April 2022

Wind turbines last Tuesday generated over 2,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity, edging out electricity generated by nuclear and coal (but still trailing behind natural gas).

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories increased by 2.4 million barrels to 412.4 million barrels.

Brent climbed $1.05 or 1.%, to $102.12 a barrel, WTI rose 86 cents, or 0.9%, to $97.09 a barrel.

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $106.13 a barrel

Fuel oil represented the bulk of the exports to China, with 394,200 mt exported, 43.6% higher on the month. Diesel exports recorded similar growth of 39.5% to 343,100 mt. Bitumen and residue amounted to 18,700 mt, marking a 34.9% increase on February. Overall, 756,900 mt of oil products headed to China last month.

Hungary will pay for shipments in roubles if Russia asks it to, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a news conference on Wednesday in reply to a Reuters question.

First Light Fusion (First Light), the University of Oxford fusion spin-out, today confirms it has achieved fusion. The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) has independently validated the result.

Xe-100 developer X-energy announced on 4 April that its wholly-owned subsidiary, TRISO-X LLC, has selected the Horizon Center Industrial Park in Oak Ridge to site the plant, which will initially produce 8 tonnes of fuel per year - enough to support about twelve Xe-100 small modular reactors.

The Ministry of Energy and Environment plans to double lignite production and to review its phase-out plan for lignite-fired power plants.

ExxonMobil plans to produce around 250,000 mb/d of oil starting in 2025.