FINWIRES · TerminalLIVE
FINWIRES

India Energy Minister Discusses Potential Investment on Call with Venezuela Acting President

By

India's Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Venezuela's acting president have discussed opportunities for deepening "an enduring energy partnership", the Indian ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Delcy Rodriguez spoke on Thursday, together with senior officials of the ministry and chairpersons of various public sector oil companies, the statement said.

Puri said during the meeting that Indian companies were "ready to deepen their presence in Venezuela," given its importance to India's energy diversification strategy, made more urgent by disruption to supplies from the Middle East on which Asia is particularly reliant on.

Rodriguez welcomed the idea of Indian companies participating in Venezuela's reformed oil and gas sector, the statement said, and she invited an Indian delegation to visit the country to explore opportunities for collaboration.

The statement noted that Venezuela was among the largest suppliers of crude oil to India in April and May and that Indian companies have been present in Venezuela's upstream sector since 2008, having invested about $1 billion in the San Cristobal and Petrocarabobo-1 projects in the Orinoco Belt.

Related Articles

Commodities

US DOE Says Coal Support Measures Will Preserve 42 Mines, Projects $1.7 Billion in Private Investment

The US Department of Energy on Thursday said the Trump administration's coal-support initiatives will preserve and support 45 coal plants representing over 40 gigawatts of generation capacity, while helping keep about 42 coal mines in operation."Approximately $50 billion in costs to build new power generation have been saved, protecting ratepayers across the United States," it said.The investments are expected to generate an additional $1.7 billion in private sector investment to revitalize the coal industry, DOE said.Separately, DOE has chosen four coal modernization and reliability projects under its "Restoring Reliability: Coal Recommissioning and Modernization" initiative.The move aims to support coal-based generation, grid reliability and boost energy infrastructure.The projects are eligible for up to $350 million in funding and could add or preserve about 3.57 GW of coal-fired generation capacity, enough to serve roughly three million US households annually, according to DOE.Two of the projects involve planned coal-fired power plants in Anchorage, Alaska, and Mt. Storm, West Virginia, with a combined capacity of 2.85 GW.A third project would retrofit and modernize an existing 510-megawatt coal-fired facility in Guayama, Puerto Rico, while a fourth would recommission a 205-MW coal plant in Cumberland, Maryland, that ceased operations in 2024."DOE has committed $525 million to the overall funding opportunity, including $175 million for six previously announced projects to upgrade existing coal facilities," according to the statement.In a separate statement, the agency provided additional details on a previously announced Defense Production Act funding package, saying the West Gateway Terminal project in Oakland, California, would expand West Coast coal export capacity and support shipments to markets including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia."The West Gateway Terminal Project fills a critical infrastructure gap in the US energy export system by providing additional West Coast export capacity for American coal producers," said Kyle Haustveit, DOE Under Secretary of Energy.He added that with expanded access into global markets, the project "will support continued growth in US coal exports, improve supply chain resilience, and strengthen energy partnerships with allies throughout the Indo-Pacific region."

Commodities

US Natural Gas Update: Futures Gain on Weak Storage Build and Hotter Forecasts

US natural gas futures extended gains in after-hours trading on Thursday after government data showed a smaller-than-expected storage injection and weather forecasts turned warmer, boosting expectations for cooling demand heading into summer.The front-month Henry Hub contract and the continuous contract both rose by 4.45%, to trade at $3.357 per million British thermal units.Earlier on Thursday, the US Energy Information Administration reported that natural gas inventories increased by 95 billion cubic feet in the week ended May 29, below market expectations for a 99-105 Bcf build and under the five-year average injection of 101 Bcf for the period.The smaller-than-expected storage build was viewed as supportive for prices, reinforcing concerns that inventories may not be replenishing as quickly as normal ahead of the peak summer demand season.Despite the bullish weekly figure, total US gas inventories remained 5.7% above the five-year seasonal average, although they were down 0.8% from a year earlier."The market has become more sensitive to any sign that injections are not rebuilding inventories as quickly as normal heading into summer," Gelber & Associates said in a note following the storage report.The firm added that while inventories remain above the five-year average, the surplus is manageable and increasingly dependent on how rapidly heat spreads across major demand centers and whether LNG feedgas demand strengthens as maintenance activity eases.Weather forecasts also lent support to the market. According to Barchart, citing The Commodity Weather Group, forecast models shifted hotter on Thursday, with above-normal temperatures expected across the Midwest and Northeast through Jun. 13. The outlook is expected to lift cooling demand as air-conditioning usage rises in major population centers.Barchart, citing BNEF data, reported Lower-48 natural gas demand at 68.9 Bcf/d on Thursday, up 0.2 Bcf/d from Wednesday but down 1.3% from a year earlier. Celsius Energy estimated power-sector gas consumption at 23.6 Bcf/d late Thursday, unchanged from the previous day but 1.2 Bcf/d below year-ago levels.On the supply side, BNEF estimated Lower-48 dry gas production at 108.7 Bcf/d on Thursday, down 0.9 Bcf/d from the previous day but up 1.8% year over year.Meanwhile, estimated net feedgas flows to US LNG export terminals rose to 17.4 Bcf/d on Thursday, up 0.4 Bcf/d from Wednesday, although flows remained 4.4% below the prior week's level due to ongoing maintenance.

Commodities

US Biofuels Update: Soybean, Soybean Oil Futures Slump on Weak Demand, Favorable Crop Weather

Biofuels feedstock futures closed lower on Thursday, with soybean futures hit hard after another week passed with no labeled sales to China for the upcoming 2026-27 season.The Chicago Board of Trade July soybean futures contract closed 2.12% lower at $11.29 1/2 per bushel, while the CBOT July soybean oil futures contract settled 3.07% lower at 76.29 cents per pound.The Nymex July ethanol futures contract settled 1.27% lower on Wednesday at $1.95 per gallon.Rhett Montgomery, a DTN analyst, said the soybean market has dropped by over 50 cents per bushel in the first week of June alone."Soybean futures bore the brunt of the trader selling on Thursday, facing the same bearish weather implications but with losses accelerated in sluggish export demand as well as a sharp turn in soybean oil futures, which on a combination of profit taking as well as bearish influence from lower outside energy markets," Montgomery said.The analyst added that soybean product values have also turned lower this week, with board crush premiums dropping as well, though still among record levels and in a steady higher trend through 2026 thus far.For the week ending May 28, 2026, the US Department of Agriculture reported an increase of 10.2 million bushels or 276,900 metric tons of soybean export sales in 2025-26 and an increase of 8.9 mb or 243,000 mt for 2026-27.Last week's export shipments of 20.9 mb exceeded the 15.8 mb needed each week to meet the USDA's export estimate of 1.530 billion bushels for 2025-26.Soybean export commitments now total 1.468 bb for 2025-26, down 18% from a year ago. That is ahead of USDA's estimated pace, even as its estimate of U.S. ending soybean stocks is 16% larger than the previous five-year average.