Brazil posted a record trade surplus of $14.2 billion in the first quarter of 2026, marking a 47.6% increase compared to the same period in 2025 thanks in large part to high oil prices. Brazil’s crude oil exports climbed 31% Y/Y to $12.56 billion in the first quarter, with China accounting for 57% of oil exports at $7.2 billion, and 65% of crude exports in March alone. In contrast, oil exports to the U.S. collapsed by 40% to just $632 million while overall exports fell 18.7% due to new tariff pressures and shifting corporate strategies. Interestingly,…

Brazil posted a record trade surplus of $14.2 billion in the first quarter of 2026, marking a 47.6% increase compared to the same period in 2025 thanks in large part to high oil prices. Brazil’s crude oil exports climbed 31% Y/Y to $12.56 billion in the first quarter, with China accounting for 57% of oil exports at $7.2 billion, and 65% of crude exports in March alone. In contrast, oil exports to the U.S. collapsed by 40% to just $632 million while overall exports fell 18.7% due to new tariff pressures and shifting corporate strategies. Interestingly,…

Brazil posted a record trade surplus of $14.2 billion in the first quarter of 2026, marking a 47.6% increase compared to the same period in 2025 thanks in large part to high oil prices. Brazil’s crude oil exports climbed 31% Y/Y to $12.56 billion in the first quarter, with China accounting for 57% of oil exports at $7.2 billion, and 65% of crude exports in March alone. In contrast, oil exports to the U.S. collapsed by 40% to just $632 million while overall exports fell 18.7% due to new tariff pressures and shifting corporate strategies. Interestingly,…

We knew there was a reason why China had accumulated a cool 1.5 billion barrels in its strategic petroleum reserve: the reason, to become the world's strategist petroleum reserve when the time arises... for a price of course. According to the chief executive officer of commodity trader Mercuria, Chinese oil companies have been aggressive sellers in recent weeks, selling barrels to several nations in tenders. “What has been happening in the last two or three weeks is actually they have been aggressively selling crude oil,” Mercuria CEO…

The global energy crisis has reshaped global energy priorities seemingly overnight. The Strait of Hormuz has been closed to virtually all commercial traffic for well over a month now, severely restricting global flows of oil and gas. As a result, global energy prices have skyrocketed, and supplies have tightened, pushing many countries to explore alternative energy pathways in a big hurry. This has led to an unfortunate resurgence of coal-fired power, especially in Asia – but it is also set to supercharge the clean energy industry on a global…

Japan Petroleum Exploration (Japex) has unveiled plans to invest 1.16 trillion yen ($7.3 billion) in exploration and production in a bid to quadruple oil and gas output over the next decade, mainly in the United States. Japex has set a goal to raise net profit to 100 billion yen and achieve a 12% Return on Equity (ROE) by 2035. In February, Japex completed the acquisition of Denver-based tight oil company, Verdad Resources, in a $1.3-billion deal, the company’s largest ever M&A transaction. The merger gives Japex exposure to the sprawling…

Japan Petroleum Exploration (Japex) has unveiled plans to invest 1.16 trillion yen ($7.3 billion) in exploration and production in a bid to quadruple oil and gas output over the next decade, mainly in the United States. Japex has set a goal to raise net profit to 100 billion yen and achieve a 12% Return on Equity (ROE) by 2035. In February, Japex completed the acquisition of Denver-based tight oil company, Verdad Resources, in a $1.3-billion deal, the company’s largest ever M&A transaction. The merger gives Japex exposure to the sprawling…

Japan Petroleum Exploration (Japex) has unveiled plans to invest 1.16 trillion yen ($7.3 billion) in exploration and production in a bid to quadruple oil and gas output over the next decade, mainly in the United States. Japex has set a goal to raise net profit to 100 billion yen and achieve a 12% Return on Equity (ROE) by 2035. In February, Japex completed the acquisition of Denver-based tight oil company, Verdad Resources, in a $1.3-billion deal, the company’s largest ever M&A transaction. The merger gives Japex exposure to the sprawling…

A Kyrgyz-registered cryptocurrency exchange, slapped with Western sanctions for helping Russia finance its war effort in Ukraine, has experienced a hack that sucked over 1 billion rubles (over $13 million) out of users’ crypto wallets. The exchange, Grinex, announced via its Telegram channel on April 16 that it was suspending operations. Exchange representative alleged the hack was the work of foreign special services seeking to disrupt Russian efforts to evade sanctions and finance the procurement of needed goods and technologies, RFE/RL reported.…

Unidentified traders executed a highly suspicious $430-million bearish bet on crude oil futures roughly 15 minutes before President Trump announced an indefinite extension of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire. The traders placed a total of 4,260 sell orders for Brent crude futures during a "post-settlement" period when trading volume is typically extremely low, with the directional trades occurring between 19:54 and 19:56 GMT on Tuesday, just minutes before Trump announced the extension around 20:10 GMT on Tuesday. Brent crude prices plunged from $100.91…

Unidentified traders executed a highly suspicious $430-million bearish bet on crude oil futures roughly 15 minutes before President Trump announced an indefinite extension of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire. The traders placed a total of 4,260 sell orders for Brent crude futures during a "post-settlement" period when trading volume is typically extremely low, with the directional trades occurring between 19:54 and 19:56 GMT on Tuesday, just minutes before Trump announced the extension around 20:10 GMT on Tuesday. Brent crude prices plunged from $100.91…

Crude oil inventories in the United States increased by 1.9 million barrels during the week ending April 17, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday. The increase brings commercial stockpiles to 465.7 million barrels according to government data, which is still 3% above 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 reported that crude oil inventories saw a draw of 4.4 million barrels in the period.…

Lufthansa Group will remove a total of 20,000 short-haul flights from its European summer schedule, Europe’s biggest airline said as the airline industry faces jet fuel shortages and soaring prices. The cancellation of the 20,000 uneconomical short-haul flights through October would save the group about 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel, the price of which has doubled since the outbreak of the Iran conflict, Lufthansa said. “For the flights scheduled in the summer timetable, the Group expects a largely stable fuel supply,” the airline…

Lufthansa Group will remove a total of 20,000 short-haul flights from its European summer schedule, Europe’s biggest airline said as the airline industry faces jet fuel shortages and soaring prices. The cancellation of the 20,000 uneconomical short-haul flights through October would save the group about 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel, the price of which has doubled since the outbreak of the Iran conflict, Lufthansa said. “For the flights scheduled in the summer timetable, the Group expects a largely stable fuel supply,” the airline…

The UK will host on Wednesday and Thursday a two-day multinational conference convening military planners from more than 30 countries as Britain and France renew efforts to re-open the Strait of Hormuz. The two-day conference takes place just after U.S. President Donald Trump late on Tuesday extended the U.S.-Iran ceasefire until negotiations with Iran conclude “one way or the other.” President Trump has also ordered that the U.S. blockade at the Strait of Hormuz remains in place. Hopes of U.S.-Iran negotiations resuming as early as…

As the clock ticked toward the end of a two-week cease-fire, US President Donald Trump announced he was unilaterally extending the truce to give a "fractured" Iranian leadership a chance to make a “unified” peace proposal, but said a blockade of Iranian ports that has angered Tehran will remain in place. “Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so and, upon the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan, we have been asked to hold our Attack…

Iraq has been facing a critical oil export crisis since tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz largely seized up. About a month ago, Iraq reached a temporary agreement with Iran to allow its ships to sail through the waterway; however, additional war risk premiums for Persian Gulf transits have increased dramatically, rendering transport through the route uneconomical. Unlike Iran, which relies heavily on a shadow fleet of tankers to transport its oil, Iraq lacks a large national fleet, forcing it to rely on third parties. Lack of shipping…

Peak demand in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) territory could more than quadruple to 367,790 MW by 2032, driven primarily by data centers as well as other large load customers, the grid operator said in a preliminary forecast published Wednesday and noted by Utility Dive. ERCOT, which serves most of Texas, set its current peak demand record of 85,508 MW in August 2023.  The forecast is based on ERCOT’s economic forecasts as well as information provided by utilities working with medium…

Seven weeks after the war in the Middle East began, the world has already lost 500 million barrels of oil supply, equal to around $50 billion at an average price of $100 per barrel, around which futures prices have been hovering since February 28. The losses are enormous and continue to pile up as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, where 20 million barrels per day of oil supply moved before the war, remains severely restricted, and tensions in the region escalated again. Even if traffic were restored today at full capacity, oil and LNG supply…

Pakistan has been at the center of media coverage of the Middle East war as the country that took up the initiative to moderate peace talks. It also happens to be the country arguably most hurt by the war without being directly involved in the hostilities. Pakistan is a big importer of liquefied natural gas from Qatar. With QatarEnergy suspending production following Iranian strikes on its LNG infrastructure, Pakistan has been in a race with many others to secure deliveries from alternative sources. Yet Pakistan is among the poorest nations in…