Last year, upstream oil investment was projected to have declined 2.5% Y/Y to $420 billion after low oil prices put pressure on producers and slowed expansion plans. Companies across the industry continued to prioritize profitability, free cash flow, and debt reduction over aggressive production growth, a trend reinforced by macro uncertainty. The decline was also driven by reduced spending by U.S. independent light tight oil and shale producers, even as national oil companies (NOCs) in the Middle East increased their investment, and spending on…

Traders are betting record amounts of money on China’s metals markets, expecting a continued rally in the prices of base metals and lithium. At the end of 2025 and the start of 2026, speculators held record-high open interest in the base metals copper, zinc, nickel, tin, lead, and aluminum traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, and near-record open interest in battery metal lithium on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange. Concerns about tightening global metal supply, lower interest rates driving investment in metal commodities, and expectations…

In recent months, Iran has produced record levels of oil, even in the face of United States sanctions on its energy exports and the bombings conducted by Israel on Tehran. Iran has forged strong partnerships with China and other world powers to circumvent sanctions and continue exporting its crude, a trend that is expected to continue into 2026. However, the recent military intervention that the U.S. carried out in Venezuela could undermine this growth by making trade partners more wary of purchasing U.S.-sanctioned crude. Iran continues to be…

The numbers are not adding up at Tajikistan’s signature infrastructure project, the Rogun Dam. An independent audit of the project’s financial statements has found a $540 million accounting gap and has determined that electricity-production operations at the work-in-progress facility are losing money. Controversy is nothing new for the Rogun project, which if completed to its maximum specifications would become the world’s tallest dam. Critics argue the dam is a white elephant in the making that threatens to upend a delicate regional…

Somalia has lagged many other African countries when it comes to energy output, despite its strong potential for renewable energy production. Much of Somalia’s population still does not have access to electricity or clean cooking fuels. However, greater investment in the expansion of Somalia’s wind and solar power sectors, with support from strong regulatory frameworks, could help rapidly transform the country into a regional clean energy power.  Somalia has an installed capacity of approximately 400 MW, with roughly 300 MW coming…

China is boosting domestic natural gas production, and it is doing it fast. A major LNG consumer—and importer—the country has been key in LNG demand forecasts. Now, these forecasts will need to be revised. Less than ten years ago, China was struggling to get its domestic gas production off the ground, especially in shale formations. China’s shale geology is different from the U.S. basins, and energy companies were finding it difficult to get commercial production going. Now, China’s state oil and gas majors are pumping more…

Global economies are increasingly splitting into two opposing camps when it comes to energy policy. While many nations are moving toward electrification and installing record-breaking amounts of clean energy capacity, other nations – most notably the United States, the world’s biggest economy – are installing more fossil fuels than ever before. Put simply, the future of the global energy balance now depends on the results of a high-stakes battle between petro-states and electro-states.  The emergence of artificial intelligence…

For months, anger has been building in the communities that are involuntarily footing the bill for the AI boom. As data center clusters pop up around the globe to feed AI’s massive and growing computational needs, nearby communities are seeing their utility bills skyrocket, even if they themselves don’t benefit from the sector at all. And now, in the United States, the backlash against data centers’ resource consumption – and its impact on consumers’ bottom line – has spilled out of the bounds of local politics…

Tidal energy is gradually growing in popularity as companies worldwide invest in innovative clean energy solutions in the pursuit of a green transition. Unlike solar and wind energy, tidal power is highly reliable. In the past, the slow uptake of tidal power technology has made some companies wary of investing in new projects, meaning we are still in the early days of commercial tidal turbine development. However, several success stories in recent years have encouraged greater investment in the sector, with several projects planned for 2026. Tidal…

US power markets are still underestimating the economically disruptive role of renewables in power generation. According to a German study released last week (Weidlich, et al, 2025 “Base load power plants are not essential for future power systems”, Cell Reports Physical Sciences), their next target or victim could be base load power generation itself. This multi-authored study by German academics was tasked with answering a big question: could the German economy decarbonize in twenty years relying solely on incremental investment in…

As the world races to mine and refine more lithium, the United States has big production plans to boost self-sufficiency and reduce its reliance on China. President Trump aims to rapidly expand the United States’ mining sector during his second term in office, to begin developing a wide array of new metals and minerals projects, aimed at enhancing both energy and national security over the coming decades. Since President Trump came into office in January 2025, he has raced ahead with plans to expand the United States minerals and metals industry…

After the latest political shock in Venezuela, speculation has surged over the prospects of a recovery for the country’s oil industry. On paper, Venezuela still holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves. In reality, production remains a fraction of what it once was. How quickly Venezuela’s oil production ramps up will depend in part on what happens with sanctions. But Venezuela’s collapse did not begin with sanctions, nor can sanctions relief alone undo the damage. However, that could have a significant short-term effect.…

The current US administration has made the expansion of nuclear power a key priority, and through the Janus Program, the United States Army is placed to implement new, portable nuclear technology.The program unveiled last year aims to supply “microreactors” — which are 100 to 1,000 times smaller than conventional nuclear reactors — to military bases by 2028.  The units can produce up to 20 megawatts of electricity and could provide dependable power for remote communities, military bases, data centers, and college campuses,…

China’s meteoric rise to become the world’s first ‘electrostate’ is poised to shake up the entire global economy and the future of energy markets. The country is breaking away from the rest of the world both in terms of what it's investing in and how much it’s investing. China, the world’s second-largest economy after the United States, spent more than USD 625 billion on renewable energy in 2024, a national and global record, while spending plateaued in the United States and declined in the European Union and…

Even as geopolitical developments, such as Venezuela and Iran, are making headlines, another major energy-related issue is currently being unwound. At present, the fire sale of Russian oil and gas giant Lukoil’s empire is ongoing, in the only way this can be done for a sanctioned Russian major. The whole deal or process is clearly under a clock set by Washington, based, and inside a legal maze designed by OFAC. The most critical part of it all is that potential buyers are forced to demonstrate that they are not merely acquiring assets but…

President Trump on Friday framed a sweeping new Venezuela oil deal as a once-in-a-generation opportunity for U.S. energy companies and the American economy, telling executives that the agreement would generate “tremendous wealth” for industry and “great wealth” for the American people. Speaking to a group of oil majors and traders, Trump called the companies “treasured partners in bringing the nation of Venezuela back to life,” while making clear that participation was optional, but competitive. If companies…

The global mining landscape is bracing for a seismic shift after Rio Tinto and Glencore confirmed they are in talks regarding a potential merger. A tie-up between the two FTSE 100 titans would create the world’s largest mining entity, boasting a combined enterprise value of approximately £190bn. Glencore shares rallied nine per cent in early trading to 449.20 but Rio Tinto took a six per cent tumble to 143.06p. The move comes amid a race to beef up critical metals, particularly copper, as the industry’s pivot toward an energy…

A week after President Donald Trump’s bold talk about U.S. oil majors “going in and spending billions” to revive Venezuela’s wrecked crude industry, the administration is now walking back the idea of direct U.S. cash backing for that effort, even as it convenes a who’s-who of energy executives at the White House. Earlier in the week, Trump publicly portrayed Venezuela’s reopening to Western oil investment as a near-done deal, framing multi-billion-dollar capital commitments by firms like Chevron, ExxonMobil and…

A week after President Donald Trump’s bold talk about U.S. oil majors “going in and spending billions” to revive Venezuela’s wrecked crude industry, the administration is now walking back the idea of direct U.S. cash backing for that effort, even as it convenes a who’s-who of energy executives at the White House. Earlier in the week, Trump publicly portrayed Venezuela’s reopening to Western oil investment as a near-done deal, framing multi-billion-dollar capital commitments by firms like Chevron, ExxonMobil and…

A week after President Donald Trump’s bold talk about U.S. oil majors “going in and spending billions” to revive Venezuela’s wrecked crude industry, the administration is now walking back the idea of direct U.S. cash backing for that effort, even as it convenes a who’s-who of energy executives at the White House. Earlier in the week, Trump publicly portrayed Venezuela’s reopening to Western oil investment as a near-done deal, framing multi-billion-dollar capital commitments by firms like Chevron, ExxonMobil and…