Israel is set to achieve record natural gas production in 2026, with expansion projects in the Leviathan and Tamar fields expected to push total output above 3 billion cubic feet per day (cfd) for the first time ever. According to the experts, the Chevron (NYSE:CVX) operated fields are expected to add a combined 600 million cfd in the coming months, with the bulk of the extra gas piped to Egypt after the removal of bottlenecks in the export pipeline network. Israel’s gas output in 2025 is estimated to have dropped slightly from a record 2.587bn…

Oil tanker rates are soaring this year, picking up where they left off 2025—multi-year highs amid growing supply, longer routes, and disruptions due to sanctions and altered shipping lanes.    At the end of 2025, the global supertanker market tightened as crude supply from the OPEC+ group and the Americas rose, and vessels were making increasingly longer trips. So much the market tightened that several new-built very large crude carriers (VLCC) made empty maiden voyages from yards in Asia to pick up supply from producing countries…

The world’s oil production is running flat out, with consumption far outstripping new discoveries. According to Norwegian energy consultancy Rystad Energy, annual conventional discovered volumes averaged more than 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per year in the early 2010s; however, they have averaged to slightly over 8 billion boe per year since 2020. Indeed, global oil discoveries have fallen sharply over the past decade. According to Rystad Energy, annual conventional discovered volumes averaged more than 20 billion barrels…

The start of full drilling operations just over a week ago at Iraq’s Akkas gas field -- led by U.S. oilfield services giant Schlumberger along with the state?owned Midland Oil -- could signal far more than an overdue upstream milestone. Given the enormous strategic importance of the field in its geographic location, role in domestic power generation, and as a benchmark in the roll?out of similar projects across the country, it may indicate growing momentum in Iraq’s shift towards the U.S. sphere of influence and away from that of China,…

Editors note: The API data in this article does not fully reflect Winter Storm Fern’s impact on oil markets.The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States decreased by 247,000 barrels in the week ending January 23. Crude oil inventories increased by 3.04 million barrels in the week prior. Inventories in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) keep climbing week after week. The Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the SPR rose by 500,000 barrels to 415 million…

Editors note: The API data in this article does not fully reflect Winter Storm Fern’s impact on oil markets.The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States decreased by 247,000 barrels in the week ending January 23. Crude oil inventories increased by 3.04 million barrels in the week prior. Inventories in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) keep climbing week after week. The Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the SPR rose by 500,000 barrels to 415 million…

Iran’s oil industry has been under sanctions since Donald Trump’s first term. Since then, Iran has seen its pool of buyers shrink to leave only China—but China has been a big enough buyer to not only keep Iran’s oil industry afloat, but help it grow, at least in terms of production. In terms of revenues, perhaps not so much. One big reason why Iran was able to boost its crude oil production to levels from before the first Trump administration began imposing sanctions on it, was China. China’s insatiable appetite for…

The recent negotiations in Brussels over the European Union’s decarbonization goals have triggered a familiar pattern of commentary: “Europe has watered down its climate ambitions. Full decarbonization by 2050 is slipping away.” Headlines like that play well to an audience already weary of policy drama. But they miss a crucial point: what has changed is not the end goal, but the path to get there. And that shift, far from representing defeat, may be the most strategically astute approach Europe has yet adopted. What opponents…

Oil prices jumped on Tuesday as the market priced in fundamentals once again, showing that when U.S. infrastructure gets punched in the face by weather, it’s more than geopolitics and vague supply forecasts that move the needle. Brent was trading around $66.90 a barrel on Tuesday late morning, up about $1.30 on the day. At the time, WTI neared $61.90. By afternoon, the gains continued, with Brent passing $67 and WTI nearing $62. The continued rise means it could be more than just a recovery from an earlier dip. It may be recalculating near-term…

Oil prices jumped on Tuesday as the market priced in fundamentals once again, showing that when U.S. infrastructure gets punched in the face by weather, it’s more than geopolitics and vague supply forecasts that move the needle. Brent was trading around $66.90 a barrel on Tuesday late morning, up about $1.30 on the day. At the time, WTI neared $61.90. By afternoon, the gains continued, with Brent passing $67 and WTI nearing $62. The continued rise means it could be more than just a recovery from an earlier dip. It may be recalculating near-term…

Waymo is stepping up preparations for its UK rollout after its driverless vehicles were spotted on the streets of London, as the Alphabet-owned firm faces safety scrutiny in the US. The self-driving vehicle firm has confirmed it is testing its robotaxis in the capital ahead of a planned passenger launch this year, marking its second international market after Japan. This move comes as Waymo expands its paid, fully driverless ride-hailing service in the US, most recently launching in Miami. The Miami rollout makes Waymo the first operator to run…

Russian crude is piling up at sea as India’s refiners step back from purchases, leaving Moscow with millions of barrels on tankers and fewer clear outlets for its oil exports. Russia shipped an average of 3.18 million barrels per day of crude in the four weeks to January 25, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. That volume was little changed from the prior week but down by about 680,000 bpd from the pre-Christmas peak and the lowest level since August. The bigger issue is not how much Russia is shipping, but where those…

In a mere five years, Guyana went from its first major petroleum discovery to first oil. The former British colony is now pumping around 900,000 barrels per day, making it South America’s third-largest oil producer. Washington’s decision to intervene in Venezuela, snatching President Nicolas Maduro during a daring night raid, removed the only major threat to that world-class oil boom. You see, Maduro was threatening to annex the mineral-rich Essequibo, a region which not only makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory but contains…

Offers of Venezuelan crude to India are limited, and in small volumes, as most of the oil under U.S. control is heading to the United States, Indian refining executives told Reuters. Since the U.S. took control of Venezuela’s oil sales and authorized two of the world’s biggest independent traders, Vitol and Trafigura, to market the crude, Indian refiners have vied for crude from Venezuela as they seek to diversify the large exposure to Russian crude they had amassed over the past three and a half years. Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan…

The United States is deploying jet fighters, air defenses, and an air carrier with thousands of troops to the Middle East, in a move that has heightened tensions with Iran and increased the likelihood of military action, experts say. US President Donald Trump threatened military strikes against Iran after the authorities killed thousands of people in a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests. Trump recently backed away, although he has not ruled out an attack on the Islamic Republic. Experts say the military buildup, along with planned US…

Winter storm Fern has slashed U.S. oil and gas production as operators curtailed output amid the big freeze. Over the weekend, the storm led to producers losing up to 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil production, or about 15% of total U.S. oil output, according to estimates by analysts and traders cited by Reuters. According to estimates by Energy Aspects, the Permian alone saw production outages of around 1.5 million bpd. However, production is already recovering, and the lost output in the Permian is down to some 700,000 bpd. Output is expected…

Winter Storm Fern has eclipsed Kazakhstan’s Tengiz restart, with up to 2 million b/d of U.S. crude output curtailed—yet Brent remains pinned near $66. Arctic Fern vs. America: A Winter Brawl in the Energy Markets - Arctic Storm Fern has curbed electricity supply to millions of people across the eastern two-thirds of the United States, slashing oil supply by 2 million b/day, gas production by more than 10 bcf/day and sending power prices skyrocketing. - Day-ahead electricity prices in the PJM Interconnection area, the most impacted by…

Chinese state-owned giant PetroChina, which hasn’t bought Venezuelan crude since the U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, is not too keen to start buying again after the U.S. authorized global traders to market the crude from the world’s biggest reserves holder.   PetroChina has told traders not to buy or trade Venezuela’s oil—a trade that is now under U.S. control after the capture of Nicolas Maduro, trading sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.   The Chinese oil and gas giant stopped…

Chinese state-owned giant PetroChina, which hasn’t bought Venezuelan crude since the U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, is not too keen to start buying again after the U.S. authorized global traders to market the crude from the world’s biggest reserves holder.   PetroChina has told traders not to buy or trade Venezuela’s oil—a trade that is now under U.S. control after the capture of Nicolas Maduro, trading sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.   The Chinese oil and gas giant stopped…

Canada’s efforts to diversify its energy exports away from the United States go through boosting sales oil, gas, and uranium to the major energy market India, Canadian Energy Minister Tim Hodgson said at a conference in India on Tuesday. Canada has the opportunity to work with India now that it sees its high dependence on the U.S. market as a “strategic blunder,” the minister told the Indian Energy Week conference in Goa today, as carried by Reuters. “If Canada wants to be an energy superpower, we need to be trading our…