Domestic Oil and Gas News: Week of September 29th, 2025

Corporate & deals

• Exxon Mobil is cutting ~2,000 jobs (≈3–4% of staff) as part of a restructuring and site consolidation plan. Reuters

• Berkshire Hathaway is in talks to buy Occidental’s OxyChem unit for about $10B, continuing OXY’s debt-reduction divestitures. Reuters

Power & infrastructure

• Vistra will build two gas-fired plants (≈860 MW) in the Permian to meet surging electrification demand from oil & gas operations; targeted online by 2028. Houston Chronicle

Regulation & courts

• The D.C. Circuit upheld FERC’s authorization of a Tennessee Gas pipeline against environmental challenges—another signal of a friendlier backdrop for gas infrastructure approvals. Bloomberg Law

• Separately, FERC recently ended its effort to overhaul the pipeline/LNG certificate policy, reverting to the 1999 framework. Oil & Gas Journal

Markets & activity

• Rig count: U.S. oil & gas rigs rose by 7 to 549, the highest since June; oil rigs +6 to 424, gas rigs −1 to 117. Reuters

• Prices: Analysts expect flat oil prices near-term; Reuters’ poll pegs 2025 Brent ≈ $67.6/bbl and WTI ≈ $64.4/bbl on ample supply. Reuters

• At the pump: AAA shows a $3.13/gal national average for regular on Sept 29. AAA Fuel Prices

Data check (latest releases)

• EIA petroleum: For the week ending Sept 19, refineries ran at ~93% with gasoline production near 9.7 mb/d; next report Oct 1. ir.eia.gov+1

• Gas storage: Working gas rose +75 Bcf (week ending Sept 19), staying above the 5-yr average. ir.eia.gov

• LNG snapshot: DOE published its Sept LNG update, summarizing authorizations/exports under FECM. The Department of Energy's Energy.gov

What to watch next

• EIA Weekly Petroleum Status (Oct 1), AAA price updates, and Baker Hughes rig count (Oct 3) for activity/price momentum. U.S. Energy Information Administration+1