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The U.S. federal government has come up with an alternative to a diesel fuel export ban that could alleviate the price pain at the pump by boosting the availability of a tax-free sort of diesel. That’s according to unnamed sources quoted by Reuters this week. It is unclear if the idea is a replacement for the ban or will complement it, should a ban be approved. The fuel in question is red-dyed diesel, which is used in agriculture and construction, among other industries. Also called off-road diesel, the fuel is literally dyed red to distinguish…
The fuel trading market is expanding from an established group of specialized desks at oil majors, commodity trading houses, and refiners to AI-assisted trades. AI could either make the sometimes opaque fuel trading a level playing field for many new entrants or break the market by overcrowding it in some trades, as Reuters columnist Clyde Russell notes in a recent commentary. The AI boom and the race to offer and receive “actionable insights” in seconds are equally tempting for the developers of the technology, the commodity analytics…
The Trump Administration is touting the new oil order in Venezuela as a tremendous opportunity for reviving the industry in the world’s biggest crude oil resource holder. The U.S.-led restructuring of the sector kicked out Russian and Chinese companies out of previously awarded concessions, and spurred a flurry of oil deals with oil majors, the biggest oilfield service providers, and relatively unknown newcomers—all with the purpose of boosting Venezuela’s oil production and exporting a large part of it to the United States. The…
Global natural gas supply is likely to remain tighter than it should be until next summer at least, and it could cause prolonged demand destruction. Should this scenario materialize, it would deliver a severe blow to Europe, as it already struggles to cover its winter gas needs ahead of the official start of heating season—but Asia won’t be happy about it, either. The prediction comes from the International Gas Union, an industry association that covers 90% of the world’s gas producers. “The market right now is saying that…
Nigeria has ambitious energy plans for the coming decades, including expanding its oil industry and accelerating the development of its renewable energy sector. In recent years, Nigeria has begun to solidify its position as a major energy power in Africa. This led the International Energy Agency (IEA) Governing Board to decide in June to welcome Nigeria as an Association country. Nigeria joins South Africa, Kenya, and Senegal as an IEA Association country in sub-Saharan Africa. To solidify the agreement, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol…
The energy crisis caused by the United States and Israel’s war in Iran could be just what the world needed to achieve 35 percent electrification by 2035. This goal, “35 by ‘35” has emerged as a key platform of the upcoming COP31 United Nations climate conference, to be held in Antalya, Türkiye, from November 9 to 20, 2026. And experts say that a number of factors, including volatile oil and gas markets stemming from the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz, have put that goal within “striking distance.”…
China just broke ground on a revolutionary new hybridized energy production and storage facility. The power plant will store excess energy in the form of molten salt, and then produce electricity during peak demand times through a supercritical carbon dioxide system. The goal of the project is to limit energy waste while also stabilizing the local power grid. The project could also inform future next-gen energy and energy storage systems, including for application in the nuclear power sector and even on the moon. Construction of the Ruitan…
Emerging economies are going to see an explosion of energy demand over the coming decades. Countries like Brazil, India, Nigeria, and Indonesia are racing to expand their energy production and imports in order to keep up with rapid economic development. While the leaders of these and other emerging economies are making a concerted effort to expand their renewable energy capacity, meeting demand will require an all-of-the-above approach to energy that will extend the life of oil and gas, according to a new report from S&P Global. According to…
Power technologies are usually compared by asking how much their electricity costs. That is no longer enough. Electricity demand is accelerating, driven by data centers, electrification, new factories and cooling. The International Energy Agency expects global data-center consumption alone to more than double to around 945 TWh by 2030—slightly more than Japan consumes today. A power plant that is cheap in 2035 cannot supply a data center that wants to connect in 2028. As demand begins arriving faster than conventional generating capacity,…
Some of the world’s largest oil and gas companies have adopted a new modus operandi ever since the historic oil price crash of 2020 devastated energy companies, prioritizing returning more cash to shareholders while expansion plans have been put on the back burner. Indeed, over the past five years, Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), British Petroleum (NYSE:BP), Shell (NYSE:SHEL) and TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) have collectively spent more than $100 billion annually in dividends and buybacks, good for nearly 80% of their earnings. Hardly…
Liquefied natural gas prices on the spot market are moving higher as demand picks up seasonally and Asian importers are souring on the fuel. European buyers are stepping up purchases, however, despite the price. They have no choice. Asian demand for liquefied gas is set to decline this month—and over the year—according to analysts. September flows of LNG into Asian countries are estimated at 20.09 million tons by Kpler, which would be down from 22.27 million tons a year ago, and 22.25 million tons a month ago, Reuters’ Clyde Russell…
French President Emmanuel Macron is calling the G7 back to the table to discuss another release of emergency oil stocks as Europe loses Saudi crude deliveries and diesel prices push deeper into record territory. Macron said Friday that he will convene G7 countries in the coming weeks to coordinate stock levels, exports and production capacity and consider tapping strategic reserves. France is also working to secure diesel, jet fuel and natural gas supplies for the coming months. Europe has a useful card left to play. Unlike the U.S. Strategic Petroleum…
The United States is desperate to claw back some of the global critical minerals share from China. Beijing has established near-total dominance in international supply chains over the last several decades through its far-reaching Belt and Road Initiative in addition to other deals and programs that have given China a massive presence in mineral-rich countries and emerging markets across the globe. This gives Beijing critical economic and political leverage as these materials become ever more sought after to power the global tech manufacturing sector,…
Argentina's controversial right-wing president, Javier Milei, slashed inflation with a brutal dose of economic austerity, but this came at a steep social cost. The cost of living is spiraling higher, fueling household debt, loan delinquencies, and economic hardship. Industrial output, since Milei took office, has declined sharply, with local companies closing at an alarming rate. While parts of the economy are falling into chaos, Argentina's oil and gas sector is experiencing a generational boom driven by the Vaca Muerta shale. Argentina's vital…
The artificial intelligence boom is driving a new wave of autonomous cyberattacks, posing a major and growing threat to critical infrastructure, including the energy grid. Ninety percent of state government chief intelligence officers recently reported that cyberattacks on critical services – including threats to water and wastewater systems, hospitals, transportation, and energy and communication networks – is a matter of great concern, according to a new report from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers and…
Scientists at MIT have discovered a new way to extract high-purity hydrogen from ammonia while using a lot less energy than previous technologies. The breakthrough could provide a critical inroad toward reducing the energy and ecological footprint of the hydrogen sector, which powers a wide range of industrial processes and technologies from fuel cells to computer chip manufacturing. Green hydrogen has often been touted as a silver-bullet solution for decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors like the shipping industry and steelmaking, as…
This week’s oil price surge sharply raised the odds of a Fed interest rate hike next week and re-launched the recession conversation, for the first time since the early weeks of the Iran war. The price spike this week saw Brent Crude prices topping $100 per barrel for the first time since July and the U.S. benchmark, WTI Crude, exceeding $100 a barrel as well, after the U.S.-Iran tensions escalated again with no talks of a deal in sight. For six months during the Iran war, the global and U.S. economies have remained resilient in the face…
Electricity theft is a global problem, and it’s getting more dire all the time. While the problem is most common in developing countries, where grid infrastructure is limited and utilities and state authorities have lower oversight capacities, developed countries are not immune either. This theft can occur in many forms and at many scales, from individuals tapping into power lines to power their individual residences to large-scale and sophisticated theft schemes to power entire cryptocurrency mining farms. Just this week, Mexican authorities…
Brent is sitting a touch above $104 this morning, down slightly from yesterday's surge. The Strait of Hormuz, which used to move something like a fifth of the world's oil and LNG before the war, has been effectively shut since March. Saudi output dropped around 1.9 million barrels a day in August, tanker rates are breaking records, and the EIA doesn't see Middle East production back near pre-conflict levels until the second quarter of 2027. Meanwhile, the European Union imports 57 percent of the energy it consumes and spent €340 billion on…
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Europe desperately needs to ramp up its energy storage capacity if it wants to avoid another energy crisis. In the wake of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine back in 2022, the European Union made major strides in building up its own energy production capacities in an effort to wean itself off of Russian oil and gas. Much of this buildout has been in the form of wind and solar energy, which is great news for energy independence and the bloc's climate goals, but poses key challenges in terms of energy security. As more and more of Europe's energy…
Copper futures in London reached a record high on Tuesday as expectations of US tariffs drew record volumes from the seaborne market into US warehouses, tightening availability elsewhere despite subdued demand. As we highlighted on Monday, deteriorating conditions across global mining operations are adding to supply woes. Benchmark three-month futures on the LME gained nearly 1% to reach $14,533 a ton, exceeding January's peak before trimming some of those gains. Dr. Copper is breaking out...but this isn’t mainly…
Rosneft has shipped the first crude oil cargo from the Vostok Oil project in Eastern Siberia, despite sanctions targeting Russia’s energy industry and the exit of Western business partners. At peak capacity, the project is expected to produce between 50 and 100 million tons of crude annually. The Vostok Oil project is Russia's largest new oil development, comprising a group of fields in Krasnoyarsk Krai, some already producing and the rest new discoveries. A total of 2,000 wells have been drilled at the site, Rosneft’s chief executive…
The biggest oil companies in the United States are playing hardball in unionized labor negotiations in a bid to get more concessions from workers’ unions in the new contracts. Over the past few years, some of the top U.S. refining companies have resorted to lockouts to ensure most of the company management’s proposals in new labor contracts are accepted. The trend began earlier this decade with Exxon locking out in 2021 as many as 650 workers out of the Beaumont refinery for 10 months. This was the longest labor dispute at a U.S. refinery…
