Energy, Utilities & Environment

DENVER – October 28, 2026 -- Onward Energy, an independent power producer with a 6.6 GW portfolio, has appointed Chief Financial Officer Patrick Welch as CEO and promoted Adam Heath to CFO, both effective October 29, 2026.

Welch moves from interim CEO to the permanent role and joins the board

Welch, CFO since 2023 and currently Interim President and CEO, will also join Onward's board of directors. He has more than 34 years of energy and power experience, including 18 years in CFO roles at Atlantic Power, JP Energy Partners and Jonah Energy.

Onward initially recruited him to build its finance function. He has since led the company through major financing transactions, built an enterprise risk management program and developed talent and organizational structures meant to support scale.

CARACAS – October 28, 2026 -- North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) lifted output in Venezuela's Petrozamora oil fields to a record 115,000 barrels per day on Oct. 23, as U.S. State Department officials toured its western and eastern operations to check progress under the company's August agreement with Washington.

State Department officials inspect Lake Maracaibo and Orinoco Belt assets

Chargé d'Affaires John M. Barrett and Daniel Kennedy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Energy and Critical Minerals, visited NABEP sites on Oct. 23 and 24. Kennedy joined NABEP CEO Alejandro Betancourt and PDVSA leadership at the Bachaquero field on Lake Maracaibo, where the group inspected the Bachaquero Lago 2 compression module. Barrett followed that visit from Miraflores Palace in Caracas.

DALLAS – October 28, 2026 -- Hillwood Communities is partnering with Base Power to offer home battery backup to nearly 6,500 North Texas homes, with access growing to approximately 9,500 homes at full buildout of the three initial communities.

Initial rollout covers three CoServ-served Hillwood communities

Eligible new and existing homeowners in Treeline by Hillwood in Justin, Pecan Square by Hillwood in Northlake, and Harvest by Hillwood in Argyle and Northlake can access Base battery systems designed to protect homes during outages.

In areas where homeowners cannot choose their electricity provider, Base offers its service through agreements with local utilities and electric cooperatives. CoServ, one of Base's utility partners, serves all three initial communities.

Findlay, Ohio – October 28, 2026 -- MPLX LP (NYSE: MPLX) has raised its third-quarter 2026 cash distribution 12.5% to $1.2111 per common unit, or $4.84 annualized, the board of the partnership's general partner announced.

MPLX adds $0.1346 per unit over the second-quarter payout

The increase of $0.1346 per common unit is measured against the second-quarter 2026 distribution. The payment will be made on Nov. 13, 2026, to common unitholders of record as of Nov. 6, 2026.

MPLX tells brokers to treat 100% of non-U.S. investor distributions as effectively connected income

MPLX issued a qualified notice to brokers and nominees holding units for non-U.S. investors under Treasury Regulation Section 1.1446-4(b) and (d) and Section 1.1446(f)-4(c)(2)(iii). Brokers and nominees must treat all of the partnership's distributions to non-U.S. investors as attributable to income effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business.

Singapore – October 28, 2026 -- Seatrium Limited and Karpowership signed a Memorandum of Understanding to pursue a joint venture for floating power and digital infrastructure in Singapore, with possible expansion across Southeast Asia. The agreement was announced at Singapore International Energy Week 2026 and witnessed by Dr. Tan See Leng, Singapore's Minister for Energy, Trade and Industry (Energy and Industry).

Joint venture would cover development, financing, engineering and operations

The partners plan an integrated platform spanning infrastructure development, financing, engineering, construction and operations. Seatrium contributes offshore engineering, procurement, construction and systems integration. Karpowership contributes experience in developing, financing, owning and operating floating power and digital infrastructure, including behind-the-meter power for super intelligence.

VANCOUVER – October 28, 2026 -- Purecore Metals Inc. (CSE: PURE) has published a report that cites Sprott scenarios of cumulative uranium supply deficits of roughly 700 million to 1.7 billion pounds of U3O8 through 2040. The report, titled Uranium and the AI Power Boom, sets those scenarios against rising electricity consumption from artificial intelligence and data centre infrastructure.

It draws on the IEA, IAEA, U.S. Energy Information Administration, Sprott Asset Management and Cameco. The central argument is a timing mismatch: AI infrastructure is built quickly, while new uranium mines take far longer to bring into production.

DENVER – October 28, 2026 -- Nextworld has launched three products for upstream and midstream oil, gas and energy companies that move field tickets, supplier compliance and lease tracking out of spreadsheets and inboxes and into the ERPs operators already run. The products are nextField, nextVendor and nextLand, and all three are available now.

They are built to work alongside ERPs including SAP S/4HANA, JD Edwards, IFS, Quorum and Enertia. Nextworld says operators can start with a single workflow and add more over time, with no rip-and-replace.

Delray Beach – October 28, 2026 -- The global switchgear monitoring system market will grow from USD 2.36 billion in 2026 to USD 3.80 billion by 2031, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.1%, according to MarketsandMarkets. The market stood at USD 2.17 billion in 2025.

Asia Pacific is forecast to post the fastest regional CAGR at 10.6%

Rapid electrification, renewable energy development and industrialization in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and other emerging markets are creating additional growth opportunities. North America, Europe and Asia Pacific remain the key markets, backed by extensive power infrastructure and ongoing grid modernization.

GOTHENBURG – October 28, 2026 -- Minesto AB will publish its Interim Management Statement for 1 July-30 September 2026 around 08:30 CET on Thursday, 29 October, 90 minutes before CEO Dr Martin Edlund presents the company's key updates to investors.

Minesto schedules CEO webinar for 10 am CET on 29 October

The online session starts at 10 am CET and is followed by a Q&A with investors. The presentation will be held in English and broadcast through Finwire TV.

A recording will be available online after the session. Investors must register in advance through the Finwire registration page.

Minesto distributes the Q3 statement by press release and on its website

The interim statement will be distributed by press release and posted at www.minesto.com. The source material gives no financial figures from the report ahead of publication.

SHANGHAI – October 28, 2026 -- Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE: DQ) cut its third-quarter 2026 net loss attributable to shareholders to $52.9 million from $81.2 million in Q2, as polysilicon sales volume tripled to 46,910 MT from 15,190 MT. Revenue rose to $194.2 million from $62.7 million in the prior quarter, though it remained below the $244.6 million booked in Q3 2025.

Gross loss narrows to $60.6 million as impairment provisions fall

Gross margin improved to negative 31.2% from negative 132.0% in Q2. In Q3 2025 the company posted a gross profit of $9.7 million, a 3.9% margin. The company attributed the sequential improvement to higher selling prices, lower production costs and lower inventory impairment provisions, which fell to $30.9 million from $55.7 million. EBITDA was negative $9.2 million, against negative $29.3 million in Q2. Loss per basic ADS was $0.78, compared with $1.20 in Q2.