Energy Transition & Power Demand

Duke Energy declared quarterly cash dividends of US$1.085 per common share and US$359.375 per Series A preferred share, payable on December 16, 2026, to shareholders of record on November 13, 2026. The utility also reached agreements with Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft to broaden financial safeguards for North Carolina data centers, tying directly into its multi gigawatt data center pipeline. If regulators approve the framework, it would sit alongside existing electric service agreements as part of the story investors are watching around large load growth, capital spending and how much external funding Duke must raise to build out the grid and new generation. Duke's narrative projects $38.3 billion in revenue and $6.5 billion in earnings by 2029, requiring 5.3% yearly revenue growth and about a $1.3 billion earnings increase from $5.2 billion today. The company's rising capital needs could still collide with a period of persistently higher borrowing costs.

Fluxys Belgium reported half year 2026 sales of €342.97 million and net income of €46.78 million, with higher basic earnings per share than a year earlier. The shares now trade at €21.2, up 1.44% over one day and 3.41% over seven days, though the 30-day return is down 5.78%; the 90-day return is 8.16% and the year-to-date gain is 10.99%. The stock carries a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.6x, above the 12.5x peer group average and the 13.9x average for the broader European oil and gas industry, while revenue is expected to decline 2.8% per year. A discounted cash flow model values the shares at €1.5 each, far below the current price. Over one year total shareholder return is 16.66%, against a broadly flat 3-year total shareholder return of 0.09% and a 5-year total shareholder return that declined 18.04%.

ConocoPhillips confirmed it is reviewing an unsolicited offer of up to US$7.00 billion for certain European assets, a relatively small portion of its portfolio. The company said the review reflects a focus on portfolio discipline rather than any large-scale reshaping of its business, and any sale would sit alongside its existing growth drivers in LNG and long-life conventional projects. Separately, analysts remain upbeat on ConocoPhillips' near-term earnings prospects, citing a positive Earnings ESP of 17.36% and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) ahead of its next earnings release previously expected on November 5, 2026. The company's narrative projects $68.0 billion in revenue and $11.4 billion in earnings by 2029, requiring 1.8% yearly revenue growth and about a $2.1 billion earnings increase from $9.3 billion today. The most bearish analysts had assumed revenue would slip to about US$62,000,000,000 by 2029 and earnings to about US$9,900,000,000.

Landis+Gyr announced in September 2026 the commercial launch of its Revelo E370 meter, adding high-resolution waveform streaming, Wi-Fi-enabled edge applications, and micro arc sensing to its grid-edge sensing platform in 200 amp and 320 amp disconnect versions. The upgrade positions Revelo as a more versatile grid intelligence solution, potentially supporting utilities' responses to rising residential loads from EVs, heat pumps, and other power-intensive appliances while enhancing power quality monitoring and early fault detection. The launch reinforces Landis+Gyr's grid edge thesis, though its near-term impact on the key risk of revenue timing gaps, especially around big AMI and Revelo contracts, still looks uncertain rather than clearly transformative. The company's narrative projects $1.3 billion revenue and $116.0 million earnings by 2029, requiring 4.4% yearly revenue growth and about a $77 million earnings increase from $38.9 million today, while bearish analysts assume only about 3.3% annual revenue growth and US$115.7 million of earnings by 2029. The article also cites the August 10, 2026 expansion of the edge app ecosystem in Australia as especially relevant, underscoring how Landis+Gyr is building an open, Wi-Fi enabled, app-centric grid edge platform even as investors weigh guidance pointing to a step down in FY26 net revenue.

Global Power Solutions Corp. announced it has terminated its previously announced definitive joint development and licence agreement with Northern Hydrogen and Energy Ltd., with acknowledgment and consent from ModeOne Manpower Systems Corp. and MVP Systems, effective November 7, 2026. The company also terminated its previously announced non-binding letter of intent with 2782404 AB Ltd., effective immediately. Separately, Global Power said it is evaluating a range of potential power-generation and infrastructure solutions, including conventional and emerging power-generation technologies, distributed and modular power infrastructure, energy-storage solutions and hydrogen-related applications, with a focus on supporting data centres, high-performance computing, industrial operations and other mission-critical applications. The company said it intends to remain flexible in evaluating strategic alternatives and potential technology partners, and cautioned there can be no assurance its evaluation will result in any particular transaction, partnership, technology deployment or investment. Global Power will provide further updates when material developments occur.

Moody's Ratings has revised its outlook on Crescent Energy Co to positive from stable while affirming the company's Ba3 Corporate Family Rating, a move that followed immediately on Crescent's $3.85 billion all-cash acquisition of Eagle Ford Basin assets from Devon Energy Corporation. To finance the purchase, Crescent secured a $2 billion bridge facility commitment alongside a $1 billion primary equity offering. Moody's Vice President Jonathan Teitel said the positive outlook reflects both the enhanced operational scale in the Eagle Ford and expectations that robust, hedge-supported free cash flow will enable substantial debt reduction over the next 12 to 18 months. The Devon transaction positions Crescent to expand production to approximately 400 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, pushing its operating footprint well past similarly rated exploration and production peers, though Moody's cautioned the acquisition appears fully valued and materially increases near-term debt loads, interrupting the company's recent deleveraging momentum. Crescent has locked in substantial commodity hedges for 2027 at higher crude prices, and Moody's expects the Houston-based producer to refinance its temporary bridge commitments with long-term capital, preserving a liquidity profile that currently includes SGL-1 top-tier liquidity and $2 billion in committed credit facility availability. Upgrades over the next year to 18 months will hinge on executing post-acquisition debt reduction, maintaining conservative financial policies, and sustaining retained cash flow relative to total debt above 50%.

Oracle is trucking natural gas directly to its data centers to keep construction on schedule, a stopgap measure it is considering for a build in New Mexico where a needed gas pipeline is delayed. The company is already running 30 trucks a day to data centers outside Salt Lake City, according to Bloomberg reporting. Oracle did not respond to requests for comment, but later posted on social media praising the partner helping it carry out the effort. The news added to pressure on Oracle shares, which had already been sliding amid confusion over OpenAI's ARR figure, though the stock was up almost 5% on the day. Analysts said the move signals the delays are more significant than the market expected, since trucking gas is a measure normally reserved for remote mining or temporary industrial operations.

The total number of active oil and gas drilling rigs in the United States rose this week to 603, up 56 from the same time last year, according to new data Baker Hughes published on Friday. Within that total, active oil rigs rose by 6 to 462, which is 44 above year-ago levels, while gas rigs fell by 1 to 132, still 12 more than a year earlier, and miscellaneous rigs held steady at 9. The Permian Basin accounted for much of the gain, with its count rising by 4 to 274, 24 rigs above year-ago levels, while the Eagle Ford held fast at 49, 5 more than this time last year. Separately, EIA data showed weekly U.S. crude oil production averaged 13.979 million bpd in the week ending October 2, up from 13.955 million bpd the prior week and up 350,000 bpd from a year ago, and Primary Vision's Frac Spread Count rose for a fourth straight week, up 1 crew to 196. Oil prices were down Friday ahead of the data release, with Brent trading at $103.80, down 0.42% on the day but up $2.70 from a week ago, and WTI at $91.29, down 0.22%.

EDF announced the signature of bank loans totaling €4 billion with a maximum maturity of 12 to 18 months. The financing was arranged with BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB, Natixis CIB and Société Générale. One €1 billion portion of the total will be dedicated to refinancing investments related to the lifetime extension of existing nuclear reactors in France, as defined in EDF's Green Financing Framework and aligned with the European taxonomy. EDF said the transaction allows it to maintain financial flexibility while managing the cost of its financial debt, and noted it regularly assesses financing needs and monitors markets for further senior debt, hybrid or other securities issuances. The group, rated BBB+ stable by S&P, Baa1 stable by Moody's and BBB+ stable by Fitch, reported consolidated sales of €113.3 billion in 2025.

Pinnacle West Capital Corp. is reaffirming its 2026 earnings guidance of $4.55-$4.75 per share and its long-term earnings growth target of 5-7%, citing rising electricity demand across its service territory. Its Arizona Public Service subsidiary saw customer growth of 2.1% in the second quarter of 2026, with weather-normalized sales up 5.6%, total sales up 9.6%, and commercial and industrial sales up 12.7% as data centers and advanced manufacturing customers ramped up. The company expects retail customer growth of 1.5-2.5% in 2026 and weather-normalized retail electricity sales growth of 4-6%, with new large manufacturing facilities and data centers projected to contribute 3-5% to sales growth, and through 2030 it forecasts weather-normalized retail sales growth of 5-7%, with large commercial and industrial customers accounting for 4-6%. Pinnacle West aims to invest $7.95 billion through 2028 in generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure. The Zacks Consensus Estimate points to a 6.34% year-over-year decrease in 2026 EPS and an 18.21% increase in 2027 EPS, and the stock carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Shell plc has partially restarted operations at its Pearl gas-to-liquids facility in Qatar, marking an initial recovery step after the Iran war damaged the plant in March 2026. The restart will let Shell build limited inventories of finished products, though shipments remain dependent on regional security and safe maritime routes, and repairs to Train 2, one of the facility's two processing units, are still underway with completion expected in the first quarter of 2027. Pearl GTL, based in Ras Laffan Industrial City, has a capacity of 140,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and converts North Field natural gas into gasoil, kerosene, base oils, naphtha and normal paraffins. Separately, QatarEnergy has begun returning Pearl-GTL naphtha cargoes to the market, issuing a spot tender offering as much as 50,000 metric tons of naphtha across four grades on a free-on-board basis from Ras Laffan, and Haldia Petrochemicals in India received 50,000 metric tons of naphtha for the current quarter. QatarEnergy's previous naphtha tender, which also included Pearl-GTL material, was awarded at a discount of $150 to Middle East benchmark quotations on a free-on-board basis, a figure that relates to the earlier tender and not the latest offering. The partial restart does not mean the facility has returned to normal production, and the pace of further recovery will depend on the repair schedule, operating conditions and the ability to transport products to customers.

Devon Energy is expected to post earnings of $1.20 per share for the current quarter, a change of +15.4% from the year-ago quarter, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate up +5.7% over the last 30 days. For the current fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $5.35 points to a change of +36.5% from the prior year and has risen +2.1% over the last 30 days, while the next fiscal year's estimate of $5.28 indicates a change of -1.3% and has moved +4.8% over the past month. The consensus sales estimate of $7.3 billion for the current quarter points to a year-over-year change of +68.5%, with $25.96 billion and $28.03 billion expected for the current and next fiscal years, changes of +51% and +8% respectively. Devon Energy reported revenues of $7.42 billion in the last reported quarter, a year-over-year change of +73.1%, with EPS of $1.57 versus $0.84 a year ago, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.3 billion by +17.76% on revenue and by +20.77% on EPS. The recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, has resulted in a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for Devon Energy, and the stock carries a Zacks Value Style Score of B, indicating it is trading at a discount to its peers.

Shell Canada Energy, an affiliate of Shell plc, has reached an agreement with Equinor to acquire a 30% non-operated interest in the Bay du Nord project offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Equinor will retain a 70% interest and remain as the operator of the project. The concept is a phased subsea development tied back to a floating production, storage and offloading vessel, with gross production capacity planned to be 160-175 kboe/d and first oil anticipated in 2031. The project remains pre-FID, and any future investment decision will be subject to Shell's investment criteria and will need to compete for capital within its portfolio. Shell said the transaction provides an attractive entry point with expected returns above its hurdle rate and exposure to an established resource base with potential longer-term growth.

Oil companies announced four separate transactions in four trading days as Brent crude held above $100 a barrel, with the U.S. Energy Information Administration now expecting Brent to average $96.32 a barrel in 2026 and $83.74 in 2027, up from $91.01 and $73.74 a month ago in its October Short-Term Energy Outlook. The EIA said Brent averaged $114 a barrel in September, $23 higher than in August, and touched a daily high of $131 on September 15 after attacks on Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline temporarily halted flows on a route that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, and it assumes Middle East oil flows stay constrained through the fourth quarter with shut-ins averaging 4.5 million barrels per day. Cenovus Energy agreed on October 5 to acquire Athabasca Oil Corporation for C$12.00 per Athabasca share, payable in cash, Cenovus shares or a combination, for an implied enterprise value of C$5.7 billion, adding about 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and expected to generate about $85 million a year in synergies. Energy Transfer agreed on October 6 to acquire Vaquero Midstream for about $2.6 billion, made up of $1.95 billion in cash and about 33.3 million newly issued Energy Transfer common units, adding roughly 300 miles of pipeline in Texas and the Caymus Processing Complex with about 675 million cubic feet per day of capacity. Chevron subsidiaries signed definitive agreements on October 6 with Hess Midstream to extend Bakken midstream terms, expecting to cut Bakken unit midstream costs by about 50%, divest its Hess Midstream interests and transfer DJ Basin crude oil midstream assets for $200 million in cash, and fully deconsolidate Hess Midstream including about $3.7 billion of its debt. Crescent Energy agreed on October 8 to acquire Devon Energy's Eagle Ford assets for an estimated net purchase price of about $3.85 billion after adjustments, adding about 68,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of net production and more than 600 Tier 1 net locations, and launched a $1 billion offering of Class A common stock the same day. Shell issued its third quarter 2026 update note on October 7, pointing to an indicative refining margin of $42 a barrel, up from $24 in the second quarter, with Integrated Gas production expected at 740,000 to 780,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and third quarter results scheduled for October 29.

Devon Energy has agreed to sell its Eagle Ford shale acreage to Crescent Energy for US$4.2b in cash, reshaping its portfolio around higher-return, longer-duration assets. The roughly 90,000 net acres are described as non-core, and management aims to lower its corporate breakeven, with net proceeds earmarked for faster share repurchases and debt reduction. Closing is expected around year end 2026, and investors will watch for any updated capital return framework. The deal headlines a morning in which US stocks are set for a softer open as inflation expectations push higher again, with median US inflation expectations for the year ahead at 3.9% for September 2026, the highest since May 2023, and Fed minutes showing most officials see a likely need for another 25 bps hike to a range of 3.75% to 4% by year end. Mortgage applications are down 4.2% and the average 30 year fixed rate sits around 7.49%, keeping pressure on borrowing costs for households and companies. Elsewhere, Vertiv reported quarterly sales up 24% and lifted its annual forecasts on AI data center demand, while CoreWeave faces a tougher backdrop for data center IPOs after an expected postponement of Nvidia backed Firmus Grid's Australian listing.

Enterprise Products Partners has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.56 per share, unchanged from the prior quarter. The distribution carries a forward yield of 6.1%. It is payable November 13 to shareholders of record as of October 30, with the ex-dividend date also set for October 30. The company has now announced a dividend of $0.56 for two consecutive quarters.

Gulf Development Public Company Limited, or GULF, has set the final interest rates for six tranches of bonds and digital bonds with maturities of 3 to 10 years at 1.83-3.00% per year, with a combined face value of up to 20 billion baht. The bonds will be open for subscription by the general public from October 19 to 21, 2026. The bonds carry a credit rating of AA- with a Stable outlook from TRIS Rating Company Limited. The six tranches consist of a 3-year zero-coupon bond with a discount rate of 1.83% per year, a 4-year bond at 2.10% per year, a 5-year bond at 2.33% per year, a 7-year digital bond at 2.80% per year, a 7-year bond at 2.80% per year, and a 10-year bond at 3.00% per year. Miss Yupapin Wangwiwat, Chief Financial Officer of GULF, said that the offering to institutional investors and high-net-worth investors during the bookbuilding process drew demand as high as 3.3 times the value of the bonds allocated to those investor groups, reflecting confidence in the company's business and financial position. As for subscription channels, the 4-year, 5-year, and 10-year bonds are being offered through eight leading financial institutions: Bangkok Bank, Krungthai Bank, Kasikornbank, Siam Commercial Bank, United Overseas Bank, Bank of Ayudhya, CIMB Thai Bank, and Asia Plus Securities, with a minimum of 100,000 baht. The 7-year digital bond is available for subscription only through Krungthai Bank's Paotang application, with a minimum investment of 1,000 baht and a maximum of 50 million baht per transaction. The company plans to use the proceeds to repay maturing bonds and to support expansion in renewable energy and digital infrastructure businesses such as data centers, cloud, and AI. As for operating results in the second quarter of 2026, GULF posted a record operating profit of 12.332 billion baht, up 74% from the same period a year earlier, while total revenue was 50.294 billion baht, up 24% from a year earlier.