Energy News

U.S. officials are drafting agreements to pay nearly $1 billion to oil major TotalEnergies as compensation for the cancellation of leases for wind farms in federal waters off New York State and North Carolina, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.Under the terms of the proposed settlements, the U.S. Interior Department will cancel the leases in federal waters for two projects, known as Attentive Energy and Carolina Long Bay, the NYT said, citing documents.The Justice Department will then pay more than $928 million to TotalEnergies…

2025 was a year of recalibration, continuing the softness experienced since the fourth quarter of 2024. Rather than a slowdown, this period can be better described as a collective deep breath as the industry prepares for the next upcycle in the Asian Pacific region.Compared to 2024, the composite dayrates, calculated as a weighted average across size categories, declined by approximately 16% for PSVs and 14% for AHTS vessels. In tandem, utilization also softened, with the number of working vessels down 19% and 8% respectively…

Unlike larger jackup regions where scale provides greater flexibility, relatively minor changes in supply can have an outsized impact. The availability, reactivation, or retirement of a single rig can materially shift utilisation levels, dayrate negotiations, and contracting dynamics, often with limited visibility.There are currently five jackups drilling in the region, operating across Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Iran. Several of these units are contracted into 2026 and beyond, which is meaningful in a market of this size.© EsgianDespite this coverage, active supply remains constrained.

Global oil and gas prices jumped on Tuesday as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran halted energy exports from the Middle East, with Tehran attacking ships and energy facilities, closing navigation in the Gulf and forcing production stoppages from Qatar to Iraq.The benchmark Brent crude oil contract gained nearly 8% on Tuesday to above $83 per barrel, the highest since July 2024, taking gains since Friday to more than 15%. European gas prices soared as much as 40% before paring gains, adding to a 40% surge on Monday.

Oil surged 9% on Monday after retaliatory Iranian attacks disrupted shipping in the crucial Strait of Hormuz following the weekend's bombing by Israel and the United States that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.A sustained jump in prices would threaten a global economic recovery, spur inflation and could push up U.S. retail gasoline prices, a risky result for President Donald Trump ahead of midterm elections this November.The price surge on the restart of trading after the weekend…

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused Ukraineon Wednesday of planning to disrupt the Hungarian energy system, and dispatched troops to safeguard infrastructure, escalating a dispute that has undermined Europe's pro-Ukraine consensus.Hungary and Slovakia, whose leaders are outliers in the EU for maintaining relations with Moscow, blame Kyiv for an outage on the Druzhba oil pipelinethat supplies their refineries with Russian crude pumped through Ukraine.Kyiv says the pipeline was damaged by a Russian drone attack in January and it is fixing it as fast as it can.Orban…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced a Proposed Notice of Sale for the third offshore oil and gas lease sale under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The proposed lease sale, known as Lease Sale Big Beautiful Gulf 3, or BBG3, is scheduled to take place on Aug. 12, 2026.This sale is the third of 30 Gulf of America oil and gas lease sales required by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law No: 119-21). By committing to a predictable sale schedule, the Department is delivering on President Trump’s promise to expand American energy production and strengthen U.S. energy dominance.

The premium currently built into the crude oil price over tensions between the United States and Iran fluctuates according to the daily headlines, but there is an underlying assumption that everything will turn out fine.Global benchmark Brent futures LCOc1 jumped 4.4% on Wednesday to close at $70.35 a barrel, the highest finish since January 30.The increase was largely driven by news reports that Iran and Russia will conduct navy drills in the Sea of Oman and the northern Indian Ocean on Thursday, just days after Iran's Revolutionary Guards conducted exercises in the Strait of Hormuz.The milit

Turkey and Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding on energy cooperation during a visit by President Tayyip Erdogan to Addis Ababa on Tuesday, the Turkish Energy Ministry said, adding the accord would lead to joint production and projects.Erdogan held a one-day visit to Addis Ababa on Tuesday upon Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's invitation, his first to Ethiopia in 11 years.The accord was signed at a ceremony after talks between the two leaders. Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan…

President Donald Trump denounced a clean energy agreement between the United Kingdom and California Governor Gavin Newsom hours after it was signed on Monday, Politico reported.In an interview with the outlet, Trump said it was "inappropriate" for Britain to be dealing with the Democratic governor. Trump, a Republican, also branded Newsom "a loser," saying "his state has gone to hell, and his environmental work is a disaster.”Newsom is an outspoken Trump critic and has publicly…

France set out a new energy law after years of wrangling on Thursday which slashes its wind and solar power targets and drops a mandate for state-run firm EDF to shutter nuclear plants."We need to stop our internal family squabbling. We need both nuclear and renewables," finance minister Roland Lescure told reporters.The law, to be pushed through by decree on Friday after almost three years of bitter disagreement among lawmakers, also reverses a previous legal mandate to shut 14 reactors.That was a 2017 campaign promise of President Emmanuel Macron…

Russian forces struck energy facilities in Ukraine's Odesa region on the Black Sea overnight, leaving over 95,000 people in the southern part of the region without power, a regional official said on Tuesday.Russia launched 125 drones at Ukraine overnight and Ukrainian air defence units shot down or neutralised 110, the Ukrainian air force said.Oleh Kiper, Odesa regional governor, said the small town of Kilia was in the most difficult situation, as more than 200 buildings housing 9…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, today announced another major step toward expanding offshore energy development pursuant to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. BOEM released the Final Notice of Sale for Lease Sale Big Beautiful Gulf 2 (BBG2), the second of 30 Gulf of America lease sales required by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law No: 119-21). BOEM will again invite lease sale bidders to attend the live bid reading, per BOEM instructions, on March 11, 2026, starting at 9 a.m. Central Time.

"In 2025, India’s oil imports from Russia made up 33% of the country’s total seaborne oil imports and 25% of Russia’s seaborne oil exports. A new trade agreement between the US and India could, according to US President Donald Trump, put an end to that trade,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.On Monday, President Trump announced that a new trade agreement between the US and India would lead to mutual tariff reductions. US tariffs on Indian goods would fall from 50% to 18% and Indian tariffs on US goods could fall to zero.

A U.S. judge on Monday will consider a request from Danish energy company Orsted to block the Trump administration's halt on its Sunrise Wind project off the coast of New York.The preliminary injunction request is the fifth brought by an offshore wind developer since the Interior Department's December 22 pause on five offshore wind leases in federal waters. The agency stopped work on the multi-billion-dollar facilities due to national security concerns around radar interference.Orsted has spent or committed more than $7 billion to date to build Sunrise Wind, the company said in a court filing.

Dominion Energy said on Friday the total project costs for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind have increased to roughly $11.5 billion from $11.2 billion.The changes in estimated costs reflect the impact of temporary suspension of work issued by the U.S. government in December as well costs associated with tariffs.Earlier this month, a federal judge allowed Dominion to resume work at the Virginia offshore wind project, after it was initially suspended by the Trump administration over what it called national security concerns.The project was originally slated to be completed by the end of 2026…

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Monday that her country has agreed with Germany to jointly proceed with the Bornholm Energy Island, a large offshore wind project.Frederiksen was speaking at a press conference at an energy conference in Hamburg alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.(Reuters)

European governments including Germany, Britain and Denmark will reinforce their plans to massively expand wind power projects on Monday, despite U.S. President Donald Trump stepping up criticism of their green energy agenda, a draft declaration due to be signed by government leaders showed.Trump has been openly critical of European countries' efforts to shift to low-carbon energy.

JERA Nex bp is acquiring EnBW’s stake in the Mona Offshore Wind Farm and has signed a lease agreement with The Crown Estate for the project, marking an important milestone for the company and for the UK’s offshore wind ambitions.This is a significant step towards final investment decision for the project which, once operational, could deliver up 1.5GW of clean energy to the UK. As Mona advances, the project has the potential to unlock new jobs, grow the UK supply chain, and bring economic benefits to coastal communities in Wales and across the UK.Amid current market conditions…

Today the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted Dominion Energy’s request for a preliminary injunction allowing construction to resume on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project while Dominion Energy’s lawsuit challenging the agency’s action proceeds. Our team will now focus on safely restarting work to ensure CVOW begins delivery of critical energy in just weeks. While our legal challenge proceeds, we will continue seeking a durable resolution…

The underlying lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of the Interior’s December 22, 2025 suspension order will continue to proceed.Empire Wind will now focus on safely restarting construction activities that were halted during the suspension period. In addition, the project will continue to engage with the U.S. government to ensure the safe, secure and responsible execution of its operations.Empire Wind is being developed under contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to deliver a critical new…

Responding to the UK Government’s announcement on the results of the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 7, Neil Gordon, chief executive of Global Underwater Hub (GUH), said:“The award of a record 8.4GW of offshore wind capacity through AR7 is a positive step for the UK. It will play a critical role in delivering the country’s net-zero and clean energy ambitions, while also supporting supply chains, sustaining jobs and driving wider economic benefit.“Within this overall outcome, the inclusion of two floating offshore wind projects, Pentland and Erebus are particularly encouraging.

A federal judge on Monday cleared Danish offshore wind developer Orsted to resume work on its nearly finished Revolution Wind project, which U.S. President Donald Trump's administration halted along with four other projects last month.The ruling by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth is a legal setback for Trump, who has spent the last year seeking to block expansion of offshore wind in federal waters. It was the second time in four months the $5 billion Revolution Wind project has sought…