While oil markets have calmed somewhat at the start of this week after a period of intense volatility, developments in either Ukraine or Iran might soon spark another significant move. Rome will host the fifth round of US-Iran talks this upcoming weekend, whilst the Trump administration is ratcheting up sanctions pressure on Iranian shipping companies and Chinese buyers of Iranian oil, having OFAC-listed two Chinese refiners last month.- Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, questioned the viability of a deal with the United States, saying…

Saudi Arabia’s goal is long-term oil market stability, while the Kingdom is always ready for multiple oil price scenarios, Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning, Faisal Alibrahim, said on Tuesday. “We're always ready for scenarios - multiple scenarios, and we have buffers,” Alibrahim said at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha. “We have the long-term fiscal planning and medium-term frameworks that help us adjust depending on what scenario actually plays out,” the Saudi official added. On the energy markets and oil, Saudi…

Australia’s Woodside Energy, the developer of the Louisiana LNG export project, expects global natural gas demand to jump by 50% by the end of the decade, chief executive Meg O’Neill said at an industry conference on Tuesday. Woodside Energy, the biggest natural gas producer in Australia and developer of LNG projects at home and abroad, has seen customers willing to lock in LNG supply into the 2040s, the executive said at the World Gas Conference in Beijing. “The message is very clear, consistent, around the desire for more affordable…

Australia’s Woodside Energy, the developer of the Louisiana LNG export project, expects global natural gas demand to jump by 50% by the end of the decade, chief executive Meg O’Neill said at an industry conference on Tuesday. Woodside Energy, the biggest natural gas producer in Australia and developer of LNG projects at home and abroad, has seen customers willing to lock in LNG supply into the 2040s, the executive said at the World Gas Conference in Beijing. “The message is very clear, consistent, around the desire for more affordable…

Chinese imports of Russian crude oil slumped to below 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, down by 13%, while imports from Malaysia, the biggest trans-shipment hub for Iran’s oil, nearly doubled from a year earlier.  China’s imports from Russia, its single biggest supplier of crude, fell by 12.9% on the year to 1.96 million bpd in April, according to Chinese customs data in tons converted into barrels per day by Reuters.  Russian sales in China in April also declined month over month, by 5.8% from 2.08 million bpd in…

Oil prices are stuck in a rut, with Brent hovering near $65 and WTI not far behind. The White House has dialed tariffs back—for now—but Washington’s 150-country trade warning last week has traders and executives bracing for more volatility. But still, a handful of oil and gas stocks are proving they can still deliver, regardless of the current macro whiplash. While the S&P Energy sector remains down slightly for the year, some names are either outperforming or building strong forward momentum.  Here’s our latest…

Developers of U.S. LNG export projects have started taking final investment decisions on new facilities this year, with several plans expected to add in 2025 to Woodside’s Louisiana LNG approval, despite rising construction costs due to President Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs. The biggest LNG developers are confident they would give the investment go-ahead to their projects sooner rather than later, top executives said on the companies’ earnings calls. Developers of at least seven U.S. LNG projects have recently said that…

Last week, Republican legislators caused an uproar in wind and solar circles by proposing what amounts to a decimation of subsidies for these industries—and EVs as well. But the lawmakers did not stop with wind and solar. They are cutting incentives for nuclear as well. The nuclear industry is up in arms. It has AI movers and shakers on its side. Last Monday, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce proposed phasing out tax credits linked to climate policies stipulated in Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. This, per the Committee, will…

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq has formalized two major energy agreements with U.S. firms HKN Energy and WesternZagros in Washington, D.C., Kurdish media reported on Monday, in deals valued at a combined $110 billion, despite a legal showdown with the federal government of Iraq over control of the country’s oil exports.   The recent signing of these substantial energy agreements between the KRG and American companies raises questions about the legal and political implications, given the ongoing disputes…

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq has formalized two major energy agreements with U.S. firms HKN Energy and WesternZagros in Washington, D.C., Kurdish media reported on Monday, in deals valued at a combined $110 billion, despite a legal showdown with the federal government of Iraq over control of the country’s oil exports.   The recent signing of these substantial energy agreements between the KRG and American companies raises questions about the legal and political implications, given the ongoing disputes…

China installed a record 60 gigawatts (GW) of new solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the first quarter of 2025 – the highest ever recorded in a first quarter in the country’s history, according to Rystad Energy research and analysis. Rooftop PV accounted for 60%, or 36 GW, of that total, marking the largest quarterly capacity addition for distributed PV in China’s history. The surge was largely driven by the urgency to meet policy deadlines set by the National Energy Administration’s (NEA) new guidelines, which were released…

Recent events in America's air transport system suggest that the system is becoming more prone to dangerous failures. Those failures include a January 29 mid-air collision between an Army helicopter and a passenger jet Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan National Airport; a harrowing near miss between a landing passenger aircraft and an unauthorized business jet crossing the runway; a plane taxiing to the gate in Denver when an engine caught fire leading to the evacuation of all passengers, all of whom survived; and a blackout of air traffic…

Violent clashes in Tripoli have forced shipping companies to divert vessels away from the capital's port, raising concerns over the security of the country's vital energy exports, Lloyds reported on Monday.  The unrest erupted following the assassination of Abdel Ghani al-Kikli, commander of the Stability Support Apparatus (SSA), leading to fierce battles between rival militias. The Government of National Unity (GNU), led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, has repeatedly claimed that a ceasefire has been agreed; however, any ceasefires…

For years, natural gas has been hailed as a bridge fuel that will play a critical role in the transition to renewable energy and low-carbon fuels. While coal remains the most important fossil fuel in the power sector, accounting for 35% of global electricity generation in 2024, natural gas was second at 20%, with gas rapidly replacing coal-fired generation thanks to its lower emissions profile. Natural gas is gaining further prominence in the current era of surging power demand growth: Last year, Morgan Stanley predicted that the U.S. natural gas…

When I relocated to the UK from New York in 1984, the Cold War was at its peak. US nuclear and conventional forces were spread across Europe and fears of a Soviet invasion or nuclear exchange were ever-present. In the UK, another critical strategic concern was the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom (GIUK) gap, which are two stretches of the North Atlantic separating these three countries. During the Cold War, Soviet naval forces aimed to control this gap to access the broader North Atlantic and block NATO reinforcements to Europe, a scenario famously…

It was first-term U.S. President Donald Trump who ordered the 8 May 2018 unilateral withdrawal of his country from the ‘nuclear deal’ (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA) with Iran. He believed, with some justification according to several U.S. and Iranian sources spoken to at the time by OilPrice.com, that Iran was simply taking the benefits of reduced sanctions on it while giving away little in its nuclear programme and other activities that the deal was supposed to prevent. It is now second-term President Trump who last…

China has approved plans to build 10 new nuclear reactors for 200 billion yuan ($27.7 billion), positioning it to surpass the U.S. as the world’s largest nuclear power producer by 2030, according to Nikkei Asia. The decision, made at a State Council meeting last month, includes eight Hualong One reactors—developed by state-owned firms based on U.S. and French designs—and two CAP1000 units, based on Westinghouse’s AP1000 model. The reactors will add about 12,000 megawatts of capacity. Construction will take place along the…

U.S. ethane production and exports are set to benefit from petrochemical firms in Asia shifting feedstock from naphtha to the cheaper ethane as chemicals margins shrink. Ethane, a natural gas liquid primarily extracted from raw natural gas during processing, is mainly used as a feedstock for ethylene production, one of the most important building blocks in the petrochemical industry. Some petrochemical producers in Asia, including in South Korea, Thailand, and China, have been looking to boost the use of ethane, especially such sourced from the…

U.S. ethane production and exports are set to benefit from petrochemical firms in Asia shifting feedstock from naphtha to the cheaper ethane as chemicals margins shrink. Ethane, a natural gas liquid primarily extracted from raw natural gas during processing, is mainly used as a feedstock for ethylene production, one of the most important building blocks in the petrochemical industry. Some petrochemical producers in Asia, including in South Korea, Thailand, and China, have been looking to boost the use of ethane, especially such sourced from the…

The UK’s benchmark carbon price surged by more than 8% on Monday after the UK and the EU agreed to link their emission trading systems in the first major reset of trade relations since Brexit. The UK’s government announced on Monday that the UK has secured a new agreement with the EU post Brexit, which will include “closer co-operation on emissions through linking our respective Emissions Trading Systems.” This, the UK government says, will improve the UK’s energy security and avoid businesses being hit by the EU’s…