Obayashi News

Oil rose about 2% on Thursday, clawing back losses from the previous session on concerns that protracted fighting in the Middle East will further disrupt energy flows.Brent futures LCOc1 rose $2.08, or 2.03%, to $104.30 a barrel by 0638 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 were up $1.93, or 2.14%, at $92.25 a barrel.Both benchmarks slumped more than 2% on Wednesday.Iran is still reviewing a U.S. proposal to end the war, but has no intention of holding talks to end the Middle East conflict, Iran's foreign minister said on Wednesday.U.S.

Oil prices sank about 4% on Wednesday after reports the United States had sent Iran a 15-point proposal aimed at ending the war in the Middle East, raising prospects of a ceasefire that could ease supply disruptions in the region.Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell $4.17, or 4%, to $100.32 a barrel by 0708 GMT, after declining to as low as $97.57. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 futures were down $3.11, or 3.4%, at $89.24 a barrel, after falling to as low as $86.72.Both benchmarks rose nearly 5% on Tuesday…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Obayashi Corporation, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Chiyoda Corporation have established the Japan–New Zealand Hydrogen Corridor. The consortium will study the commercialization of green hydrogen production in New Zealand and export operations to Japan.Hydrogen is expected to play a key role as a clean energy source that does not emit CO2 when burned. Japan has a low energy self-sufficiency rate, and renewable energy accounts for only a limited share of total energy consumption.For this reason…

Eneos Holdings, Japan's top oil refiner which has been expanding into renewable energy, on Wednesday warned of the surging cost of developing its offshore wind project, with its CEO saying returns were difficult to achieve.Eneos unit, Japan Renewable Energy, won a government auction to develop the Happo-Noshiro 375-megawatt offshore wind project in Japan's northern Akita prefecture together with Spain's Iberdrola and Tohoku Electric Power Co in March 2024.

Japan will begin test mining for rare-earth-rich mud from the deep seabed off Minamitori Island, some 1,900 kilometres (1,180 miles) southeast of Tokyo, in January next year, the head of the government-backed project said on Friday.Tokyo is seeking to secure stable supplies of critical minerals amid tightening export controls by China, the dominant supplier of rare earths.

JERA, Japan's biggest power generator, has agreed to new supply deals for U.S. liquefied natural gas from four projects to diversify its global portfolio away from its reliance on Australia, it said on Thursday.JERA plans to buy up to 5.5 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) of U.S. LNG under 20-year contracts, with deliveries starting around 2030. That total includes some previously reported deals as well as newly announced agreements.Of the 5.5 mtpa announced on Wednesday 2.5 mtpa are non-binding agreements…

Japan's second-largest shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) said it is carefully assessing the impact on three of its liquefied natural gas vessels of new sanctions imposed by the European Union against Russia."We will continue to fully cooperate with the relevant authorities, including the European Union and the Japanese government, and remain committed to complying with all applicable laws, regulations, and international rules," said a company spokesperson on Wednesday."We will take appropriate measures as necessary…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), Japan's second-largest shipping company, aims to capitalize on opportunities that emerge from a shift in trade routes driven by new U.S. tariffs, CEO Takeshi Hashimoto said.The highest U.S. tariffs in more than a hundred years came into force on Wednesday, roiling global markets."Trade routes will inevitably be reshuffled," Hashimoto told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday."We'll likely see increased trade from low-tariff countries and declines from high-tariff ones…

Nippon Yusen (NYK), Japan's largest shipping line, is concerned that U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs could push up the cost of automobiles and daily goods, denting consumer demand and slowing cargo flows, its president said."The tariffs are not directly borne by consumers, but the burden ultimately falls on them, which in turn reduces the actual flow of goods. That's our biggest concern," President Takaya Soga told Reuters in an interview on Monday.Trump last week unveiled plans to impose a 25% tariff on automobile imports, a move expected to hit Japan's export-driven economy.

When President Donald Trump sat down to lunch with his Japanese counterpart this month, talk turned quickly to how Tokyo could help realize a decades-old proposal to unlock gas in Alaska and ship it to U.S. allies in Asia.Trump and his energy tsar Doug Burgum framed the venture as a way for Japan to replace Middle East energy shipments and address its trade imbalance with the U.S., according to two officials briefed on the closed-door talks.Japanese premier Shigeru Ishiba - eager to ensure a positive first meeting and stave off damaging U.S.

Woodside Energy has held talks with several potential buyers of stakes in its Louisiana liquefied natural gas plant, including Tokyo Gas, Japan's JERA and Saudi Aramco-backed MidOcean Energy, multiple sources told Reuters.The timing of the stake sale is a test case for buoyant market expectations around LNG with the return of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency. Trump has said trade partners should buy more U.S. energy and issued several executive orders in his first weeks in…

Woodside Energy has held talks with several potential buyers of stakes in its Louisiana liquefied natural gas plant, including Tokyo Gas, Japan's JERA and Saudi Aramco-backed MidOcean Energy, multiple sources told Reuters.The timing of the stake sale is a test case for buoyant market expectations around LNG with the return of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency. Trump has said trade partners should buy more U.S. energy and issued several executive orders in his first weeks in…

Japanese trading house Mitsui could consider studying a project to liquefy natural gas (LNG) in the U.S. state of Alaska, but no decisions have been made yet, Chief Financial Officer Tetsuya Shigeta said on Tuesday.Japan is considering offering support for a $44-billion gas pipeline in Alaska as it seeks to court U.S.

Extreme temperatures across Asia are driving up liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand in the region as importers seek cargoes ahead of summer, with imports in South Asia hitting records.This could tighten available supply and further lift Asian spot prices that have already gained a third since April, with heatwaves across South and Southeast Asia boosting air-conditioner use and other cooling demand. Prices are now at a near six-month peak at $12 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) and are expected to remain elevated."Spot prices are now driven by Asian demand.

Dutch company Huisman has secured a contract to supply two subsea cranes for Toyo Construction’s new cable laying vessel (CLV), being built by Norwegian shipbuilder Vard.The contract Huisman signed with Vard is for the delivery of full electric 250 mt Hybrid Boom Subsea Crane, and a 100 mt Knuckle Boom Crane that will be integrated into Toyo’s CLV newbuild.The purpose-built VARD 9 15 design is expected to advance capabilities for cable-laying and turbine foundation installation works in the Japanese offshore wind sector.Designed to meet the specific Toyo’s requirements and preferences of Toyo…

Singapore's Temasek Holdings has shortlisted energy giants Shell and Saudi Aramco among a handful of companies to purchase most of the assets of liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading firm Pavilion Energy, sources with knowledge of the matter said.The sale process comes a decade after the state investment firm set up Pavilion Energy to focus on LNG-related investments, and takes place as spot Asian LNG prices LNG-AS have fallen more than 40% since mid-August, potentially weighing on the deal's valuation.Temasek is evaluating bids for the sale of Pavilion Energy's assets…

The United States on Tuesday launched a multinational operation to safeguard commerce in the Red Sea as attacks by Iran-backed Yemeni militants forced major shipping companies to reroute, stoking fears of sustained disruptions to global trade.The Houthi militant group, which controls vast amounts of territory in Yemen after years of war, has since last month fired drones and missiles at international vessels sailing through the Red Sea - attacks it says respond to Israel's devastating assault on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.This week…

Japan's industry and land ministries on Wednesday picked three consortia, including one featuring Germany's RWE and its partners, to operate offshore wind farms in the second round of a public auction. They said they would award a fourth wind farm that was part of the tender at a later date.The results of the second major round under a new law to promote wind power were closely watched by energy companies at home and abroad, after the first round was dominated by Mitsubishi Corp.Japan's…

International energy companies, from Germany's RWE to Spain's Iberdrola, are urging Japan to beef up offshore wind power auctions and make investments more attractive, amid soaring installation costs as competition for suppliers grows worldwide.Although desperate to ease its heavy dependence on energy imports from the Middle East and Russia, Japan is coming late to offshore wind, but some industry players say it is taking a more cautious approach that puts it at a disadvantage."It's a global race and we can't look at it in isolation…

Japan will make sure its energy supplies are not affected by sanctions the United States recently imposed on the Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia in which it has a stake, Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Tuesday.Japan, the world's second-largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) buyer, relies on LNG as a transition fuel before it reaches carbon neutrality in 2050, and has supply contracts and stakes in projects globally to guarantee imports.The Arctic LNG 2 project is to be launched next month…

Japan will ensure stable and steady energy supply to the country even after the U.S. imposed fresh sanctions related to Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Tuesday.The Arctic LNG 2 project is operated by Russia's Novatek while Japanese trading company Mitsui & Co and state-owned Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) hold a combined 10% stake.Mitsui and JOGMEC are set to receive a combined 2 million metric tons of LNG per year from the project.The latest sanctions are part of several economic measures the U.S.…

After a bumper year for floating offshore wind farm tenders, the nascent industry is poised for explosive growth in the coming decade as countries strive to cut their carbon emissions. But it's unlikely to be all plain sailing. Rising costs and supply chain bottlenecks have hit some projects and without investment in infrastructure to launch the vast turbines and tow them to sea, hopes of harnessing the full power of the ocean's winds to hit climate targets could be dashed, industry experts say.

Japan will stress the importance of investment in natural gas, liquefied natural gas as well as cleaner fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia during its presidency of the G7 this year, a source said, but would keep it clean to meet 2050 carbon neutral goal.Japan, president of the rich-country grouping for 2023, will hold a ministerial meeting on climate, energy and environment in the city of Sapporo on April 15-16, ahead of the main G7 summit in Hiroshima on May 19-21.Japan expects global energy markets to remain tight for years and it would "emphasise investment into natural gas…