The United States said it is halting all immigration requests relating to Afghanistan after an Afghan national shot two members of the National Guard, one of whom died a day after the shooting near the White House. President Donald Trump said on November 27 that Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of her wounds after being shot a day earlier by a suspect identified by the Department of Homeland Security as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed Beckstrom's death in a social media post. A second National Guard member, 24-year-old…

Ukraine hit the Saratov refinery of Russian oil giant Rosneft in the Volga region on Friday, Ukraine’s General Staff said, in what was the second attack on the refinery in recent months as the Trump Administration continues with its efforts to broker a peace deal. “As part of efforts to reduce the military and economic potential of the Russian aggressor, during the night of 28 November, units of the Defence Forces of Ukraine struck the Saratov Oil Refinery in Russia’s Saratov region,” Ukraine’s General Staff said on…

A London judge has knocked back a lawsuit aimed at stopping 28 offshore oil and gas exploration licences, giving the government a win it probably didn’t expect this week. Oceana UK had claimed officials treated the licences like a rubber-stamp exercise, ignoring climate impacts and the state of protected marine zones. The court didn’t buy it. It basically said: these aren’t drilling permits, they’re early scoping permissions, and fuller environmental checks can come later, if companies ever get that far. The ruling drops…

Global geothermal investment is entering a period of accelerated growth, with capital expenditure (capex) expected to climb about 20% annually through 2030, according to Rystad Energy’s latest geothermal economics model. This momentum comes as geothermal energy, produced by tapping heat from deep within the earth, is no longer defined only by mature hubs in Southeast Asia and the US. Interest in regions such as Africa and Europe has been building at a measured pace, contributing to a steady broadening of activity worldwide. Meanwhile, the…

Russian gas giant Gazprom booked a net income for the third quarter versus a loss a year earlier, when it was hit by a one-off tax for the Russian budget. Gazprom, which in 2023 booked its first annual net loss in 23 years on the plunge of its gas sales to Europe, has started making profits again in recent months. Last year, Gazprom returned to a yearly profit, earning the equivalent of $14.8 billion. For the third quarter of this year, the Russian gas giant reported on Friday a net income of $1.72 billion (134.2 billion Russian rubles). This compares…

Crude oil is holding gains ahead of Sunday's OPEC+ meeting, while U.S. natural gas prices have spiked on the news of a new U.S. LNG export record. Friday, November 28, 2025 As Russia-Ukraine peace talks drag on, dampening last week’s hopes that a swift resolution could be around the corner, ICE Brent has settled comfortably around $63 per barrel by the end of this week. Low US traded volumes on the back of Thanksgiving, exacerbated by a once-in-a-decade CME blackout, have added to the pricing lull. OPEC+ is an unlikely candidate to sway sentiment…

Oversupplied markets will keep oil prices under pressure next year, and the U.S. benchmark will average below $60 per barrel, the monthly Reuters poll of analysts and economists showed on Friday. The U.S. benchmark, WTI Crude, is expected to average $59 per barrel in 2026, according to the poll of 35 analysts and economists. That’s lower compared to the $60.23 per barrel forecast in last month’s survey. The analysts expect Brent Crude, the international benchmark, to average $62.23 per barrel next year, down from $63.15 forecast in…

Subsidies and Contracts for Difference (CfD) that the UK government has promised to the two projects for new nuclear power stations are expected to add $1.32 billion (£1 billion) annually to the UK power bills from around 2030, The Telegraph reports, citing documents by the Treasury and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).   The Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, developed by EDF, is expected to begin generating electricity in 2030-31, after years of delays and cost overruns. That year, CfD is expected to generate $6.1 billion…

Subsidies and Contracts for Difference (CfD) that the UK government has promised to the two projects for new nuclear power stations are expected to add $1.32 billion (£1 billion) annually to the UK power bills from around 2030, The Telegraph reports, citing documents by the Treasury and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).   The Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, developed by EDF, is expected to begin generating electricity in 2030-31, after years of delays and cost overruns. That year, CfD is expected to generate $6.1 billion…

Saudi Arabia is expected to slash the prices for its crude bound for Asia in January to the lowest premium to benchmarks in five years, as the world’s largest crude exporter looks to preserve market share amid ample supply and falling spot Middle East benchmarks.  Saudi oil giant Aramco will likely reduce the official selling price (OSP) of its flagship Arab Light crude grade by $0.30-$0.40 per barrel to a premium of $0.60-$0.70 a barrel to the average Oman/Dubai benchmark for loadings to Asia in January, a Reuters survey of Asian refining…

Saudi Arabia is expected to slash the prices for its crude bound for Asia in January to the lowest premium to benchmarks in five years, as the world’s largest crude exporter looks to preserve market share amid ample supply and falling spot Middle East benchmarks.  Saudi oil giant Aramco will likely reduce the official selling price (OSP) of its flagship Arab Light crude grade by $0.30-$0.40 per barrel to a premium of $0.60-$0.70 a barrel to the average Oman/Dubai benchmark for loadings to Asia in January, a Reuters survey of Asian refining…

Oil prices were headed for a fourth consecutive monthly loss early on Friday as a data center glitch forced CME Group to halt trading in futures and options, disrupting oil futures trades as well as equities, bonds, and foreign exchange. “Due to a cooling issue at CyrusOne data centers, our markets are currently halted,” CME Group, of which NYMEX is part, said in early Asian trade on Friday. “Support is working to resolve the issue in the near term and will advise clients of Pre-Open details as soon as they are available.”…

From the beginning of Donald Trump’s first term in office in 2017 to the start of his second term earlier this year, the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia shifted between tense and downright hostile. Those years included an Oil Price War, the de facto Saudi leader labelled a murderer, and all lines of communication between the two sides grinding to a complete halt. However, as Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) sat next to each other at a black?tie dinner at the White House last week – with the former designating…

As the Trump Administration looks to broker a Ukraine-Russia peace deal, analysts and traders seek to anticipate how a potential agreement could change energy flows in Europe. To be sure, a peace deal is far from certain, as stumbling blocks and differences remain, while Russia has not weighed in on the plan yet. White House envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow next week to discuss the peace plan with the Kremlin as Russia appears reluctant to accept any offer that doesn’t fully meet all its demands. Even if a deal is reached –…

Sentiment in oil markets remains overwhelmingly negative, driven by perceived market oversupply and negative global demand indicators. Brent crude for January delivery was trading at $63.10 per barrel in Thursday’s intraday session, little changed from $62.97 a week ago while the corresponding WTI contract ticked up slightly to $58.70/bbl from $58.46. Meanwhile, the recent rally in oil product prices has cooled off, with ICE Gasoil-Brent crack dropping from a 35.84/bbl peak on 18 November to ~$26/bbl. This is partly due to the easing of panic…

Hawaii has a plan to generate all of its energy from low-emission sources by 2045. It is a bold plan, as the state’s administration admits, and it is also a plan that will see Hawaii start importing liquefied natural gas. Hawaiians pay the highest electricity rates in the United States. They pay even more than Californians, who also have an administration with significant ambitions in the net-zero transition. With Hawaii, however, the reasons for the high rates include its geographical isolation, which makes it necessary to ship fuel oil…

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and its partner, Heirs Energies, have successfully doubled natural gas production at a key oil block, OML 17, as part of a broader strategy to boost domestic supply and ease the country's electricity shortages. The increase comes from the OML 17 oil and gas field, operated by Heirs Energies in a joint venture with the NNPC. A "rigless well intervention" unlocked an additional 135 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (MMscf/d), enough to feed multiple power plants, directly contributing to an…

After the discovery of oil in Suriname’s territorial waters in January 2020, the government in the capital Paramaribo pitched its hopes on an oil boom matching that of neighboring Guyana. You see, decades of economic mismanagement, excessive spending, and corruption wreaked havoc on the former Dutch colony’s economy. Over the last decade, gross domestic product (GDP) collapsed, plunging by over 10%, hitting Suriname’s population of over 600,000 particularly hard. This exploded in violence during February 2023, with protestors…

China’s independent refiners—the country’s infamous “teapots”— just got their first sip of 2026 crude import quotas. And the timing couldn’t be better for a physical market drowning in unsold sanctioned barrels. Trade sources say Beijing has handed out roughly 8 million tons so far across 21 refiners, a noticeable bump from the 6.04 million tons issued this time last year. Hengli Petrochemical pulled the biggest ladle at 2 million tons, with Rongsheng taking 750,000 tons and Shenghong and Hongrun getting…

China’s independent refiners—the country’s infamous “teapots”— just got their first sip of 2026 crude import quotas. And the timing couldn’t be better for a physical market drowning in unsold sanctioned barrels. Trade sources say Beijing has handed out roughly 8 million tons so far across 21 refiners, a noticeable bump from the 6.04 million tons issued this time last year. Hengli Petrochemical pulled the biggest ladle at 2 million tons, with Rongsheng taking 750,000 tons and Shenghong and Hongrun getting…