The Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) is once again edging toward a fiscal breaking point. Officials in its Erbil-based semi-autonomous regional government (KRG) say they are receiving only a fraction of the budget transfers they are owed under the current oil-for-budget payments arrangement with the Federal Government of Iraq (FGI) in Baghdad. This revives the same dispute that triggered the collapse of the deal in March 2023 and shut down the crucial Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP) for more than two years. Erbil argues that Baghdad’s shortfalls…

China has filed requests to reserve orbital slots for almost 200,000 satellites, prompting concerns it may be positioning itself to control large swathes of near-Earth space, according to the Daily Mail. The applications, submitted on December 29 by the newly formed Institute of Radio Spectrum Utilisation and Technological Innovation, outline two constellations—CTC-1 and CTC-2—each with 96,714 satellites spread across thousands of orbits. If built, the system would dwarf SpaceX’s Starlink plans and could restrict access for rival…

Octopus chief Greg Jackson has said choosing London as the destination for the blockbuster IPO of tech spin-off Kraken would be a “no brainer” if the exchange maintains its world-leading performance in 2025 and demonstrates it can lure fresh capital into the UK. In the biggest signal yet that the firm may select London over New York for its eagerly anticipated £7bn IPO of Kraken, Jackson told City AM he would prefer to make his stock market debut in the Square Mile, and keep his “cutting-edge tech company” on British…

A new discovery in the Permian Basin is challenging the narrative that shale oil and gas in the United States is declining. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has released its assessment of undiscovered gas and oil in the Woodford and Barnett shales in the Permian Basin, assessing that there are technically recoverable resources of 28.3 trillion cubic feet of gas — enough to supply the United States for 10 months at the current rate of consumption — and 1.6 billion barrels of oil, or 10 weeks’ supply.If that doesn’t…

Equatorial Guinea is looking to strike prepaid oil and LNG delivery deals with commodity traders as OPEC’s smallest oil producer needs money to maintain operating fields and revive its upstream sector, anonymous sources with knowledge of the plans told Bloomberg on Tuesday.   The central African country has been struggling to attract upstream investments in recent years and has seen its oil production drop. The country has also been an LNG exporter for two decades.  But Equatorial Guinea needs capital to cover expenses and…

Nationwide protests in Iran are threatening to disrupt the country’s upstream sector and underscoring a deeper economic crisis that has fueled domestic turmoil. Iran has restored output and exports despite sanctions, but at a rising cost: deeper discounts to China, expensive ‘shadow’ logistics and shrinking fiscal buffers, including the near depletion of its National Development Fund (NDF). Rystad Energy’s analysis shows Iranian crude production is expected to remain stable at around 3.2 million barrels per day (bpd) this…

U.S. natural gas prices surged sharply on Tuesday, posting one of the largest single-day gains seen this winter as the market quickly repriced near-term supply risk. Front-month Henry Hub futures spiked more than 25 percent and briefly traded near $3.90 per million British thermal units. It is a level not seen in weeks. The immediate driver is the weather. Forecast models over the past 48 hours flipped decisively colder, showing a sustained Arctic outbreak in the Midwest and Northeast into late January. That matters because heating demand had already…

U.S. natural gas prices surged sharply on Tuesday, posting one of the largest single-day gains seen this winter as the market quickly repriced near-term supply risk. Front-month Henry Hub futures spiked more than 25 percent and briefly traded near $3.90 per million British thermal units. It is a level not seen in weeks. The immediate driver is the weather. Forecast models over the past 48 hours flipped decisively colder, showing a sustained Arctic outbreak in the Midwest and Northeast into late January. That matters because heating demand had already…

Pakistan’s state-owned Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) on Tuesday said it had made an oil and gas discovery at its exploratory well Baragzai X-01 in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which would boost domestic supply and Pakistan’s energy security.  A Cased Hole Drill Stem Test at in Samana Suk and Shinawari formations showed the well flowed at the rate of 3,100 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and 8.15 million standard cubic feet per day of gas, OGDC said. “This discovery will contribute towards mitigating the…

Pakistan’s state-owned Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) on Tuesday said it had made an oil and gas discovery at its exploratory well Baragzai X-01 in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which would boost domestic supply and Pakistan’s energy security.  A Cased Hole Drill Stem Test at in Samana Suk and Shinawari formations showed the well flowed at the rate of 3,100 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and 8.15 million standard cubic feet per day of gas, OGDC said. “This discovery will contribute towards mitigating the…

Oil markets are ignoring Trump’s Greenland drama as a fire at Kazakhstan’s giant Tengiz field tightens supply, lifting Brent back to $65. China Embraces Dominant Power-Producer Role - With China’s National Bureau of Statistics finally publishing data for December 2025, Beijing can now officially declare that 2025 saw the first annual drop in fossil-fuel power generation since 2015.- Thermal electricity generation amounted to 6.29 trillion kWh last year, down 1% from a year ago, even though coal output soared to another all-time…

Saudi oil giant Aramco expects AI and other advanced technology to have helped it achieve in 2025 a technology realized value of between $3 billion and $5 billion, chief executive Amin Nasser said on Tuesday.  The world’s biggest oil firm in both production and market capitalization had total realized technology value of $6 billion in the period 2023-2024, the executive said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  Through increased use of AI and other advanced tech, Aramco realizes savings in drilling costs, well productivity,…

The usually bustling streets of Iran’s capital are largely empty as security forces reassert their control after crushing unprecedented protests against the country’s clerical rulers. Residents of Tehran describe a city under virtual martial law, with security personnel deployed on the streets and residents largely staying indoors. Many shops and restaurants close in the evening. “The feeling of martial law is completely in place at night," a man in his 70s who left Iran on January 17 told RFE/RL's Radio Farda. "One of the reasons…

Gazprom Neft’s deal to sell its stake in Serbia’s only refinery will be beneficial for Moscow, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.  On Monday, Hungarian oil company MOL Group signed a binding heads of agreement with Russia’s Gazprom Neft to buy its 56.15% stake in Serbia’s only refinery Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), following months of talks and waivers from the U.S. for negotiations to proceed.  NIS operates Serbia’s only refinery in Pancevo, which supplies about 80% of Serbia’s…

AI and crypto are still being analyzed as technology stories. Chips, models, hash rates, capital raises. That framing is already outdated. At this stage of the cycle, growth is no longer decided by demand or funding. It is decided by power. Not theoretical power. Not future contracts. Existing, usable electricity that can support a continuous load. That is the asset hyperscalers are quietly competing for, and it is where expansion is actually happening. Companies that already have access to it within live facilities can move. Those that do not…

Venezuela has entered the most consequential reset of its modern history. The removal of Nicolás Maduro on 3 January has abruptly reopened a petro-state that sits atop the world’s largest proven oil reserves yet produces barely a sliver of its potential. After two decades of mismanagement, sanctions, and collapsing infrastructure hollowed out Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) and drove output to historic lows, Washington is now betting that a rapid, U.S.-directed revival can turn the country from a stranded giant into a strategic…

Oil and gas stocks have kicked off the new year on a bright note, with the S&P 500 Energy Sector notching a 6.8% gain in the year-to-date, the third-best sector performance behind only Industrials (7.6%) and Materials (7.2%). The strong start comes despite the sector facing pressure from ample supply, but getting a boost from ongoing geopolitical pressures. Brent prices have increased from $59.96 per barrel two weeks ago to $64.15 on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday as Iran tensions increase market jitters. U.S. President Donald Trump has…

After a record year for liquefied gas trade in 2025, most forecasts for the new year were upbeat, save for a worry about a possible glut. Two weeks into 2026, however, and one of the biggest markets for liquefied gas is in a geopolitical dispute with its biggest supplier and has put a major energy trade deal on hold. This year is early on turning out to be an anything-can-happen one. The European Union this week put its trade deal with the Trump administration on hold, stopping short of triggering what it calls the “bazooka” of a mechanism…

The Trump Administration last week gave the latest and clearest signal yet that it prefers natural gas, coal, and nuclear power to provide the bulk of new generation supporting the data center build-out. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and the bipartisan group of governors of all 13 states served by PJM Interconnection issued a so-called Statement of Principles urging the biggest U.S. power grid operator to hold a capacity auction, in which leading technology companies have committed to funding this new generation…

On 12 January 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump announced, “Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America.” Trump’s announcement aims to weaken the government of the Islamic Republic in the wake of weeks of protests against the government, sparked by a weak economy. Trump told the protesters to keep fighting their government and that “help is on the way.” Who is “doing business”…