As industry concerns over an AI bubble mount, the scale of data center ambitions continues to grow. As of mid-October, the US data center pipeline reached 245 GW of planned capacity, driven by a handful of enormous, speculative projects. These projects, and the renewable deals hyperscalers are signing, skew heavily toward Texas. More than a quarter of pipeline capacity targets the state, whose pipeline nearly doubled from 35 GW in Q1 to 67 GW in Q3.  Data Center Alley gives way to Data Center Prairie   It is conventional wisdom that…

Tankers of the Russian shadow fleet have increased the use of flying false flags this year and exported $5.4 billion (4.7 billion euros) worth of Russian oil between January and September, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said in a new report. A total of 113 Russian ‘shadow’ vessels flew a false flag during their operations in the first nine months of 2025, the analysis found. In volumes, 13% of Russian oil transported by ‘shadow’ vessels between January and September 2025 took place on vessels flying…

After decades of reliance on coal, South Korea has announced plans to close all coal-fired power plants by 2040. For Australia, this signals a likely steep decline in its coal exports in the coming decades, as one of its main trade partners reduces its coal use. The Australian government is now preparing for a fall in its coal exports, as South Korea, the third-biggest importer of Australian coal, plans to shift away from the “dirtiest fossil fuel”. Australia expects to export around $1.5 billion worth of thermal coal to South Korea…

OPEC+ members are expected to stick with their decision to pause oil production increases when the group meets online this Sunday, signaling a cautious approach amid growing signs of oversupply and persistent weakness in prices. Delegates told reporters the meeting is likely to be “straightforward,” with ministers simply reaffirming the policy agreed earlier this month to suspend output hikes during the first quarter of 2026. The pause, driven largely by Saudi Arabia and its partners, reflects concern that global inventories are rising…

India’s Serentica Renewables plans to invest up to $11 billion to boost its clean energy portfolio by the end of the decade via project acquisitions and new capacity build outs, chairman Pratik Agarwal has told Reuters. Serentica Renewables, backed by global private equity giant KKR, plans to raise over the next five years between $6 billion and $8 billion to help fund its expansion plans, according to the executive. The funds will help finance acquisitions of operating projects or projects under construction, as well as the construction…

The White House’s lead envoy is heading to Russia for a sixth time. Ukraine fears a peace that heavily favors Moscow. A leaked phone call shows the US envoy advising a Kremlin official on how to sweet-talk the White House.And Russia’s invasion -- now in its 46th month -- has pushed Ukraine’s beleaguered armed forces closer to the breaking point.There’s a lot that happened in the six days since a US-drafted peace proposal first leaked – not to mention the circumstances under which it was drafted. The 28-point plan jolted…

The Khor Mor gas field in Kurdistan, one of the biggest gas fields in Iraq’s semi-autonomous region, has been shut down after a rocket attack hit a storage tank and caused a fire, the joint field operator, UAE-based firm Dana Gas, said on Thursday. Dana Gas, which operates the Khor Mor field under a consortium with Crescent Petroleum, OMV, MOL, and RWE, said that a liquid storage tank at the Khor Mor facility was struck by a rocket attack.Footage from the strike shows a major fire at one of the condensate tanks: ???????????? BREAKING ????????????Kurdistan-…

The Khor Mor gas field in Kurdistan, one of the biggest gas fields in Iraq’s semi-autonomous region, has been shut down after a rocket attack hit a storage tank and caused a fire, the joint field operator, UAE-based firm Dana Gas, said on Thursday. Dana Gas, which operates the Khor Mor field under a consortium with Crescent Petroleum, OMV, MOL, and RWE, said that a liquid storage tank at the Khor Mor facility was struck by a rocket attack.Footage from the strike shows a major fire at one of the condensate tanks: ???????????? BREAKING ????????????Kurdistan-…

Oil prices slipped in early Asian trade on Thursday as markets digested renewed hope for a Russia-Ukraine peace deal and braced for a key OPEC+ meeting scheduled to take place on Sunday.  At the time of writing, front-month West Texas Intermediate had dipped by about 0.55% to $58.33 per barrel: Similarly, Brent Crude had fallen by 0.48% and was trading around $62.83: The recent softness follows a slight gain in Wednesday's session when prices bounced off one-month lows, but analysts warned that those upticks were likely driven by short covering…

Australian space company Fleet Space has used a satellite-enabled exploration platform to uncover a large lithium deposit in Quebec, demonstrating how these space vehicles can be used to expedite and streamline the mineral exploration process. According to Fleet Space, its latest findings indicate that the lithium deposit could be much larger than earlier thought, with the company estimating the prospective resource at 329 million metric tonnes of lithium oxide. Discovering mineral resources has traditionally been a slow, uncertain, and expensive…

Vaalco Energy (NYSE:EGY) is small cap, Houston, Texas-based producer of oil and gas. Its original focus was offshore in the African country of Gabon, but a few years ago it diversified through a beneficial merger that expanded its global footprint. The company delivered a strong Q-4, 2023 earnings report that included news of its further diversification and entry into Côte d'Ivoire. The stock rallied to nearly $8.00 per share following the release of that report. A mixed report for Q-2 that year took the wind out of the company's sails, and…

Drivers in half of U.S. states are enjoying average gasoline prices below $3 per gallon this Thanksgiving holiday, and prices at the pump are set to further decline going into Christmas. Lower crude oil prices, cheaper winter blends, weaker seasonal demand despite the bump in Thanksgiving travel, and refineries completing autumn maintenance have converged to push the national average down to $3.055 per gallon of regular gasoline on November 25, just as millions of Americans are hitting or preparing to hit the road. The national average price of…

Bolivia’s hydrocarbons sector began the 21st century from a position of strength. Major discoveries, steady foreign investment, and robust exports underpinned national development. However, the 2006 nationalization fundamentally changed sector dynamics. While the state captured a larger share of revenues, the policy environment gradually discouraged upstream investment. Exploration waned, reserves declined, and production began to fall just as regional markets became more competitive. Bolivia still has meaningful geological potential, but…

Shale drillers are finding new and exciting ways to boost production in the Permian and elsewhere. This can make the industry more resilient to international price swings—but never fully resilient and never for very long. The pain from the prolonged price depression is beginning to bite in. Back in October, Kpler warned that U.S. oil production could shed 700,000 barrels daily if international oil prices slid lower than $60 per barrel. The analytics firm cited drilled but uncompleted well data showing the inventory of these wells had shrunk…

The Serbian government is preparing an amendment to the country’s budget law that will allow it to nationalize the Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) refinery, majority owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom, if no third party offers quickly emerge. Last week, NIS submitted a request to the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to continue operations until negotiations for an ownership change conclude. "One of the amendments that will be submitted will be the one that will foresee the circumstance that at some…

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States fell sharply this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Wednesday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. The total rig count in the US fell by 10 to 544 this week, according to Baker Hughes, down 38 from this same time last year. The number of active oil rigs saw a big dip in the reporting period, according to the data, falling by 12 rigs and reaching 407. Year over year, this represents a 70-rig decline. The number of gas rigs rose by 3 to 130, which…

Lebanon and Cyprus have signed a maritime demarcation deal, paving the way for energy cooperation between the two countries, including exploration of offshore gas fields in the Mediterranean. The deal was signed at Lebanon's presidential palace on Wednesday, with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides telling reporters it signals deeper cooperation between the two countries and the broader EU.  Lebanon and Cyprus had agreed to a preliminary mapping deal in 2007, but did not advance on the matter due to delays in its ratification by the Lebanese…

U.S. and European oil and gas majors are back to doing business in Libya, a decade after pulling out as civil war engulfed one of the top oil producers and the biggest oil resource holder in Africa.   Amid a relatively calm security situation this year, Libya launched its first bid round for oil and gas exploration in 18 years. The previous such bid round was held in 2007, four years before the toppling of Muammar Ghaddafi in 2011, which led to a protracted civil war in the country with various factions and tribal interests vying for control…

Unprofitable coal-fired power plants and uncertainty about electricity and natural gas prices and the cost of carbon emission allowances have forced Czech energy firm Sev.en to decide to close three coal plants by March 2027 at the latest. Sev.en, owned by Czech energy investor and billionaire Pavel Tykac, on Wednesday said it would close its coal-fired power plants at Pocerady, Chvaletice, and Kladno at the earliest possible legal deadline, December 2026, or in March 2027 at the latest. The closure of the three major coal plants will remove 2.4…

Unprofitable coal-fired power plants and uncertainty about electricity and natural gas prices and the cost of carbon emission allowances have forced Czech energy firm Sev.en to decide to close three coal plants by March 2027 at the latest. Sev.en, owned by Czech energy investor and billionaire Pavel Tykac, on Wednesday said it would close its coal-fired power plants at Pocerady, Chvaletice, and Kladno at the earliest possible legal deadline, December 2026, or in March 2027 at the latest. The closure of the three major coal plants will remove 2.4…