The attacks last week in Saudi Arabia’s largest oil refinery, Ras Tanura (again), by the Iran-backed Houthis (again), which pushed oil prices up (again), once more underlined the powerlessness of the region to properly defend itself from Iran and its network of proxies and the redundancy of the billions of dollars’ worth of defence equipment the region’s countries bought from the U.S. to do precisely this. Aside from reminding Washington and its allies that Tehran can strike wherever and whenever it chooses to in the region, the…

A major oil hub in Russia’s Volga region appears to have caught fire after an attack, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing satellite images from NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System. An image taken on Monday showed a relatively fresh heat anomaly, which could mean fires at the Samara crude oil pumping station, according to the imagery Bloomberg has analyzed. The potential attack, reports of which emerged in Ukrainian media today, could be another hit at an oil asset in Russia after Ukraine resumed late last week attacks…

A major oil hub in Russia’s Volga region appears to have caught fire after an attack, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing satellite images from NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System. An image taken on Monday showed a relatively fresh heat anomaly, which could mean fires at the Samara crude oil pumping station, according to the imagery Bloomberg has analyzed. The potential attack, reports of which emerged in Ukrainian media today, could be another hit at an oil asset in Russia after Ukraine resumed late last week attacks…

With the election settled, the presidency continuing for four more years and a newly elected Congress taking office in February, Brazil’s data center policy now hinges on execution, requiring tight coordination between parliament and the executive branch. Most clean tech policies can advance through decrees and agency rules, but data centers are an exception: Unlocking hyperscale investment requires Congress and the executive branch to align statutory tax incentive deadlines with regulatory definitions that are still to be written. At the…

Oil prices extended losses from Asian trade into early Monday morning U.S. time as a draft proposal on a potential end to the U.S.-Iran war is now being circulated after Iranian negotiators left Qatar, an official briefed on the talks told Reuters on Monday.  Oil prices slumped by 3% in Asian trade on Monday amid renewed optimism about a possible peace deal between the United States and Iran, following reports about mediation talks between Iran and Qatar over the weekend. Iranian negotiators left Qatar on Sunday and a draft proposal is now…

Oil prices extended losses from Asian trade into early Monday morning U.S. time as a draft proposal on a potential end to the U.S.-Iran war is now being circulated after Iranian negotiators left Qatar, an official briefed on the talks told Reuters on Monday.  Oil prices slumped by 3% in Asian trade on Monday amid renewed optimism about a possible peace deal between the United States and Iran, following reports about mediation talks between Iran and Qatar over the weekend. Iranian negotiators left Qatar on Sunday and a draft proposal is now…

Oil prices extended losses from Asian trade into early Monday morning U.S. time as a draft proposal on a potential end to the U.S.-Iran war is now being circulated after Iranian negotiators left Qatar, an official briefed on the talks told Reuters on Monday.  Oil prices slumped by 3% in Asian trade on Monday amid renewed optimism about a possible peace deal between the United States and Iran, following reports about mediation talks between Iran and Qatar over the weekend. Iranian negotiators left Qatar on Sunday and a draft proposal is now…

The United States has discussed with Russia the possibility of restoring natural gas flows to Europe via pipelines running through Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing unnamed sources involved in the talks. The idea came from President Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff and was floated during trips to Moscow and Kyiv in September, the report said. The proposal would involve selling Russian gas through a U.S. intermediary, although such an arrangement would still face significant legal obstacles under the EU's…

The United States has discussed with Russia the possibility of restoring natural gas flows to Europe via pipelines running through Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing unnamed sources involved in the talks. The idea came from President Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff and was floated during trips to Moscow and Kyiv in September, the report said. The proposal would involve selling Russian gas through a U.S. intermediary, although such an arrangement would still face significant legal obstacles under the EU's…

Samarium sells for as much as 346 times more in North America than in China, and that price is just a preview of what American industry would pay the day Beijing stops exporting. Jet engines, industrial motors, EVs, wind turbines and medical scanners all run on rare earth magnets, and most U.S. manufacturers still buy theirs from China, at Chinese prices. Outside China, dysprosium costs five times as much and yttrium more than 100 times as much. Japan has already learned what happens when the Chinese supply slows: its government is asking Washington…

A month ago, a series of news reports said oil flows out of Hormuz had recovered to pre-war levels, pushing oil prices lower. However, the rout did not last. Benchmarks are set for their fourth monthly gain in a row, and no amount of repeating that Gulf states are exporting even more oil than before the war can change that. Because barrels are not the whole story. “What is the price of oil? Eight months into the war with Iran, what should be a straightforward question has become surprisingly hard to answer,” JP Morgan’s head…

As more governments put increasing pressure on tech companies to develop more sustainable data centres, to ensure they do not place a further burden on the grid, several tech firms are investing in developing new energy capacity and incorporating other innovative ideas into their facility development. This has led Google to suggest that the development of its new U.S. data centre in Minnesota, and associated energy development, will have a positive benefit on the region’s transmission network. Google has proposed an agreement with Xcel Energy…

The United States is racing to reestablish itself as a frontrunner in the global nuclear energy sector. While the country still maintains its status as the world’s largest nuclear power producer, it likely won’t be able to hold onto that accolade for long. China has vastly outspent the United States on nuclear power research and development for years now. As a result, its sector is younger, more advanced, and growing at a fast clip while the American fleet stagnates and its reactors age out. Moreover, China is pushing the envelope on…

Azerbaijan, long known as a major oil and gas power, has ventured into renewable energy in recent years and is rapidly ramping up its capacity. As host of COP29, Azerbaijan’s government announced an ambitious climate target and encouraged other governments to do the same.  Renewable energy contributed 20 per cent of Azerbaijan’s total electricity production in the first nine months of the year, an increase from 13.4 per cent in 2025, marking a significant achievement in capacity growth. Azerbaijan produced 21.2 billion kilowatt-hours…

After years of focusing on growing exploration and production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and the Permian shale basin, U.S. oil and gas supermajor Chevron returns to high-impact frontier exploration as it seeks to renew its portfolio with diverse opportunities globally. Exploration in South America, Africa, and the Eastern Mediterranean is now a key focus of Chevron’s upstream business, which the company looks to turn around by adding reserves and production growth opportunities in Guyana, Angola, Namibia, Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial…

A new United States intelligence report warns that China is developing energy weapons and spaceplanes that it could use for military operations in outer space, with the capability of using directed-energy weapons in orbit by the end of the 2020s. The US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) report, published on Sunday, includes a rare image of the newly developed reusable spaceplane.  The DIA report, entitled Challenges to Security in Space, is the first time that the U.S. government has offered an estimated timeline for China’s development…

The United Kingdom approved the development of the Jackdaw North Sea gas field on the 21st of October following years of legal battles and political uncertainty. Jackdaw is a large offshore natural gas field in the North Sea, owned by Adura, a joint venture between Shell and Equinor, since 2025, located around 240 km east of Aberdeen in Scotland.  The field was approved by the U.K. government in 2022, but the development was challenged in Scotland's Court of Session in Edinburgh, and environmental approval was rescinded after a judge…

The artificial intelligence boom is creating an energy monster. The indiscriminate integration of machine learning into everything from from our energy grids to our electric toothbrushes – no, really – has created a global race to build up data center capacity as quickly as humanly possible, causing energy demand projections to skyrocket and placing unprecedented strain on the world’s energy grids. By 2030, data center energy consumption is expected to more than double from its 2024 consumption level, which stood at about 420…

The government of Senegal has ambitious energy diversification aims, with plans to develop both the country’s oil and gas sector and grow its renewable energy capacity. As part of its Vision 2050 plan, the government aims to reduce energy costs and enhance energy security by diversifying energy sources. The government has announced several renewable projects in recent years and has recently made blocks available for oil and gas exploration to achieve these aims. Some of the government’s principal aims include expanding Senegal's energy…

Over the past couple of decades, Europe has pursued some of the world’s most ambitious clean energy policies, aiming to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Hardly surprisingly, Europe is now further along the clean energy transition compared to its western peers, with renewables accounting for roughly half of the continent’s power mix compared to about 26% by the U.S. However, Europe is now being forced to reckon with its decision to ditch some of its fossil fuel assets as yet another global energy crisis unfolds just…