Oil prices surged to their highest level in months in Wednesday's session after reports emerged that U.S. President Donald Trump is weighing targeted strikes on Iranian military positions as he pursues regime change. Brent crude for March delivery was up 3.63% to trade at $70.92 per barrel at 12.40 pm ET, marking the first time Brent has crossed the pivotal $70 per barrel mark since July 2025, while the corresponding WTI contract gained 3.72% to $65.49. Unrest in the OPEC-producing country has left thousands dead, with a U.S.-based rights group…

Colombia’s natural gas market is entering a period of sustained pressure as domestic production declines, new supply remains years away, and dependence on imported LNG deepens. The depletion of mature onshore fields, the freeze on new exploration licences, and delays in expanding import and transport infrastructure are converging at a time of rising demand, leaving regasification capacity as the main short-term buffer against widening supply deficits. The decline in domestic output began in 2023 and has continued as legacy fields –…

China played a big role in supporting oil prices in 2025 as it accelerated crude stockpiling and absorbed part of the additional supply that producers put on the market. Despite the easing of the OPEC+ cuts, the large supply growth from the Americas, and the continued flow of sanctioned Iranian, Russian, and Venezuelan barrels for most of 2025, oil prices did not collapse. International crude benchmarks held steady at about $60 per barrel, which China apparently considers cheap enough to buy more crude than it immediately needs and put it in commercial…

For years, Mexico has been a major fuel buyer from the United States. Then the government built a new refinery that cost $20 billion, which was planned to boost the country’s energy independence. It seems it has finally started to do just that—and fuel imports are on the decline. The Olmeca refinery, also called Dos Bocas, was the centerpiece of Mexico’s previous administration, with Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the helm and plans for an even greater role for state-owned Pemex in Mexico’s energy system. The project was…

Oil markets got a jolt this week after an explosion and fire tore through part of Türkiye’s largest refinery, the Tupras Izmit complex, forcing evacuations and an emergency response. The blast reportedly hit a gasoline storage tank and spread quickly, sending flames across part of the facility. Officials have not yet said what caused the incident or how much damage was done, though workers were evacuated and no immediate injuries were reported. The global oil market is already dealing with tighter trade routes, shifting product flows,…

Oil markets got a jolt this week after an explosion and fire tore through part of Türkiye’s largest refinery, the Tupras Izmit complex, forcing evacuations and an emergency response. The blast reportedly hit a gasoline storage tank and spread quickly, sending flames across part of the facility. Officials have not yet said what caused the incident or how much damage was done, though workers were evacuated and no immediate injuries were reported. The global oil market is already dealing with tighter trade routes, shifting product flows,…

Oil markets got a jolt this week after an explosion and fire tore through part of Türkiye’s largest refinery, the Tupras Izmit complex, forcing evacuations and an emergency response. The blast reportedly hit a gasoline storage tank and spread quickly, sending flames across part of the facility. Officials have not yet said what caused the incident or how much damage was done, though workers were evacuated and no immediate injuries were reported. The global oil market is already dealing with tighter trade routes, shifting product flows,…

As Americans brave a brutal cold snap, households are facing higher heating bills this summer.  According to a report released last week by the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA), heating prices are expected to rise by 9.2% in the 2025-2026 winter vs. one year ago. According to the NEADA analysis, electricity costs are expected to rise $12.2%, or $133 this winter, while gas prices are projected to rise 8.4% or $54. Heating oil costs are expected to remain flat, while propane should be down 1.4%,…

After the Henry Hub natural gas price for February doubled, oil-and-gas producers aggressively locked in hedges. Cold weather caused the largest one-week rally since at least 1990. Oil and gas producers leaned into the historic rally in Nymex Henry Hub prices driven by Winter Storm Fern. The storm brought sub-freezing temperatures across much of the Lower 48, tightening balances and sending natural gas prices sharply higher in a ten-day period from January 19 to January 28. AEGIS client hedging activity for natural gas reached the most active levels…

Washington is starting to ask the quiet part out loud: who, exactly, is making money off Venezuela’s oil? This week, U.S. Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on a House investigative committee, sent letters to Vitol and Trafigura demanding records of any communications they’ve had with the Trump administration since January of last year. The timing is not subtle. U.S. forces captured Venezuela’s longtime strongman Nicolás Maduro earlier this month, and Washington has since taken control of Venezuelan oil sales…

Washington is starting to ask the quiet part out loud: who, exactly, is making money off Venezuela’s oil? This week, U.S. Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on a House investigative committee, sent letters to Vitol and Trafigura demanding records of any communications they’ve had with the Trump administration since January of last year. The timing is not subtle. U.S. forces captured Venezuela’s longtime strongman Nicolás Maduro earlier this month, and Washington has since taken control of Venezuelan oil sales…

The upstream sector is set to carry strong momentum into 2026, with high-impact wildcat drilling activity expected to remain elevated following a solid 2025. Last year, the success rate for high-impact wildcat wells rose to 38% from 23% in 2024, while total discovered volumes increased by 53% year on year to around 2.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe), according to Rystad Energy’s research and analysis. Wells are designated as high-impact based on a variety of factors: the size of the potential resources, whether they could open new…

The finances of Latin America’s fourth-largest economy, Colombia, are in total disarray. Nearly four years of fiscal mismanagement by Colombia’s first elected leftist leader, President Gustavo Petro, sparked fears of a financial crisis engulfing the strife-torn Andean nation. A combination of dwindling tax revenue and excessive spending is rapidly depleting Bogota’s coffers. Even Petro’s tax hikes, which took on a worrying sense of regularity, did little to salvage government finances while sharply impacting economically…

Gold prices surged sharply on Thursday morning as energy markets jolted higher following fresh Iran-related rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump, briefly sending oil prices up by as much as 5% intraday and reigniting demand for hard-asset hedges. The move in gold came as Brent crude punched back above the $70 a barrel level earlier in the session, after Trump warned that military action against Iran remained on the table if tensions escalate further.  The remarks brought geopolitical risk back into oil markets that had recently been driven…

Gold prices surged sharply on Thursday morning as energy markets jolted higher following fresh Iran-related rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump, briefly sending oil prices up by as much as 5% intraday and reigniting demand for hard-asset hedges. The move in gold came as Brent crude punched back above the $70 a barrel level earlier in the session, after Trump warned that military action against Iran remained on the table if tensions escalate further.  The remarks brought geopolitical risk back into oil markets that had recently been driven…

China’s secret weapon in the global race to lead AI innovation is its enormous electricity resources. While China quietly plugs away at ramping up its development and integration of large language models, Western countries are facing increasing energy security tradeoffs to keep data centers running. The increased energy demand and grid capacity required to run AI’s ever-expanding computational load are putting enormous strain on power grids in Western countries. Power grids were already in a precarious position in the United States…

Stronger refining margins and higher throughput volumes helped U.S. refining giant Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) beat analyst estimates of fourth-quarter earnings. Valero on Thursday kicked off the earnings season for the U.S. refiners by reporting an adjusted net income attributable to Valero stockholders of $1.2 billion, or $3.82 per share, for the fourth quarter. This easily beat the analyst consensus estimate of $3.27 earnings per share in The Wall Street Journal. Strong refining margins boosted the net income, as the refining margin…

India’s largest private refiner, Reliance Industries, will import about 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) of non-sanctioned Russian crude from February, as it limits intake from Russia and complies with the U.S. sanctions, a source with knowledge of the procurement plans told Bloomberg on Thursday.   Before the U.S. sanctions on Russia’s top producers Rosneft and Lukoil, Reliance Industries of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani was the biggest buyer of Russian crude oil, importing more than 500,000 bpd thanks to a long-term deal…

India’s largest private refiner, Reliance Industries, will import about 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) of non-sanctioned Russian crude from February, as it limits intake from Russia and complies with the U.S. sanctions, a source with knowledge of the procurement plans told Bloomberg on Thursday.   Before the U.S. sanctions on Russia’s top producers Rosneft and Lukoil, Reliance Industries of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani was the biggest buyer of Russian crude oil, importing more than 500,000 bpd thanks to a long-term deal…

Citgo Petroleum, the U.S.-based refiner formerly owned by Venezuela’s state oil firm PDVSA, has bought its first Venezuelan crude under U.S. control, anonymous sources with knowledge of the situation have told Reuters. Citgo, which is the seventh-largest refiner in the United States with a total capacity topping 800,000 barrels per day (bpd), is in the process of being acquired by an affiliate of Elliott Investment Management in a court-ordered auction to pay off PDVSA’s debt to creditors.   Citgo was one of Venezuela’s top…