Trafigura has signed a $1.5 billion five-year loan agreement that will back a contract for the commodity trading giant to supply more than 150 TWh of natural gas to Germany’s state-owned gas importer Securing Energy for Europe (SEFE) over the next five years. Trafigura’s current deal with SEFE expires at the end of October. The trading group will supply SEFE from its global gas portfolio under the new contract, with the first delivery scheduled for November 1, 2026. Annual volumes of gas will increase to 30 TWh in the new five-year…

Nigerian downstream giant Dangote Petroleum Refinery has closed its public offer (IPO). It is now bringing Africa’s industrial ambitions onto investors’ balance sheets. The outcome is already substantial. However, questions remain about the investment case. Yes, a refinery can transform a country’s energy security. However, it can still deliver disappointing returns to shareholders, especially if they pay too much for earnings that prove temporary. After the October 27 celebrations, this distinction matters. Applications are still…

UK’s National Grid plans to invest up to $532 million (£400 million) in extending the operation of the UK-France power interconnector until at least 2050 to preserve a vital electricity flexibility link.  National Grid said on Thursday that after 40 years of operation to date, the Interconnexion France-Angleterre (IFA), the cross-border electricity link jointly owned by National Grid and French grid operator RTE, will see its life extended at least until 2050.  The investment to extend the operations is part of National Grid’s…

UK’s National Grid plans to invest up to $532 million (£400 million) in extending the operation of the UK-France power interconnector until at least 2050 to preserve a vital electricity flexibility link.  National Grid said on Thursday that after 40 years of operation to date, the Interconnexion France-Angleterre (IFA), the cross-border electricity link jointly owned by National Grid and French grid operator RTE, will see its life extended at least until 2050.  The investment to extend the operations is part of National Grid’s…

A fragile cease-fire around Russian-occupied Oleshky entered its third day on October 29, offering hope to thousands of civilians facing severe shortages and perilous escape routes, amid fears that Russia could use the pause to forcibly transfer residents to Russia or occupied Crimea. The localized truce, brokered with the involvement of US First Lady Melania Trump, took effect on October 27 and is scheduled to last until November 1. Ukrainian and US officials told RFE/RL that no violations had been reported during its first two days. Still, the…

The European Union has been paying $11 billion more to import oil since the Middle East crisis choked crude oil supplies and triggered a global fuel crisis, an analysis by Euronews Business showed on Thursday. The value of the EU’s petroleum imports jumped by 55.8% in the second quarter of 2026, despite the relatively stable volume of imports, according to Eurostat data. Between April and July, right after the closed Strait of Hormuz hiked oil prices, the EU spent an average of $30.7 billion (27.6 billion euros) per month on petroleum oil…

Middle East nations have renewed their diplomatic efforts, with high-level delegations from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan having met with Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday to explore a regional security framework in a bid to de-escalate tensions. Whereas Iranian President Pezeshkian has expressed a willingness to resolve regional differences, Tehran continues to insist that U.S. sanctions and the blockade of Iranian ports must be addressed before broader negotiations can get underway. Standard Chartered expects a legitimate agreement to…

Ten years ago, European countries were closing refineries while Gulf oil states were building new ones. Now, many of these refineries have been damaged in the war between the U.S. and Israel, and Iran. Fuel output from one of the biggest refining regions is not going to be coming back soon. Neither is full refining capacity from one of the world’s top fuel exporters, Russia. Earlier this week, the secretary-general of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol warned that crude oil and natural gas prices will remain elevated next year as…

The tanker billed as the first to carry Russian diesel to the United States under Donald Trump’s deal with Vladimir Putin has dropped New York as its destination. The Malta-flagged Agioi Fanendes left Primorsk on October 22 with about 40,000 metric tons of ultra-low-sulfur diesel, due in New York on November 7. Lloyd’s List reported it idling off Skagen, Denmark, on October 26. Its tracking now shows “for orders,” meaning it has no declared port. On October 27, Senator Richard Blumenthal wrote to Thanassis Martinos, managing…

U.S. natural gas production is on track to close a second consecutive year with record-high natural gas output as producers respond to demand signs both at home and overseas. Soaring demand for powering data centers in the United States and rising liquefied natural gas exports amid expanding liquefaction capacity, as well as surging global demand for spot LNG cargoes in the absence of Qatar’s gas due to the Iran war, are pushing American natural gas production higher this year. Output is on track to beat in 2026 the record set in 2025 as…

Last year, solar power quietly overtook nuclear power in the global energy mix. This is a stunning feat when you consider that just a decade ago, in 2015, global solar generation amounted to just 256 terawatt-hours (TWh)  in 2015, while global nuclear power generated ten-fold that amount at 2,576 TWh. And solar didn’t just overtake nuclear power in 2025; it surpassed it by a wide margin, producing 13 percent more energy worldwide.  "[Solar] generating more electricity than all the world's nuclear power plants is a pretty insane…

GE Vernova is buying high-voltage equipment maker Trench Group from Triton Partners for $9 billion and raised its 2026 revenue forecast for the third straight time on Wednesday. The company now expects revenue of $46.5 billion to $47.5 billion this year, up from the $45.5-$46.5 billion in its July guidance. Trench makes high-voltage grid equipment, and utilities are spending more on grids to replace aging infrastructure and meet demand from data centers and industrial electrification. The deal adds Trench’s Charlotte plant, where production…

India has spent years bringing more households and businesses onto its gas networks. Now, with domestic production declining, supplying those customers means buying more LNG from a market where prices have tripled in a year. Imports are nevertheless heading for a record this October. India’s LNG supply mix has changed a lot since the US-Iran war began in late February 2026. Qatar previously supplied roughly 45% of India’s 24.9 million tonnes of LNG imports in 2025. Its near-disappearance from the market drove a steep decline in Indian…

Commercial shipping causes significant pollution, accounting for about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, or roughly a billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent annually. Heavy fuel oil combustion emits sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and black carbon, worsening coastal air quality and causing respiratory illness. Ships release millions of gallons of oily bilge water that spreads invasive species, along with fuel from accidental spills into marine habitats. While between 46% and 72% of cruise ships utilize electric shore power, the technology…

Russia is giving China a huge discount on natural gas purchases, underscoring the Kremlin’s fiscal dependency on Beijing. The Moscow Times (MT), citing Russian Duma documentation, shows that China will pay an average of approximately $248 per thousand cubic meters of pipeline gas in 2026, compared with $562 for Gazprom's other foreign customers outside the former Soviet Union. That means Beijing is receiving as much as a 56 percent discount on its purchase price. The steep discount appears to be the cost of Beijing’s ongoing political…

UBS has raised its Brent forecast for the second time this month and now expects crude to trade at $110 a barrel at the end of 2026, up from 100. The Swiss bank also lifted its 2027 curve by $5 a barrel at each point, to $95 for March, $90 for June and $85 for September. “Uncertainty around our forecasts remains elevated, reflecting the unpredictable nature of the Middle East conflict, and the pace of recovery in Gulf production and global oil demand,” UBS said in a note. On October 6, UBS raised its fourth-quarter forecast to $100…

UBS has raised its Brent forecast for the second time this month and now expects crude to trade at $110 a barrel at the end of 2026, up from 100. The Swiss bank also lifted its 2027 curve by $5 a barrel at each point, to $95 for March, $90 for June and $85 for September. “Uncertainty around our forecasts remains elevated, reflecting the unpredictable nature of the Middle East conflict, and the pace of recovery in Gulf production and global oil demand,” UBS said in a note. On October 6, UBS raised its fourth-quarter forecast to $100…

John Healey’s maiden Budget is likely to omit clear plans to boost defence spending, reform taxes and curb the welfare bill, economists have predicted, in a move that would kick “tough decisions into the long grass”. Healey, who resigned from Sir Keir Starmer’s government over the Treasury’s refusal to set out how it would lift spending on the military to three per cent of GDP by 2030, is expected to delay several major financial decisions until a Spending Review in 2027.  Raising defence spending to three per…

Equinor raised its 2026 oil and gas production growth forecast to around 4% after higher commodity prices and record earnings at its Mongstad refinery helped more than double third-quarter operating profit. The Norwegian producer now expects faster growth than its previous guidance of 3%, following quarterly equity production of 2.166 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. International growth helped lift total output even as production on the Norwegian continental shelf remained broadly flat. Reported operating profit rose to $11.96 billion…

President Trump's US-Russia deal to export diesel and crude cargoes has drawn considerable scrutiny from Western elites as the first shipments could soon reach US shores. Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries, combined with disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, have intensified pressure on the global energy market and refining capacity ahead of the US midterms. UBS chief economist Arend Kapteyn published new data tracking Russian oil exports. Before reading the note, the assumption would have been that Western sanctions and Ukraine's efforts…