The United States is putting another 17 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve on offer, one day after the IEA accelerated emergency stock releases as governments scramble to get more oil and fuel into a tight market. The Department of Energy issued a request for proposals Friday for an exchange of up to 17 million barrels, part of the 172 million barrels Washington committed to make available under the IEA’s 400-million-barrel emergency action announced in March. The SPR currently holds about 283 million barrels. If…

A massive wind farm in the state of Victoria, Australia, has been approved by state authorities, paving the way for the project to go to the federal environment minister for final checks. ABC News reports Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny this week signed off on the Warracknabeal Energy Park, five months after its environmental impact report was approved. WestWind Energy plans to build 219 turbines and install two 300-megawatt battery energy storage systems across 26,000 hectares of farmland in the heart of Victoria’s wheat belt. The site…

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States remained unchanged this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, with the total rig count in the US staying at 603, up 55 from this same time last year. The number of active oil rigs fell by 3, to 459 during the latest reporting period, according to the data. This is 41 above this same time last year. The number of gas rigs rose by 1 to 133, which is 12 more than this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs rose by 2 to 11. The latest EIA data showed…

Equatorial Guinea will approve a new hydrocarbon law on Monday after crude production collapsed to just 20,000 barrels per day in September, down from roughly 140,000 bpd in 2020. The 120,000-bpd loss has reduced OPEC’s smallest producer to a fraction of its former output and contributed to an economy the International Monetary Fund expects to shrink 1.7% this year. Hydrocarbons Minister Antonio Oburu Ondo said the new law will make contractual terms more flexible and offer oil companies a wider range of structures based on their appetite…

Brent holds near $105 as Iranian tanker attacks and multiple geopolitical conflicts keep oil markets on edge. October 16, 2026 Oil prices have been relatively rangebound this week as the current modus operandi of frequent Hormuz transits and frequent Iranian drone attacks found an equilibrium point around $105 per barrel for ICE Brent. Production shut-ins triggered by Hurricane Isaias no longer provide bullish support as total offline capacity in the US Gulf of Mexico dipped to 200,000 b/d by Friday, with offshore production returned to its pre-Isaias…

The head of the International Monetary Fund has warned financial ministers that widespread AI adoption could erode tax bases across the world as incomes are squeezed by the technology. Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the IMF, said governments may be ill-prepared for a potential slump in tax revenue brought on by AI’s impact on the labour market.  At the fund’s summit in Bangkok, Georgieva has issued a series of warnings on the impact of AI, calling the technology a “slow-moving tsunami” that could affect…

Two startup electricity retailers in Germany have recently announced they would cease operations as spiking wholesale prices amid the gas price surge are pressuring the industry again, and this time the pressure is compounded by plans for renewable policy changes. Renewable electricity provider Grüüün, part of Münch Energie Group, early this month said it would discontinue servicing about 200,000 residential customers as of October 31, 2026, and these will now have to switch to other providers. Grüüün, which launched…

The global LNG supply crunch has made Europe’s last-standing coal-fired power plants profitable this year as gas supply costs soar while the need for conventional generation to stabilize grids remains. In Germany and Poland, which host most of the remaining operational or back-up-ready coal power capacity in Europe, coal-fired generation is profitable again as winter approaches, LNG supply is barely moving out of the Strait of Hormuz, and gas prices are at their highest level since the 2022-2023 crisis. European countries, including Germany,…

The global LNG supply crunch has made Europe’s last-standing coal-fired power plants profitable this year as gas supply costs soar while the need for conventional generation to stabilize grids remains. In Germany and Poland, which host most of the remaining operational or back-up-ready coal power capacity in Europe, coal-fired generation is profitable again as winter approaches, LNG supply is barely moving out of the Strait of Hormuz, and gas prices are at their highest level since the 2022-2023 crisis. European countries, including Germany,…

The global LNG supply crunch has made Europe’s last-standing coal-fired power plants profitable this year as gas supply costs soar while the need for conventional generation to stabilize grids remains. In Germany and Poland, which host most of the remaining operational or back-up-ready coal power capacity in Europe, coal-fired generation is profitable again as winter approaches, LNG supply is barely moving out of the Strait of Hormuz, and gas prices are at their highest level since the 2022-2023 crisis. European countries, including Germany,…

The global LNG supply crunch has made Europe’s last-standing coal-fired power plants profitable this year as gas supply costs soar while the need for conventional generation to stabilize grids remains. In Germany and Poland, which host most of the remaining operational or back-up-ready coal power capacity in Europe, coal-fired generation is profitable again as winter approaches, LNG supply is barely moving out of the Strait of Hormuz, and gas prices are at their highest level since the 2022-2023 crisis. European countries, including Germany,…

Ukrainian forces have struck an oil refinery in Russia's Ryazan region, Russian officials said, hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine would resume attacks on Russian energy facilities and voiced anger over a "dangerous" disruption of satellite intelligence from the United States. Defying an "energy cease-fire" announced unilaterally last week by US President Donald Trump, Zelenskyy told the Financial Times in an interview published on October 15 that "we're done" with holding off on launching attacks on Russia's oil structures.…

The trading arm of China’s state-owned giant PetroChina is set to reap a record more than $3 billion (20 billion yuan) in trading profits this year as the Middle East crisis hiked crude prices and rattled global fuel markets and trade flows. PetroChina International (PCI), the trading vehicle of the biggest oil and gas producer in Asia, is set to book more than $3 billion in gross trading profit for 2026, anonymous trade sources told Reuters. PetroChina and other major oil and gas companies do not report trading profits individually, but…

The trading arm of China’s state-owned giant PetroChina is set to reap a record more than $3 billion (20 billion yuan) in trading profits this year as the Middle East crisis hiked crude prices and rattled global fuel markets and trade flows. PetroChina International (PCI), the trading vehicle of the biggest oil and gas producer in Asia, is set to book more than $3 billion in gross trading profit for 2026, anonymous trade sources told Reuters. PetroChina and other major oil and gas companies do not report trading profits individually, but…

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict Air strikes on October 10 killed at least 72 artisanal gold miners at Shamal al-Wadi, in the far north of Sudan's Red Sea state, along a border Egypt is policing to control a gold trade it now dominates. Survivors put the toll above 200. Miners and Sudanese rights groups blame Egyptian aircraft, and no government has claimed the strikes. Egypt treats the disputed area as its own territory and says its operations against illegal prospecting stayed inside its borders. It is the second deadly raid on the same area…

Two Trump decisions will set this weekend's energy risk, and in both he is giving up leverage to chase lower pump prices before November 3. The first is to keep U.S. firepower out of Saudi Arabia's war with the Houthis. The Houthis hit Aramco's Dhahran headquarters on Tuesday night and have kept Riyadh's main airport shut until Saturday, and Washington's rule since September is that it stays out as long as the Houthis hit only Saudi targets. The second is the license for Russian diesel. It faces its first test on October 18, the deadline in the…

Plans for huge data center buildouts in India are set to hike clean energy demand in the country, and local renewable energy providers expect demand to outstrip supply. “Even if just five gigawatts of data center capacity comes to India, which is a conservative estimate, you will need about 30-40 gigawatts of renewable power,” Kuldeep Jain, managing director and founder of CleanMax Enviro Energy Solutions Ltd., a major Indian renewables provider, told Bloomberg in an interview published on Friday. “It’s a case of demand…

Chinese LNG buyers acted early to build gas stockpiles amid the Iran war, helping the world’s top LNG importer stock up enough inventories ahead of the winter, industry analysts have told Bloomberg. As of the end of September, China’s underground gas storage was 80% full, according to Rystad Energy’s analyst Xiong Wei. Lower demand for spot supply from China this winter could mean relief for other LNG customers in Asia and Europe, many of which have been struggling with high spot LNG prices and intensified competition for supply…

Crude oil prices were on course to book a weekly gain earlier today, amid continuing Iranian strikes on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and a substantial inventory draw in the United States, at 8.56 million barrels for the week to October 9. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $105.48 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at $97.40 per barrel. Both were off highs touched earlier in the week, but still higher than last Friday. “Uncertainty in the Middle East and concerns over the sustainability of oil flows through the Strait…

Crude Oil Rallies as U.S. Inventory Draw Outruns Supply Relief November WTI crude oil futures are up sharply for the week through Thursday night. The gain did not come from one headline. The market has spent the week dealing with tanker attacks near the Strait of Hormuz, renewed attacks on Russian refineries, emergency stock releases and fresh talk of legal oil moving on previously sanctioned vessels. The release and shipping headlines gave both sides of the trade something to work with. WTI got the stronger bid when the EIA reported a large U.S.…