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Taiwan’s energy industry is in grave peril. The nation’s grid is already struggling to keep up with demand, and this Achilles' heel has not gone unnoticed by neighboring China. The island nation is heavily dependent on imports to keep its isolated energy grid up and running, and a blockade from China could send the nation’s energy security and national security into a rapid tailspin. In May of this year, Taiwan shuttered its last remaining nuclear power plant, making good on a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) policy promise…
The discovery of the massive Vaca Muerta shale play was a game changer for the economically troubled South American nation of Argentina. The country, which with 2024 gross domestic product of $632 billion ranks as the second largest economy in South America and third largest in the broader region of Latin America, is rapidly becoming one of the region’s leading hydrocarbon producers. The latest data from Argentina’s Ministry of Economy shows shale oil production hit an all-time high for June 2025, although overall petroleum output dipped…
In recent years, many optimistic narratives have overstated the impact of renewables on fossil fuel consumption. The reality is more sobering: renewables are not displacing fossil fuels—especially in non-OECD countries and energy-intensive sectors. They’re growing fast, but they’re still playing catch-up with rising global energy demand. That is a key takeaway from the 2025 Statistical Review of World Energy. Yes, renewable energy posted impressive gains in 2024. But it still wasn’t enough to bend the curve on global fossil…
Over the past decade, scores of Big Oil companies have set up separate trading divisions that frequently rake in billions in profits that help pad their bottom lines whenever oil and gas prices fall. In fact, the oil majors typically handle more barrels than leading commodity traders such as Vitol, Trafigura, Glencore and Mercuria, according to Bloomberg. These companies usually view high volatility in the markets as a blessing, allowing them to make big bets and generate outsized profits. To wit, giant commodity traders generated record…
Tankers loaded with Russian crude that had stayed idle off India’s coast for days discharged their cargo at Indian oil import terminals over the weekend, in defiance of the U.S. threats of additional “penalties” on the world’s third-largest crude importer for buying Russian oil. While Indian refiners last week were scrambling to understand the implications of President Trump’s threatened “penalties” on India for buying Russian oil, at least four tankers carrying crude cargoes from Russia were staying…
