1. Crude oil futures closed at a 13 month high on Wednesday
WTI futures for April delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $1.55, or 2.5%, to close at $63.22 a barrel, the highest closing price since January 6, 2020. In April, Brent crude oil futures rose $1.67, or nearly 2.6%, to close at $67.04 a barrel, the highest closing price since early January last year. Brent crude rose $1.70, or 2.6%, to close at $66.18 a barrel in more active may trading.
2 Spanish renewable energy giant invests $182 billion to double its capacity
Iberdrola, one of Europe’s largest renewable energy developers, said on Wednesday it plans to invest $182 billion (150 billion euros) to triple its renewable energy capacity by 2030. The company announced growth in net profit and renewable energy investment in 2020.
3. Iraq plans to produce 10 gigawatts of solar energy by the end of 2030
Iraq plans to develop seven solar power plants with a total capacity of 750 megawatts (MW) and 10 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, the oil ministry said in a recent statement.
4. Petro Colombia announces $12-15 billion business plan
Ecopetrol, Colombia’s state-owned energy company, will invest $12 billion to $15 billion over the next three years to give priority to upstream, decarbonization and innovation projects, executives said on Wednesday. Among them, the exploration and production plan will get us $9 billion to US $11 billion, and the natural gas expansion plan will get us $1.3 billion.
5. EIA: U.S. crude oil production fell by the largest weekly decline in history
U.S. crude oil production fell more than 1 million barrels per day last week during the severe cold in Texas, the largest weekly decline in history, and refining usage also fell sharply, the energy information administration said on February 24.
6. ADNOC confirmed that it will launch Murban crude oil futures at the end of March
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) confirmed that its Murban crude oil futures contract will start trading on March 29.
Murban crude oil is produced from Abu Dhabi’s onshore oilfield, accounting for more than half of its crude oil production, with a daily output of about 2.6 million barrels. In 2019, ADNOC reached an agreement with oil giants including BP and total, trading company Vitol and Asian energy company to establish an international futures exchange for Murban.
7. ExxonMobil sells UK North Sea oil and gas assets for more than $1 billion
ExxonMobil said on Wednesday that it would sell most of its non operating assets in the central and northern North Sea of the UK to private equity fund hitecvision for more than $1 billion. The company will divest non core assets and focus on its priority areas – Permian Basin, Guyana, Brazil and liquefied natural gas.
Exxon will sell to hitecvision’s Neo energy its ownership interests in 14 oil fields in the UK North Sea, mainly operated by shell, including penguin, Starling, fram, the gannet cluster and shearwater. The sale also includes ExxonMobil’s interest in the Elgin Franklin field operated by total, as well as related infrastructure interests.
8. Eni group’s fourth quarter results exceeded expectations
Eni, the Italian energy group, improved in the fourth quarter of last year as a result of stronger oil prices: adjusted net profit in the fourth quarter was 660 million euros (about $798 million), down 88% from a year earlier, but exceeding analysts’ expected loss of 40 million euros. It lost 742 million euros in the whole year and made a profit of 2.9 billion euros in 2019.
Post time: Feb-25-2021