STATOIL TO CUT COSTS, RAISE OUTPUT AT NORTH SEA PROJECT
Norway’s Statoil ASA has slashed billions of dollars of planned spending on the giant Johan Sverdrup field in the North Sea, ensuring it should remain profitable even if oil prices fall to around half current levels, The Wall Street Journal’s Kjetil Malkenes Hovland reports.
The state-controlled oil producer also forecast as much as a 40% increase in initial daily production capacity from the field.
The recalibration of one of Norway’s biggest-ever oil projects—a rare example of a major investment that has gone ahead since the collapse in oil prices in the past two years—shows the pressure that oil producers are still under with prices hovering below $50 a barrel.
TXU ENERGY, LUMINANT CLEARED TO EXIT BANKRUPTCY
The Wall Street Journal reports that power generator Luminant and retail electricity provider TXU Energy Inc., two of the largest energy businesses in Texas, are headed toward an exit from bankruptcy after winning confirmation of a Chapter 11 plan.
ELECTRIC CARS FOR THE MASSES, SOONER THAN YOU THINK
In 2015, about one in every 150 cars sold in the U.S. had a plug and a battery. But mass adoption of electric vehicles is coming, and much sooner than most people realize, according to Christopher Mims writing in The Wall Street Journal.
One big leap is in batteries. A typical electric vehicle today costs $30,000 and will go about 100 miles on a charge, if that. Within a year, you’ll be able to get double that range for just a little more money.
OIL-RICH TEXAS A MAJOR RENEWABLE-ENERGY PIONEER
The Lone Star state is home to an energy bonanza that could soon rival shale oil, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Texas has added more wind-based generating capacity than any other state, with wind turbines accounting for 16% of electrical generating capacity as of April. Now Texas is anticipating a huge surge in solar power.
SANCTIONS TEST RUSSIA-INDIA ENERGY ALLIANCE
A fast-blossoming energy alliance between Russia and India could be put to the test as the specter of sanctions hangs over state-controlled Rosneft’s planned purchase of a 49% stake in Mumbai-based refiner Essar Oil, according to a report in Energy Intelligence.
MARKETS
Oil prices were down Monday as worries over the U.S. raising interest rates as early as next month rippled through an already jittery market
The October contract for global benchmark Brent was down 1.49% at $49.44 while its U.S. counterpart West Texas Intermediate was down 1.45% at $46.94.
Prices have reacted to Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen signaling growing conviction that the central bank will raise short-term interest rates in the weeks or months ahead.
