The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States saw a dip of 2.8 million barrels in the week ending January 2. Crude oil inventories rose by 1.7 million barrels in the week prior. Crude oil inventories in the United States dipped by 5.1 million barrels net for 2025, according to Oilprice calculations of API data. Earlier this week, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) have risen by 300,000 barrels to 413.5 million barrels in the…

The foreign secretary has signalled the Bank of England will continue to withhold $4.8bn of Venezuelan gold being held in its vaults, despite the dramatic toppling of the country’s autocratic ruler potentially paving the way to the reserves being returned. Addressing lawmakers late on Monday, Yvette Cooper suggested the government would continue its refusal to recognise the new leadership in Caracas, acknowledging this would likely mean the Bank would continue to withhold the country’s reserves. Britain’s central bank has stored…

Venezuela’s beleaguered oil export system is narrowing rapidly around Chevron as shipments to its largest traditional customer in China remain stalled amid an intensified U.S. oil embargo and mounting geopolitical upheaval. Shipping data as of January 6 shows crude loading for Chinese buyers at Venezuelan ports has been on hold for the fifth straight day—but Chevron’s vessels continue to load and export crude to the United States. PDVSA’s attempts to serve its Asia contracts have been disrupted by the U.S. naval blockade…

Yes, Father Time has turned the page, and we will again talk to the ultimate sage and seer, The Question Man to help us fathom the complications of the world. Q. Can you give us a capsule summary in numbers of what happened in 2025? A. Sure. Start with domestic energy prices: electricity prices rose by about 7%, reflecting tight grid conditions and rising demand; natural gas prices climbed sharply, with Henry Hub approaching $4 per MMBtu; and oil prices fell roughly 18–19% over the year. But let’s add two other items. The international…

If 2025 felt like a year of mixed signals in energy markets, 2026 will feel like a contradiction. We are entering a year defined by divergence—a paradox in which the world has too much of what once worried us most, and not nearly enough of what we assumed would always be there. For much of the last half-century, “energy security” essentially meant oil supply. In 2025, that definition began to change. In 2026 and over the next few years, it will shift even more. The new constraint is not barrels—it is electrons. Reliable,…

Shell is making a quiet but pointed return to Angola’s offshore oil patch, signing a deal to acquire a 35% stake in two deepwater blocks from a Chevron subsidiary, as international majors circle a country trying to arrest a long production slide. The agreement gives Shell a minority interest in assets operated by Cabinda Gulf Oil Co., Chevron’s Angolan unit. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Shell said the deal has government approval and is moving through final legal steps. The farm-in follows an exclusive exploration agreement…

The Department of Energy (DOE) has finally awarded the billions of dollars for uranium enrichment announced back in 2024. The contracts span the full range of uranium enrichment from low-enriched uranium (LEU) used by the current global reactor fleet, through high-assay LEU (HALEU) which is planned to be used by multiple advanced reactor designs. Yet while three companies were chosen for huge awards, peaking at almost 900 million each, a few were notably left out. Centers Energy was awarded $900 million to support the expansion of their currently-operating…

The most traded U.S.-listed oil exchange-traded funds opened higher on Tuesday, closely tracking a small rise in oil futures, as investors weigh Venezuela’s short-term supply and hedge exposure to the crude futures through the ETFs.  United States Oil Fund (NYSEARCA: USO) was up by 0.56% as of 9:35 a.m. ET on Tuesday, mirroring a 0.7% increase in front-month crude oil futures.  United States Brent Oil Fund (NYSEARCA: BNO) gained 0.54%, Invesco DB Oil Fund (NYSEARCA: DBO) was up 0.65%, and ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil (NYSEARCA:…

While Russia and China have vociferously condemned the US operation in Venezuela to take the country’s strongman, Nicolas Maduro, into custody, Central Asian governments are adopting a restrained approach to the latest demonstration of American gunboat diplomacy. Oil interests appear to be a factor in shaping international reactions. No Central Asian state, as of January 5, has issued an official reaction to Maduro’s capture and the apparent US intention to take control of Venezuela’s oil industry. They have little incentive to…

Some of the biggest international oil trading houses, including Trafigura Group, will discuss with the U.S. Administration returning to oil trade with Venezuela, the global head of Trafigura’s oil division, Ben Luckock, told Bloomberg television in an interview on Tuesday.  The capture of Nicolas Maduro opens the door to U.S. and other Western firms to consider investments in Venezuela’s industry, and to the top trading houses to seek a return to trading Venezuela’s crude and delivering fuels to the country sitting on 17%…

Some of the biggest international oil trading houses, including Trafigura Group, will discuss with the U.S. Administration returning to oil trade with Venezuela, the global head of Trafigura’s oil division, Ben Luckock, told Bloomberg television in an interview on Tuesday.  The capture of Nicolas Maduro opens the door to U.S. and other Western firms to consider investments in Venezuela’s industry, and to the top trading houses to seek a return to trading Venezuela’s crude and delivering fuels to the country sitting on 17%…

Oil inches higher as traders are more focused on short term effects of the Venezuela oil blockade than longer term supply additions. Trump’s Venezuela Shock Jolts Energy Markets Awake - Trump’s ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has breathed new life into stale oil markets, particularly for US equities that are believed to benefit from cheap Venezuelan crude. - Even though less than a week has passed so far in 2026, shares of US oil major Chevron are already up 8% since the beginning of the year, with refiner Valero Energy…

U.S. oil companies could be “up and running” in Venezuela’s oil sector within 18 months, U.S. President Donald Trump told NBC News days after U.S. forces extracted Nicolas Maduro out of the country holding the world’s largest proven oil reserves. “A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue,” President Trump told NBC News in an interview.  Regarding the 18-month timeline during which U.S. companies…

U.S. oil companies could be “up and running” in Venezuela’s oil sector within 18 months, U.S. President Donald Trump told NBC News days after U.S. forces extracted Nicolas Maduro out of the country holding the world’s largest proven oil reserves. “A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue,” President Trump told NBC News in an interview.  Regarding the 18-month timeline during which U.S. companies…

U.S. oil companies could be “up and running” in Venezuela’s oil sector within 18 months, U.S. President Donald Trump told NBC News days after U.S. forces extracted Nicolas Maduro out of the country holding the world’s largest proven oil reserves. “A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue,” President Trump told NBC News in an interview.  Regarding the 18-month timeline during which U.S. companies…

Officials from the more than 30 Western countries of the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” that support Kyiv in its war with Russia will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as they continue to fine-tune a peace proposal aimed at ending Europe's largest and deadliest conflict since World War II. There will also be a US presence at the meeting on January 6, with President Donald Trump’s chief negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner present in the French capital, though Secretary of State Marco Rubio is unlikely to…

Venezuela’s state oil firm PDVSA has been unable to ship oil cargoes to Asia for the fifth consecutive day on Tuesday, as the U.S. “oil quarantine” of Venezuela continues, according to shipping data cited by Reuters. U.S. supermajor Chevron resumed exports to the United States on Monday, according to the data, after a few days of suspended shipments during which U.S. forces extracted Nicolas Maduro and flew him to New York to stand trial in drug-trafficking charges.  Chevron is the only Western oil company currently authorized…

As 2026 begins, energy markets are reacting less to supply outages than to how governments are choosing to act. The removal of Venezuela’s president, instability along the Red Sea, and rising uncertainty around Iran have altered assumptions about restraint, escalation, and control. This piece examines four locations where those changes are already influencing energy risk. Venezuela: Decapitation Without Control The headlining news, of course, is that Nicolás Maduro has been captured during a U.S. military and intelligence operation,…

Crude oil began trade this year with a dip, despite the news about U.S. strikes on Venezuela and the taking of President Nicolas Maduro to the U.S. Normally, such events would have pushed oil higher, but not this year. This year, oil prices will need a much more major disruption to rebound – and so will gas prices. Brent crude was trading at a little over $60 per barrel at the start of the first full trading week of 2026, after President Trump announced the capture of the Venezuelan president, accompanied by statements regarding the country’s…

The shock-and-awe capture of Nicolas Maduro by the United States, which was the culmination of the U.S. pressure on Venezuela in recent months, ended a tumultuous chapter in the history of the South American nation sitting on 17% of the world’s proven oil reserves. Maduro’s arrest and the installation of a U.S.-compliant leadership in Caracas open another chapter in Venezuela’s history, which could be equally tumultuous and, in these early days, face uncertainties and operational challenges. U.S. President Donald Trump wants the…