Australia plans to invest as much as US$15 billion (AUS$22.7 billion) over the next decade to become a renewable energy superpower and boost its domestic critical minerals economy, the country’s Labor Government said on Tuesday. The cabinet unveiled today a Future Made in Australia plan to bring new jobs and opportunities and “help Australia succeed and remain an indispensable part of the global economy as the world undergoes the biggest transformation since the industrial revolution.” The 2024-25 Budget will invest the equivalent…

Australia plans to invest as much as US$15 billion (AUS$22.7 billion) over the next decade to become a renewable energy superpower and boost its domestic critical minerals economy, the country’s Labor Government said on Tuesday. The cabinet unveiled today a Future Made in Australia plan to bring new jobs and opportunities and “help Australia succeed and remain an indispensable part of the global economy as the world undergoes the biggest transformation since the industrial revolution.” The 2024-25 Budget will invest the equivalent…

A resilient global economy early this year has additional upside potential in the second half with the possible easing of monetary policies, OPEC said on Tuesday, keeping its 2024 and 2025 outlook of robust oil demand unchanged from last month. In its closely-watched Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) out today, OPEC maintained its forecast from the April report, which sees global oil demand rising by 2.25 million barrels per day (bpd) this year and by another 1.85 million bpd next year.  OPEC estimates that global oil demand rose…

Europe’s supermajors are doubling down on their core business, returning cash to shareholders and considering relocation to the United States to boost their valuations. Shell, BP, and TotalEnergies are rediscovering themselves and activist investors are not liking it—but everyone else is. Three years ago, Big Oil supermajors in Europe were all about the energy transition and pivoting from their core business to a greater diversification into things like wind, solar, EV charging, biofuels, and all things non-hydrocarbons. At the time,…

The only real power that Saudi Arabia has in the world comes from its oil sector. The greater its production appears to be, the more it is taken seriously by countries that otherwise would have nothing to do with it. Given this, it has been clear for many years that a closer look at the Kingdom’s crude oil production capabilities and its reserves figures plainly show that they are much lower than Saudi Arabia has said they are, as analysed in full in my new book on the new global oil market order. The release last week of Saudi Aramco’s…

The Biden Administration is preparing to announce major hikes in tariffs on Chinese clean energy technology and goods, including on electric vehicles, critical minerals, and batteries imported from China, aiming to protect American industry and jobs.    Multiple reports in numerous outlets suggested this weekend that the White House will announce this week, possibly on Tuesday, quadrupled import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in another escalation of the trade spat between the world’s two biggest economies, each of which vies…

Russia has found huge oil and gas reserves in British Antarctic territory, potentially leading to drilling in the protected region. The reserves uncovered contain around 511bn barrels worth of oil, equating to around 10 times the North Sea’s output over the last 50 years. The discovery, per Russian research ships, was revealed in evidence submitted to the Commons Environment Audit Committee last week. The committee was assessing questions regarding oil and gas research on ships owned by the Kremlin’s Rosgeo, the largest geological exploration…

Via Metal Miner Overall, the Aluminum Monthly Metals Index (MMI) rose 7.06% from April to May. The aluminum price remained bullish throughout April, rising 11.47% month over month. However, prices found a peak on April 22 when they failed to break above their 2023 high. They then retraced to the downside during the remainder of the month and into early May.  LME Aluminum Inventories Skyrocket After Trafigura Delivery Amid the aluminum price retreat, Trafigura dumped over 400,000 metric tons of aluminum into LME warehouses. Most of the volumes…

After U.S. oil output hit an all-time high in the final two months of 2023 with year-over-year growth clocking in at over 1 million barrels per day, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Monday that American shale output from the top-producing regions would soar to a six-month high in June.  In its monthly Drilling Productivity Report released on Monday, the EIA said production in the top basins in the American shale patch would hit 9.85 million barrels per day–a volume not seen since December.  With shale output accounting…

After U.S. oil output hit an all-time high in the final two months of 2023 with year-over-year growth clocking in at over 1 million barrels per day, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Monday that American shale output from the top-producing regions would soar to a six-month high in June.  In its monthly Drilling Productivity Report released on Monday, the EIA said production in the top basins in the American shale patch would hit 9.85 million barrels per day–a volume not seen since December.  With shale output accounting…

When people gripe about paying taxes and the government being a poor the absolute worst possible capital allocator, this is what they are talking about: $7.5 billion in investments for electric vehicles has - in two years - produced just 7 charging stations across four states.  The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed by Biden in November 2021, allocated $7.5 billion for EV charging, the Washington Post writes. Of this amount, $5 billion went to states as "formula funding" for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program to establish…

Gulf Keystone Petroleum has laid out plans to return $10m (£8m) to shareholders as its board attacked the company’s weak share price. In a trading update published this morning, the company, a leading independent oil producer in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, said that production during the first few months of 2024 had been “robust”, with gross average sales for the year-to-date coming in at 37,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd). It said realised oil sale prices had risen to $27 per barrel from $25/bbl due to “strong…

While inflation concerns dragged oil prices lower earlier on Monday, with U.S. consumer price data due out Tuesday, by late morning, anticipation of OPEC’s monthly report due on the same time bumped the two key crude oil benchmarks up at least half a percentage point. On Tuesday, OPEC will release its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), with its outlook for the coming period.  On Monday at 11:57 a.m. ET, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was trading up 0.61% at $78.74, while Brent crude was…

While inflation concerns dragged oil prices lower earlier on Monday, with U.S. consumer price data due out Tuesday, by late morning, anticipation of OPEC’s monthly report due on the same time bumped the two key crude oil benchmarks up at least half a percentage point. On Tuesday, OPEC will release its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), with its outlook for the coming period.  On Monday at 11:57 a.m. ET, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was trading up 0.61% at $78.74, while Brent crude was…

On May 8, the European Commission presented a new round of sanctions on Russia and Belarus to the ambassadors of the European Union member states. The proposal, seen by RFE/RL, is actually surprisingly ambitious, given that the bloc has adopted numerous rather weak packages in the past. The big question is whether the measures, if adopted, will retain their clout. As they have to be adopted unanimously, there is a risk of them being watered down.Surprisingly, the proposed measures touch on Russian energy, something that has been a "no-go" ever…

Anglo American said on Monday it had rejected a second takeover offer from BHP which would create a major mining group. Last month, mining giant BHP made an all-share offer for fellow major Anglo American. If completed, the deal would be the biggest one in the mining world in years.     On the day after announcing it had received an offer from BHP, Anglo American rejected the proposal, after the Board and its advisers concluded that it “significantly undervalues Anglo American and its future prospects.”…

Anglo American said on Monday it had rejected a second takeover offer from BHP which would create a major mining group. Last month, mining giant BHP made an all-share offer for fellow major Anglo American. If completed, the deal would be the biggest one in the mining world in years.     On the day after announcing it had received an offer from BHP, Anglo American rejected the proposal, after the Board and its advisers concluded that it “significantly undervalues Anglo American and its future prospects.”…

Russia Opens New Front Line in Ukraine, in Kharkiv BlitzkriegRussia Targets Kharkiv in Major Offensive After Kyiv Attacks Refineries Over the weekend, Russia launched a major offensive in the Kharkiv region, taking control of an estimated nine villages and prompting thousands to flee, France 24 reported on Monday.  Some 50,000 Russian troops were deployed to the region for the offensive, backed by 400 tanks, with the goal of creating a 20-kilometer buffer zone on an expanded front line, according to Euromaidan Press.  Russia’s end…

Nigeria has launched oil production from a new field in the Niger Delta region, which is expected to raise crude output at Africa’s top oil producer by 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of May. The upstream subsidiary of Nigerian national oil company, NNPC Exploration and Production Limited, and Natural Oilfield Services Ltd (NOSL), a subsidiary of Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production Company Ltd (SEEPCO), announced on Sunday the successful start of oil production at Oil Mining Lease (OML) 13 in Akwa Ibom State,…

Nigeria has launched oil production from a new field in the Niger Delta region, which is expected to raise crude output at Africa’s top oil producer by 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of May. The upstream subsidiary of Nigerian national oil company, NNPC Exploration and Production Limited, and Natural Oilfield Services Ltd (NOSL), a subsidiary of Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production Company Ltd (SEEPCO), announced on Sunday the successful start of oil production at Oil Mining Lease (OML) 13 in Akwa Ibom State,…