The latest news from the past few days indicates that Abu Dhabi entities have set their sights on Venezuela’s hydrocarbon sector. Reuters and Bloomberg indicated that ADNOC, via its investment arm XRG, could be entering the Latin American country. Details are still unclear, but it's worthwhile to address them already. At present, the situation in Venezuela is still rife with uncertainty, instability, and sanctions. For most interested parties, especially investors, Venezuela remains shorthand for everything that can go wrong in an oil state.…

Kazakhstan’s largest oilfield has been forced into a temporary shutdown after fires damaged a critical power generation and distribution facility at the Chevron-operated Tengiz oilfield, extending a run of supply interruptions in Kazakhstan. Production and exports were halted following damage to site power systems serving the field and the adjacent Korolev oilfield, media cited Kazakh officials as stating on Monday.  The shutdown was confirmed by Upstream Online and Energy Intelligence, both citing official statements from operator Tengizchevroil…

The S&P 500 closed out 2025 with a total return of 16.4%, marking its third consecutive year of double-digit gains. Despite a choppy finish, it was a strong year for equities, with every sector ending the year in positive territory. Growth-oriented sectors led the way, supported by a consumer that proved far more resilient than many expected. (All returns discussed are total returns and include dividends). Technology once again topped the leaderboard, delivering a 24.6% return as investment in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and cloud…

Kurdish forces have withdrawn from the largest oilfield in Syria as the Syrian government announced a ceasefire deal with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that could lead to normalization in the Middle Eastern country torn apart by more than a decade of civil war.  Following days of intense fighting as Syrian government forces advanced to the northeast and captured key oilfields, Syria on Sunday announced an immediate ceasefire with the U.S.-backed SDF.   As part of the comprehensive ceasefire agreement, the SDF will…

Oil prices fell early on Monday as concerns about a potential disruption to Iran’s oil supply in case of U.S. strikes subsided, while traders began to assess the next geopolitical flashpoint U.S. President Donald Trump has created—Greenland.   As of 9:53 a.m. ET on Monday, the U.S. benchmark, WTI Crude, had returned to below $60 per barrel, trading at $59.16, down by 0.27% on the day. The price of the U.S. oil has stayed for months very close to the breakeven prices for profitably drilling a new well at many U.S. independent…

On a mild and cloudy evening in Izmit, western Turkey, a Panamanian-flagged tanker called the Bela 6 dropped anchor and began pumping nearly 100,000 tons of Russian oil. The January 6 delivery was an outlier for the refinery’s owner, Tupras, which cut Russian crude imports by 69 percent the previous month, ahead of an EU sanction taking effect on January 21, according to data from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). The new measure bans imports into the European Union of products derived from Russian crude oil and is the…

Bolivia’s new leadership has pledged it would keep its existing lithium and oil and gas contracts, even those awarded to Russia and China under the previous leftist ruling, as La Paz looks to reassure investors that the signed deals would be respected.  “Our contracts will be respected,” Bolivian Energy Minister Mauricio Medinaceli told Reuters, including deals signed by the previous government with Russia and China.  Bolivia is estimated to hold more than a fifth of global lithium reserves.  This pledge is a “first…

Bolivia’s new leadership has pledged it would keep its existing lithium and oil and gas contracts, even those awarded to Russia and China under the previous leftist ruling, as La Paz looks to reassure investors that the signed deals would be respected.  “Our contracts will be respected,” Bolivian Energy Minister Mauricio Medinaceli told Reuters, including deals signed by the previous government with Russia and China.  Bolivia is estimated to hold more than a fifth of global lithium reserves.  This pledge is a “first…

Power generation from coal and gas-fired plants in China last year went down for the first time in a decade, driven lower by alternative energy sources such as wind and solar, official data revealed today, as reported by Reuters. The decline was minor, at just 1% to 6.29 trillion kWh for the full year. In December alone, China’s gas and coal power generation output dropped by a more marked 3.2%. While modest, however, the annual decline in coal and gas output came in the context of higher overall electricity consumption, which added significance…

A potential tie-up between Rio Tinto Group and Glencore Plc would rank among the largest transactions ever attempted in the mining sector. The combined company would be valued at roughly $260 billion and would control a broad mix of iron ore, copper, and other industrial metals at a point when supply growth across several markets is slowing. The structure of the two companies explains why the idea continues to resurface. Rio’s iron ore business generates steady and predictable cash flow. Glencore, by contrast, has spent the past decade building…

This week, Tesla North America and Elon Musk announced that the largest and most advanced lithium refinery in the United States is now operational. The Tesla Lithium Refinery just outside of Corpus Christi, Texas, is another step toward the U.S. goal of having domestic refined lithium resources to counter China’s market dominance. “Our Lithium Refinery ushers in energy independence for North America,” Tesla North America said in the caption of a video announcing that the plant is operational, just two years after breaking ground.…

Oil production in South America’s Guyana has gone from strength to strength in recent years, as international oil majors develop several new oil-producing regions. This has led Guyana to become one of the most-promising oil producers in the Americas, with high hopes for the future of “low-carbon” oil production. Now, following the United States intervention in neighbouring Venezuela, the holder of the world’s largest oil reserves, many are questioning whether the potential expansion of Venezuela’s oil production could…

Net zero is set to cost the UK economy billions of pounds more than public officials estimate, a new report has suggested, raising questions over the supposed savings to be made from the energy transition for households and businesses.  A new paper published by the Institute of Economic Affairs, a free market think tank, has raised questions about cost estimates shared by the Climate Change Commission, an independent public body that provides advice on net zero policy to ministers.  Energy analyst David Turner said the cash costs in the…

Following the United States unilateral intervention in Venezuela at the beginning of January, President Trump has discussed the potential for exploiting the South American country’s vast oil reserves. As he looks to boost oil production across the Americas, many are questioning just how much of an impact the expansion of Venezuelan heavy oil production would have on the environment, and on global decarbonisation aims. Venezuela is home to the world’s largest oil reserves, with an estimated 300 billion barrels. However, years of underinvestment…

Crude oil prices are in retreat after rising on the possibility of U.S. strikes on Iran. Before the retreat, however, Brent crude and WTI had jumped to the highest in months, countering bearish forecasts for the year—and tearing traders between geopolitics and fundamentals. In fundamentals, the majority of observers and forecasters are unanimous that the supply of crude oil is substantially higher than demand. In fact, Goldman Sachs recently revised its price predictions for 2026, saying it now expected Brent crude to go even lower after…

Cuba has been experiencing a worsening energy crisis for several years, which has led it to rely heavily on Venezuela for its fuel. Following the United States' intervention in Venezuela earlier this month, Cuba is expected to lose a vital supply chain for fuel, putting increasing pressure on the government to respond to the energy crisis. In the short-term, this will likely mean relying more heavily on oil-rich neighbours, such as Mexico, to provide supplies. However, Cuba must look for a long-term solution to its energy problems to bring an end…

TAG is the gas transmission operator responsible for the main transport corridor connecting Cabiunas, Brazil (Point I), the biggest gas injection point in the country, located from Rio de Janeiro to Ceara (Point O). TAG will play a central role in integrating new domestic gas supply from the Sergipe Alagoas deepwater project (SEAP), liquefied natural gas (LNG) entry points, and demand centers across Brazil’s Southeast and Northeast regions. The ECOMP Itajuipe compressor station proposal addresses a bottleneck in TAG’s pipeline network…

Egypt expects to significantly expand its energy sector in the coming years, with recent oil discoveries in the Western Desert and big plans to develop its renewable energy capacity. Egypt started the year off by signing $1.8 billion worth of renewable energy agreements. The deals include contracts with Norwegian renewable energy developer Scatec and China’s Sungrow. This is part of the North African country’s aim to achieve a 42 percent contribution of renewable energy to electricity generation by the end of the decade. The first project…

Projections for the AI sector’s energy needs in the coming years are massive in scale. The International Energy Agency expects AI’s energy demand to double between now and 2030, presenting a serious challenge for energy security in many nations and regions where large data center developments are planned.  But planning ahead for data center development and their associated energy needs is an almost impossible task. The real and future energy use of artificial intelligence is incredibly hard to pin down due to the rapid growth and…

In the second installment of a three-part series focused on South American pipeline infrastructure, we head to Brazil. The country faces the challenge of reinforcing its pipeline network to absorb growing pre-salt gas while managing declining imports from Bolivia. Although higher volumes of Argentine gas are expected to reach Brazil via Bolivia over the medium to long term, network upgrades will be required to ensure security of supply during the transition. TAG is the gas transmission operator responsible for the main transport corridor connecting…