Bosnia is next on U.S. President Donald Trump’s disruption agenda, and an opaque energy deal riddled with conflicts of interest is at the heart of yet another of Washington’s transactional gambles based on insufficient knowledge.  Since the second half of 2025, the Trump administration has been dismantling key elements of long-running U.S. policy toward Bosnia and Herzegovina, all because it wants a pipeline from Croatia to supply U.S. LNG, with deals brokered by an unknown company run by Trump loyalists collecting on owed favors. …

Did President Zelensky and the Ukrainian armed forces not listen to US Vice President JD Vance's warnings and request after all? On Wednesday a "massive" Ukrainian drone and missile strike was unleashed on Russia's port city of Novorossiysk, which badly damaged grain export terminals at what also constitutes the last major Russian naval base on the Black Sea. Three were killed, including an eight-year-old child, and also 24 people were injured in the Wednesday nighttime attack. Zelensky acknowledged the rocket and underwater…

The longer-than-expected closure of the Strait of Hormuz means that some part of the oil production in the Middle East will remain shut in through the end of next year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) this week. The renewed tensions in the Middle East that began in late July and have been simmering so far in August will keep traffic at Hormuz severely constrained through this month, which has prompted the EIA to hike its third-quarter oil price forecasts as lower supply would…

For decades, the joke was that nuclear fusion was and would always be 30 years away. But a rapid string of breakthroughs over the last five years, catalyzed by privatization and the pressure as well as the support of the AI boom, has changed the calculus and suddenly brought the technology onto a real and achievable timeline. Nuclear fusion is treated as a ‘holy grail’ of clean energy because, if harnessed in a commercially viable and scalable way, it could provide limitless energy production with zero greenhouse gas emissions and negligible…

Diesel prices surged earlier this week on news about yet another Ukrainian attack on a Russian refinery and a Houthi attack on a Saudi refining facility. Global fuel supply is already out of balance, and the continued refinery disruption will only aggravate the situation, right before peak demand season. Reuters reported Monday that refining margins in Europe had surged by 10%, and that surge was from an already elevated starting point as refiners around the world see their margins rise to all-time highs on the supply tightening caused by the war…

The war between the US and Iran has driven up natural gas prices, particularly in Europe and Asia. Asia accounts for nearly 90% of liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments from key Middle East producers like Qatar and the UAE, while Europe imports 7-11% of its LNG from the region. During spring 2026 missile and drone attacks, Iranian strikes hit Ras Laffan LNG Trains 4 & 6, and Pearl GTL Train 2. Ras Laffan owner QatarEnergy estimates repairs to the two units will sideline about 12.8 million tonnes per year of LNG capacity for three to five years.…

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened Wednesday to seize European ships in retaliation for EU action against Russia’s shadow oil fleet, opening the possibility of direct Russian interference with commercial shipping as Europe steps up efforts to disrupt Moscow’s crude exports, RFE/RL reported.  President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Moscow would “respond in kind” if European countries begin confiscating Russian ships or selling cargo taken from detained vessels, and warned that Russian retaliation would…

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened Wednesday to seize European ships in retaliation for EU action against Russia’s shadow oil fleet, opening the possibility of direct Russian interference with commercial shipping as Europe steps up efforts to disrupt Moscow’s crude exports, RFE/RL reported.  President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Moscow would “respond in kind” if European countries begin confiscating Russian ships or selling cargo taken from detained vessels, and warned that Russian retaliation would…

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened Wednesday to seize European ships in retaliation for EU action against Russia’s shadow oil fleet, opening the possibility of direct Russian interference with commercial shipping as Europe steps up efforts to disrupt Moscow’s crude exports, RFE/RL reported.  President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Moscow would “respond in kind” if European countries begin confiscating Russian ships or selling cargo taken from detained vessels, and warned that Russian retaliation would…

As energy companies explore innovative ways to increase clean power production and gain public support for new projects, many solar firms are investing in developing dual-purpose operations that utilise agricultural land for solar farms. A common criticism of solar farms is that installing panels on arable land for the sole purpose of energy production restricts land use for other purposes. However, installing solar panels on agricultural land, where farming practices can still take place, could provide a solution to the problem. Many solar projects…

Soft power, in the form of scientific cooperation, is helping to drive an expansion of China’s economic influence in Central Asia. Uzbekistan and China, for example, recently launched the joint hyperspectral satellite, Samarkand-2028, which will support applications in agriculture, environmental monitoring, water resource management and natural disaster response. The satellite also features an Uzbek-developed AI module for onboard data processing, reducing the volume of data transmitted to ground stations while increasing the speed and efficiency…

The Trump administration will put oil and gas leases covering more than 81 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico up for auction on Wednesday, August 12, in the third of 30 Gulf lease sales mandated under President Donald Trump’s 2025 tax and spending law. Wednesday’s auction is also the second Gulf lease sale since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began in February, disrupting Middle East crude supplies and sending oil prices to four-year highs. Brent crude was trading above $89 per barrel on Wednesday. The Interior Department will offer…

The Trump administration will put oil and gas leases covering more than 81 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico up for auction on Wednesday, August 12, in the third of 30 Gulf lease sales mandated under President Donald Trump’s 2025 tax and spending law. Wednesday’s auction is also the second Gulf lease sale since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began in February, disrupting Middle East crude supplies and sending oil prices to four-year highs. Brent crude was trading above $89 per barrel on Wednesday. The Interior Department will offer…

Crude oil inventories in the United States saw a massive increase of 17.4 million barrels during the week ending August 7, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday. The increase brings commercial stockpiles to 424.4 million barrels, according to government data, which are now just 2% below the five-year average for this time of year. The EIA’s data release follows API’s figures that were released a day earlier, which reported that crude oil inventories had risen by a hefty 9.072…

The Ukrainian forces have reportedly suspended drone attacks on oil tankers at the port of Novorossiysk following a request by U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, the Financial Times wrote today, citing unnamed Ukrainian officials. The request was prompted by concern that the drone attacks that shut down the Caspian Pipeline Consortium twice over the last two months were additionally destabilizing an already destabilized global oil market. The Ukraine has also targeted tankers docked at the port of Novorossiysk with drones. CPC operates the pipeline…

The Ukrainian forces have reportedly suspended drone attacks on oil tankers at the port of Novorossiysk following a request by U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, the Financial Times wrote today, citing unnamed Ukrainian officials. The request was prompted by concern that the drone attacks that shut down the Caspian Pipeline Consortium twice over the last two months were additionally destabilizing an already destabilized global oil market. The Ukraine has also targeted tankers docked at the port of Novorossiysk with drones. CPC operates the pipeline…

Norwegian aluminum producer Norsk Hydro's Alunorte plant in Brazil, one of the world's largest alumina refineries, reduced output by 50% following disruptions to natural gas availability. Bloomberg reports that disruptions to NatGas availability at Alunorte forced a 50% reduction in output and sent aluminum prices in London to a seven-week high. Hydro said production would return to full capacity once gas supplies normalize. Aluminum rose nearly 2% in London and traded at $3,373 a metric ton. Alumina futures gained 1% in Shanghai. NatGas is critical…

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei's decision to formalize six senior military and security postings within 48 hours is less a personnel story than the closing chapter of a five-month improvisation. Read together, the appointments announced on August 10 show a new supreme leader moving to convert an emergency wartime chain of command, cobbled together after Israeli and US strikes killed much of Iran's senior military leadership, into a permanent structure built around his own circle of trust. Rebuilding From The Top Down, Twice The scale of…

Indian state-controlled oil refiners continue to search the market for spot crude supply as term deliveries are constrained by the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and its key oil chokepoint, the Strait of Hormuz. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) are looking to buy a combined 6 million barrels of crude oil via spot tenders, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing tender documents it has seen. HPCL is seeking up to 4 million barrels of crude for delivery in September and October.…

Indian state-controlled oil refiners continue to search the market for spot crude supply as term deliveries are constrained by the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and its key oil chokepoint, the Strait of Hormuz. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) are looking to buy a combined 6 million barrels of crude oil via spot tenders, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing tender documents it has seen. HPCL is seeking up to 4 million barrels of crude for delivery in September and October.…