The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell again this week, this time by 370,000 barrels in the week ending June 6 after analysts had estimated a 700,000-barrel build. The API reported a 3.3 million barrel inventory decrease in the prior week. So far this year, crude oil inventories are up nearly 18 million barrels, according to Oilprice calculations of API data. Earlier this week, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)…

US petrochemical producers may have found themselves on the front line of global trade wars, BNEF reports, with China’s dependence on the US for feedstocks (see "Chinese Plastics Factories Face Mass Closure As US Ethane Supply Evaporates") blunting the impact of its dominations of exports of rare earth metals. China imported more than 565,000 barrels per day of petrochemical feedstocks from the US in 2024 according to the Energy Information Administration, with a value of over $4.7 billion. That dwarfed the $170 million of rare earths the…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended a ban on the sale of Russian oil and petroleum products to buyers that comply with the Western-imposed price cap, pushing the restriction through the end of 2025. The decree, which first took effect in February 2023, prohibits Russian producers from exporting oil to foreign entities or individuals whose contracts include the $60 per barrel price ceiling set by the so-called Price Cap Coalition—primarily the G7 and EU nations. The goal of the Western policy was to keep Russian oil flowing to global…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended a ban on the sale of Russian oil and petroleum products to buyers that comply with the Western-imposed price cap, pushing the restriction through the end of 2025. The decree, which first took effect in February 2023, prohibits Russian producers from exporting oil to foreign entities or individuals whose contracts include the $60 per barrel price ceiling set by the so-called Price Cap Coalition—primarily the G7 and EU nations. The goal of the Western policy was to keep Russian oil flowing to global…

Grid upgrades, expansions, and resilience will need trillions of U.S. dollars of investments to catch up with the rising share of renewable energy generation. Governments, especially in Europe, have started to realize that the net-zero ambitions and the cleaner electricity grids will cost much more than initially planned. This decade, renewables generation has been breaking records in Europe every year, solar power surpassed the share of coal generation, and natural gas-fired electricity generation fell for the fifth year running in 2024. Renewables…

A UK energy services giant returned to profit and created hundreds of jobs in the year before being acquired in a deal which valued it at more than $1bn (£737m). OEG Energy Group, which is headquartered in Aberdeen, has reported a pre-tax profit of $4.4m for 2024, having posted a pre-tax loss of $14.9m in 2023. New accounts filed with Companies House also show its revenue jumped from $320.5m to $537.3m in the year while its headcount also grew from 1,052 to 1,361. The results come after US investment group Apollo agreed to buy OEG Energy…

Via Metal Miner Trump tariffs are back once again putting U.S trade partners in a tough spot. President Donald Trump recently exempted the United Kingdom from his doubling of import tariffs on steel and aluminum into the United States, but only temporarily. While import tariffs from UK steelmakers remain at 25% for now, failure to reach an agreement between the two states on other trade issues by July 9 could see them rise to 50%. This would put the UK in line with the rest of the world.  move came after he announced plans to raise the duties…

Peak shale may already be behind us. U.S. crude oil production is now forecast to slip from a record 13.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in Q2 2025 to around 13.3 million bpd by the end of 2026, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s bombshell June Short-Term Energy Outlook, signaling to an already price-weary industry that shale’s best days are in the rearview. It’s a subtle but significant shift—marking the first extended production dip forecast since the U.S. shale renaissance began more than a decade…

Peak shale may already be behind us. U.S. crude oil production is now forecast to slip from a record 13.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in Q2 2025 to around 13.3 million bpd by the end of 2026, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s bombshell June Short-Term Energy Outlook, signaling to an already price-weary industry that shale’s best days are in the rearview. It’s a subtle but significant shift—marking the first extended production dip forecast since the U.S. shale renaissance began more than a decade…

As China’s natural gas demand growth slows, domestic gas producers are lobbying the authorities to raise the number of gas-fired power plants, which they see as the key growth driver going forward, sources involved in advising on energy policy have told Bloomberg. China’s gas demand growth has weakened in recent years amid slower industrial expansion, as well as booming renewables and continued reliance on coal in the power generation sector. The electricity generation sector represents about 18% of the Chinese natural gas consumption.…

As China’s natural gas demand growth slows, domestic gas producers are lobbying the authorities to raise the number of gas-fired power plants, which they see as the key growth driver going forward, sources involved in advising on energy policy have told Bloomberg. China’s gas demand growth has weakened in recent years amid slower industrial expansion, as well as booming renewables and continued reliance on coal in the power generation sector. The electricity generation sector represents about 18% of the Chinese natural gas consumption.…

Iran and the United States on June 9 indicated that talks on Iran’s nuclear program will continue but the two side gave different dates for the next round of negotiations. Iran said the next round of talks is planned for June 15 in Muscat, while US President Donald Trump said the next round would take place on June 12. Trump said talks would continue despite the two sides being at odds over whether Iran would be allowed to continue enriching uranium. "They're just asking for things that you can't do. They don't want to give up what they have…

As China’s natural gas demand growth slows, domestic gas producers are lobbying the authorities to raise the number of gas-fired power plants, which they see as the key growth driver going forward, sources involved in advising on energy policy have told Bloomberg. China’s gas demand growth has weakened in recent years amid slower industrial expansion, as well as booming renewables and continued reliance on coal in the power generation sector. The electricity generation sector represents about 18% of the Chinese natural gas consumption.…

It appears that optimism is finally returning to oil markets due to a promising U.S. jobs report and signs that the China-U.S. trade war may soon start thawing.- According to industry consultant Wood Mackenzie, the US Gulf of America (also known as the Gulf of Mexico before President Trump) will become the US’ main driver of oil supply growth this year.- Whilst shale drillers are cutting back on exploration and the drilling of new wells as breakevens are close to the Permian’s $62-63 per barrel breakevens, the GoA enjoys a much healthier…

Per Japanese government instructions, refiner Taiyo Oil has bought a cargo of Russia’s Sakhalin crude to ensure stable production of the LNG plant that supplies gas to Japan, a company spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday. “At the request of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, we have decided to take delivery of 600,000 barrels of Sakhalin Blend crude oil,” the spokesperson for Taiyo Oil said. Japan stopped importing crude oil from Russia in early 2023, but it has a special waiver from the United States – currently…

The European Commission is set to unveil later on Tuesday its new sanctions package against Russia, which will include a proposal to lower the oil price cap for Russia’s crude to $45 per barrel and to ban the use of Nord Stream infrastructure, sources with knowledge of the plan told the Financial Times. The new sanctions package, the EU’s 18th round of restrictions since the invasion of Ukraine, is set to include a proposal to significantly lower the price cap on Russian oil—to $45 from $60 a barrel. The price cap mechanism set…

As if WTI oil prices in the low $60s per barrel aren’t enough to slow production growth at America’s top producing shale basin, the Permian, new guidelines for permitting saltwater disposal wells could raise the costs for operators, especially smaller producers with limited resources. The Railroad Commission of Texas, the energy regulator of the top U.S. oil-producing state, has new guidelines – effective June 1 – for permits for disposal of wastewater, or “produced water”, which is a byproduct of oil and gas…

The UK government said it would invest 14.2 billion pounds in the construction of the Sizewell C nuclear power plant as it seeks to boost energy security. The amount equals around $19.3 billion. “We need new nuclear to deliver a golden age of clean energy abundance, because that is the only way to protect family finances, take back control of our energy, and tackle the climate crisis,” energy minister Ed Miliband said in a statement, as quoted by Reuters. Sizewell C is a 3.2-GW nuclear power facility that is being developed by French…

Crude oil prices could decline below $50 a barrel this year, according to analysts from outlets including S&P Global. This will give American drivers much needed relief at the pump after years of gas price inflation. One reason for the hypothetical decline is what is widely seen as weakening demand growth. The IEA recently estimated this growth at below 1 million bpd this year, the weakest since the pandemic lockdown period. Supply, on the other hand is, growing, notably from OPEC+, which earlier this year decided to start bringing back production…

As Trump Edges Closer To Imposing ‘Devastating’ New Measures On Russia, What Might The New Sanctions Be? Whatever other qualities U.S. President Donald Trump may or may not have, a long and patient attention span is not reputed to be one of them. During his presidential campaign in 2023 and 2024, he said on multiple occasions that he would end the war in Ukraine either within 24 hours of his return to the White House or even sooner than that. That has not happened, but he has expended considerable effort along with many…