India, the world’s third-largest crude oil importer, which depends on imports for about 85% of its daily consumption, considers building three new sites to raise its strategic petroleum reserves. Engineers India Ltd, a state-run engineering consultancy, is doing feasibility studies, L R Jain, chief executive at the state company managing the reserve, Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Ltd, told Reuters on Wednesday. “In case of exigencies, we will be better prepared,” Jain said. Currently, India’s underground Strategic Petroleum…

US President Donald Trump urged Iran-backed Hamas militants to agree to what he called a "final proposal" for a 60-day cease-fire with Israel in Gaza. "I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better -- IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,” he said on July 1 on Truth Social. Israel has agreed to the conditions to finalize a 60-day cease-fire during which “we will work with all parties to end the War," Trump said. Representatives for Qatar and Egypt will deliver the proposal to Hamas, Trump said,…

Norwegian energy major Equinor has walked away from a third offshore wind development project in Australia in another blow to the federal government’s plan to build an offshore wind industry. Earlier this year, Equinor quietly walked away from the Bass Offshore Wind Energy project near the coast of Tasmania, as the oil and gas giant reduced its investments in renewables to boost returns for shareholders and adapt to an “uneven energy transition.” In a short statement to Australia’s Financial Review, Equinor and its partner…

Norwegian energy major Equinor has walked away from a third offshore wind development project in Australia in another blow to the federal government’s plan to build an offshore wind industry. Earlier this year, Equinor quietly walked away from the Bass Offshore Wind Energy project near the coast of Tasmania, as the oil and gas giant reduced its investments in renewables to boost returns for shareholders and adapt to an “uneven energy transition.” In a short statement to Australia’s Financial Review, Equinor and its partner…

Until the U.S.- and U.K.-orchestrated removal of longtime Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from office in December, the Shia Crescent of Power held an extraordinary sway over the political, economic, and security trajectories of the Middle East. With Iran at its ideological centre, the Crescent comprised key strategic assets in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, with inroads being made in Azerbaijan (75% Shia and a Former Soviet Union state), Turkey (25% Shia and furious at not being accepted fully into the European Union), Bahrain (75% Shia), and…

Australia has been out of luck lately. The country’s consumer watchdog just this week warned the east coast could face a gas shortage as soon as this year. Smelters and miners are complaining about high energy costs and asking for government help. And now the industry department is warning that commodity exports are about to weaken on trade headwinds. In a new report, the Australian Department of Industry, Science and Resources said it expected commodity exports to keep rising over this year and next, but income from them is set to weaken—because…

Unless you are a hobbyist or technician who solders things on a regular basis, your only acquaintance with the metallic element bismuth is probably through Pepto Bismol, the main ingredient of which is bismuth subsalicylate, a pinkish substance sold, not surprisingly, under the name of pink bismuth. The fact that you can ingest pink bismuth and it will soothe your stomach should tell you something about its toxicity; it's quite low. And, that's why bismuth is  favored over lead for soldering. It is now widely used for soldering of circuit…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose this week, this time by 680,000 barrels in the week ending June 27 after analysts had estimated a 2.26-million-barrel draw. The build ends a series of API-reported draws over the last five weeks that total more than 22 million barrels—an unprecedented drop in US inventories not seen in recent history. Yet so far this year, crude oil inventories are up 4 million barrels, according to Oilprice calculations of API data. Earlier this week, the…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose this week, this time by 680,000 barrels in the week ending June 27 after analysts had estimated a 2.26-million-barrel draw. The build ends a series of API-reported draws over the last five weeks that total more than 22 million barrels—an unprecedented drop in US inventories not seen in recent history. Yet so far this year, crude oil inventories are up 4 million barrels, according to Oilprice calculations of API data. Earlier this week, the…

Millions of tons of coal ash are currently sitting in ponds and landfills across the United States. The U.S. alone produces around 110 million tons of this coal mining byproduct each and every year. The ponds that house this ash pose a major threat to the environments that host them, but they might also hold the secret to homeshoring vital supply chains for critical minerals. Last year, scientists at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin analyzed coal ash samples collected from power plants across the United States and found that domestic coal…

Reports and rumors have intensified this year that BP is in the crosshairs of rivals, especially Shell, for a potential takeover that would be the largest deal in the oil industry since the Exxon and Mobil merger in 1999. Five years of U-turns in strategy and the abrupt departure of the architect of the ‘greener’ BP, Bernard Looney, have left investors unconvinced in the direction the UK supermajor is taking and whether it could – at some point, finally – convince shareholders and the market that it is a stock worth holding.…

The UK’s energy regulator has approved a £24bn investment to upgrade the UK’s energy infrastructure as a part of its green transition. The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) move comes as the government renews its push for cleaner energy, despite backlash around the impact on prices. Over £15bn is set to be deployed into the UK’s gas transmissions and distribution systems to ensure a “safe and secure” supply of gas to households and businesses. Meanwhile, £8.9bn will be spent on expanding…

Russia’s seaborne crude oil shipments barely budged in late June, holding near two-month lows despite a modest uptick from major ports. In the four weeks to June 29, crude exports averaged 3.21 million barrels per day (bpd)—up just 1% from the previous four-week period, according to Bloomberg tracking data. Weekly volumes sat around 3 million bpd, also little changed. While key terminals like Primorsk and Kozmino saw higher flows, declines from smaller ports—including Novorossiysk and Murmansk—nearly canceled out the gains.…

The sustainable investment bubble has burst, once again this century. This time it was the realization that the energy transition will be a slow gradual process of coal being replaced by natural gas and renewables gaining more share of electricity generation. This realization coincided with massive recent withdrawals from sustainable funds, due to the backlash against calls for blacklisting funding for fossil fuels, especially in Trump’s America. The most recent decline in green energy investment isn’t the first one of the 21st century.…

At Russia’s annual marquee event for business investment, a Kremlin-funded bubbly celebration of promise and opportunity, the country’s top economic minister poured cold war on the party. “According to the numbers, yes, we’ve got a cooling down now,” Maksim Reshetnikov said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. “Based on current business sentiment, it seems to me we are on the brink of transitioning into recession.” If that wasn’t enough of a damper, the head of the Russian Central Bank…

India is kicking off exploration efforts for cobalt and copper deposits in Zambia by sending a team of geologists to the African country known for its critical minerals reserves, sources at the Indian government told Reuters on Tuesday. In March this year, India bought land in Zambia to explore copper and cobalt, signaling a significant move to secure its mineral supply chains in Africa. India’s government has acquired greenfield land in Zambia’s northwest province with plans to explore copper and cobalt. Zambia’s economy is mainly…

India is kicking off exploration efforts for cobalt and copper deposits in Zambia by sending a team of geologists to the African country known for its critical minerals reserves, sources at the Indian government told Reuters on Tuesday. In March this year, India bought land in Zambia to explore copper and cobalt, signaling a significant move to secure its mineral supply chains in Africa. India’s government has acquired greenfield land in Zambia’s northwest province with plans to explore copper and cobalt. Zambia’s economy is mainly…

Oil markets are now refocusing on OPEC+ as the Iran-Israel ceasefire continues to hold, with the cartel's meeting this weekend likely to be the next big market mover.- Ever since OPEC+ countries started to unwind their 2.2 million b/d worth of voluntary production cuts, the expectation was that Middle Eastern producers would start to flood the markets in order to re-gain market share.   - Saudi Arabia’s June export numbers indicate that Saudi Aramco is doubling down on its production hikes, shipping 6.4 million b/d in seaborne…

Kazakhstan’s crude oil output jumped 7.5% in June to 1.88 million barrels per day (bpd), matching the country’s all-time high set in March, according to figures leaked to Reuters. This puts Kazakhstan well over its official OPEC+ quota of 1.5 million bpd, and continues a pattern of months-long noncompliance that’s frustrating the group’s core members—especially Saudi Arabia. Total oil and condensate production rose to 2.15 million bpd in June, up from 2.02 million in May. Most of the increase came from Tengiz—the…

OPEC’s second-largest producer, Iraq, was the single biggest supplier of crude from the cartel to the United States in May, per data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) cited by Iraqi media outlets Shafaq News and IraqiNews. Iraq ranked first among the 12 OPEC producers in terms of exports to the United States in May. Shipments totaled nearly 7 million barrels of crude, 6.95 million barrels to be precise. The second-largest OPEC supplier to the U.S. was Nigeria with 6.803 million barrels of crude oil exports, followed by…