Saudi Arabia cut the price of its flagship crude for Asian buyers again as hopes of a deal to move more tankers through the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil prices lower. Saudi Aramco will reduce the September official selling price for Arab Light by 50 cents per barrel, putting it at a $2 discount to the regional benchmark. The cut lands as Iran says an agreement with Oman on a shipping route through Hormuz is in its final stages. Brent crude has dropped to around $80 per barrel, down roughly 20% in two weeks, as traders bet that more Persian Gulf…

Saudi Arabia cut the price of its flagship crude for Asian buyers again as hopes of a deal to move more tankers through the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil prices lower. Saudi Aramco will reduce the September official selling price for Arab Light by 50 cents per barrel, putting it at a $2 discount to the regional benchmark. The cut lands as Iran says an agreement with Oman on a shipping route through Hormuz is in its final stages. Brent crude has dropped to around $80 per barrel, down roughly 20% in two weeks, as traders bet that more Persian Gulf…

Saudi Arabia cut the price of its flagship crude for Asian buyers again as hopes of a deal to move more tankers through the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil prices lower. Saudi Aramco will reduce the September official selling price for Arab Light by 50 cents per barrel, putting it at a $2 discount to the regional benchmark. The cut lands as Iran says an agreement with Oman on a shipping route through Hormuz is in its final stages. Brent crude has dropped to around $80 per barrel, down roughly 20% in two weeks, as traders bet that more Persian Gulf…

With the recent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, many expected oil prices to spike and stay high. Instead, they have barely budged. The latest spike in prices is a mini spike. If these oil prices were adjusted for inflation, the spikes in the past would appear even higher. Figure 1. Weekly average oil prices for West Texas Intermediate oil in a chart provided by EIA, with Iran conflict price spike circled. This is not a new problem. Looking at energy data going back to 1820, low demand (affordability) has repeatedly produced financial crashes,…

State-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) on Thursday announced the start of operations of the world's first 16-megawatt tension-leg platform (TLP) floating wind power platform, which began supplying power to an offshore oilfield. CNOOC, one of the biggest oil producers in China and a specialist in offshore technology, connected the Haiyou Anlan floating wind power platform to the Lufeng Oilfield grid via a 4.3-kilometer-long (2.7 miles) subsea cable, the company said in a statement carried by Chinese media. The TLP-supported…

Argentina's recent record unconventional oil and natural gas output from the Vaca Muerta shale is boosting energy security in the Americas. In a decade, shale oil and gas production has grown at a stunning clip to now comprise over 70% of Argentina’s hydrocarbon output. This rapid growth will continue with the Vaca Muerta, which is still in the early stages of development, poised to become a leading shale oil and gas play that will bolster energy security in the Americas. For June 2026, government data shows Argentina’s oil production…

Angola's state-owned oil firm Sonangol and its partner in an exploration block offshore Angola, ANPG, successfully drilled an appraisal well that showed good reservoir potential for both oil and gas production. Sonangol and ANGP announced on Thursday the successful completion of the drilling and testing operations of the Katambi-2 appraisal well in Block 24 of the Benguela Basin. The Katambi-2 appraisal well crossed two productive intervals, confirming good quality reservoirs, with quality metrics higher than the ones from the Katambi-1 well, drilled…

Angola's state-owned oil firm Sonangol and its partner in an exploration block offshore Angola, ANPG, successfully drilled an appraisal well that showed good reservoir potential for both oil and gas production. Sonangol and ANGP announced on Thursday the successful completion of the drilling and testing operations of the Katambi-2 appraisal well in Block 24 of the Benguela Basin. The Katambi-2 appraisal well crossed two productive intervals, confirming good quality reservoirs, with quality metrics higher than the ones from the Katambi-1 well, drilled…

Global nuclear power generation reached an all-time high in 2025, and China supplied all of the net growth. According to the latest Statistical Review of World Energy, nuclear plants generated 2,845 terawatt-hours worldwide last year, up 30 terawatt-hours, or 1.3%, from 2024. China increased its output by more than 34 terawatt-hours, which means that without China, global nuclear generation would have declined. Those figures capture the state of the industry better than the broad claims of a worldwide nuclear renaissance. Output is rising, but…

Vessel traffic at the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait crumbled on Wednesday from the previous day amid a Houthi claim they have hit a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea and hopes that Oman and Iran could reach a deal on jointly managing Hormuz. On Wednesday, only two vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz, down from 8 on Tuesday, according to ship-tracking data reviewed by Reuters. At Bab el-Mandeb, the chokepoint on the Red Sea into the Arabian Sea, only one commodity vessel, a Bahamas-flagged dry bulk carrier, transited on Wednesday,…

Vessel traffic at the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait crumbled on Wednesday from the previous day amid a Houthi claim they have hit a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea and hopes that Oman and Iran could reach a deal on jointly managing Hormuz. On Wednesday, only two vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz, down from 8 on Tuesday, according to ship-tracking data reviewed by Reuters. At Bab el-Mandeb, the chokepoint on the Red Sea into the Arabian Sea, only one commodity vessel, a Bahamas-flagged dry bulk carrier, transited on Wednesday,…

Extreme heat and drought are beginning to impair Europe’s energy system. Refineries are losing cooling efficiency, river levels are forcing cuts to nuclear generation, hydroelectric output is falling and inland fuel transport is becoming more expensive as barges carry smaller cargoes. Temperatures above 40°C have become increasingly common across large parts of southern and central Europe, with prolonged drought shrinking rivers, drying soils and fueling destructive wildfires. A recent analysis by the World Weather Attribution group concluded…

The Middle East war has caused what may well be an unprecedented degree of disruption in global energy flows. While crude oil gets a lot of the attention—and with good reason—the situation in liquefied gas is arguably worse and deserving of more attention. The war, some believe, could reshape the long-term outlook for the commodity. At the end of June, Shell released a forecast for LNG demand trends over the long term, seeing that demand reaching close to 700 million tons annually by 2050. That would be up by an impressive 65% from…

Tech giants are tapping fuel cell developers and providers to power data and AI computing centers with technology that is cleaner and faster to implement than a conventional gas-powered electricity source. Fuel cells generate electricity by directly converting chemical energy into electrical energy without combustion. This technology can run on a variety of fuels, including hydrogen, natural gas, and biogas. As power grids become congested with the surge in power demand due to the AI boom, fuel cells could offer distributed power generation and…

Venezuela’s oil production is growing at a crucial time, with conflict in the Middle East disrupting traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, thereby crimping global petroleum supply. Since the U.S. captured President Nicolas Maduro in a daring night raid in early January 2026, Venezuela’s petroleum output has soared to multiyear highs. Recent regulatory reforms, the easing of U.S. sanctions and greater foreign investment are all key to reviving Venezuela’s struggling petroleum sector and increasing oil output in what was once South America’s…

The Philippines is shaping up to be ground zero for the global geologic hydrogen revolution. The Southeast Asian nation reportedly has the largest natural hydrogen seeps anywhere on Earth, indicating that huge volumes of hydrogen could be stored under the ground, waiting to be exploited. If the Philippines is able to become the world’s first test case for a commercially viable geologic hydrogen operation, it would be groundbreaking for the country’s economy and energy security, not to mention enormously disruptive for global energy…

The Strait of Hormuz, the Middle East’s main choke point, is effectively closed as Iranian attacks on vessels continue, and the ripple effect is tearing through global supply chains. While crude oil and natural gas disruptions have grabbed headlines, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) also finds itself at the center of the crisis. The United States leads the world in LPG exports by a wide margin. However, the Gulf countries remain a critical supply center: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar are all major LPG exporters currently cut off by the closure.…

Uzbekistan, one of Central Asia’s economic drivers, is experiencing a significant expansion of Chinese economic influence.  Bilateral trade during the first half of 2026 grew to $7.7 billion, according to official Uzbek government data, making China by far Uzbekistan’s largest trade partner. Beijing’s official statistics, meanwhile, put the number even higher – at $8.9 billion. Russia, Uzbekistan’s erstwhile overlord, lags far behind with bilateral trade turnover amounting to $5.8 billion. The number…

India’s ONGC is poised to take over operation of two Venezuelan oil projects from state-owned PDVSA, which would give the Indian producer direct operational control over assets of the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves. Reuters exclusively reported Wednesday that ONGC expects to sign new agreements “very soon” under Venezuela’s new petroleum law after years of limiting its activities because of U.S. sanctions. Speaking during ONGC’s June-quarter earnings call cited by Reuters, Finance Director Anupam Agarwal…

India’s ONGC is poised to take over operation of two Venezuelan oil projects from state-owned PDVSA, which would give the Indian producer direct operational control over assets of the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves. Reuters exclusively reported Wednesday that ONGC expects to sign new agreements “very soon” under Venezuela’s new petroleum law after years of limiting its activities because of U.S. sanctions. Speaking during ONGC’s June-quarter earnings call cited by Reuters, Finance Director Anupam Agarwal…