In line with greater funding for renewable energy and cleantech in recent years, several companies have sought to use innovative technologies and techniques to enhance clean energy production. Tech and energy startups from around the world have raised funds to test out a wide range of technologies aimed at accelerating the deployment of renewable energy capacity and enhancing the stability of certain energy sources, such as solar power. The California-based startup Reflect Orbital was recently granted permission from the United States Federal Communications…

Europe is falling far behind on energy storage installation exactly when it’s most needed. The continent’s energy security is under significant threat as it contends with its third energy crisis in four years thanks to the region’s over-reliance on imported fossil fuels. While the European Union has made major inroads toward adding solar and wind capacity to help diversify the bloc’s energy mix, energy storage capacities have lagged behind, creating new vulnerabilities for the grid and for energy markets alike. “Without…

Environmental groups have been campaigning to encourage banks and other financial institutions to divest from fossil fuels for years, with efforts growing stronger since the Covid-19 pandemic and the global push to transition away from oil, gas, and coal to renewable alternatives. In June, the Bank of England quietly announced that it would no longer be accepting bonds associated with coal operations for key loan arrangements. The ban will be enforced from October. It is the latest move to encourage a shift away from thermal coal for electricity…

Venture capitalists are taking a major interest in nuclear energy start ups. Funding is surging for both nuclear fusion and fission firms as the technology becomes an increasingly essential part of a feasible pathway toward sustainable energy security in the face of the artificial intelligence boom. According to reporting by Axios, global investment in both fission and fusion has topped USD $4.5 billion across 81 companies in 2026 so far. At this pace, by year’s end, this year will shatter 2025’s previous record of $6.2 billion for…

While the dust is settling and facts emerge, it is clear that the latest attack on Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq oil-processing complex is rapidly becoming one of the most consequential energy developments of 2026. The event should not be assessed on the basis that it has immediately removed millions of barrels of oil from international markets, but rather because it exposes a vulnerability that traders, governments, and investors have largely assumed no longer existed. At present, oil prices are not showing any real impact; levels are restrained. At the…

Donald Trump’s July 8 order to halt trade with Spain has yet to become an energy embargo, but Madrid can no longer dismiss it as political theatre. It was the second such threat since March 2026, this time delivered directly to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent after Spain refused to commit 5% of GDP to defence spending and declined to support US operations against Iran. Washington is now reportedly examining products that could be targeted, even though EU customs rules make it illegal to isolate one member state from the bloc’s common…

ExxonMobil and Chevron made a combined $26.5 billion in the second quarter after producing more oil, refining more fuel, and selling all of it into a market scrambled by war. Washington is investigating why gasoline costs so much. Chevron reported record net income of $12.2 billion, nearly five times its year-ago profit. Exxon earned $14.5 billion, double what it made during the same quarter last year and its best result since oil prices soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Iran war sent crude prices sky high after Gulf production…

ExxonMobil and Chevron made a combined $26.5 billion in the second quarter after producing more oil, refining more fuel, and selling all of it into a market scrambled by war. Washington is investigating why gasoline costs so much. Chevron reported record net income of $12.2 billion, nearly five times its year-ago profit. Exxon earned $14.5 billion, double what it made during the same quarter last year and its best result since oil prices soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Iran war sent crude prices sky high after Gulf production…

ExxonMobil and Chevron made a combined $26.5 billion in the second quarter after producing more oil, refining more fuel, and selling all of it into a market scrambled by war. Washington is investigating why gasoline costs so much. Chevron reported record net income of $12.2 billion, nearly five times its year-ago profit. Exxon earned $14.5 billion, double what it made during the same quarter last year and its best result since oil prices soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Iran war sent crude prices sky high after Gulf production…

ExxonMobil and Chevron made a combined $26.5 billion in the second quarter after producing more oil, refining more fuel, and selling all of it into a market scrambled by war. Washington is investigating why gasoline costs so much. Chevron reported record net income of $12.2 billion, nearly five times its year-ago profit. Exxon earned $14.5 billion, double what it made during the same quarter last year and its best result since oil prices soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Iran war sent crude prices sky high after Gulf production…

ExxonMobil and Chevron made a combined $26.5 billion in the second quarter after producing more oil, refining more fuel, and selling all of it into a market scrambled by war. Washington is investigating why gasoline costs so much. Chevron reported record net income of $12.2 billion, nearly five times its year-ago profit. Exxon earned $14.5 billion, double what it made during the same quarter last year and its best result since oil prices soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Iran war sent crude prices sky high after Gulf production…

Kyrgyzstan’s election to a two-year term on the United Nations Security Council came after a diligent campaign to gain support for its candidacy. It means a Central Asian state will have a seat on the UN’s most powerful body for the second time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Attention now turns to what Kyrgyzstan wants to do — and what it will be able to do — on the Security Council. “This is a new test for us,” Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov said during a speech in late June. “We view membership…

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States rose this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, bringing the total rig count in the US to 588, up 48 from this same time last year. The number of active oil rigs rose by 1, reaching 451 during the latest reporting period, according to the data. This is 41 above this same time last year. The number of gas rigs stayed the same at 127, which is 3 more than this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed at 10. The latest EIA data showed that weekly…

Ukraine has struck one of Russia’s biggest refineries, Lukoil’s Volgograd processing facility, the Ukrainian forces said on Friday as they resumed attacks on Russian refining capacity. The Volgograd refinery, which has the capacity to process 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude, produces gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. It was hit by Ukrainian forces, Ukraine’s Security Service said in a Telegram post on Friday. The hit was “successful,” Ukraine said, without offering details as to the extent of damage. Andrei Bocharov,…

Ukraine has struck one of Russia’s biggest refineries, Lukoil’s Volgograd processing facility, the Ukrainian forces said on Friday as they resumed attacks on Russian refining capacity. The Volgograd refinery, which has the capacity to process 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude, produces gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. It was hit by Ukrainian forces, Ukraine’s Security Service said in a Telegram post on Friday. The hit was “successful,” Ukraine said, without offering details as to the extent of damage. Andrei Bocharov,…

Brent is set for an 8% weekly loss, but ongoing disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea continue to support oil prices near $90 a barrel. Friday, July 31, 2026 Oil prices are set for an 8% weekly loss after the sell-off earlier this week was halted by the reality of two disrupted waterways in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia seeking to organize a maritime coalition against the Houthis. The IRGC claims to have turned around several tankers in the Strait of Hormuz; however, that could also suggest shippers won’t give up on exiting…

Iranian-designed drones have wreaked havoc for Ukrainian forces battling Russian troops as Moscow took Tehran's technology and ran with it, supercharging production and deploying drones in devastating droves in its all-out war against Kyiv. As far as Ukraine is concerned, that makes Iran an indirect combatant. And that means Iranian cargo ships heading to Russia are fair game as far as military targets go. That's what happened this weekend in the Caspian Sea, and Tehran is not happy.Moscow's 53-month-old invasion has scrambled politics for Europe.…

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is making one of the most significant changes to Middle Eastern crude pricing in years, announcing that all of its Abu Dhabi crude grades will move to a prompt-month pricing methodology based on the Platts Dubai benchmark from November 1, 2026. The move marks a notable evolution in the company's pricing strategy. Rather than pricing cargoes two months ahead using ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) Murban futures, ADNOC will now price Murban, Das, Upper Zakum and Umm Lulu against prompt-month Platts Dubai, with…

ADNOC is changing the pricing formula used for its flagship crude grades. The oil giant said Friday it will move away from its ICE Futures Abu Dhabi-based pricing methodology, which prices crude off the Murban futures contract two months ahead of loading, and switch to a prompt-month system built around the Platts Dubai benchmark.  The change takes effect Nov. 1 and covers all four of ADNOC's Abu Dhabi grades: Murban, Das, Umm Lulu and Upper Zakum. Under the new formula, ADNOC will set official selling prices using the Platts Dubai assessment…

Global coal consumption reached another record in 2025, seemingly contradicting years of discussion about phasing out the world’s most carbon-intensive fossil fuel. But the headline number does not tell the whole story. The latest Statistical Review of World Energy shows that global coal consumption rose to 166.0 exajoules last year. That represented an increase of 0.7% from 2024. At the same time, global electricity generation from coal declined. Coal-fired power production fell 0.3% to 10,511 terawatt-hours. Those two trends are not mutually…