Iraq expects crude oil exports from the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan via pipeline to Turkey to resume this week, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein has told Bloomberg in an interview.  Oil exports from Kurdistan have been halted for two and a half years, after they were shut in in March 2023 due to a dispute over who should authorize the Kurdish exports. Despite some breakthroughs in negotiations in recent months, the disagreements have continued. The restart of exports to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan…

Canadian energy infrastructure company, TC Energy Corp. (NYSE:TRP), has unveiled plans to invest $8.5 billion over the next five years in U.S. power projects, banking on predictions of a 45 billion cubic feet per day increase in natural gas demand to meet surging power demand. According to TC Energy CEO François Poirier, gas-fired generation will power the ongoing AI build-out, adding that his company has a footprint in eight of the ten largest U.S. electric utilities. “It’s all about energy--and natural gas is going to be the…

TotalEnergies’ Venus project in Namibia’s Orange Basin is the kind of discovery that makes oil executives’ eyes light up and governments dream of windfalls. The discovery – made in February 2022 – was immediately recognized as one of the African continent’s largest in decades, with an estimated 1.5 billion barrels of light crude at 45 degrees API and 4.8 Tcf of natural gas. Expectations are high: peak output is projected at around 150,000 barrels a day and the field could remain productive for 30-40 years. The…

  The U.S. Administration is increasingly looking to have a direct equity involvement in America’s critical minerals supply chain, in the race to close the gap with the world’s dominant holder of supply of critical metals and rare earth elements, China. As the U.S. seeks to reduce dependence on China in the supply chain of key defense, military, and battery technologies, the Trump Administration is reportedly asking to have a 10% stake in a major lithium project in Humboldt County in northern Nevada.   This would be another…

Following almost three years of strict sanctions on Russian energy by the United States and European Union, Russia continues to use shadow fleets to transport vast quantities of crude to countries looking to invest in its discounted energy products. While several countries have used shadow fleets to avoid sanctions in the past, Russia has invested heavily in this practice and now has hundreds of unmarked, aging ships on the water, transporting crude to anyone who will take it.  Shadow fleets are “dark fleets” that use a range of…

Iraq has two ingredients necessary for a thriving solar industry: expansive deserts on which to set up solar panels, and a high number of sunlight hours. But Iraq is also OPEC’s second-largest oil producer. Worldometer ranks the country sixth in the world, producing 4.443 million barrels of oil a day. In terms of oil reserves, Iraq is fifth globally, with 143.069 billion barrels, accounting for 8.67% of world supply. At current consumption levels, Iraq has enough oil to last the next 457 years. This hasn’t stopped the country from installing…

You can add Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Donald Trump’s “highly respected” leader list.  Trump in a couple of blasts from his Truth Social account singled out the Uzbek and Kazakh leaders for praise after their respective countries signed major contracts with US firms. The deals can provide a major boost for the Middle Corridor, an emerging trade network designed to strengthen connections between Central Asia and Western markets.  Trump hailed Uzbekistan specifically…

Diesel bulls are leaning back into the market as fresh strikes on Russian refining tighten the near-term balance and spur a rush into distillate hedges. According to Bloomberg, funds now hold their strongest net-long in European diesel since early 2022, and diesel options activity on ICE has set monthly records, while front-month low-sulphur gasoil trades in the low $700s per metric ton.  These moves follow renewed disruption at Gazprom’s Salavat petrochemical complex in Bashkortostan, its second hit in a week, adding to a rolling loss…

Shares in London-listed defence firms rallied during early trading on Wednesday after President Donald Trump changed his tune on the Russia and Ukraine conflict. Aerospace firm BAE Systems led the City’s blue-chips with a 1.6 per cent gain to 1,982.50. Meanwhile Babcock was up over one per cent to 1,195 and FTSE darling Rolls-Royce rose 0.8 per cent to 1,170.50. Still, the moves were not enough to drag the wider index out of the red with the FTSE 100 falling 0.4 per cent on Wednesday morning. This was led by slumps from Burberry, Barclays…

Diesel bulls are leaning back into the market as fresh strikes on Russian refining tighten the near-term balance and spur a rush into distillate hedges. According to Bloomberg, funds now hold their strongest net-long in European diesel since early 2022, and diesel options activity on ICE has set monthly records, while front-month low-sulphur gasoil trades in the low $700s per metric ton.  These moves follow renewed disruption at Gazprom’s Salavat petrochemical complex in Bashkortostan, its second hit in a week, adding to a rolling loss…

The Global Precious Metals MMI (Monthly Metals Index) moved sideways, trending up by a slight 1.14%. Despite the sideways movement, precious metals prices have been anything but stale. The past two weeks have been dramatic for the precious metals market, as gold set new records, silver touched levels not seen since 2011 and palladium and platinum moved higher on supply concerns.  Graph prices are from Trading Economics: tradingeconomics.com Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s 25-basis-point rate cut at its September meeting, along…

Oil and gas activity in the Dallas Fed’s Eleventh District slipped again in the third quarter, with the headline business activity index at -6.5 versus -8.1 in Q2 as executives pointed to elevated uncertainty and higher costs, according to the latest release on Wednesday of the Dallas Fed’s Energy Survey.   Company outlook deteriorated to -17.6, according to the survey, while production also edged lower. The oil production index held at -8.6 and natural gas at -3.2. Oilfield services weakened, with equipment utilization at…

Oil and gas activity in the Dallas Fed’s Eleventh District slipped again in the third quarter, with the headline business activity index at -6.5 versus -8.1 in Q2 as executives pointed to elevated uncertainty and higher costs, according to the latest release on Wednesday of the Dallas Fed’s Energy Survey.   Company outlook deteriorated to -17.6, according to the survey, while production also edged lower. The oil production index held at -8.6 and natural gas at -3.2. Oilfield services weakened, with equipment utilization at…

TenneT, the Dutch state-owned grid operator, has agreed to divest 46% in its unit TenneT Germany to major institutional investors for up to $11.2 billion (9.5 billion euros), the company, whose sole shareholder is the Dutch state, said on Wednesday.  With the deal, TenneT and the Dutch state secure the equity requirement for the expansion of TenneT Germany’s high-voltage grid, the operator said.   The three large institutional investors are APG, investing on behalf of Dutch pension fund ABP, Singapore’s sovereign wealth…

TenneT, the Dutch state-owned grid operator, has agreed to divest 46% in its unit TenneT Germany to major institutional investors for up to $11.2 billion (9.5 billion euros), the company, whose sole shareholder is the Dutch state, said on Wednesday.  With the deal, TenneT and the Dutch state secure the equity requirement for the expansion of TenneT Germany’s high-voltage grid, the operator said.   The three large institutional investors are APG, investing on behalf of Dutch pension fund ABP, Singapore’s sovereign wealth…

TenneT, the Dutch state-owned grid operator, has agreed to divest 46% in its unit TenneT Germany to major institutional investors for up to $11.2 billion (9.5 billion euros), the company, whose sole shareholder is the Dutch state, said on Wednesday.  With the deal, TenneT and the Dutch state secure the equity requirement for the expansion of TenneT Germany’s high-voltage grid, the operator said.   The three large institutional investors are APG, investing on behalf of Dutch pension fund ABP, Singapore’s sovereign wealth…

The Trump administration is looking to take some equity ownership of another large publicly traded company. The decision comes after the administration began re-evaluating a $2.3 billion loan approved by President Biden for the development of a Nevada lithium deposit. As Bloomberg reports, the record-high loan to Lithium Americas Corp., finalized in 2024, would have provided most of the capital for the construction of a processing plant adjacent to the company’s Thacker Pass mine, on one of country’s largest lithium deposits. However,…

Turkey’s state energy company, BOTAS, has signed a landmark 20-year U.S. LNG supply agreement with Mercuria, anchoring Ankara’s strategy to reduce dependency on pipeline gas and reposition itself as a regional hub, according to the Daily Sabah.  The deal, signed in New York during President Erdogan’s U.N. visit, will deliver around 4 billion cubic meters annually from 2026 onward, cumulatively totaling about 70 bcm.  A separate preliminary nine-year LNG pact was also agreed with Australia’s Woodside, calling for…

Turkey’s state energy company, BOTAS, has signed a landmark 20-year U.S. LNG supply agreement with Mercuria, anchoring Ankara’s strategy to reduce dependency on pipeline gas and reposition itself as a regional hub, according to the Daily Sabah.  The deal, signed in New York during President Erdogan’s U.N. visit, will deliver around 4 billion cubic meters annually from 2026 onward, cumulatively totaling about 70 bcm.  A separate preliminary nine-year LNG pact was also agreed with Australia’s Woodside, calling for…

Crude oil inventories in the United States decreased by 600,000 barrels during the week ending September 19, after shrinking by 9.3 million barrels in the week prior, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday. The move brings commercial stockpiles to 414.8 million barrels according to government data, which is 4% below the five-year average for this time of year. The EIA’s data release follows API’s figures that were released a day earlier, which suggested that crude oil inventories…