Bute House, the Scottish first minister's official residence in Edinburgh, on October 31, 2026, to protest two recently approved fossil fuel projects.

The protest was triggered by the Scottish Government's approval of a new gas-fired power station in Peterhead, according to reporting by the website of the campaign group behind the coverage. Demonstrators also objected to the UK Government's approval of the Jackdaw gas field project off the coast of Aberdeen.

Activists warned there were "no treats for John Swinney," staging a Halloween-themed demonstration timed to coincide with the holiday, according to Digital News Report.

Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) has partnered with Northern Railway's Delhi Division to switch 22 railway establishments across Delhi-NCR from LPG and diesel to piped natural gas (PNG), according to Livemint.

IGL will initially supply around 3,000 standard cubic metres of natural gas per day under the agreement, Livemint reported. The supply is expected to replace approximately 500 kg of LPG and 2,500 litres of diesel consumed daily at the sites, according to a company statement cited by Livemint.

The Organization of Turkic States (OTS) convened its 13th heads-of-state summit in Ankara on Oct. 29-30, with Türkiye assuming the bloc's rotating chairpersonship from Azerbaijan, according to Daily Sabah.

The meeting's agenda centered on converting the member states' cultural affinity into institutional cooperation, economic partnership and strategic solidarity, Daily Sabah reported.

Nigeria's Bonny Light crude was selling for USD 115 per barrel, according to Nairametrics, with crude export proceeds contributing to foreign exchange inflows.

The country's total foreign exchange reserves stood at approximately USD 55 billion, Nairametrics reported, providing a cash buffer to intervene in the FX market and meet import and repatriation demands.

Stronger benchmark prices for Bonny Light are reinforcing the dollar supply available to satisfy currency market operations, according to Nairametrics.