Trend-following commodity trading advisors (CTAs) could soon begin covering their significant short positions in oil, driving prices higher, according to Bank of America analysts cited by Investing.com. The sudden buying demand in the crude futures market has the potential to lead to a short-term rally in oil prices if CTAs rush to short covering. Last week, oil prices lodged another weekly gain, despite the announcement from OPEC+ that the group would continue to boost production in July with another 411,000-barrels-per-day hike. Geopolitical…

China’s coal imports slowed down markedly last month amid ample domestic supply, low prices, and rising generation from wind and solar. At 36.04 million tons, May coal imports were down from 43.82 million tons in April, customs data cited by Reuters showed. This is the third consecutive monthly decline in coal imports in the world’s largest importer of the commodity. For the first five months of 2025, coal imports declined by 8% from a year earlier, to a cumulative 188.7 million tons, compared with 204.9 million tons for January-May…

The 411,000 barrels daily that OPEC+ said it would add to oil production in May have not materialized, commodity analysts from Morgan Stanley said. “Notwithstanding the around 1 million-barrel-a-day increase in production quotas between March and June, an actual increase in production is hard to detect,” the team, led by Martijn Rats said in a note today, as quoted by Bloomberg. “Notably, it does not appear that production in Saudi Arabia has ramped up significantly,” the note also said. The data Morgan Stanley used to see…

China earlier this year introduced restrictions on its exports of rare earths. The move marked a new stage in the US- China trade spat, when the two sides no longer tried to out-tariff each other but took to more concrete steps. The problem is, the restrictions don’t just apply to U.S. companies. And they may well deliver the fatal blow to Europe’s struggling auto industry. China controls 90% of the world’s rare earths processing capacity. It is the indisputable, if not exactly celebrated in the West, master of the rare earths…

After years of battling the poor public perception of nuclear power, several countries are now on track to develop their nuclear energy sector as governments encourage a shift away from fossil fuels to cleaner alternatives. Nuclear plants have the potential to provide abundant, clean power. However, there have long been fears over how to properly manage the nuclear waste produced at plants, to ensure that neither human health nor the environment are harmed during the disposal process. Several countries in Scandinavia believe that they may now have…

This animated chart, via Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti, uses data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration to illustrate how the country’s energy generation landscape has evolved since 1950. U.S. Energy Generation by Source, 1950–2024 As seen in the video above, natural gas has experienced the most significant growth—rising from just 6.2 quadrillion BTUs in 1950 to 39.2 in 2024—making it the leading energy source in recent years, surpassing both coal and oil. Coal use peaked between 2000 and 2005 but has since…

In addition to California, which has long been a renewable energy powerhouse, some unexpected states have come out on top for green energy production in the United States in recent years. Texas and Florida join the Golden State as the top wind and solar energy producers in the U.S., having invested heavily in increasing their renewable energy capacity. Around a decade ago, just three states had over 1 GW of installed solar capacity, largely owing to the high cost of developing solar farms and the volatility of solar power. Now, 33 U.S. states have…

Just 16% of American drivers say they are likely to buy an electric vehicle (EV) as their next car—the lowest share recorded in AAA’s annual surveys since 2019. High battery maintenance costs, high purchase prices, and concerns about range continue to be major deterrents for U.S. consumers to consider buying an EV, according to AAA’s latest survey released earlier this month. These key barriers have remained more or less the same in recent years. But this year three other factors have also played a role to result in the smallest…

Via Metal Miner  The Rare Earths MMI (Monthly Metals Index) found more price stability month-over-month. As a result, it moved sideways, with only a 0.81% increase. Despite this, the short-term outlook for rare earths remains uncertain. Chinese export restrictions jolted prices in H1 of 2025 and fractured long-running supply lines. Shortly after, global automakers warned that Beijing’s April curbs on alloys and magnet exports “could cause production delays” without fast relief. China’s Rare Earths Shockwaves Continue…

After several successful pilot projects, several cities across the United States are aiming to roll out more self-driving vehicles in 2025. Multiple automated car companies have announced new projects for this year. For decades, self-driving or automated vehicles (AVs) seemed like some futuristic technology that would be impossible to actually create. However, in recent years, several companies have tested their AVs in real-life conditions, as several car models make it out of the factory and onto our roads. In addition, recent innovations in sensors…

Iran has vowed to take strong action against Western nations pushing a resolution at a quarterly meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog that would find the Islamic republic in noncompliance with its safeguards obligations for the first time in 20 years. In a June 6 post on X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi slammed Britain, France, and Germany -- collectively known as the E3 -- for "falsely accusing Iran" of violating its obligations and claimed the move was "designed to produce a crisis." "Mark my words as Europe ponders another major strategic…

Copper has become an essential building block in modern construction and energy. In the coming years, the global demand for copper is expected to increase significantly as it is used more widely for renewable energy projects and transmission. The Australian mining major BHP expects the demand for copper to grow by around 70 percent, to 50 million tonnes, by 2050, as it is used more widely for a range of applications. The adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), renewables, and data centres around the world is expected to drive copper demand beyond…

Uzbekistan’s interest in connectivity with Afghanistan is driven by economic opportunity, energy cooperation, security needs, and geopolitical strategy - factors that will help Uzbekistan access new markets and stabilize the region. Ambassador Javlon Vakhabov of the International Institute for Central Asia in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, calls it “Stability Through Connectivity.” That is, Uzbekistan favors pragmatism over trying to isolate Afghanistan, and a policy that balances humanitarian support and regional security. The Central…

US President Donald Trump on June 5 compared Russia's war against Ukraine to children fighting in comments during a visit by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, telling reporters at the White House that "sometimes you're better off letting them fight for a while." Trump downplayed prospects for an immediate peace between the countries despite his diplomatic efforts to push the two sides to negotiate a cease-fire and eventually a peace deal. The US president has become increasingly frustrated over the lack of progress toward either goal. During last…

Artificial intelligence is all over the media—and so is its energy consumption, which is spurring something of a new tech race. That race, however, besides innovation, includes some simpler moves, such as a return to a kind of power generator that had been consigned to history. Single-cycle gas turbines used to be popular before combined-cycle technology emerged. It was much more efficient and a lot cleaner, Bloomberg reported this week in a story looking into the latest developments in AI and securing the energy for its continued growth.…

In a move that fuses domestic revival with international strategy, the Trump administration has greenlit the expansion of Montana’s Bull Mountains coal mine—unlocking nearly 60 million tons of coal destined for key U.S. allies Japan and South Korea. The approval, announced Friday by the Department of the Interior, comes under President Trump’s national energy emergency directive, signaling a bold return to coal as a cornerstone of U.S. energy policy and foreign leverage. The mine’s expansion, led by Signal Peak Energy, is…

In a move that fuses domestic revival with international strategy, the Trump administration has greenlit the expansion of Montana’s Bull Mountains coal mine—unlocking nearly 60 million tons of coal destined for key U.S. allies Japan and South Korea. The approval, announced Friday by the Department of the Interior, comes under President Trump’s national energy emergency directive, signaling a bold return to coal as a cornerstone of U.S. energy policy and foreign leverage. The mine’s expansion, led by Signal Peak Energy, is…

In a move that fuses domestic revival with international strategy, the Trump administration has greenlit the expansion of Montana’s Bull Mountains coal mine—unlocking nearly 60 million tons of coal destined for key U.S. allies Japan and South Korea. The approval, announced Friday by the Department of the Interior, comes under President Trump’s national energy emergency directive, signaling a bold return to coal as a cornerstone of U.S. energy policy and foreign leverage. The mine’s expansion, led by Signal Peak Energy, is…

In a move that fuses domestic revival with international strategy, the Trump administration has greenlit the expansion of Montana’s Bull Mountains coal mine—unlocking nearly 60 million tons of coal destined for key U.S. allies Japan and South Korea. The approval, announced Friday by the Department of the Interior, comes under President Trump’s national energy emergency directive, signaling a bold return to coal as a cornerstone of U.S. energy policy and foreign leverage. The mine’s expansion, led by Signal Peak Energy, is…

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States fell yet again this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, following a 3-rig decrease last week, and a 10-rig decrease the week before that. The total rig count in the US fell by 4 to 559 rigs, according to Baker Hughes, down 35 from this same time last year. The number of oil rigs fell by 9 to 442 after falling by 4 during the previous week—and down by 50 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs rose by 5 this week, to…