Japan joins the EU in cutting the price cap on purchases of Russian oil to $47.60 per barrel, in a move effective Friday and aimed at punishing Russia over the war in Ukraine, yet unlikely to affect any Japanese purchases.  Japan lowered the price cap from the $60 per barrel imposed by the G7 years ago, to $47.60 a barrel. Japan is also imposing fresh export sanctions on Russian firms and additional asset freezes, as part of its efforts to help the international push to end the war in Ukraine, chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said…

Oil traders got whiplash today. Prices sank in early trading on oversupply jitters, only to rip higher by late morning as Russia once again stole the show. WTI was last at $63.79, up 2.28%, with Brent climbing 2.40% to $67.96. Natural gas was quieter, nudging up 0.27%. The surge came hours after a very different mood set the tone; concerns over swelling inventories and sluggish demand had pushed crude lower this morning, feeding the familiar narrative of too much oil chasing too few buyers. But markets quickly turned. Reports of fresh risks to…

As of Thursday’s close, light crude oil futures are trading slightly higher for the week at $62.27, up $0.40 or +0.65%. Despite the modest gain, market sentiment remains fragile as traders continue to prioritize fundamentals over geopolitics. Rising OPEC+ output, swelling U.S. inventories, and sluggish demand have kept a lid on upside momentum, even as tensions in the Middle East and Eastern Europe briefly supported prices. OPEC+ Production Hike Raises Oversupply Concerns Traders spent the week digesting the impact of OPEC+’s recent…

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict An Israeli strike on Hamas targets in Doha, Qatar, this week, resounded rather loudly. Several Hamas members were killed in the strike during a meeting on a ceasefire proposal. Doha called it a violation of sovereignty; Netanyahu warned of further action unless Hamas leaders are expelled. Washington has used a few tough words, but is avoiding directly censuring Israel. Qatar’s hosting of Hamas has always been tolerated by its neighbors as part of Doha’s broader opportunism. The strike shatters the…

The expectation, going back to late 2019, was that the Turkey-Libya maritime MoU would eventually be locked in as Libyan law. Tripoli’s Government of National Accord signed it under Turkish protection, and the assumption was that the House of Representatives would, sooner or later, ratify it. That would have given Ankara a clear legal corridor across the eastern Mediterranean, cutting straight through Greek and Cypriot claims, and would have cemented Turkey’s hand in any future offshore licensing. On paper, the deal would have redrawn…

Rising costs and uncertain regulatory and demand picture have made low-emission hydrogen projects more challenging and clean hydrogen production by 2030 could be a quarter lower than expected at this time last year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday.  The low-emission hydrogen uptake is not yet meeting expectations set by industry and governments in recent years, the agency said in its annual Global Hydrogen Review published today.  High costs, demand and regulatory uncertainty, and slow infrastructure development continue…

Global electric vehicle sales grew by 15% in August from a year earlier, slower than the 27% growth rate in January-July, as EV sales in the biggest market, China, increased by only 6%, data from EV research firm Rho Motion showed on Friday.   China continues to be the world’s biggest EV market, but sales growth cooled to 6% in August compared to a year earlier, when the Chinese sales surged with the introduction of the trade-in scheme.  Total global EV sales in August reached 1.7 million units, including 1.16 million Battery…

China plans to have its battery storage capacity more than double to 180 gigawatts (GW) by 2027 in a new plan aimed at attracting $35.1 billion (250 billion Chinese yuan), the authorities said on Friday.    The massive deployment of the so-called new energy capacity—to differentiate from pumped-hydro storage—is part of a new work plan issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) for the period between 2025 and 2027. China, which is the world’s top battery…

Lately, Wall Street has been warning that oil markets could soon face a surplus, putting more pressure on already depressed oil prices. To wit, Goldman Sachs has predicted that oil markets could be oversupplied by 1.9 million b/d in 2026 amid OPEC+ unwinding production cuts and production in the Americas rising. Wall Street now sees oil prices sinking to the $50s per barrel next year, further compounding a $15/barrel decline in the current year. And now the experts are telling energy bulls to expect even more misery, with LNG markets headed for…

Investors in Saudi Aramco’s Jafurah natural gas project have approached a group of lenders to secure $10.3 billion in funding for the project. Jafurah is at the center of Saudi Arabia’s plans to develop its natural gas resources, diversifying from crude oil. With a price tag of a total $100 billion, the Jafurah development is described as the largest unconventional gas development outside the United States. Its reserves are estimated at some 229 trillion cu ft of natural gas plus 75 billion barrels of condensate. Production has been…

The Trump Administration’s openly hostile policy toward wind, solar, and electric vehicles is setting the stage for much slower emissions reductions than previously anticipated, a new report says. The U-turn in U.S. energy policies under President Donald Trump could more than halve the pace of America’s decarbonization, research provider Rhodium Group said in its annual Taking Stock 2025 analysis this week. “Openly hostile to wind, solar, and electric vehicles” Solar and wind installations and EV uptake could nosedive with…

America’s power grid is straining under the weight of a fast-changing energy landscape. Beyond the usual summer hum of air conditioners, power demand is surging from electric vehicle chargers and sprawling new data centers. At the same time, the infrastructure built to deliver reliable electricity is aging and showing its limits. From Texas heatwaves to California blackouts, the warning signs are impossible to ignore. This isn’t a technical challenge—it’s an economic and political reckoning. If the grid fails, it won’t…

The UK’s refining landscape is undergoing its sharpest contraction in decades. On April 29, Scotland’s only refinery Grangemouth ceased operations after more than a century of crude processing. The 145,000 b/d facility operated by Petroineos (a joint venture between China’s PetroChina and privately owned Ineos) had long been flagged as uncompetitive, with management warning in late 2023 that it could no longer operate profitably. Its planned conversion into a fuel import and storage hub highlights a broader shift: rather than…

Three days ago, the eight members of OPEC+ agreed to increase oil output from October by 137,000 barrels per day, a much lower clip compared to the 555,000 bpd increase announced for August and September and 411,000 bpd in June and July. The Sunday announcement means that the group has started unwinding the second tranche of 1.65 million bpd in production cuts more than a year ahead of schedule, having fully unwound the first tranche of 2.5 million bpd since April. Oil markets have reacted positively to the smaller-than-expected production increases,…

The European Union announced on Thursday that it will lock in its deadline to phase out Russian oil and gas imports by January 1, 2028, holding firm even as Washington demands an accelerated timetable. According to Reuters, EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen confirmed the commitment following talks in Brussels with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.  Draft legislation is now being prepared to prevent new short-term contracts with Russian suppliers, ensuring the exit remains enforceable. The decision follows a pointed intervention from President…

The European Union announced on Thursday that it will lock in its deadline to phase out Russian oil and gas imports by January 1, 2028, holding firm even as Washington demands an accelerated timetable. According to Reuters, EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen confirmed the commitment following talks in Brussels with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.  Draft legislation is now being prepared to prevent new short-term contracts with Russian suppliers, ensuring the exit remains enforceable. The decision follows a pointed intervention from President…

The European Union announced on Thursday that it will lock in its deadline to phase out Russian oil and gas imports by January 1, 2028, holding firm even as Washington demands an accelerated timetable. According to Reuters, EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen confirmed the commitment following talks in Brussels with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.  Draft legislation is now being prepared to prevent new short-term contracts with Russian suppliers, ensuring the exit remains enforceable. The decision follows a pointed intervention from President…

American warships are once again patrolling the Caribbean while Venezuelan fighter jets fly overhead. A boat, alleged to be manned by drug smugglers, although this is now widely disputed, was blown up by the US military on September 2nd. The deployment underscores the volatile state of US-Venezuela relations, which in the past two years have swung from Chevron’s license being revoked to its partial renewal, and now to violent escalation. The common thread behind these developments is a narrative revived in Washington: the existence of the…

Tanker markets staged a comeback in August, and this time the rebound wasn’t subtle. Suezmax rates shot up 34% month-on-month, according to OPEC’s latest Monthly Oil Market Report published on Thursday, with the West Africa–US Gulf Coast run alone surging 38%. VLCCs weren’t far behind, climbing 19% on Middle East–East routes. Even the humble Aframax joined the party, racking up a 23% gain on Caribbean–US East Coast voyages. Clean tankers, on the other hand—i.e., tankers carrying refined petroleum products—looked…

Tanker markets staged a comeback in August, and this time the rebound wasn’t subtle. Suezmax rates shot up 34% month-on-month, according to OPEC’s latest Monthly Oil Market Report published on Thursday, with the West Africa–US Gulf Coast run alone surging 38%. VLCCs weren’t far behind, climbing 19% on Middle East–East routes. Even the humble Aframax joined the party, racking up a 23% gain on Caribbean–US East Coast voyages. Clean tankers, on the other hand—i.e., tankers carrying refined petroleum products—looked…