With the supposed need for vast new electricity generation to fuel the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, AI companies are pushing nuclear power as one solution to provide that power for the many data centers they plan to build. (Count me skeptical of the boom and therefore of the need for vast new electricity generation capacity. See here, here, here, here, and here.) AI boosters usually talk about expanding existing nuclear power technologies, that is, fission reactors that run on uranium and (more dangerously)…

Global commodities trader Glencore has acquired a majority stake in Dutch fuel supplier FincoEnergies, the Dutch company revealed on Monday, with industry sources noting that the trader intends to use the acquisition to expand its Northwest European footprint in fuel markets. FincoEnergies is a leading independent supplier of sustainable fuels and decarbonization services, helping transport companies cut emissions with ready-to-use solutions like GoodFuels biofuels, GoodShipping programs, and FuelEU Pooling, enabling them to meet sustainability…

Global commodities trader Glencore has acquired a majority stake in Dutch fuel supplier FincoEnergies, the Dutch company revealed on Monday, with industry sources noting that the trader intends to use the acquisition to expand its Northwest European footprint in fuel markets. FincoEnergies is a leading independent supplier of sustainable fuels and decarbonization services, helping transport companies cut emissions with ready-to-use solutions like GoodFuels biofuels, GoodShipping programs, and FuelEU Pooling, enabling them to meet sustainability…

Global commodities trader Glencore has acquired a majority stake in Dutch fuel supplier FincoEnergies, the Dutch company revealed on Monday, with industry sources noting that the trader intends to use the acquisition to expand its Northwest European footprint in fuel markets. FincoEnergies is a leading independent supplier of sustainable fuels and decarbonization services, helping transport companies cut emissions with ready-to-use solutions like GoodFuels biofuels, GoodShipping programs, and FuelEU Pooling, enabling them to meet sustainability…

The midstream sector is currently undergoing a quiet, expensive transformation. We are moving from the era of "dig it up and see" to a regime of permanent, high-fidelity surveillance. According to a new report, the oil and gas non-destructive testing (NDT) and inspection market is set to climb from $4.06 billion in 2025 to $6.20 billion by 2030. That is an 8.8% compound annual growth rate. On paper, it looks like a boom in high-tech services. In reality, it is a desperate attempt to manage the physical decay of an aging industrial empire. The surge…

An LNG tanker has loaded fuel from a sanctioned Russian export project on the Baltic Sea, vessel-tracking data showed on Monday, as Russia and China are boosting their mutually beneficial LNG trade unfazed by the Western sanctions. The Kunpeng tanker, which is not blacklisted, has loaded LNG from Portovaya, a small export plant on the Baltic Sea run by Russia’s gas giant Gazprom, and departed with the cargo on December 21, according to ship-tracking data from analytics firm Kpler and from LSEG cited by Reuters. Portovaya, Gazprom’s…

The Kremlin maintained its hard line on a Ukraine peace deal, rejecting undisclosed changes proposed by Kyiv and its European allies, as separate US-Russia and US-Ukraine talks wrapped up in Florida. The remarks on December 21 came on the same day that Ukraine accused Russia of abducting civilians from a village in Ukraine's Sumy region and taking about 50 of them across the border into Russia. The situation in the Sumy region remained unclear and details could not immediately be confirmed. In Florida, all sides continued to characterize the various…

The U.S. Department of the Interior is pausing leases for five offshore wind projects, due to national security concerns, Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, said on Monday. Due to national security concerns identified by the Department of War, the Department of the Interior “is PAUSING leases for 5 expensive, unreliable, heavily subsidized offshore wind farms!” Secretary Burgum posted on X today. “ONE natural gas pipeline supplies as much energy as these 5 projects COMBINED.  @POTUS is bringing common sense back to energy…

The U.S. Department of the Interior is pausing leases for five offshore wind projects, due to national security concerns, Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, said on Monday. Due to national security concerns identified by the Department of War, the Department of the Interior “is PAUSING leases for 5 expensive, unreliable, heavily subsidized offshore wind farms!” Secretary Burgum posted on X today. “ONE natural gas pipeline supplies as much energy as these 5 projects COMBINED.  @POTUS is bringing common sense back to energy…

The U.S. Department of the Interior is pausing leases for five offshore wind projects, due to national security concerns, Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, said on Monday. Due to national security concerns identified by the Department of War, the Department of the Interior “is PAUSING leases for 5 expensive, unreliable, heavily subsidized offshore wind farms!” Secretary Burgum posted on X today. “ONE natural gas pipeline supplies as much energy as these 5 projects COMBINED.  @POTUS is bringing common sense back to energy…

The U.S. Department of the Interior is pausing leases for five offshore wind projects, due to national security concerns, Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, said on Monday. Due to national security concerns identified by the Department of War, the Department of the Interior “is PAUSING leases for 5 expensive, unreliable, heavily subsidized offshore wind farms!” Secretary Burgum posted on X today. “ONE natural gas pipeline supplies as much energy as these 5 projects COMBINED.  @POTUS is bringing common sense back to energy…

The Maritime province of Nova Scotia is known for its lighthouses, lobster, Celtic/Acadian vibe, and Canadian history like the UNESCO heritage site of Old Town Lunenburg. Now it could be put on the map for an entirely different reason: low-carbon, sustainable jet fuel. CBC News reported this week that a proposal for an industrial plant on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore has passed its first regulatory hurdle: environmental approval from the province. The proponent, Nova Sustainable Fuels, backed by European energy giant Octopus Energy, plans…

Russia is expected to deliver 25% higher volumes of natural gas via pipeline to China this year, compared to 2024, an anonymous source with knowledge of the flows told Reuters on Monday. Russia has been boosting both its pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to China this year, as its sales are being shunned in Europe, Moscow’s previous top export market. The EU, earlier this month, even managed to reach an agreement on how to phase out imports of Russian gas. As a result of lost markets in Europe, Russia is pivoting to China and…

Last Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump posted a striking message on Truth Social calling for a “total and complete blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela. In the post, Trump cited asset theft, terrorism, and human trafficking, and asserted that Venezuela should be treated as a foreign terrorist organization. The statement immediately sparked confusion across energy markets and political media. Trump offered no details on how such a blockade would be enforced, under what legal authority it would operate,…

Oil prices climbed in early Asian trading on Monday as markets reacted to the U.S. intensifying its targeting of oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, including the seizure of a second oil tanker and the pursuit of a third. At the time of writing, West Texas Intermediate was up 0.64%, at $56.88 per barrel, while Brent crude was 0.66% higher at $60.87 per barrel. The gains reflect heightened geopolitical risk in oil markets and the fear of further supply being taken offline. On Saturday, U.S. forces intercepted and seized a second oil tanker in…

Oil tankers are diverting from their route to Venezuela; some are sitting idle at ports instead of setting off for Asia; discounts on Venezuelan crude are deepening; and PDVSA may soon start shutting down wells for lack of storage space. President Trump’s military campaign against Venezuela is threatening an $8-billion market. It started with one tanker seizure, a week ago. Then Trump escalated the rhetoric, threatening a blockade on Venezuelan tanker traffic and demanding that Venezuela returned “Oil, Land, and other Assets that they…

As the global demand for critical minerals continues to increase, governments worldwide are continually looking for innovative ways to access these resources, which has led many to discuss the potential for deep-sea mining. However, concerns over environmental damage related to deep-sea operations have prevented greater exploration until now, and recent evidence showing the devastating impact mining could have on marine life could put it on indefinite hold. A study published in December, funded by The Metals Company, which was hoping to become…

West Africa’s Atlantic margin is entering a period of renewed exploration interest, driven by a combination of promising Cretaceous geology, shifts in company portfolios, and a widening recognition that new barrels will be required to balance future supply. The MSGBC basin has attracted particular attention as its geological potential becomes clearer and as a new generation of international players, most notably Chevron in Guinea-Bissau, signal that frontier opportunities remain firmly on the strategic map. This uptick comes at a moment when…

There are rising concerns that the United Kingdom’s gas security is under threat and that not enough is being done to mitigate the risk. Chris O’Shea, the CEO of Centrica, which owns British Gas, has called the government out for not paying enough attention to a gas report that was released on the same day as the annual budget, suggesting that not enough is being done to ensure the future of the U.K.’s gas supply, which could be devastating to consumers. A 50-page report from the National Energy System Operator (Neso) was released…

The U.S. Energy Information Administration quietly rewrote a key assumption about the global oil market this week: OPEC can produce more oil than previously thought. In its December Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA updated how it defines and estimates OPEC crude oil production capacity. The result was a material upward revision. The agency now estimates OPEC’s effective production capacity was higher by about 220,000 barrels per day in 2024, 370,000 bpd in 2025, and 310,000 bpd in 2026 compared with its earlier assessments. The change didn’t…