Strategic acquisitions of premier assets and the drive for efficiency and scale led to a stellar year for mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. oil and gas industry in 2024. Following a 331% surge in deal value to $206.6 billion last year, the number of the top publicly traded exploration and production companies in the American oil and gas sector has declined from 50 to just 40, Ernst & Young LLP said in a new study published this week. Despite the smaller number of the top players, the resulting 40 large listed U.S. oil and gas firms continued…

The energy transition was supposed to kill demand for oil, natural gas, and coal. The more wind and solar capacity that was built, the less hydrocarbons were supposed to be in demand. Instead, demand for all three continues to grow—especially natural gas. So Big Oil is doubling down on this core business, much to the chagrin of transition advocates. CNBC’s Sam Meredith noted in an article this week the latest quarterly reports of several Big Oil majors, all of which had emphasized the importance of their LNG business. Indeed, LNG has…

China’s shipments of rare-earth permanent magnets snapped back in July, signaling a return toward pre-curb trade flows even as the West doubles down on alternative supply. Overall magnet exports hit a six-month high of 5,577 metric tons in July—up ~75% month-on-month and 5.7% year-on-year—after Beijing agreed to normalize sales as part of a trade truce with Washington and Europe. Shipments to the U.S. climbed ~76% m/m to 619 tons, recovering from a May low of just 46 tons during the height of the tit-for-tat restrictions. Germany…

That the Colorado River’s flow has been declining is not new in water circles. Truth is that the states bordering the Colorado divided up the water supply on the basis of a wet year, a century ago, and have been fighting over the diminishing supply for some time. (From a negotiating standpoint this made a lot of sense at the time. Dividing relatively scarce water resources among various political bodies is like slicing up a pie among hungry people and everyone wants a big piece. Except here government officials were able to essentially riff…

BP’s 440,000-barrel-per-day Whiting refinery in Indiana is in the process of restarting after severe flooding disrupted operations earlier this week, Reuters reported on Wednesday, with industry monitor IIR saying it would take several days to fully ramp the plant up, with full capacity expected by early next week.  The outage followed a powerful thunderstorm that caused flooding and led to visible flaring. While IIR provided a projected restart schedule, BP has declined to comment on the refinery’s timeline, Reuters reported.…

BP’s 440,000-barrel-per-day Whiting refinery in Indiana is in the process of restarting after severe flooding disrupted operations earlier this week, Reuters reported on Wednesday, with industry monitor IIR saying it would take several days to fully ramp the plant up, with full capacity expected by early next week.  The outage followed a powerful thunderstorm that caused flooding and led to visible flaring. While IIR provided a projected restart schedule, BP has declined to comment on the refinery’s timeline, Reuters reported.…

Global oil markets are facing a period of short-term pressure as production swells, but Canadian energy fund manager Eric Nuttall says the groundwork is already being laid for the next major bull market in crude. Speaking to BNN Bloomberg, Nuttall, a partner at Ninepoint Partners, said he remains bearish on oil for the remainder of 2025 as inventories rise and new supply comes online. But he expects a powerful reversal in 2026 as the market absorbs spare OPEC+ capacity and balances the influx of new production from South America. “We have…

BP’s 440,000-barrel-per-day Whiting refinery in Indiana is in the process of restarting after severe flooding disrupted operations earlier this week, Reuters reported on Wednesday, with industry monitor IIR saying it would take several days to fully ramp the plant up, with full capacity expected by early next week.  The outage followed a powerful thunderstorm that caused flooding and led to visible flaring. While IIR provided a projected restart schedule, BP has declined to comment on the refinery’s timeline, Reuters reported.…

Russia’s Far East is grappling with acute fuel shortages after a new wave of Ukrainian drone strikes forced multiple refineries offline, squeezing supplies just as seasonal demand rises. According to The Moscow Times, queues have formed at filling stations in Khabarovsk and Primorsky regions, with some depots rationing gasoline as refiners halt operations for repairs. The outages come on top of cumulative damage that has sidelined nearly 13% of Russia’s refining capacity in recent months. Ukrainian outlets including NV.ua reported that…

Russia’s Far East is grappling with acute fuel shortages after a new wave of Ukrainian drone strikes forced multiple refineries offline, squeezing supplies just as seasonal demand rises. According to The Moscow Times, queues have formed at filling stations in Khabarovsk and Primorsky regions, with some depots rationing gasoline as refiners halt operations for repairs. The outages come on top of cumulative damage that has sidelined nearly 13% of Russia’s refining capacity in recent months. Ukrainian outlets including NV.ua reported that…

Via Metal Miner The Stainless Monthly Metals Index (MMI) moved sideways, with a modest 0.32% increase from July to August. Though it also remained flat for the month, the nickel price continued on an overall downtrend. Stainless Mills Note Weak Demand Despite a round of price hikes in recent months, the stainless market remains weak, with no evidence of a turnaround. Supplier financial results from Q2 indicate that while tariffs improved pricing conditions for mills, U.S. service centers struggled amid lackluster market conditions. For example,…

After years of ratcheting tensions between nuclear-armed rivals China and India, which actually came to literal blows along their disputed Himalayan border over the last several years - including the deadly 2020 Galwan valley clashes among rival troops, which left dozens dead and wounded - relations between the two Asian regional powers are thawing fast. Monday and Tuesday have seen a major breakthrough during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's two-day visit to Delhi, where he declared that India and China should view each other as "partners" rather…

In Tbilisi, whether you are inching through traffic or weaving down side streets, you cannot escape the same slogan splashed across the backs of some passing cars: “Build Your Dreams.”  That is a branded motto etched onto vehicles made by BYD, China’s largest automaker. Each vehicle is a moving data point in a quiet shift, signaling the rise of Chinese electric vehicles on the streets of the Georgian capital, home to nearly half of the country’s population, as well as in other cities. According to official data for…

South Korea is urging its struggling petrochemicals sector to slash excess capacity and restructure operations amid a global glut that has depressed petrochemicals margins and threatened the industry in many Asian and European countries. China, South Korea, and other Asian petrochemical producers have faced free-falling margins in recent months, with many companies struggling to break even. In Europe, the crisis in the petrochemicals industry has a different root cause – high energy costs – but the result is the same, a struggling industry.…

Crude oil inventories in the United States decreased by 6 million barrels during the week ending August 15, after growing by 3 million barrels in the week prior, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday. The build brings commercial stockpiles to 420.7 million barrels according to government data, which is 6% below the five-year average for this time of year. The EIA’s data release follows API’s figures that were released a day earlier, which suggested that crude oil inventories…

Global oil demand jumped in June by more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd) from May, while production growth has half that figure, leaving inventories at below the five-year averages, the latest data by the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Wednesday. Oil demand in 48 JODI-reporting countries surged by 1.23 million bpd month-on-month and by 638,100 bpd year-on-year in June, according to the most recent data by JODI shared by the Riyadh-based International Energy Forum (IEF). The monthly surge in global demand was driven mainly…

Global oil demand jumped in June by more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd) from May, while production growth has half that figure, leaving inventories at below the five-year averages, the latest data by the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Wednesday. Oil demand in 48 JODI-reporting countries surged by 1.23 million bpd month-on-month and by 638,100 bpd year-on-year in June, according to the most recent data by JODI shared by the Riyadh-based International Energy Forum (IEF). The monthly surge in global demand was driven mainly…

Russia launched 270 drones and 10 missiles against Ukraine on August 19, in a kinetic response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's White House talks with US President Donald Trump and key European allies. Ukrainian regional officials said that over 24 hours Russian shelling across the Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson regions had claimed the lives of 15 people and injured at least 76 more. It was reported that the Poltava region was hit particularly hard, leaving over 1,500 residents without electricity. In Chernihiv, drones…

Ithaca Energy, one of the biggest independent oil and gas companies in the UK North Sea, raised its 2025 production guidance for the second time this year, on the back of a strong first-half performance. Following average production of 123,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) for the first half of the year, Ithaca Energy on Wednesday upgraded its full-year production range to 119,000–125,000 boe/d from 109,000-119,000 boe/d previously expected. Ithaca Energy has more than doubled its oil and gas production and became the largest…

Ithaca Energy, one of the biggest independent oil and gas companies in the UK North Sea, raised its 2025 production guidance for the second time this year, on the back of a strong first-half performance. Following average production of 123,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) for the first half of the year, Ithaca Energy on Wednesday upgraded its full-year production range to 119,000–125,000 boe/d from 109,000-119,000 boe/d previously expected. Ithaca Energy has more than doubled its oil and gas production and became the largest…