Oil prices remain under pressure.

Oil prices remain under pressure in the face of potential oversupply and uncertain demand, as OPEC+ rolls back output cuts

The eight OPEC + countries which previously announced additional voluntary adjustments (ie Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman) will implement a production adjustment of 548,000 bpd per day in August 2025 from the July 2025 required production level, in accordance with the decision agreed upon on 5 December 2024 to start a gradual and flexible return of the 2.2mn bpd voluntary adjustments starting from 1 April 2025. This is higher than the last three rollbacks of 411,000 bpd and means that OPEC+ is on track to fully unwind 2.2mn bpd of cuts nearly a year ahead of schedule.

“The gradual increases may be paused or reversed subject to evolving market conditions. This flexibility will allow the group to continue to support oil market stability,” said OPEC in a statement, noting “steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories”. The eight countries will meet on 3 August 2025 to decide on September production levels.

“Investors remain cautious, especially as seasonal demand typically softens later in the year and US trade tensions intensify. President Trump’s upcoming tariffs, including a fresh threat targeting BRICS-aligned nations, added to the markets cautious tone,” commented global financial group MUFG, adding that the move marks a sharp shift from OPEC+’s past restraint.

“Opec+ keeps surprising the market,” said Jorge León, head of geopolitical analysis and senior vice president at energy consultancy Rystad. “This sends a clear message, for anyone still in doubt, that the group is firmly shifting towards a market share strategy.”

“It was pointless to maintain these voluntary cuts once the strategy became market share rather than price defence. But for the sake of appearances, and perhaps with the hope of managing market expectations, they have to go through the motions anyway, notionally unwinding the cuts at an incremental pace,” said Harry Tchilinguirian, group head of research at Onyx Capital Group in a LinkedIn post.

Hussain Sultan Lootah has been appointed acting chief executive officer of ENOC Group. (Image source: ENOC Group)

The UAE’s ENOC Group has appointed Hussain Sultan Lootah as acting chief executive office, succeeding Saif Humaid Al Falasi, who has led the Group for the last 10 years

The company said in a statement that the appointment aligns with the Group's commitment to drive the future of energy and support Dubai's ambitious plans of economic diversification and sustainable development.

Lootah has three decades of leadership experience in the oil & gas industry, with strong expertise in finance, commercial strategy, project management, and talent development. Throughout his career he has held key leadership roles, leading operations and driving significant progress in Emiratisation and human capital development.

Lootah said, “ENOC Group is at the forefront of building a more sustainable energy landscape for the UAE and the wider region. I am honoured to step into this new role and be part of the ENOC Group success journey, and look forward to working closely with ENOC’s talent and leaders to build on its legacy of innovation and excellence.”

A wholly owned entity of the Government of Dubai, ENOC has over the past 30 years evolved from a local oil and gas player to an integrated global player with assets and operations across the energy sector value chain. Its energy business currently comprise Exploration and Production, Supply Trading and Processing, Terminals, Fuel Retail, Aviation and Products.

The WDDM concession is located around 90 km offshore Egypt.

Independent engineering consultancy Longitude Engineering, part of the Oslo-listed ABL Group ASA, has won a contract to provide engineering and project management services for Egypt’s Phase X1 Deepwater Project of the West Delta Deep Marine (WDDM) concession

The contract was awarded by Petroleum Marine Services (PMS), the main EPIC (Engineering, Procurement, Installation, and Commissioning) contractor for the project, and is Longitude’s second consecutive project within the WDDM concession, also for PMS.

The WDDM concession is located around 90 km offshore Egypt, in the north-western Nile Delta region of the Mediterranean Sea, and is operated by Shell through its joint venture, Burullus Gas Company. The area includes 17 gas fields at water depths ranging from 300 to 1,200 m. These reservoirs have been progressively developed to provide gas for the Egyptian domestic market and the Egyptian Liquefied Natural Gas (ELNG) plant.

WDDM Phase XI

The Phase XI development of the Burullus gas field involves the tie-in of three subsea twin deep-water natural gas wells. The scope of work includes engineering, procurement, fabrication, installation, and commissioning support for five subsea M-shape rigid jumpers equipped with deep-water specialised connectors, multiphase gas meters, and sand detection systems; compact twin-well configurations, to be installed in a brownfield environment adjacent to an existing live natural gas deep-water system ; a tie-in structure designed to accommodate multiple jumpers within a single subsea module; and subsea control system components to support well operation and chemical injection.

Longitude’s engineering scope comprises the detailed design of deep-water rigid jumpers, development of fabrication drawings, onshore and offshore handling procedures, offshore installation engineering, process and stress modelling, and key HSE studies and engineering workshops.

“We are delighted to secure this contract following the success of our previous work on Phase X. The West Delta Deep Marine development is of major significance to Egypt’s oil and gas sector, and we remain committed to delivering the highest quality of service to PMS and, ultimately, to the operator,” said Daniel McGowan, Offshore Project director at Longitude Engineering

Projects such a s the development of the WDDM are critical for reversing the decline in Egypt’s gas production, which led to it resuming LNG imports in 2024 for the first time since 2018.The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) has recently awarded six new blocks to several international companies to boost exploration and production, with investments of around US$245mn, to involve the drilling of at least 13 new exploratory wells. The awarded blocks include four new offshore blocks in the Mediterranean, which were part of the 2024 international bid round, and two onshore blocks in the Nile Delta and North Sinai.

CO₂ pipelines will need to grow from 9,500 km today to over 200,000 km by 2050 to support industrial decarbonisation.

DNV, the global independent energy expert and assurance provider, is advancing Skylark, a joint industry project to enhance the understanding of carbon dioxide (CO₂) pipeline operations and facilitate CCS expansion

The three-year project aligns with DNV’s Energy Transition Outlook 2024 report, which forecasts that CO₂ pipelines will need to grow from 9,500 km today to over 200,000 km by 2050 to support industrial decarbonisation.

Skylark will provide essential safety insights through advanced modelling, real-world testing, and emergency response analysis to enable this expansion. It will validate CO₂ dispersion models for varied terrain, develop emergency response best practices, and inform safety guidelines for pipeline routing, risk assessment and venting.

A key focus is understanding CO₂ behaviour during pipeline incidents, including dispersion patterns under different terrain and weather conditions. Emergency response protocols will also be tested in real-world scenarios with first responders. These insights will help operators enhance safety measures and regulators strengthen frameworks as CCS deployment accelerates, and will directly inform DNV’s CCS Safety Guidelines.

Hari Vamadevan, senior vice president and regional director, UK & Ireland, Energy Systems at DNV, explained: “Skylark addresses one of the biggest barriers to CCS adoption—confidence in safe operations at scale. By combining decades of pipeline expertise with new technologies, we’re helping build the infrastructure needed to meet net-zero targets.”

Developed in collaboration with the UK Health and Safety Executive Science Division (HSE SD), University of Arkansas, Ricardo’s UK National Chemical Emergency Centre, the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), and the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), the Skylark JIP has already attracted significant industry interest, with nine organisations participating.

The initiative is still open to industry participation; interested companies can contact DNV at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..