Iran has plans in place to swiftly restore its crude oil production to pre-sanctions levels of nearly 3.4 million barrels per day (bpd), while the world powers and the Islamic Republic are expected to resume this week talks about the U.S. and Iran returning to the nuclear deal. Iran plans to restore almost 1 million bpd of oil production within a month of the U.S. lifting the sanctions on Iranian oil, which of course would happen if the Vienna talks result in an agreement. According to OPEC’s secondary sources in its latest available monthly report, Iran’s crude oil production averaged 2.393 million bpd in April, up by 73,000 bpd from March.

According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, the pipeline Nord Stream 2 is almost complete with a mere 100-km left to build. Novak said to reporters: “We hope that construction works on Nord Stream 2 will be completed by the end of this year. The new construction, led by Gazprom with its Western partners will allow Russia to ship more gas to Western Europe, while bypassing Ukraine. To this end, the United States last month grudgingly waived sanctions on Nord Stream AG, the gas pipeline’s parent company, in a move welcomed by the Kremlin. However, environmental group Deutsche Umwelthilfe said last week it had applied for Nord Stream 2’s construction and operating permit to be revoked on climate protection grounds, based on a ruling by Germany’s top constitutional court. The court forced Germany earlier this month to tighten its climate law after plaintiffs, including North Sea islanders fearing rising sea levels, challenged a 2019 climate law.

The International Energy Forum (IEF) has launched a new initiative to develop a methodology for measuring methane emissions from the energy industry, allowing its member countries to collect standardized data to address one of the main causes of climate change. The Methane Measurement Methodology project is conducted in collaboration with Kayrros, an advanced observation and data analysis company, to bridge the gap between observed and reported methane emissions at company level – a key step in reducing global methane emissions which are a major cause of global warming. Experts estimate that the methane emissions currently reported are about 10 percent of those observed by the satellite. The new methodology would allow IEF member countries and their energy industries to consider the best available data on methane emissions, define their historical methane base and set mitigation targets in a transparent and consistent manner.

President Biden has suspended oil drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, unspooling a signature achievement of the Trump presidency and delivering on a promise by President Biden to protect the fragile Alaskan tundra from fossil fuel extraction. The decision sets up a process that could halt drilling in one of the largest tracts of untouched wilderness in the United States, home to migrating waterfowl, caribou and polar bears. But it also lies over as much as 11 billion barrels of oil and Democrats and Republicans have fought over whether to allow drilling there for more than four decades. A formal order from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland paused the leases until her agency has completed an environmental analysis of their impact and a legal review of the Trump administration’s decision to grant them.

A huge fire that tore through an oil refinery in the Iranian capital had been brought under control on Thursday, but was still not completely extinguished. The official IRNA news agency said: “The fire at the refinery has been brought under control and will be completely extinguished by noon,”. A column of black smoke was still visible over the site of the inferno around midday, AFP journalists reported, although it was not as thick as the day before. Teams of firefighters were seen battling the blaze in footage from the scene broadcast by state television. An investigation is underway.

Corinth Pipeworks, a company specialised in the construction of steel pipelines, will supply Snam with 440 kilometres of new pipes, one of the first certified pipelines for the transport of hydrogen up to 100% in a European gas network. The collaboration between Snam and Corinth Pipeworks is aimed at adopting technically and economically effective solutions for the safe transport of hydrogen along a network of high-pressure steel pipelines, large diameter and high strength. All the pipes were produced at the Corinth Pipeworks plant in Thisvi, Greece. As part of this project, Corinth Pipeworks and Snam have successfully concluded the action plan aimed at certifying these gas pipelines for the transport of hydrogen up to 100%.

Saipem has appointed Francesco Caio as its new CEO. He takes over from Stefano Cao who served as CEO of Saipem since 2015. Caio was born in 1957 and owns a degree in Electronic Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from INSEAD Fontainebleau, France. Caio, the new CEO, has served on the board of directors of multinational companies in the United States, England, France, and Italy for companies such as Equant, Motorola, Bocconi University, Gruppo Sole 24 Ore, Invensys plc, Alcatel Lucent, Confindustria, Politecnico di Milano and BNL SpA. He has been an advisor to government initiatives in digital and broadband technologies.

The big French energy group is planning to change its name to TotalEnergies to signal its diversification towards cleaner energy sources. The group, who was founded in 1924 as the Compagnie francaise des petroles, is set to propose the new name on May 28 during a shareholders’ general assembly. “To anchor this transformation, the group will propose to its shareholders at the annual general meeting on May 28, 2021, changing its name to TotalEnergies. They will hence have the opportunity to endorse this strategy and the underlying ambition to transition to carbon neutrality,” Total said in a release.

President Joe Biden has waived sanctions on controversial gas pipeline between Russia and Germany. The US also lifted sanctions on the executive – an ally of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who leads the firm behind the Nord Stream 2 project. Biden’s change in stance from Donald Trump’s fierce opposition to the pipeline means Nord Stream 2 will likely get finished as soon as this year. But the sanctions left in place could make it hard to gain all the necessary approvals to start operations. This year’s German election, where the Green Party are contenders to lead the next government, also clouds the picture. “It’s not the end of the story,” said Kirsten Westphal, a senior analyst at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “The question is now when and how the pipeline will be operating, what volumes of which supplier will come through it.”

The vast Colonial petrochemical pipeline stretching from Texas to New York was reaching full capacity again after resuming operations following the largest cyberattack ever experienced.
According to US President Joe Biden, “This is not like flicking on a light switch. It’s going to take some time, and there may be some hiccups. Services are expected to return fully to normal this weekend.” There have been conflicting reports about whether Colonial has paid a ransom to the hackers. Meanwhile, Biden noted that according to his intelligence briefings, the Russian state and Russian president Vladimir Putin were not involved in the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline Co last week, which shut down its pipeline carrying gasoline and other petrochemical commodities, for six days.