My better half and I followed some of our favorite lady golfers on Sunday at the Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston during the Chevron Championship, the first of five majors. With a five-stroke lead going into the final round and her steady play, fan favorite Nelly Korda won the title. China’s Ruoning Yin and Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit tied for second. I thought Chevron and the LPGA did a great job running the major event and promoting women’s sports.
Now, let’s look into two pieces of energy news from the past week.
Shangyou Nie
Editor, Well Read
U.S. Oil and Petroleum Product Exports Reach Record as the War in Iran Continues
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The Energy Information Administration reported that the total U.S. crude and petroleum product exports reached a record 12.9 million barrels per day during the week of 17 April. The United States is already the world’s largest LNG exporter. With the ongoing war in Iran, U.S. oil and gas supply has become more important to Europe and Asia.
The EIA on crude and petroleum products:
The average weekly export of U.S. crude and petroleum products jumped from 10.6 million barrels per day during the first week of March to 12.9 million barrels per day by mid-April.
During the week ending 17 April, crude exports were 4.8 million barrels per day, and petroleum product exports were 8.1 million barrels per day.
During the same week, the United States imported 7.8 million barrels of crude and petroleum products (6.1 million barrels per day of crude and 1.7 million barrels per day of petroleum products).
U.S. exports of crude and petroleum products have steadily increased since 2008, from less than 2 million barrels per day to more than 10 million barrels per day by the end of 2022.
The bigger picture for crude and product exports:
The growth of U.S. crude production and the availability of Venezuelan crude since the beginning of 2026 have fueled the increase in exports.
The Iran war has led many Asian countries to emphasize supply diversification.
Japan depends on more than 90 percent of its crude imports coming from the Middle East via the Strait of Hormuz.
Japan repeatedly expressed a desire to have more U.S.-sourced LNG during CERAWeek.
The EIA on gas exports:
U.S. gas exports have been steadily increasing from virtually zero to 15 billion cubic feet per day in 2025.
About 10 billion cubic feet per day, or 2/3 of U.S. gas exports, is sent to Europe, as the continent tries to weaken dependence on Russian pipeline gas.
U.S. gas exports will grow from 15 bcfd in 2025 to 18 bcfd in 2028, according to a recent EIA forecast.
Despite elevated international oil and gas prices, the EIA projects U.S. domestic gas prices will only increase slightly:
The average Henry Hub gas price was $3.53/million British thermal units in 2025.
For 2026 and 2027, HH gas price will be $3.76/MMBtu and $3.85/MMBtu, respectively.
For oil, the EIA projects the average Brent price will be $79/barrel in 2026 and $64/barrel in 2027.
The bigger picture for LNG exports:
Australia and Qatar were the largest LNG exporters for more than two decades.
As the war in Ukraine continues, Europe has kept its sanctions on Russian pipeline gas, importing more U.S. LNG in the short term and accelerating renewable energy development in the long term.
What they are saying:
“We risk replacing one dependency with another,” said Dan Jørgensen, European Commissioner for Energy and Housing.
“Countries will buy more U.S. LNG because it’s the only additional LNG that’s coming to market,” added Jørgensen.
“Natural gas is the superpower for U.S. energy dominance,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright during his speech at CERAWeek in March.
Mergers and acquisitions continue to drive exploration and production growth for oil and gas companies. At the same time, heightened market uncertainty has led to increased volatility in oil and gas prices, driving significant fluctuations in the share prices of publicly traded companies.
Hear from lead analysts about the latest trends and shifts that are impacting M&A activity and company valuations in this upcoming webinar moderated by Shangyou Nie, 30 April at 9am CT.
ENI Makes New Deepwater Gas Discovery in Indonesia
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Italian major ENI announced it made a significant discovery in the Geliga-1 exploration well in the Kutei Basin, offshore Indonesia. Initial estimates indicate in-place resources of 5 trillion cubic feet of gas and 300 million barrels of condensate. ENI, widely considered one of the industry’s leaders in global exploration, has identified Southeast Asia as a key growth region.
Discovery details:
According to ENI, the Geliga-1 well is located in the Ganal Block in the Kutei Basin, about 70 kilometers from the East Kalimantan coast.
The Geliga-1 well was located at 2,000 meters water depth and drilled to a total depth of 5,100 meters.
A significant gas column was encountered in the target Miocene reservoir, “characterized by excellent petrophysical properties.”
The Ganal Block is one of the 19 blocks in Indonesia and Malaysia to be rolled into the newly created 50:50 joint venture Searah between ENI and Petronas.
ENI and Petronas announced the formation of the joint venture in November 2025, with deal closure expected in Q2 2026.
About the joint venture:
In March, ENI revealed the new JV with Petronas would be named Searah: a Malaysian and Indonesian word, meaning alignment and shared direction.
According to ENI, Searah aims to lead gas and LNG in Southeast Asia, and to grow production from its current 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2029.
ENI has deployed a similar partnership structure elsewhere, including Azule Energy with BP focusing on Angola and Namibia, Vår Energi in Norway, and with BP in Egypt.
What’s next?
ENI plans to run a Drill Stem Test to assess the productivity of the reservoir.
ENI (operator) holds 82 percent of the block, with partner Sinopec (18 percent).
The discovery will likely be developed with other recent ENI discoveries, using the nearby Bontang LNG facilities, which will see a major rejuvenation.
Bontang is one of the earliest LNG plants in Asia, with first production in 1977. Two of the earlier LNG trains have been shut in due to a lack of gas.
ENI’s strategy in Southeast Asia:
ENI made a strategic decision to explore and develop oil and gas in Southeast Asia several years ago, while many other majors decided to exit the region.
Some American IOCs opted to focus on the development of their U.S. shale holdings and exit Southeast Asian countries.
ENI, which does not have a foothold in U.S. shale, decided to focus on growing its company through exploration, augmented by bolt-on acquisitions, such as the 2023 acquisition of Chevron’s assets in Indonesia.
ENI and Asian heavyweight Petronas from Malaysia decided to poll 19 blocks (14 in Indonesia and 5 in Malaysia) to form a NewCo joint venture.
ENI’s overall exploration strategy:
ENI is widely considered by its peers to be one of the most successful explorers in the past decade, with multiple major discoveries in Egypt, Cyprus, Côte d’Ivoire, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Namibia.
ENI emphasized its differentiated exploration strategy in two significant ways:
Monetize exploration to grow exploration: ENI often holds initial high equity (80+ percent) with a relatively low cost of entry. Once discoveries are made, ENI monetizes some of its equity to bring in new partners for further development.
Shorten the time from first discovery to fast production. ENI prides itself on being a fast developer to help the host country earn cash income.
Traditionally, many operators drill several appraisal wells to map out reservoir characteristics before finalizing the development plan and deciding whether to hold or dilute equity.
ENI’s approach could shorten the time from first discovery to first production from 4–5 years to 2–3 years.
ENI uses parallel processes (e.g., developing an initial development plan while drilling appraisal wells), rather than sequential steps.
During CERAWeek 2026, ENI’s General Manager and COO for Global Natural Resources, Guido Brusco, said that obtaining dynamic production data through early production has proven to be an efficient way to fast-track development.
ENI focuses its exploration in four regions: North Africa, West Africa, Southeast Asia, and the North Sea.
In addition to exploration, ENI tries to differentiate its LNG growth strategy with smaller but faster floating LNG vs major land-based LNG projects led by the other super majors.
ENI recently entered Argentina and formed a joint venture with XRG and YPF, hoping to monetize gas from the Vaca Muerta Basin by taking FID for an FLNG project in 2H 2026.
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