The upstream shale oil and gas sector has been written off by investors thanks to a 30% decline in oil prices since the first of the year. From near $80 in mid-January, tariff-led demand fears have overcome supply fears, and the price of WTI-the benchmark crude for most U.S. companies, to the upper $ 50s. Even a rebound into the low $60s has not yet assuaged these concerns, leaving them worried about their ability to generate cash for debt service and shareholder returns. That’s the fear. What is the reality? We now have a full quarter in…

Companies in various industries are removing climate change and net zero language from their reports, the Wall Street Journal reported this month, lamenting the fact that corporates were “watering down” their commitments in the area. It may be temporary—or it may be the natural thing. Analysis of the proxy statements of a number of large businesses conducted by the WSJ showed that many of them were, it seems, less willing to discuss climate change and their response to it in as much detail as they were a few years ago. The WSJ…

Despite the lowest coal prices in Asia in four years, India’s coal power generation dipped in May to the lowest since the Covid lockdowns of 2020, as a lack of heatwaves and soaring renewable energy installations and generation pushed down coal demand in the electricity sector. To be sure, the share of coal in India’s power output remains above 70%, but at 70.7% in May, it was the lowest in three years, according to data from federal power grid regulator Grid India reviewed by Reuters. Natural gas-fired generation and its share in the…

China is proving to be a more difficult adversary in the trade war launched by the Trump administration than previously imagined as it squeezes the world's rare earth elements (REEs) supply. I warned in early March that China had critical non-tariff weapons to bring to bear and that using them might turn out to be very painful for a world dependent on China's rare earth metal production. China currently controls 69 percent of the REEs mine production and almost 90 percent of the processing of these elements. Why is this important? As I pointed…

The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog has called on Iran and the United States to find a "diplomatic solution" in talks over Tehran's nuclear program as a crucial quarterly meeting at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA's board of governors meeting is expected to hear and vote on a resolution finding Tehran in noncompliance with its safeguards for the first time in 20 years. Iran has vowed to take strong action against Western nations pushing the resolution at the gathering in the Austrian capital, with Behrouz Kamalvandi of…

US residential solar financing has taken a sharp dive, with Mosaic, a top lender underwriting over $15?billion in home energy loans, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday.  Founded in 2010, Mosaic enabled rooftop solar, battery storage, and efficiency upgrades for over 500,000 homeowners, but was struck hard by rising interest rates, uncertainties around federal Sections 25D and 48E tax credits, and tighter capital conditions. The company secured $45?million in debtor-in-possession financing, including $15?million in fresh capital, enabling…

US residential solar financing has taken a sharp dive, with Mosaic, a top lender underwriting over $15?billion in home energy loans, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday.  Founded in 2010, Mosaic enabled rooftop solar, battery storage, and efficiency upgrades for over 500,000 homeowners, but was struck hard by rising interest rates, uncertainties around federal Sections 25D and 48E tax credits, and tighter capital conditions. The company secured $45?million in debtor-in-possession financing, including $15?million in fresh capital, enabling…

China has shifted from the world’s largest creditor nation to the globe’s biggest debt collector. Central Asian states owe billions to Chinese entities, but their geographic importance to Beijing is helping protect them from strong-arm repayment tactics. A report issued by the Australia-based Lowy Institute, Peak repayment: China’s global lending, charts China’s transition from “lead bilateral banker to chief debt collector of the developing world.” It shows that China’s lavish loaning under the auspices…

Via Metal Miner The Stainless Monthly Metals Index (MMI) moved sideways, rising by a modest 0.35% from May to June. However, the stainless steel price remains under pressure from several factors. Tariff Hike Rattles the U.S. Stainless Steel Market In a move few saw coming, President Trump doubled Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from 25% to 50%. The duty increase took effect on June 4, just days after its announcement, leaving both suppliers and buyers with no real window to prepare.  The tariff increase proved controversial,…

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is doubling down on its AI ambitions with a $20-billion expansion plan to build two new data center campuses in Pennsylvania—including one directly adjacent to a major nuclear power plant, Reuters reports.  AWS is targeting the deployment of multiple data centers over the next 10 years, and the buildout will be fueled by carbon-free nuclear power, making it one of the largest private-sector nuclear-backed energy deals in the U.S. to date, according to Reuters. The first site, slated for Salem Township near the…

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is doubling down on its AI ambitions with a $20-billion expansion plan to build two new data center campuses in Pennsylvania—including one directly adjacent to a major nuclear power plant, Reuters reports.  AWS is targeting the deployment of multiple data centers over the next 10 years, and the buildout will be fueled by carbon-free nuclear power, making it one of the largest private-sector nuclear-backed energy deals in the U.S. to date, according to Reuters. The first site, slated for Salem Township near the…

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is doubling down on its AI ambitions with a $20-billion expansion plan to build two new data center campuses in Pennsylvania—including one directly adjacent to a major nuclear power plant, Reuters reports.  AWS is targeting the deployment of multiple data centers over the next 10 years, and the buildout will be fueled by carbon-free nuclear power, making it one of the largest private-sector nuclear-backed energy deals in the U.S. to date, according to Reuters. The first site, slated for Salem Township near the…

OPEC’s crude oil production in May increased less than called for in the OPEC+ agreement which had a large output hike planned for last month. All 12 OPEC members produced 26.75 million barrels per day (bpd) in May, up by 150,000 bpd from April, a Reuters survey showed on Monday. The five OPEC members that have pledged cuts in the OPEC+ agreement and are now gradually unwinding these cuts had to raise their combined output by 310,000 bpd. But they only lifted production by 180,000 bpd, according to the Reuters survey of data from oil-flow…

U.S. and Chinese delegations have arrived in the U.K. for talks aimed at patching up a fraying truce in an ongoing trade war between the world's two biggest economies. The US team leby The U.S. team led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are due to meet with a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng in London in a renewed effort to break the deadlock after last month’s Geneva talks failed to produce meaningful results. The high-stakes meeting follows…

International companies are not shunning Argentina anymore and exploring mergers and acquisitions (M&A) opportunities, including in the energy sector, as business-friendly reforms enacted by President Javier Milei have started to change the way investors look at South America’s second-largest economy. If Milei’s reforms to encourage large-scale and foreign investments into the energy sector continue, the M&A market in Argentina could see an upsurge in the coming years, Juan Tripier, director of M&A and corporate finance…

International companies are not shunning Argentina anymore and exploring mergers and acquisitions (M&A) opportunities, including in the energy sector, as business-friendly reforms enacted by President Javier Milei have started to change the way investors look at South America’s second-largest economy. If Milei’s reforms to encourage large-scale and foreign investments into the energy sector continue, the M&A market in Argentina could see an upsurge in the coming years, Juan Tripier, director of M&A and corporate finance…

Iraq is on the brink of an economic breakdown as OPEC’s second-largest producer continues to rely mostly on oil exports for federal government revenues, analysts warned on Monday after official data showed that oil represents a whopping 91% of all federal budget revenues. Iraq’s federal revenues topped $107 billion (140 trillion Iraqi dinars) last year, data from the Ministry of Finance showed this weekend. But oil accounted for more than 91% of all federal government revenues, according to the finance ministry. Iraq has long been one…

Kenya hopes it will begin commercial crude oil production and exports next year, Opiyo Wandayi, Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum, said on Monday, as companies are finalizing an asset sale and development project plans for an onshore resource basin. The East African country has oil and gas resources, but development has stalled after UK-listed Tullow Oil failed to secure investor partners for a major oil project that has been years in the making. Tullow Oil and its minority partners sought to develop the South Lokichar project…

Kenya hopes it will begin commercial crude oil production and exports next year, Opiyo Wandayi, Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum, said on Monday, as companies are finalizing an asset sale and development project plans for an onshore resource basin. The East African country has oil and gas resources, but development has stalled after UK-listed Tullow Oil failed to secure investor partners for a major oil project that has been years in the making. Tullow Oil and its minority partners sought to develop the South Lokichar project…

Kenya hopes it will begin commercial crude oil production and exports next year, Opiyo Wandayi, Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum, said on Monday, as companies are finalizing an asset sale and development project plans for an onshore resource basin. The East African country has oil and gas resources, but development has stalled after UK-listed Tullow Oil failed to secure investor partners for a major oil project that has been years in the making. Tullow Oil and its minority partners sought to develop the South Lokichar project…