Crude oil inventories in the United States rose this week by 509,000 barrels for the week ending May 3, according to The American Petroleum Institute (API). Analysts had expected a 1.430 million barrel draw. For the week prior, the API reported a 4.906 million barrel build in crude inventories. On Tuesday, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) rose by 0.9 million barrels as of May 3. Inventories are now at 367.2 million barrels—the highest point since last April,…

Both Ukraine and Moldova are expected to formally open EU accession talks in the final week of June. Several diplomats that RFE/RL spoke to on condition of anonymity are confident that a “ceremonial intergovernmental conference” (IGC) will be held in Brussels with the pair just before Hungary takes over the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the EU on July 1. They also said they expected the negotiation frameworks with both countries to be adopted by EU member states at the same time. You would be forgiven for thinking…

Via SchiffGold.com, With the eventual introduction of central bank digital currency (CBDCs) now seemingly inevitable, there are a lot of directions central banks could take with their digital currency projects that would have dramatic implications for the price of gold. Touted for their “convenience” and “efficiency,” the endgame of digital currencies is not only achieving greater power over the currency but also a means of surveilling and micromanaging the personal finances of each individual. Owe taxes or a parking ticket?…

U.S. spot power and natural gas prices plummeted into negative territory across Texas, California, and Arizona on Tuesday, signaling a surplus in production amidst subdued demand and ample hydropower reserves. At the Waha hub, next-day gas prices plummeted to a three-week low of negative $2.72 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) on May 6. Next-day power prices at hubs in Arizona and Southern California plunged to one-week lows. The dynamics driving negative prices suggest energy firms are grappling with excess power and gas production. As…

U.S. spot power and natural gas prices plummeted into negative territory across Texas, California, and Arizona on Tuesday, signaling a surplus in production amidst subdued demand and ample hydropower reserves. At the Waha hub, next-day gas prices plummeted to a three-week low of negative $2.72 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) on May 6. Next-day power prices at hubs in Arizona and Southern California plunged to one-week lows. The dynamics driving negative prices suggest energy firms are grappling with excess power and gas production. As…

U.S. spot power and natural gas prices plummeted into negative territory across Texas, California, and Arizona on Tuesday, signaling a surplus in production amidst subdued demand and ample hydropower reserves. At the Waha hub, next-day gas prices plummeted to a three-week low of negative $2.72 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) on May 6. Next-day power prices at hubs in Arizona and Southern California plunged to one-week lows. The dynamics driving negative prices suggest energy firms are grappling with excess power and gas production. As…

Octopus Energy is now worth more than £7bn after two of its largest investors increased their stakes in the company. Generation Investment Management and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board have upped their holdings in the London-headquartered business in moves which have pushed its value up 15 percent to £7.2bn. Generation, which focuses on sustainable investments, upped its stake to 13 percent after getting new backing from pension funds in the US and Australia, including Australian superannuation fund Aware Super. CPP Investments,…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a new solicitation to purchase oil to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), according to a DOE press release. The solicitation, announced by the DOE's Office of Petroleum Reserves, seeks up to 3.3 million barrels of crude oil for delivery to the SPR in October. The decision to initiate this purchase, according to the release, aligns with the DOE's strategy of acquiring oil at $79 per barrel or below. To date, the DOE has procured a total of 32.3 million barrels of oil at an average…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a new solicitation to purchase oil to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), according to a DOE press release. The solicitation, announced by the DOE's Office of Petroleum Reserves, seeks up to 3.3 million barrels of crude oil for delivery to the SPR in October. The decision to initiate this purchase, according to the release, aligns with the DOE's strategy of acquiring oil at $79 per barrel or below. To date, the DOE has procured a total of 32.3 million barrels of oil at an average…

The Utica shale has for years been known as a gas-producing play. But this may be about to change as one company reports promising results from its oil well offensive in the area. EOG has been drilling in the Utica shale for months now, and it just reported that the play can “compete with the best plays in America.” The production figures EOG reported for its wells there support this: over the first 180 days since drilling, a three-well pad dubbed Xavier produced an average of 450,000 barrels of oil equivalent in total. Another…

Azerbaijan will get a welcome earnings boost from BP’s announcement that it has launched production at a new $6-billion facility in Azerbaijan’s giant Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli oil field. The upgrade can boost the field’s output by as much as 25 percent. Dubbed Azeri-Central-East (ACE), the facility consists of a new production platform 130 kilometers offshore in Azerbaijan’s sector of the Caspian Sea. Currently ACE boasts a single well drilled to a depth of 3,150 meters with two more wells to be drilled this year, raising ACE’S…

Almost 75 Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday expressed support for President Joe Biden’s decision to pause approvals for new LNG export projects. “With our allies well-supplied by existing exports, we agree that now is the time to step back and examine the long-term impacts that additional U.S. LNG exports will have on American consumers, industries, and the environment,” the Democratic Senators and Representatives wrote in a letter to President Biden, carried by Reuters. “This is an overdue opportunity to examine whether…

Almost 75 Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday expressed support for President Joe Biden’s decision to pause approvals for new LNG export projects. “With our allies well-supplied by existing exports, we agree that now is the time to step back and examine the long-term impacts that additional U.S. LNG exports will have on American consumers, industries, and the environment,” the Democratic Senators and Representatives wrote in a letter to President Biden, carried by Reuters. “This is an overdue opportunity to examine whether…

Almost 75 Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday expressed support for President Joe Biden’s decision to pause approvals for new LNG export projects. “With our allies well-supplied by existing exports, we agree that now is the time to step back and examine the long-term impacts that additional U.S. LNG exports will have on American consumers, industries, and the environment,” the Democratic Senators and Representatives wrote in a letter to President Biden, carried by Reuters. “This is an overdue opportunity to examine whether…

Via Metal Miner In a world where the appetite for energy is insatiable, the battery market has become the playground for some of the brightest minds aiming to fuel everything from cell phones to electric vehicles. However, as our gadgets become even smarter, the traditional batteries we’ve relied on seem ever so dim-witted in comparison. Enter the era of cutting-edge battery technology, where the latest developments are juicing up the market with a blend of high energy and high drama. The Latest Tech On (and Off) the Battery Market Let’s…

China has allocated more export quotas for refined petroleum products for 2024, issuing a second batch that nearly matches the volumes in the first batch.   China has recently issued 18 million metric tons of fuel export quotas in the second batch of allocations for this year, Chinese trade sources and consultancies told Reuters on Tuesday.   The volumes in the latest batch include 14 million tons of refined products and 4 million tons of marine fuel, consultancy firms Longzhong and JLC, as well as trade sources, said.…

Saudi Aramco is keeping its huge dividend of $31.1 billion for the first quarter despite a decline in net income due to lower crude sales as the Kingdom is voluntarily restricting supply to the market.  Aramco, the state oil giant of the world’s top crude oil exporter and the largest oil firm globally, reported on Tuesday a net income of $27.3 billion for the first quarter of 2024, down from $31.9 billion for the same period of 2023, due to lower crude oil volumes sold, weakening refining and chemicals margins, and lower finance…

The OPEC+ group is still studying whether to raise oil production but it would act on supply if necessary, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday.    The possibility to raise supply is still being reviewed, Russia’s top oilman said, as carried by Russian news agency Interfax. “It always depends on the current situation, the balance of supply and demand,” Novak said. “Everything is being analyzed. Right now, you don’t need to predict anything, you just need to see how the market…

The OPEC+ group is still studying whether to raise oil production but it would act on supply if necessary, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday.    The possibility to raise supply is still being reviewed, Russia’s top oilman said, as carried by Russian news agency Interfax. “It always depends on the current situation, the balance of supply and demand,” Novak said. “Everything is being analyzed. Right now, you don’t need to predict anything, you just need to see how the market…

Oil prices remained under pressure on Tuesday morning, but Israel's decision to send troops into Rafah and Saudi Arabia's aggressive pricing of its June cargos should help to stop oil prices from falling. - International organizations are increasingly sounding the tocsin on shrinking crude inventories, with the IEA indicating Q2 2024 would see demand surpass supply by a whopping 900,000 b/d, the first two consecutive negative quarters since late 2021. - With OPEC+ curbing supply by means of Saudi Arabia’s and Russia’s voluntary…