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Will the Trump administration attempt to kill the Environmental Protection Agency’s recently promulgated standards designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants? Will the courts try to kill them? Will the electric industry continue its relentless effort to hold the title of the second-biggest greenhouse gas emitter in a nation that is itself the second-biggest greenhouse emitter? We suspect that the answer to those questions in the order asked is yes, yes, and, of course, yes. As consumers, shouldn’t we rejoice? After…
Bitcoin hit record highs on Monday, as President- Donald Trump, and First Lady-again Melania Trump launched their meme coins, days ahead of the inauguration. The cryptocurrency leader reached above $108,000(£88,668) for the first time ever on Monday morning, ahead of Trump’s official return to office. Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “With the writing on the wall so overwhelmingly pro-crypto as Trump returns to the White House, Bitcoin has surged again in value to a fresh record high.”…
The majority of British business leaders are optimistic about growth potential, despite also being concerned about Trump’s US tariffs and the impact of trade wars on their organisation. According to a new report by Capgemini, 63 per cent of business leaders in the UK are planning to increase investment this year, as the reported noted 6 in 10 are optimistic about their growth potential for 2025. Rob Walker, managing director UK business unit, Capgemini stated that “it’s encouraging to see that UK business leaders are feeling more…
Two months ago, Nigeria’s beleaguered energy sector witnessed a very significant event: the Dangote Oil Refinery began producing gasoline and selling it domestically to Nigeria's state oil firm, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), marking the first time in decades Africa’s largest oil producer is refining its own crude. The state-of-the-art $20.5 billion refinery was launched in January 2024, but only began producing gasoline in September, expected to reach full operations in November. The giant refinery has a capacity to process…
Iraq is a developing democracy, but its location — between Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Syria — means that it always faces pressure from outside its borders. The list of challenges it faced in 2024 ranged from ongoing security threats, including attacks on U.S. military bases by armed groups, political shifts and discussions about the presence of U.S. forces, and, perhaps above all, instability from the war in Gaza and the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria. To deal with these challenges, Prime Minister Mohammed…
State-connected energy and mining companies dominate the list of top tax-paying enterprises in Uzbekistan, according to data released January 15 by the country’s State Tax Committee. Overall, the government collected roughly 123.3 trillion Uzbek soums (about $9.5 billion) in corporate tax revenue from 949 major taxpayers in 2024, the committee reported. The top 10 highest paying entities contributed roughly 57 percent of the corporate tax revenue collected by the state. The top three tax-payers were the Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Plant,…
The US power sector is undergoing a significant transformation this year, with electricity consumption projected to exceed 4,200 terawatt-hours (TWh) for the first time. Although just a 2% increase from 2024, this is a sign of things to come, highlighting the evolving power landscape driven by surging demand from data centers and a shifting energy mix integrating traditional and renewable sources. Data centers are at the heart of this transformation, with capacity standing at 22 gigawatts (GW) at the end of 2023, representing nearly 40% of global…
The Aluminum Monthly Metals Index (MMI) remained consolidated, falling by a modest 1.29% from December to January. Meanwhile, LME aluminum prices continued to trend sideways during the first half of January. Aluminum Prices Sideways, Midwest Premium Futures Up The aluminum market remained uncertain during the first few weeks of the new year. Less than a week from Trump’s inauguration, markets appear tentative. Most analysts expect a new round of tariffs from the President, which poses a bullish risk to end-user prices. Source: MetalMiner…
Russia has captured two of Ukraine's four lithium deposits since it launched its all-out invasion in 2022, potentially depriving Kyiv of a key economic resource. On January 11, Russia claimed to have seized control of Shevchenko, a rural settlement in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. The settlement sits on top of one of Ukraine's biggest lithium deposits. Experts say Russia's seizure of Ukraine's lithium deposits could impact the rest of Europe and the Continent's efforts to shift to green energy. Described as "white gold," lithium is a critical…
After decades of competition over dwindling resources in Central Asia’s agricultural heartland, the leaders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are embracing a spirit of cooperation as they jointly confront global warming-related challenges. That spirit of cooperation was on display January 8, when the prime ministers of the three states gathered at a remote location in the FerghanaValley where the three nations’ frontiers meet, to mark progress on settling long-standing border disputes. Helping to pave the way for the gathering…
New England continues to rely on one of the dirtiest fossil fuels, fuel oil, for space heating in the harsh winters despite the climate and clean energy pledges of many of the states in the region. Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine have ambitious renewable energy and emission-reduction targets. Some of these states have taken on Big Oil in lawsuits and state legislation to hold the large international oil and gas companies accountable for climate change. Yet, all of them continue to rely on…
Commodity prices are expected to decrease on average in 2025 due to ongoing economic slowdowns across the world. While oil prices are expected to fall, due to a slowdown in demand growth and an increase in production, natural gas prices will likely rise as countries across the globe continue to rely on LNG as a “transition fuel”. The demand for critical minerals is expected to continue rising, however, this may not be reflected in all commodity prices. The race to expand lithium production has led to an oversupply of the mineral, which…
China is blowing the competition away when it comes to clean energy buildout. In 2023, China alone spent more money on clean energy technologies than the next 10 biggest investors combined. On top of controlling supply chains for widely used technologies like solar panels and electric vehicle batteries, as well as the components critical to their manufacturing, China is also at the cutting edge of development for innovative and disruptive clean energy tech like clean hydrogen and energy storage. This means that China, which already dominates global…
China’s rapidly expanding presence in emerging markets around the globe, and particularly in Latin America, is creating a geopolitical minefield for would-be competitors around the world. Western powers have been growing increasingly wary of China’s control of key supply chains around the world, including a near-chokehold on critical primary materials and rare earth minerals necessary for tech manufacturing and clean energy development. South America is rich in key materials in renewable energy and electric vehicle manufacturing such…
Eight in ten people agree that the average global temperature will increase in 2025, according to an Ipsos survey of more than 23,700 people across 33 countries, conducted between October 25, 2024 and November 8, 2024. Around nine in ten respondents in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and China said they thought this is the case. At the same time, around seven in ten respondents worldwide said it is likely that there will be more extreme weather events in their country in 2025 than in 2024. Despite this consensus, Statista's Anna…
The global energy landscape is undergoing a profound transformation. The oil and gas sector continues to play a dominant role in the energy mix, but renewable sources are rapidly gaining ground. The next decade offers both significant opportunities and formidable challenges for national oil companies (NOC), which find themselves at a pivotal crossroads as oil prices fluctuate, geopolitical tensions rise and the global energy transition accelerates. How they respond to these complex dynamics will determine their ability to maintain leadership, stay…
Germany's solar industry is in "a lot of distress" a new report from Financial Times highlighted last week. A slump in consumer demand has led to bankruptcies and layoffs in Europe's largest rooftop solar market. Many installation and distribution companies have gone under, been acquired, or had to change strategies. The oversupply of panels has driven prices down for consumers, but industry leaders warn it is deterring investors and jeopardizing a key sector for Europe’s climate goals, according to Financial Times. Dries Acke, deputy…
Once Russia's initial push to subjugate Ukraine failed in the first weeks of its full-scale invasion, a widespread view prevailed for two years or more: There's no end in sight.That has changed in recent months for several reasons, with factors ranging from the situation on the battlefield and shifts in public opinion to the election of former U.S. President Donald Trump, who returns to the White House on January 20 and has repeatedly said he would put paid to the biggest armed conflict in Europe since World War II within a day or two.So, will…
After hitting record highs this year, Norway’s oil and gas investment is expected to grow even higher in 2025. Greater development activity on new projects and the cost of inflation have contributed heavily to the increase in Norway’s oil and gas investment in 2024. Norway’s oil and gas investment is expected to total around $22.9 billion this year, marking an all-time high, according to the country’s statistics office. The previous record was $20.4 billion in 2014 when oil prices were very high and companies were still…
A slew of US banks have exited a climate coalition in the days leading up to Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration. Yesterday evening, Morgan Stanley became the latest US bank to depart from the Net Zero Banking Alliance, as pressure increasingly mounted on financial institutions from Republican lawmakers. Despite leaving the alliance, Morgan Stanley said in a statement that the bank’s commitment to meeting its carbon targets “remains unchanged”. Citigroup and Bank of America also left the group earlier this week, while…
Exports of Russian gas via pipelines running through Ukraine finally came to an end on New Year's Day, marking the end of an era of Moscow's dominance over Europe's energy markets. Russia's gas firm Gazprom said it had supplying gas at 0500 GMT on Wednesday after Ukraine refused to renew a transit agreement. Ukraine will lose up to $1 billion a year in transit fees from Russia-- which it hopes to offset by quadrupling its domestic gas transmission tariffs for consumers--while Gazprom will lose close to $5 billion in gas sales. Ukraine gas amounted…
Permian gas prices face a turbulent road ahead, with stability likely only arriving once significant new pipeline capacity becomes operational in late 2026 and early 2027. But didn’t the region just gain a 2.5 Bcf/d takeaway pipeline with Matterhorn? Yes, but much of this relief is likely already priced into the forward curve. As the basin grows into this new capacity, Permian gas could face challenges until the anticipated late 2026 expansions. The forward curve shown above illustrates how Waha is priced for future delivery. Between spring…
Colombia is a major producer of oil and gas and is steadily developing its renewable energy industry. In 2016, the South American state launched its Energy Plan 2050, aimed at diversifying the country’s energy mix to include wind power plants, solar PV, and geothermal energy generation, and ensure a reliable energy supply in the coming decades. In 2023, Colombia’s energy mix consisted of 41.2 percent oil, 22.8 percent natural gas, 11.2 percent coal, 12.5 percent biofuels and waste, and 12 percent hydropower, according to the International…
Suez Canal revenue has plunged 60% this year, a loss of $7 billion for Egypt, amid attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and ongoing regional tensions. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a statement blamed rising geopolitical challenges for the decline but offered no other details, according to published reports. Egypt collects tolls on vessels that transit the canal, a key route for maritime commerce. Since late 2023, Houthi fighters based in Yemen have disrupted global trade by attacking merchant and naval vessels in the Red Sea, just south…
