Europe NEWS

European natural gas futures dropped to the lowest since the end of July as concerns eased over near-term exports from Russia that travel across Ukraine.

Keppel claimed $440mn plus interest for the first rig million and $269mn plus interest for the second rig. Awilco has warned that any ruling against the company could result in bankruptcy.

Germany’s consumer price inflation is expected to have weakened in April by year-ago comparison based on official provisional data, as a base effect appeared to show average energy prices in Europe’s biggest economy decelerated.

Several European countries have announced new LNG projects or the expansion to existing ones in response to the shutdown of Russian gas pipelines. The scramble to cover future energy needs, however, puts European countries at risk of wasting colossal sums of money, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

Official analysis reveals accelerating the decline of Scotland’s oil and gas production will increase Scotland’s emissions, threaten jobs and ultimately could make Scotland poorer. The report, commissioned by the Scottish Government, says Scotland will need to ‘carefully manage’ the decline in oil and gas alongside the growth of the new low carbon sector to ‘minimize any negative impacts of the energy transition on society and the economy’.

Amid a wall of screens in the control room of Equinor ASA’s Johan Sverdrup oil field in the North Sea ticks a tally of the day’s oil production — and a measure of Norway’s growing importance to Europe’s energy security.

A jack-up rig sporting legs more than 200 m in height has become the largest ever vessel to visit Port of Aberdeen. The Noble Innovator offshore rig arrived at the new £400 million ($483.91 million) Aberdeen South Harbour for a 60 - 90 day period of maintenance by Noble Corporation.

French oil and energy company TotalEnergies has begun production from the Ikike field in Nigeria, which is expected to deliver peak production of 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by the end of 2022, it said on Monday. The European Commission's deputy director general for its energy department this month said that the European Union was seeking additional gas supplies from Nigeria as the bloc prepares for potential Russian supply cuts.

Schlumberger NV on Friday raised its annual revenue forecast after beating analysts' second-quarter earnings expectations, buoyed by higher demand for its oilfield services and equipment. The company has benefited from a boost in activity driven by stronger oil and gas prices. Global crude prices hovered above $100 per barrel last quarter, fueled by tight supplies following Western sanctions on Russia, a major producer, and as energy consumption returned to near pre-pandemic levels.

European shares notched up their best week in two months on Friday as concerns over an energy supply crunch eased, bringing some calm to investors worried about a big rise in interest rates and a political crisis in Italy. The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 0.3% up at its highest level since June 10, while for the week it jumped nearly 2.9%. While Russian gas flows to Europe resumed after a scheduled maintenance outage, market participants fretted as euro zone business activity unexpectedly shrank in July, due to a downturn in manufacturing and a near-stalling of service sector growth.

German energy giant Uniper on Friday said it is having to draw down gas from storage facilities, reducing supplies needed for winter even as Europe is experiencing an extreme heatwave.The embattled utility told CNBC in a statement that reducing gas volumes from its own storage facilities was necessary “in order to supply our customers with gas and to secure the Uniper’s liquidity.”

The biggest single pipeline carrying Russian gas to Germany starts annual maintenance on Monday, with flows expected to stop for ten days, but governments, markets and companies are worried the shut-down might be extended due to war in Ukraine. The Nord Stream 1 pipeline transports 55 billion cubic metres (bcm) a year of gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. It will undergo maintenance from July 11 to 21.

The European Parliament on Thursday backed landmark rules on aviation fuel that set binding targets for the replacement of kerosene with less polluting energy sources, but extended the definition of what a green fuel could be. The requirements, which if approved would be a world first, were originally proposed by the European executive commission last year to cut the climate impact of the aviation sector, which is deemed responsible for up to 3% of global emissions.

$150 oil could still happen, BofA Global Research indicated in a new report sent to Rigzone this week. In the report, BofA Global Research outlined that it sees Brent averaging $102 per barrel this year and in 2023 and highlighted that a potential spike to $150 per barrel could happen if European sanctions push Russian oil production below nine million barrels per day.

European Union governments moved closer on Sunday to agreeing to tough sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, but scheduled more talks for Monday to work out how to ensure countries most dependent on Russian energy can cope.

"European leaders blasted Russia's decision to cut natural gas shipments to Poland and Bulgaria as “blackmail,” saying the cutoff and the Kremlin's warning that it might cease shipments to other countries is a failed attempt to divide the West over its support for Ukraine."

EU lawmaker Jerzy Buzek, former Polish prime minister and Parliament's lead lawmaker on the rules, said Parliament's team hoped to start talks with EU countries in two weeks and strike a deal lawmakers could vote on in June.

If Europe adopts official sanctions on Russian crude and fuel, prices will likely surge, and India could profit even more from refining Russian oil to fuels it then sells to Europe for more money.