International

The surprise decision over the weekend by OPEC-plus countries to further cut crude production helped keep a rally in European natural gas prices alive as concerns over fuel supplies again bubbled up as the week got underway. The slump in natural gas prices amid a mild winter has made the fuel more competitive with oil…

Saudi Arabia said Sunday it would further scale back crude production by 500,000 b/d from May through the end of the year, leading a broader OPEC-plus effort to curb supplies and bolster prices. In total, the Saudi energy ministry said the group of producer countries would cut more than 1 million b/d. This would come…

Excelerate Energy Inc. is looking for more opportunities to grow its nascent LNG portfolio, but not only with U.S. projects, as it expands its role as a global natural gas supplier. CEO Steven Kobos said during a fourth quarter earnings call that the company, headquartered in The Woodlands near Houston, had pivoted its “near-term commercial…

Crescent Point Energy Corp. has agreed to acquire a package of liquids-rich assets in the Montney Shale of Alberta in an all-cash deal with Spartan Delta Corp. valued at C$1.7 billion ($1.2 billion). Spartan said the agreement would reward its stockholders with a payment of C$9.50 ($7.12)/share. “Over the past five years, we have fundamentally…

Despite holding the world’s second largest natural gas reserves and having Russia as a new partner, Iran faces challenges to revive one of its three LNG export projects. Iran, the world’s third largest gas producer, shares the giant North Dome/South Pars field with Qatar, but it has fallen far behind in developing its reserves to…

U.S. exploration and production (E&P) firms last week approached the pandemic-era peak oil output level as catalysts for global demand gather and benchmark crude prices recover from fears imposed by financial system upheaval. E&Ps churned out 12.2 million b/d for the week ended March 24, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Weekly Petroleum…

Calgary-based pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. has agreed to spend $1 billion in a U.S. development with Divert Inc. to turn food waste into renewable natural gas (RNG).  The investment is part of a plan to develop facilities in major U.S. regions within 100 miles of 80% of the population, according to the companies.  “The infrastructure…

The European Union (EU) has been eyeing a boom in Eastern Mediterranean natural gas production to ease price volatility, but new research suggests more volumes could be a mid-term source of relief rather than a long-term solution. In a report for Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, the authors posit that as much as…

A consortium of investment groups is planning to acquire Origin Energy Ltd., Australia’s largest integrated utility, in a deal that could make ConocoPhillips upstream operator of the natural gas fields that feed the Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) facility. Brookfield Renewable Partners LP and U.S.-based institutional energy investor EIG reached an agreement with Origin’s board to…