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Last week’s worst blackout Europe has ever seen in modern times was a wake-up call for the EU – and the rest of the world – that regardless of booming renewable energy capacity installations, power supply will not be secure unless grids are capable and flexible enough to accommodate clean energy and meet rising demand. Renewable energy proponents have been touting for years the record-breaking solar and wind capacity additions in Europe and elsewhere, calling at the same time for more investments in grids. With headline-grabbing…
Natural gas is gradually going to overtake coal and crude oil as the biggest source of primary energy in Southeast Asia, with a share of 30% by 2050. This is according to a new Wood Mackenzie report, which has become the latest to admit the inevitable: hydrocarbons will be around for much longer than transition advocates want. Currently, Southeast Asia is partial to coal-powered generation thanks to abundant local resources and price considerations. Also, demand for electricity has been on a strong rise in the region, prompting more coal power…
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) holds much greater geopolitical significance to both China and the U.S. than might be inferred from either its size or its current crude oil production of just under 3 million barrels per day (bpd). This is why any major new deals signed with it by either side are so thoroughly scrutinised by the other, and why both continue to leverage whatever economic means they can to attempt to increase their influence across the collection of emirates. The very recent five-year sales and purchase agreement signed between China’s…
The multi-layered strategic importance of Syria to Russia was underlined in 2011 when President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to intervene to counter the popular uprising that threatened to depose then-President Bashar al-Assad at that time. A sustained and dramatic escalation of its armed forces there, working closely with Iraq’s key local sponsor Iran, ensured that Russia continued to benefit from the strategic advantages Syria offered it until the U.S.- and U.K.-backed overthrow of al-Assad in December 2024 by rebel groups led by…
Previously, we reported that commodity analysts at Standard Chartered were bullish on oil prices in the current year, thanks to strong oil fundamentals, including declining U.S. supply growth and OPEC+ supply discipline. StanChart reported that non-OPEC+ supply growth fell sharply from 2.46 mb/d in 2023 to 0.79 mb/d in 2024, in large part due to a reduction in U.S. total liquids growth, which fell from 1.605 mb/d in 2023 to 734 kb/d in 2024. StanChart predicted this trend will continue over the next two years, with U.S. liquids growth clocking…
Since June 2022, the European Union has granted Ukraine full trade liberalization to help support the war-torn country’s economy. These measures -- suspending import duties and quotas -- are known as Autonomous Trade Measures (ATMs), and they appear to have benefited Kyiv. In 2024, Ukrainian exports to the EU reached nearly 60 percent of total exports, up from 39.1 percent in 2021. However, the ATMs, which have been renewed annually by a majority vote of EU member states, are set to end definitively on June 5. They were always intended to…
Afghanistan's Taliban rulers were shunned by foreign governments after seizing power in 2021, but recently the hard-line militants have notched up some big wins in their diplomatic efforts to forge international ties. This week, Indian special envoy Anand Prakash was in Kabul for talks with senior Taliban leaders on boosting political and trade links. That came after Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov hosted a Taliban delegation in Tashkent to talk about a proposed trans-Afghan rail link. And last week, in the biggest win of all, Russia removed…
Global oil markets are entering a pivotal phase as exploration-driven reserve replacement lags. With only a few bright spots like Namibia and Guyana, estimates suggest that just 25–30% of the oil consumed each year is currently being offset by new discoveries. This growing shortfall, combined with forecasts that US shale production will peak in the 2030s, sets the stage for a tightening global supply outlook. If no major new discoveries are made, the world could face an 18 million barrels per day deficit by 2040, assuming demand projections…
Worldwide, governments and private companies are attempting to improve passenger transport in response to growing populations and the need to cut carbon emissions. For several countries, train travel is the best mode of transport for moving people quickly and sustainably from A to B. The development of electric metro systems has helped cities around the globe provide low-emissions urban commuter transport and reduce the number of cars on the roads, while high-speed, long-distance routes have helped provide an alternative to flying. Greater…
Africa is set to play a pivotal role in the global gas industry in the coming years as the world’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) production capacity soars from 486 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) last year to 755 Mtpa in 2030, according to Rystad Energy’s latest projections. This explosive growth will be fueled by rising gas demand in regions with limited local production or access to pipeline supplies. Africa hosts about 20% of the 477 Mtpa total —around 93 Mtpa— of global LNG capacity in the pipeline, comprising under-construction…
After ExxonMobil’s swathe of world-class discoveries in Guyana’s offshore Stabroek Block, the Guyana-Suriname Basin emerged as the world’s hottest drilling location. While Guyana’s economy is booming, becoming an oil superpower, neighboring Suriname has yet to benefit from the basin’s immense hydrocarbon potential, despite world-class oil discoveries in offshore Block 58. Suriname, a small country with a population of less than 700,000, which is among South America’s poorest, is believed to possess petroleum…
The U.S. stock market remains deeply in the red, with a barrage of on-and-off tariff announcements by U.S. President Donald Trump creating confusion and uncertainty. Two weeks ago, Trump unveiled steep tariff hikes, before turning around and issuing a 90-day pause on what the administration calls ‘reciprocal tariffs.’ Trump announced that a baseline tariff rate of 10% would remain in effect during the negotiation period. Energy (-3.3% YTD) is among the nine sectors of the stock market in the red so far in the year, with only Utilities…
The U.K. Labour government has introduced several policies aimed at advancing the country’s green transition since coming into power last July. New climate and green energy policies, coupled with higher levels of national funding for renewables, are helping to attract billions in private investment. The government now aims to use the current geopolitical situation with the United States to encourage even more financing for energy projects. The U.K. government hopes to attract green investors to the country as they look for alternative…
Since U.S. President Donald Trump came into office in January, funding has become more uncertain across several sectors, including energy and research. Following recent Department of Energy (DoE) funding cuts, several universities and research institutions are now fighting back. In April, the DoE announced a new policy action aimed at stopping inefficient spending by colleges and universities across the United States. The agency said it would continue to expand American innovation and scientific research. A new policy memorandum stated that…
Guyana’s oil output took a dip in March, sliding to 627,000 barrels per day (bpd) from February’s 648,000 bpd, a new report from Reuters shows. That puts first-quarter production at a still-robust 631,000 bpd on average, according to the country’s energy ministry. A blip? Sure. A bust? Not even close. Let’s not forget: just five years ago, Guyana didn’t even have a spot on the global oil map. Thanks mostly to ExxonMobil and its tag-team partners Hess and CNOOC, the offshore Stabroek Block has turned into one of the…
Crude burn—the direct use of crude oil in power plants and industrial facilities, primarily for electricity generation—has long been a staple in Saudi Arabia’s energy mix. The kingdom burns significant volumes of oil to meet domestic electricity demand, which hovers around 171 terawatt-hours (TWh). However, analysis from Rystad Energy shows the upcoming Jafurah shale gas field, set to start production in 2025 and the largest of its kind globally, could dramatically shift this dynamic. By tapping into unconventional gas,…
On an international scale, researchers have been hard at work making magnesium batteries a feasible replacement for lithium-ion batteries and hydrogen fuel cells, in a development that could upend the electric vehicles industry on a worldwide scale. Currently, the global EV fleet runs on lithium-ion batteries, but these fundamental building blocks of the decarbonization movement carry some critical drawbacks. As it stands lithium production and refining for use in lithium-ion batteries and other applications is all but monopolized by China.…
Just one day after U.S. negotiators met their Iranian counterparts in Oman to discuss drawing up a new nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), Energy Secretary Chris Wright flew into Saudi Arabia to talk about a nuclear deal with the Kingdom as well. Such a deal with Riyadh would place enormous pressure on its historical religious, political and military enemy Tehran to reach an agreement on its own nuclear energy programme with the U.S. sooner rather than later. It would also be pivotal in reversing the decade-long drift of Saudi…
This week, the Interior Department axed a major offshore wind power project in New York. The grounds for the decision to halt construction at Empire Wind 1 was a sub-par environmental assessment. The wind industry was shocked, and more shocks are coming. Yet it won’t be Trump’s administration that could eventually kill the transition. It would be the transition itself. The Trump presidency has certainly ushered in even harder times for energy transition industries than they were having to deal with before. Tariffs are a big problem,…
Rising market and policy uncertainties forced companies to cancel $8 billion in investments in U.S. clean energy projects in the first quarter of the year. In a dramatic surge in cancellations of projects amid the chilling effects of the Trump Administration’s trade policy and attempts to repeal part of the green energy incentives, companies have withdrawn $7.9 billion in investments since January, clean energy business group E2 said in a monthly update this week. The value of the canceled investments in the first quarter alone was more than…
Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev wants the European Union to ease regulatory hurdles and improve financing conditions to enable an expansion of natural gas exports. But recently published data raises doubts about whether Azerbaijan can meet a commitment of exporting 20 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas annually to the EU by 2027. Azerbaijani gas exports are now trending in the wrong direction, according to data published by Bruegel, a Brussels-based think tank dedicated to improving “the quality of economic policy with open and fact-based…
Their names are difficult to pronounce, they're essential for modern manufacturing, and they're increasingly at the center of the escalating trade war between the United States and China. The global supply of these rare earths -- an essential group of 17 elements that find themselves in everything from electric vehicle batteries to vital defense technology -- are also mostly controlled by China. Beijing is now looking to use that strategic leverage amid the growing trade spat and rising tensions with Washington. In response to recently imposed…
US oil and gas operators have encountered an avalanche of economic policy changes from the Trump administration over the last week, creating market uncertainty in an already maturing industry. Rystad Energy expects onshore Lower-48 production will fall short of the record high output of 11.37 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil, achieved in November 2023, until at least June of this year. However, this outlook faces serious downside pressure should the recent price downturn hold, forcing operators to cut back on rig activity. Consistent returns…
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has concluded the 83rd session of its Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 83), marking a significant advancement in maritime decarbonization efforts. A pivotal outcome of this session was the approval of the IMO Net-Zero Framework, despite reservations expressed by certain member states, including the US and several oil production states.Rystad Energy's research highlights that the IMO's direct compliance targets are notably more ambitious compared to those set by FuelEU Maritime. Under the…
