Renewable energy sources not only disrupt business relationships due to their low prices and rapid deployment, but they might also disrupt political movements as well, specifically efforts on the part of local governments to take over investor-owned utilities (municipalization), most prominently, recently, in San Francisco, Tucson, and the lower Hudson Valley, NY. Proponents of municipalization hope to reduce electricity rates to local consumers. We believe that because of the advent of newer, cheaper renewable technologies, they are going about…

Japan’s petroleum refiner Idemitsu Kosan has committed $500 million to LNG investment company MidOcean Energy as part of MidOcean’s equity raise of $1.2 billion, as the Japanese refining giant is looking to enter the global LNG business on a full-scale basis. Through the deal, Idemitsu Kosan looks to invest globally in LNG projects and capture business opportunities in growth sectors through strategic partnerships, the Japanese company said on Tuesday. Idemitsu expects to finalize the contract for the investment in MidOcean by the end…

Last week, Iran’s new supreme leader vowed to continue the country’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as the United States and Israel continue to wage war in the Middle Eastern nation. The closure of the Strait, through which over one-third of the world’s crude oil trade passed in 2025, is causing oil prices to skyrocket at a global scale, surging over USD $100 per barrel. The economic fallout from this development will be enormous, throwing into sharp relief how petro-dependent global markets continue to be. At the same time,…

There's actually another hot war in the Middle East that has been raging, quite apart from the Iran-US-Israel war. Pakistan and Afghanistan have been engaged in a tense border conflict for weeks at this point. The Associated Press on Monday described the latest developments in the following: Afghanistan's Taliban government on Monday accused Pakistan's military of targeting a Kabul hospital that treats drug addicts in airstrikes that killed four people and wounded several others. The attack came hours after Afghan officials said the two sides exchanged…

The biggest airlines in Europe are seeking weaker EU rules on synthetic sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) amid very high costs and scarce supply of the fuel on the market, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.   Airlines for Europe (A4E), a trade group including IAG, the owner of British Airways, as well as Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, Ryanair, and EasyJet, is set to call for at least a delay to the planned EU rules on the share of eSAF, as the synthetic SAF is known.    Synthetic fuels (or e-fuels) will play a major role in the…

The biggest airlines in Europe are seeking weaker EU rules on synthetic sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) amid very high costs and scarce supply of the fuel on the market, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.   Airlines for Europe (A4E), a trade group including IAG, the owner of British Airways, as well as Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, Ryanair, and EasyJet, is set to call for at least a delay to the planned EU rules on the share of eSAF, as the synthetic SAF is known.    Synthetic fuels (or e-fuels) will play a major role in the…

Oil markets are increasingly pricing in a potential long-term disruption as the situation in the Strait of Hormuz chokes exports, overwhelms limited bypass capacity, and exposes Gulf supply routes to escalating attacks. Crude Awakening: When $200 Oil Starts to Sound Reasonable - Oil markets are warming up to the idea that crude could indeed reach $200 per barrel, a threat that Tehran’s military keeps on reiterating, after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz entered its third week.   - Most of crude tankers passing through the Hormuz…

Chinese state oil giants are back scouring the market for Russian crude, four months after halting purchases due to the U.S. sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, as China aims to offset losses of supply stuck in the Strait of Hormuz.  The U.S. last week issued a waiver allowing purchases by April 11 of Russian crude already loaded on tankers in a bid to calm the global oil market amid the biggest supply disruption in the history of oil markets.  Chinese state giants are taking advantage of this waiver and are now looking to buy Russian crude…

American innovator REalloys (NASDAQ: ALOY) is bringing rare earth metals, the backbone of the U.S. defense industry and the power behind a massive civilian economy at China’s mercy, back to North American soil at a critical time for the world.Electric vehicles, consumer electronics, industrial robotics, and artificial intelligence infrastructure all critically rely on permanent magnets manufactured from rare earth alloys that North America hasn’t been able to produce for decades.  What’s at stake are $500 billion in global…

Tesla and LG Energy will jointly build a battery plant in Michigan that will cost $4.3 billion. Production is slated to begin next year, the Department of the Interior said in a statement. The facility will have an annual capacity of 50 GWh. “American-made cells will power Tesla's Megapack 3 energy storage systems produced in Houston, creating a robust domestic battery supply chain,” the statement also said. Bloomberg last year reported the deal was in the making, citing sources as saying the batteries to be built at the facility will…

The shutdown of commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has suddenly handed Gulf oil producers enormous leverage over the escalating Middle East war. With roughly 15 million barrels per day of crude exports effectively stranded, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations could deploy what amounts to an energy “nuclear option”: declaring force majeure across their oil and gas exports and deliberately removing another 20% of global supply from the market.  Such a move, unpacked in an opinion piece in Middle East Eye, would instantly…

Shale-focused U.S. oil producers could generate $63.4 billion in extra cash flow if the U.S. benchmark crude price averages $100 per barrel this year, intelligence firm Rystad Energy says. Following the oil price spike to $100 per barrel last week amid the escalating war in the Middle East, U.S. President Donald Trump touted the benefits for the producers, now that his campaign pledge to slash energy costs for consumers by 50% is not mentioned in the White House’s PR campaign to contain the fallout from the war on the American consumer. U.S.…

For years, Iran -- together with its long-term sponsors China and Russia -- has been increasing pressure on neighbouring Iraq to remove the remaining powers from its semi-autonomous northern region and subsume it as a regular governorate into a single unified country, firmly rooted in Beijing and Moscow’s sphere of influence. The reason for this was underscored exclusively to OilPrice.com by a senior energy source who works closely with Iran’s Petroleum Ministry: “By keeping the West out of energy deals in Iraq, the end of Western…

In just over two weeks since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, more than 12 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) of Middle East oil and gas production has been taken offline, including 7 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude supply – equivalent to roughly 7 % of total global liquids demand. Iraq has been hit hardest, with over 60% of its pre-conflict volume curtailed. Still, the more alarming reality is that the worst is likely yet to come. Rystad Energy analysis shows that in a worst-case…

The energy transition was the first trend to put the electric grid in the spotlight. Built for baseload generation rather than a swarm of wind and solar installations scattered all over the country, the grid and its expansion to incorporate more wind and solar became the main topic of transition discussions. Then came AI, and the conversation suddenly became really urgent. There is one pressing question, however. Who will pay for that expansion? The U.S. electricity grid, like all national grids, was built out in the first half of the 20th century.…

Deep Fission has finally broken ground on its cutting-edge power project in the Great Plains Industrial Park in Parsons, Kansas. The innovative start-up seeks to turn traditional nuclear power production on its head by burying it deep, deep underground – and slashing nuclear energy operational costs by up to 80 percent in the process.  “Drilling our first borehole is a major step forward,” said Liz Muller, CEO and Co-Founder of Deep Fission. “It represents the shift from concept to construction and begins the process…

An important revenue stream in Central Asia for Russia appears in danger of slowing to a trickle. The international power sector has long been lucrative for Russia, via projects developed by Rosatom, the state-controlled atomic energy entity, and other Kremlin-connected companies. But the ability of Russia and its corporate proxies to finance deals appears to be encountering increasing difficulty. Accordingly, business is slipping. Evidence of financing difficulties for Russian companies is mounting across Central Asia. For example, Kazakhstan…

China has remained publicly silent after U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday urged Beijing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical oil chokepoint that has been largely shut down during the escalating war with Iran. The standoff around the narrow waterway, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply normally passes, has already sent crude and natural gas prices sharply higher, raising fears of a sustained disruption to global energy flows. According to reporting by the Associated Press, Chinese officials declined to directly…

China has remained publicly silent after U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday urged Beijing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical oil chokepoint that has been largely shut down during the escalating war with Iran. The standoff around the narrow waterway, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply normally passes, has already sent crude and natural gas prices sharply higher, raising fears of a sustained disruption to global energy flows. According to reporting by the Associated Press, Chinese officials declined to directly…

China has remained publicly silent after U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday urged Beijing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical oil chokepoint that has been largely shut down during the escalating war with Iran. The standoff around the narrow waterway, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply normally passes, has already sent crude and natural gas prices sharply higher, raising fears of a sustained disruption to global energy flows. According to reporting by the Associated Press, Chinese officials declined to directly…