Net zero costs which push up energy prices and “anchor” businesses’ ambitions to grow must end, the boss of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) will tell government officials at an event in London on Thursday evening.  Rain Newton-Smith, the chief executive of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), is set to urge the Treasury and Department for Business and Trade to roll out an industrial strategy that tackles high UK energy costs which currently far surpass prices seen in competing economies such as France,…

The European Commission has given Bulgaria the go-ahead to join the eurozone single currency region as of January 1, 2026, the country's second major step in just one year on its path to full integration into the European Union. The commission, which met on June 4 to convey its decision on the issue, said Bulgaria fulfils the four nominal convergence criteria that are used to evaluate whether a country is ready for euro adoption. "The euro is a tangible symbol of European strength and unity," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.…

Japan’s top refiner, Eneos Corp, has reported an unplanned shutdown at its 77,000 bpd No.3 crude distillation unit (CDU) at the Kawasaki refinery near Tokyo. The outage began June 4 with no timeline given for a restart. While the scale of the disruption is relatively modest in global terms, the implications run far deeper. This is the latest in a string of outages for Eneos—one CDU was just brought back online in Mizushima after planned maintenance, while another in Sakai remains offline until July. But more critically, it reflects…

The United States posted a record surge in industrial exports in April, driven by strong global demand for materials such as chemicals, metals, and petroleum byproducts — even as crude oil exports fell by over $1.1 billion, highlighting volatility in energy trade patterns. According to U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday, total exports of industrial supplies and materials rose by $10.4 billion month-over-month — a key driver behind the U.S. trade deficit narrowing to $74.6 billion. However, crude oil exports, which usually serve…

The ambitious plans of Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Sudani to reinvigorate paused agreements and forge new initiatives in the state’s vitality sectors with the world’s energy giants—from Eastern Asia to Europe and the U.S.—were seen as potential drivers for achieving energy independence and rapid development. These moves also seemed to bolster his bid for a second term as Prime Minister. However, recent developments show a difficult road ahead, despite significant steps taken toward his goal. Iraq’s energy infrastructure,…

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is the most promising lever known today to accelerate progress toward a net zero future, says Delta Air Lines. The clean jet fuel, which can be made from used cooking oil, wastes, or plants, reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by up to 80%, the aviation industry says. However, SAF faces many challenges on the runway to take off. Scale and cost are the two biggest and interconnected challenges for the industry to begin replacing petroleum-based kerosene. High Costs, Low Availability “Unfortunately, there…

Calgary-based Vermilion Energy Inc. will sell its assets in the United States for $88 million (C$120 million), which will complete its exit from the U.S. and allow it to reduce debt and focus on natural gas assets in Canada and Europe. The assets in the sale consist of about 5,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day boe/d of production, of which 81% is oil and liquids, as well as 10 million barrels of oil equivalent of proved developed producing reserves, Vermilion Energy said on Thursday. Vermilion Energy expects to close the transaction in the…

Calgary-based Vermilion Energy Inc. will sell its assets in the United States for $88 million (C$120 million), which will complete its exit from the U.S. and allow it to reduce debt and focus on natural gas assets in Canada and Europe. The assets in the sale consist of about 5,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day boe/d of production, of which 81% is oil and liquids, as well as 10 million barrels of oil equivalent of proved developed producing reserves, Vermilion Energy said on Thursday. Vermilion Energy expects to close the transaction in the…

Calgary-based Vermilion Energy Inc. will sell its assets in the United States for $88 million (C$120 million), which will complete its exit from the U.S. and allow it to reduce debt and focus on natural gas assets in Canada and Europe. The assets in the sale consist of about 5,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day boe/d of production, of which 81% is oil and liquids, as well as 10 million barrels of oil equivalent of proved developed producing reserves, Vermilion Energy said on Thursday. Vermilion Energy expects to close the transaction in the…

US President Donald Trump says his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, warned him "very strongly" of Russia's intention to respond to Ukraine's drone attack, which struck dozens of long-range bomber aircraft across Russian regions over the weekend. In a post on Truth Social on June 4, Trump described his latest phone call with Putin as a "good conversation," though he noted it was not the kind of conversation that would lead to immediate peace. According to Trump, the call lasted 75 minutes, and Ukraine's surprise drone attack, carried out by…

Europe’s benchmark natural gas prices rose early on Thursday as the maintenance season on gas infrastructure in Norway, the top supplier to Europe, began. Dutch TTF Natural Gas Futures, the benchmark for Europe’s gas trading, were rising by 2% as of 12:15 p.m. Amsterdam time on Thursday. Yearly maintenance works started this week on the Kollsnes gas processing plant in Norway, which limits pipeline gas flows to Europe from Norway, its single largest gas supplier. Three years ago, Norway replaced Russia as the biggest gas supplier to…

Europe’s benchmark natural gas prices rose early on Thursday as the maintenance season on gas infrastructure in Norway, the top supplier to Europe, began. Dutch TTF Natural Gas Futures, the benchmark for Europe’s gas trading, were rising by 2% as of 12:15 p.m. Amsterdam time on Thursday. Yearly maintenance works started this week on the Kollsnes gas processing plant in Norway, which limits pipeline gas flows to Europe from Norway, its single largest gas supplier. Three years ago, Norway replaced Russia as the biggest gas supplier to…

Russian crude oil production stayed just below the country’s quota in the OPEC+ agreement in May, unidentified sources with knowledge of the data told Bloomberg on Thursday. Russia classified its oil and gas production data in early 2022, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine. Therefore, the market relies on ship-monitoring data to track exports, anonymous sources familiar with the actual numbers, and calculations based on observed exports and domestic refining. According to Bloomberg’s sources, Russia’s oil production averaged…

Iraq’s federal government holds the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) legally responsible for continued oil smuggling operations from Kurdistan outside Iraq, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said on Thursday. The ministry “reserves the right to continue to take all legal actions in this regard,” it added in a press release, in which it called on the Kurdistan Region Government once again to comply with the Iraqi Constitution, the Decisions of the Federal Court and the other relevant laws, including the General Budget Law. All these laws…

Energy investments this year are set to hit $3.3 trillion on the back of a strong increase in spending on things such as wind and solar, the International Energy Agency has forecast. In its latest World Energy Investment report, the agency also said that China will cement its position as the top energy investor globally this year. The IEA noted that the surge in energy investments will materialize despite significant challenges such as muted economic growth and uncertainty related to geopolitics and trade policies. What’s more, the IEA believes…

Crude oil prices reversed their trajectory from earlier this week, trending lower today after the American Petroleum Institute reported an estimated inventory rise in both gasoline and middle distillates, and Saudi Arabia cut its oil prices for Asian buyers to an almost four-year low. Brent crude was trading at $64.76 per barrel at the time of writing, with West Texas Intermediate at $62.59 per barrel, both down from Wednesday’s close, after Saudi Arabia lowered its oil prices for July for the second month in a row and the API reported a…

A week ago, the 39th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting was held via videoconference, chaired by Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy. According to a press release, the group pledged to “develop a mechanism to assess the maximum sustainable production capacity (MSC) of member countries that will be used as reference for 2027 production baselines”. Whereas the long-term nature of the undertaking elicited little response from oil markets, commodity analysts at Standard Chartered have noted that…

It has been over two years since the Baghdad-based Federal Government of Iraq (FGI) placed an embargo on independent oil exports from the Erbil-based Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). The legal basis for the halting of these essential flows to the finances of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan was the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) order that they would not be resumed until Turkey paid the FGI the US$1.5 billion in damages for these allegedly unauthorised oil exports over many previous years. That said, the real reason why the…

India is advancing efforts to boost renewable energy use even as the world’s third-largest crude oil importer is leading global oil demand growth. Indian Oil Corporation, the country’s top refiner, plans to replace fossil fuel-made hydrogen with green hydrogen – made from electrolysis – at one of its refineries. Indian Oil has recently finalized the cost for its green hydrogen plant in the Panipat Refinery & Petrochemical Complex, which will be India’s biggest renewable hydrogen production facility when it is commissioned,…

Tariff whiplash under the Trump administration has raised a lot of concerns about the United States’ relationship with its first- and second-largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico. This is especially true for energy trade, which all members of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) depend on to keep their economies healthy. Experts contend that recognizing the vital role of energy trade for all parties, and strengthening those relationships, is critical in these volatile times. While this is true for all of North America,…