More crude oil from Russia has become available for Indian refiners as Ukrainian drone attacks have reduced the Russian refining capacity, an Indian government official Reuters on Monday. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, India has relied on the discounted Russian crude banned in the West to reduce its crude import bill. Indian refiners have significantly increased their purchases of Russian crude, making India the second-largest buyer of Russia’s oil, behind only China. However, the Trump Administration, facing difficult trade negotiations…

The election victory this weekend of right-wing populist Andrej Babis risks turning the Czech Republic into another Central European problem child for Brussels after he campaigned on vows to slash support for Ukraine and confront the EU over immigration and environmental policies. Babis, a former prime minister and billionaire sometimes referred to in the media as the Czech Donald Trump, easily took the most votes with his ANO (YES) party garnering 35 percent. A triumphant Babis said after the results came in that he would seek a one-party minority…

Italy’s Eni has restarted drilling operations offshore Libya after a five-year break prompted by the Covid pandemic. The National Oil Corporation of Libya said that the Italian supermajor had started drilling at Block 16/4 in the northwestern part of the country’s territorial waters and will soon complete work on the exploration well that was started back in 2020. The return of Eni to Libya follows other Big Oil majors, including Shell and BP, which earlier this year signed new deals with the Libyan government for exploration works…

QatarEnergy struck a deal with Shell to buy a 27% interest in the North Cleopatra offshore oil and gas block in Egypt, with Shell retaining 36% in the block. The deal is pending the approval of the Egyptian government. The Qatari state energy major has been expanding in Egypt alongside Western oil majors, including Shell and Chevron, as the North African country seeks to boost its oil and gas production as fast as possible. Last year, QatarEnergy bought a 40% interest in two Exxon-led blocks offshore Egypt and a 23% stake in a Chevron-operated…

QatarEnergy struck a deal with Shell to buy a 27% interest in the North Cleopatra offshore oil and gas block in Egypt, with Shell retaining 36% in the block. The deal is pending the approval of the Egyptian government. The Qatari state energy major has been expanding in Egypt alongside Western oil majors, including Shell and Chevron, as the North African country seeks to boost its oil and gas production as fast as possible. Last year, QatarEnergy bought a 40% interest in two Exxon-led blocks offshore Egypt and a 23% stake in a Chevron-operated…

A couple of years ago, a cross-section of Wall Street was highly bullish on the community solar sector, with some predicting that it was poised to become the most prevalent model of residential solar power distribution in the United States. First unveiled about two decades ago, community solar entails a small-scale solar model wherein customers purchase shares in a new solar farm in their service area, developers build the project then subscribers receive credits that cut their utility bills by ~10%. Community solar offers a viable solution to…

Predictions of an oil glut have dominated oil market reporting for months. Bloomberg this week suggested the first signs of oversupply may be emerging already, with several million barrels of Middle Eastern oil left unsold in the latest spot market cycle. Yet some analysts disagree that there is a danger of a glut—winter is coming and so is stocking up for heating season. Somewhere between 6 million barrels and 12 million barrels of crude produced in the Middle East did not find buyers in the last spot market cycle, with deliveries for November,…

Since the Labour Party came into office in the U.K. last year, many have wondered if oil and gas drilling will continue or whether we will witness an all-out shift to renewable energy. Prime Minister Kier Starmer has introduced stricter taxes on fossil fuel companies since coming into power, but has also said that oil and gas will continue as part of the energy mix for as long as it makes sense. So, as the investor environment in the U.K. North Seas becomes ever murkier, what can we expect? In June, the U.K. government introduced stricter environmental…

Nuclear fusion could be the holy grail of clean energy if scientists can crack the code of maintaining and controlling plasma for more efficient reactions. Nuclear fusion could provide critical amounts of baseload power all while producing zero greenhouse gas emissions and zero hazardous nuclear waste...someday.  We’re still a long way away from being able to create the conditions for nuclear fusion to take place on a scale that’s anywhere close to energy-efficient or commercially viable. But a series of breakthroughs in the past…

Just a few years ago, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) was expected to be the saviour of the oil and gas industry, as major fossil fuel firms invested heavily in CCS activities aimed at decarbonising operations. Governments worldwide have encouraged companies to invest in CCS in recent years, funding green energy projects to help reduce the carbon emitted from oil and gas operations, and to allow countries to continue using fossil fuels to bridge the energy gap over the coming decades. However, as we see delays in the rollout of CCS projects and…

Mexico’s $20 billion Olmeca (more commonly known as Dos Bocas) refinery was built to be the centerpiece of the country’s drive for energy independence, but three years after its launch, the flagship project is struggling to deliver. Designed to process the country’s heavy Maya crude and reduce reliance on fuel imports, the refinery has faced repeated outages, logistical bottlenecks, and underwhelming output. Instead of easing Pemex’s financial burden, it risks deepening the company’s dependence on government support…

Farmers in Pakistan are replacing diesel-fueled pumps with solar energy to power the typical irrigation technique in a large part of the world’s fifth most populous country. Many farmers rely on the so-called tube wells—a water well and a motorized pump to take water from groundwater. Amid soaring diesel prices and unreliable electricity supply in recent years, more farmers are installing solar panels to help them with crop irrigation. The solar-powered tube wells provide smoother irrigation. Solar panels have steep upfront costs for…

As several governments aim to battle climate change by shifting away from fossil fuels and pursuing a green transition, many are revisiting a long-overlooked energy source – nuclear power. Nuclear power was at the top of many countries’ energy agenda for several decades before a few notable nuclear disasters shifted the public perception of the clean energy source, and several governments halted development for years. Now, as studies show that nuclear power is one of the safest forms of energy, so long as strict oversight mechanisms…

Latin America is emerging as a global hub for data center construction as Big Tech floods the region with new projects to power the AI boom. The “industrial sunbelt” spanning across Brazil and Mexico, plus the geopolitical advantage of nearshoring and the great potential of the Latin American tech sector, has led Silicon Valley to invest heavily in data centers spanning from North to South America.  It’s estimated that large data center firms invested more than USD $2 billion in Latin America in 2024 alone, and that rate…

Norway is looking to launch a domestic electric plane service to replace the dozens of daily fossil-fuelled flights to its many islands. If successful, this could encourage other countries to launch similar domestic services. This follows successful test runs of various electric flights in several countries that signal a new era of electric flight in the coming years, although the commercial rollout of electric passenger planes may still be several years away. In September, Norway conducted a pilot flight of its electric-powered Alia CX 300, making…

Billions of dollars are flowing into cutting-edge nuclear technologies, from nuclear fusion experiments to small modular reactors and microreactors that backers say will catalyze a global nuclear power renaissance. But after years of buzz and successful funding rounds, these Wall Street darlings have yet to send any of their promised carbon-free energy to the grid.  In 2024, investments in advanced nuclear companies from both private equity and venture capital hit an all time high. According to S&P Global, last year's investments “surpassed…

Curtailment has become a very relevant issue in Brazil as renewable penetration grows. In short, curtailment is the forced reduction of renewable generation, which typically occurs when there is too much intermittent generation on the grid and insufficient transmission infrastructure. Operators are then required to shut down units to balance the system. The main drivers are transmission bottlenecks, operational restrictions related to grid stability and reliability and localized oversupply. We can split these into two major categories: infrastructure…