Chevron has signed an MoU with Syria’s state oil company and a Qatari partner to evaluate offshore oil and gas potential in Syrian territorial waters in an agreement that covers data access and early-stage technical assessment only. It includes no drilling commitment, no development plan, and no production timeline. It does not alter Syria’s current oil output. It’s a tantalizing prospect. Syria’s coastline sits within the Levant Basin, the same petroleum system that delivered Tamar, Leviathan, and Karish offshore Israel.…

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict Iran seized two foreign-crewed oil tankers in the Persian Gulf this week, taking the crews into custody and accusing the vessels of carrying smuggled fuel. The operation was carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps near Farsi Island, an area Iran routinely uses to assert control over shipping lanes. The seizures came just before U.S. and Iranian officials are due to meet in Oman on Friday, for talks that remain loosely defined. On the water, Iran is reminding everyone that it can raise costs and…

Tankers carrying a total of up to 12 million barrels of crude oil are either en route or close to China in East Asian waters, waiting for buyers in the world’s top crude importer, as India is pulling back.    Five of these tankers signal ‘for orders’ or ‘China for orders’ as their status, per data intelligence firm Kpler cited by Bloomberg on Friday.   ‘For orders’ typically means the cargo doesn’t have a destination port or buyer. Six other vessels are en route to offshore Singapore…

Russian oil exports to India fell to less than 25% of the country’s total imports in December, from 34% in November, hitting the lowest in 38 months, The Hindu reported, citing data from the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Russian oil purchases in December were worth $2.71 billion, down from $3.72 billion a month earlier, and from a high of $5.87 billion in May 2024. In volume terms, India imported 5.8 million tons of Russian crude in December, or about 1.39 million barrels daily. This was the lowest monthly total since February…

Russian oil exports to India fell to less than 25% of the country’s total imports in December, from 34% in November, hitting the lowest in 38 months, The Hindu reported, citing data from the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Russian oil purchases in December were worth $2.71 billion, down from $3.72 billion a month earlier, and from a high of $5.87 billion in May 2024. In volume terms, India imported 5.8 million tons of Russian crude in December, or about 1.39 million barrels daily. This was the lowest monthly total since February…

Ahead of the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks on Friday, Tehran signaled that the negotiations will likely be a long process, dashing hopes of a quick and more sustainable de-escalation of tensions in the key oil-producing Middle Eastern regions.   Oil prices initially rose early on Friday in Asian trade on the news, with Brent climbing to $68 per barrel and WTI Crude prices trading at $64 a barrel, before both fell back later in the day.  Investors and speculators seemed to interpret the signals from Iran to mean the initial round of discussions…

India’s largest private refiner, Reliance Industries, is buying Venezuelan crude again, securing the first Indian purchase of oil from the world’s top reserves holder since the U.S. took control of Venezuela’s oil sales early last month. Reliance Industries has purchased a cargo of around 2 million barrels, an anonymous source with knowledge of the deal told Bloomberg on Friday. Reliance Industries last bought crude from Venezuela in the middle of 2025, under a special waiver from the U.S. Administration from mid-2024. Last month,…

Mexico is looking for ways to keep supplying oil to Cuba amid a U.S. squeeze on energy supplies to the island nation without triggering a response from Washington, Reuters has reported, citing unnamed sources. “There are talks happening almost every other day,” one of these sources told the publication. “Mexico doesn't want tariffs imposed, but it is also firm in its policy of helping the Cuban people.” Earlier this month, President Trump threatened he would impose import tariffs on any nation that ships oil to Cuba as he…

The oil price rally has finally run out of steam, with oil prices declining for the first time in three days, with the selection of Kevin Warsh as the next U.S Federal Reserve chair (expected to be more dovish than Jerome Powell), the notable ratcheting down of rhetoric between the U.S. and Iran, a business-as-usual OPEC+ meeting and reduction in the U.S. tariff rates on India all acting against oil prices. However, the biggest catalyst was Iran’s revelation that it will hold talks with the United States, easing fears of imminent strikes…

After years of antagonism between the federal government and Alberta over additional outlets for crude, Canada and the oil-producing province are finally on the same page regarding Canadian,/ oil exports. It took a major geopolitical and trade shift from Canada’s long-term ally and top trade partner, the United States, to have the federal government of Canada support a new oil pipeline from Alberta to the Canadian West Coast. The pipeline is expected to boost Canadian oil exports to Asia, the world’s driver of global oil demand growth,…

Speculation about the peak in demand for hydrocarbons has abounded for years as parts of the world struggle to reduce their consumption of coal, oil, and gas. Peak coal resurfaced this week, following data showing that Asian seaborne imports of the energy commodity had inched down by 4.4% in 2025, from an all-time high in the previous year. As usual, the peak coal story is likely premature. Data from Kpler showed this week that Asian buyers imported a total of 1.09 billion metric tons of coal in 2025, down from 1.14 billion tons imported in the…

Shares in Volvo Cars crashed the most on record in Stockholm, with Bloomberg data going back to late 2021, after it reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed analyst expectations. A toxic blend of higher US tariffs, cuts to EV subsidies, a stronger Swedish krona versus a weaker dollar, and an intensifying price war in China all squeezed fourth-quarter profitability, the Swedish-origin automaker detailed in its earnings release. It reported an Ebit margin of just 2% and an operating income that came in well below Bloomberg Consensus estimates.…

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy says it has seized two vessels near Farsi Island allegedly carrying large quantities of smuggled fuel, the country's Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported Thursday - at a moment the nation's military has its "finger on the trigger" amid threats from the Trump White House and Israel. More than one million liters of diesel were discovered aboard the ships, according to the IRGC Navy's public relations office, and the seized 15 foreign crew members have been handed over…

Shell’s CEO Wael Sawan told CNBC the company is actively considering multibillion-dollar offshore natural gas investments in Venezuela that could start production in the next few years, pending regulatory approvals. The comments mark one of the clearest public signals yet that Shell is weighing a major push into Venezuelan energy assets after years of sanctions and uncertainty. The potential targets are offshore gas opportunities. Sawan said these projects could be activated within months, which is about as tight a timeline as Big Oil ever…

Shell’s CEO Wael Sawan told CNBC the company is actively considering multibillion-dollar offshore natural gas investments in Venezuela that could start production in the next few years, pending regulatory approvals. The comments mark one of the clearest public signals yet that Shell is weighing a major push into Venezuelan energy assets after years of sanctions and uncertainty. The potential targets are offshore gas opportunities. Sawan said these projects could be activated within months, which is about as tight a timeline as Big Oil ever…

As US Vice President JD Vance prepares to visit the Caucasus, Armenia is sending signals that it is leaning toward selecting an American company to build a new nuclear reactor to replace the antiquated, Russian-built Metsamor facility.   Armenia's minister of territorial administration and infrastructure, David Khudatyan, told journalists on February 3 that the government has decided the new nuclear plant would have a modular design. That is good news for the United States, which is widely recognized as the global leader in modular…

Chevron is reshuffling senior leadership over strategy, trading, and business development as the company leans harder on execution and integration while oil markets remain choppy. In a Thursday report, Reuters said Patricia Leigh, Chevron’s president of supply and trading, will retire after 35 years with the company. Molly Laegeler, currently chief strategy officer, will succeed Leigh and take responsibility for supply, logistics, and trading effective March 1. Kevin Lyon, who has been overseeing Chevron’s integration work tied to Hess,…

Chevron is reshuffling senior leadership over strategy, trading, and business development as the company leans harder on execution and integration while oil markets remain choppy. In a Thursday report, Reuters said Patricia Leigh, Chevron’s president of supply and trading, will retire after 35 years with the company. Molly Laegeler, currently chief strategy officer, will succeed Leigh and take responsibility for supply, logistics, and trading effective March 1. Kevin Lyon, who has been overseeing Chevron’s integration work tied to Hess,…

A winter wallop that delivered a blast of Arctic air to two-thirds of the United States last weekend brought with it power failures, partially due to snow, ice and falling trees or branches damaging power lines. At least 35 deaths were reported, including three brothers between the ages of 6 and 9 who fell through an iced-over pond in Texas, and two people who were run over by snowplows in Massachusetts and Ohio. The mega-storm reportedly caused blackouts to more than a million customers, especially in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. As of…

Privately held MASS Group Holding plans to invest more than €1 billion (~$1.18 billion) in large-scale battery energy storage projects in Romania after reaching an agreement with the Romanian government, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The projects are intended to support Romania’s power grid as renewable generation expands and older conventional capacity continues to decline. According to Reuters, the investment would involve multiple grid-scale battery installations with combined capacity measured in the gigawatt-hour range. Romanian…