Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict - Russia and Ukraine were holding their first direct peace talks in over three years on Friday in Istanbul, but with delegations devoid of either Putin or Zelensky. The Kremlin team is led by aide Vladimir Medinsky and Kyiv’s team is led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. Moscow continues to harden its position. It’s made additional territorial gains recently and continues to demand NATO abandon Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, present in Istanbul, appears doubtful of any progress without…

I would imagine most energy investors, like me, have a somewhat tricky relationship with coal stocks. If you are interested in fossil fuels generally as an investment it is probably because you understand that, as much as some people will tell you otherwise, the world still needs conventional fuels. The rapid growth in electricity demand that comes with high-powered computing makes that inevitable. Alternative energy sources just cannot be expanded fast enough to satisfy that demand. Even so, coal is tricky. It is the poster child for dirty energy,…

In a flurry of coordinated geopolitical maneuvers, the United States has lifted key sanctions on Syria while positioning itself as the broker in a historic normalization process between Syria and Israel. At the same time, Turkey’s Erdogan is getting a trade-off, with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) vowing to disband, ending a decades-long insurgency. Not exactly peace, it’s a solid and very layered quid pro quo in a complicated regional alignment game.It was a pretty tidy sequence of events. The PKK’s sudden dissolution hands…

The EU is already working on the 18th sanctions package against Russia, which will include a lower price cap, sanctions on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, more shadow fleet tankers designated, and additional sanctions on the Russian financial sector, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.   Representatives of the EU’s 27 member states have just approved the 17th package of sanctions package against Russia, targeting another nearly 200 tankers of the shadow fleet Russia uses to ship its oil to markets.  …

Egypt is seeking to buy more fuel oil on which to run some of its power plants as natural gas supply is more expensive for the cash-strapped North African country.  State-controlled Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) is looking to buy via a tender nearly 2 million tons of fuel oil to be delivered in May and June, a source with direct knowledge of the plans told Bloomberg on Friday.   North African and Middle Eastern countries often turn to oil and direct crude burn for power generation, especially with spiking demand for…

Egypt is seeking to buy more fuel oil on which to run some of its power plants as natural gas supply is more expensive for the cash-strapped North African country.  State-controlled Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) is looking to buy via a tender nearly 2 million tons of fuel oil to be delivered in May and June, a source with direct knowledge of the plans told Bloomberg on Friday.   North African and Middle Eastern countries often turn to oil and direct crude burn for power generation, especially with spiking demand for…

Oil prices climbed on optimism over eased U.S.-China trade tensions, with ICE Brent nearing $65 per barrel by week’s end as fears of punishing tariffs faded. Donald Trump’s comments on a potential Iran nuclear deal have been the defining bearish moment of this week, however inertia from the market’s robust recovery last week, still riding high on the euphoria of not having debilitating tariffs on US imports to China, managed to lift ICE Brent around $65 per barrel towards the end of the week. With the Russia-Ukraine ceasefire…

Crude flows from the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline have materially shifted since the relations between the United States and Canada soured under U.S. President Donald Trump. China has now become the biggest buyer of Canadian crude shipped via the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline to Canada’s West Coast, according to data from Kpler cited by Reuters.  Last year, the Trans Mountain pipeline finally completed its expansion – after years of delays – and tripled the capacity of the original pipeline to 890,000 barrels…

Iran has put forward a proposal to the United States and its Gulf Arab neighbors in an attempt to accelerate negotiations and ease concerns about its nuclear program. The plan, presented by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi during a fourth round of talks with the United States in Oman on May 11, envisions the creation of a regional nuclear consortium that would include Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, with the potential for American involvement. With both Iranian and US officials silent, details about the consortium remain…

The United States is looking to close all loopholes Iran is using to sell its oil to China and warned Hong Kong-based banks last month against facilitating Iranian oil sales to Chinese buyers, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the development.   In early April, a delegation from the U.S. Department of the Treasury visited Hong Kong, met with bankers in the city, and warned them against allowing Iran to use their services to facilitate payments in the Iran-China oil trade.   The U.S. Treasury…

The United States is looking to close all loopholes Iran is using to sell its oil to China and warned Hong Kong-based banks last month against facilitating Iranian oil sales to Chinese buyers, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the development.   In early April, a delegation from the U.S. Department of the Treasury visited Hong Kong, met with bankers in the city, and warned them against allowing Iran to use their services to facilitate payments in the Iran-China oil trade.   The U.S. Treasury…

The United States overtook the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to become India’s fourth-largest crude oil supplier in April, after the Asian country boosted purchases from America to position itself for a better trade deal.  India’s imports of crude oil from the United States jumped to 330,000 barrels per day (bpd) in April, up from 240,000 bpd in March and double compared to April 2024, according to data compiled by energy cargo tracking firm Vortexa cited by The Times of India.  The share of U.S. oil in India’s overall…

National Grid’s annual profits rose by a fifth as it lauded stable growth against a backdrop of “international economic uncertainty.” On an underlying basis, pre-tax profit increased 20 per cent to £3.7bn over the 12 months ended 31 March. Earnings per share rose two per cent to 73.3p, ahead of previous guidance. National Grid announced a total dividend of 46.72p for its shareholders, which include major institutional investors such as Blackrock and Vanguard. “At a time of international economic uncertainty, National…

The United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) expect to invest a total of $440 billion in the energy sector through 2035, Sultan Al Jaber, the chief executive of the UAE’s state oil and gas firm ADNOC, said on Friday.  The United States is expected to invest $60 billion in energy projects in the UAE, while the Gulf oil-producing nation will invest in energy and technology in the United States.  During his visit to the Middle East this week, U.S. President Donald Trump announced deals with the UAE worth more than $200 billion…

The United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) expect to invest a total of $440 billion in the energy sector through 2035, Sultan Al Jaber, the chief executive of the UAE’s state oil and gas firm ADNOC, said on Friday.  The United States is expected to invest $60 billion in energy projects in the UAE, while the Gulf oil-producing nation will invest in energy and technology in the United States.  During his visit to the Middle East this week, U.S. President Donald Trump announced deals with the UAE worth more than $200 billion…

Crude oil prices were set for a weekly gain after a string of losses on the news of a trade war ceasefire between the U.S. and China, which sparked hopes the two would come to a mutually beneficial understanding that would end the tariff spat. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $64.64 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate was changing hands for $61.72 per barrel, both up, albeit moderately, from the start of the week. According to Reuters, the weekly gain will be about 1%. The modesty of the weekly gain is likely related to a couple…

China and the United States struck a three-month trade truce that features deep tariff revisions for the duration. Markets breathed a sigh of relief. Oil prices rebounded. Gloominess about global GDP subsided, if only temporarily. And climate activists worried that China’s industry will come roaring back, boosting electricity consumption and shrinking the share of wind and solar in the power mix. Beijing and Washington announced their temporary deal on Monday. By Wednesday, bookings for container ships from China to the United States had…