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…

The Department of the Interior has announced that the  U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has discovered large oil and gas deposits in the Mowry Composite Total Petroleum System that spans parts of Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. The report estimates large hydrocarbon resources, including 473 million barrels of oil and 27 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas. That’s multiples higher than the 90 mn barrels of oil and 7.3 tcf of natural gas that the Mowry Composite system has produced since exploration began in the 1950s. “This new USGS…

The production of lithium-ion batteries used to power electric vehicles (EVs) requires vast quantities of critical minerals, including graphite, lithium, cobalt, copper, phosphorous, manganese, and nickel. There is a finite supply of these minerals, and, with the global demand growing, automakers must use EV batteries to their full potential. Simply disposing of the batteries once they run out of juice could mean throwing away huge amounts of critical minerals every year, when they could be put to good use.  Approximately 17 million battery-electric…

Successive US administrations have long lobbied European allies to shoulder their fair burden for joint defense, but US President Donald Trump has taken a more bottom-line driven approach to NATO, publicly questioning why the United States should pay for the defense of rich European nations. And that tough rhetoric has shaken Europe out of its decades-long national security slumber, according to Russian-American scholar Leon Aron. Germany, the second-largest economy in NATO after the United States, in March passed reforms that would allow it to…

As the U.S. tariff threats have prompted Canada to seek alternative export markets for its oil and gas, even the province of Quebec in eastern Canada—which ditched an LNG export plan four years ago—is entertaining the idea once again. While an LNG project on Canada’s West Coast is close to startup and more LNG projects on the Pacific Coast are being supported by major LNG traders, the East Coast on the Atlantic is receiving little attention. This may be rightly so, according to one advocacy group, Investors for Paris Compliance,…

Daniel Ives of Wedbush Securities raised his 12-month price target on Tesla to a Street-high $500 from $350 on Friday morning, citing the near-term launch of Tesla's autonomous ride-hailing Cybercabs as a major catalyst to spark the "golden age of autonomy."  "We believe the golden age of autonomous is now on the doorstep for Tesla with the Austin launch next month kicking off this key next chapter of growth for Musk & Co. and we are raising our price target from $350 to $500 reflecting this massive stage of valuation…

Energy companies worldwide are pursuing innovative renewable energy solutions in support of a green transition as more and more governments are introducing strict decarbonisation policies and offering tax breaks and other financial incentives for developing green energy projects. One nascent technology that is gaining traction is underwater turbines, also known as tidal or marine current turbines, with new projects popping up in various countries.  Scientists have long been optimistic about the potential for underwater turbines to produce…

Cities and countries around the globe are introducing strict new building regulations to support a green transition. From solar panels to heat pumps, governments are putting greater pressure on developers to incorporate clean technology and renewable energy into corporate, commercial, and residential construction. The real estate sector contributes a high proportion of global carbon emissions, both from constructing and powering buildings. Therefore, enforcing new sustainable construction and power standards can help governments cut emissions at…

India is boosting its support for Armenia, adding an additional factor to the already complicated security equation in the South Caucasus.  Armenia over the past five years has concluded deals worth roughly $1.5 billion to procure Indian arms, including anti-aircraft missiles, artillery systems, combat drones and munitions, Russian media outlets report.  Over the same period, arms sales to Armenia by Russia, Yerevan’s erstwhile strategic ally, have largely dried up. France has cut an additional estimated $250 million-worth of arms…

The energy storage sector is booming. As lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries increase in performance and drop in price, large-scale energy storage projects are taking off en masse. In fact, the growth of the energy storage sector now outpaces the growth rate of electric vehicle sales. For now, electric vehicles still dominate overall battery demand, but energy storage is growing so rapidly that the sector is expected to make up about a fifth of the market in the next five years, according to a forecast by Rho Motion, an energy transition consultancy.…

Via Metal Miner   With the United States and China ratcheting down the tariff war (for 90 days at least), many expected that the export of rare earths and permanent magnets would soon return to pre-trade war conditions, as MetalMiner’s weekly newsletter weighed in on in the past. However, that does not seem to be happening on the ground. Now, alarm bells are going off as market insiders anticipate a major shortage in global rare earth supplies. China Allow Some Export of Rare Earths There is a bit of positive news: China has granted…

Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of Seven democracies agreed during a meeting in western Canada that Russia could face further sanctions if it resists a push toward a cease-fire in its war in Ukraine. The G7 finance chiefs condemned Russia's "brutal war" in a communique on May 22 at the end of their meeting and said that if efforts to achieve a cease-fire failed, they would explore all possible options, including "further ramping up sanctions." The communique also said Russia's sovereign assets held in G7 jurisdictions…

A high-stakes arbitration kicks off Monday in London that could make or break Chevron’s $53 billion bid to acquire Hess Corp—and with it, a coveted 30% stake in Guyana’s booming Stabroek Block. ExxonMobil and CNOOC, Hess’s partners in the block, claim they have a right of first refusal on that stake, arguing the Chevron-Hess deal triggers the clause. But Chevron and Hess counter that the right doesn’t apply to full corporate mergers. The outcome rests on contractual fine print, but the implications are massive: Guyana’s…

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States came crashing down this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, following a 6-rig decrease last week. The total rig count in the US fell by 10 to 566 rigs, according to Baker Hughes, down 34 from this same time last year. The number of oil rigs fell by 8 to 465 after falling by 1 during the previous week—and down by 32 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs slipped by 2 this week, to 98 for a loss of 1 active gas rigs…

South Africa has officially launched the South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC), a new state-owned oil enterprise designed to consolidate and energize the country’s long-stalled hydrocarbons sector. Formed from the merger of PetroSA, iGas, and the Strategic Fuel Fund, SANPC will operate under the Central Energy Fund and is already integrating staff and assets to streamline operations. The aim? Reducing oil imports, bolstering energy security, and tapping into over R95 billion in potential investment. The move comes just months after…

South Africa has officially launched the South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC), a new state-owned oil enterprise designed to consolidate and energize the country’s long-stalled hydrocarbons sector. Formed from the merger of PetroSA, iGas, and the Strategic Fuel Fund, SANPC will operate under the Central Energy Fund and is already integrating staff and assets to streamline operations. The aim? Reducing oil imports, bolstering energy security, and tapping into over R95 billion in potential investment. The move comes just months after…

South Africa has officially launched the South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC), a new state-owned oil enterprise designed to consolidate and energize the country’s long-stalled hydrocarbons sector. Formed from the merger of PetroSA, iGas, and the Strategic Fuel Fund, SANPC will operate under the Central Energy Fund and is already integrating staff and assets to streamline operations. The aim? Reducing oil imports, bolstering energy security, and tapping into over R95 billion in potential investment. The move comes just months after…

South Africa has officially launched the South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC), a new state-owned oil enterprise designed to consolidate and energize the country’s long-stalled hydrocarbons sector. Formed from the merger of PetroSA, iGas, and the Strategic Fuel Fund, SANPC will operate under the Central Energy Fund and is already integrating staff and assets to streamline operations. The aim? Reducing oil imports, bolstering energy security, and tapping into over R95 billion in potential investment. The move comes just months after…

Kazakhstan is likely to top its oil production plan this year, due to the expansion of the Chevron-led Tengiz field, Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister Erlan Akkenzhenov said on Friday, in yet another snub at OPEC+ quotas. Earlier this year, Kazakhstan’s energy ministry said that the country plans to produce a total of 96.2 million tons of crude oil and condensate in 2025, or about 2 million barrels per day (bpd), which would be 9.7% higher compared to 2024. Now Kazakhstan will likely top the production plans for the year, Minister Akkenzhenov…

Suriname, the South American nation hoping to replicate Guyana’s oil boom, is voting on Sunday in presidential and general elections to decide who will oversee energy and oil policy in the country over the next five years. Suriname, a former Dutch colony which gained independence in 1975, has a population of just over 600,000 residents who will choose among five presidential candidates in the May 25 election. Incumbent President Chan Santokhi seeks a second five-year presidential term against four other contenders. The president’s biggest…