The escalation of conflict in the Middle East is a stress test for the region’s carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) projects and how bankable they remain when hydrocarbon operations are disrupted. Because most CCUS projects are linked to oil and gas value chains, the regional pipeline is being repriced as higher risk. Our base case of 20 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of capture capacity by 2030 now looks unlikely; we expect delays as priorities shift and capital is reallocated, leaving the region tracking closer to our low case…

The U.S. Energy Information Administration sharply revised its oil price outlook in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) based on the growing impact of the Middle East conflict and the near standstill in tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude settled at $94 per barrel on March 9, according to the EIA— a roughly 50% surge since the start of the year and the highest level since September 2023. Prices have climbed rapidly as shipments through the Strait of Hormuz slowed dramatically and some Middle East producers began…

Asian benchmark Newcastle coal prices jumped more than 9% to $150/ton (as per BBG data) at the start of the week, as energy flows across the Gulf area remain disrupted and transit through the Strait of Hormuz has significantly slowed. The rise in coal prices is being driven by a broader energy shock, with surging gas prices making coal a more economical substitute fuel for power generators. Last week's IRGC kamikaze drone attack, which shuttered Qatar's massive LNG export facility - responsible for roughly 20% of global supply - has been the driving…

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has warned that a recent spike in oil prices will translate into higher inflation in the UK, with her economic approach centring on calls for the US, Israel and Iran to de-escalate the conflict in the Middle East. In a statement to MPs, Reeves said she called on G7 finance minister, which includes the US administration’s Scott Bessent, for “immediate de-escalation” of the conflict and that she wanted to see vessels safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz after days of disruption.  However, she appeared…

Oil markets are showing cautious optimism as traders bet Donald Trump may soon wind down the conflict. Hormuz Bottleneck Sparks Middle East Mega?Cuts- With the closure of the Strait of Hormuz entering its second week, Middle Eastern producers have started to collectively curb output as laden tankers continue to pile up in the Persian Gulf.- Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates have already slashed their production by as much as 6.7 million b/day, with Iraq taking the lead with a massive 3 million b/day cut.- The Middle East…

Asia is struggling to obtain spot LNG cargoes for emergency supply this month as the halt to Qatar’s exports tightened the market and reignited competition with Europe for promptly available supply.   In the absence of Qatar’s term supply and about 20% of global LNG flows blocked at the Strait of Hormuz, some buyers in South and Southeast Asia who have sought spot cargoes for March have failed to purchase any, sources and officials at key Asian LNG importers told Bloomberg on Tuesday.     Tenders for spot…

Asia is struggling to obtain spot LNG cargoes for emergency supply this month as the halt to Qatar’s exports tightened the market and reignited competition with Europe for promptly available supply.   In the absence of Qatar’s term supply and about 20% of global LNG flows blocked at the Strait of Hormuz, some buyers in South and Southeast Asia who have sought spot cargoes for March have failed to purchase any, sources and officials at key Asian LNG importers told Bloomberg on Tuesday.     Tenders for spot…

US President Donald Trump said the military operation launched against Iran last month will end "very soon" and vowed to hit the country "much, much harder" if it blocks oil supplies in the Middle East. Trump spoke on March 9 after Tehran launched multiple missiles and drones at Israel and Gulf Arab states following the announcement that Mojtaba Khamenei would succeed his late father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as supreme leader. "We're winning very decisively. We're way ahead of schedule," Trump told a news conference in Florida. "It's going to be…

While solar capacity additions remained the top U.S. source of new power for the fifth consecutive year in 2025, installations slumped by 14% last year, as the Trump Administration’s assault on clean energy restricted tax credit timelines while tariffs and permitting uncertainty added to investor concerns.   The U.S. installed 43.2 gigawatts direct current (GWdc) of solar power capacity in 2025, down by 14% from 2024, a new report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie showed on Tuesday. The utility-scale…

The oil market would experience “catastrophic consequences” if the halt to Strait of Hormuz tanker traffic continues, according to Saudi Aramco, the world’s top crude exporter and biggest oil firm.  “There would be catastrophic consequences for the world's oil markets and the longer the disruption goes on, and the more drastic the consequences for the global economy,” Aramco’s chief executive Amin Nasser said on the 2025 earnings call on Tuesday, as carried by Reuters.  The oil flow disruption will…

The Pentagon has taken a step toward rebuilding one of the most fragile links in the U.S. defense supply chain: the industrial capability to turn rare earth minerals into the metals that power most modern weapons systems. REAlloys (NASDAQ: ALOY) announced this week that the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) has awarded a contract to Terves LLC–now part of the REAlloys platform–to advance next-generation metallothermal production of samarium and gadolinium, two rare earth metals embedded in some of the military’s most demanding systems.…

The largest oil producers in the Middle East Gulf have deepened production cuts and are already lowering output by a combined more than 5 million barrels per day (bpd) as the de facto halt to tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has started to affect upstream production.    As storage fills and crude has no way out of the Gulf, the top Middle East producers and most influential OPEC members have had to resort to cutting actual oil production.  Saudi Arabia has slashed its oil production by between 2 million bpd and 2.5 million…

Oil prices briefly hit triple-digits in early Monday trading before pulling back sharply, with the volatility throwing global energy stocks into a tizzy. Brent crude oil rocketed to $119 during Asia Pacific trading, its highest level since 2022, before falling below $90 per barrel in the afternoon, still a big jump from ~$78 per barrel just a week ago. The price spike was triggered by the intensifying conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran, which has led to a near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The pullback, however, came amid reports…

I want to talk about the thing nobody in Washington seems willing to say out loud, which is that the cost of this war is going to show up at your kitchen table before it shows up in any congressional budget hearing. This morning oil prices blew past $115 a barrel. Brent crude touched $119 overnight before pulling back. WTI posted its biggest weekly gain in the entire history of futures trading, dating back to 1983.  The S&P futures are down.  The Nikkei dropped 5% at open. South Korea’s KOSPI cratered 6%. The VIX is at levels…

Longstanding tensions in the Middle East are no longer simmering away -- they have tipped into a multi-theatre conflict the like of which the world has not seen in the region since the Six-Day War of 1967, with Iran at the centre of the escalation cycle. U.S. and Israeli forces are prosecuting a sustained campaign against Iranian territory, command infrastructure, and proxy assets across every active front. Iran and its network of militias are still managing to retaliate — from missile launches to maritime disruption — even as they…

Brent crude and WTI are once again above $100 and likely to stay there longer than those involved in the planning of the latest war in the Middle East may have expected. With that, energy-thirsty economies are beginning to feel the pinch, and not everyone is optimistic that it will be a short pinch. Brent crude, the global benchmark, surged past $116 per barrel earlier today, with West Texas Intermediate also reaching that level in a rare parity between the two. Murban crude, meanwhile, has hit $120 and sped past it, reflecting the continued freeze…

As many as half a million abandoned coal mines dot the United States. These mines pose a major threat to public health and safety, in addition to environmental well-being. While many of these sites have been abandoned since the 1970s, before federal regulations for their reclamation were established, they may finally be getting cleaned up, and even converted into a power bank for the renewable revolution. Scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) recently announced a breakthrough in the development of a methodology to turn the nation’s…

Two weeks ago, I suggested that the complacency regarding war with Iran was misplaced and that that complacency was likely soon to be replaced by panic in the world's capitals and financial markets. The general belief was that President Donald Trump would relent, make a deal with Iran, and declare victory. Even if he didn't, the Iranian regime would be quickly overwhelmed by a combined American and Israeli attack and possibly be overthrown in a popular revolt or in the alternative, sue for peace within days. Of course, neither of those things turned…

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) countries reached a broad agreement on Monday to hold off the release of oil from their respective strategic reserves, for now. The ministers held a teleconference on Monday after oil prices spiked to levels last seen during the global energy crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.  The G7 is an informal, intergovernmental economic and political forum comprising seven of the world's most advanced industrialized economies including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United…

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) countries reached a broad agreement on Monday to hold off the release of oil from their respective strategic reserves, for now. The ministers held a teleconference on Monday after oil prices spiked to levels last seen during the global energy crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.  The G7 is an informal, intergovernmental economic and political forum comprising seven of the world's most advanced industrialized economies including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United…