The International Monetary Fund is upbeat on Uzbekistan’s economic liberalization drive but cautions that much remains to be reformed before Tashkent can realize its goal of qualifying for World Trade Organization membership. Since Shavkat Mirziyoyev assumed the presidency in 2016, Uzbekistan has averaged 5.7 percent GDP growth annually, while achieving year-on-year employment growth of about 3.6 percent, the IMF states in its latest country report for Uzbekistan. The growth rate is projected to hover around 6 percent over the next few years.…

For years, Mexico has been exploiting its vast oil reserves to meet its energy needs and boost its export revenues. During this time, several governments largely overlooked the country’s renewable energy potential. Many regions of Mexico experience abundant sunlight throughout the year, while the north of the country has high levels of wind. However, to date, its renewable energy sector is somewhat underdeveloped. Despite having expanded its renewable energy capacity in recent years, Mexico still relies heavily on fossil fuels. However, greater…

India’s romance with cheap Russian oil is cooling—just a touch. Russian crude imports into India crept up 1% in the first half of 2025, totaling about 1.75 million barrels per day. That’s hardly a surge, considering the price allure that first pulled India deeper into Moscow’s oil orbit after the 2022 Ukraine invasion. And while Russia still holds the top supplier spot—accounting for 35% of India’s crude inflows—the real story isn’t the volumes. It’s the shrinking advantage. The discount on…

Via Metal Miner The Aluminum Monthly Metals Index (MMI) remained sideways with an upside bias. Overall, the index rose 1.99% from June to July as aluminum prices slowed their ascent. Track other MetalMiner monthly indexes here, and compare how the overall industrial metal market is performing. Midwest Premium Returns to the Upside Stabilization proved temporary for aluminum’s Midwest Premium. After finding a peak in early June followed by a modest decline, the premium returned to the upside. By early July, it managed to surpass its previous…

Researchers from three respectable universities (Durham, Oxford, and Toronto) just issued a paper that lays out a guide to exploring for underground hydrogen deposits and also claims that the planet’s reserves, theoretically, could supply all energy needs for so many years that you would write off the number as delusional hyperbole if we repeated it. (See Ballentine, et. al.“Natural hydrogen resource accumulation in the continental crust”, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment). We don’t know if the professors are right,…

TotalEnergies expects lower earnings in its upstream and LNG divisions for the second quarter amid a drop in oil, natural gas, and LNG prices compared to early this year and the same time last year.   In an update note ahead of the Q2 results due out on July 24, the French supermajor said that its exploration and production earnings are expected to reflect the $7 per barrel decline in oil prices in the second quarter compared to the first quarter.  Brent Crude prices averaged $67.90 per barrel in Q2, down from an average of $75.70…

TotalEnergies expects lower earnings in its upstream and LNG divisions for the second quarter amid a drop in oil, natural gas, and LNG prices compared to early this year and the same time last year.   In an update note ahead of the Q2 results due out on July 24, the French supermajor said that its exploration and production earnings are expected to reflect the $7 per barrel decline in oil prices in the second quarter compared to the first quarter.  Brent Crude prices averaged $67.90 per barrel in Q2, down from an average of $75.70…

Crude oil inventories in the United States decreased by 3.9 million barrels during the week ending July 11, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday. The build brings commercial stockpiles to 422.2 million barrels according to government data, which is still 8% below the five-year average for this time of year. The EIA’s data release follows a rocky Tuesday after conflicting API inventory data shook oil bulls to their core, with initial reports on X suggesting that crude oil inventories…

The UK government has reintroduced grants for electric vehicles (EVs) in a bid to boost lagging consumer demand, but industry insiders warn that most buyers may be left behind. Unveiled late last week, the new electric car grant will offer up to £3,750 off the price of a new EV, targeting models priced under £37,000 and meeting strict environmental production standards. Backed by £650m in public funding, the grant aims to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles ahead of key net-zero deadlines and regulatory targets facing…

The UK government has reintroduced grants for electric vehicles (EVs) in a bid to boost lagging consumer demand, but industry insiders warn that most buyers may be left behind. Unveiled late last week, the new electric car grant will offer up to £3,750 off the price of a new EV, targeting models priced under £37,000 and meeting strict environmental production standards. Backed by £650m in public funding, the grant aims to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles ahead of key net-zero deadlines and regulatory targets facing…

The UK government has reintroduced grants for electric vehicles (EVs) in a bid to boost lagging consumer demand, but industry insiders warn that most buyers may be left behind. Unveiled late last week, the new electric car grant will offer up to £3,750 off the price of a new EV, targeting models priced under £37,000 and meeting strict environmental production standards. Backed by £650m in public funding, the grant aims to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles ahead of key net-zero deadlines and regulatory targets facing…

The UK government has reintroduced grants for electric vehicles (EVs) in a bid to boost lagging consumer demand, but industry insiders warn that most buyers may be left behind. Unveiled late last week, the new electric car grant will offer up to £3,750 off the price of a new EV, targeting models priced under £37,000 and meeting strict environmental production standards. Backed by £650m in public funding, the grant aims to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles ahead of key net-zero deadlines and regulatory targets facing…

The United States could abandon the International Energy Agency (IEA) if the organization, created in the aftermath of the 1970s Arab oil embargo, doesn’t return to forecasting energy demand without strongly promoting green energy. “We will do one of two things: we will reform the way the IEA operates or we will withdraw,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright has told Bloomberg in an interview. “My strong preference is to reform it,” Secretary Wright added. The official echoes voices in the U.S. Republican party that…

Slovakia would drop its veto on the EU’s new sanctions against Russia if it receives an exemption to continue importing Russian pipeline gas for nearly another decade, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico says, as the European Union is struggling to reach a unanimous vote on the 18th sanctions package against Russia. Earlier this week, the EU failed to approve the package, which is set to include a floating oil price cap for Russia’s crude and a ban on the use of Nord Stream infrastructure, due to Slovakia’s veto. The ball…

Amid heated debates about how quickly and at what cost the world could reach net-zero emissions during constant geopolitical shifts and market turbulence, several oil-producing nations are doubling down on oil and their role in global crude supply. From the Middle East to Africa, South America, and even Europe, these are seven large or aspiring producers who are looking to boost their production in the coming years, with some also working on raising their oil production capacities. The UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of OPEC’s top…

Iraq’s plan to begin LNG imports this summer has unraveled, forcing a compressed reset of its floating terminal ambitions. With electricity demand surging and Iranian supply increasingly constrained, the Oil Ministry has relaunched its FSRU tender in a bid to secure regasification capacity in time for summer 2026. U.S.-based Excelerate Energy is now positioned as the most likely supplier, after an earlier agreement with UAE-based Breeze Investment failed to advance. The timing is critical. Baghdad is confronting another peak season without…

A growing share of the global economy is increasingly committed to large-scale, complex, and expensive undertakings involving massive infrastructure development and technological advancements, aka megaprojects. Annual worldwide spending on megaprojects such as high-speed railway systems, international airports, hydroelectric dams, motorways, power plants, wind and solar farms, as well as large public ICT systems to digitize tax, health, and pensions is estimated at between US$6 and US$8 trillion, or 8% of global GDP. Unfortunately, it has become…

The Energy Institute recently published its updated energy report, the 2025 Statistical Review of World Energy, showing data through the year 2024. In this post, I identify trends in the new data that I consider worrying. These trends help explain the strange behaviors that we have been seeing from governments recently. A major hidden issue is that prices never seem to rise high enough, for long enough, to prevent production of fossil fuels and other mineral resources from declining relative to what is needed for the world’s rising population.…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose sharply for the second week in a row, this time gaining an additional 19.10 million barrels in the week ending July 11. That’s on top of last week’s 7.1 million barrel build. It is the largest single week build reported by the API in at least a decade. Analysts were a mile off, estimating a 2.0-million-barrel draw. So far this year, crude oil inventories are up 30 million barrels, according to Oilprice calculations of API data, with…

While the industry chatters about electric dreams, General Motors is pouring $4 billion into the steel-and-combustion reality of gas-powered trucks and SUVs—an investment that will retool three U.S. plants to build more of what actually sells—and it’s placing big bets in Michigan. Starting in 2027, Escalades will roll off the line in Orion Township, Michigan, not Texas, and that same Michigan facility will also add production of GM’s money machines: the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. This isn’t a pivot—it’s…