British self-driving car company Wayve has raised $1.2bn (£950m), ticking its valuation up to $8.6bn and marking one of the largest capital raises for a UK AI startup. The funding round was led by Eclipse, Balderton and Softbank Vision Fund 2, with new backing from investors like Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Baillie Gifford, the British Business Bank and Schroders Capital. Tech giants Microsoft, Nvidia and Uber also participated, alongside carmakers Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Stellantis. Uber has separately contributed additional…

The European Union has to coordinate its plans to impose a full ban on maritime services for Russian crude oil with the G7 group of the world’s most advanced economies, David O’Sullivan, the EU Sanctions Envoy, said on Thursday.  Early this month, the European Commission proposed in its planned 20th package of sanctions against Russia a full maritime services ban for Russian crude oil, which is expected to “slash further Russia's energy revenues and make it more difficult to find buyers for its oil,” European Commission…

The supertanker charter market has become red-hot this year as the specter of a U.S. military campaign in Iran has added to a number of other bullish factors to push daily rates to the highest in nearly six years. The daily rate for hiring a very large crude carrier (VLCC), capable of shipping 2 million barrels, on the key Middle East Gulf to China route (MEG-China) this week topped $200,000. That’s the highest daily rate since early April 2020, when Saudi Arabia and Russia were flooding the market with crude in the brief price war amid plunging…

Eni’s oil and gas production rose by 7% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier as the Italian energy major started up six major new projects in 2025.  Fourth-quarter output was 1.84 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), up by 5% from the previous quarter, Eni said in its Q4 and full-year earnings release on Thursday.  The rise in the fourth quarter lifted full-year 2025 production to an average of 1.73 million boe/d, which marked 4% underlying growth from the prior year, and exceeded the company’s guidance…

US and Iranian officials are set to hold a fresh round of nuclear talks in Geneva on February 26 for what is seen as a last-ditch attempt to avoid a major military conflict between the foes. The third round of discussions comes as President Donald Trump weighs options for US military action if no deal is secured to curb Iran’s nuclear program, with two American carrier groups deployed within striking distance of the Islamic Republic. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi left Tehran for the Swiss city on February 25, and is expected to hold…

The Russian government is considering lowering the oil price level above which it sends the proceeds to its wealth fund as the Kremlin’s oil and gas revenues are plummeting with widening discounts and key buyers like India pulling out of the spot market.    Under the so-called budget rule, Russia had a baseline price of $60 per barrel of oil for 2025. At prices above $60 per barrel for its oil, Moscow funnels excess revenue to its National Wealth Fund, a rainy-day reserves fund.  However, when the price is below $60 per…

Long before trade wars and tariffs, China secured manufacturing dominance by controlling rare earths - a reality so consequential that the United States and its allies are now pledging more than $8.5 billion just to claw back some control of the supply chain. As global manufacturing expanded over the past two decades, rare earth processing was steadily pushed out of Western supply chains. It was capital-intensive, technically demanding, and difficult to defend on short-term economics. China made the opposite choice, keeping those capabilities in…

Texas-based EnCap Flatrock Midstream is considering a sale of gas pipeline operator Momentum Midstream in a deal that could fetch $5 billion. According to a Bloomberg report citing unnamed sources, the venture capital firm is currently talking with financial advisers to find a buyer. The sources noted that talks are in their early stages and EnCap Flatrock Midstream may eventually decide against a sale. If it does sell Momentum Midstream, however, it would make one of the largest deals in the oil and gas pipeline space, after the Brookfield Infrastructure…

Geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran have pushed oil prices to seven-month highs, as markets factor in a sizable risk premium ahead of critical negotiations. Despite heavy sanctions by the West, Iran’s oil output has recovered to near pre-sanctions levels thanks to the OPEC producer offering discounted crude and having a ready market by Chinese independent refiners.  According to energy market consultancy FGE NexantECA, oil prices could spike to $100 per barrel if Washington declares war on Tehran, good for nearly ~45% upside…

The recent announcement that Turkey’s state-owned TPAO has signed a wide-ranging oil and gas cooperation agreement with Great Britain’s BP marks a potentially significant shift in the strategic landscape of northern Iraq. The new framework — covering field development, exploration, export capacity and regional gas transport — places both companies squarely at the centre of Iraq’s next phase of upstream expansion, with Kirkuk identified as the immediate priority. Coming on the heels of TPAO’s recent cooperation…

China and the United States, the world’s largest and second-largest crude oil importers, respectively, appear to have enough strategic reserves to go through an oil supply disruption in the key producing region, the Middle East, in case the U.S.-Iran standoff escalates to U.S. strikes on the Islamic Republic. Sure, any disruption to oil shipping in the Middle East would send oil prices higher from the current seven-month high of $71 per barrel Brent. The market panic in case Thursday’s U.S.-Iran talks fail could be even more disruptive…

Global battery markets are going gangbusters as demand for new and better battery technologies explodes, driven by the clean energy transition and the proliferation of data centers and artificial intelligence. Batteries provide a critical backup energy source at a time when energy security is under strain at a global level, thanks to the runaway energy demands of the energy and tech sectors.  “As applications diversify and costs continue to fall, batteries are evolving into a foundational component of modern economies,” states…

South America is set to maintain its position as the most significant region for floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels, with 36 projects awarded or expected to be awarded between 2021 and 2030, totaling field greenfield commitments worth around $181 billion. Among these 36 projects, 25 have disclosed FPSO costs ranging from $339 million to $4.6 billion; of these, 21 have been awarded, and 15 remain to be awarded by 2030. However, the sanctioning environment has shifted since 2024, with inflation and market uncertainties creating…

The surge in electricity demand in the world’s AI hotspots has prompted a comparable surge in the demand for reliable supply. That surge was not expected. There are not enough gas turbines to secure that supply. This means the AI revolution would either have to slow down, or the grid would have to increase its reliance on coal. Natural gas has in recent years been marketed as a so-called bridge fuel between coal and oil, on the one hand, and wind and solar, on the other. When it became clear that “bridge” is in fact its own country…

Saudi Arabia has started to increase its oil output as part of a contingency plan in the event the United States attacks Iran and oil flows are disrupted, Reuters reported on Wednesday, as OPEC’s biggest oil producer positions itself as a "reliable supplier" looking to take up its traditional role as a key swing producer ready to stabilize the markets if a conflict occurs. U.S. President Donald Trump recently revealed that he is considering a "limited military strike" on Iran in a bid to pressure its leaders into a new nuclear agreement.…

Saudi Arabia has started to increase its oil output as part of a contingency plan in the event the United States attacks Iran and oil flows are disrupted, Reuters reported on Wednesday, as OPEC’s biggest oil producer positions itself as a "reliable supplier" looking to take up its traditional role as a key swing producer ready to stabilize the markets if a conflict occurs. U.S. President Donald Trump recently revealed that he is considering a "limited military strike" on Iran in a bid to pressure its leaders into a new nuclear agreement.…

Saudi Arabia has started to increase its oil output as part of a contingency plan in the event the United States attacks Iran and oil flows are disrupted, Reuters reported on Wednesday, as OPEC’s biggest oil producer positions itself as a "reliable supplier" looking to take up its traditional role as a key swing producer ready to stabilize the markets if a conflict occurs. U.S. President Donald Trump recently revealed that he is considering a "limited military strike" on Iran in a bid to pressure its leaders into a new nuclear agreement.…

The pivot away from fossil-fueled power generation in the United States is stalling due to the Trump energy policy, increased power usage, and the fear of electricity shortages and blackouts. According to the Energy Information Administration, via Reuters, US power plants scheduled to close in 2026 could stay online longer, building on a trend that began last year as electricity use and prices hit record levels in some parts of the country. The EIA says 11 gigawatts of power-generating capacity was expected to be shut, with nearly 60% coal-fired…

The White House has requested formal pledges from US tech giants that the swelling data centre boom will not drive up electricity bills for households, as concern mounts over AI’s energy demands. Donald Trump has approached behemoths like Microsoft and Alphabet, who have notoriously rallied behind his administration, about signing voluntary, non-binding agreements committing them to “pay their own way” as they build out new infrastructure. Most notably, the proposal requests that hyper-scale data centre operators cover 100 per…

The Trump administration plans to allow energy companies to sell fuel to private Cuban businesses while maintaining a strict blockade on the Cuban government. The policy shift aims to alleviate a worsening humanitarian and energy crisis on the island by distinguishing between the Cuban people and the regime. The U.S. Department of the Treasury and U.S. Department of Commerce are set to issue new guidance clarifying that Washington permits fuel exports to private Cuban companies without requiring specific licenses. Further, the Trump administration…