Crude oil prices are continuing their slide, on course to end the week with a loss that reversed two weeks of gains. The downturn, which began on Wednesday and extended into Friday, has been exacerbated by reports that OPEC+ is actively considering another production boost to reclaim market share. At the time of writing, West Texas Intermediate is down 2.16% at $62.07 per barrel, while Brent crude is down 2.05% at $65.62 per barrel. Reuters reported on Wednesday that OPEC+ was considering another monthly output boost to be discussed at the group’s…

Crude oil prices are continuing their slide, on course to end the week with a loss that reversed two weeks of gains. The downturn, which began on Wednesday and extended into Friday, has been exacerbated by reports that OPEC+ is actively considering another production boost to reclaim market share. At the time of writing, West Texas Intermediate is down 2.16% at $62.07 per barrel, while Brent crude is down 2.05% at $65.62 per barrel. Reuters reported on Wednesday that OPEC+ was considering another monthly output boost to be discussed at the group’s…

US President Donald Trump appeared to take a combative tone with Kyiv’s key European supporters, telling them they should put more financial pressure on Russia and its main ally, China, to force the Kremlin to end its war on Ukraine, a White House official said. European leaders called “President Trump into their ‘Coalition of the Willing’ meeting,” the White House official said of the phone call on September 4 following the Paris gathering of Kyiv's backers. “President Trump emphasized that Europe must stop…

Turkey halted 600 MW of electricity exports into northern Iraq last week after Baghdad fell behind on payments, leaving Nineveh and Mosul short at peak summer demand. This is happening alongside the 2-year+ shutdown of the Iraq-Turkey (Ceyhan) pipeline. That stoppage stems from the Paris arbitration ruling against Ankara, but it now functions as a bargaining chip. Ankara wants Baghdad to settle the $1.5 billion award, agree to new terms on pipeline throughput, and open space for Turkish firms in Iraqi power and gas projects.  For Erbil, it’s…

I try not to write too much here about crude prices, as important as that market is. Largely, that is because crude moves so quickly that by the time you read anything I might write on that subject, the article will almost inevitably be out of date. So, I tend to only write about oil prices when I believe a big or sustained move is coming, or when I feel a trend will dominate a particular month or quarter. The last time I offered up an opinion on crude in these pages, for example, was back in June, when I pointed out that the sharp rise in oil…

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict Two Venezuelan F-16s made a close pass over the U.S. destroyer USS Jason Dunham in international waters on Thursday shortly after a U.S. strike destroyed a Venezuela-origin drug boat, killing 11 suspected traffickers. That, in turn, took place after the U.S. expanded its presence in the southern Caribbean, partly as a deterrent while Maduro steps up pressure over Guyana’s Essequibo. Guyana held general elections this week, with incumbent President Irfaan Ali extending his mandate. Yemen’s Houthis…

Crude oil markets faced sharp selling pressure this week as traders digested a mix of bearish supply signals from OPEC+, a surprise inventory build in the U.S., and growing expectations for looser monetary policy from the Federal Reserve. WTI front-month futures settled at $63.30 on Thursday, down over 1% for the week and marking their lowest close since August 20. Traders remain laser-focused on the upcoming OPEC+ meeting this Sunday, where eight member nations are expected to push for additional supply increases starting in October. This potential…

Canada’s government will not continue Trudeau’s policy mandating at least 20% electric vehicle sales from automakers as of the model year 2026, as Mark Carney’s new cabinet is looking to protect the auto industry that has been hit by the U.S. trade policies and tariffs.   The Canadian government will be announcing later on Friday that it will delay the EV sales mandate, sources with knowledge of the plans to prop up industries hit by the trade war told Bloomberg. The previous government of Justin Trudeau enacted many…

India’s top refiner, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IndianOil), has forgone buying U.S. crude at this week’s tender, instead opting for Middle Eastern and West African crude, sources in the oil trade industry told Reuters on Friday. At the previous tender last week, IOC bought as many as 5 million barrels of U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude.   But this week, the biggest refiner in the world’s third-largest crude importer bought 2 million barrels of West African crude, another one million barrel of Nigeria’s Agbami…

Japan is exploring offtake agreements to buy LNG from the planned export project in Alaska as part of the Japanese pledge to buy $7 billion worth of U.S. energy products, per a joint statement on the U.S.-Japan trade deal quoted by Reuters on Friday.   On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to implement the U.S.-Japan trade agreement reached in July.  Under the agreement, Japan gets a 15% tariff on its goods and pledges to buy $8 billion worth of American products per year. The Government of Japan has…

Ørsted has lowered its guidance range for core earnings for 2025, due to lower wind speeds across the portfolio and a delay of a construction project in Taiwan, as the world’s biggest offshore wind project developer grapples with challenges in the industry. Ørsted revised down its guidance for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to a range of $3.7 billion-4.2 billion (24 billion to 27 billion Danish crowns) for this year, down from $3.9 billion-4.4 billion (25 billion to 28 billion crowns)…

Tight supply of uranium could interfere with global plans for a boost in nuclear generation capacity growth, the World Nuclear Association has warned. According to the industry body, global uranium demand is set to increase by over 30% to 86,000 tons over the next four years, further rising to 150,000 tons by 2040, the Financial Times reported. While demand rises, however, supply will be shrinking, with output from existing mines set to fall by half in the decade between 2030 and 2040. Based on that, the World Nuclear Association said. “As…

Biodiesel imports to the United States fell to their lowest in ten years over the first half of the year after the federal government axed subsidies for such imports at the start of the year. From 2025, the subsidies, at $1 per gallon of biodiesel and renewable diesel, remained in effect for domestic producers of the fuel only, Reuters recalled in a report on the news, which comes from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Per the EIA, biodiesel imports between January and June averaged 2,000 barrels per day, compared with 35,000 barrels…

U.S. oil and gas giant, Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), has predicted that we will fall far short of the global energy sector’s net zero goals, thanks to high energy costs and surging coal demand. In its newly published Global Outlook, Exxon has forecast that the planet will only be able to cut emissions by 25% by 2050, nowhere near the two-thirds reduction required to meet IPCC goals. And, predictions about renewable energy replacing fossil fuels over the next couple of decades are proving to be premature.  Oil production in the United States…

As President Trump slapped an additional 25% on Indian imports to punish the country for buying so much Russian crude, the European Union was mulling over its new sanction package against Russia. That would be its 19th in a row. And there is not a lot left to sanction. Meanwhile, Russia’s income from oil and gas remains quite healthy. Ever since the West launched its sanction offensive against Russia, turning it into the most sanctioned country in history ever, there were warnings that this could backfire: first, the sanctions would motivate…

American LNG exports hit a monthly record in August as newly started-up projects gradually ramp up output and shipments, and facilities ended planned maintenance.  The August record will be beaten very soon as new export projects are close to launch and the supportive Trump Administration continues to approve proposed plants.   Three U.S. LNG projects have taken final investment decision (FID) this year, and more are in the pipeline to do so in the coming months.  The case for increased LNG exports remains solid—ample…

China and Russia presented their masterplan for a new global order at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit currently underway in China’s port city of Tianjin, highlighting China's growing ties with Central Asia. China’s President Xi Jinping called for a new global economic and security order that prioritizes the "Global South" in what is considered a direct challenge to the West and the United States’ hegemony. "We must continue to take a clear stand against hegemonism and power politics, and practise true multilateralism,"…

Bangladesh has become Asia’s most active buyer of spot LNG cargoes – an unlikely new heavyweight in one of the world’s most volatile energy markets. Once largely self-sufficient in natural gas, the country now leans heavily on imported fuel to keep its factories running and its power sector alive. The shift is dramatic: gas still meets 43% of Bangladesh’s total energy needs, but domestic production is falling, reserves are dwindling, and the gap is being filled at a soaring cost. What began as a stopgap after shortages in…

Nigeria’s 650,000 bpd Dangote Refinery faces a prolonged gasoline outage after reports that repairs to its catalytic cracking unit could take two to three months, far longer than the earlier two-week estimate. The refinery’s Residue Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Unit (RFCCU), the key gasoline-making unit, has been offline since August 29 following catalyst leaks, with Reuters citing IIR Energy analysis as saying that major equipment replacement is required, extending downtime into November. Initially, reports suggested a quicker turnaround.…

Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times, California regulators fearing a dramatic drop in gasoline supply placed a five-year pause on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s penalty on oil industry profits Aug. 29. The decision is a blow to Newsom’s legislation aimed at penalizing the oil industry for allegedly driving up the state’s gas prices in 2022. California Energy Commission Vice Chair Siva Gunda said the state must shield motorists from price spikes at the pump even as it tries to transition to clean-energy fuel sources…