** APA Corp. cut about 300 employees globally as it becomes the latest oil producer to reduce costs by eliminating jobs. The company formerly known as Apache made the reductions in January and late February, APA said in an emailed response to questions. It amounts to between 10% and 15% of the company’s workforce of more than 2,300 worldwide.
** Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. is emerging as the front-runner to acquire Colonial Pipeline Co., people familiar with the matter said. A deal could value Colonial Pipeline at $10 billion or more including debt.
** KKR & Co. is exploring an acquisition of TXNM Energy Inc., the owner of New Mexico’s largest utility, according to people familiar with the matter. KKR has held takeover talks in recent weeks with TXNM, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the details aren’t public.
** Ohio produced a state-record amount of oil in 2023 as companies deployed more efficient drilling technology and invested in developing new wells, and as the economy rebounded after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, an industry group reports.
** BlackRock Inc., Vanguard Group and State Street Corp. said a lawsuit led by Texas over allegations that they colluded to influence power prices was “farfetched.”
** U.S. President Donald Trump was scheduled to meet with top oil executives at the White House on Wednesday as he charts plans to boost domestic energy production in the midst of falling crude prices and looming trade wars. The meeting will mark Trump’s first sit-down with oil and gas leaders since returning to the White House for a second term as president in January.
World
** Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed Wednesday to a limited ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow, as U.S. President Donald Trump suggested during a call with the embattled country’s leader that he consider American ownership of Ukraine’s power plants to ensure their long-term security.
** Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas rose on Wednesday, bouncing back from the previous day, after Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to temporarily halt attacks on energy infrastructure but did not agree to a complete ceasefire.
** Clean energy fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners said on Wednesday it has reached financial close on its 495 megawatt (MW) Fengmiao I wind project, off the coast of Taichung, Taiwan.
** Vitol will buy stakes in West African oil and gas assets from Italy’s Eni (ENI.MI), opens new tab, bolstering the global commodity trading house’s position in the upstream sector, as it seeks to reinvest the huge profits it has been generating since 2022.
** Gazprom is looking at every avenue to cut costs, including its portfolio of luxury hotels, after the group fell to its second successive year of losses as Russia’s war with Ukraine continues to hammer energy exports. The group’s net losses on Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) hit 1.076 trillion roubles ($12.89 billion) last year, largely attributable to a decline in the market value of shares in Gazprom’s oil division, Gazprom Neft, according to Interfax, Reuters reported.