Mexico’s state-owned oil giant, Pemex, is facing a significant reduction in its upstream budget for the fourth quarter. According to internal documents, the company plans to cut spending by 20%, or Mxn 26.78bn ($1.38bn), a move that is expected to impact short-term crude production. This cutback follows instructions from Pemex’s new upstream head, Nestor Martinez, to scale back major well repairs and seismic data contracts. Pemex, which produced 1.73 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude and condensates in August, could see production…

Uzbek officials have a tall mountain to climb in their bid to gain membership in the World Trade Organization. A government report showed that only 29 percent of Uzbekistan’s existing laws and standards comply with WTO regulations. Earlier this year, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev outlined a desire for Uzbekistan to qualify for WTO membership as soon as 2026. At an October 10 meeting to discuss the membership drive, Mirziyoyev noted some progress had been made toward harmonizing standards, but he emphasized “much work remains ahead of…

At campaign rallies, Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump promises to lower energy costs for American families and secure the nation’s “energy superpower” status through a combination of a deregulation agenda for domestic oil and gas industry and protectionist trade policies. “My goal will be to cut your energy costs in half within 12 months after taking office,” Trump said at a Michigan rally in August. “We can do that!” But some in the industry are skeptical. U.S. presidents can certainly encourage…

Authored by Conor Gallagher via NakedCapitalism.com, With the ongoing US/Israel rampage across the Middle East, we’re getting an increasing number of glimpses into the dark recesses of the neocon mind. This includes fantasies like “total victory” and daydreams about Israel assassinating Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. We recently featured one such vision here at Naked Capitalism from neocon-connected Simon Watkins at OilPrice. In it, he raises an option for Israel…

Libya media reports have published a denial from the Oil Ministry on Thursday following rumors circulating on various localized social media platforms that National Oil Company head Farhat Bengdara was resigning, possibly due to health conditions.  According to Agenzia Nova, there has been no official confirmation of rumors that Bengdara has submitted his resignation to the interim prime minister of Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli, Abdulhamid Dbeibah.  The news agency notes that Bengdara was appointed chairman…

Oman’s national oil company OQ’s upstream business part, OQ Exploration and Production (OQEP), reports that its landmark initial public offering (IPO) has raised $2 billion. The latter is a clear sign that national and international interest in GCC-based oil companies is still very high. The IPO result makes OQEP the largest listed company on the Omani Stock Exchange (MSX). Analysts were already optimistic about the OQEP IPO prospects, as its competitors in the region have already been very successful in the last few years too.…

The UK on Thursday imposed the largest round of sanctions to date against Russia’s shadow fleet, designating additional 18 oil tankers and four LNG tankers as it seeks to cut critical revenues for Vladimir Putin. In June, the previous UK government explicitly targeted vessels identified as belonging to the shadow fleet, used by Russia to circumvent UK and G7 sanctions, in the first sanctions directly aimed at the dark fleet. Now the new UK government is imposing sanctions on 18 more shadow fleet oil tankers which will be barred from…

The UK on Thursday imposed the largest round of sanctions to date against Russia’s shadow fleet, designating additional 18 oil tankers and four LNG tankers as it seeks to cut critical revenues for Vladimir Putin. In June, the previous UK government explicitly targeted vessels identified as belonging to the shadow fleet, used by Russia to circumvent UK and G7 sanctions, in the first sanctions directly aimed at the dark fleet. Now the new UK government is imposing sanctions on 18 more shadow fleet oil tankers which will be barred from…

The UK on Thursday imposed the largest round of sanctions to date against Russia’s shadow fleet, designating additional 18 oil tankers and four LNG tankers as it seeks to cut critical revenues for Vladimir Putin. In June, the previous UK government explicitly targeted vessels identified as belonging to the shadow fleet, used by Russia to circumvent UK and G7 sanctions, in the first sanctions directly aimed at the dark fleet. Now the new UK government is imposing sanctions on 18 more shadow fleet oil tankers which will be barred from…

The UK on Thursday imposed the largest round of sanctions to date against Russia’s shadow fleet, designating additional 18 oil tankers and four LNG tankers as it seeks to cut critical revenues for Vladimir Putin. In June, the previous UK government explicitly targeted vessels identified as belonging to the shadow fleet, used by Russia to circumvent UK and G7 sanctions, in the first sanctions directly aimed at the dark fleet. Now the new UK government is imposing sanctions on 18 more shadow fleet oil tankers which will be barred from…

Crude oil prices moved higher today, after the Energy Information Administration reported an inventory dip of 2.2 million barrels for the week to October 11. The inventory change compared with a sizable build of 5.8 million barrels for the previous week that pressured oil prices. A day before the EIA released its latest numbers, the American Petroleum Institute estimated an unexpected drop in crude oil inventories that helped prices on their way up. The API said inventories had shed 1.58 million barrels in the week to October 11. Meanwhile, the…

Europe remains vulnerable to possible shocks in natural gas supply as its exposure to LNG trading and supply has grown, Stefano Venier, CEO of one of Europe’s biggest gas grid operators, Snam, told Bloomberg. “We are in a fragile situation given geopolitics and now — in Italy and Europe — we have exposure to LNG trading,” Venier told Bloomberg TV in an interview on Thursday. The latest flare-up of tensions in the Middle East is keeping the gas market “nervous”, Venier said, as 20% of global gas is transiting…

Europe remains vulnerable to possible shocks in natural gas supply as its exposure to LNG trading and supply has grown, Stefano Venier, CEO of one of Europe’s biggest gas grid operators, Snam, told Bloomberg. “We are in a fragile situation given geopolitics and now — in Italy and Europe — we have exposure to LNG trading,” Venier told Bloomberg TV in an interview on Thursday. The latest flare-up of tensions in the Middle East is keeping the gas market “nervous”, Venier said, as 20% of global gas is transiting…

Europe remains vulnerable to possible shocks in natural gas supply as its exposure to LNG trading and supply has grown, Stefano Venier, CEO of one of Europe’s biggest gas grid operators, Snam, told Bloomberg. “We are in a fragile situation given geopolitics and now — in Italy and Europe — we have exposure to LNG trading,” Venier told Bloomberg TV in an interview on Thursday. The latest flare-up of tensions in the Middle East is keeping the gas market “nervous”, Venier said, as 20% of global gas is transiting…

Natural gas demand in the EU and the UK fell by 0.7 bcm in August from July while inventories increased by 8.7 bcm, the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) said in its monthly oil and gas review on Thursday. Global natural gas demand also fell lightly, by 0.15 bcm month-on-month in August, according to the latest data in JODI, which compiles self-reported figures from individual countries. On a yearly basis, global natural gas demand rose by 2.3 bcm compared to August 2023, and gas production also increased globally, by 1.4 bcm in August…

Mexico’s Senate approved amendments in the constitution that give preference to state electricity firm CFE over other companies in dispatching electricity to the system. The constitutional amendment was passed in the Senate with 86 votes in favor to 39 against. This met the requirement of a two-thirds majority of votes in favor of amending the constitution. Mexico’s new President Claudia Sheinbaum continues the policies of her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to support and favor the state energy majors, including oil firm Pemex…

Mexico’s Senate approved amendments in the constitution that give preference to state electricity firm CFE over other companies in dispatching electricity to the system. The constitutional amendment was passed in the Senate with 86 votes in favor to 39 against. This met the requirement of a two-thirds majority of votes in favor of amending the constitution. Mexico’s new President Claudia Sheinbaum continues the policies of her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to support and favor the state energy majors, including oil firm Pemex…

Oil prices are little changed in Wednesday's intraday sessions after they tumbled more than 4% on Tuesday to a near two-week low on easing Iranian supply disruption fears. According to a report by the Washington Post, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Biden administration that Israel is willing to strike Iran’s military infrastructure rather than oil or nuclear facilities, and that Israel would take U.S. opinion into consideration. Brent crude for December delivery was flat to trade at $74.22/barrel at 13.05 pm ET while WTI crude…

OPEC's spare oil production capacity is the go-to argument by many analysts when the threat of higher prices rears its head. The latest International Energy Agency monthly report was no exception. But the IEA, like all those analysts, may be overplaying the spare capacity hand. Because to make it work, OPEC has to want to use it. The IEA said in its October Oil Market Report out Tuesday that the global oil market is now quite comfortably supplied thanks to declining Chinese demand growth. This was a development only to be expected after a massive…

Malaysia faces a geopolitical choice as it looks to develop its resources of rare earth elements. The Southeast Asian country wants to do the extraction, processing, and manufacturing of finished products, including permanent magnets and super magnets, to scale up in the value chain and offer valuable exports. Malaysia has identified the potential of REE and aims to tap into its 18.2 million tons of non-radioactive RE reserves by 2030. All these reserves are currently valued at $174 billion (747.2 billion Malaysian ringgit), the Malaysian Investment…