The expectation of tariffs on US copper imports is helping to push copper prices higher, along with tight supply, robust demand, and events in China, the world’s largest consumer of the industrial metal. Mining.com reported copper prices traded near a five-month high Monday, due in part to the Chinese government’s unveiling of an action plan over the weekend by to boost consumption. Demand from China’s property sector, a key source of metals demand, has been weak. Copper for May delivery on the Comex in New York was trading 1%…

Energy storage solutions are at the heart of a successful clean energy transition. As more wind and solar energy are integrated into global power grids, energy supplies become more variable and energy supply and demand rates are therefore frequently misaligned. Energy storage is a critical solution for stabilizing energy inflows and outflows to and from the grid for greater energy security. It’s heating up to be a major market sector in the coming years, but it’s still not clear what energy storage technology will emerge as the frontrunner. …

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose by 4.593 million barrels for the week ending March 14. Analysts had expected a smaller 1.7 million-barrel build. So far this year, crude oil inventories have climbed more than 21 million barrels, according to Oilprice calculations of API data. Earlier this week, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) climbed 0.3 million barrels again to 395.9 million barrels in the week ending…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose by 4.593 million barrels for the week ending March 14. Analysts had expected a smaller 1.7 million-barrel build. So far this year, crude oil inventories have climbed more than 21 million barrels, according to Oilprice calculations of API data. Earlier this week, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) climbed 0.3 million barrels again to 395.9 million barrels in the week ending…

Tajikistan is the poorest country in Central Asia, and it also remains the most polluted, according to a recent survey of global air quality. The 2024 World Air Quality Report, compiled by Swiss-based firm IQAir, measured air quality at almost 9,000 locations in 138 countries worldwide. Tajikistan ranked as the sixth most polluted country, in terms of the measured volume of harmful, air-borne particles known as PM2.5. Chad, Bangladesh and Pakistan were the top three states with the worst air pollution in the survey. “Air pollution remains…

The oil industry and everyone else who has reservations about the chances of success of the energy transition is on the wrong side of history. The claim came last week from John Kerry, tireless transition advocate and opponent of the oil and gas industry. Unfortunately, evidence suggests his claim is anything but accurate. “There is more chance of Elvis speaking next than the current plan working! And a wave of public dissatisfaction with transition reality is crashing over countries, companies, and consumers alike,” Aramco’s…

Only two weeks after a European Union summit where the bloc's leaders pledged to spend billions on defense in a "watershed moment for Europe," they are returning to Brussels for another meeting on March 20-21. This time, the EU's leaders aim to solidify plans for strengthening Europe's defense autonomy amid ongoing doubts about the US commitment to protecting European nations and sustaining military support for Ukraine. In the runup to the summit, the bloc's foreign ministers on March 17 talked about EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas's latest…

Via Metal Miner Rising steel prices saw the Raw Steels Monthly Metals Index (MMI) jump by 5.59% from February to March.  Steel Prices Surge on Tariff News As of mid-March, steel prices remained decidedly bullish and in search of a new peak as U.S. tariffs set the market on fire. Hot rolled coil prices hit their highest level since February 2024, up over 34% since the start of the year. Meanwhile, the steel plate market, which closed last year plagued by oversupply, saw prices jump nearly 38% during the same period, a development recently covered…

Kazakhstan has once again found itself on the wrong side of OPEC+ production targets, and this time, it seems to have cost the oil minister his job. The country has been pumping oil as if the quotas didn’t exist, hitting record production levels at 1.767 million barrels per day in February (with the help of Chevron)—a cool 300,000 barrels over its quota. Naturally, this hasn’t sat well with OPEC+, particularly those members actually following the rules, and it has cost the country’s oil minister his job. Enter Almasadam…

Global investors have finally returned to UK stocks, making their highest allocation to British equities since June 2021. UK equities were the third most overweight sector from global investors this month, beaten out only by utilities and banking stocks, Bank of America’s latest Global Fund Manager Survey revealed. Just a month ago, the UK was rated as the least attractive market to invest in among fund managers, with an 18 percent underweight to British equities. Now, investors are four percent overweight UK stocks, in only the second month…

Gazprom Neft isn’t losing sleep over Urals crude prices, at least according to CEO Alexander Dyukov. Speaking to reporters, Dyukov said the company considers the current pricing “quite acceptable” in light of the strengthened ruble. Translation? The currency shift is softening the blow of weaker oil prices, keeping the bottom line from bleeding too much red. For context, Urals crude has been stuck in a price rut thanks to a mix of global oversupply concerns, softening demand, and a shifting geopolitical landscape. But unlike previous…

Gazprom Neft isn’t losing sleep over Urals crude prices, at least according to CEO Alexander Dyukov. Speaking to reporters, Dyukov said the company considers the current pricing “quite acceptable” in light of the strengthened ruble. Translation? The currency shift is softening the blow of weaker oil prices, keeping the bottom line from bleeding too much red. For context, Urals crude has been stuck in a price rut thanks to a mix of global oversupply concerns, softening demand, and a shifting geopolitical landscape. But unlike previous…

Lee Zeldin, administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who obviously watches too many grade B movies, announced the upending of decades of environmental rules and regulations, which he declared, would constitute “a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion.” Removing those regulations would save $1 trillion in regulatory costs, he added. (The most likely beneficiaries, the energy, manufacturing and mining industries only account for $6 trillion of our nation’s $28 trillion GDP, so a $1 trillion…

Despite high natural gas prices and increased LNG demand in Europe after the end of Russian pipeline gas, floating LNG import terminals in France and Germany have sat idle for months as the high cost of operating the floating units undermines their competitiveness compared to onshore facilities. One example of this situation is the Le Havre floating terminal, commissioned by France’s TotalEnergies in 2023 as part of emergency measures in response to the energy crisis following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Cape Ann, the floating storage…

Oil markets are refocusing on geopolitical risk after the Israel-Hamas ceasefire broke down and the United States engaged the Houthis in Yemen.- Beijing has unveiled a $41 billion government subsidy program to prompt buyers to replace old consumer goods with new products, boosting retail sales, as well as allocating $27 billion to subsidize equipment upgrades.- Chinese refiners managed to keep run rates high despite a 26-month import low in January, with seaborne flows poised to rebound strongly in March after Beijing adapted to US sanctions on…

Russia’s oil production this year is expected to be slightly lower compared to 2024, as Moscow will be compensating for previous overproduction per the agreed OPEC+ schedule, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday. This year, Russia expects to produce between 515 million tons and 520 million tons of oil, Russian news agency TASS quoted Novak as saying. Last year, Russian oil production was 516 million tons. Russia’s oil processing levels, however, are expected to rise this year, compared to 2024, said Novak, who…

Russia’s oil production this year is expected to be slightly lower compared to 2024, as Moscow will be compensating for previous overproduction per the agreed OPEC+ schedule, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday. This year, Russia expects to produce between 515 million tons and 520 million tons of oil, Russian news agency TASS quoted Novak as saying. Last year, Russian oil production was 516 million tons. Russia’s oil processing levels, however, are expected to rise this year, compared to 2024, said Novak, who…

Russia’s oil production this year is expected to be slightly lower compared to 2024, as Moscow will be compensating for previous overproduction per the agreed OPEC+ schedule, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday. This year, Russia expects to produce between 515 million tons and 520 million tons of oil, Russian news agency TASS quoted Novak as saying. Last year, Russian oil production was 516 million tons. Russia’s oil processing levels, however, are expected to rise this year, compared to 2024, said Novak, who…

Turkey has started to diversify its oil supply away from Russia and is buying crude from as far as Brazil after its top refiner limited intake of Russian oil only to G7 price-compliant barrels, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, quoting data from Vortexa. So far in March, Russian oil accounted for just 19% of all of Turkey’s crude imports of about 650,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to the data. This compares with more than half of Turkish crude imports sourced from Russia last year. Last month, Turkey’s largest refiner, Turkiye Petrol…

The Trans-Niger Pipeline, one of Nigeria’s biggest pipelines carrying crude from the Niger Delta to the Bonny terminal, was rocked by a powerful explosion on Monday night, just as OPEC’s top African producer had started to raise oil production and exports. The explosion at Bodo, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, caused a massive fire at the section of the pipeline in the area, Nigerian media report. As of early Tuesday local time, the authorities haven’t announced what caused the explosion—vandalism, theft, or…