Energy

Bloomberg New leadership at Petroleos de Venezuela SA is considering a major overhaul that could see the company streamlining its oil business and even forsaking decades of state monopoly, according to people familiar with the matter. The proposal, outlined in a document seen by Bloomberg and dated March 2020, was devised by newly appointed PDVSA head Asdrubal Chavez, who is …

Bloomberg South Africa said it will proceed with a court case to invalidate the sale in 2015 of its strategic oil stocks, despite crude prices recently dropping below what traders paid at the time. The $280 million deal for 10 million barrels of South Africa’s reserves, criticised as a rip off when oil prices were in a slump, was sold …

Bloomberg Four years after devastating wildfires burned down sections of Fort McMurray, the city in the heart of Canada’s oil sands is now grappling with two new emergencies at the same time: the coronavirus pandemic and flooding. Just as people were sheltering at home to avoid the virus, a 25-kilometre (16-mile) natural dam created by melting ice on the Athabasca …

Bloomberg Continental Resources Inc is being sued by a closely held oil driller that accused the shale giant of walking away from a $200 million deal following an historic collapse in crude prices. Casillas Petroleum Resource Partners and Continental signed a so-called purchase and sale agreement on March 6, according to the lawsuit, one trading session before crude tumbled about …

Bloomberg Norway, western Europe’s biggest oil producer, joined international efforts to curb supply for the first time in almost two decades after prices plumbed new depths. The Nordic country will cut production by 250,000 barrels a day in June and 134,000 barrels in the second half of the year, the Petroleum and Energy Ministry said. That’s based on a reference …

Bloomberg The UK’s oil and gas industry could lose as many as 30,000 jobs over the next 12–18 months and see drilling levels plunge by a third amid the coronavirus-led drop-off in investment and slumping energy prices. “The outlook is bleak compared to the picture of steady growth seen only two months ago, before the grip of the pandemic became …

Bloomberg Zimbabwe’s Rio Energy Ltd, a unit of RioZim Ltd, will build a 2,100 megawatt thermal power plant with China Gezhouba Group Corp (CGGC) in northern Zimbabwe at a projected cost of $3 billion, Rio Energy said. “CGGC will develop the project and assist with the fund raising,” Caleb Dengu, chairman of Rio Energy Ltd said last week. The power …

Bloomberg You can add coal to the list of global commodities struggling during the pandemic. Prices haven’t yet turned negative (like oil), but coronavirus is accelerating the demise of the dirtiest fossil fuel. Social distancing measures mean energy demand has fallen across the board. Some of the smallest declines, however, are in the electricity sector. That should have been good …

Bloomberg South Korea has run out of oil storage space that can be leased to third-party companies, according to people with knowledge of the matter, as a global glut spurs a scramble for places to store crude. State-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) currently rents out about 30 million barrels of onshore tank space to third parties including international traders …

Bloomberg Startup Amply Power has raised $13.2 million from investors including Soros Fund Management to advance the company’s electric-vehicle charging service for commercial fleets. The Mountain View, California-based company helps commercial vehicle operators go electric by providing charging infrastructure and fixed prices to charge their vehicles. Other investors in the round included Siemens Financial Services and existing seed-round investors such …