Lithium-ion batteries power the world. You probably have at least one – but probably two or three – within reach right this very moment. Lithium-ion batteries power a whopping 70 percent of all rechargeable devices, ranging in size and scope from electric vehicles to smartphones to utility-scale energy storage. But while the technology has become nearly ubiquitous in our daily lives, there is still a lot that we still don’t understand about the physical and chemical processes that power lithium-ion batteries. Until now, many aspects…

JPMorgan Chase will invest up to $10 billion in U.S. companies tied to national security, including energy, nuclear power, grid infrastructure, and critical minerals, as part of a wider $1.5-trillion capital pledge aimed at strengthening the country’s industrial base, Reuters reported on Monday. The program, branded as the bank’s “Security and Resiliency Initiative”, identifies four strategic domains: energy independence and resilience, defense manufacturing, critical minerals, and advanced technologies. Within energy, JPMorgan…

India’s latest gas discovery in the under-explored Andaman-Nicobar Basin could prove to be a valuable stepping stone towards increased domestic upstream production and greater energy security for the country – but whether the basin can become a significant contributor to India’s domestic gas supply and pull in more long-term national and international oil company interest will hinge on several factors, not least the size of the reserves. The presence of hydrocarbons within the Oil India-led Sri Vijayapuram-2 well in the Andaman…

One of the biggest mistakes we made about electrification is that we assumed that the new technologies embracing electricity, like electric vehicles for example, would embrace decarbonization at the same time. We were wrong. In fact, in the US today, exactly the opposite has occurred. The paradox of electrification without decarbonization is simple. Take, for example, two convenient symbols of electrification, an electric car and a heat pump. Both displace fossil fuel usage, but both technologies also rely on electricity. We, and others, assumed…

The signing of heads of agreement last week between U.S. energy supermajor ExxonMobil and Iraq’s Oil Ministry is perhaps the most significant of the recent deals between firms from the West and Baghdad. It is true that several others have been with similarly-high-powered global energy giants – including Chevron, BP, and TotalEnergies – and have involved multi-billion-dollar deals. But it is also the case that ExxonMobil’s exit from Iraq a few years ago was the most high-profile exit of any Western firm during that era for…

Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) on Monday announced a major offshore gas discovery at the Jaza field, reporting initial well output above 29 million standard cubic feet per day of gas and more than 5,000 barrels per day of condensate.  The company said the reservoir has low CO?, no hydrogen sulfide and no associated water, which are attributes that lower processing costs and speed tie-in options to Kuwait’s domestic network, according to Qatar News Agency, described the discovery as setting a new benchmark for vertical-well output from the…

Green hydrogen could one day provide a clean energy solution to some of the trickiest sectors to decarbonize. Hydrogen can be combusted at high heat levels, much like thermal coal or engine fuel, but instead of emitting greenhouse gases when burned, it leaves behind nothing but water vapor. This could make it indispensable for cleaning up hard-to-abate industries like steelmaking and transportation. But green hydrogen is prohibitively expensive, and may never be a commercially viable option without considerable technological advances in its production…

The Aluminum Monthly Metals Index (MMI) remained sideways, rising by a modest 0.5% from September to October. Meanwhile, the price of aluminum remains in an uptrend, supported by a growing number of factors. Novelis Oswego Fire Challenges U.S. Supply A massive fire at Novelis’ Oswego facility took a significant cut out of U.S. aluminum capacity. The September 16 event caused extensive damage throughout the facility, rendering its hot mill unusable until early 2026. The company also declared a force majeure on automotive, beverage and container…

The members of the OPEC+ group boosted their production in September by 630,000 barrels per day (bpd) from August as the alliance last month completed the unwinding of 2.2 million bpd cuts that began in April this year. Total OPEC+ crude oil production averaged 43.05 million barrels per day (bpd) in September 2025, up by 630,000 bpd from August, estimates from OPEC’s secondary sources showed in the cartel’s Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) out on Monday. OPEC-only production grew by 524,000 bpd to 28.44 million bpd, driven by a jump…

OPEC remains bullish on global oil demand growth for this year and next as it continues to unwind its crude production cuts.  The cartel kept unchanged its 2025 and 2026 oil demand growth forecasts in its closely-watched Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) for October published on Monday.   In the report, OPEC expects global oil demand to grow by about 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) this year from 2024, and reach on average 105.1 million bpd, reflecting continued robust economic growth. The view, unchanged from last month’s…

Saudi Aramco can sustain its oil production at its maximum capacity of 12 million barrels per day (bpd) for a year without additional investments, Amin Nasser, the chief executive of the Saudi state oil giant said at the Energy Intelligence Forum in London on Monday.  Concerns have emerged among analysts in recent weeks that the reversal of the OPEC+ cuts leaves the declining spare capacity vulnerable to supply shocks. Saudi Arabia holds the world’s biggest spare capacity. It is estimated at more than 2 million bpd, but it may actually…

Saudi Aramco can sustain its oil production at its maximum capacity of 12 million barrels per day (bpd) for a year without additional investments, Amin Nasser, the chief executive of the Saudi state oil giant said at the Energy Intelligence Forum in London on Monday.  Concerns have emerged among analysts in recent weeks that the reversal of the OPEC+ cuts leaves the declining spare capacity vulnerable to supply shocks. Saudi Arabia holds the world’s biggest spare capacity. It is estimated at more than 2 million bpd, but it may actually…

Saudi Aramco can sustain its oil production at its maximum capacity of 12 million barrels per day (bpd) for a year without additional investments, Amin Nasser, the chief executive of the Saudi state oil giant said at the Energy Intelligence Forum in London on Monday.  Concerns have emerged among analysts in recent weeks that the reversal of the OPEC+ cuts leaves the declining spare capacity vulnerable to supply shocks. Saudi Arabia holds the world’s biggest spare capacity. It is estimated at more than 2 million bpd, but it may actually…

US President Donald Trump’s arrival in the Middle East marks what could be a turning point in diplomacy in the region. But will that success renew a push to end Russia's war against Ukraine? Trump is expected to be greeted with emotional scenes in Jerusalem as he meets the families of hostages released by Hamas, listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, under a deal that he has championed. The US leader will have a chance to lay out his vision of Middle East peace at a speech in Israel's Knesset and then co-chair a summit in…

Algerian state oil and gas firm Sonatrach has signed a $5.4-billion exploration and production agreement with Saudi Arabian firm Midad Energy, Algerian news outlet Ennahar TV reported on Monday, citing a statement from Sonatrach.  The 30-year contract in the form of a production sharing agreement is for exploration and production in the Illizi Basin in eastern Algeria. The contract can be extended by another 10 years.  The deal between Sonatrach and the Saudi firm includes an exploration period of up to seven years and total investments…

Algerian state oil and gas firm Sonatrach has signed a $5.4-billion exploration and production agreement with Saudi Arabian firm Midad Energy, Algerian news outlet Ennahar TV reported on Monday, citing a statement from Sonatrach.  The 30-year contract in the form of a production sharing agreement is for exploration and production in the Illizi Basin in eastern Algeria. The contract can be extended by another 10 years.  The deal between Sonatrach and the Saudi firm includes an exploration period of up to seven years and total investments…

Once overwhelmingly dependent on natural gas from Russia and Iran, Turkey is undertaking a strategic overhaul of its natural gas sector that could dramatically lower its reliance on the two nations, widely considered pariahs by the West. Turkey is not only signing a flurry of multi-year LNG deals with multiple suppliers but is also looking to boost domestic production in a move that could see Russia and Iran lose one of their biggest natural gas and crude customers in a few short years. Turkey is Russia's last big market in Europe after the rest…

Earlier this month, a top Shell executive warned that the Trump administration’s animosity towards offshore wind risks complicating investment decisions for oil and gas as well. Uncertainty was the word Collette Hirstius used. Uncertainty has become the dominant sentiment in energy circles—and it’s not just because of Trump. Speaking to the Financial Times, Shell’s Hirstius said that “I think uncertainty in the regulatory environment is very damaging. However far the pendulum swings one way, it’s likely that…

There have been discussions around fracking in the U.K. for years, with the government going back and forth on whether to support new operations. Politicians have explored the potential for fracking, which has been successful for fossil fuel recovery in the United States, while environmentalists have fought against it. While many may have thought that fracking had been banned long ago in the U.K., a decisive ban on the practice had not actually taken place… until now. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a technique for recovering gas and…

One of the few renewable energy sources that the Trump administration has not yet criticised is geothermal power, as companies across the United States continue to develop innovative geothermal projects with financial support from Biden-era policies. The sweeping budget legislation that President Trump signed in July preserved most key tax credits for geothermal power. Bipartisan support has encouraged several energy companies and startups to invest heavily in research and development into advanced geothermal operations in recent years, with promising…