For decades, nuclear energy has been regarded as the black sheep of the energy universe, thanks to drawbacks such as high costs, risk of thermal runaway leading to catastrophic accidents as well as the hazardous by-products of nuclear plants. Nuclear waste is notorious for the fact that it can remain dangerously radioactive for many thousands of years. Currently, there are thousands of metric tons of used solid fuel from nuclear power plants worldwide and millions of liters of radioactive liquid waste from weapons production sitting in temporary…

Last week, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright called on the International Energy Agency to stop fixating on climate change and instead return to its original focus on energy security. The call came in the context of plans by the U.S. federal government to significantly increase the amount of oil and gas the country exports—plans for energy dominance. Europe is the top destination for these plans, and it may have to ditch its net-zero plans as well if it wants energy security. “We’ve gotten off track on energy ... it has gotten…

As the West is looking at ways to shake off China’s dominance in rare earths supply, it is also moving toward breaking the Chinese stronghold on the pricing of these minerals critical for the defense and auto industries and national security. The United States is developing and pitching to allies a price floor mechanism to protect the rare earths markets and mineral supply from Chinese manipulation and government policies aimed solely at strengthening China’s dominant grip on the global market. The move from the U.S. to have a Western…

In 2025, the share of renewables in U.S. electricity generation has surpassed 25 percent. Over the course of the past 20 years, their share has continuously risen from just 8.6 percent in 2007. At the same time, as Statista's Kathraina Buchholz details in the infographic below, coal in electricity generation fell from a share of 49 percent to just 16.4 percent last year. You will find more infographics at Statista While Trump administration's policies regarding renewable energy and greenhouse gases have yet to show their full…

Indian refiners' crude processing (throughput) fell by 0.2% month-on-month in January 2026, reaching 5.63 million barrels per day (bpd) or 23.81 million metric tons, marking a slight decrease after December throughput clocked in at 5.64 million bpd. India's fuel consumption in January came in at 21.05 million metric tons, down from 21.71 million in December but was nearly 3% up compared to January 2025. India relies on imports for over 80% of its crude supply, primarily sourcing from Russia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the United States. India's…

Indian refiners' crude processing (throughput) fell by 0.2% month-on-month in January 2026, reaching 5.63 million barrels per day (bpd) or 23.81 million metric tons, marking a slight decrease after December throughput clocked in at 5.64 million bpd. India's fuel consumption in January came in at 21.05 million metric tons, down from 21.71 million in December but was nearly 3% up compared to January 2025. India relies on imports for over 80% of its crude supply, primarily sourcing from Russia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the United States. India's…

Carbon capture, utilisation and storage has long been described as essential for decarbonising heavy industry, yet progress has remained uneven across regions. While North America and parts of Europe have dominated early deployment, the next major growth market is increasingly clear. India is now positioning itself to become one of the most important arenas for CCUS globally, not because it is following others, but because its industrial reality leaves few viable alternatives. Why India Cannot Decarbonise Without CCUS India is already the world’s…

China and France, in February 2026, both addressed the impact of growing renewables penetration in their electric power generation sectors. The Chinese announced that they would retrofit formerly base-load coal-fired power plants to run more intermittently. The government-owned French utility, EDF, announced that it would do the same with much of its nuclear fleet, at considerable expense. The reason? To accommodate the growing penetration of lower-cost renewables in their respective electricity markets. (In the US, we would watch California and…

More than half a million homes and businesses across seven states were left without power after a winter storm swept across parts of the U.S. Northeast on Sunday and Monday. Massachusetts-based Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) was the hardest-hit utility after 135,797 of its 3.3 million customers were left in the dark, while Ohio’s FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) saw 81,257 of its 6.2 million U.S. customers affected. A massive historic winter storm is currently lashing the U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. The storm has triggered blizzard warnings…

More than half a million homes and businesses across seven states were left without power after a winter storm swept across parts of the U.S. Northeast on Sunday and Monday. Massachusetts-based Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) was the hardest-hit utility after 135,797 of its 3.3 million customers were left in the dark, while Ohio’s FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) saw 81,257 of its 6.2 million U.S. customers affected. A massive historic winter storm is currently lashing the U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. The storm has triggered blizzard warnings…

More than half a million homes and businesses across seven states were left without power after a winter storm swept across parts of the U.S. Northeast on Sunday and Monday. Massachusetts-based Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) was the hardest-hit utility after 135,797 of its 3.3 million customers were left in the dark, while Ohio’s FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) saw 81,257 of its 6.2 million U.S. customers affected. A massive historic winter storm is currently lashing the U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. The storm has triggered blizzard warnings…

The Trump administration may have finally blinked, also knowing that yet another US-led war in the Middle East remains deeply unpopular among the American people. No attacks have come this weekend, as some were predicting last week, as President Trump appears to be exercising some level of patience and restraint, for now at least. "Iran has indicated it is prepared to make concessions on its nuclear program in talks with the U.S. in return for the lifting of sanctions and recognition of its right to enrich uranium, as it seeks to avert a U.S. attack,"…

City darling Rolls-Royce is gearing up plans to dish out bumper returns to investors this week as the firm delivers its annual results. The FTSE 100 giant is set to launch a buyback worth as much as £1.5bn, which will come on top of the company’s final dividend as the aircraft engineer looks to reinforce the size of its cashflow. It follows the spectacular turnaround under boss Tufan Erginbilgic, former BP chief, which has seen the company’s value double to over £112bn. The fresh buyback – as reported by Sky News –…

Ukrainian forces launched targeted attacks on critical nodes of Russia’s Druzhba oil pipeline network on Sunday night, sparking a major fire at a key Transneft oil hub. The strikes hit a major oil pumping and dispatch hub in Tatarstan, a central region of Russia, triggering widespread fires at the facility. This attack is part of an intensified Ukrainian campaign to weaken Russia’s energy-export economy and fuel logistics. Similar strikes hit the Unecha station in Bryansk and the Nikolskoye station in Tambov, both critical to the Druzhba…

Ukrainian forces launched targeted attacks on critical nodes of Russia’s Druzhba oil pipeline network on Sunday night, sparking a major fire at a key Transneft oil hub. The strikes hit a major oil pumping and dispatch hub in Tatarstan, a central region of Russia, triggering widespread fires at the facility. This attack is part of an intensified Ukrainian campaign to weaken Russia’s energy-export economy and fuel logistics. Similar strikes hit the Unecha station in Bryansk and the Nikolskoye station in Tambov, both critical to the Druzhba…

Last September I produced a brief survey of major conflict across the globe in which I wrote the following about the conflict with Iran and Israel, one which is now referred to as the 12-Day War: "[T]here is every reason to believe that the conflict between Israel and Iran is not over and that the United States may be drawn in again." It appears the next phase of this war is about to begin. In fact, by the time you read this, attacks may already have begun. It puzzles me that the rest of the world has treated the run-up to this second phase of…

The international oil companies operating the giant Kashagan oilfield in Kazakhstan have initiated an arbitration process to challenge a massive $5-billion fine for allegedly exceeding sulfur storage limits at a processing facility at the second biggest oilfield in the OPEC+ producer.  The dispute, one of several against Big Oil that Kazakhstan currently has, is cooling the relations between the international companies and the Kazakh government.   “Despite disputing the allegations, and attempting to resolve these issues through…

The signing of a 20-year agreement for U.S. gas producer Caturus’s Commonwealth liquefied natural gas (LNG) division to supply one million tonnes per ‌annum of LNG to Saudi Arabia’s Aramco is enormously significant both inside and outside the energy market. At a time when LNG has become the world’s most flexible instrument of energy statecraft, the decision by Aramco to lock in U.S. supply for two decades may speak to a deeper geopolitical recalibration underway in Riyadh. For Washington, meanwhile, the agreement offers a…

The clean energy future is within reach, Antonio Guterres, the United Nations Secretary General, said after meeting with renewable energy representatives in India. “I recently met with leaders from across India’s renewable energy ecosystem, listening to different perspectives from industry, finance, policy & civil society,” Guterres posted on X. “The message was clear: The clean energy future is within reach – but we need a system-wide transformation to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels,” added…

The Iranian government, facing pressure at home with a growing opposition and globally with threats of a US military strike, appears ready for a third round of Omani-mediated talks with American negotiators in the upcoming week. Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi on February 22 said talks would resume on February 26 in Geneva "with a positive push to go the extra mile toward finalizing the deal" over Iran’s nuclear program. In separate remarks, the Iranian government suggested talks in the Swiss city on that date. US officials did not…