Preparations are under way for what could be the most delicate NATO summit in years — and Mark Rutte’s first real test as secretary-general. Fittingly for the longest-serving Dutch prime minister in history, it will take place in familiar surroundings – his hometown, The Hague, in late June. According to NATO officials in contact with RFE/RL, Rutte will need all his diplomatic skills to ensure it is a successful summit. And by a successful summit they mean keeping unpredictable US President Donald Trump happy. Their nightmare…

Nicolas Maduro has solidified his power over Venezuela following this weekend’s regional and parliamentary election, which his ruling party said it won in a landslide, while the opposition called for a boycott of the vote and claims turnout was below 15%. Maduro, who has ruled the country with the world’s largest crude oil reserves since 2013, could incur even more sanctions from the United States on the oil industry and state oil firm PDVSA. Venezuela’s electoral council, which is dominated by Maduro loyalists, said that the…

Nicolas Maduro has solidified his power over Venezuela following this weekend’s regional and parliamentary election, which his ruling party said it won in a landslide, while the opposition called for a boycott of the vote and claims turnout was below 15%. Maduro, who has ruled the country with the world’s largest crude oil reserves since 2013, could incur even more sanctions from the United States on the oil industry and state oil firm PDVSA. Venezuela’s electoral council, which is dominated by Maduro loyalists, said that the…

Nicolas Maduro has solidified his power over Venezuela following this weekend’s regional and parliamentary election, which his ruling party said it won in a landslide, while the opposition called for a boycott of the vote and claims turnout was below 15%. Maduro, who has ruled the country with the world’s largest crude oil reserves since 2013, could incur even more sanctions from the United States on the oil industry and state oil firm PDVSA. Venezuela’s electoral council, which is dominated by Maduro loyalists, said that the…

Iraq has filed a lawsuit against the United States over oil contracts between American companies and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, escalating a constitutional dispute that has long threatened to destabilize the country’s energy sector, Reuters reported.  According to Iraqi media, the lawsuit was filed on Monday and accuses the U.S. government of allowing companies under its jurisdiction to sign oil exploration and production deals directly with the KRG. Baghdad argues these deals bypass the federal oil ministry…

The trajectory of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand is now marked by “deep uncertainty,” according to the president of the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL), signaling a more cautious tone from one of the industry’s most influential voices. Speaking at an industry event in Paris, GIIGNL President Anne-Sophie Corbeau noted that although long-term fundamentals remain strong, short- to medium-term demand projections are increasingly difficult to pin down due to volatile pricing, geopolitical…

The trajectory of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand is now marked by “deep uncertainty,” according to the president of the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL), signaling a more cautious tone from one of the industry’s most influential voices. Speaking at an industry event in Paris, GIIGNL President Anne-Sophie Corbeau noted that although long-term fundamentals remain strong, short- to medium-term demand projections are increasingly difficult to pin down due to volatile pricing, geopolitical…

The trajectory of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand is now marked by “deep uncertainty,” according to the president of the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL), signaling a more cautious tone from one of the industry’s most influential voices. Speaking at an industry event in Paris, GIIGNL President Anne-Sophie Corbeau noted that although long-term fundamentals remain strong, short- to medium-term demand projections are increasingly difficult to pin down due to volatile pricing, geopolitical…

Perhaps, as non-financial types, you have been perplexed by the strange doings of the various markets. Well, you should be. Consider these statistics for the year to date (May 21): The US stock market, as represented by the S&P 500 has declined by 0.6 %. WTI oil price has fallen 14.5%. The US dollar dropped 8.2%. US Treasury bond yields rose 2 basis points (meaning bond prices fell 0.4%). Real GDP in first quarter of 2025 declined 0.3% Let’s start with the oil price. At the beginning of the year, we argued that oil prices, over the long…

US President Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin "has gone absolutely crazy!" following a series of deadly attacks, and warned that -- if he attempts to conquer all of Ukraine -- it will lead to Russia's "downfall." Ukrainian officials said on May 26 that Russia had launched some 355 drones at Ukraine overnight -- a record number in more than three years of war -- along with nine cruise missiles. The attack, the third consecutive night Russia had fired a major salvo at Ukraine, hit several locations, including residential buildings and industrial…

India is set to see a surge in power demand and renewable energy build-out in the coming years and decades and assert itself as a clean energy powerhouse, if it boosts investments, U.S.-based clean energy think tank Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) said in a new report on Monday. India’s energy demand is expected to triple by 2050, as the economy grows more than the global average, urbanization expands, and the middle class numbers rise. The need for air-conditioning will also boost Indian power demand going forward. RMI’s research highlighted…

India is set to see a surge in power demand and renewable energy build-out in the coming years and decades and assert itself as a clean energy powerhouse, if it boosts investments, U.S.-based clean energy think tank Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) said in a new report on Monday. India’s energy demand is expected to triple by 2050, as the economy grows more than the global average, urbanization expands, and the middle class numbers rise. The need for air-conditioning will also boost Indian power demand going forward. RMI’s research highlighted…

Shares in Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers slumped on Monday despite surging interest from UK buyers, as industry titan BY introduced a round of new price cuts in an already bruising market battle. Hong-Kong listed BYD dropped as much as 8.25 per cent from a record high set last week, after an announcement over the weekend slashing prices on 22 electric and plug-in hybrid models. The steepest cut, a 34 per cent discount, was applied to one plug-in hybrid. This reduced the model’s price by RMB 53,000 (£5,423) to RMB 102,800 (£10,519).…

Europe’s benchmark natural gas prices rose early on Monday following an unplanned cut to capacity of the giant Troll gas field in Norway, the single largest supplier of gas to Europe.  Dutch TTF Natural Gas Futures, the benchmark for Europe’s gas trading, jumped by 2.2% at trade open in Amsterdam on Monday, before easing some gains to trade 1.2% higher at 11:30 a.m. local time.  The rise at the start of this week extends four consecutive weeks of weekly gains in European gas prices as the market is reacting to unplanned supply…

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have announced a new oil discovery in the so-called Partitioned Zone (PZ) between the two OPEC heavyweights which share equally output from the area.   Saudi Arabia and Kuwait announced on Monday that Wafra Joint Operations had made a new oil discovery in the North Wafra Wara-Burgan field, located 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) north of the Wafra field, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.   The so-called Partitioned Neutral Zone (PNZ) was established between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in 1922 to settle a…

Offshore wind industry representatives are seeking better auction and fiscal terms from the Japanese government to help companies develop the wind industry potential offshore Japan, industry sources have told Reuters.  Japan has a plan to have offshore wind projects with a total capacity of 10 GW developed by 2030 and 30 GW-45 GW by 2040. The country has held three auctions to award capacity so far, but major developers have been reviewing their options in Japan amid headwinds in the sector globally with surging costs and supply-chain delays. …

Taiwan will hold in August a referendum on whether the just-shuttered last nuclear reactor should be restarted once safety checks are completed, in a major reversal of the country’s policy amid energy security concerns.  Taiwan, which is being threatened by China with Beijing claiming it is a “sacred and inseparable part of China's territory”, has decided to phase out its nuclear reactors by this year.  Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party elected in January 2016, and re-elected in 2020, has a policy of phasing…

Saudi Aramco is reportedly exploring asset sales as a means of increasing the availability of funds to fuel its international expansion and existing operations, according to unnamed sources who spoke to Reuters. The sources told the publication that the Saudi state major had asked investment banks to come up with ideas on how best to make its assets generate some cash. Another two sources told Reuters the asset sales could help Aramco in its efforts to boost the efficiency of its operations and reduce costs. Aramco on Tuesday reported a drop in…

Crude oil prices began trade with a gain this week following the news that President Donald Trump had extended the deadline for a trade deal with the European Union to early July. The extension was granted to Brussels after Commission president Ursula con der Leyen said the EU needed more time to draft a deal and after Trump said he’d slap 50% tariffs on EU imports beginning next month because the EU deal was so slow in coming. “A nice push higher in crude oil and U.S. equity futures this morning after U.S. President Trump extended…

This week, media reports said OPEC+ could announce yet another bigger than initially planned production hike at its next meeting. On the face of it, the goal is getting quota laggards Iraq and Kazakhstan in line. The other goal, according to a new Reuters report, is to try and kill U.S. shale, again. The oil-producing club took U.S. shale on about a decade ago, turning the taps all the way and flooding the market with oil. Prices crashed. So did a lot of shale drillers at the time. Yet the ones that survived got better at getting the oil out of…