The European Union’s natural gas supply remains stable, according to the Gas Coordination Group, which advises the European Commission on coordinating security-of-supply measures in the event of an EU or regional emergency. The Gas Coordination Group met again this week to take stock of the current gas market situation, the European Commission said on Friday. “Despite lower storage levels compared to historical levels, the Commission and EU countries reconfirmed that EU gas supply remains stable,” the EC said.    “The…

The European Union’s natural gas supply remains stable, according to the Gas Coordination Group, which advises the European Commission on coordinating security-of-supply measures in the event of an EU or regional emergency. The Gas Coordination Group met again this week to take stock of the current gas market situation, the European Commission said on Friday. “Despite lower storage levels compared to historical levels, the Commission and EU countries reconfirmed that EU gas supply remains stable,” the EC said.    “The…

President Trump’s newest trade threat sent markets into a frenzy once again on Friday.  Earlier this week, Trump said he would back Republican proposals to halt exports of diesel in order to ease prices ahead of mid-term elections in November. US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said there was a review underway of whether a ban could work as American diesel prices reached record highs at over £4.87 a gallon.   Fuel prices could put Britain under threat. Reform UK’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick reportedly wrote…

US lawmakers and national-security experts are pressing President Donald Trump to take tougher action against Chinese entities accused of helping Iran with satellite intelligence, weapons components, and oil revenue. The calls intensified as Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the White House on September 24 for a high-stakes meeting with Trump, followed by a lavish state dinner that underscored the delicate balancing act between the world's two largest economies. Trump made no explicit mention of Iran during his public remarks with Xi, despite…

November WTI crude oil futures spent the week trading a possible reopening of the Strait of Hormuz against the risk that shipping conditions have not normalized. The contract fell to $88.67 Tuesday after reports that Iran could reopen the Strait within seven days, then recovered to $96.78 Thursday as the diplomatic story ran into the same problem it had all week: no agreement, no normal tanker traffic, and no proof the physical market is back to normal. At 22:00 GMT Thursday, November, WTI crude oil futures were trading at $94.76, down $0.71 or…

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict The U.S. and Iran are back to negotiating over the same basic bargain that briefly ended the war in June: reopen Hormuz, ease the U.S. blockade, and use a temporary ceasefire to negotiate everything they can’t settle now. The latest discussions in New York are focused on a phased arrangement under which Tehran would restore commercial shipping through Hormuz while Washington begins lifting restrictions on Iranian trade, with access to frozen Iranian assets also under discussion (at the same time, Washington…

Saudi Aramco has restarted its East-West pipeline (Petroline) less than two weeks after attacks knocked out the 7 million bpd system, restoring at least some of the route that has carried the bulk of Saudi crude around the Strait of Hormuz since the war began. Pumping has resumed at reduced rates, with Aramco reportedly targeting around 4 million bpd as flows gradually rebuild. Tanker loadings at Yanbu also appear to have restarted this week, although regular exports have yet to recover. Industrial Info Resources cited satellite imagery showing…

The European Union is urging the UK to raise tariffs on China-made cars that would bring its customs policy closer to the bloc’s and remove some barriers to including British products in the “made in Europe” policy, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. At the end of 2024, the European Commission received enough support from the EU member states to impose tariffs ranging from 7.8% to 35.3% on imports of electric vehicles from China due to unfair subsidizing. The UK, which left the…

India is weighing ideas to mandate imported coal blending at power plants as coal stocks at many facilities have crumbled amid logistics issues in recent months, government sources with direct knowledge of the discussions have told Reuters. If India initiates a mandatory blending of imported coal, it would be the first time it will have done so since 2024. The idea is to mandate power plants to blend up to 5% of imported coal with domestically sourced coal, according to the discussions that are still in the early stages. Most plants in India run…

Another Russian refinery was taken offline on Friday following a Ukrainian drone attack, in a sign that Ukraine and Russia continue to trade strikes on energy infrastructure despite separate talks with U.S. officials in New York aimed at de-escalation. The Novoshakhtinsk refinery in the southern Russian region of Rostov was hit by drones and had to be taken offline, regional governor Yury Slyusar said in a post on Telegram early on Friday. As a result of the drone attacks, the Novoshakhtinsk refinery, which has the capacity to process 110,000 barrels…

Another Russian refinery was taken offline on Friday following a Ukrainian drone attack, in a sign that Ukraine and Russia continue to trade strikes on energy infrastructure despite separate talks with U.S. officials in New York aimed at de-escalation. The Novoshakhtinsk refinery in the southern Russian region of Rostov was hit by drones and had to be taken offline, regional governor Yury Slyusar said in a post on Telegram early on Friday. As a result of the drone attacks, the Novoshakhtinsk refinery, which has the capacity to process 110,000 barrels…

The Netherlands considers that the current EU system of gas storage targets ahead of winter is inadequate and burdens governments that have to pay for meeting the EU-wide obligations. The Dutch government has already spent almost $1.14 billion (1 billion euros) this summer season alone on building up inventories, while this task should fall mostly on the gas market participants, Climate Minister Stientje van Veldhoven said in a letter to Parliament cited by Bloomberg. The Netherlands is a relatively small EU gas consumer, but it is a major natural…

For the first time since the Iran war began, JPMorgan says it no longer has a clear baseline for how the oil market gets out of it. The bank had previously worked on the assumption that rising oil prices and the economic damage they caused would eventually put limits on how far the conflict could go. Six months into the war, JPMorgan says many of those thresholds have already been crossed without producing a clear exit. Roughly 10 million barrels per day of oil supply has been disrupted, while the bank puts Brent’s September fair value at…

Oil is increasingly getting more expensive before it even reaches a refinery. Freight now accounts for roughly a fifth of the cost of a crude cargo, turning the tanker market into a major driver of the price buyers pay. At the center of the squeeze is the very large crude carrier, or VLCC, the supertanker that can move about 2 million barrels in a single voyage. Amidst stranded Gulf and Red Sea supplies, these vessels are spending more time at sea as refiners search farther afield for supplies. For instance, Indian buyers are now reaching into…

As the national average diesel price soared to a record $6.52 per gallon, the Trump Administration sent mixed signals this week about restricting U.S. diesel exports.  The White House has denied that an export ban is in the works, even if President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had hinted at the possibility hours earlier.  Rumors and reports of a diesel ban sparked vehement opposition from the U.S. energy and manufacturing industries, while analysts say restricting exports would be a self-defeating exercise that would…