China has banned the export of several rare earth minerals to Japan over controversial remarks made by Japan’s Prime Minister regarding Taiwan, marking a new low in deteriorating relationships between the two trade partners. According to a commerce ministry statement on Tuesday, China has banned exports of dual-use items, including certain rare earth elements, to Japan, effective immediately. Dual-use items include technologies, goods or software with both civilian and military applications. Beijing’s latest move is a reaction to controversial…

For years, energy investors flocked to anything labeled “green” or “clean”, with governments making it clear that there is only one energy policy path forward, and that is the green, clean one. That ended in 2025 with the rise of AI, which caused a surge in energy demand—for the first time in decades. Energy demand in the organization for Economic Cooperation and Development had been growing at a modest 1% for the three decades between 1990 and 2020, Global Corporate Venturing author Fernando Moncada Rivera noted this…

Colombia's cocaine production has spiraled out of control over the past 30 years. Even the downfall of the Medellin and Cali Cartels, along with the death of Pablo Escobar on a suburban Medellin rooftop, did little to impact production. By the 1990s, Colombia had overtaken Peru to be the world’s leading supplier of the narcotic. An ignominious title Colombia holds today, with it responsible for over 67% of the global supply. Washington’s war on drugs, with the White House investing considerable resources, including advisers, weaponry…

For decades, green hydrogen has been touted as the “next big thing” in clean energy technology, with particularly promising potential applications in hard-to-abate sectors like transport, steelmaking, and shipping. However, the long-predicted green hydrogen renaissance has never come to fruition due to several factors, including the prohibitively high cost of production and the energy losses and inefficiencies associated with using green hydrogen rather than clean energy directly.  Hydrogen can be combusted at high temperatures…

The dramatic events over the weekend in Venezuela have renewed global attention on a country that, on paper, should be one of the world’s great energy powers. Venezuela holds the largest proven oil reserves on Earth, yet its oil industry has been in long-term decline for two decades. Understanding why requires looking past the headlines and into the technical, legal, and political decisions that steadily dismantled what was once a cornerstone of the global petroleum system. The United States confirmed that Venezuelan President Nicolás…

The Iraqi government has approved a move to take over operations at the West Qurna 2 oilfield under provisions in its technical service contract with Russia’s Lukoil, following the company’s declaration of force majeure in November, Reuters reported on Wednesday.  The step allows Iraq to ensure continued production after Lukoil cited operational constraints linked to Western sanctions on Russia. West Qurna 2, one of Iraq’s largest producing fields at around 470,000 barrels per day, is state-owned and operated under a service…

The Iraqi government has approved a move to take over operations at the West Qurna 2 oilfield under provisions in its technical service contract with Russia’s Lukoil, following the company’s declaration of force majeure in November, Reuters reported on Wednesday.  The step allows Iraq to ensure continued production after Lukoil cited operational constraints linked to Western sanctions on Russia. West Qurna 2, one of Iraq’s largest producing fields at around 470,000 barrels per day, is state-owned and operated under a service…

There is a lot more to the UAE’s recently announced US$150 billion turbo-boost to its gas sector than meets the eye. It is true that it should deliver multiple economic benefits for the Middle Eastern country on a scale disproportionately larger than its small geographical size. One is gas self-sufficiency by 2030; another is increased feedstock for high-value petrochemicals production; and a third is powering a dramatic expansion in its artificial intelligence capabilities. However, it is also true that such major build?out of its gas sector…

The season of peace on earth and goodwill to all men did not last long, and while I’ll shed no tears at seeing a corrupt dictator snatched from his lair, it’s fair to say that 2026 is off to an uneasy start. The market response to Donald Trump’s audacious swoop on Venezuela has been predictably muscular, with defence, mining and oil stocks climbing higher. The political fallout is much less clear-cut. The raid to capture President Maduro was followed by unsubtle threats that Uncle Sam could do the same in Colombia and Cuba while…

Canada’s long-running debate over how to get its oil to market took an unexpected turn this week after British Columbia Premier David Eby argued that Ottawa should prioritize building refineries rather than new export pipelines, reframing a discussion that has dominated Canadian energy politics for years. Eby’s comments come as U.S. actions in Venezuela add uncertainty to global oil markets and renew attention on Canada’s reliance on the United States as its main crude buyer. Instead of pushing raw oil to tidewater for export,…

ADNOC, the national oil company of the United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday announced the final investment decision for the SARB Deep Gas Development offshore Abu Dhabi, a key part of the massive Ghasha Concession development.  ADNOC and the UAE are looking to maximize natural gas extraction and processing to boost domestic supply and increase LNG exports.  SARB, located 120 kilometers (75 miles) offshore Abu Dhabi, will include a new offshore platform with four gas production wells connecting to Das Island. From there, gas from SARB would…

ADNOC, the national oil company of the United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday announced the final investment decision for the SARB Deep Gas Development offshore Abu Dhabi, a key part of the massive Ghasha Concession development.  ADNOC and the UAE are looking to maximize natural gas extraction and processing to boost domestic supply and increase LNG exports.  SARB, located 120 kilometers (75 miles) offshore Abu Dhabi, will include a new offshore platform with four gas production wells connecting to Das Island. From there, gas from SARB would…

An acute water shortage in Uzbekistan seems to have a silver lining. The brewing crisis is forcing officials to speedily embrace solar and wind power and rethink the country’s hydropower strategy to make it more water-efficient.   Uzhydroenergo, a state-run electricity entity, reported January 5 that hydropower production plummeted by 20 percent in 2025, totaling 6.5 billion kilowatt hours (kWh). By comparison, Uzbekistan generated 8.1 kWh from hydropower in 2024.    Officials attributed the drop in production…

ADNOC, the national oil company of the United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday announced the final investment decision for the SARB Deep Gas Development offshore Abu Dhabi, a key part of the massive Ghasha Concession development.  ADNOC and the UAE are looking to maximize natural gas extraction and processing to boost domestic supply and increase LNG exports.  SARB, located 120 kilometers (75 miles) offshore Abu Dhabi, will include a new offshore platform with four gas production wells connecting to Das Island. From there, gas from SARB would…

Crude oil inventories in the United States posted a sharp draw last week, even as gasoline and distillate stockpiles recorded sizable builds, according to new data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 3.8 million barrels in the week ending January 2, bringing total stockpiles to 419.1 million barrels. Crude inventories remain roughly 3% below the five-year average for this time of year. Refinery activity edged higher on the…

Equinor does not consider returning to Venezuela, which it quit years ago, Anders Opedal, the chief executive of the Norwegian energy major, told Reuters on Wednesday.  Following the capture of Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces, the industry is buzzing with talk about the opportunities for Western, especially U.S. oil firms, in Venezuela, the holder of the world’s biggest proven oil reserves estimated at about 303 billion barrels.  “At the moment, that's not on the table,” Equinor’s Opedal told Reuters on the…

Equinor does not consider returning to Venezuela, which it quit years ago, Anders Opedal, the chief executive of the Norwegian energy major, told Reuters on Wednesday.  Following the capture of Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces, the industry is buzzing with talk about the opportunities for Western, especially U.S. oil firms, in Venezuela, the holder of the world’s biggest proven oil reserves estimated at about 303 billion barrels.  “At the moment, that's not on the table,” Equinor’s Opedal told Reuters on the…

U.S. forces have seized a Russia-flagged tanker in the North Atlantic after a dramatic pursuit that began near Venezuelan waters, marking a sharp escalation in Washington’s enforcement of its global blockade on sanctioned Venezuelan oil. U.S. European Command confirmed the capture of the M/V Bella 1, saying the vessel was seized for sanctions violations “pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court” after being tracked by a U.S. Coast Guard cutter. The operation concludes a weeks-long chase that began in late December…

U.S. forces have seized a Russia-flagged tanker in the North Atlantic after a dramatic pursuit that began near Venezuelan waters, marking a sharp escalation in Washington’s enforcement of its global blockade on sanctioned Venezuelan oil. U.S. European Command confirmed the capture of the M/V Bella 1, saying the vessel was seized for sanctions violations “pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court” after being tracked by a U.S. Coast Guard cutter. The operation concludes a weeks-long chase that began in late December…

U.S. forces have seized a Russia-flagged tanker in the North Atlantic after a dramatic pursuit that began near Venezuelan waters, marking a sharp escalation in Washington’s enforcement of its global blockade on sanctioned Venezuelan oil. U.S. European Command confirmed the capture of the M/V Bella 1, saying the vessel was seized for sanctions violations “pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court” after being tracked by a U.S. Coast Guard cutter. The operation concludes a weeks-long chase that began in late December…