Oil markets have been volatile over the past couple of weeks, driven by a series of geopolitical developments including new U.S. sanctions on Russian energy, coupled with a fragile cease-fire in Gaza. Oil prices remain well below recent highs, with both Brent and WTI crude trading ~$15/bbl below their 52-week peak. Weak oil prices have taken a toll on the bottom lines of oil and gas companies, with the energy sector reporting third-quarter earnings growth at -0.5%, with only the Communication Services sector reporting lower growth at -7.1%. Both…

Big Tech is building data centers everywhere it can. Companies are replacing employees with AI—and all this is just the start; or it would be, if there was enough electricity to power all those data centers that handle the AI that everyone is using more and more. That might be a problem. Earlier this month, Nvidia’s chief executive warned that the West risks losing the AI race because electricity was too expensive. Yet the price of electricity is only one part of the problem that Big Tech faces with regard to its AI plans. The other…

Pakistan is scaling back its dependence on imported LNG as volatile global prices and a weakened currency strain its economy. The government is deferring gas deliveries and turning instead to coal, hydropower, and nuclear energy to stabilize supply and reduce import costs. Cheaper coal and expanding hydro and nuclear capacity, much of it financed by China, are reshaping the country’s power mix. Yet persistent debt, rigid contracts, and grid inefficiencies keep electricity among the most expensive in South Asia. Pakistan’s main buyer…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States saw a build of 1.3 million barrels in the week ending November 7, after analysts anticipated a 1.7 million barrel build. Crude oil inventories gained 6.5 million barrels in the week prior. Crude oil inventories in the United States are so far showing a net gain of 4.9 million barrels for the year, according to Oilprice calculations of API data. Earlier this week, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States saw a build of 1.3 million barrels in the week ending November 7, after analysts anticipated a 1.7 million barrel build. Crude oil inventories gained 6.5 million barrels in the week prior. Crude oil inventories in the United States are so far showing a net gain of 4.9 million barrels for the year, according to Oilprice calculations of API data. Earlier this week, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum…

The United Nations’ annual climate conference kicked off on Monday in Brazil with a very notable absence. In a historic political statement, the United States did not send any high-level representation to the flagship COP30 conference in Belem, the biggest and more important international event of its kind. This omission comes on the heels of the Trump administration’s decision to pull the country out of the Paris climate agreement. But while the world’s largest economy is taking a step back from decarbonization and clean energy…

On 6 November, U.S. president Donald Trump hosted the C5 + 1, the diplomatic platform that brings together the U.S. and the five Central Asia republics, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Trump hosted the leaders at the White House, the first time he met any of them except for Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev who he met at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in September 2025, and at the White House in May 2018. (Then-president Joe Biden met the Central Asian leaders at the UNGA session in…

The European Union is putting its energy security at risk by attempting to regulate every single molecule of energy products it will import in 2027, the year in which the EU will ban Russian natural gas. In its net-zero push and targets to slash emissions, the EU in recent years has adopted a series of legislative measures to address the energy sustainability issue. But in doing so, it is undermining what’s become the most important energy issue, that of security, in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the realization that…

To identify the regions generating the most cash for majors, we forecast the group’s top five projects by cumulative free cash flow for the period 2025 to 2030. Two standout regions are the Permian shale play, which dominates the US majors' portfolios, and the Caspian region, where all majors have maintained their presence despite portfolio streamlining Chevron’s projected $28 billion in free cash flow from Kazakhstan’s Tengiz field underscores the region's value to its portfolio. ExxonMobil's $14 billion in revenue from Tengiz…

Oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday after OPEC said it now expects the global market to be balanced in 2026, abandoning its earlier deficit forecast as non-OPEC production rises and inventories recover. The revision, detailed in the group’s Monthly Oil Market Report, triggered a new round of selling, with Brent futures down 3.67% to $62.77 a barrel and WTI off 4.1% at $58.55 by 1:11 p.m. ET. OPEC’s analysis points to faster supply growth from the United States, Brazil, and Guyana, projecting non-OPEC liquids output to increase by about…

Oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday after OPEC said it now expects the global market to be balanced in 2026, abandoning its earlier deficit forecast as non-OPEC production rises and inventories recover. The revision, detailed in the group’s Monthly Oil Market Report, triggered a new round of selling, with Brent futures down 3.67% to $62.77 a barrel and WTI off 4.1% at $58.55 by 1:11 p.m. ET. OPEC’s analysis points to faster supply growth from the United States, Brazil, and Guyana, projecting non-OPEC liquids output to increase by about…

In a surprise development, Argentina’s unconventional oil production hit a new all-time high for September 2025. This occurred despite overall monthly production falling marginally when compared to the prior period and shale gas output plummeting to a multi-month low. It is the prolific Vaca Muerta shale that is driving Argentina’s rapidly rising oil and natural gas production. The 8.6-million-acre formation is proving to be a boon to Buenos Aires and could very well be the long-awaited silver bullet needed to fix Argentina’s…

China will aim to use more renewable energy such as green hydrogen and green ammonia to avoid curtailments of solar and wind power whose soaring capacity sometimes boosts clean power generation beyond the limits of the grids.  China will promote and support the use of renewable energy beyond the electricity generation sector over the next five years, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said on Wednesday in a new plan on integrating renewable energy in the economy to 2030.  Green hydrogen and green ammonia are produced using renewable…

China will aim to use more renewable energy such as green hydrogen and green ammonia to avoid curtailments of solar and wind power whose soaring capacity sometimes boosts clean power generation beyond the limits of the grids.  China will promote and support the use of renewable energy beyond the electricity generation sector over the next five years, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said on Wednesday in a new plan on integrating renewable energy in the economy to 2030.  Green hydrogen and green ammonia are produced using renewable…

China will aim to use more renewable energy such as green hydrogen and green ammonia to avoid curtailments of solar and wind power whose soaring capacity sometimes boosts clean power generation beyond the limits of the grids.  China will promote and support the use of renewable energy beyond the electricity generation sector over the next five years, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said on Wednesday in a new plan on integrating renewable energy in the economy to 2030.  Green hydrogen and green ammonia are produced using renewable…

US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites in June slowed down the nuclear program, likely buried Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and effectively paused enrichment activities. The attacks prompted Iran to reevaluate its nuclear strategy, and after declaring the end of international oversight of its nuclear program due to the expiry of the 2015 nuclear deal in October, Tehran -- which maintains it has never and will not seek to weaponize its nuclear program -- now operates with strategic opacity. Recent satellite images analyzed…

Despite the challenging geopolitical landscape, Turkey's energy strategy remains resilient, with no immediate plans to pivot away from Russian crudes. US and European sanctions on Russian oil and gas are really starting to bite. The media, however, is presenting a much rosier picture than the facts on the ground show. As one of the leading outlets for Russian crude, Turkey, a NATO member, currently in discussion on membership of the EU, shows a much darker picture when talking about its perceived pivot away from Moscow’s crude than facts…

Oil prices tumbled on Tuesday, with Brent down 2.46% at $63.56 a barrel at 9:54 a.m. ET, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slid 2.64% to $59.43, as traders reacted to fresh signals of easing supply pressure and waning demand momentum through early 2026. The drop came after OPEC revised its projections to show a “balanced” market next year, moving further from the deficit forecast it held earlier this fall. The update suggests that additional OPEC+ production and resilient non-OPEC output could offset modest demand growth, erasing near-term…

Oil prices tumbled on Tuesday, with Brent down 2.46% at $63.56 a barrel at 9:54 a.m. ET, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slid 2.64% to $59.43, as traders reacted to fresh signals of easing supply pressure and waning demand momentum through early 2026. The drop came after OPEC revised its projections to show a “balanced” market next year, moving further from the deficit forecast it held earlier this fall. The update suggests that additional OPEC+ production and resilient non-OPEC output could offset modest demand growth, erasing near-term…

Chevron plans to grow its free cash flow into the next decade as it focuses on higher profits and returns to shareholders instead of growing oil and production, the U.S. supermajor’s five-year plan to 2030 showed on Wednesday.    Chevron will raise output, but its primary focus will be on boosting free cash flow and earnings per share via deeper cost cuts, synergies from the Hess acquisition, and reduced capital expenditure (capex).   “Chevron expects to maintain capital and cost discipline while investing to…