French nuclear fuel giant Orano’s uranium mining subsidiary in northern Niger is on the verge of bankruptcy, raising alarms over future nuclear fuel supply chains amid deepening tensions with the ruling junta, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The company cited a breakdown in talks with Niamey and the blocking of essential equipment at the border as the primary drivers of the crisis. The COMINAK mine in the Arlit region once supplied up to 30% of France’s uranium needs. Although the mine ceased production in 2021, Orano remains responsible…

French nuclear fuel giant Orano’s uranium mining subsidiary in northern Niger is on the verge of bankruptcy, raising alarms over future nuclear fuel supply chains amid deepening tensions with the ruling junta, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The company cited a breakdown in talks with Niamey and the blocking of essential equipment at the border as the primary drivers of the crisis. The COMINAK mine in the Arlit region once supplied up to 30% of France’s uranium needs. Although the mine ceased production in 2021, Orano remains responsible…

French nuclear fuel giant Orano’s uranium mining subsidiary in northern Niger is on the verge of bankruptcy, raising alarms over future nuclear fuel supply chains amid deepening tensions with the ruling junta, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The company cited a breakdown in talks with Niamey and the blocking of essential equipment at the border as the primary drivers of the crisis. The COMINAK mine in the Arlit region once supplied up to 30% of France’s uranium needs. Although the mine ceased production in 2021, Orano remains responsible…

Shares in major European renewable energy companies jumped on Wednesday morning after President Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ was passed by the Senate with less punitive provisions for green energy projects than initially proposed. The U.S. Senate passed on Tuesday the spending and tax bill with the narrowest of margins, with Vice President JD Vance casting a tie-breaking vote after more than 24 hours of debate. The Bill must also be approved by the House, where more opposition is expected to emerge. The original bill included…

Supermajors ExxonMobil, Chevron, TotalEnergies, and Eni are competing in Libya’s first oil bid round in 18 years, ‏Masoud Suleman, chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC), told Bloomberg in an interview published on Wednesday. Libya earlier this year launched its first oil and gas exploration tender since 2007, which is also the first since the civil war erupted in the country in 2011 after the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi. Exxon, Chevron, TotalEnergies, and Eni are among the 37 international companies that have expressed…

Supermajors ExxonMobil, Chevron, TotalEnergies, and Eni are competing in Libya’s first oil bid round in 18 years, ‏Masoud Suleman, chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC), told Bloomberg in an interview published on Wednesday. Libya earlier this year launched its first oil and gas exploration tender since 2007, which is also the first since the civil war erupted in the country in 2011 after the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi. Exxon, Chevron, TotalEnergies, and Eni are among the 37 international companies that have expressed…

Crude oil inventories in the United States increased by 3.8 million barrels during the week ending June 27, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday. The build brings commercial stockpiles to 419 million barrels, roughly 9% below the five-year average for this time of year. Crude prices were trading up ahead of the report. The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday had estimated a 680,000-barrel build for the week ending June 27 after analysts had estimated a much smaller 2.26-million-barrel…

India, the world’s third-largest crude oil importer, which depends on imports for about 85% of its daily consumption, considers building three new sites to raise its strategic petroleum reserves. Engineers India Ltd, a state-run engineering consultancy, is doing feasibility studies, L R Jain, chief executive at the state company managing the reserve, Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Ltd, told Reuters on Wednesday. “In case of exigencies, we will be better prepared,” Jain said. Currently, India’s underground Strategic Petroleum…

India, the world’s third-largest crude oil importer, which depends on imports for about 85% of its daily consumption, considers building three new sites to raise its strategic petroleum reserves. Engineers India Ltd, a state-run engineering consultancy, is doing feasibility studies, L R Jain, chief executive at the state company managing the reserve, Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Ltd, told Reuters on Wednesday. “In case of exigencies, we will be better prepared,” Jain said. Currently, India’s underground Strategic Petroleum…

India, the world’s third-largest crude oil importer, which depends on imports for about 85% of its daily consumption, considers building three new sites to raise its strategic petroleum reserves. Engineers India Ltd, a state-run engineering consultancy, is doing feasibility studies, L R Jain, chief executive at the state company managing the reserve, Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Ltd, told Reuters on Wednesday. “In case of exigencies, we will be better prepared,” Jain said. Currently, India’s underground Strategic Petroleum…

US President Donald Trump urged Iran-backed Hamas militants to agree to what he called a "final proposal" for a 60-day cease-fire with Israel in Gaza. "I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better -- IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,” he said on July 1 on Truth Social. Israel has agreed to the conditions to finalize a 60-day cease-fire during which “we will work with all parties to end the War," Trump said. Representatives for Qatar and Egypt will deliver the proposal to Hamas, Trump said,…

Norwegian energy major Equinor has walked away from a third offshore wind development project in Australia in another blow to the federal government’s plan to build an offshore wind industry. Earlier this year, Equinor quietly walked away from the Bass Offshore Wind Energy project near the coast of Tasmania, as the oil and gas giant reduced its investments in renewables to boost returns for shareholders and adapt to an “uneven energy transition.” In a short statement to Australia’s Financial Review, Equinor and its partner…

Norwegian energy major Equinor has walked away from a third offshore wind development project in Australia in another blow to the federal government’s plan to build an offshore wind industry. Earlier this year, Equinor quietly walked away from the Bass Offshore Wind Energy project near the coast of Tasmania, as the oil and gas giant reduced its investments in renewables to boost returns for shareholders and adapt to an “uneven energy transition.” In a short statement to Australia’s Financial Review, Equinor and its partner…

Until the U.S.- and U.K.-orchestrated removal of longtime Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from office in December, the Shia Crescent of Power held an extraordinary sway over the political, economic, and security trajectories of the Middle East. With Iran at its ideological centre, the Crescent comprised key strategic assets in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, with inroads being made in Azerbaijan (75% Shia and a Former Soviet Union state), Turkey (25% Shia and furious at not being accepted fully into the European Union), Bahrain (75% Shia), and…

Australia has been out of luck lately. The country’s consumer watchdog just this week warned the east coast could face a gas shortage as soon as this year. Smelters and miners are complaining about high energy costs and asking for government help. And now the industry department is warning that commodity exports are about to weaken on trade headwinds. In a new report, the Australian Department of Industry, Science and Resources said it expected commodity exports to keep rising over this year and next, but income from them is set to weaken—because…

Unless you are a hobbyist or technician who solders things on a regular basis, your only acquaintance with the metallic element bismuth is probably through Pepto Bismol, the main ingredient of which is bismuth subsalicylate, a pinkish substance sold, not surprisingly, under the name of pink bismuth. The fact that you can ingest pink bismuth and it will soothe your stomach should tell you something about its toxicity; it's quite low. And, that's why bismuth is  favored over lead for soldering. It is now widely used for soldering of circuit…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose this week, this time by 680,000 barrels in the week ending June 27 after analysts had estimated a 2.26-million-barrel draw. The build ends a series of API-reported draws over the last five weeks that total more than 22 million barrels—an unprecedented drop in US inventories not seen in recent history. Yet so far this year, crude oil inventories are up 4 million barrels, according to Oilprice calculations of API data. Earlier this week, the…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose this week, this time by 680,000 barrels in the week ending June 27 after analysts had estimated a 2.26-million-barrel draw. The build ends a series of API-reported draws over the last five weeks that total more than 22 million barrels—an unprecedented drop in US inventories not seen in recent history. Yet so far this year, crude oil inventories are up 4 million barrels, according to Oilprice calculations of API data. Earlier this week, the…

Millions of tons of coal ash are currently sitting in ponds and landfills across the United States. The U.S. alone produces around 110 million tons of this coal mining byproduct each and every year. The ponds that house this ash pose a major threat to the environments that host them, but they might also hold the secret to homeshoring vital supply chains for critical minerals. Last year, scientists at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin analyzed coal ash samples collected from power plants across the United States and found that domestic coal…

Reports and rumors have intensified this year that BP is in the crosshairs of rivals, especially Shell, for a potential takeover that would be the largest deal in the oil industry since the Exxon and Mobil merger in 1999. Five years of U-turns in strategy and the abrupt departure of the architect of the ‘greener’ BP, Bernard Looney, have left investors unconvinced in the direction the UK supermajor is taking and whether it could – at some point, finally – convince shareholders and the market that it is a stock worth holding.…