China and the United States are facing off for nuclear energy dominance on the world stage. The United States has the world’s largest nuclear energy production capacity, but China has the fastest-growing nuclear fleet. China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (15FYP), released back in March, sets out a bold nuclear power strategy for Beijing, aiming to continue to build the nation’s own nuclear fleet while also intensifying China’s presence in international nuclear energy markets, particularly in emerging economies. Meanwhile, in the…

The Canadian federal government may reconsider a plan to privatize the Trans Mountain oil pipeline and keep it state-owned amid a surge in appetite for Canadian crude to replace lost Middle Eastern barrels. “The prior narrative had been that this should be returning to private hands,” the head of the government entity that owns Trans Mountain said at an event this week, as quoted by the Financial Post. “That was in a different market and that was in a different time,” Elizabeth Wademan also said. Indeed, this is a very different…

During President Trump's ongoing state visit to China, he and President Xi Jinping agreed that the ‌Strait of ‌Hormuz must be open for ‌the free flow of energy. They along with their senior officials have expressed agreement that no country can be allowed to exact shipping tolls in the Strait of Hormuz. Following this, Thursday saw Iranian state media proclaim that some 30 Chinese vessels are being allowed safe passage by Iran. Bloomberg also reports, "The vessels were allowed to pass the Strait of Hormuz…

Kazakh officials are haggling with a Rosatom subsidiary, asserting that the Russian entity has failed to fulfill contractual obligations under a uranium mining agreement. Kazatomprom, Kazakhstan’s nuclear energy entity, filed a complaint in early 2026, asserting that the Rosatom-associated company, identified as Stepnogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine (SGCC), violated an agreement covering the Budenovskoye joint venture, which is engaged in uranium mining in Kazakhstan’s Turkestan Region.  SGCC was accused of various financial…

Taiwan’s LNG problem has turned from a diversification debate into an energy-security test. The island is 99% dependent on imported natural gas, and in 2025 roughly one-third of its 23.6 Mt of LNG imports came from the Gulf region – mostly from Qatar (almost 8 Mt) and another 200,000 t from the UAE. With Qatar’s gas production shut down and the Strait of Hormuz blocked, already loaded LNG tankers are trapped inside the Gulf. Taiwan received no LNG cargoes from Qatar or the UAE in April and May. For a country where gas-fired plants…

Russia just found itself on the right side of the oil shock. As the Iran war continues to choke flows through the Strait of Hormuz and scramble global crude markets, Moscow’s flagship Urals blend is essentially printing money. For tax purposes, Russia will calculate May oil revenues using an average Urals price of $94.87 per barrel, the highest level since October 2023, according to Bloomberg calculations based on government data. That translates into nearly 7,300 rubles per barrel, up 18% from April. And nearly 60% higher than a year ago.…

For decades, power in Iran was centralized in the hands of a single man: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But since his killing at the onset of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28, decision-making in Tehran has become increasingly decentralized, experts say. Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since he succeeded his father in early March. In his absence, a cohort of senior Iranian officials have been effectively running the country. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), a dominant political player, has now become…

China's gasoline demand has dropped since the Iran war upended the global oil markets and is on track to decline more than previously expected this year, due to the higher prices and the continued push toward electric vehicles. China could see its gasoline demand slump by as much as 5.5% this year from 2025, GL Consulting said in its latest forecast reported by Bloomberg on Thursday. Before the war, the China-based consultancy had expected a 5.2% decline in gasoline consumption for 2026. The expected 5.5% drop in Chinese gasoline consumption would…

China's gasoline demand has dropped since the Iran war upended the global oil markets and is on track to decline more than previously expected this year, due to the higher prices and the continued push toward electric vehicles. China could see its gasoline demand slump by as much as 5.5% this year from 2025, GL Consulting said in its latest forecast reported by Bloomberg on Thursday. Before the war, the China-based consultancy had expected a 5.2% decline in gasoline consumption for 2026. The expected 5.5% drop in Chinese gasoline consumption would…

The war in Iran has choked natural gas supplies across Europe and Asia, leading to fuel rationing and blackouts, but in the heart of US shale country, the market is swimming in supply. Gas in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico is so plentiful that producers are having to pay buyers to get rid of it. Bloomberg reports that there is so much inventory that it exceeds available pipeline capacity. “Prices aren’t merely cheap, they’re negative,” states the April 29 article, noting that Permian gas hit an all-time low…

Chinese state oil giant Sinopec is opening a major ultra-deep shale gas find after obtaining official government approval for proven geological reserves of 235.687 billion cubic meters in the Ziyang Dongfeng field in the Sichuan province. China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec, as it is more commonly known, has announced that the Ministry of Natural Resources of China approved its reserves validation at the shale gas field, marking the creation of China's first ultra-deep, 100-billion-cubic-meter-level shale gas field. Sinopec has…

Chinese state oil giant Sinopec is opening a major ultra-deep shale gas find after obtaining official government approval for proven geological reserves of 235.687 billion cubic meters in the Ziyang Dongfeng field in the Sichuan province. China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec, as it is more commonly known, has announced that the Ministry of Natural Resources of China approved its reserves validation at the shale gas field, marking the creation of China's first ultra-deep, 100-billion-cubic-meter-level shale gas field. Sinopec has…

Chinese state oil giant Sinopec is opening a major ultra-deep shale gas find after obtaining official government approval for proven geological reserves of 235.687 billion cubic meters in the Ziyang Dongfeng field in the Sichuan province. China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec, as it is more commonly known, has announced that the Ministry of Natural Resources of China approved its reserves validation at the shale gas field, marking the creation of China's first ultra-deep, 100-billion-cubic-meter-level shale gas field. Sinopec has…

The West’s international energy watchdog has warned that oil stockpiles were being drained at a record rate last month as the US’s war in Iran continues to choke supply in an “unprecedented” supply shock. The International Energy Agency revealed that around 4m barrels of oil a day were tapped from back-up supplies in April, within a detailed report on the global market. It said: “More than ten weeks after the war in the Middle East began, mounting supply losses from the Strait of Hormuz are depleting global oil inventories…

Despite the easing of the Chinese restrictions on fuel exports, shipments so far in May have been nearly half the volumes from before the Iran war, the Financial Times reports, citing data from Kpler. Significantly lower Chinese gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel exports may not be enough to alleviate the fuel crisis in the rest of Asia, which is reeling from the worst oil supply shock in history. China issues fuel export quotas for both state and independent refiners on a regular basis. State-owned energy companies get the bulk of these quotas. Days…

Despite the easing of the Chinese restrictions on fuel exports, shipments so far in May have been nearly half the volumes from before the Iran war, the Financial Times reports, citing data from Kpler. Significantly lower Chinese gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel exports may not be enough to alleviate the fuel crisis in the rest of Asia, which is reeling from the worst oil supply shock in history. China issues fuel export quotas for both state and independent refiners on a regular basis. State-owned energy companies get the bulk of these quotas. Days…

China moved this week to take tighter control of its rare earths producers amid an escalating tit-for-tat battle with Washington over everything from tariffs and semiconductor warfare to pressure over Iran and Hormuz. At the same time, an ominous Pentagon deadline looms large, with the entire American defense system to be banned from using any Chinese-origin rare earths materials beginning in January 2027. With fewer than eight months on the clock, Washington is sounding the alarms at full blast, and the Department of War is leading the clarion…

Over the past couple of months, physical oil cargo premiums have surged as markets reacted to the threat of physical supply disruption, forcing buyers to pay significantly higher prices for guaranteed, prompt delivery of crude oil. As the conflict escalated and Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, buyers scrambled to secure immediate, non-Middle Eastern "prompt barrels", driving up the spot price premiums for available cargoes. North Sea Forties crude spiked to nearly $150 a barrel by mid-April, exceeding the 2008 peak. Many commodity experts predicted…

The Middle Eastern crisis has prompted a reprioritization among international oil companies. Previously unattractive drilling destinations are suddenly looking quite attractive—even Alaska. The oldest oil and gas producing part of the United States has for years been out of the spotlight as the industry moves to cheaper and faster-growing locations. The only news of any substance about Alaska recently was the Biden administration’s approval of the Willow project, led by ConocoPhillips, which was set to boost the state’s oil output…

Researchers are increasingly employing artificial intelligence to help them solve some of the biggest challenges facing the energy sector – including, ironically enough, the massive spike in energy demand caused by large language models themselves. The current and projected rise in energy demand from AI data centers is driving a wave of investment into next-gen energy alternatives that can create huge amounts of baseload power without emitting large amounts of greenhouse gases. One of these potential ‘silver bullet’ technologies…