Iran’s oil minister has resigned as the U.S. blockade pushes the country’s crude exports and oil revenues toward zero, handing control of Iran’s most important industry to the head of the National Iranian Oil Company. President Masoud Pezeshkian accepted Mohsen Paknejad’s resignation on Sunday and appointed NIOC chief Hamid Bovard as acting oil minister, according to Reuters. The president’s office said Paknejad had asked to resign for personal reasons “a long time ago” and Pezeshkian had previously rejected…

The signing of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 by President Trump on 18 September gives him a huge economic lever to effect massive political change in what is effectively a turbocharged version of the ‘tariff diplomacy’ he has used since taking office for the second term. Its primary purpose is to force both sides into ending the Russia-Ukraine War that started with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order on 24 February 2022 to commence his ‘Special Military Operation’. This intent was…

Indian state-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) prepares to issue a $3-billion bond to finance its share of a major offshore oil development in Brazil, as Indian companies move to expand in international upstream to secure crude oil supplies. BPCL, India’s second-largest state-controlled oil refiner, expects to raise the sum via several tranches and has held roadshows in London, Singapore, and Dubai to assess potential investor interest, anonymous sources with knowledge of the plan told Bloomberg on Monday.   The…

Indian state-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) prepares to issue a $3-billion bond to finance its share of a major offshore oil development in Brazil, as Indian companies move to expand in international upstream to secure crude oil supplies. BPCL, India’s second-largest state-controlled oil refiner, expects to raise the sum via several tranches and has held roadshows in London, Singapore, and Dubai to assess potential investor interest, anonymous sources with knowledge of the plan told Bloomberg on Monday.   The…

Indian state-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) prepares to issue a $3-billion bond to finance its share of a major offshore oil development in Brazil, as Indian companies move to expand in international upstream to secure crude oil supplies. BPCL, India’s second-largest state-controlled oil refiner, expects to raise the sum via several tranches and has held roadshows in London, Singapore, and Dubai to assess potential investor interest, anonymous sources with knowledge of the plan told Bloomberg on Monday.   The…

Reports of a possible attack on Saudi Arabia's Petro Rabigh refining and petrochemical complex north of Jeddah emerged on Monday, although Saudi authorities have so far not confirmed that an attack took place. Iran's Tasnim news agency, citing Yemeni sources, reported that an oil refinery in the Jeddah area had been attacked. So far, Tasnim appears to be the primary source for the specific claim of an attack, with no confirmation from Saudi authorities or Saudi Aramco. There are, however, indications that a fire has occurred at the facility. Videos…

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether a lawsuit filed in state court in Colorado seeking damages from two major oil companies for the climate-change related damage inflicted on Boulder County can go forward. Here's the short version: The Canadian-based Suncor Energy Inc. and Texas-based ExxonMobil say that policies regarding climate change and any alleged damages resulting from it are matters for the federal government and courts only and that therefore the state suit should not be allowed to go forward. Boulder County…

Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser warned Monday that the world has lost nearly 3 billion barrels of gross oil supply since the Iran war began, equivalent to roughly half the crude and products that normally would have moved through the Strait of Hormuz over the same period, leaving global inventories “scarily thin” even as crude flows from the Middle East recover. The world entered the crisis with almost 10 billion barrels of oil stocks, according to Nasser, but more than 1 billion barrels have since been drawn from inventories to offset…

The share of gasoline cars in global vehicle sales fell below 50% for the first time ever as the Hormuz shock and the resulting record-high fuel prices accelerated the previously sluggish shift toward EVs outside China. A few years ago, China blew past the threshold of 50% of all car sales being hybrids and EVs, and the share is now about 55%. But the rest of the world didn’t follow until the Iran war disrupted the fuel markets. Global sales shares of EVs are far from the Chinese numbers, but the shift toward electric vehicles has been remarkably…

China this week announced it will suspend all fuel exports this month to keep its domestic market supplied. Also this week, President Donald Trump demanded that Germany and France release 120 million barrels of diesel from their storage or get hit with a U.S. diesel export ban. Europe is running out of options to stay well supplied with a critical fuel. Diesel is the fuel, on which any economy runs. While it may feature less commonly in passenger cars these days, diesel is the default fuel for heavy machinery, agriculture, and freight transport.…

Space-based solar power just got another powerful vote of confidence. The United States Department of Defense just inked a contract with solar energy company Overview Energy to “design, build, and test a homing beacon that will enable its space-based solar energy system to accurately beam power from orbit to receiving solar arrays on Earth,” according to a brand new report from Interesting Engineering. The idea is that solar panels would orbit the Earth, collecting sunlight straight from the source and then beaming it back down to Earth…

The renewable revolution is running out of space. Utility-scale solar and wind farms take up enormous tracts of land and are facing increasing legal pushback from many of the communities where their development is planned. However, an enormous expansion of clean energy resources is still needed to stay on track with any feasible pathway toward keeping global warming within 1.5º Celsius of pre-industrial averages – the threshold to avoid the very worst impacts of climate change. Moreover, the expansion of renewable energies is becoming…

Despite pressure from some governments and consumers for a global energy transition, private equity firms continue to invest heavily in some of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, several companies, banks, and even energy companies began introducing stronger environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards, including measures to decarbonise operations. However, just a couple of years later, many companies have backtracked on their ESG goals, and private equity firms are continuing to fund some…

Oil companies have spent years using AI to drill faster, predict equipment failures and squeeze more production from existing fields. The UAE’s state-run oil giant, ADNOC, is now finding out what the same technology can do when the problem isn’t efficiency, but a war that initially cut UAE oil exports by roughly two-thirds, from about 5.1 million barrels per day before the conflict to just 1.9 million bpd in March. Almost seven months later, ADNOC is operating through a very different export system that heavily relies on AI.  By…

The green hydrogen hype has all but stalled out – but could white hydrogen take its place as the next big thing in decarbonization? Geologic hydrogen, so-called ‘white’ hydrogen, could potentially bypass the most critical barriers to scaling hydrogen use without significantly expanding the sector’s carbon footprint. While the technology is still nascent, it could one day decarbonize some of the world’s hardest-to-abate industrial sectors.  This form of hydrogen involves sourcing naturally occurring hydrogen found…

The flow of crude from the Persian Gulf has recovered to near-prewar levels, but the latest data shows that much of the oil is reaching markets through routes and shipping arrangements that did not exist before the war, raising the question of whether Iran is losing its leverage in the Strait of Hormuz. At least 16.5 million barrels per day of crude left the region between September 1 and 28, matching the prewar average when Iran is excluded, according to commodity analytics firm Kpler. But while crude levels have risen, the refinery bottleneck…

There is an increasing body of evidence connecting climate change and severe weather events. In 2004, a group of researchers published one of the first studies linking human-caused climate change to a specific extreme weather event – the 2003 European summer heatwave, which killed over 70,000 people across Europe. The scientists determined that human involvement had at least doubled the risk of such an extreme heatwave, prompting other researchers to investigate the links between human-driven climate change and severe weather. The UK-based…

Several countries across Latin America have been rapidly expanding their wind energy capacity to diversify the energy mix and strengthen energy security, with far more expansion planned for the next decade. Brazil and Mexico are leading the way, with several other countries across the region also beginning to develop their green energy sectors.  Across Latin America, installed wind energy capacity exceeded 44.7 GW in 2022. A Wood Mackenzie report from July 2025 forecast that wind capacity in South America would reach 83 GW by 2034, with a…

President Donald Trump said Friday that South Korea’s investment agreement with the United States now includes $8.4 billion for an enhanced oil recovery project. Seoul says it agreed to no such thing. “The Republic of Korea Deal keeps getting BETTER! 8.4 Billion Dollars for an enhanced Oil Recovery Project. Producing more Oil and Gas means American Energy Dominance and Energy Security in the World for the Future!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is used to squeeze more production from aging fields after…

President Donald Trump said Friday that South Korea’s investment agreement with the United States now includes $8.4 billion for an enhanced oil recovery project. Seoul says it agreed to no such thing. “The Republic of Korea Deal keeps getting BETTER! 8.4 Billion Dollars for an enhanced Oil Recovery Project. Producing more Oil and Gas means American Energy Dominance and Energy Security in the World for the Future!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is used to squeeze more production from aging fields after…