The head of Rossotrudnichestvo, Russia’s international assistance agency, has an ambitious plan for the Kremlin soft-power entity to fill development gaps created by the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development. For that to happen, however, Rossotrudnichestvo will have to surmount major financing and image-related hurdles. In a wide-ranging interview published by the Russian outlet RBC, the agency’s chief, Yevgeny Primakov, revealed that he is seeking to revamp and expand activities, taking advantage of USAID’s…

Via Metal Miner German flats producer ThyssenKrupp Steel recently commissioned a modernized strip mill at its main site in Duisburg as well as new upstream equipment. On July 4, the steel industry titan released a statement detailing that the modernized hot rolled strip mill will be able to roll 3.1 million metric tons of hot rolled coil in widths of 900-1,600mm and in 1.2-9mm gauges. “The new units are located at the interface between upstream operations and hot strip production, making them a core feature of the integrated production network…

India has sharply increased its crude oil imports from the United States and Brazil in the first half of 2025, marking a strategic deepening of ties with non-OPEC suppliers amid heightened global volatility and supply risk recalibrations. According to new data from S&P Global Commodity Insights cited by Indian media outlets, US crude shipments to India rose 51% year-on-year to 271,000 barrels per day between January and June, up from 180,000 bpd a year earlier. Imports from Brazil surged 80% to 73,000 bpd, compared to 41,000 bpd during the…

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States slipped again this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, following a 8-rig decrease in the week prior. The total rig count in the US fell by 2 to 537 rigs, according to Baker Hughes, down 47 from this same time last year. The number of oil rigs fell by 1 to 424 after falling by 7 during the previous week—and down by 54 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs stayed the same this week, to 108 for a gain of 8 active gas…

After two years of playing the role of OPEC+ model citizen, Saudi Arabia has decided it’s time to loosen the tie—at least according to the IEA. According to the International Energy Agency, the Kingdom overshot its June production quota by a whopping 700,000 barrels per day, pumping 9.8 million bpd—the highest in two years.  OPEC's official production figures are due Tuesday, and some analysts have already suggested they’ll show near-perfect compliance. But speculating about manipulated data before it’s released…

The high dependence on oil for state revenues is squeezing Alaska’s budget when oil prices decline and making its economy grow below the national average. The struggling economy amid volatile oil prices is the key reason why Alaska has been rated as the worst state for doing business in America in 2025 by CNBC. Alaska ranks 50th in CNBC America’s Top States for Business rankings in 2025. The state of the economy has the biggest weight in compiling the rankings, but workforce, infrastructure, the cost of doing business, and technology…

Russia’s export revenue from crude oil and petroleum products slumped by 14% in June compared to the same month last year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly report published on Friday. The Kremlin received $13.57 billion from sales of crude and refined oil products last month, down by nearly 14% from a year earlier, according to the IEA’s estimates. The report also showed that Russian crude oil production remained broadly flat at almost 9.2 million barrels per day (bpd) for each of June and May. Russia’s…

Oil prices are set to end the week higher after geopolitical risk climbed and Trump delayed tariff announcements. Friday, July 11th, 2025 Oil prices are set for a marginal weekly gain after the commodity markets’ worst-case scenario – US President Trump announcing tariffs on most of the world – was temporarily averted, with the White House postponing the decision-making deadline to August. Meanwhile, the return of the ‘Houthi missile factor’ adds to oil’s geopolitical risk premium and helped to keep…

1. OPEC Turbocharges Long-Term Demand Outlook Meeting in Vienna this week for its biennial seminar, OPEC has projected an even more bullish outlook for crude oil consumption than its previous forecasts, expecting global demand to hit 122.9 million b/d by 2050. Discarding environmentalist agendas promoted by Western governments as ‘unworkable’, the oil group is seeing India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa as the four main pillars of demand growth in the next 25 years.  Simultaneously, OPEC has also cut its 2026-2029…

India should boost its petrochemicals production to meet local demand and counter China’s growing global lead in the sector, a senior executive at India’s top private refiner, Reliance Industries, said on Friday. India needs to bolster its petrochemicals presence as China is taking over “the entire petrochemical industry”, Vikram Sampat, senior vice-president, strategy and business development, for the polyester chain at Reliance Industries, said at an industry conference, as carried by Reuters. China’s petrochemicals…

India should boost its petrochemicals production to meet local demand and counter China’s growing global lead in the sector, a senior executive at India’s top private refiner, Reliance Industries, said on Friday. India needs to bolster its petrochemicals presence as China is taking over “the entire petrochemical industry”, Vikram Sampat, senior vice-president, strategy and business development, for the polyester chain at Reliance Industries, said at an industry conference, as carried by Reuters. China’s petrochemicals…

India should boost its petrochemicals production to meet local demand and counter China’s growing global lead in the sector, a senior executive at India’s top private refiner, Reliance Industries, said on Friday. India needs to bolster its petrochemicals presence as China is taking over “the entire petrochemical industry”, Vikram Sampat, senior vice-president, strategy and business development, for the polyester chain at Reliance Industries, said at an industry conference, as carried by Reuters. China’s petrochemicals…

The United States is sending weapons to Ukraine through NATO, US President Donald Trump said on July 10, a week after the Pentagon said some weapons deliveries to the war-torn country were being paused. Trump also said he would make a "major statement" on Russia on July 14. He did not elaborate on what the statement would be but provided an explanation about the supply of US weapons. "We're sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons, 100%. So what we’re doing is the weapons that are going out are going to NATO, and then…

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict Russia has escalated aerial attacks on Kyiv, launching over 400 drones and 18 missiles against military-industrial targets, as Ukraine's Western allies recalibrate support amid growing fatigue and fragmentation. The U.S. has resumed weapons shipments under the Trump administration, while the EU is doubling down on economic pressure, proposing a floating oil price cap that would replace the static $60/barrel ceiling with a benchmark-linked mechanism starting just above $45. This would adjust to global market…

We continue to watch Libya unravel as rival power centers attempt to reassert territorial and institutional control, but international oil majors are re-engaging nonetheless, and analysts like to opine that their big oil money could help stabilize the country. That is a possibility; however, the reverse is currently more likely unless Benghazi and Tripoli find a way to split the spoils (as the only thing that would prevent another civil war).  The Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU), led by interim Libyan PM Dbeibah, is now in…

The crude oil market traded with sharp volatility this week as traders balanced OPEC+ production increases, renewed geopolitical risks, and the threat of U.S. tariffs against evidence of strong underlying demand. This interplay shaped price action, with the market testing downside levels but finding bids on signs that supply additions may be absorbed more easily than feared. OPEC+ Supply Increases Pressure Oil Prices Forecast OPEC+ made headlines by announcing a 548,000 bpd production increase for August, a sharp acceleration from the previous…

I have said it before a few times, but, in general, if a market move doesn’t make sense to me, the first thing I do is check my own assumptions. It is, after all, much more likely that I have made a mistake in my analysis than it is that the collective wisdom of thousands of highly paid experts has missed something important. Every now and again, though, try as I might, I cannot see why a particular stock is being bought or sold, or why there is a disparity in performance within a sector or industry. Lithium stocks are right now a puzzle…

Shell has received environmental authorization to drill up to five deepwater wells to explore for oil and gas off the west coast of South Africa. “Should viable resources ?be found offshore, this could significantly contribute to? South Africa’s energy security and the government’s economic development programmes,” the supermajor said in a statement carried by Reuters. The company did not provide details of the drilling plans. Shell applied last year for environmental authorizations to drill ultra-deepwater wells offshore…

Global oil supply growth is expected to materially exceed demand growth this year despite the tight market balance in the peak summer consumption season, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly report on Friday. Following OPEC+’s supersized production hike for August, the IEA revised up its estimate of global oil supply growth to 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd) for 2025 in its Oil Market Report for July, up by 300,000 bpd from last month’s projection of 1.8 million bpd growth. At the same time, global oil demand…

Lower oil and gas prices are expected to dent the second-quarter earnings at BP, despite higher output and stronger refining margins. BP’s realizations in the oil production and operations segment are expected to be $600 million-$800 million lower in the second quarter compared to the first quarter, the supermajor said in a trading statement on Friday ahead of publishing full Q2 results on August 5. Brent oil prices averaged $67.88 per barrel in the second quarter compared to $75.73 a barrel in the first quarter 2025, the company said. BP’s…