The SMR Alliance includes 11 government and public institutions, including the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE), Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and the Korea Energy Economics Institute, as well as 31 companies, including GS Energy, SK Inc, Samsung C&T, Daewoo E&C and Doosan Enerability.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 1.5 million barrels to 452.2 million barrels.

Brent rose 16 cents or 0.2% to stand at $74.67, WTI gained 8 cents or 0.1% to $69.95.

At the heart of the new energy paradigm is undersea cable technology, which is benefitting from improved laying techniques and a general acceptance of the idea that high-voltage direct current connectors can function safely over very large distances for many decades.

Asian demand has also led to Saudi Aramco's optimism about the global oil market's prospects for the rest of the year, its CEO Amin H. Nasser said at the conference, adding that oil market fundamentals remain "generally sound".

In 2021, Russia pumped about 150 billion cubic meters of pipeline gas to Europe — more than enough to satisfy the combined annual consumption of Germany, France and Austria. Europe represented two-thirds of the country’s gas exports including flows of liquified natural gas.

All the plant's fuel is being provided by Rosatom under a contract finalised in August 2019, and the final protocol required for delivery to go ahead was signed last month. All used fuel from the plant will be repatriated to Russia.

“Norway is the only net exporter of oil and gas in Europe, and by implementing these projects we ensure new production from the latter half of the 2020s, so that we can maintain high Norwegian deliveries,”

Under the terms of the deal announced on Friday, Eni will acquire Neptune for $2.6bn, while Vår Energi — Eni’s Norwegian listed subsidiary — will acquire the company’s operations in Norway for $2.3bn.

Brent slipped 51 cents, or 0.4%, to $73.76 a barrel, WTI were down 42 cents, or 0.6%, at $69.09.

Rosatom is already in the process of constructing four floating power units for the Baimskaya ore zone which highlights floating nuclear power plants' ability to be transported to hard-to-reach areas.

China National Petroleum Corp. signed a 27-year LNG purchase agreement for 4 million tons annually with QatarEnergy on Tuesday.

China had also previously offered a subsidy for EV purchases for more than a decade but the programme ended last year.

"Investment from China in this project to the tune of $4.8 billion sends a message loud and clear that Pakistan is a place where Chinese companies and investors continue to show their trust and faith," Sharif said.

The two players intend to invest up to 4 billion euros or almost $4.4 billion for the development phase of the project to be spent mostly during 2024-2026, which will enable about 100 bcm of natural gas to be brought on stream, turning Romania into – what OMV Petrom deems to be – the largest gas producer in the EU and a net natural gas exporter.