Italy’s power grid operator Terna SpA plans to invest more than $25 billion (23 billion euros) over the next ten years to facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources and boost the transport capacity of the grid, the company said on Friday in its 2025-2034 development plan. The investments represent a 10% increase compared to the previous plan. The upgrades and new links in the plan through 2034 “are essential to the pursuit of national and European targets in terms of energy transition and independence, resilience and efficiency…

US Steel Tariffs Slap Hard, Until They Don’t - The US has imposed 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminium, and even though President Trump’s threats of doubling that rate for Canada were subsequently cleared, the measure is bound to have a profound impact on US metallurgy.   - Canada remains the largest supplier of steel mill products and aluminium to the United States, accounting for a little more than a quarter of steel imports in 2024 with a total of 6.6 million tonnes. - The impact on aluminium might be even bigger, as…

Oil prices are set to end the week with a slight increase despite market uncertainty over demand due to Trump's trade wars. Friday, March 14th, 2025 Oil prices are set for their first weekly gain in a month, even if rising by only a couple of cents week-on-week, as the continuous barrage of tariff war news was offset by concerns around Trump’s Ukraine-Russia ceasefire plan and the tightening of sanctions vis-à-vis Iran. Since March 5, ICE Brent has been trading in an extremely tight band of $69.3-70.9 per barrel as the oil markets…

Crude oil prices faced another volatile week as traders balanced conflicting fundamentals. While supply-side data offered some bullish support, persistent economic concerns, escalating trade tensions, and OPEC+ production plans kept a lid on potential gains. With the market struggling to find clear direction, traders are now looking ahead to next week's key economic and inventory data for fresh catalysts. Did Economic Concerns Keep Oil Prices in Check? Crude oil started the week on a relatively steady note but faced headwinds from broader economic…

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict Syria’s interim president has signed a constitutional declaration in a step towards hoped-for stability post-Assad, but that stability still remains elusive. This week, pro-Assad Allawites in the coastal region ambushed and attacked Syrian security forces, leading to a massacre of hundreds of people, forcing the Allawites to flee across the border into Lebanon, risking that country’s fragile security, as well. With Syria’s new interim leaders struggling to keep the lid on power, an Israeli…

Last week, I warned that the volatility exhibited by the major stock indices indicated that this week would see a big drop and that investors should be preparing for that. I am sorry to say that prediction proved accurate. The continued threat of a full-on trade war between the US and just about everybody else reinforced the technical bearish signal and stocks got hit hard for most of the week. I would like to say that the drop is over, or at least that the worst is behind us, but I really cannot. It could well be that Donald Trump and the others…

It’s been a rough week for the markets, which just a month ago were heralding Trump’s economic and foreign policy agenda, but now have lost $4 trillion in a fast bleed fed by tariffs that many fear could drive a significant economic downturn. And it’s not just tariffs. Another big gamble for the markets is whether the U.S. economy is heading for recession, or whether the now fragile Trump plan to stop the bureaucratic budget bleed is just an expensive, bumpy downturn that will level off quickly.  Oil is certainly uncertain.…

American and Vietnamese companies signed this week several agreements in the energy and minerals sectors estimated to be worth $4.15 billion, as the Southeast Asian country looks to avoid U.S. tariffs and boost cooperation with U.S. firms. Vietnam’s Trade Minister Nguyen Hong Dien visited the United States this week and held talks with the US Trade Representative Jamieson L. Greer to advance bilateral economic and trade cooperation, Vietnamese state media reported. “Vietnam’s consistent policy is to build harmonious, sustainable,…

The next few months will see an increase in global oil demand as fuel consumption will rise in the summer driving season, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told Reuters, adding that this expected rebound was factored in OPEC+’s decision to begin adding supply to the market from April. “Oil demand will grow during the driving season,” said Novak, who is Russia’s top oil official and represents the country at the OPEC+ talks and meetings. Last week, Novak said that OPEC+ could reverse the oil production increase…

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has launched talks to potentially buy the energy assets of the UAE’s sovereign wealth fund in a deal that could be worth about $10 billion, sources familiar with the plans told Bloomberg on Friday. ADNOC – which has recently reshuffled shareholdings, listed some subsidiaries, and created an $80-billion investment firm for gas, chemicals, and low-carbon energy – started late last year talks with Mubadala Investment Company, the sovereign wealth fund of the UAE managing a diverse portfolio…

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has launched talks to potentially buy the energy assets of the UAE’s sovereign wealth fund in a deal that could be worth about $10 billion, sources familiar with the plans told Bloomberg on Friday. ADNOC – which has recently reshuffled shareholdings, listed some subsidiaries, and created an $80-billion investment firm for gas, chemicals, and low-carbon energy – started late last year talks with Mubadala Investment Company, the sovereign wealth fund of the UAE managing a diverse portfolio…

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has launched talks to potentially buy the energy assets of the UAE’s sovereign wealth fund in a deal that could be worth about $10 billion, sources familiar with the plans told Bloomberg on Friday. ADNOC – which has recently reshuffled shareholdings, listed some subsidiaries, and created an $80-billion investment firm for gas, chemicals, and low-carbon energy – started late last year talks with Mubadala Investment Company, the sovereign wealth fund of the UAE managing a diverse portfolio…

Petronas has launched a process to potentially sell its interest in a Vaca Muerta joint venture which would see Malaysia’s national oil and gas firm exit the Argentinian shale region, sources with knowledge of the matter have told Bloomberg. Petronas has already held discussions with a potential buyer about a sale of its 50% stake in La Amarga Chica joint venture with Argentina’s state oil and gas firm YPF, according to one of Bloomberg’s sources.   If the sale goes through, Petronas would exit Vaca Muerta, becoming the latest…

Qatar has followed Saudi Arabia in cutting the price of its al-Shaheen crude for May deliveries, Reuters has reported, citing trade sources. Al-Shaheen for delivery in May will now cost $1.29 per barrel above the Dubai benchmark—or less. According to the Reuters sources, Qatar has already contracted four cargos of al-Shaheen for Vitol at a price of $1.17 per barrel above the Dubai benchmark. Another cargo has been committed to China’s CNOOC, at a price $1.30 per barrel above the Dubai benchmark. Al-Shaheen cargos for delivery in April…

Oil and gas drillers are bracing for the effects of the latest round of tariffs that President Trump has adopted in his attempts to revive domestic industries and punish U.S. trade partners for what he sees as unfair treatment for years. Luckily, the effect is unlikely to be all that serious. The latest targets of Trump’s tariff offensive were steel and aluminum—both critical metals for the oil and gas industry. The president slapped an import tariff of 25% on all steel and aluminum entering the United States, angering the European…

With the CERAWeek 2025 conference in Houston drawing to a close, C-Suite executives, ministers and top officials have weighed in on the trajectory of the global oil and gas sector with experts debating whether tariffs, trade, and competition will replace security, affordability, and sustainability in shaping energy markets and policy. However, one of the biggest highlights of the conference has been the showdown between Saudi Aramco’s CEO Amin Nasser and IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol and their highly divergent views on the future of…

The founder of Pioneer Natural Resources has a warning for the U.S. oil producers—the next two years will not be easy, and “drill, baby, drill” isn’t happening at $50 oil price. Scott Sheffield, who founded Pioneer Natural Resources and sold last year the top Permian basin producer to ExxonMobil for $60 billion, expects two or three years in which the U.S. shale patch will have to reinvent itself – once again – if it wants to remain a relevant force on the market at a lower price of oil, which the Trump Administration…

Whitecap Resources, (OTCPK: SPGYF), and Veren Inc, (NYSE:VRN) agreed to a no-cash, all-stock merger the other day, finalizing a long-rumored notion making the rounds in chatrooms. Both companies have previously been active in Canadian M&A, with Whitecap acquiring XTO Canada in 2022 for $1.9 bn. Formerly known as Crescent Point, Veren Inc. made a similar move with its $1.7 bn pickup of Spartan Delta’s Montney acreage in 2023 and followed that quickly with another multi-billion dollar deal taking out Hammerhead Energy later the same year.…

The Ukrainian military is testing new drones using fiber optics on the front line against Russian forces. The low-flying drones are tied to the ground via thin fiber-optic cables that unwind as the drone flies farther from the controller.Unlike radio-controlled drones, fiber-optic drones cannot be jammed by opposing forces using "electronic warfare."The cable transmits a high-quality image back to the ground, right up to the moment of detonation."These drones can fly up to 60 kilometers per hour, perform maneuvers, and within a range of 10 kilometers,…

Qatar is set to supply Syria with natural gas via Jordan with Washington's approval, Reuters has reported. Qatar was one of the fiercest opponents of the deposed Bashar al-Assad and one of the strongest supporters of the rebels-turned rulers currently in charge. The gas would be transferred from Jordan via a pipeline to the Deir Ali power plant in southern Syria, where it could boost power supply by up to 400 megawatts. According to the Qatari Charge d'affaires in Syria Khalifa Abdullah Al Sharif, the plan aims to increase power production by an…