Energy Transfer to supply gas to planned data center

: Electricity, Natural gas
25/02/10

US energy infrastructure company Energy Transfer has reached a long-term agreement to supply natural gas to an artificial intelligence data center in central Texas.

Under that agreement — Energy Transfer's first direct supply contract with a data center — the company will provide about 450mn cf/d (13mn m³/d) to Denver, Colorado-based CloudBurst Data Center's planned data center campus near San Marcos, Texas, for at least 10 years.

That deal is contingent on CloudBurst reaching a final investment decision, which is expected later this year. The data center is scheduled to begin operations in the third quarter of 2026, Energy Transfer said.

New energy-intensive data centers that run artificial intelligence software will be a key source of power demand growth in the coming years. Data centers were forecast to drive power demand in the commercial sector 2pc higher this year and lead to another 2pc increase in 2026, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Those additional power needs could lift gas demand by 3 Bcf/d or more by the end of this decade, according to some analyst estimates.

Energy Transfer will provide the gas via the Oasis pipeline, a 1.2 Bcf/d line that connects gas supplies from the Permian basin of west Texas to demand centers on the Texas coast. That supply will be used to generate 1.2GW of power exclusively for the data center.

Energy Transfer is in talks to supply other data centers along its network of natural gas pipelines. It expects the CloudBurst agreement to be "the first of many," the company said.

By Jason Womack

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25/03/17

Energean-Carlyle gas assets deal under threat

London, 17 March (Argus) — Greek independent Energean has said a deal to sell its gas assets in Egypt, Italy and Croatia to US private equity fund Carlyle may collapse owing to incomplete government approvals. Carlyle has still not received certain regulatory approvals from Italy and Egypt and has only three days left do so under the terms of the original agreement, Energean said. Energean said it has been unable to agree with Carlyle to extend the deadline beyond 20 March. Carlyle had agreed to pay up to $945mn for the assets , which it expects to produce 47,000 b/d of oil equivalent. The collapse of the deal would throw into doubt Carlyle's plan to set up a Mediterranean-focused exploration and production company led by ex-BP chief executive Tony Hayward. For Energean, the deal was set to help pay down debt and focus its resources on Israel and Morocco. The company said it is still committed to closing the transaction. By Aydin Calik Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Norway cold on EU VAT power sales harmony

25/03/17

Norway cold on EU VAT power sales harmony

London, 17 March (Argus) — Norway will not harmonise its value-added tax (VAT) legislation for cross-border power sales with the EU despite pressure from market operator Epex Spot, with the country's finance ministry claiming that its current rules are "satisfactory", it told Argus . Norway's finance ministry has not "found any reasons" to consider better integrating its VAT procedures on cross-border power sales, the ministry said, adding that EU rules are not "binding" and that, as such, "there is no ongoing work" to align the Nordic country with the broader European market. The decision follows a series of letters sent by Epex Spot that highlighted its significant objections to the existing VAT arrangements. The market operator argues that the system allows for potential double taxation on some sales while others can go completely untaxed. They added that this increases the risk of VAT tax fraud in Norway, with the system "leav[ing] the door open to well-known tax fraud methods", Epex Spot's public and regulatory affairs director, Davide Orifici, told Argus last year . In response to the ministry's statement, Epex Spot told Argus that while the legislation "is not binding for Norway", it hoped that Norway would align with EU rules "on a voluntary basis" to "secure the Norwegian power market against VAT fraud". It added that Norway's "tax authorities themselves" had confirmed to the media that Norway was, in effect, "keeping the doors open to fraud". Epex conducted discussions with Norway's tax authorities late last year, which were characterised as "good", but the finance ministry appears to be unmoved on EU VAT harmonisation. This is the latest flashpoint in a lingering dispute within Norwegian politics over whether it is best to pull back or move closer to the EU power market. Norway's coalition government fell apart earlier this year as the country's centre party left the ruling alliance over lead-partner Labour Party's willingness to align Norway more closely with the EU and adopt the bloc's fourth energy package. This leaves the Labour Party to govern as a minority government until parliamentary elections take place on 8 September. By Daniel Craig Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

US oil chiefs wary of Trump price push

25/03/17

US oil chiefs wary of Trump price push

New York, 17 March (Argus) — US oil chiefs have offered President Donald Trump their unequivocal backing for restarting the conversation around energy policy and climate change in their favour, but his push for lower oil prices is creating misgivings. Energy secretary Chris Wright told reporters at the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston last week that the administration's push for lower oil prices has no specific target level, but White House officials, including trade adviser Peter Navarro, have cited $50/bl as a preferred level that would help to bring down inflation. A decline to that level would have far-reaching repercussions for the shale patch and lead to lower production in the top-performing Permian basin, according to industry veteran Scott Sheffield. "The cash breakeven for the majors and independents is $50-55/bl including dividends," said Sheffield, one of the pioneers of the shale revolution in the Permian basin that turned the US into the world's biggest producer. "So at $50/bl oil, there's no free cash flow, there's no growth." Wright attempted to square the circle between Trump's call for lower crude prices and higher crude production at the same time, arguing that both goals could be achieved by removing barriers and developing more infrastructure under a strategy of "Build, baby, build". Executives from the US and European majors talked up prospects in the offshore Gulf of Mexico, which is enjoying a resurgence in interest as pioneering technology opens up previously inaccessible resources. But the industry needs to work with the administration to explain the unintended consequences of its tariff policies, pipe manufacturer Tenaris said, as they affect equipment used for deepwater development. In the shale, with most public operators pledging to keep spending down this year and growth to a minimum, few have thus far shown any appetite to open the floodgates. US major Chevron might forecast double-digit output growth from its Permian operations this year, but it is slowing its spending. "Chasing growth for growth's sake has not proven to be particularly successful for our industry," chief executive Mike Wirth said. "And so we're moving towards a plateau that will open up the free cash flow generation and then sustain that for a long period of time." Tech flows Consolidation has helped to improve financial performance and efficiency of the larger operators now dominating the Permian, giving them the ability to drive technology gains and improve recovery rates, according to ExxonMobil's new head of oil and gas production, Dan Ammann. "When you have a position like ours — with continuous acreage — it allows you to do things that others are unable to do, like very long laterals," he told the conference. "Today we are recovering 6-8pc of the total resource, so the ability to unlock increased recovery of that through technology is a great way to grow production." Occidental Petroleum's chief executive, Vicki Hollub , is advocating the use of enhanced oil recovery techniques with CO2 pulled in by direct air capture facilities — which remove CO2 from the atmosphere — like the projects Occidental is developing. Pilot tests in the Midland basin suggest the company could double recovery rates using this technique for shale, Hollub said. And even though growth in shale output looks set to reach a plateau by the end of the decade, industry leaders voiced optimism that its decline will be slow and future drilling breakthroughs, possibly driven by artificial intelligence, could yet prolong its lifespan. "Never bet against this industry in terms of technology," ConocoPhillips' chief executive, Ryan Lance, warned. "It will always figure out a way to get more resource out of the rock." By Stephen Cunningham US tight oil production Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Oil industry embraces Trump trade-offs

25/03/17

Oil industry embraces Trump trade-offs

Washington, 17 March (Argus) — President Donald Trump's key energy advisers lavished praise and promises of deregulation on US oil and gas executives attending the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston last week. But his domestic and international policies, and failure to explain their desired outcomes, have created significant uncertainty for investors in the energy sector and the broader economy. "I'm going to share two words that I don't think you have heard from a federal official in [former president Joe Biden's] administration during the last four years, and those two words are ‘Thank you'," interior secretary Doug Burgum told the conference. Burgum, appointed by Trump as chairman of a newly formed National Energy Dominance Council, projects that cutting oil and gas regulations and streamline permitting could trim $6-8/bl from US oil production costs. 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China’s CNOOC starts Caofeidian, Wenchang crude output

25/03/17

China’s CNOOC starts Caofeidian, Wenchang crude output

San Francisco, 16 March (Argus) — Chinese state-controlled CNOOC has started output at the Caofeidian 6-4 oil field comprehensive adjustment project and the Wenchang 19-1 oil field phase 2 project offshore China, the company said today. Caofeidian 6-4 produces mainly light crude and is located in the western part of the Bohai Sea, at an average water depth of about 20m. Wenchang 19-1 produces mainly medium crude and is located in the western part of the Pearl River Mouth Basin, at an average water depth of around 125m. Caofeidian 6-4 is expected to achieve peak production of around 11,000 b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d) in 2026 and Wenchang 19-1's output is expected to peak at 12,000 boe/d in 2027. CNOOC plans to put into production a total of 38 development wells at the two projects. It is also planning 22 production wells at Caofeidian 6-4. CNOOC is the operator of the projects and holds a 100pc interest. The associated gas of Caofeidian 6-4 will be reinjected into the reservoir with gas injection compressors, which will reduce CO2 emissions by about 13,000 t/yr. Wenchang 19-1 uses a megawatt-level high-temperature flue gas ORC power generation unit, which is expected to generate up to 24GWh of electricity and reduce CO2 emissions by about 23,000 t/yr, CNOOC said. The company has mainly started output at oil fields in 2025 but said in early March that it made a "major breakthrough" in natural gas exploration as part of a gas discovery at the Weizhou 10-5 oil and gas field at a water depth of 37m in the Beibu Gulf basin in the Bohai sea, with test results indicating production capacity of around 13.2mn ft³ of gas and about 800 b/d of crude. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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