If tensions between Iran and Israel lead to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz this would cause a surge in crude oil and liquefied natural gas prices. The warning comes from analysts with Indian Motilal Oswal Financial Services. The firm acknowledged that de-escalation efforts would help avoid a price spike but noted the importance of the Strait of Hormuz, which currently handles 21 million barrels daily in crude and other liquid energy cargos. In the event of a closure, finding alternative routes for these volumes would be close to…

A wildfire in the vicinity of Fort McMurray in Alberta has prompted the local authorities to issue a warning that local residents must be ready to evacuate if the fire continues expanding. That’s according to Bloomberg, which reported that the fire was raging near a town 25 miles from Fort McMurray. The report recalled that eight years ago another wildfire forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of locals and the suspension of some 1 million barrels of oil in daily production. There were production shut-ins in Canada last year…

Crude oil prices began the week with a loss as fears of an escalation between Iran and Israel dissipated. The latest events in the Middle East appear to have convinced traders there is no immediate danger of an all-out war, so they are unloading their oil positions. This brought Brent crude down below $87 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate to below $83 per barrel. This is bad news for Saudi Arabia, which needs oil prices close to $100 per barrel to balance its budget, according to a new estimate by the International Monetary Fund, which attributed the…

Crude oil prices began the week with a loss as fears of an escalation between Iran and Israel dissipated. The latest events in the Middle East appear to have convinced traders there is no immediate danger of an all-out war, so they are unloading their oil positions. This brought Brent crude down below $87 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate to below $83 per barrel. This is bad news for Saudi Arabia, which needs oil prices close to $100 per barrel to balance its budget, according to a new estimate by the International Monetary Fund, which attributed the…

A couple of days ago, we reported that scores of beleaguered solar companies in Europe are fleeing the continent amid intense competition from China and setting up shop in the U.S., thanks to the latter’s favorable solar and clean energy policies. Notably, Swiss solar module maker Meyer Burger has announced plans to wind up panel production in Germany and move to the United States after failing to garner support from the German federal government. Similarly, battery company Freyr has stopped work at…

The price of carbon dioxide on the European Union’s emissions trading markets, ETS, has taken a bad tumble. On the face of it, this is good news—it means industries covered by the scheme are emitting less. But in this case, fewer emissions mean less money for the transition. Earlier this year, the price per carbon permit on the ETS dropped to the lowest in over two years, at 55 euro, equal to some $58. The drop came as a surprise to ETS architects and supporters in Brussels, who had plans for much higher emission prices with a view…

Renewable energy installations reached record highs in 2023, growing at their fastest pace in decades. 510 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy were added worldwide, representing a 50% increase from 2022, according to figures from the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s annual flagship report on the global status of renewable energy. Projections show that the sector’s expansion will continue to accelerate, with an anticipated 2.5-fold increase by 2030. While this is a promising trend in the right direction, however, experts…

Almost the entire global population breathes air that exceeds the air quality limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO). In this graphic, Visual Capitalist's Marcus Lu maps the world’s most polluted countries according to IQAir, ranked by their annual average PM2.5 concentration (μg/m³) in 2023. The unit μg/m³ refers to micrograms per cubic meter. What is PM2.5? PM2.5 refers to fine particulate matter, with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less, that can travel deep into your lungs and cause health problems. In 2021,…

Aviation companies worldwide have increasingly been investing in research and development into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to help decarbonise their flights. The aviation sector is considered a hard-to-abate industry, as there is no clear alternative to fossil fuels that can be used to power commercial flight. And yet, governments worldwide are putting increasing pressure on companies to make their operations greener. The most promising fossil fuel alternative to date is SAF, which many airlines are now mixing with conventional fuels to reduce…

The tensions in the Middle East have highlighted the ebb and flow of the geopolitical risk premium in oil prices so far this month. Analysts believe that oil currently includes between $5 and $10 per barrel in premium to reflect a risk of escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict. The past week has illustrated how traders perceive geopolitical risk. Just as Brent Crude prices had eased to the upper $80s after the Iranian drone attack against Israel in the April 13-14 weekend, oil spiked by 3% early on April 19 amid reports of an Israeli…

There are many myths about energy and the economy. In this post I explore the situation surrounding some of these myths. My analysis strongly suggests that the transition to a new Green Economy is not progressing as well as hoped. Green energy planners have missed the point that our physics-based economy favors low-cost producers. In fact, the US and EU may not be far from an economic downturn because subsidized green approaches are not truly low-cost. [1] The Chinese people have long believed that the safest place to store savings is in empty…

At Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory’s ongoing quest to develop a range of methods for managing plasma so it can be used to generate electricity in a process known as fusion, researchers have shown how two old methods can be combined to provide greater flexibility. “This is kind of a new idea,” said Qiming Hu, a staff research physicist at PPPL and lead author of a new paper published in Nuclear Fusion about the work, which has also been demonstrated experimentally. “The full capabilities are still being figured out, but…

Via Metal Miner Reports indicate that the earthquake that struck Taiwan on April 2 is unlikely to create either supply or manufacturing difficulties for Taiwan semiconductors (microchips), which could subsequently impact the auto sector and steel prices. “I haven’t heard about any impact on the industry due to the earthquake,” one steel trader told MetalMiner. The seismic incident registered 7.2 on the Richter scale. The quake occurred off Taiwan’s east coast near the city of Hualien and claimed 13 lives as well as injuring…

Hard-to-abate industries, particularly oil and gas, are racing to increase their carbon capture capacity as they strive to decarbonise operations. Despite being some of the biggest carbon emitters, many oil and gas majors are optimistic they can dramatically reduce their emissions by using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. This is, realistically, one of the few ways that oil and gas companies can reduce while keeping their fossil fuel output high. However, energy experts and environmentalists are now worried that Big Oil is becoming…

Namibia wants to join OPEC as it prepares to reap the benefits of its crude oil resources, with daily production capacity seen at an impressive 700,000 bpd in 2030—the first year of production per current plans. OPEC, it seems, will be only too happy to welcome it in the fold. OPEC has created "great value" in "ensuring that the dynamics of the market are controlled and managed in a sustainable manner," Namibia's Petroleum Commissioner Maggy Shino said at a recent online event, suggesting the southwest African nation would be happy…

China will undoubtedly become an even more significant buyer of Russian metals following the London Metal Exchange’s ban on newly produced Russian aluminum, copper, and nickel. China has already evolved into a major market for Russian-made products following dwindling demand in the West, and these new Russian sanctions will likely only further cement that position. The LME ban leaves the Shanghai Futures Exchange as the only major bourse to accept shipments of these metals from Russia.  A recent report in the South China Morning Post…

Valero Energy Corp. and Chevron Corp. have entered the fray of buyers for oil traversing Canada's expanded Trans Mountain Pipeline system, signaling a potential shift in the West Coast's oil-sourcing landscape. Anonymous Bloomberg sources revealed on Friday that these refineries in California are set to receive cargoes of Cold Lake crude, a heavy grade from Canada's oil sands, loaded onto Aframax tankers out of the Westridge Terminal near Vancouver last June. This development marks the first sales off the expanded pipeline to Western US refiners,…

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries hold promise for bringing more energy dense and low-cost batteries closer to market. University of California – San Diego engineers have developed an advanced cathode material for lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries that is healable and highly conductive, overcoming longstanding challenges of traditional sulfur cathodes. These improvements overcome the limitations of lithium-sulfur batteries’ current cathodes. The reporting work paper has been published in the journal Nature. Solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries…

Via SchiffGold.com, Peter Schiff recently appeared on Market Overtime with Oliver Renick for an interview. In their wide-ranging discussion, Peter speaks on monetary policy, the reliability of inflation data, and reasons to avoid Bitcoin. Contrary to the popular narrative, gold’s recent rise is not because of world conflicts. Inflation is the driving force behind the metal’s price action: “This is just the beginning of a massive re-pricing of gold, and people aren’t even buying it yet. You have central banks buying, but…

The Great Game is playing out once again in Central Asia, but it is getting a new name and adopting a different set of rules. Economics, not politics, is defining the terms of the current superpower competition for regional influence, according to a report prepared by a Kazakh research institute.  There is a key difference governing the global rivalries in Central Asia in the 19th and 21st centuries: these days, regional states, not outsiders, wield the more influence over potential outcomes, according to the report, titled Pursuing Multi-Vectorism…