Energy Costs Prompt Europe To Reconsider Oil, Gas Opposition Europe’s Green Dreams Buckle Under the Weight of Its Power BillsSoaring Energy Costs Push Europe Back Into Oil and Gas’s ArmsEurope’s Transition Stalls as Voters Rebel Against Sky-High Electricity Prices The Most Boring Oil Month in Years Sets the Stage for a High-Stakes December When Germany earlier this year approved an offshore gas drilling project, it raised a lot of eyebrows. An energy transition champion, a record breaker in wind and solar installations, now Germany…

Zipcar has reached the end of the road in the UK after its US owner pulled the plug on operations in the run up to the introduction of fresh London Congestion Charges for electric vehicles. The car hire business has begun a formal consultation with employees in the UK and will stop taking new bookings beyond the end of the year, according to a company statement, in a move likely to lead to dozens of job losses. In an emailed message to customers, Zipcar UK general manager James Taylor said: “I’m writing to let you know that we are proposing…

Saudi Arabia is doing something that might seem confusing; it’s spending more, borrowing more, and pushing ahead with massive economic projects, even though oil prices are far too low to balance the budget. According to the new 2026 budget outline released on Tuesday, Riyadh plans to spend 1.3 trillion riyals (about $350 billion) next year and keep it at roughly that level through 2027. That kind of spending locks in a deficit of about 3.3% of GDP in 2026. But here’s the part many outsiders miss: in Saudi Arabia, deficits are not viewed…

U.S. natural gas futures spiked to their highest levels in nearly three years as models now show a frigid first half of December across the Lower 48. Several forecasters are also warning of a potential polar-vortex-driven Arctic blast event later this month, which could drive temperatures even lower.  Let's begin with an unusual sight (for this time of year) of winter storm alerts across the Northeast on Tuesday morning. ???? WINTER STORM TODAY ????Heavy snow (5-10" expected) in the Interior Northeast & disruptive…

The hydrogen fuel cell market is on the verge of a major inflection point, projected to nearly double in value over the next six years as global powers scramble to hit critical net-zero emission targets. The technology, which provides emissions-free electricity for everything from heavy-duty trucks to corporate data centers, is now being hailed as indispensable to the global energy transition. A recent market analysis from DataM Intelligence forecasts the global market, valued at $3.64 billion in 2024, will expand significantly to reach an estimated…

TotalEnergies has emerged as the favorite to buy into a major oil discovery offshore Namibia and become a partner of Portugal’s Galp in its development, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter.   Galp, which announced the Mopane oil discovery in 2024, plans to sell a 40% stake in the field and find a partner by the end of the year. Chevron was also said to be in the race for buying a minority stake in the Mopane field.  But TotalEnergies appears to be in pole position, at least according…

TotalEnergies has emerged as the favorite to buy into a major oil discovery offshore Namibia and become a partner of Portugal’s Galp in its development, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter.   Galp, which announced the Mopane oil discovery in 2024, plans to sell a 40% stake in the field and find a partner by the end of the year. Chevron was also said to be in the race for buying a minority stake in the Mopane field.  But TotalEnergies appears to be in pole position, at least according…

Around 100 offshore jobs are set to be cut by oil and gas firm Harbour Energy amid pressure from UK windfall taxes. The company, which is the UK’s largest oil and gas producer, has announced the proposed job losses as part of a review into its operations in this country. In a statement, managing director Scott Barr said the process is necessary to make sure its UK business “remains competitive as we continue to adapt to a challenging future”. Harbour Energy added it has come under pressure from lower commodity prices and an “uncompetitive…

The decline of India’s crude oil imports from Russia could be only temporary as Russia plans to boost supply and evade Western sanctions, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday as India prepares to welcome Vladimir Putin on an official visit later this week.  “There can be, for a very brief period of time, insignificant decreases in the volume of oil trade,” Peskov told Indian reporters today, ahead of Putin’s visit to India that begins on Thursday.   Before the latest sanctions on Russian oil…

The United States has denied a sanctions waiver to Serbian refinery Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), majority owned by Russian state energy firms and sanctioned by the United States, forcing Serbia’s only refinery to shut down, Serbian President Aleksandar Vu?i? said on Tuesday.  “We expected to get a license from the US government for continued oil supplies to our refinery in Pancevo...but we have not received a positive decision from the US,” Vu?i? said at a briefing today, as quoted by the Tanjug news agency.    …

After a month where every geopolitical bet fizzled, the oil market enters December searching for its next catalyst. 2026 Forecasts Slide to $62 as Oversupply Clouds Outlook - The oil markets are increasingly forming a consensus view on 2026 prices, with a Reuters survey of analysts and economists yielding a $62 per barrel average for next year, a whopping $10 per barrel lower than their initial 2026 predictions.- The IEA’s expectations of a 4.2 million b/d oversupply is the most extreme outlook, perhaps overtly biased; however, even the most…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was at the Elysee Palace in Paris on December 1 for talks with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, kicking off another week of intense diplomacy aimed at ending nearly four years of fighting in Ukraine following Russia's full-scale invasion. The visit, aimed at finding "conditions for a just and lasting peace," came a day after talks in Florida between US and Ukrainian delegations that both sides praised as productive without providing further details. After the Paris meeting, Zelenskyy said the two…

Kazakhstan plans to build a new large refinery and boost existing refining capacity to more than double its crude processing capacity by 2040, Energy Minister Yerlan Akenzhenov said on Tuesday.  Last year, the refining processing rate of the OPEC+ oil producer was 18 million tons per year. Expansion of existing capacity will boost the oil refining volumes between 2025 and 2032, from the current 18 million tons per year to 30 million tons per year, the minister said.  Then, by 2040, Kazakhstan plans to launch a new large-scale refinery…

TotalEnergies is partnering with several Japanese firms to develop the Live Oak project in Nebraska—a facility to produce electric natural gas (e-NG), synthetic gas produced from renewable hydrogen and CO2, the French supermajor said on Tuesday.  TotalEnergies has signed a Joint Development and Operating Agreement that grants Japanese energy firms Osaka Gas, Toho Gas, and ITOCHU a combined 33% stake in the project, which the French major is developing with TES, a Europe-based green energy company. Following the agreement, TotalEnergies…

Oil prices remained elevated in early Asian trade on Tuesday as investors priced in growing geopolitical risk, especially after a drone strike damaged infrastructure at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) Black Sea terminal. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $63.16 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate was changing hands at $59.36, both up by more than a dollar over the last week. The latest drone strike, which reportedly damaged a key mooring point at the CPC terminal, triggered supply disruption fears, although some loadings…

Artificial Intelligence has emerged as one of the biggest secular megatrends of our time. AI is powering the fourth industrial revolution and is increasingly being viewed as a key strategy for mastering some of the greatest challenges of our time, including climate change and pollution. Energy companies are employing AI tools to digitize records, analyze vast troves of data and geological maps, and potentially identify problems such as excessive equipment use or pipeline corrosion. AI is used to analyze seismic data, optimize drilling paths, and…

Rio Tinto is streamlining operations and drafting a fundamental reset to accelerate projects with quicker and better returns. The strategy overhaul is courtesy of the mining giant’s former head of the iron ore division, the group’s biggest business, who became chief executive officer a few months ago. New Rio Tinto CEO Simon Trott will unveil his vision of a streamlined Rio Tinto at a Capital Markets Day event in London on Thursday. Trott has signaled that reorganization will continue to fundamentally reset the company’s businesses.…

The U.S. federal government is considering further steps to speed up the buildout of liquefied natural gas export infrastructure as flows of natural gas to LNG plants hit a record high. Exports, as it happens, are also running at all-time highs. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s chairwoman announced the coming changes in a statement that said, “Energy infrastructure needs to be built now, and existing projects need to be maintained efficiently to ensure grid reliability today and in the future. We are taking a hard look at…

Pro?West Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al?Sudani performed strongly in the 11 November parliamentary elections – the seventh since Saddam Hussein’s fall in 2003. With turnout around 56%, Sudani’s Reconstruction and Development Coalition emerged as the largest faction, winning 1.3 million votes out of nearly 11 million cast, beating the pro-Iran State of Law Alliance by 370,000. However, Sudani’s faction still only received 15% of the seats in parliament, totalling 46 out of 329. On the other hand, pro-Iran…

The national average price of gasoline dropped below $3 a gallon over the weekend, sinking to their lowest level since 2021. The median U.S. gas price is now $2.83 per gallon, with the national average 6.9 cents cheaper from a month ago and 5.4 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. However, prices vary widely by state, with drivers in Oklahoma paying $2.409 per gallon compared to $4.560 in California.  According to GasBuddy, a handful of gas stations are offering gas under $2 per gallon. That said, diesel prices have seen an even steeper…