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US' Alcoa, Australia's Equus ink 10-year gas sales deal
US' Alcoa, Australia's Equus ink 10-year gas sales deal
Sydney, 14 August (Argus) — Australian gas developer Equus Energy has signed a binding 10-year gas sales agreement (GSA) with global aluminium producer Alcoa to supply gas from the planned Equus project offshore Western Australia to Alcoa. Equus will provide 50 TJ/d of gas to Alcoa, equivalent to 182PJ over the term of the deal, the company said on 14 August. Alcoa will use the supplies to power its expanding portfolio of Western Australia-based (WA) alumina refineries. In return, Alcoa will provide advance payment of $30mn to complete a front-end engineering design (Feed) study for the Equus project in Western Australia's North West Shelf region. The funding will cover project costs until it reaches a final investment decision (FID), Equus said. It did not specify a timeline for the FID. Equus, which was known as Western Gas until December 2025, completed a pre-Feed study for the Equus project in May, confirming project design of 50 TJ/d of domestic gas, 2mn t/yr of LNG for export markets, and 12,000 b/d of condensate production over a 15-year project life. The project will address a peak day gas supply shortfall in Western Australia and will represent 5pc of the Western Australian domestic gas market upon completion, Equus said. Annual peak day gas demand in Western Australia is set to increase from 2026 by 36pc to 558 TJ/d in 2035 with the winter season recording the highest demand levels, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator's (Aemo) 2025 Western Australian Gas Statement of Opportunities . This is despite an expected decline in overall annual gas consumption over the same period due to increased large-scale wind and solar generation, Aemo said. The deal with Alcoa will fully satisfy Equus' commitments under Western Australia's domestic gas reservation policy, the company said. The reservation policy mandates that Western Australia-based gas producers retain at least 15pc of production for sale in the domestic market over a project's life. Alcoa operates the 30.5mn t/yr bauxite mine and the 4.2mn t/yr Pinjarra and 2.85mn t/yr Wagerup alumina refineries in Western Australia. Alcoa bought most of Australian mining company South32's aluminium supply chain stakes in June, including the 37mn t/yr Worsley bauxite mine and 4.4mn t/yr Worsley alumina refinery in Western Asutralia. Alcoa signed a three-year gas sales agreement with Australian independent Woodside Energy for 31.1PJ in June, which will begin in 2027. The company also secured a 10-year gas sales agreement with LNG operator Chevron in December 2024 for 130PJ, starting from 2028. This has built on Alcoa's existing 10-year gas sales agreements with Chevron, ExxonMobil and Australian independent Warrego Energy for a total of 198PJ of gas to its alumina refineries in Western Australia, starting in 2024. By Daniel Gage-Brown Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Brazil sets CCS/CCUS regulatory framework
Brazil sets CCS/CCUS regulatory framework
Sao Paulo, 13 August (Argus) — Brazil president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a decree Wednesday creating the regulatory framework for carbon capture, storage and utilization (CCS/CCUS) activities. The regulations take effect immediately, putting CCS/CCUS activities under the responsibility of Brazil hydrocarbons regulator ANP, which will oversee research, assessment of storage areas and operations. It also sets rules for monitoring and activity closure. It will be up to ANP to approve projects. The regulations are part of Brazil's fuel of the future law, which is regulatory framework to advance the country's renewable fuels strategy and decarbonization across multiple sectors. Brazil's CCS market has long called for these regulations , which should enhance legal certainty and predictability for investments in CCS technologies. Brazil is counting on CCS to reach net zero emissions by 2050, according to the government. Approval of the rules is "a significant milestone for the sector, as it helps provide the necessary legal certainty for CCS projects to move from the drawing board to implementation and scale up, and for new investments to be made", said Isabela Morbach, co-founder of advocacy group CCS Brasil. The government estimates that its forestry and energy sectors need to have net-negative emissions in the coming years to help offset emissions from hard-to-abate segments. The rules require that the mines and energy ministry, supported by energy research bureau Epe, develop a national infrastructure plan to guide the implementation of CCS/CCUS. The plan will be reviewed once every two years. The regulations call for infrastructure sharing among different projects, fostering the creation of multi-user hubs. The rules also recognizes six technological pathways for CCS/CCUS. Under the regulations, operations may conclude only after the stability of the stored carbon has been verified, following a minimum monitoring period of 20 years. But the long-term liability for carbon storage is a point of concern, Morbach said. The approved regulations diverge from international trends by placing full responsibility of storage on the operator not only during operations, which is expected, but also after closure. "The international trend is to provide, whether through legislation or regulation, for the transfer of this long-term liability", she said. The decree establishes that the carbon must remain stored for at least 50 years. Lula on Wednesday also signed decrees regulating markets for sustainable aviation fuel and hydrogen . By Lucas Parolin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Gulf war reverses fortunes for US OCTG demand
Gulf war reverses fortunes for US OCTG demand
Houston, 13 August (Argus) — US oil and gas drilling companies and rig owners have boosted their demand outlooks because of the global crude oil supply shock from the US-Iran war. US drilling contractors and oil country tubular goods (OCTG) producers now anticipate higher oil prices and increased oil and gas drilling to raise US demand in the second half of 2026, a far cry from declining rig counts and lower oil prices at the start of the year. Pipe and tube companies are bullish as crude oil prices bolstered by the war in the Middle East raise US drilling activity. The Argus West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fob Houston assessment stood at $84.82/bl on 11 August, up from $68.19/bl at the end of February and before the onset of the war. Rig contractors raise estimates Publicly traded drilling rig contractors have seen the greatest shift, as they now expect a second quarterly rig count increase. Drilling rig contractor Helmerich & Payne (H&P)'s shifting outlook reflects the war-fueled reversal of fortune in the industry. At the end of 2025, H&P lowered its rig count estimates for the first quarter because of lower oil prices and drilling activity. "Going into [2026], things felt relatively bearish, but I do think it's quite a different story right now," H&P chief financial office Todd Scruggs said. "We think this [third quarter] is a pretty good marker for where we're going to be in [2027], we actually think we will be improving from this base." But the stronger outlook remains contingent on oil prices staying elevated and the conflict not widening into a disruption that undercuts economic growth or drilling budgets. At the end of the first quarter, H&P and fellow drilling rig contractors Nabors and Patterson-UTI guided for the second quarter an average of 294-301 active US drilling rigs between them. The rig operators surpassed that outlook and exited the second quarter with an estimated 316 active drilling rigs in the US, which the companies expect to grow to an approximate 324 active rigs by the end of the third quarter. US private and independent oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) companies drove higher drilling rig demand as they capitalized on higher crude oil prices, gains that are expected to continue in the back half of the year. The US weekly active drilling rig count has held at 588 since mid July, the highest level since April 2025 and up from 539 a year earlier, according to oilfield services company Baker Hughes. Pipe producers expect US volumes to grow As more US drilling rigs activate, OCTG producers are working to take advantage of greater demand, import constraints and tight inventories. Higher US drilling activity and lower import volumes raised Vallourec's second quarter US tubular mill production and OCTG prices, chief executive Philippe Guillemot said on a 30 July earnings call. He added that US OCTG inventory levels are below five-year averages. Tenaris chief executive Gabriel Podskubka said the company's Bay City, Texas, seamless OCTG mill is running at record production levels to meet demand. OCTG prices have responded to the shortage and higher demand. The Argus Pipe Logix OCTG all items index, which reflects distributor selling prices, has climbed by $45/short ton (st) in July to $2,233/st, which is $224/st higher since the start of the year. Domestic OCTG mills have pushed about $600/st of price increases into the market and have struggled to bridge a large import supply gap despite raising production. US domestic OCTG pipe mill shipments collected by Argus and import volumes less exports from January-June are at 2.24mn st, down by about 500,000st from the same period in the prior year. OCTG supply declined solely on lower import volumes as major foreign OCTG suppliers like Austria and Taiwan are under US antidumping investigations, causing many US buyers to refrain from importing from those countries. The majority of US OCTG distributors remain optimistic that pricing will continue to rise, with the Argus OCTG distributors index at a positive reading of 86 in July, down by two points from June and the fifth consecutive positive reading. Multiple OCTG distributors reported sourcing difficulties in July for certain products that they would normally buy as imports and cannot find domestically. By Rye Druzchetta Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
New Jersey board proposes lower RPS target for 2029
New Jersey board proposes lower RPS target for 2029
Houston, 12 August (Argus) — New Jersey regulators proposed cuts to the state's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) in the 2029 reporting period, more than a year after they first signaled they were considering the adjustments. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) on Wednesday kicked off a process that could result in it lowering the Class I obligations for utilities during the 2029 energy year to 45pc, from the current 47pc. The compliance period spans June 2028-May 2029. The board will next publish a notice of proposal in the New Jersey Register , which will start a 60-day public comment period. In addition to modifying the 2029 RPS minimum, the proposal would officially codify previously approved changes to the 2026-28 targets. The BPU last year held the 2026 objective at 35pc of retail sales, rather than allowing it to rise to 38pc as scheduled, and earlier this year cut the 2027 and 2028 goals to 35pc and 40pc, respectively, from their original 41pc and 44pc mandates. Renewable energy certificates (RECs) traded sharply higher on the news, after uncertainty about the extent of the BPU's proposed changes weighed on prices during Tuesday's session. Futures transactions for the 2029 RECs occurred as high as $29.15/MWh on Wednesday morning, $1.45 higher than Argus assessed the vintage Tuesday. The BPU has previously sought feedback on larger adjustments to the RPS program, such as opening Class I eligibility to out-of-state solar projects, which would have much greater impacts on the supply and demand balance throughout the region. The ambiguity around the extent of the board's intentions had spooked some participants, driving credits lower. Thus, despite the BPU signaling it could adopt lower targets for the 2029 reporting period, market confidence rebounded upon learning the proposed changes would be relatively narrow. The BPU first floated changes to the 2027-2031 RPS targets in May 2025, when it froze the 2026 requirements. At the time, the board directed its staff to investigate the requirements for those years, part of a larger push to diminish costs borne by ratepayers after a series of record-high capacity auctions in the PJM region, a 13-state grid territory that includes New Jersey. Staff in March floated amendments to the 2027-29 periods, with the BPU ultimately adopting the reduced 2027-28 targets in May. But the agency postponed a decision on the 2029 modifications at the time, wanting to further consider the matter. The RPS peaks at 50pc in 2030. Getting literal about 'solar farms' The BPU on Wednesday also approved 16 projects that collectively represent 52MW of solar capacity for the state's "dual-use" pilot program, which is designed to support agrivoltaic projects in which active farmland coincides with solar generation. The projects, which individually range from less than 1MW to 5.5MW in size, will ultimately generate credits for New Jersey's SREC-II credits program. While SREC-II credits do not count toward the RPS in-state photovoltaic carve-out, they do count toward the broader Class I requirements. The board endorsed the pilot program's first solicitation last year, attempting to bolster the state's renewable energy fleet without ceding prime farmland in the process. The pilot will run for 36 months, with the board setting specific capacity targets for each program year for an overall allocation of 200MW. The awards granted to the first batch of projects land between $106.91-$228.58/MWh. By Patrick Zemanek Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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