Oil prices were trading relatively flat in early Asian trading on Wednesday, following losses in the previous session as traders weighed signs of slowing U.S. demand and awaited inventory data from the EIA. At the time of writing, WTI Crude was down 0.17% at $63.06 per barrel, while Brent Crude had slipped 0.09% to $66.06. The modest moves come after the American Petroleum Institute reported a 1.52 million barrel increase in U.S. crude stocks, suggesting that the peak summer driving season is winding down. Gasoline inventories fell, but distillates…

A week ago, U.S. President Donald Trump came down hard on India, doubling its tariff rate from 25% to 50% for fueling Putin’s war in Ukraine by continuing to buy massive quantities of Russian oil. We reported that India's imports of Russian commodities have skyrocketed since the war began, surging to $65.7 billion in 2024 from $8.25 billion in 2021, according to India’s The Business Standard. In sharp contrast, imports by the European Union and the U.S. have declined by more than 80% as they look to choke Russia’s war machine.…

The Trump-Putin meeting this Friday and the oil trade spat with India have been hogging the headlines these days, but meanwhile, the tariff war continues—and it may end with a complete rearrangement of global supply chains. The central target, of course, is China. Amid the latest negotiations between Beijing and Washington, China faces a 30% blanket tariff on goods sold to the United States. And in a positive turn of events, the deadline for the entry of these tariffs into effect has been pushed back by 90 days. This has provided space for…

The Common Seawater Supply Project (CSSP) is the key to unlock massive gains in oil output from Iraq. Consequently, control over the project is pivotal to gaining control over the country’s enormous oil and gas resources. It is little wonder, then, that the battle between firms from the West and the East for the principal development spot in the CSSP has been intense over the years. It began in earnest with the U.S.’s ExxonMobil taking the lead role, with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) in a secondary position. When the…

Nuclear fusion could be a “silver bullet” for near-infinite clean energy if scientists can figure out how to make it commercially viable. By copying the process that powers our sun here on Earth, we could unlock enormously powerful energy production without any of the radioactive waste hazards associated with nuclear fission. Due to its enormous potential, there is a high-stakes global race to unlock the science that will allow us to make the nascent and lab-bound technology a commercial reality. Currently, China and the United States…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose this week, growing by an additional 1.5 million barrels in the week ending August 8. Analysts had expected an 800,000 barrel draw. So far this year, crude oil inventories are up more than 10 million barrels, according to Oilprice calculations of API data. Earlier this week, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) held steady at 403 million barrels in the week ending August 8. At…

After a tumultuous few years with protests, tax hikes, soaring violence, and bans on exploration weighing on Colombia's economically vital oil industry, the inevitable has occurred: Big Oil is abandoning the strife-torn country. Colombia’s first-ever leftist President, Gustavo Petro, himself a former guerrilla, on taking office in August 2022, implemented policies that created considerable uncertainty and risk for the economically crucial hydrocarbon sector. This sparked fears that Colombia’s energy patch would be crippled, leading…

After years of public vows to wean themselves off fossil fuels, the world’s biggest oil companies are dusting off their drilling maps and doubling down on exploration. The promised pivot to renewables has sputtered, energy security fears have sharpened, and the payoff from oil and gas remains too rich to ignore. Now, from the Gulf of Mexico to Namibia, Big Oil is chasing new barrels in a world that, by its own admission, will still be burning them for decades. After spending the early 2020s promising a gradual reduction in fossil fuel production…

Cenovus Energy is in talks with a coalition of Canadian Indigenous groups to jointly acquire oil sands rival MEG Energy, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The arrangement would see First Nations and Métis communities—including Chipewyan Prairie First Nation and Heart Lake First Nation—take a C$2 billion ($1.45 billion) stake in MEG, backed by federal and provincial financing. Cenovus would acquire the remainder. Shares of MEG rose more than 2% on the news. The potential bid comes as MEG fends…

Cenovus Energy is in talks with a coalition of Canadian Indigenous groups to jointly acquire oil sands rival MEG Energy, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The arrangement would see First Nations and Métis communities—including Chipewyan Prairie First Nation and Heart Lake First Nation—take a C$2 billion ($1.45 billion) stake in MEG, backed by federal and provincial financing. Cenovus would acquire the remainder. Shares of MEG rose more than 2% on the news. The potential bid comes as MEG fends…

Buckle up. The geopolitical struggle among the United States, Russia and Iran is poised to intensify before any durable peace comes to the Caucasus.  The provisional peace deal signed August 8 at the White House by US President Donald Trump, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev is a potential diplomatic thunderbolt that transforms the Caucasus, giving the United States the upper hand in what traditionally has been Russia’s backyard and Iran’s playground. But it is important to understand that…

Via Metal Miner The Aluminum Monthly Metals Index (MMI) edged higher, but the pace slowed. Ultimately, the index saw just a 0.85% rise from July to August as the price of aluminum seemed to enter a period of flux. Track other MetalMiner monthly indexes here, and compare how the overall industrial metal market is performing. Midwest Premium Futures Stagger After ATH U.S. aluminum tariffs have proven to be a strong driver during the first seven months of the year, pushing the Midwest Premium to a new all-time high of $0.71/lb by early August. This…

The European Union is on the beach for most of August. No European Parliament plenary sessions, council meetings, or committee gatherings. In short, nothing much is discussed, let alone decided on, these weeks. But as soon as the diplomats and officials are back in their offices in September, there are potential tough decisions to be taken and dilemmas to face this autumn. RFE/RL looks at five things to watch for in the upcoming months. Unfreeze Russian Assets? There are over 200 billion euros ($233 billion) worth of Russian assets in the European…

The OPEC+ producers raised their combined crude oil production by 335,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July, below the 411,000 bpd output hike eight of the 22 producers have pledged for last month.  OPEC-only production from the 12-member cartel increased by 263,000 bpd—and most of the rise came from two major producers, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to data from secondary sources in OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report published on Tuesday.  Saudi Arabia accounted for half of the OPEC+ production hike…

The upcoming Trump-Putin meeting is sparking speculation over a potential deal that could ease sanctions and reshape oil markets. Ending a Four-Year Oil Bull Run, Hedge Funds Are Now Betting on Renewables - Hedge funds are increasingly giving up on oil as the most profitable commodity play out there, with a Bloomberg analysis of some 700 funds’ strategies indicating that money managers have been betting against oil throughout 2025.  - Post-COVID recovery was the main engine of hedge funds’ oil craze, further boosted by the Russia-Ukraine…

TotalEnergies is proposing to drill up to 7 exploration wells offshore South Africa, in the Orange Basin straddling South African and Namibian waters in southwest Africa.   With the planned campaign offshore South Africa, which still needs environmental authorization, the French supermajor looks to tap potentially more resources in the Orange Basin, after making a substantial discovery, Venus, in the same basin offshore Namibia.  “We have some attractive licenses just across the border and we have actually two or three prospects,…

TotalEnergies is proposing to drill up to 7 exploration wells offshore South Africa, in the Orange Basin straddling South African and Namibian waters in southwest Africa.   With the planned campaign offshore South Africa, which still needs environmental authorization, the French supermajor looks to tap potentially more resources in the Orange Basin, after making a substantial discovery, Venus, in the same basin offshore Namibia.  “We have some attractive licenses just across the border and we have actually two or three prospects,…

Global oil demand is set to grow by 1.38 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2026, OPEC said on Tuesday as it raised its forecast for next year by 100,000 bpd on the back of expected stronger economies in key oil-consuming regions.  In its closely-watched monthly report out of Tuesday, OPEC said that the upward revision for 2026 was “on the back of expected better economic performance in OECD America, OECD Europe, as well as the Middle East and Africa.”  The cartel left its demand growth estimate for this year unchanged at 1.29…

The world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, Norway’s $1.9 trillion oil fund, cut its equity stakes in the biggest international oil and gas companies in the first half of the year as oil prices fell.    Government Pension Fund Global, which is commonly referred to as ‘Norway’s oil fund’ because it was created with oil and gas revenues, is a shareholder in many large companies in the world, including Big Oil.  Government Pension Fund Global, as the Norwegian fund is officially known, trimmed its stake…

Sinochem has delivered its first cargo of Middle East crude as the Chinese state-owned energy and chemicals giant looks to boost its oil trading business in Asia, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing trade sources.    Sinochem delivered a cargo of Oman crude for October loading to commodity trading giant Trafigura during the S&P Global Platts Market on Close process on Monday, according to Reuters’ sources.   The Market on Close process, or window, is used by Platts to set the daily price of the Dubai benchmark,…