The outcome of the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Washington, including his meeting with Trump and his entire entourage, has been successful, at least by media reporting. The impact of all is still to be seen, but from the start, MBS’s visit not just rebooted a strained political relationship. The primary outcome, based on all, is that it has reset the economic core of the US–Saudi partnership around Aramco. While the largest oil company in the world had already found its place in global power projections, Aramco…

India’s Reliance Industries has officially stopped importing Russian crude into its giant Jamnagar refining complex as of November 20—a sharp and early pivot that signals just how seriously Indian refiners are taking Washington’s latest sanctions squeeze on Rosneft and Lukoil. Reliance had the most to lose. For two years, it was India’s single largest buyer of Russian oil, backed by a long-term deal for nearly 500,000 bpd with Rosneft. Now, that relationship is effectively mothballed, at least for Jamnagar, as the company…

Geothermal power, which harnesses the Earth’s natural heat for electricity generation, heating, and industrial processes, is recognized within the energy sector for its high capacity factor. This reliability is a key differentiator, enabling geothermal plants to provide consistent baseload power, unlike intermittent sources such as solar and wind, according to industry analysts. This positioning makes geothermal a critical component in building resilient, low-carbon electricity grids. The global geothermal power market is projected to nearly…

Russian attacks on energy infrastructure in western Ukraine have left hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians without power as of Thursday as nuclear power plants are curbing generation because of damaged transmission lines.  Damage to power lines has forced nuclear power plants, which generate more than half of the country’s electricity, to reduce production, a representative of Ukraine’s national nuclear energy company Energoatom told Reuters today.  Earlier this week, Rafael Mariano Grossi, the Director General of the International…

Russian attacks on energy infrastructure in western Ukraine have left hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians without power as of Thursday as nuclear power plants are curbing generation because of damaged transmission lines.  Damage to power lines has forced nuclear power plants, which generate more than half of the country’s electricity, to reduce production, a representative of Ukraine’s national nuclear energy company Energoatom told Reuters today.  Earlier this week, Rafael Mariano Grossi, the Director General of the International…

Azerbaijan is hoping China can play a big role in helping Baku fulfill its ambitions of building a “green energy corridor” to Europe. Azerbaijani officials and representatives of China's Datang Overseas Investment Co. signed a deal on November 12 covering the construction of a 100 Megawatt solar power plant. The sides also agreed to explore the development of offshore wind power, energy storage systems, and the implementation of technical training programs. The solar farm will be situated in the Gobustan District south of Baku,…

Oil and gas supermajor ExxonMobil will buy a 40% stake in the new Bahia natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline from Enterprise Products Partners as producers and pipeline operators expand gas takeaway capacity in the Permian basin.  Enterprise Products Partners on Thursday said it had entered into an agreement with ExxonMobil, which will acquire a 40% undivided joint interest in Enterprise’s Bahia NGL pipeline that is currently being commissioned.   The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected…

Oil and gas supermajor ExxonMobil will buy a 40% stake in the new Bahia natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline from Enterprise Products Partners as producers and pipeline operators expand gas takeaway capacity in the Permian basin.  Enterprise Products Partners on Thursday said it had entered into an agreement with ExxonMobil, which will acquire a 40% undivided joint interest in Enterprise’s Bahia NGL pipeline that is currently being commissioned.   The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected…

Latin America has all the necessary ingredients for a successful clean energy transition, but can it pull it off? The region has enormous clean energy production potential, and already sources an impressive 70% of its electricity from renewables. However, the necessary infrastructural and policy supports to ensure a secure, sustainable, and just transition are lagging far behind.  A new white paper from the World Economic Forum, Energy Transition Readiness: Latin America and the Caribbean, finds that “while the region has some of the…

A massive fire has erupted at a crude oil upgrader project in Venezuela after an explosion was heard near the distillation tower, workers on site and sources at state oil firm PDVSA told Reuters.  The Petrocedeno project in Venezuela’s Orinoco Belt, operational since 2000, was one of the four original projects in the heavy crude oil belt in the world’s biggest holder of crude resources.   Petrocedeno, operated by PDVSA, extracts extra-heavy oil and upgrades it into a lighter synthetic crude for export. Petrocedeno produces…

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to meet top US Defense Department officials in Kyiv on November 20 amid reports that Moscow and Washington have drawn up a peace plan that calls for Ukraine to make major concessions. The new US-drafted proposal to halt the war in Ukraine sees Kyiv giving up some of its territory and some of its weaponry, news reports late on November 19 said. The US proposals also reportedly include cutting the size of Ukraine's armed forces and accepting a rollback of US military assistance that has been essential to Ukraine's…

The $5-billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which is planned to export crude oil from Uganda via a port in Tanzania, is now 75% complete, moving landlocked Uganda a step closer to becoming an oil exporter.  EACOP, a controversial pipeline project that has seen a lot of environmental opposition and planning and construction delays, is now about three-quarters completed, according to the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) as quoted by Reuters. With pipeline construction progressing, Uganda now aims to begin oil production from its…

Refining margins in the U.S, northwest Europe, and Asia have jumped to two-year highs as diesel and gasoline markets tighten with no sign of immediate relief.   Refinery closures in recent years, planned maintenance after the summer, unplanned repairs due to outages, and Ukrainian attacks crippling Russia’s oil product exports have tightened the refined petroleum markets everywhere. Forecasters and traders expect a glut on the crude market to depress further benchmark crude futures going into 2026, but the strength in gasoline and middle…

Previously, we reported that the pivot by Indian refiners away from Russian oil has triggered a spike in oil product prices even as crude prices remain largely unchanged. To wit, ICE Brent-Gasoil crack spreads doubled from the $15-17/bbl range held in the first half of the year, to a 21-month high above $32/bbl, good for a nearly 70% increase in the year-to-date. Gasoil is a middle distillate mainly used in commercial and agricultural sectors for off-road vehicles, machinery, and generators. And now reports have emerged that the distillates market…

Three years ago, Germany led an EU-wide offensive against Russian pipeline gas imports. These imports were no longer wanted in Europe because of the war in Ukraine. They would be replaced with LNG—for a short while—because the EU, and Germany, were firmly on their way to net zero. Now, Germany is in the LNG game for the long haul, building import terminals with a target of over 70 million tons annually—including from Russia. Reuters this week published an overview of Germany’s efforts to boost imports of liquefied natural…

E-waste is a massive and rapidly growing issue as more and more of our electronic devices reach the end of their life and end up in landfills. Today, e-waste is the fastest growing solid waste stream on the planet.  Finding new ways to breathe life into old electronics or to harvest their valuable components for upcycling, such as costly metals and rare earth minerals, is not only critical to closing this wasteful loop, but could also be an enormous economic advantage for the tech manufacturing sector. One of these newest innovations tackles…

MP Materials shares surged on Wednesday after the company announced a joint venture with Saudi Arabia’s Ma’aden to build a rare-earths processing and magnet manufacturing hub in the kingdom, a move that positions the U.S. producer inside one of the world’s fastest-growing critical-minerals investment programs. The partnership will give MP a new downstream base in the Gulf as Saudi Arabia accelerates its bid to become a major player in the global rare earth supply chain.The companies will establish a refinery and separation plant…

MP Materials shares surged on Wednesday after the company announced a joint venture with Saudi Arabia’s Ma’aden to build a rare-earths processing and magnet manufacturing hub in the kingdom, a move that positions the U.S. producer inside one of the world’s fastest-growing critical-minerals investment programs. The partnership will give MP a new downstream base in the Gulf as Saudi Arabia accelerates its bid to become a major player in the global rare earth supply chain.The companies will establish a refinery and separation plant…

Iraqis voted in a parliamentary election on 11 November and, though pre-election surveys predicted a record-low turnout, the final total turnout was 56.11% according to the Independent High Electoral Commission.  (Turnout for the 2021 parliamentary election was 43.3%.) Incumbent prime minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani’s Construction and Development Coalition, won 46 seats in the 329-seat Council of Representatives of Iraq. Now the election is over and Sudani faces the task of building a governing coalition. (After the 2021 election,…

Is AI in a bubble? When will the bubble burst? Are there signs? Well, we don’t have a crystal ball, but there are signs. On the markets, several prominent investors have spoken. Peter Thiel, one of the best-known tech investors, has sold his entire position in Nvidia. SoftBank, a huge Japanese tech investor is unloading its shares, too. Meanwhile, Michael Burry, of Big Short fame, warns of an impending bubble burst. And the head of Swedish fintech Klarna, a man with major AI holdings, said that he’s thinking of hedging his positions…