Last year, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent set a target to cut the U.S. federal budget deficit to just 3% of GDP by the end of President Donald Trump’s second term. The deficit reduction was a key component of his "3-3-3" economic plan, with the other two being achieving 3% real GDP growth and increasing energy production by 3 million barrels a day by 2028. The plan relies on spending constraints, regulatory reforms, and tariff revenue to narrow the deficit.  With Trump now completing the first year of his second term, energy and…

Europe’s gas demand could rise even higher at the end of this winter, making it even more challenging to refill storage that has been depleting at the fastest pace in years.         So far into 2026, snowfall and snow coverage in the Alps, which feed a large part of the hydropower generation in Austria and northern Italy, have been well below average, Reuters columnist Gavin Maguire notes.  With potentially lower hydropower generation, if snowfall continues to be scarce, gas consumption in the…

Europe is still suffering from the consequences of its decadeslong dependence on Russian energy imports. But as the bloc continues to wean itself off of Russian oil and gas, Europe is facing new and compounding energy dependence threats from the United States and China. European policymakers are in a tough spot, literally and figuratively sandwiched between a massive and high-stakes battle for global energy supremacy.  When Russia illegally invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, Europe as a whole depended on the Russian producers for 40 percent…

Artificial intelligence is often viewed as a catalyst for electrification and subsequently decarbonization. Yet one of its most immediate effects may be the opposite of what many assume. The rapid buildout of AI infrastructure is increasing demand for reliable power, and that reality could strengthen the role of natural gas and other dispatchable energy sources for many years. Investors focused on semiconductors and software valuations may be overlooking a key constraint. AI runs on electricity, and those electricity systems operate within physical…

Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Armenia and Azerbaijan succeeded in widening the scope of US economic engagement with the two South Caucasus nations. In the months immediately after Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a provisional peace deal in Washington last August, the Trump administration’s focus was on the development of the Middle Corridor trade and logistics network. But now other sectors, including civilian nuclear energy, arms sales and artificial intelligence, are part of the discussion. Vance’s stop in Baku on February…

Oil prices dropped Thursday after the International Energy Agency cut its demand growth outlook, a revision that landed in a market already uneasy about how quickly supply is said to be rising. Brent crude traded near $67 a barrel in the afternoon, down roughly 3% on the session. U.S. WTI slipped into the $62s. Selling accelerated after the IEA trimmed its 2026 global demand growth forecast to 850,000 barrels per day. A month ago, it was expecting 930,000. The number itself is not as dramatic as the context. The agency still sees global supply…

Oil prices dropped Thursday after the International Energy Agency cut its demand growth outlook, a revision that landed in a market already uneasy about how quickly supply is said to be rising. Brent crude traded near $67 a barrel in the afternoon, down roughly 3% on the session. U.S. WTI slipped into the $62s. Selling accelerated after the IEA trimmed its 2026 global demand growth forecast to 850,000 barrels per day. A month ago, it was expecting 930,000. The number itself is not as dramatic as the context. The agency still sees global supply…

President Donald Trump on Thursday rejected any suggestion that a private U.S. oil executive is shaping Washington’s approach to Venezuela, stepping into a sensitive debate over who gets influence in the future of the world’s largest stranded crude reserves. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Florida fuel trader Harry Sargeant III has no authority to act on behalf of the United States and that only State Department-approved officials conduct diplomacy with Caracas. He described current relations with Venezuela as strong and credited…

President Donald Trump on Thursday rejected any suggestion that a private U.S. oil executive is shaping Washington’s approach to Venezuela, stepping into a sensitive debate over who gets influence in the future of the world’s largest stranded crude reserves. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Florida fuel trader Harry Sargeant III has no authority to act on behalf of the United States and that only State Department-approved officials conduct diplomacy with Caracas. He described current relations with Venezuela as strong and credited…

President Donald Trump on Thursday rejected any suggestion that a private U.S. oil executive is shaping Washington’s approach to Venezuela, stepping into a sensitive debate over who gets influence in the future of the world’s largest stranded crude reserves. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Florida fuel trader Harry Sargeant III has no authority to act on behalf of the United States and that only State Department-approved officials conduct diplomacy with Caracas. He described current relations with Venezuela as strong and credited…

Cubans are struggling with blackouts and fuel rationing amid President Trump’s campaign to provoke regime change by choking off the energy supply of the island nation, which is heavily dependent on fuel imports. Trump last month threatened to impose tariffs on any country that sends oil to Cuba, labelling the island “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security. He noted the Cuban government’s relations with Russia, China, and Iran as evidence of that threat, which, Trump suggested, would present as “migration…

Russia’s Volgograd oil refinery suspended oil processing on Wednesday after a Ukrainian drone attack triggered a fire at the plant. The Lukoil-owned refinery is a major Russian oil processing facility in Volgograd City in southern Russia. The refinery has been operating since 1957 with a capacity of ~300,000 bpd (14.5 million tons/year), and processed an estimated 13.5–13.7 million metric tons of oil in 2024.  The facility produces gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and lubricants, with recent modernizations focused on increasing efficiency…

The United States and China are seeking to preserve their fragile trade truce before President Donald Trump visits Chinese President Xi Jinping for a high-stakes summit in Beijing this spring, according to the South China Morning Post. On the sidelines of the 2025 APEC summit in Busan, South Korea, Trump and Xi held a pivotal meeting that produced a significant—though temporary—trade agreement. Following months of escalating tariffs, curbs on rare-earth exports, and agricultural boycotts, the two leaders agreed to a one-year truce that…

The sanctions squeeze on oil supply from Russia and Iran are tightening the oil market and supporting crude prices as buyers look for additional legit barrels while sanctioned supply is piling in floating storage, according to the world’s biggest independent oil trader, Vitol.   “The traditional buyers of those two supply sources are reaching for more Western or Saudi supply sources, which is then in turn tightening the real market,” Vitol’s CEO Russell Hardy said at the International Energy Week conference in London…

The sanctions squeeze on oil supply from Russia and Iran are tightening the oil market and supporting crude prices as buyers look for additional legit barrels while sanctioned supply is piling in floating storage, according to the world’s biggest independent oil trader, Vitol.   “The traditional buyers of those two supply sources are reaching for more Western or Saudi supply sources, which is then in turn tightening the real market,” Vitol’s CEO Russell Hardy said at the International Energy Week conference in London…

Crude oil production from the OPEC+ alliance slumped by as much as 439,000 barrels per day in January compared to December as a major supply disruption in Kazakhstan added to lower output from Iran and Venezuela, OPEC data showed in its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR).  Total OPEC+ crude oil production averaged 42.45 million barrels per day (bpd) in January 2026, down by 439,000 bpd versus December, as Kazakhstan’s output plummeted by 249,000 bpd, according to the OPEC estimates based on secondary sources.   Kazakhstan’s…

Japan’s Inpex expects an LNG supply shortfall in the Pacific coastal region, including Asia, in 2035, as demand will nearly double from current levels, the oil and gas major said in its 2025 earnings report on Thursday.  Global LNG demand is expected to increase to about 700 million tons per year in 2035, up from the current level of around 400 million tons annually, according to the Japanese company, which operates the Ichthys LNG project offshore Western Australia.   “Demand will be concentrated in the Asia–Oceania…

NATO officially launched its Arctic Sentry mission on February 11 in a bid to improve the military posture of the alliance in the Arctic region. The move follows recent tensions between NATO allies Denmark and the United States over the political future of Greenland. When it was first mooted last month, several diplomats told RFE/RL that a potential Arctic mission could be a way out of a growing crisis. Following a meeting between US President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte last month in Davos, Switzerland, it was agreed that…

With major U.S. indexes hovering near record highs, many investors are increasingly turning to high-income dividend stocks to balance growth and income. This strategic shift aims to secure reliable, consistent income to act as a defensive stabilizer against potential market volatility. However, rather than simply hunting for the highest yields, a preferred 2026 strategy for long-term investors is focusing on dividend growth and companies with a track record of not only maintaining but also increasing their payouts.  Studies have shown that…

U.S. shale oil and gas producers are buying international assets to maintain supply amid revisions of oil demand outlooks for the long term. From South America to the Middle East, frackers are going global. Continental Resources is one example. The company of fracking icon Harold Hamm has been expanding in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale play, widely considered the second-largest shale oil and gas deposit after the Permian. In the last three months, Continental made two asset acquisition deals in the Vaca Muerta, with its chief executive, Doug…