Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway - which we have been following and watching take, then increase its stake in Occidential Petroleum for years - has finally tipped its hand at what it's end game with the company could be. While many had speculated Buffett would eventually take all of Occidental private, Berkshire is instead in advanced talks to buy Occidental's petrochemical business, OxyChem, for about $10 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. A deal could be finalized within days and would mark Berkshire’s largest acquisition…

Greenpeace activists from 17 countries blockaded Belgium’s Zeebrugge LNG terminal on Thursday, forcing at least three tankers to divert. Protesters in kayaks, inflatables, and small craft occupied the channel, demanding an end to both Russian and U.S. LNG flows.  Fluxys, which operates the terminal, told Reuters that operations inside remain unaffected, though tanker access was restricted and the blockade was expected to continue through Sunday. The Megara and Rias Baixas Knutsen, both carrying U.S. LNG, along with the LNG Phecda carrying…

Greenpeace activists from 17 countries blockaded Belgium’s Zeebrugge LNG terminal on Thursday, forcing at least three tankers to divert. Protesters in kayaks, inflatables, and small craft occupied the channel, demanding an end to both Russian and U.S. LNG flows.  Fluxys, which operates the terminal, told Reuters that operations inside remain unaffected, though tanker access was restricted and the blockade was expected to continue through Sunday. The Megara and Rias Baixas Knutsen, both carrying U.S. LNG, along with the LNG Phecda carrying…

Greenpeace activists from 17 countries blockaded Belgium’s Zeebrugge LNG terminal on Thursday, forcing at least three tankers to divert. Protesters in kayaks, inflatables, and small craft occupied the channel, demanding an end to both Russian and U.S. LNG flows.  Fluxys, which operates the terminal, told Reuters that operations inside remain unaffected, though tanker access was restricted and the blockade was expected to continue through Sunday. The Megara and Rias Baixas Knutsen, both carrying U.S. LNG, along with the LNG Phecda carrying…

Chancellor Rachel Reeves should abolish windfall taxes on oil and gas producers in the North Sea, top industy bosses have said.  In a new report setting out UK businesses’ proposals for the Budget, the Chancellor has been urged to focus on cutting energy costs for firms and set out a clearer plan for the North Sea’s transition to supporting renewable energy.  The British Chambers of Commerce, one of the UK’s largest and most influential industry groups, said the energy profits levy hitting giants including BP and Shell…

Fuel oil imports into the U.S. Gulf Coast surged in September to the highest level in a quarter century, reflecting the impact of sanctions constraining Venezuelan and Russian crude exports and forcing refiners to improvise with alternative feedstocks. Ship-tracking data from Kpler cited by Reuters show the Gulf Coast imported about 541,000 barrels per day of fuel oil last month, the strongest inflow since 2000. Refiners configured for heavy sour crudes are increasingly relying on residual fuel oil to keep coking units supplied. At the same time,…

Fuel oil imports into the U.S. Gulf Coast surged in September to the highest level in a quarter century, reflecting the impact of sanctions constraining Venezuelan and Russian crude exports and forcing refiners to improvise with alternative feedstocks. Ship-tracking data from Kpler cited by Reuters show the Gulf Coast imported about 541,000 barrels per day of fuel oil last month, the strongest inflow since 2000. Refiners configured for heavy sour crudes are increasingly relying on residual fuel oil to keep coking units supplied. At the same time,…

Europe’s oil capital since the 1970s, Aberdeen in Scotland, had not fully recovered from the 2015-2016 price crash when the pandemic triggered another downturn five years later. Then came the war in Ukraine in 2022, the energy crisis, price spikes, and the UK government’s decision to raid the profits of UK North Sea operators with the so-called “windfall tax”, which has now increased the combined tax on oil and gas firms to a massive 78%. Aberdeen and the surrounding Aberdeenshire area have been losing oil and gas jobs since…

Gazprom delivered a record-high volume of natural gas to domestic customers on September 30 as a cold snap gripped Russia, the Russian gas giant said on Thursday.  “The increase in gas consumption is associated with a sharp cold snap and the start of the heating season in many regions of the country,” Gazprom said, as carried by Russian news agency Interfax. On September 30, Gazprom delivered as many as 1 billion cubic meters of gas through the Unified Gas Supply System, GCSS, beating the record from the previous day,…

Gazprom delivered a record-high volume of natural gas to domestic customers on September 30 as a cold snap gripped Russia, the Russian gas giant said on Thursday.  “The increase in gas consumption is associated with a sharp cold snap and the start of the heating season in many regions of the country,” Gazprom said, as carried by Russian news agency Interfax. On September 30, Gazprom delivered as many as 1 billion cubic meters of gas through the Unified Gas Supply System, GCSS, beating the record from the previous day,…

Russia’s government plans to boost fuel imports from Belarus and import gasoline from China, Singapore, and South Korea to address falling domestic output and gasoline shortages in several regions, Russian daily Kommersant reports, citing measures being discussed by the cabinet. To make imports from Asia easier, the Russian government is waiving a 5% duty on fuel imports from China, South Korea, and Singapore, the Russian daily reported. Russia’s gasoline and diesel supply has been crippled in recent weeks by intensified attacks on…

Global LNG demand growth will be supported not only by higher power and gas consumption but also by surging demand from the shipping industry, where liquefied natural gas is poised to become key to replacing the dirtier fuel oil and other oil-based marine fuels.  Demand for LNG bunkering is expected to at least double by the end of the decade, industry executives and experts have told Reuters. “LNG is great because the infrastructure is there. It's readily available ... maybe later on it's going to be, hopefully, quite cheap as well,”…

The Republic of Congo expects its Parliament to pass soon a new natural gas code that would spur foreign investments in the country on the western coast of central Africa, Minister of Hydrocarbons, Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua, said on Wednesday.   Oil producer and exporter Congo, an OPEC member since 2018, wants to develop its natural gas resources, too, according to the minister.  “We are guided by a strong conviction: the future of Congo cannot rely solely on oil, it must also rely on gas,” Itoua said at an African energy…

In early Asian trade on Thursday, oil prices recovered slightly from 16-week lows, with WTI rising to $62.09 and Brent trading at $65.68. Markets were buoyed by renewed expectations of tougher sanctions on Russian crude, even as caution over higher OPEC+ supply and weak U.S. economic signals capped upside. The two benchmarks had suffered across the prior three sessions. On Wednesday, Brent and WTI each fell roughly 1 %, with Brent closing at its lowest since June and WTI at its weakest since May. A key driver of the recovery is intensifying pressure…

In early Asian trade on Thursday, oil prices recovered slightly from 16-week lows, with WTI rising to $62.09 and Brent trading at $65.68. Markets were buoyed by renewed expectations of tougher sanctions on Russian crude, even as caution over higher OPEC+ supply and weak U.S. economic signals capped upside. The two benchmarks had suffered across the prior three sessions. On Wednesday, Brent and WTI each fell roughly 1 %, with Brent closing at its lowest since June and WTI at its weakest since May. A key driver of the recovery is intensifying pressure…

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has revealed that electricity consumption in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has tripled since 2000, making the region one with the fastest-growing power demand on the planet. According to the IEA, the explosive growth was mainly driven by expanding populations and rising incomes, with air conditioning accounting for nearly half of peak demand. The energy agency has predicted that MENA will see another 50% increase in electricity demand by 2035 based on current policy settings, driven by urbanization,…

TotalEnergies said this week it would cut its capital spending by $1 billion annually over the next four years. Chevron and ConocoPhillips are cutting jobs—as are many others in the industry. Shale majors are cutting spending, as well. It is not looking good for the oil industry right now—but it won’t last forever. That the oil industry has become more cautious lately is a fact – challenges from pro-transition energy government policies have been one reason, and the natural price fluctuation has been another. Now, pretty…

The role of natural gas in the energy mix of the Netherlands, and also Northwest Europe, is far from over; in fact, the opposite may be true. After years of promoting the removal of natural gas as an energy source, the Dutch government and the EU are once again confronted with their own gas dependency and the realities of global energy markets. In today’s report, Overzicht gasleveringszekerheid by Gasunie Transport Services (GTS), it is made clear that the decrease in demand for natural gas in the Netherlands (both industry and consumers)…

China just advanced another pawn in the high stakes international battle to achieve commercial nuclear fusion. China and the United States have been trading off breakthroughs in the race to unlock the holy grail of clean energy for years now, and the rate of technological advancement has been increasing exponentially as a result of heightened investment and policy support from the two largest economies in the world. The nuclear plants that currently provide 10% of the global energy mix use nuclear fission – the splitting of atoms –…

Resource security when it comes to rare earth magnets is something the modern-day world has been desperately trying to get right. This is primarily due to rare earths’ increasing importance in electronics, defense, vehicles, and much more.  For years, countries have been seeking ways to secure access to these vital resources. However, 90% of the current supply is in the hands of China, whose relationship with the U.S. and other countries has not been ideal of late. Despite best efforts, many nations remain dependent on Beijing for their…