Indonesia inaugurated on Monday the upgraded Balikpapan refinery, which cost $7.4 billion to redevelop and is another step toward self-sufficiency in fuel supply. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia attended the inauguration ceremony for Pertamina’s refinery, whose processing capacity has been raised to 360,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 260,000 bpd, making it the country’s largest refinery in terms of capacity. “We must be capable of producing our own food and energy,” Subianto, the…

Indonesia inaugurated on Monday the upgraded Balikpapan refinery, which cost $7.4 billion to redevelop and is another step toward self-sufficiency in fuel supply. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia attended the inauguration ceremony for Pertamina’s refinery, whose processing capacity has been raised to 360,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 260,000 bpd, making it the country’s largest refinery in terms of capacity. “We must be capable of producing our own food and energy,” Subianto, the…

Indonesia inaugurated on Monday the upgraded Balikpapan refinery, which cost $7.4 billion to redevelop and is another step toward self-sufficiency in fuel supply. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia attended the inauguration ceremony for Pertamina’s refinery, whose processing capacity has been raised to 360,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 260,000 bpd, making it the country’s largest refinery in terms of capacity. “We must be capable of producing our own food and energy,” Subianto, the…

U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 11 told Cuba that it should forge a deal with the United States now that Washington has pushed Venezuela to cut off its supply of oil and money to the communist-run island. After the U.S. military captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3, interim Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodríguez has redirected oil deliveries to the United States. Cutting off Venezuelan oil supply to Cuba, which has historically relied on support from Caracas, would apply significant pressure to the Caribbean country,…

Vitol and Trafigura are offering Venezuelan crude to refiners in China and India for March delivery, trade sources told Reuters on Monday, days after two of the world’s biggest independent oil traders obtained special U.S. licenses to help market Venezuela’s oil.   At the request of the US government, Trafigura and Vitol are providing logistical and marketing services to facilitate the sale of Venezuelan oil, Trafigura said on Friday, following a meeting of oil industry executives with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White…

Following the Iraq Oil Ministry’s recent dispatch of exclusive invitations to several major U.S. energy firms to develop the country’s huge West Qurna 2 oilfield after the forced exit of Russian oil number two Lukoil, American oil giant Chevron has emerged as a leading contender. This should occur after an interim nationalisation of the field intended to keep production going as the Russian firm completes its withdrawal. The company is also expected to move ahead shortly with the development of the Nasiriyah project, which comprises…

Azerbaijan, a key natural gas supplier to Europe, raised its production by 2.4% in 2025 from the previous year, the Azeri Ministry of Energy said on Monday.  Azerbaijan produced 51.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas last year, up by 1.2 bcm, or 2.4%, compared to 2024, according to the ministry’s data cited by the Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC). The giant Shah Deniz field produced 27.9 bcm, the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) fields contributed 14.1 bcm to Azeri gas output last year, the Absheron field yielded 1.6 bcm, while…

Azerbaijan, a key natural gas supplier to Europe, raised its production by 2.4% in 2025 from the previous year, the Azeri Ministry of Energy said on Monday.  Azerbaijan produced 51.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas last year, up by 1.2 bcm, or 2.4%, compared to 2024, according to the ministry’s data cited by the Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC). The giant Shah Deniz field produced 27.9 bcm, the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) fields contributed 14.1 bcm to Azeri gas output last year, the Absheron field yielded 1.6 bcm, while…

US President Donald Trump said the Iranian leadership called to seek talks with Washington in the face of his threats of military action in response to Tehran's brutal crackdown of mass anti-government protests. "The leaders of Iran called," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on January 11. He added that "a meeting is being set up.... They want to negotiate." However, "we may have to act before a meeting," he added without being specific. It wasn't immediately clear what Iran might seek to negotiate. The two countries in the past have had…

Oil production offshore Benin, Nigeria’s neighbor to the west, is set to begin by the end of January, the field operator said on Monday in what would be the first oil from the redeveloped field after it was shut down in 1998.  Akrake Petroleum expects to start production at the Seme Field in Block 1 offshore Benin at the end of January 2026, when it completes the drilling of production well AK-2H in the reservoir section, set to start early this week, Akrake’s indirect owner, Singapore-based Rex International Holding Limited, said…

Last year, upstream oil investment was projected to have declined 2.5% Y/Y to $420 billion after low oil prices put pressure on producers and slowed expansion plans. Companies across the industry continued to prioritize profitability, free cash flow, and debt reduction over aggressive production growth, a trend reinforced by macro uncertainty. The decline was also driven by reduced spending by U.S. independent light tight oil and shale producers, even as national oil companies (NOCs) in the Middle East increased their investment, and spending on…

Traders are betting record amounts of money on China’s metals markets, expecting a continued rally in the prices of base metals and lithium. At the end of 2025 and the start of 2026, speculators held record-high open interest in the base metals copper, zinc, nickel, tin, lead, and aluminum traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, and near-record open interest in battery metal lithium on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange. Concerns about tightening global metal supply, lower interest rates driving investment in metal commodities, and expectations…

In recent months, Iran has produced record levels of oil, even in the face of United States sanctions on its energy exports and the bombings conducted by Israel on Tehran. Iran has forged strong partnerships with China and other world powers to circumvent sanctions and continue exporting its crude, a trend that is expected to continue into 2026. However, the recent military intervention that the U.S. carried out in Venezuela could undermine this growth by making trade partners more wary of purchasing U.S.-sanctioned crude. Iran continues to be…

The numbers are not adding up at Tajikistan’s signature infrastructure project, the Rogun Dam. An independent audit of the project’s financial statements has found a $540 million accounting gap and has determined that electricity-production operations at the work-in-progress facility are losing money. Controversy is nothing new for the Rogun project, which if completed to its maximum specifications would become the world’s tallest dam. Critics argue the dam is a white elephant in the making that threatens to upend a delicate regional…

Somalia has lagged many other African countries when it comes to energy output, despite its strong potential for renewable energy production. Much of Somalia’s population still does not have access to electricity or clean cooking fuels. However, greater investment in the expansion of Somalia’s wind and solar power sectors, with support from strong regulatory frameworks, could help rapidly transform the country into a regional clean energy power.  Somalia has an installed capacity of approximately 400 MW, with roughly 300 MW coming…

China is boosting domestic natural gas production, and it is doing it fast. A major LNG consumer—and importer—the country has been key in LNG demand forecasts. Now, these forecasts will need to be revised. Less than ten years ago, China was struggling to get its domestic gas production off the ground, especially in shale formations. China’s shale geology is different from the U.S. basins, and energy companies were finding it difficult to get commercial production going. Now, China’s state oil and gas majors are pumping more…

Global economies are increasingly splitting into two opposing camps when it comes to energy policy. While many nations are moving toward electrification and installing record-breaking amounts of clean energy capacity, other nations – most notably the United States, the world’s biggest economy – are installing more fossil fuels than ever before. Put simply, the future of the global energy balance now depends on the results of a high-stakes battle between petro-states and electro-states.  The emergence of artificial intelligence…

For months, anger has been building in the communities that are involuntarily footing the bill for the AI boom. As data center clusters pop up around the globe to feed AI’s massive and growing computational needs, nearby communities are seeing their utility bills skyrocket, even if they themselves don’t benefit from the sector at all. And now, in the United States, the backlash against data centers’ resource consumption – and its impact on consumers’ bottom line – has spilled out of the bounds of local politics…

Tidal energy is gradually growing in popularity as companies worldwide invest in innovative clean energy solutions in the pursuit of a green transition. Unlike solar and wind energy, tidal power is highly reliable. In the past, the slow uptake of tidal power technology has made some companies wary of investing in new projects, meaning we are still in the early days of commercial tidal turbine development. However, several success stories in recent years have encouraged greater investment in the sector, with several projects planned for 2026. Tidal…

US power markets are still underestimating the economically disruptive role of renewables in power generation. According to a German study released last week (Weidlich, et al, 2025 “Base load power plants are not essential for future power systems”, Cell Reports Physical Sciences), their next target or victim could be base load power generation itself. This multi-authored study by German academics was tasked with answering a big question: could the German economy decarbonize in twenty years relying solely on incremental investment in…