Wednesday, 26 November, 2025 / Edition 86

So happy for our family favorite golfer Jeeno Thitikul who repeated her title as this year’s CME Group Tour Champion. It is an incredible feast for the 22-year-old Thai golfer. Her composure and sunshine-y personality showed us how to enjoy the wonderful game.

In the meantime, let’s take a look at two pieces of energy news from the past week.

Shangyou Nie

Editor, Well Read

COP30 Ends in Brazil

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COP30, the annual U.N. summit on climate change, ended on Friday, 21 November in Belém, Brazil, and the delegates were only able to reach a “watered-down” agreement. The Global Mutirão was viewed as a victory for major oil-producing countries. There was no agreement to a specific roadmap to transition away from fossil fuel.

The latest:

• 194 countries at COP30 agreed to the “Global Mutirão,” a term for collective action, essentially meaning continued global collaboration against climate change.

• Attendees at COP30 agreed to triple adaptation finance for vulnerable countries by 2035.

• Some 80 countries—led by the United Kingdom, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, and Kenya—pushed for a more progressive joint statement with a specific plan to “transition away” from fossil fuels by 2050, as agreed upon during COP28 in Dubai.

• According to the New York Times, a marathon negotiation session last Friday finally led to an agreement, also called the “Belém Package,” before the meeting almost ended with a “total collapse.”

• Saudi Arabia expressed its strong opinion that their oil export should not be singled out. Many African and Asian countries joined Saudi Arabia and Russia in this argument.

  • These countries stressed that advanced economies have the responsibility to lead financing against climate change, as they have historically produced more greenhouse gases.

• André Corrêa do Lago, Brazil’s president of COP30, said that his country would develop two roadmaps for addressing fossil fuels and deforestation.

Who was there:

• U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and U.N. secretary general António Guterres attended the conference.

• The Trump Administration decided not to send high-level delegates to the conference. China’s President Xi Jinping also did not attend.

  • It is the first time in 30 years that the United States has not sent delegates to attend.

• California governor Gavin Newsom did visit Belém during COP30, criticizing the Trump administration’s absence.

• Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D, Rhode Island) also attended, complaining that the Trump Administration would not fund his trip.

• China, the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, “[chose] not to step into the leadership vacuum created by the absence of the United States,” according to the New York Times.

Background:

• President Trump previously announced that the United States would withdraw from the Paris Agreement.

  • According to the United Nations’s rule, a country’s exit from the climate agreement takes effect one year after its announcement.

What they’re saying:

• “I’m not saying we’re winning the climate fight. But we are undeniably in it, and we are fighting back,” said Simon Stiell, the United Nation’s Chief on climate, according to the Financial Times.

• “Some people said after Donald Trump announced his withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, that it would produce a domino effect. Actually, what you’ve seen is more than 190 countries reaffirm their commitment to Paris,” said Ed Miliband, U.K. secretary of state for energy security and net zero.

• “Sadly, Senator Whitehouse has fallen victim to the biggest scam of the century: the Green New Scam,” said Taylor Rogers the White House spokeswoman about the Rhode Island senator’s trip to COP30.

What's next: Turkey has been chosen as the next host for COP31 in 2026, and Australia has agreed with Turkey to host negotiations in the lead-up to COP31.

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Continental Resources Enters Argentina

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Continental Resources has agreed to buy a shale oil asset to enter the Vaca Muerta Basin in Argentina. This is the company’s second international asset, purchased during a time when analysts believe tier 1 shale oil drilling inventory is running thin in the United States.

The latest:

• According to Bloomberg, Continental Resources has agreed to acquire the Los Toldos II Oeste shale field from Pluspetrol SA.

  • This is the second international asset obtained by CR, after it reportedly acquired oil and gas assets in Turkey in March 2025.

• Argentina’s Minister of Economy Luis Caputo announced the news on X.

• The legendary Harold Hamm, CR’s owner, had previously met with Argentinian President Javier Milei.

• Pluspetrol sold 90 percent of its holdings in the field to CR, according to a regulatory filing.

About Continental Resources:

• CR is based in Oklahoma City, Okla., and was established in 1969.

• The company is one of the pioneers in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing of shale rocks, which started the shale revolution in the United States.

• CR went public in 2007 and had a market cap of $27 billion as of 2022.

• At the end 2022, majority owner Hamm bought out the public shares and made CR private again.

• According to CR, it is the largest leaseholder in the Bakken play in North Dakota and Montana.

• CR also has acreage in the Permian Basin in Texas, the Anadarko Basin in Oklahoma, and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming.

• In Q3, CR produced 480,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with a 54:46 oil-to-gas ratio.

• For the first nine months, CR had a revenue of $2 billion, and net income of $558 million.

The bigger picture:

• As of now, Chevron, Shell, and TotalEnergies are among the largest IOCs in Argentina.

  • At the same time, national oil companies are trying to attract America’s leading shale producers to bring technology and capital to help unlock shale potential in their countries.

• Argentina’s Vaca Muerta is emerging as a top shale play worldwide, with an estimated break-even price of $45 per barrel, according to S&P Global.

• Argentina plans to increase production from the current 508,000 barrels per day in the Vaca Muerta to 1 million barrels per day by 2030.

• The Vaca Muerta accounts for about 65 percent of Argentina’s oil production.

What to watch:

• In its Q3 analyst call, Chevron’s chairman of the board and CEO Mike Wirth said that the company is in discussions with the Argentinian government to encourage better fiscal terms.

• To what extent will Argentina improve its fiscal terms to attract more American shale producers?

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✉️ To get in touch with Shangyou, send an email to editorial@aapg.org.