Upstream oil and gas—industry-speak for the exploration and production end of the business—has always been a game of geology, timing, and money. Right now, U.S. oil majors are holding the better hand in the world of E&P. And the reason is simple: they’ve got the Permian, and Europe doesn’t. According to Wood Mackenzie, crude and condensate production across the U.S. Lower 48 has hit an all-time high of 11.3 million barrels per day, but is on the cusp of peaking. They forecast output will start a slow decline by year-end,…

The world needs $18.2 trillion in new oil and gas investments in the period until 2050 in order to secure a sufficient supply. This is what OPEC warned in the 2025 edition of its World Oil Outlook. Yet the International Energy Agency continues to believe oil demand growth is going to peak before 2030, suggesting there is no such need for investments. Are both talking up their respective book? According to OPEC, global oil demand will reach 123 million barrels daily in 2050. That would be up from a projected 105 million barrels daily this year,…

Combined with existing tariffs, the 93.5% preliminary anti-dumping tariffs the U.S. Commerce Department announced this week on anode-grade graphite imported from China, targeting nearly $350 million in goods, promises to deal a major blow to battery producers. It would bring the tariffs to 160% on the notion that Chinese graphite is being sold in the U.S. below fair market value.   And it gets worse than that for some Chinese producers. China’s Huzhou Kaijin New Energy Technology and Shanghai Shaosheng Knitted Sweat, specifically,…