A shadow fleet is quietly swelling across the world’s oceans, packed with sanctioned barrels from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela. For now, those tankers have kept to the sidelines of the global market—but the sheer scale of crude idling offshore could soon jolt prices, depending on whether the oil ever finds a buyer. Of course, Russia's oil shipments abroad have been in the spotlight over the past few weeks, as the media rush to report how Chinese and Indian buyers are canceling orders and switching to Middle Eastern and American oil until…

Geothermal energy is becoming Big Tech’s newest darling. Silicon Valley is upending its deep pockets into enhanced geothermal startups in a bid to stay one step ahead of the massive energy demand growth trend being spurred by the AI boom. Geothermal boasts key advantages over leading clean energy technologies, most notably the fact that it’s a constant, baseload clean energy source and that it’s one of vanishingly few zero-carbon alternatives with broad bipartisan support in the United States. As a result, this relatively niche…

United States President Donald Trump is putting his money where his mouth is as he doubles down on efforts to accelerate the expansion of the country’s nuclear energy sector. The government will spend billions in public funding to reinvigorate U.S. nuclear power, following decades of underinvestment. Unlike renewable energy, Trump views nuclear power as key to expanding the U.S. electricity generation capacity and recently announced the target of quadrupling nuclear capacity by 2050. In May, President Trump signed an executive order calling…

Decades of mismanagement compounded by prolonged drought have pushed Iran to the brink of what experts call water bankruptcy. With reservoirs running on empty and rainfall at a record low, the authorities have begun rationing water supplies in the Iranian capital, Tehran, a city of some 10 million people. President Masud Pezeshkian has warned that the water crisis could lead to the evacuation of parts of Tehran and has gone as far as floating the possibility of moving the capital. Kaveh Madani, director of the Canada-based United Nations University…

Coal mines are finding a second life as companies invest in repurposing huge, disused coal sites into geothermal power projects. In the U.K., the government and energy companies have been discussing the idea for several years, and it seems to be gaining momentum with the launch of the first geothermal mine projects this year.  Energy companies have realised the potential of flooding abandoned coal mines to provide vast quantities of geothermal power, as water in coal mines can reach a temperature of up to 20 degrees Celsius. Mine water geothermal…

Renewable energy has encountered a strange crossroads – it is more successful, and also more divisive, than ever before. Wind and solar have become so successful that they’re not really alternative anymore – they’ve fully entered the mainstream. Not only have renewables outgrown subsidies and become independently successful, they’ve become so cheap that they are the most logical choice for new energy installations even in the poorest country contexts. But their development and deployment has become so politicized that…

Construction of a key cog in the Middle Corridor trade network known as TRIPP should begin during the second half of 2026, according to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. TRIPP, or the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, is a central feature of a provisional peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan signed in Washington in August. The corridor would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave across Armenian territory.  In his most expansive comments to date concerning a construction timeline, Pashinyan told MPs that…

Enbridge has approved a $1.4 billion expansion across its Mainline and Flanagan South systems that will push more Canadian heavy crude into the U.S. Midwest and down to the Gulf Coast—right where coking refineries are built to run it. Phase 1 of the Mainline Optimization (MLO1) adds 150,000 bpd on the Mainline and 100,000 bpd on Flanagan South, with in-service targeted for 2027. The uplift comes through pump and terminal expansions on Flanagan South and upstream optimizations on the Mainline, backed by long-term take-or-pay commitments from…

Enbridge has approved a $1.4 billion expansion across its Mainline and Flanagan South systems that will push more Canadian heavy crude into the U.S. Midwest and down to the Gulf Coast—right where coking refineries are built to run it. Phase 1 of the Mainline Optimization (MLO1) adds 150,000 bpd on the Mainline and 100,000 bpd on Flanagan South, with in-service targeted for 2027. The uplift comes through pump and terminal expansions on Flanagan South and upstream optimizations on the Mainline, backed by long-term take-or-pay commitments from…

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States rose this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday. The total rig count in the US rose by 1 to 549 this week, according to Baker Hughes, down 35 from this same time last year. The number of active oil rigs rose by 3 in the reporting period, according to the data, reaching 417. Year over year, this represents a 61-rig decline. The number of gas rigs fell by 3 to 125, which is 24 more than this time last year. The miscellaneous rig count rose by…

The European Commission has approved with conditions the $17-billion acquisition by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) of Germany’s chemicals giant Covestro, the EU’s executive arm said on Friday, following an investigation into foreign subsidies it feared would distort competition. At the end of last year, Abu Dhabi’s oil company agreed to buy Covestro in a deal worth $17 billion (14.7 billion euros) including debt. The deal was one of the largest cash transactions in the chemicals industry ever, as well as the first time…

Germany’s ruling coalition has slashed in half the capacity of new natural gas-fired power plants it aims to tender by 2032 in a significant scale-down from the previously planned 20 GW of new gas capacity. The governing coalition led by conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz has reached a compromise on the energy policy as Europe’s biggest economy looks to balance energy security with its decarbonization goals.  The government now will tender 10 GW of new gas-fired capacity by 2032, to serve as flexible backup to wind and solar…

Germany’s ruling coalition has slashed in half the capacity of new natural gas-fired power plants it aims to tender by 2032 in a significant scale-down from the previously planned 20 GW of new gas capacity. The governing coalition led by conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz has reached a compromise on the energy policy as Europe’s biggest economy looks to balance energy security with its decarbonization goals.  The government now will tender 10 GW of new gas-fired capacity by 2032, to serve as flexible backup to wind and solar…

Germany’s ruling coalition has slashed in half the capacity of new natural gas-fired power plants it aims to tender by 2032 in a significant scale-down from the previously planned 20 GW of new gas capacity. The governing coalition led by conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz has reached a compromise on the energy policy as Europe’s biggest economy looks to balance energy security with its decarbonization goals.  The government now will tender 10 GW of new gas-fired capacity by 2032, to serve as flexible backup to wind and solar…

Iran seized on Friday an oil tanker en route to Singapore after it passed the critical Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East in the first major escalation of the tensions in the region since the Iran-Israel war in June.  The Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Talara was seized by Iranian forces in the Gulf of Oman after having passed the Strait of Hormuz from Ajman in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), heading to Singapore.  Iran’s forces diverted the ship from the international waters to the Iranian territorial waters, a U.S. defense…

Iran seized on Friday an oil tanker en route to Singapore after it passed the critical Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East in the first major escalation of the tensions in the region since the Iran-Israel war in June.  The Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Talara was seized by Iranian forces in the Gulf of Oman after having passed the Strait of Hormuz from Ajman in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), heading to Singapore.  Iran’s forces diverted the ship from the international waters to the Iranian territorial waters, a U.S. defense…

The key Russian oil port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea suspended oil exports on Friday, following a major Ukrainian attack on the port overnight. Friday, November 14, 2025The Russia-Ukraine war rages on, with Ukraine’s drone attacks temporarily halting oil loadings in Russia’s largest Black Sea port, however, even such a high-impact event was only able to recoup the past days’ losses and reset ICE Brent at $64 per barrel. Oil bulls’ sentiment was dampened by this week’s monthly reports from the IEA and OPEC, particularly…

The central figure in the corruption scandal shaking Ukraine, Tymur Mindich, is an old friend and former business partner of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.Law enforcement sources say Mindich left the country shortly before police searched his home.And prosecutors have reportedly told a court they have a recording of a call in which Zelenskyy is heard speaking to another target of the probe, Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko, while Halushchenko was on a group call with Mindich and Oleksandr Tsukerman, an associate who is also charged and also…

The key Russian oil port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea suspended oil exports on Friday, following a major Ukrainian attack on the port overnight, industry sources told Reuters.    In addition, Russia’s pipeline company Transneft suspended crude oil supply to the facilities at the port, according to Reuters’ sources.  The port of Novorossiysk, a key export outlet of crude from Russia and Kazakhstan, and a major wheat export hub, was attacked by Ukrainian drones early on Friday. Oil prices jumped in Asian and early…

Power generation in China jumped by the most in October in nearly two years and overall electricity output was at its highest for any October since at least 1998, as a heat wave hit southern China while temperatures were colder-than-usual in the north.  China’s power generation surged by 7.9% in October from a year earlier, with total output at 800.2 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday.  The October generation hit the highest for the month of October since at least 1998, according…