Gold prices surged to an all-time high of $2,730 (£2,093) this morning as investors sought safe-haven assets amid rising geopolitical tensions. This means that the price of the yellow metal has surged 38 per cent this year. The rally has come as conflict intensified between Lebanon and Israel, with fears growing over a broader regional escalation. The uncertainty of the US election outcome, with particular concerns over Donald Trump’s improved odds in betting markets, has also pushed investors towards safe haven assets. “Gold…

Mikhail Rogachev, a prominent figure in Russia's oil industry and former vice president of the now-defunct Yukos, has become the latest in a string of mysterious deaths among Russian energy executives. Rogachev, 64, "fell" from the 10th floor of his Moscow apartment building over the weekend, reportedly leaving behind a suicide note. Russian authorities are calling it a suicide, citing his struggle with cancer, which his family denies.  With a series of unexplained deaths in Russia's energy sector, Rogachev's death raises questions. Here's…

Chinese and Indian oil traders have been responsible for the explosive growth of dark fleet tankers hauling Russian crude to Asia, evading Western sanctions.  A new report titled "BRICS+ Energy: Engine of the New World Order" from the Valdai International Discussion Club, authored by Deputy Head of the National Energy Security Fund Alexey Grivach, was first cited by Russian media outlet TASS News. The report stated that Russia's oil exports were diverted from Europe to Asia because of G7 sanctions. The largest demand for Russian crude oil…

The EU’s natural gas storage is already at 95% full, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe show, after the bloc reached in August its target to have 90% full storage well ahead of its self-imposed binding deadline, November 1. In the middle of August, the EU reached its target of filling gas storage facilities to 90% of capacity 10 weeks ahead of the 1 November deadline. This achievement is on par with last year, when EU countries reached the 90% target on August 18, the European Commission said two months ago. Now the EU storage is 95% full…

The EU’s natural gas storage is already at 95% full, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe show, after the bloc reached in August its target to have 90% full storage well ahead of its self-imposed binding deadline, November 1. In the middle of August, the EU reached its target of filling gas storage facilities to 90% of capacity 10 weeks ahead of the 1 November deadline. This achievement is on par with last year, when EU countries reached the 90% target on August 18, the European Commission said two months ago. Now the EU storage is 95% full…

Earlier this month, the Department of Energy announced a grant pot of almost $2 billion to be distributed among 32 projects in 42 states. The purpose of the projects is to improve grid resilience. The challenge: $2 billion is a drop in the bucket as unexpected electricity demand calls for not just resilience improvements but a massive grid expansion. For about a decade, demand for electricity in the United States has been virtually flat. It reached a peak in the 2010s and plateaued. In that context, it was perhaps a foregone conclusion that demand…

Indonesia plans to cut red tape to encourage oil and gas exploration as it looks to revive its domestic oil and gas industry and boost energy security, the new government and president have said. “We must have energy self-sufficiency and we are capable to be self-sufficient,” newly sworn-in President Prabowo Subianto said in his inauguration speech, as carried by Reuters. Indonesia, which was a member of OPEC between 1962 and 2009, reactivated its membership in the organization in early 2016, but suspended it again later that same year,…

Indonesia plans to cut red tape to encourage oil and gas exploration as it looks to revive its domestic oil and gas industry and boost energy security, the new government and president have said. “We must have energy self-sufficiency and we are capable to be self-sufficient,” newly sworn-in President Prabowo Subianto said in his inauguration speech, as carried by Reuters. Indonesia, which was a member of OPEC between 1962 and 2009, reactivated its membership in the organization in early 2016, but suspended it again later that same year,…

Libya’s oil production was cut roughly in half when a blockade of major fields and ports began at the end of August. With the shutdown having ended on 3 October, output has bounced back to around 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) again. According to subsequent statements from its National Oil Corporation (NOC), the move is now on to significantly boost its crude production. Theoretically, Libya could achieve this. Prior to the removal of its long-time leader, Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011, it had easily been able to produce around 1.65 million…

Spanish energy giant Repsol has decided to pause green hydrogen development projects in its home country, citing an unfavorable regulatory regime with the idea of a permanent windfall tax on energy companies, a spokesperson for Repsol told Reuters on Monday. The Spanish firm has a pipeline of 350 megawatts (MW) of electrolysis capacity for green hydrogen projects across Spain, but it has flagged uncertainties over the regulatory framework in the country as a deterrent to investments in green energy. Repsol now plans to build its next electrolyzer…

Iraq’s leaders have a lot on their minds, stuck between Israel and Iran as the two countries veer closer to open conflict. Iraq is still recovering from the reign of Saddam Hussein, the 1980-1988 war with Iraq, decades of sanctions that followed the 1991 invasion of Kuwait, liberation by the U.S.-led “coalition of the willing” in 2003, a post-invasion reconstruction that wasted much of the $60 billion spent, and the Islamic State insurgency of 2014-2019. The U.S.-led sanctions campaign against the Saddam Hussein regime disrupted…

Shorter-term and more flexible LNG contracts offered by sellers from the United States, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Oman are challenging Qatar’s dominance in liquefied natural gas supply to north Asia, trade sources have told Reuters. Qatar, one of the world’s top three LNG exporters together with the United States and Australia, is now finding it harder to compete with sellers offering flexible cargo destinations and term contracts with shorter durations, according to Reuters’s sources.   Moreover, Qatar’s…

India could end up paying $30 billion annually for imported solar panels if it is to hit its 2030 capacity target of 500 GW in wind and solar. The forecast comes from a local think tank, the Global Trade Research Initiative, which said such a path would deepen the dependence of the country on its neighbor China, the Business Standard reported. The think tank added that building its own solar components supply chain at home would be a challenge, requiring substantial investment, especially in polysilicon and wafers, ET Energy World noted in a report.…

Cuba was hit by another blackout just a couple of days after power was partially restored following a failure at a power plant that plunged the country into darkness on Friday. On Friday, the Antonio Guiteras power plant failed, leading to a nationwide blackout. Power had not been restored fully when on Sunday another blackout occurred as Hurricane Oscar was moving to the Cuban coast. According to Reuters, the Sunday blackout was the fourth since Friday as attempts to restore electricity supply kept failing. Hurricane Oscar made landfall on the…

Saudi Aramco’s chief executive Amin Nasser has called for what he dubbed a reset in the transition plans for developing countries, citing strong projected growth in oil demand for the Global South. Developing economies are growing and living standards are rising, Nasser said today at the Singapore International Energy Week, as cited by Reuters. This growth is driving higher oil demand, he added, noting this demand growth would extend over a long time. Even when growth slows down and eventually stops, Nasser added, demand for oil will remain…

Saudi Aramco’s chief executive Amin Nasser has called for what he dubbed a reset in the transition plans for developing countries, citing strong projected growth in oil demand for the Global South. Developing economies are growing and living standards are rising, Nasser said today at the Singapore International Energy Week, as cited by Reuters. This growth is driving higher oil demand, he added, noting this demand growth would extend over a long time. Even when growth slows down and eventually stops, Nasser added, demand for oil will remain…

When traders want to know where oil demand is heading, they look to China. This has narrowed their viewpoint considerably, leaving them vulnerable to price shocks. Now, the same could be happening with natural gas. China is a huge importer of natural gas, both via pipeline from Russia and in liquefied form. LNG imports to the country since the start of the year have reached close to 80 billion cu m, which is 30 billion cu m more than Russia was sending Germany's way via the Nord Stream pipeline. China also looks set to receive over 30 billion cu…

An international team of scientists is preparing to drill into an active volcano in Iceland in search of a better understanding of the properties of the molten rock, magma, deep underneath. Apart from gaining better insights into the processes taking place under the surface of the Earth, the researchers plan, via a testbed under the Krafla volcano, to look into the potential of super-hot geothermal energy. The extremely hot temperatures in magma could be a source of limitless 24/7 clean energy, according to the Krafla Magma Testbed (KMT) initiative.…

The recent change in leadership in the U.K. and the promise of an accelerated green transition appears to have caught the eyes of private investors, who are now promising to spend heavily on green energy projects. Renewable energy firms have committed over $31 billion in the U.K., and other private companies are investing in renewable energy, clean tech, and decarbonization projects across the country, supported by a favorable shift in national energy policy, as well as several other government initiatives.  Earlier this month, some of the…

China is hoping to expand its strategic footprint in the South Caucasus, signing agreements with Azerbaijan and Georgia in recent months designed to expand East-West trade via the Middle Corridor. Those deals, however, appear at this point to be more aspirational than substantial, as they do not involve firm financial commitments. The most recent deals concluded by Beijing were signed in September. The first was a memorandum of understanding with Georgia covering trade – an economic version of a more far-reaching strategic partnership agreement…