Pauline DI NICOLANTONIO

Brazil’s state oil company will reduce its capital spending by 2%, hit by falling crude prices, marking a strategic shift under Lula’s presidency.
TotalEnergies has finalised the sale of its 12.5% stake in Nigeria’s offshore Bonga oilfield for $510mn, boosting Shell and Eni’s positions in the strategic deepwater production site.

Belgrade begins legal procedure to seize Moscow-controlled Serbian refinery

Serbia is preparing a budget law amendment to enable the takeover of NIS, a refinery under US sanctions and owned by Russian groups, to avoid an imminent energy shutdown.
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Nigeria’s Dangote refinery selects US-based Honeywell to supply technology that will double its crude processing capacity and expand its petrochemical output.
Iraq secures production by bypassing US sanctions through local payments, energy-for-energy swaps, and targeted suspension of financial flows to Lukoil to protect West Qurna-2 exports.

BP partially restarts Olympic Pipeline but leaves 60% of capacity offline

Restarting Olympic Pipeline’s 16-inch line does not restore full supply to Oregon and Seattle-Tacoma airport, both still exposed to logistical risks and regional price tensions.
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Faced with tightened sanctions from the United States and European Union, Indian refiners are drastically reducing their purchases of Russian crude from December, according to industry sources.
Serbia’s only refinery, operated by NIS, may be forced to halt production this week, weakened by US sanctions targeting its Russian shareholders.

Cameroon: Glencore records a 31% drop in oil volumes

Glencore's attributable production in Cameroon dropped by 31% over nine months, adding pressure on public revenues as Yaoundé revises its oil and budget forecasts amid field maturity and targeted investment shifts.
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The profitability of speculative positioning strategies on Brent is declining, while contrarian approaches targeting extreme sentiment levels are proving more effective, marking a significant regime shift in oil trading.
Alaska is set to record its highest oil production increase in 40 years, driven by two key projects that extend the operational life of the TAPS pipeline and reinforce the United States' strategic presence in the Arctic.

TotalEnergies strengthens position in Nigeria with 90% stake in OPL257

TotalEnergies increases its stake to 90% in Nigeria’s offshore block OPL257 following an asset exchange deal with Conoil Producing Limited.
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TotalEnergies and Chevron are seeking to acquire a 40% stake in the Mopane oil field in Namibia, owned by Galp, as part of a strategy to secure new resources in a high-potential offshore basin.
The reduction of Rosneft’s stake in Kurdistan Pipeline Company shifts control of the main Kurdish oil pipeline and recalibrates the balance between US sanctions, export financing and regional crude governance.

Lukoil puts pressure on Sofia to finalise refinery divestment

Russian group Lukoil seeks to sell its assets in Bulgaria after the state placed its refinery under special administration, amid heightened US sanctions against the Russian oil industry.
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US authorities will hold a large offshore oil block sale in the Gulf of America in March, covering nearly 80 million acres under favourable fiscal terms.
Sonatrach awarded Chinese company Sinopec a contract to build a new hydrotreatment unit in Arzew, aimed at significantly increasing the country's gasoline production.

Chevron in advanced talks to acquire Lukoil’s international assets

The American major could take over part of Lukoil’s non-Russian portfolio, under strict oversight from the U.S. administration, following the collapse of a deal with Swiss trader Gunvor.
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Finnish fuel distributor Teboil, owned by Russian group Lukoil, will gradually cease operations as fuel stocks run out, following economic sanctions imposed by the United States.
ExxonMobil will shut down its Fife chemical site in February 2026, citing high costs, weak demand and a UK regulatory environment unfavourable to industrial investment.