A continuously fading war risk premium and signs that regional oil markets look well supplied prompted traders to slash last week their bullish bets on crude oil at the fastest pace in over a year. The net long position—the difference between bullish and bearish bets—dropped to a three-month low as money managers liquidated longs, also prompting technical selling that pushed Brent Crude prices to the low $80s and the U.S. benchmark, WTI Crude, to below $80 per barrel so far in May. Portfolio managers were net sellers…

The oil price selloff appears to have run out of steam with oil prices finding a floor over the past week. Brent crude for June delivery was trading at $82.44 per barrel in Wednesday’s intraday session, a sharp decline from $90.10 a month ago while the corresponding WTI contract was trading at $78.17 per barrel down from $85.41 over the timeframe. Demand concerns coupled with softening geopolitical risk premium have been blamed for the pullback, with commodity analysts at Citi warning that oil prices could fall to the 70s range in…

Perhaps more than any other single factor, the Common Seawater Supply Project (CSSP) is critical in enabling Iraq to dramatically increase its crude oil production. It was delayed for over a decade, as ExxonMobil and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) battled it out for control over the project. Finally, the U.S. firm pulled out and the Chinese company’s progress ground to a halt, leaving the way clear for the project to become part of the US$27 billion four-pronged Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP) deal being worked…

Iceland is a world leader when it comes to renewable energy production, having long developed its natural resources to power a green revolution. The Nordic island nation is home to abundant geothermal and hydropower energy sources, and it has also significantly developed its wind power sector in recent years. Despite huge strides in its renewable energy development, putting it way ahead of most of the competition, the Icelandic government has big plans to develop even more clean energy by harnessing the power of its volcanoes in a first-of-a-kind…

Full operations have resumed at Freeport LNG in Texas, following outages and repairs that have been ongoing for weeks, pushing American natural gas prices lower and causing a rise in LNG prices to Europe.  According to Reuters, citing LSEG data, LNG tankers began loading this week, with one tanker having departed with cargo on Tuesday and a second docked at the terminal on Wednesday. Three other tankers are waiting offshore for their turn to load.  A Freeport LNG spokesperson confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday that operations have been…

Full operations have resumed at Freeport LNG in Texas, following outages and repairs that have been ongoing for weeks, pushing American natural gas prices lower and causing a rise in LNG prices to Europe.  According to Reuters, citing LSEG data, LNG tankers began loading this week, with one tanker having departed with cargo on Tuesday and a second docked at the terminal on Wednesday. Three other tankers are waiting offshore for their turn to load.  A Freeport LNG spokesperson confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday that operations have been…

Via Metal Miner Ramped-up offshore exploration for rare earth metals and minerals, vital components in sought-after products like hybrid vehicles and smartphone screens, continues to cut into China’s long-held position as the primary global supplier. Countries like Australia, the United States, Myanmar, and even nations like Malaysia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan continue to increase their extraction efforts. This directly translates into a reduced global dependence on rare earth minerals from China. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan Look…

Iran and North Korea have a long history of working together to advance their respective military arsenals. Now, increased trade efforts between the two heavily sanctioned countries have raised concerns that they could share advanced missile and nuclear technology. Coming at a time when Tehran and Pyongyang are playing a central role in heightened global tensions, the prospect of one pariah state in possession of nuclear weapons and intercontinental missiles, North Korea, aiding another accused of seeking those capabilities, Iran, has heightened…

The CEO of Russian state-run gas giant Gazprom arrived in Iran on Wednesday with the delegation in what has been described as a “working visit with high-level Iranian officials, including the country’s oil minister, Reuters reports.  Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller is visiting Iran at the same time that Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting China for high-level talks.   Last December, Moscow said it was hastening work on a “major new interstate agreement”, describing the project as at “a high stage…

The CEO of Russian state-run gas giant Gazprom arrived in Iran on Wednesday with the delegation in what has been described as a “working visit with high-level Iranian officials, including the country’s oil minister, Reuters reports.  Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller is visiting Iran at the same time that Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting China for high-level talks.   Last December, Moscow said it was hastening work on a “major new interstate agreement”, describing the project as at “a high stage…

The eurozone economy is expected to “turn a corner” in 2024 as faster growth in southern Europe will help offset continued stagnation in Germany, new forecasts from the European Commission show. The Commission forecast that the eurozone would grow 0.8 percent this year, unchanged from its last round of forecasts, and an improvement on growth of just 0.4 percent last year. Looking forward to next year, the Commission expects 1.4 percent next year, a slight downward revision on its winter round of forecasts. Germany, the euro area’s…

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, 59, remains in “life-threatening” condition following an assassination attempt that took place outside Bratislava on Wednesday, where local media reports claim he was shot in the stomach and hand by a lone gunman.  Official sources have offered scant details about the assassination attempt and have not confirmed the exact nature of the shooting or any further details surrounding the prime minister’s current condition, RFE/RL reports.  Reuters cited Slovak media as saying that the shooter…

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, 59, remains in “life-threatening” condition following an assassination attempt that took place outside Bratislava on Wednesday, where local media reports claim he was shot in the stomach and hand by a lone gunman.  Official sources have offered scant details about the assassination attempt and have not confirmed the exact nature of the shooting or any further details surrounding the prime minister’s current condition, RFE/RL reports.  Reuters cited Slovak media as saying that the shooter…

Economic integration efforts among CentralAsian-Caspian Basin states are gaining momentum. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are developing a green energy plan to link their power grids with an eye towards exporting electricity to the European Union. The energy ministers of the three countries announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding in early May to explore their joint electricity export potential by harnessing mainly wind and solar power. Kazakhstan is also aiming to boost its hydropower generating capacity. In outlining cooperation…

Natural gas in energy supply is not going anywhere and its demand will only rise with growth in economies and global population, which will require additional LNG projects to come online after 2030, the energy minister of one of the biggest LNG exporters, Qatar, said on Wednesday. “Everybody's trying to get the inflation down, so if we have a reasonable economic growth going forward, I think you'll see that all the supply and demand will catch up and you'll need another phase of development of gas in the [2030s],” Saad Sherida…

Natural gas in energy supply is not going anywhere and its demand will only rise with growth in economies and global population, which will require additional LNG projects to come online after 2030, the energy minister of one of the biggest LNG exporters, Qatar, said on Wednesday. “Everybody's trying to get the inflation down, so if we have a reasonable economic growth going forward, I think you'll see that all the supply and demand will catch up and you'll need another phase of development of gas in the [2030s],” Saad Sherida…

The U.S. has been investing heavily in boosting its battery storage capacity and developing its electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing capabilities, and it seems that it has paid off as the country is now home to several massive battery projects with many more in the pipeline. Since the introduction of the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the most far-reaching U.S. climate policy to date, public and private investment in battery storage has soared, as the country strives for a green transition.  One of the biggest…

Resource-poor Japan is launching the most important energy policy discussions in its post-World War Two history, aiming to strike a balance between the need to boost its energy security with conventional sources and its pledge to become a net-zero economy by 2050. The industry ministry of one of the world’s most industrialized nation, which imports nearly all the commodities it consumes, launched on Wednesday formal discussions about its future energy policy. Amid the energy crisis in 2022, which led to record-high natural gas prices,…

Crude oil prices recovered somewhat after the Energy Information Administration reported an inventory decline of 2.5 million barrels for the week to May 10. This inventory change compared with a modest draw of 1.4 million barrels for the previous week and an unexpected decline of 3.1 million barrels for the week to May 10, as estimated by the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday. Gasoline and middle distillate inventories moved slightly lower ahead of the start of summer driving season. Gasoline stocks shed 200,000 barrels…

China could beat its 2021 all-time high of LNG imports this year, as industrial and commercial sectors are set to drive demand for the super-chilled fuel, an official at state-held energy giant PetroChina said on Wednesday. Chinese LNG imports hit a record high of 78.8 million metric tons in 2021. The following year saw the first decline in LNG imports as prices soared in the energy crisis after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Last year, China imported around 71.2 million metric tons of LNG. This year, the world’s top LNG importer could…