Poland suspects Russian intelligence services were behind an explosion on a major Polish railway line used to transport military goods and aid to Ukraine, an act Prime Minister Donald Tusk called an "unprecedented act of sabotage." In the first comments where a Polish official suggested Moscow was behind the attack over the weekend, Jacek Dobrzynski, a spokesperson for Poland's special services minister, said the blast was an attempt "to destabilize" and "spread fear." In a speech to Polish lawmakers after the extraordinary meeting, Tusk said that…

Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports hit a seven-month high in September as its production jumped to a 29-month high, the latest data by the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Wednesday.  Even as Saudi refinery runs rose by 38,000 barrels per day (bpd) in September from August, crude oil shipments from the world’s top crude exporter increased by 53,000 bpd, according to the data.    The increase may not seem much but it was the highest level since February and above the 2020-2024 five-year average for…

Crude oil inventories in the United States decreased by 3.4 million barrels during the week ending November 14, after gaining 6.4 million barrels in the week prior, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday. The increase brings commercial stockpiles to 424.2 million barrels according to government data, which is 5% below the five-year average for this time of year. The EIA’s data release follows API’s figures that were released a day earlier, which suggested that crude oil inventories…

The world’s oil demand jumped in September by 1.4 million barrel per day (bpd) compared to August and by 1.8 million bpd from a year earlier, driven by higher consumption in the United States and Indonesia, the monthly report by the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Wednesday.  At the same time, global crude oil exports rose by 1.3 million bpd in September from August and by 1.5 million bpd compared to September last year, according to the most recent data self-reported by 44 countries to JODI and shared by the Riyadh-based…

Reclining on stage at the 26th COP summit in his native Glasgow, Alan Jope was at home both literally and spiritually. The Unilever chief executive had spent three years establishing himself as one of the corporate world’s most passionate climate and diversity advocates, vowing to accelerate predecessor Paul Polman’s environmental, social and governance leadership. And with his company a principal partner at the biggest climate summit in history, the Scotsman’s efforts had reached their natural apogee. “We think there are…

Serbia’s only refinery Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), majority owned by Russian state energy firms and sanctioned by the United States, said on Wednesday it had applied for a special U.S. license to continue operations until talks for an ownership change conclude.   On Tuesday, NIS submitted a new request to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury for the issuance of a special license that would enable the company to operate without disruptions, the Serbian company said.  Gazprom…

Oil prices eased in early Asian trading on Wednesday as traders reacted to another rise in U.S. oil inventories and signals continue to mount that global supply is running ahead of demand. At the time of writing, WTI was trading at $60.59 per barrel, down 0.25% on the session, while Brent slipped to $64.71, down by roughly 0.3%. The drop came after prices had climbed in the previous session on the back of Trump announcing interviews for a new Fed chair, a statement that briefly lifted risk sentiment by reviving expectations of a more growth-friendly…

The US and Great Britain are ramping up their efforts to secure the strategic advantage they created for the West in the Middle East by removing Russia’s key man in Syria, Bashar al-Assad, in December. A critical part of the political, economic, religious, and security fabric of the Middle East, it is also a crucial link from there to Africa in the south and to Europe in the West, by dint of its long Mediterranean coastline, as analysed in full in my latest book on the new global oil market order. The key to keeping Syria aligned with…

Bitcoin dropped below $90,000 on Monday for the first time since April, touching an intraday low of $89,426 before closing near $91,200. The decline marked a more-than 20% retreat from the cryptocurrency’s October peak above $126,000 and has erased all of its gains for 2025. While broader market factors — including $2.3 billion of outflows from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs in the first half of November and rising Treasury yields — have contributed to the sell-off, an important supply-side pressure has come from Bitcoin miners themselves.…

Artificial Intelligence, electrification, and the exponential growth of renewable energies are transforming electric grids around the world. In order to keep up with these massive changes, electric grids and the supply chains that support them are due for some critical updates and adaptations. Utility-scale grid storage is becoming increasingly critical, as are long-duration storage solutions that won’t fall pretty to geopolitical disruptions.  AI is driving an energy-production frenzy as experts try to predict how much electricity the…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States saw a large build of 4.4 million barrels in the week ending November 14. Crude oil inventories gained 1.3 million barrels in the week prior. Crude oil inventories in the United States are so far showing a net gain of 9.3 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 Reserve (SPR) have risen by 500,000 barrels…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States saw a large build of 4.4 million barrels in the week ending November 14. Crude oil inventories gained 1.3 million barrels in the week prior. Crude oil inventories in the United States are so far showing a net gain of 9.3 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 Reserve (SPR) have risen by 500,000 barrels…

Chinese scientists have built and tested a floating droplet electricity generator (DEG) to turn the kinetic energy of raindrops into renewable power. Unlike conventional DEGs, which are used on land and are heavier and costlier, the floating device developed by researchers at the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA), with the support of Chinese state and provincial funding and programs, uses water for both structural and electric-generation components. In the research, published in the November issue of National Science Review,…

Technology improvements are driving a renaissance in offshore drilling in the United States. And it’s not a moment too soon, as many analysts believe shale is nearing its peak. Also, with the energy transition not going as fast as hoped, some new oil and gas supply would come in quite handy. Earlier this year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said that it expected crude oil output from Gulf of Mexico fields to rise from the current 1.8 million barrels daily to 2.4 million barrels daily as early as 2027. “We believe that offshore…

Exxon is now circling the same distressed prize Chevron has been eyeing: chunks of Lukoil’s global portfolio, suddenly up for grabs after Washington loosened the legal chokehold on the sanctioned Russian major. Multiple sources say Exxon is actively weighing options to acquire Lukoil assets in Kazakhstan, where both companies already sit alongside the Russian firm in the Karachaganak and Tengiz projects. Chevron, a partner in both fields, has been running its own valuation process since last week’s Treasury move cracked the door open.…

Exxon is now circling the same distressed prize Chevron has been eyeing: chunks of Lukoil’s global portfolio, suddenly up for grabs after Washington loosened the legal chokehold on the sanctioned Russian major. Multiple sources say Exxon is actively weighing options to acquire Lukoil assets in Kazakhstan, where both companies already sit alongside the Russian firm in the Karachaganak and Tengiz projects. Chevron, a partner in both fields, has been running its own valuation process since last week’s Treasury move cracked the door open.…

Exxon is now circling the same distressed prize Chevron has been eyeing: chunks of Lukoil’s global portfolio, suddenly up for grabs after Washington loosened the legal chokehold on the sanctioned Russian major. Multiple sources say Exxon is actively weighing options to acquire Lukoil assets in Kazakhstan, where both companies already sit alongside the Russian firm in the Karachaganak and Tengiz projects. Chevron, a partner in both fields, has been running its own valuation process since last week’s Treasury move cracked the door open.…

The global solar energy market, driven by a push for carbon reduction and sustainable power generation, is projected to quadruple its valuation over the next decade, despite persistent challenges related to power generation variability, according to a new report from Allied Market Research. The report estimates the market was valued at $0.4 trillion in 2024 and is forecast to reach $1.6 trillion by 2034. This growth trajectory reflects a compound annual growth rate of 15.2% from 2025 to 2034, fueled by technological advancements in photovoltaic…

Syria has just put a big Western flag in its gas patch. The state-owned Syrian Petroleum Company has signed a memorandum of understanding with ConocoPhillips and U.S.-based Novaterra to develop existing gas fields and hunt for new ones, in a bid to drag the country’s power sector out of wartime ruin. Damascus says the deal could lift gas output by 4–5 million cubic meters per day within a year from today’s battered base. That target is not trivial. Syria’s domestic gas production has collapsed from 8.7 bcm in 2011 to about…

One year ago, Goldman's precious metal analyst Lina Thomas made the case that gold would rise to $3000 by the end of 2025 (it ended up rising more than $1000 higher) as a result of relentless central bank purchases in general, and thanks to China's ravenous appetite for gold in particular. The bank promptly got pushback on this thesis, with skeptics countering that it is unlikely that gold will manage to keep its ascent at the same time as the dollar rises to new record highs, one of the largest consensus Trump trades. In response, Thomas also…