Egypt is rolling the dice on black gold once again, announcing plans to drill 480 new exploratory oil wells over the next five years—an ambitious $5.7 billion wager that the country can claw its way back from years of production decline. The Petroleum Ministry laid out the plan this week, revealing that 101 wells are already slated for 2026, spread across Egypt’s main producing regions. The announcement didn’t specify where all that capital is coming from—never a minor detail—but the country has been cozying up to…

The Uzbek government is allocating $100 million to turbocharge the development of the country’s AI sector.  A large chunk of the government funding is intended for initiatives to attract foreign investors to construct data centers in Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region in western Uzbekistan, Digital Technologies Minister Sherzod Shermatov said in an interview with state television.  Funding will also be used to develop AI training programs, as well as implement a “package of 86 projects” covering a variety of economic…

Oil may be having a rough week, but Occidental Petroleum’s Vicki Hollub isn’t panicking. The CEO told the Energy Intelligence Forum in London that crude prices are likely to hover in a narrow $58–$62 range through 2026, before breaking higher later in the decade. That call looks almost clairvoyant at the moment: WTI is trading at $58.76, Brent at $62.43, all deep in the red after Monday and Tuesday’s selloff. Hollub said she remains “very bullish on oil prices — not this year or next, but I’m bullish on…

Oil may be having a rough week, but Occidental Petroleum’s Vicki Hollub isn’t panicking. The CEO told the Energy Intelligence Forum in London that crude prices are likely to hover in a narrow $58–$62 range through 2026, before breaking higher later in the decade. That call looks almost clairvoyant at the moment: WTI is trading at $58.76, Brent at $62.43, all deep in the red after Monday and Tuesday’s selloff. Hollub said she remains “very bullish on oil prices — not this year or next, but I’m bullish on…

An oil surplus long prophesied by traders may finally be materializing, according to Gunvor Group CEO Torbjörn Törnqvist, who says the market is shifting from tightness to glut—though not everyone is buying the narrative just yet. “It looks like we are now moving into a bit of a different market,” Törnqvist told Bloomberg in London. “We have heard it before and people have been burned on that. But this time around at this stage I think there’s a bit more substance in the oversupplied narrative.”…

The Copper Monthly Metals Index (MMI) broke above range, with a 3.7% rise from September to October. This comes as copper prices, along with many other metals, continue to show an upside bias. Copper Joins Other Base Metals in Upward Trend Comex copper prices hit a two-month high, barreling past the 11k per metric ton mark by early October. LME copper prices lagged behind their Comex counterparts, but traveled upwards in tandem nonetheless. As of October 10, Comex and LME prices had bounced 17% and 12% from where they stood at the start of August.…

The prospect of a contango is casting a shadow over oil markets, with the entire 2026 WTI futures curve now trading below $60 per barrel—beneath breakeven levels for most new shale wells. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné and Vitol’s Russel Hardy warn that prices this low could cut U.S. shale output by 200,000 to 300,000 barrels per day next year, tightening supply just as demand steadies. Backwardation Fades: Crude Market Signals Trouble Ahead for 2026 The spectre of a looming contango is haunting crude oil markets, especially…

Non-OPEC crude production will begin to decline at oil prices at $60 per barrel and lower, Patrick Pouyanne, the chief executive of supermajor TotalEnergies, said on Tuesday.  “There is a point at $60 per barrel where we'll see the shale industry beginning to slow down,” Pouyanne said on the sidelines of the Energy Intelligence Forum in London, as carried by Reuters.  “Our view is that from mid-2026 non-OPEC supply will be much lower, no growth, and then OPEC will be regaining control of the market,” TotalEnergies’…

Non-OPEC crude production will begin to decline at oil prices at $60 per barrel and lower, Patrick Pouyanne, the chief executive of supermajor TotalEnergies, said on Tuesday.  “There is a point at $60 per barrel where we'll see the shale industry beginning to slow down,” Pouyanne said on the sidelines of the Energy Intelligence Forum in London, as carried by Reuters.  “Our view is that from mid-2026 non-OPEC supply will be much lower, no growth, and then OPEC will be regaining control of the market,” TotalEnergies’…

Non-OPEC crude production will begin to decline at oil prices at $60 per barrel and lower, Patrick Pouyanne, the chief executive of supermajor TotalEnergies, said on Tuesday.  “There is a point at $60 per barrel where we'll see the shale industry beginning to slow down,” Pouyanne said on the sidelines of the Energy Intelligence Forum in London, as carried by Reuters.  “Our view is that from mid-2026 non-OPEC supply will be much lower, no growth, and then OPEC will be regaining control of the market,” TotalEnergies’…

Non-OPEC crude production will begin to decline at oil prices at $60 per barrel and lower, Patrick Pouyanne, the chief executive of supermajor TotalEnergies, said on Tuesday.  “There is a point at $60 per barrel where we'll see the shale industry beginning to slow down,” Pouyanne said on the sidelines of the Energy Intelligence Forum in London, as carried by Reuters.  “Our view is that from mid-2026 non-OPEC supply will be much lower, no growth, and then OPEC will be regaining control of the market,” TotalEnergies’…

China’s latest export controls on rare-earth minerals risk not only reigniting a trade war with the United States, they could also come with far-reaching implications for efforts to rearm Ukraine and infrastructure development in Central Asia. Tensions between Beijing and Washington flared again over rare earths -- an essential group of 17 elements that find themselves in everything from electric vehicle batteries to smartphones to vital defense technology == on October 9 when China added new export controls for five rare-earth metals on…

Amid soaring supply and subdued demand, the expected global oil oversupply will be larger than previously anticipated, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday.  In its monthly report, the agency today trimmed its oil demand growth estimate for this year and next and hiked the expected supply growth, which will result in a record supply overhang. Global oil stocks are already soaring, especially oil stockpiled in tankers on water, the IEA warned.  The IEA revised down its estimate of global oil demand growth to 700,000 barrels…

Shell and its partner Sunlink Energies and Resources Limited have taken a final investment decision on the HI gas project offshore Nigeria, which will supply additional gas volumes to Nigeria LNG, the supermajor said on Tuesday.   The HI project, expected to start up by the end of the decade, will supply 350 million standard cubic feet, or about 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent, of gas per day at peak production to Nigeria LNG (NLNG), in which Shell holds a 25.6% interest.  The project will entail of a wellhead platform with four…

Shell and its partner Sunlink Energies and Resources Limited have taken a final investment decision on the HI gas project offshore Nigeria, which will supply additional gas volumes to Nigeria LNG, the supermajor said on Tuesday.   The HI project, expected to start up by the end of the decade, will supply 350 million standard cubic feet, or about 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent, of gas per day at peak production to Nigeria LNG (NLNG), in which Shell holds a 25.6% interest.  The project will entail of a wellhead platform with four…

Shell and its partner Sunlink Energies and Resources Limited have taken a final investment decision on the HI gas project offshore Nigeria, which will supply additional gas volumes to Nigeria LNG, the supermajor said on Tuesday.   The HI project, expected to start up by the end of the decade, will supply 350 million standard cubic feet, or about 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent, of gas per day at peak production to Nigeria LNG (NLNG), in which Shell holds a 25.6% interest.  The project will entail of a wellhead platform with four…

Oil prices wiped out earlier gains to dip by more than 2% in early U.S. trade on Tuesday amid renewed concerns that the trade war between the United States and China could slow global economy.    As of 7:21 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, the U.S. benchmark, WTI Crude, fell to the $58 per barrel threshold, down by 2.30% on the day at $58.12.  The international benchmark, Brent Crude, was trading below the $62 a barrel mark, and was down by 2.181% at $61.94. Oil had stabilized in early Asian trade on Tuesday, as hopes of a diplomatic thaw…

The U.S. stock market plunged by the widest margin in six months on Friday, with the S&P 500 shedding nearly 3% after President Donald Trump threatened “a massive increase of tariffs on Chinese products” due to its continuing strict control of the rare earths market. On Thursday, Beijing announced that it was increasing export controls for five more rare-earth metals, bringing the total number of critical minerals under export control to 12. Under the previous restrictions, Beijing required exporters to apply for a license from…

There are not enough gas turbines being manufactured in the world right now. The message has been flashing on and off in the media for months now as the AI race drives demand for electricity sharply higher and, with it, demand for new generation capacity. Despite the spike, however, not all gas turbine makers are in a rush to go all in on the AI hype. They’ve been burnt before. In September, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that there were 114 GW of new natural gas generation capacity under construction and in pre-construction…

A two-month-long bidding war in Canada’s oil patch signaled there is another way for a company to boost its production and resources than investing in new oil sands production, which is considered the world’s most expensive source of new oil supply.   The acquisition saga for MEG Energy appears to have ended after the hostile bidder, MEG’s shareholder Strathcona Resources with a 14% stake, terminated its takeover pursuit on Friday. This followed a sweetened offer by the rival bidder, Cenovus Energy, which earlier last…