Most European countries expect higher investments in their grid infrastructure through 2030 after more than doubling annual investments since 2019, the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) said in a report on Friday. A total of 22 out of 24 countries reviewed in the report raised annual investments in grids last year compared to 2019, with a 155% increase on average, ACER said in its Monitoring Report, Energy infrastructure development in Europe 2026. The highest growth in grid investments was seen in Germany, Greece,…

The chances of a U.S.-Iran deal are low and the next two months carry the greatest escalation risks that could derail the recovery of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, energy consultancy FGE NexantECA says after the U.S. midterm elections.  “Not only are we not close to a resolution, we are even worse than we were before the June MOU,” FGE NexantECA’s chairman Emeritus, Fereidun Fesharaki, told Bloomberg TV in an interview on Friday.  There is actually a high chance that the U.S. and Israel could strike Iran before…

December WTI crude oil is headed for one of its roughest weekly losses in months after the market shed $11.37, or 11.10%, from its opening price of $102.39. Prices posted a weekly high at $102.75 before breaking sharply to $86.65. Early Friday, the contract was trading near $91.58, still down heavily for the week. The decline was not driven by a sudden collapse in demand or a surprise rise in inventories. Traders began stripping out a portion of the war premium that lifted prices toward the October highs as U.S. midterm results raised hopes for…

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict Benjamin Netanyahu is using the Shin Bet to challenge an election his bloc lost. Shin Bet chief David Zini, whom Netanyahu appointed, is seeking to question four Arab party leaders, including Ra’am’s Mansour Abbas, over alleged foreign-funded interference, and he has presented no evidence. All but one of the agency’s election inquiries began after the results showed Netanyahu’s bloc losing. Election officials examined more than 1,000 fraud allegations, found none credible and certified…

Israel’s security establishment, in a panic of its own design, is referring to the Turkish-led defense bloc forming around Saudi Arabia as a “Sunni ring of fire,” the successor to the Shiite ring Iran built from Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iraqi militias. The bloc’s founding document is the Mecca pact, signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, with Turkey’s parliament set to ratify this week, just days after Egypt’s parliament voted to let Sisi defend Saudi territory. For Riyadh, this bloc is intended to defend…

Asia’s fuel oil refining margins and benchmark prices have slumped this week after the outcome of the U.S. midterms boosted hopes that there could be de-escalation in the Middle East allowing more oil products to move out of the Strait of Hormuz.   The fuel oil market has also softened in recent weeks as more oil is exiting the Gulf and going to Asia’s demand centers.  This week, the refining margin for high-sulfur fuel oil (HSFO) in Asia plunged to a discount of $2.29 per barrel on Thursday, compared to a premium of…

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), a major Indian state-owned refiner, is struggling to hire tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz and pick up cargoes in the Gulf, chairman Vikas Kaushal has told Bloomberg. Despite the recovery of crude oil flows from the Gulf via Hormuz to nearly pre-war levels, buyers continue to struggle with scarce vessel availability and last-minute decisions by shipowners not to brave the Strait to load crude oil from inside the Persian Gulf. “The main challenge has been hiring of ships. Even if we have…

In February 2026, President Trump announced one of the most ambitious industrial security initiatives of his presidency: Project Vault, a $12 billion strategic stockpile of critical minerals and rare earths designed to protect American manufacturers and the defense industrial base from supply disruptions. This announcement was backed by a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, the largest single financing in the agency’s 92-year history, plus roughly $2 billion in private capital from companies like General Motors, Boeing, Google,…

Oil prices reversed their recent downtrend on Thursday, a day after Democrats swept control of both the House and Senate, creating a potential legislative check on U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. Brent crude was up 4.0% to trade at $98.38 per barrel at 3:15 pm ET, while WTI gained 2.9% to $90.65, with prices rising for the first time in four sessions after plunging to a near two-month low on Wednesday. U.S. natural gas prices were flat at $2.95/MMBtu, while European gas prices rebounded 1.9% to €89.72/MWh. The U.S. stock…

The biggest U.S. shale producers have remained conservative in spending on drilling this year despite the spike in the average WTI crude price by $20 per barrel compared to last year. While signs have emerged that smaller independents have started to take advantage of the higher oil prices to increase drilling, the biggest shale producers are keeping their powder dry amid unprecedented uncertainty in global markets. One of the top shale producers and the biggest Permian-only focused driller, Diamondback Energy, signaled this week that it will not…

Asian countries that depend on oil and gas imports for their energy security are hoping that the results of the U.S. midterms will lead to an end to the war in the Middle East and, consequently, an end to the severe fuel crisis Asian countries are experiencing. The hopes may be premature, however. Trump is still president, and Democrats are no fans of Iran. Asia has been the hardest-hit by the fallout of the U.S. and Israel offensive against Iran that began on February 28. For geographical reasons, the Middle East is the top supplier of hydrocarbons…

India’s clean energy growth is far surpassing expectations and quickly establishing the world’s most populous country as one of the major global players in clean energy markets. India is now the second-fastest-growing clean energy market in the world, and the world’s second-largest producer of solar panels, following China. And according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the country’s embrace of clean energy as a key part of its economic development is already paying off.  The IEA’s India…

Gas peakers have always had one decisive economic advantage: they were relatively cheap to build. A peaking plant could sit idle for most of the year, then start when demand and electricity prices surged. Its fuel was expensive and its efficiency often mediocre, but low upfront costs made that acceptable. The owner did not need thousands of operating hours to recover an enormous initial investment. Australia has now crossed an important threshold. The country’s CSIRO, working with the Australian Energy Market Operator, finds that batteries…

ConocoPhillips more than doubled its third-quarter profit to $4 billion and raised its quarterly dividend by 11% on Thursday, joining a growing list of oil majors reporting enormous earnings gains as higher crude prices offset production disruptions caused by the Iran war. The Houston-based producer reported adjusted earnings of $3.27 per share, comfortably beating Wall Street's $2.97 estimate. Net income jumped from $1.7 billion a year earlier, despite a decline in production. The company's average realized price climbed 32% year over year to…

ConocoPhillips more than doubled its third-quarter profit to $4 billion and raised its quarterly dividend by 11% on Thursday, joining a growing list of oil majors reporting enormous earnings gains as higher crude prices offset production disruptions caused by the Iran war. The Houston-based producer reported adjusted earnings of $3.27 per share, comfortably beating Wall Street's $2.97 estimate. Net income jumped from $1.7 billion a year earlier, despite a decline in production. The company's average realized price climbed 32% year over year to…

ConocoPhillips more than doubled its third-quarter profit to $4 billion and raised its quarterly dividend by 11% on Thursday, joining a growing list of oil majors reporting enormous earnings gains as higher crude prices offset production disruptions caused by the Iran war. The Houston-based producer reported adjusted earnings of $3.27 per share, comfortably beating Wall Street's $2.97 estimate. Net income jumped from $1.7 billion a year earlier, despite a decline in production. The company's average realized price climbed 32% year over year to…

France’s present economic woes signal serious trouble ahead for the coherence of the European Union. On Wednesday evening, the French National Assembly unanimously rejected the government’s proposed budget, provoking further fears in the bond market. A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that the French government’s budget deficit now stood at 5.1 per cent, the worst it had been for nearly a quarter of a century. Its national debt now stands at over 115 percent of its GDP. Last Friday, the credit ratings agency Fitch downgraded…

Oil prices surged Thursday, recovering some of Wednesday's staggering losses as traders reconsidered whether the U.S. midterm election results would actually bring a swift end to the Iran war. Brent crude had climbed to $98.01 per barrel by early afternoon, gaining $3.39, or 3.58%, while West Texas Intermediate rose $2.21, or 2.51%, to $90.33. Both benchmarks continued climbing later in the session. The rebound followed Wednesday's extraordinary selloff, when Brent plunged $8.98, or 8.7%, to settle at $94.62. WTI shed $7.97, or 8.3%, closing at…

Oil prices surged Thursday, recovering some of Wednesday's staggering losses as traders reconsidered whether the U.S. midterm election results would actually bring a swift end to the Iran war. Brent crude had climbed to $98.01 per barrel by early afternoon, gaining $3.39, or 3.58%, while West Texas Intermediate rose $2.21, or 2.51%, to $90.33. Both benchmarks continued climbing later in the session. The rebound followed Wednesday's extraordinary selloff, when Brent plunged $8.98, or 8.7%, to settle at $94.62. WTI shed $7.97, or 8.3%, closing at…

Oil prices surged Thursday, recovering some of Wednesday's staggering losses as traders reconsidered whether the U.S. midterm election results would actually bring a swift end to the Iran war. Brent crude had climbed to $98.01 per barrel by early afternoon, gaining $3.39, or 3.58%, while West Texas Intermediate rose $2.21, or 2.51%, to $90.33. Both benchmarks continued climbing later in the session. The rebound followed Wednesday's extraordinary selloff, when Brent plunged $8.98, or 8.7%, to settle at $94.62. WTI shed $7.97, or 8.3%, closing at…