Brent tops $73 as renewed U.S.-Iran strikes keep Hormuz on edge, leaving oil markets vulnerable to sharp summer price swings. Hormuz Plays Red Light, Green Light as Transits Slow Down This Week - Reaching 59 transits, June 24 has marked the highest number of Hormuz crossings since US-Iran MoU was signed, with traffic slowing down following last week’s attack on a cargo ship and weekend strikes on Iranian territory. - This week’s daily transit rates hover around 20-25 ships per day, however nowadays most of Hormuz movement is inbound…

An ESG reporting platform backed by the government-owned British Business Bank has been put up for sale after appointing administrators, City AM can reveal, in the latest sign blue-chip companies are paring back their sustainability commitments. World Wide Generation, which operates the platform, known as G17 Eco, has opened the bidding to interested parties and those expressing interest following a listing on an insolvency marketplace. The London-based company, which was once valued at more than £90m in an equity funding round and counts…

Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas firm PTT is in early-stage talks with developers of U.S. LNG export projects to invest in facilities and secure long-term supply, anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg on Tuesday. Thailand looks to secure long-term supply to avoid costly spot LNG purchases during crises such as the current disruption in the Middle East. PTT is talking to several developers, including Australia’s Woodside Energy, which is building the Louisiana LNG export plant in the United States, according…

Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas firm PTT is in early-stage talks with developers of U.S. LNG export projects to invest in facilities and secure long-term supply, anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg on Tuesday. Thailand looks to secure long-term supply to avoid costly spot LNG purchases during crises such as the current disruption in the Middle East. PTT is talking to several developers, including Australia’s Woodside Energy, which is building the Louisiana LNG export plant in the United States, according…

Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas firm PTT is in early-stage talks with developers of U.S. LNG export projects to invest in facilities and secure long-term supply, anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg on Tuesday. Thailand looks to secure long-term supply to avoid costly spot LNG purchases during crises such as the current disruption in the Middle East. PTT is talking to several developers, including Australia’s Woodside Energy, which is building the Louisiana LNG export plant in the United States, according…

Surging gas demand in South and Southeast Asia will push global LNG demand up by 65% by 2050 from 2025 levels, although growth this year has been stalled by the Strait of Hormuz crisis, Shell, the world’s biggest LNG trader, said in its annual LNG Outlook 2026 published on Tuesday. Last year, 422 million tons of LNG were traded globally. Expectations early this year, including by Shell, were that trade will jump in 2026. However, the Middle East conflict that shut in a fifth of the world’s monthly LNG supply pushed up spot LNG prices…

As traffic through the Strait of Hormuz tentatively reopens following the U.S.-Iran deal to make a deal, oil prices on Tuesday were on track to post a 20% monthly decline and a 30% quarterly plunge in the biggest slump in a quarter since the pandemic-driven crash in prices. In the first quarter of 2020, Brent Crude prices plummeted by 65.5% as the world entered into lockdowns and road transport and industrial fuel demand crashed. The next steepest decline since then was registered in the quarter ending on Tuesday, with quarterly Brent prices slumping…

Despite a slight recovery from May, Asia’s crude oil imports remain at multi-month lows in June amid constrained Middle Eastern flows and high prices for alternative supply. Asia’s crude oil imports in the three months before the Iran war started on February 28 averaged as much as 26.79 million barrels per day (bpd), according to estimates by Reuters columnist Clyde Russell. In contrast, the expected crude imports in June are at just 20.71 million bpd, per Kpler data cited by Russell. These would be higher than the imports of 20.39…

Despite a slight recovery from May, Asia’s crude oil imports remain at multi-month lows in June amid constrained Middle Eastern flows and high prices for alternative supply. Asia’s crude oil imports in the three months before the Iran war started on February 28 averaged as much as 26.79 million barrels per day (bpd), according to estimates by Reuters columnist Clyde Russell. In contrast, the expected crude imports in June are at just 20.71 million bpd, per Kpler data cited by Russell. These would be higher than the imports of 20.39…

Despite a slight recovery from May, Asia’s crude oil imports remain at multi-month lows in June amid constrained Middle Eastern flows and high prices for alternative supply. Asia’s crude oil imports in the three months before the Iran war started on February 28 averaged as much as 26.79 million barrels per day (bpd), according to estimates by Reuters columnist Clyde Russell. In contrast, the expected crude imports in June are at just 20.71 million bpd, per Kpler data cited by Russell. These would be higher than the imports of 20.39…

The White House issued a stark warning in July 2025: Without $1.4 trillion in new infrastructure investment, electricity prices could surge as much as 58% by 2030. That’s driven mostly by the insatiable power demand from the rise of AI data centers and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. According to Axios, new reports show that power demand is set to grow up to 10x between now and 2030. The grid we’ve relied on for decades simply can't keep pace, and that’s threatening to put a major strain on both the AI and Bitcoin booms that have…

The war in the Middle East has cost the world over a billion barrels in cumulative supply losses. Yet luckily, China had built a reserve of about the same size before the closure of Hormuz, so it stopped buying so much oil, arresting the inevitable price jump. Now, everyone wants to build an oil reserve—or needs to replenish the ones they already have. Back in March, soon after the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran began, prompting the latter to retaliate by closing the Strait of Hormuz, the International Energy Agency said it would release…

After weeks of trying to downplay the impact of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries, the Kremlin acknowledged this weekend that Russia faces fuel shortages and a fuel crisis that needs further government intervention to solve. A few weeks ago, regional governors across Russia rushed to downplay the fuel crisis, seeking to assure residents that supply is tight only at limited gas stations and there is no need to panic about shortages. Apparently, this narrative couldn’t be contained for too long as Ukraine is stepping up attacks…

The United States and Iran have stepped back from the brink of all-out war, but the ceasefire that followed nearly four months of fighting is still being tested by flare-ups around the Strait of Hormuz. One outcome of the crisis, though, is already clear: the clean energy transition is speeding up, and shows no sign of slowing. The war is just the latest in a string of conflicts to send shockwaves through oil and gas markets in recent years, leaving global leaders increasingly wary of dependence on fossil fuel imports and underscoring the energy…

A recent social media post from a meteorologist with a large following made a claim that deserves a closer look. The post argued that it is a myth that China is responsible for rapidly rising carbon dioxide emissions, and it has been shared hundreds of times. The following graphic attached to the post, from Our World in Data, showed annual carbon dioxide emissions by world region. It also showed something that undercut the claim: China’s emissions have surged this century and now represent the largest single-country contribution to annual…

Abu Dhabi’s XRG, the international investment arm of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and Italy’s Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E) have officially signed agreements to acquire minority stakes in three upstream gas blocks linked to the Argentina LNG export project. The transaction involves the Meseta Buena Esperanza, Aguada Villanueva and Las Tacanas unconventional gas blocks located in Argentina’s prolific Vaca Muerta shale basin. Under the newly signed Sale and Purchase Agreements (SPAs), XRG and Eni will each own a 32% stake,…

Abu Dhabi’s XRG, the international investment arm of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and Italy’s Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E) have officially signed agreements to acquire minority stakes in three upstream gas blocks linked to the Argentina LNG export project. The transaction involves the Meseta Buena Esperanza, Aguada Villanueva and Las Tacanas unconventional gas blocks located in Argentina’s prolific Vaca Muerta shale basin. Under the newly signed Sale and Purchase Agreements (SPAs), XRG and Eni will each own a 32% stake,…

Following the June 2026 primary elections in NYC, in which democratic socialist Mayor Mamdani’s preferred slate enjoyed considerable electoral success, much has been written about the political implications. Our take is really simple. The last time the democratic socialists gained power, especially in major US cities, many of their policies were adopted by Progressives or New Dealers. In either case, that meant a far more intrusive regulatory environment for utilities. The Progressives laid the foundation for our existing regulatory apparatus…

Arctic Express, a newly flagged Russian LNG tanker, has picked up a cargo of liquefied natural gas from a floating storage facility used by ‌Arctic LNG 2 project, marking the latest addition to Russia’s dark fleet as LNG output from the U.S.-santioned project ramps up, Reuters reported on Monday. The 19-year old vessel was previously called the Queen Cassiopeia and sailed under a Sierra Leone flag while managed by a Greek firm; however, its ownership was transferred to St. Petersburg-based SMP Techmanagement LLC around mid-May, at which…

Arctic Express, a newly flagged Russian LNG tanker, has picked up a cargo of liquefied natural gas from a floating storage facility used by ‌Arctic LNG 2 project, marking the latest addition to Russia’s dark fleet as LNG output from the U.S.-santioned project ramps up, Reuters reported on Monday. The 19-year old vessel was previously called the Queen Cassiopeia and sailed under a Sierra Leone flag while managed by a Greek firm; however, its ownership was transferred to St. Petersburg-based SMP Techmanagement LLC around mid-May, at which…