No commodity likes a hot summer like natural gas, when used to air-condition homes and businesses. Unfortunately for natural gas bulls, despite a hot next few days, milder weather forecasts for the second half of August, combined with robust storage levels and output, pushed US natural gas futures below $2.90 per MMBtu, Tuesday, their lowest level since November 2024. US natural gas futures. Source: Trading Economics According to Trading Economics, output in the Lower 48 states averaged 108.3 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in August,…

Erbil and Baghdad say they’ve once again cracked the code on resuming Kurdistan’s long-stalled oil exports — at least on paper. The Kurdistan Region’s natural resources ministry announced Wednesday that 23 delegates, including 17 from Iraq’s oil ministry, have signed off on a new export protocol. Under the deal, KRG will keep 50,000 barrels per day for domestic use, hand the rest to SOMO, and everyone will smile politely while pretending this time will be different. The hitch? Baghdad still needs to convince Turkey…

Erbil and Baghdad say they’ve once again cracked the code on resuming Kurdistan’s long-stalled oil exports — at least on paper. The Kurdistan Region’s natural resources ministry announced Wednesday that 23 delegates, including 17 from Iraq’s oil ministry, have signed off on a new export protocol. Under the deal, KRG will keep 50,000 barrels per day for domestic use, hand the rest to SOMO, and everyone will smile politely while pretending this time will be different. The hitch? Baghdad still needs to convince Turkey…

Countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia are among the most digitally connected in the world, a recent survey by the International Telecommunications Union. The organization’s 2025 Information and Communication Technologies Development Index shows that the Commonwealth of Independent States as a region lags only slightly behind Europe in terms of “universal and meaningful connectivity.” Broadly speaking, the report shows a steady advance in digital connectivity around the world. “The 2025 results show continued global…

The Rare Earths MMI (Monthly Metals Index) moved sideways, rising a modest 0.37%. Overall, the global rare earth metals market has seen a whirlwind of developments in the past few weeks, sending ripples through both supply chains and pricing. A series of U.S. and Chinese policy moves, from Washington’s unprecedented price support for rare earth magnets to Beijing’s export curbs, continue to reshape this critical sector. U.S. Sets New Rare Earth Price Floor to Challenge China’s Dominance The United States recently escalated…

Ukraine says it has struck a critical oil-pumping station in Russia’s Bryansk region, igniting a large fire at a hub feeding the Druzhba pipeline to Europe. The Unecha facility also links to the Baltic Pipeline System-2, which carries Russian crude to Ust-Luga, the country’s second-largest Baltic oil port. Kyiv’s General Staff reported explosions in both storage and pump areas. Bryansk governor Alexander Bogomaz blamed Ukrainian rockets and drones, calling the strike a “terrorist act,” but said the fire was contained.…

Ukraine says it has struck a critical oil-pumping station in Russia’s Bryansk region, igniting a large fire at a hub feeding the Druzhba pipeline to Europe. The Unecha facility also links to the Baltic Pipeline System-2, which carries Russian crude to Ust-Luga, the country’s second-largest Baltic oil port. Kyiv’s General Staff reported explosions in both storage and pump areas. Bryansk governor Alexander Bogomaz blamed Ukrainian rockets and drones, calling the strike a “terrorist act,” but said the fire was contained.…

Shipments of refined petroleum products out of Russia declined by 6.6% in July from the previous month, Reuters estimates showed on Wednesday, as domestic demand rose and capacity under planned maintenance increased.   Russian seaborne fuel exports fell to 8.67 million metric tons last month, with shipments from the Baltic ports, the Black Sea and Sea of Azov ports, and the Arctic Murmansk and Arkhangelsk ports all down in July compared to June.    Only the fuel shipments from the Far Eastern ports rose in July from a month…

As part of a major push toward nuclear power generation, India is considering ending the state monopoly in uranium fuel procurement for nuclear power plants by allowing private companies to mine, process, and import uranium, government sources told Reuters on Wednesday.  Even if the government moves to allow private companies to mine and process uranium, the state will maintain its control over the reprocessing of spent uranium fuel and managing of plutonium waste, as is the global practice in these cases, according to Reuters’ sources.  …

As part of a major push toward nuclear power generation, India is considering ending the state monopoly in uranium fuel procurement for nuclear power plants by allowing private companies to mine, process, and import uranium, government sources told Reuters on Wednesday.  Even if the government moves to allow private companies to mine and process uranium, the state will maintain its control over the reprocessing of spent uranium fuel and managing of plutonium waste, as is the global practice in these cases, according to Reuters’ sources.  …

Crude oil inventories in the United States increased by 3.0 million barrels during the week ending August 8, after dropping by 3 million barrels in the week prior, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday. The build brings commercial stockpiles to 426.7 million barrels according to government data, which is 6% below the five-year average for this time of year. The EIA’s data release follows API’s figures that were released a day earlier, which suggested that crude oil inventories…

Indian state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), the biggest oil and gas explorer and producer in the country, booked a lower net profit for the April-June quarter from a year earlier on the back of falling oil prices and basically flat production.  ONGC reported a net profit of $917 million (80.24 billion Indian rupees) for the first quarter of its 2025/2026 fiscal year, down by 10% compared to the same period of the previous financial year.  Oil prices slumped in April to June by about 10% amid high volatility due…

Indian state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), the biggest oil and gas explorer and producer in the country, booked a lower net profit for the April-June quarter from a year earlier on the back of falling oil prices and basically flat production.  ONGC reported a net profit of $917 million (80.24 billion Indian rupees) for the first quarter of its 2025/2026 fiscal year, down by 10% compared to the same period of the previous financial year.  Oil prices slumped in April to June by about 10% amid high volatility due…

The planned meeting in Alaska between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, has left Europe scrambling. The European Union, and most other European nations, are seeking to prevent the United States from "falling into a trap" while backing Ukraine diplomatically in every possible way and preparing more sanctions on Russia. But with no new diplomatic initiatives, they are struggling to secure a seat at the table as the continent’s fate appears to be in other capitals' hands. It's fair to say Brussels woke up…

Brazil’s state-controlled energy giant Petrobras is getting closer to obtaining an exploration permit to drill in an environmentally sensitive offshore region in the Amazon basin.     Petrobras, which has been seeking for years to obtain a license to drill in Foz do Amazonas and the wider region known as the Equatorial Margin, has received authorization for a so-called pre-operational assessment in the area, Senator Randolfe Rodrigues said in a video posted on Instagram. The pre-operational assessment is typically the…

The oil market could be even more oversupplied at the end of this year than previously expected amid tepid demand growth and surging supply from both OPEC+ and non-OPEC+ producers, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.  Global oil demand is now expected to rise by just 680,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year, and by 700,000 bpd in 2026, to reach 104.4 million bpd next year, the IEA said in its monthly Oil Market Report out today.  The latest forecasts are a downward revision of 20,000 bpd in demand growth estimates…

The Lindsey Oil Refinery in the UK could be saved from closing as a potential buyer has emerged with interest to take over the site in Lincolnshire and continue run it as a crude processing facility, local politicians have told the BBC.  The refinery, built in 1968 with the capacity to process up to 113,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), was set to close after its owner, Prax Group, filed for insolvency in late June.   A UK court appointed a liquidator for Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery, as well as the storage and terminal units, Prax…

The Lindsey Oil Refinery in the UK could be saved from closing as a potential buyer has emerged with interest to take over the site in Lincolnshire and continue run it as a crude processing facility, local politicians have told the BBC.  The refinery, built in 1968 with the capacity to process up to 113,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), was set to close after its owner, Prax Group, filed for insolvency in late June.   A UK court appointed a liquidator for Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery, as well as the storage and terminal units, Prax…

Nayara Energy, the Indian refiner in which Russia’s oil giant Rosneft holds 49%, is set to import in August the lowest volume of crude ever as the EU sanctions cripple procurement plans and sales of refined petroleum products. Nayara Energy is expected to import just 94,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude this month, Bloomberg reports, citing ship-tracking data and trade sources. The August import volumes are set to be the lowest in the history of the refinery, India’s second-largest, with a capacity to process 400,000 bpd, and would…

A tanker chartered by Chevron has docked at a Venezuelan port, set to be loaded with the first Venezuelan crude to be supplied to U.S. refiners after President Trump reinstated Chevron’s sanction exemption for operating in the country. The Bahamas-flagged Canopus Voyager reached Venezuelan waters last week, Reuters reported, citing LSEG data, and docked at the Jose port, which featured PDVSA’s oil export terminal. As of Tuesday, Reuters noted, at least five other tankers that Chevron had previously used to ship Venezuelan crude were…