Nigeria's Heirs Aims to Double Oil Output, Targets Africa Growth
The company has boosted production from its crown asset, a permit known as Oil Mining Lease 17 that it purchased from Shell Plc in 2021, to as much as 55,000 barrels a day from around 27,000 a day earlier, Igiehon said in an interview in Windhoek, Namibia. It plans to almost double output again through additional drilling and upgrades in the next five years, he said.
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Fast Company
25 minutes ago
- Fast Company
Who's paying for big tech's energy binge? You might be
If cooling your house down during the summer's heat waves is costing you an arm and a leg, you can blame AI. Tech companies plan to spend trillions to feed AI's voracious appetite for energy, but normal Americans are eating the cost of that increased demand. Earlier this summer, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declared that a 'significant fraction of the power on Earth' should be dedicated to running AI. OpenAI and its competitors have been raising and spending mind-boggling sums on data centers capable of powering their near-future AI plans, which stand to make the world's richest companies even richer. Unfortunately, all of that energy consumption is starting to trickle down to the average American. Compared to last year, consumers paid 5.5% more for electricity in 2025, a rate increase that outstrips inflation during the same period. The average American paid $144 in 2024 for their electric bill compared to $122 in 2021, and those increases are expected to speed up. Subscribe to the Daily newsletter. Fast Company's trending stories delivered to you every day Privacy Policy | Fast Company Newsletters Myriad factors contribute to rising electricity costs, but the major trends behind the energy use spike aren't hard to spot. 'Energy experts did expect electricity demand to rise, given the drivers of U.S. economic growth,' according to a recent report from ICF, an energy consulting firm. 'However, the rapid spikes due to data center use and industrial demand were not predicted to occur as quickly as they have.' The report notes that after two decades of consistent energy use, the country's appetite for energy is suddenly spiking, sending electricity costs up too. 'Rising electricity demand is expected to lead to higher electricity bills for Americans,' the report states, noting that residential rates are expected to go up by 15 to 40% over the next five years. By 2050, electricity bills could double in some markets. While the national average residential price for a kilowatt hour of electricity rose 6.5% from May 2024 to May 2025, Americans aren't feeling those cost increases evenly. In Maine, that price increase was a whopping 36%. In Connecticut, residential rates rose by 18%, while Utah residents saw their bills go up by 15%. Rates only dropped or hovered around their existing price in five states. New problems, fewer solutions Many obvious solutions that could offset soaring power costs are off the table now. In his second term's early months, the Trump administration moved swiftly to undercut U.S. investment in wind and solar, delete clean energy tax credits and slash other climate adaptation measures set in motion in Biden's signature legislative package, the Inflation Reduction Act. Trump's decision to point the U.S. economy away from renewable energy and back toward burning fossil fuels is too recent to be reflected in your home energy bill, but those reversals do mean that no relief is in sight unless something else changes dramatically. That change is unlikely to come from tech companies, which are scrambling to build more electricity-guzzling data complexes before their competitors can. Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Apple and OpenAI are all pouring billions into new data centers that will dot the country. Amazon is even trying to build its own set of small nuclear reactors to meet its power needs – an option that many Washington state residents aren't thrilled about. Data centers often come packaged with grand promises about revitalizing local economies, but once built they don't actually require much of a human workforce to operate. Communities are also becoming more aware of environmental concerns associated with inviting Amazon or OpenAI to town, though those worries are likely to do little to slow down tech companies. 'You should expect OpenAI to spend trillions of dollars on infrastructure in the not very distant future,' Altman told reporters on Thursday. 'And you should expect a bunch of economists to say, 'This is so crazy, it's so reckless, and whatever. And we'll just be like, 'You know what? Let us do our thing.''
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
More outages, aging infrastructure, and a bicoastal dysfunction: BofA warns America's grid is 30%-46% ‘beyond its useful life'
The electrical grid is the backbone of modern America. It powers powers everything from homes and hospitals to data centers and electric vehicles. But according to a detailed analysis from Bank of America Institute, the grid is straining under the pressures of surging demand, chronically aging infrastructure, and a growing east-west divide, leaving 31% of transmission lines and an even more alarming 46% of distribution infrastructure 'beyond its useful life.' The implications are stark: more outages, higher prices, and a heightened risk of dysfunction at both ends of the grid. The most alarming fact from BofA's deep dive is just how much of the grid is overdue for replacement. In 2024, 67% of utility spending on transmission and distribution—$63 billion—went to replacements and upgrades, dwarfing the $32 billion allocated to new lines and substations. This lopsided investment signals a network fighting to keep up, not just with basic maintenance, but with the exponential strain of new users and devices. The consequences are already being felt by everyday Americans: power outages are occurring more frequently, with transmission failures climbing steadily. Data from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) points to a clear decline in grid reliability, leaving many consumers with a system less dependable than the one their parents knew at the start of the millennium. Put simply, BofA says, 'grid reliability is worse today than in the early 2000s.' A surge in demand—from EVs to AI Why is demand rising so sharply? The BofA report identifies four main forces pushing load growth into uncharted territory, projecting that overall U.S. electrical demand will grow at a 2.5% compound annual rate through 2035, far outpacing the 0.5% annual growth seen in the previous decade. First is building electrification. As cities across states such as California, Massachusetts, and Colorado ban fossil fuels in new construction, homeowners are using far more electricity for heating and hot water. Second is the boom in data centers, super-charged by the thirsty AI sector. In a world driven by cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and streaming services, data centers are emerging as 'super-consumers' of energy. These facilities already account for up to 2% of global electricity, but BofA projects them growing into the 15%-23% range annually by 2030. Thirdly, after years of offshoring, American manufacturing is in comeback mode. Driven by domestic and federal policy support, construction spending on factory infrastructure hit $234 billion in 2024—a 21% jump over the prior year, and double the average of previous years. Finally, electric vehicles are changing the game for both residential and public grid demand. Nearly 5 million EVs are already on American roads, a figure that represents 2% of the total passenger vehicle fleet. BofA notes EVs were 9.7% of new vehicle sales in 2024 and, even if this figure remains flat, the number of EVs in use will rise at a roughly 15% compound annual growth rate to 22 million on the road by 2030. Not only are these vehicles likely to be charged in residential areas, which have little spare capacity on substations, but BofA notes more public EV charging stations will be needed, and 'that will require significant grid investments.' If every US household went 'all-electric'—replacing gas-powered heating, hot water, and vehicles—the monthly consumption would triple, from 875kWh to 2,803kWh. Such a seismic shift would overwhelm large swaths of the existing grid without massive upgrades. Geography matters: West makes, East takes A less-discussed but critical issue is the split in production and consumption between the east coast, the west coast, and the southwest. While the grid is a national asset, its parts don't always match up with population centers. Most renewable energy is generated in states including Texas, California, and Oklahoma, and their neighbors. These 'energy-producing states' deliver over half the country's wind and solar power, yet the consumption hot spots are overwhelmingly on the East Coast. This geographic mismatch means long-distance transmission lines are under mounting pressure. Many are aging, and few are being replaced at the pace required. Long-distance, high-voltage transmission lines—already old and unreliable—must bridge this gap, compounding the strain as demand grows. Outages and reliability: Why Americans should care The net result of all these factors? More outages and less reliability. Even as utilities invest almost $100 billion a year in basic infrastructure, BofA's analysis shows customer satisfaction is likely to hit new lows if the current pace of replacement and expansion isn't accelerated. Transmission outages have become more frequent, and the resiliency of the grid—especially against weather events or cyber-attacks—is declining. Notably, the Department of Energy's National Transmission Needs Study warns U.S. transmission capacity must grow 64% by 2040 to meet 'moderate' load forecasts, assuming the country continues targeting ambitious clean energy adoption. While national prices for electricity have stayed mostly stable after inflation adjustments, California offers a glimpse of what happens when infrastructure stress meets rising costs. Over the last seven years, retail electricity prices in the Golden State have soared by 68%, now averaging nearly twice the national norm. This has led to a 5% drop in demand as consumers and businesses adjust, highlighting the real-world elasticity of energy use in response to price spikes and reliability concerns. The political response: deregulation vs. investment Policymakers are keenly aware of the tightrope the grid is now walking. On the first day of his term, President Trump declared a national energy emergency, aimed at streamlining infrastructure permitting and accelerating grid modernization—especially for traditional energy projects like natural gas. While this marked a pivot from the climate-focused policies of the previous administration, funding for the grid remains bipartisan, in BofA's view: the Grid Deployment Office, formed under President Biden, awarded $14.5 billion in grants through 2023 and 2024, matched by $36.9 billion in private investment. Artificial intelligence, which powers everything from chatbots to autonomous vehicles, poses a unique challenge. The International Energy Agency estimates that AI servers used around 63TWh of electricity in 2024, or 15% of total data center demand—a number anticipated to surpass 300TWh by 2030 as the technology scales. But most data up till now has been used on AI training, whereas running models, also known as 'AI inference' or Gen Z's well-known love of talking to their chatbots all day as a kind of intimate companion, is projected to overtake it in coming years. The verdict from BofA's research is clear: without sweeping upgrades and expansion, America's grid will buckle under the weight of growing demand and obsolete hardware. 'Gigawatt-scale growth' will necessitate increased investment not just in new capacity, but in modernizing transmission and distribution channels. Until then, expect more outages—and a widening gap between where power is produced and where it's needed most. For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing. This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Russia decree opens door for Exxon return to Sakhalin-1 project
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a decree that could allow foreign investors, including top U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil, to regain shares in the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project. The signing of the decree comes on the day Russian president Vladimir Putin meets Donald Trump in Alaska for a summit where opportunities for investment and business collaboration will be on the agenda, alongside talks to find peace in Ukraine. Friday's decree was published as a follow-up to one Putin signed in October 2022, which ordered the seizure of the Sakhalin-1 project. Exxon previously held a 30% operator share in the lucrative project, and is the only non-Russian investor to have quit its stake. Exxon did not immediately reply to Reuters request for comment. The path to Western investment returning to Russia is unclear given the U.S. and European Union would need to lift far-reaching sanctions to facilitate investment. Companies who might wish to return, having spent significant amounts of money to exit the country three years ago, also face high barriers put up by the Russian government. Trump and his team have considered what sanctions they may be able to lift quickly in the case of progress in talks. Sakhalin-1 has to date not been directly designated under extensive U.S. sanctions on Russian energy. The decree stipulates that foreign shareholders must undertake actions to support the lifting of Western sanctions if they want to regain their share. They must also conclude contracts for supplies of necessary foreign-made equipment to the project, and transfer funds to Sakhalin-1 project accounts. Exxon took an impairment charge of $4.6 billion to exit its Russian business after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. In December 2024, Putin signed a decree extending the sale period for the unclaimed Exxon stake in Sakhalin-1 until 2026. The October 2022 decree established Rosneft subsidiary Sakhalinmorneftegaz-shelf as the new operator, allowing the Russian government to decide foreign investors' ownership rights in Sakhalin-1. Alongside Exxon, Russian company Rosneft, India's ONGC Videsh and Japan's SODECO were partner investors. The Russian government allowed both ONGC Videsh and SODECO to keep their stakes. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
