US-Israeli War on Iran Causes Major Oil, Gas Disruptions
Kuwait announced?cuts at the weekend due to the U.S. and Israel war against Iran. Analysts predict the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, which are running out of oil storage, will have to reduce their output as well. Here are the main energy disruptions that have occurred so far. Three industry sources reported on March 8 that the Iraqi production has collapsed: "the country's oil output from its southern oilfields is down 70%, to 1.3 million barrels a day (bpd), from 4.3 millions barrels a day (bpd), before the war.
US-Israeli War on Iran Causes Major Oil, Gas Disruptions
The U.S. and Israeli war against Iran has caused oil and gas exports to be disrupted from the Middle East. Production was stopped from Qatar all the way up to Iraq. Kuwait announced cuts this weekend. Analysts predict the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, too, will have to reduce their output as soon as possible when they run out of oil storage. Kuwait Force Majeure: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation cut oil output and declared force majeure March 7, due to the war that shut down exports through the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent oil prices continue to rise amid Iran conflict with Brent reaching a 19-month high
The price of crude oil rose by about 7% Tuesday. This is the third time that oil prices have risen in a row. As the U.S./Israeli conflict with Iran intensifies, fuel shipments are disrupted, and 'fears' of further disruptions to Middle East oil supply and gas supplies increase. Brent crude futures rose $5.70 or 7% to $83.44 per barrel at 1326 GMT, after reaching their highest level since July 2024, $85.12. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude gained $5.03 or 7% to $76.26. It had previously reached its highest level since June, at $77.58.
Putin condemns the killing of Iran’s Khamenei, but has offered little more than condolences.
The Russian president Vladimir Putin condemned Sunday the murder of Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling it a "cynical", but offered Moscow's ally little else in public than condolences. Khamenei's fall is the 'third Russian ally that has been toppled? in the last 15 months. This follows the fall of?Moscow backed?leaders?in Venezuela and Syria. The Kremlin is now facing a major strategic setback after Khamenei's death. Russia claims that the U.S., Israel and other countries have plunged the Middle East into an abyss.
Vietnam is willing to increase US purchases, says the trade minister as new tariff talks begin
Vietnam's trade minister said that the country is ready to increase its purchases of U.S. products, particularly machinery and high-tech items. The Southeast Asian nation has begun a sixth round of tariff negotiation in Washington, this week. According to a ministry statement, Trade Minister Le Manh Hung held meetings with executives of Apple, Exxon Mobil and GE as well as Excelerate Energy and 'AES. In October, the 'White House' announced that?the United States?and Vietnam will finalise a trading agreement which will keep tariffs at 20% on most Vietnamese products but remove them on certain goods.
Why is Elon Musk interested in putting AI data centers into space?
Musk's plans to launch satellite data centres into orbit could be given a boost by a proposed merger between Elon Musk's SpaceX, and xAI. The news was reported exclusively on Thursday. Musk is battling for supremacy against tech giants such as Alphabet's Google and OpenAI. What are space-based AI data centers? The concept of space-based data centres is still in its early stages. They would likely rely upon hundreds of satellites powered by solar energy, networked together in orbit, to meet the computing needs of AI systems such as xAI’s Grok and OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Oil Prices Rise 2% Amidst Venezuela Conflict, Supply Concerns
Oil prices rose about 2% on Thursday after two days of declines as investors assessed developments in Venezuela and on worries about supplies from Russia, Iraq and Iran.Brent futures rose $1.21, or 2%, to $61.17 per barrel at 11:17 a.m. EST (1617 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained $1.02, or 1.8%, to $57.01.The U.S. seized two Venezuela-linked oil tankers in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday, one sailing under Russia's flag, as part of U.S. President Donald Trump's aggressive push to…
Kazakh Energy Minister: Government not talking to Lukoil on buying local assets
Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov stated on Monday that the Kazakh government has not held talks with Russian oil giant Lukoil regarding buying its Kazakh assets. The Russian state media reported earlier that the KazMunayGas head, who is the state-owned oil company of Kazakhstan, had said the company was in discussions about Lukoil’s assets in Kazakhstan. The Russian oil group has stakes in Kazakhstan’s Karachaganak oilfields and Tengiz oilfields. It also holds stakes in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium which transports the majority of Kazakhstan’s oil to Novorossiysk, a Russian port for export.
China solar stocks jump after a report by state media on overcapacity
The shares of China's solar firms soared on Wednesday, after a senior executive in the industry told state media leading companies were forming an alliance. This raised expectations that industry leaders would be moving forward with a plan that will reduce overcapacity. "Seventeen companies are already in the process of signing." Zhu Gongshan (President of GCL Technology Holdings), told CCTV Tuesday night that "we are building an Association". We are working hard to finish it by the end of this year.
State media reports that Indonesia is considering a mandate for bioethanol blended fuel
The energy minister told the state-run news agency Antara on Tuesday that Indonesia was considering a 10% bioethanol level in gasoline to reduce carbon emissions and the country's dependency on fuel imports. Indonesia is looking to increase the use of palm oil and sugarcane biofuels as the President Prabowo subianto strives to make Indonesia the fourth most populous country in the world to be more energy independent. Due to ethanol supply shortages, the implementation of a mandatory mix of bioethanol in gasoline has been delayed. Yesterday evening, we had a meeting.
China builds oil reserves in response to a stockpiling campaign
China has been building oil reserves at an accelerated pace as part of its campaign to increase crude stocks. This urgency increased after Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted global energy flows. It also accelerated in this year according to traders, industry experts and public data. According to sources such as domestic news, government reports, and company websites, state oil companies like Sinopec and CNOOC are planning on adding at least 169,000,000 barrels in storage over 11 sites between 2025 and 2026. Sources indicate that 37 million barrels have been built.
PetroChina says it has added 1.15 billion barrels to its shale oil reserves at a pilot project.
PetroChina proved another 158 millions metric tons of shale-oil reserves, or approximately 1.15 billion barrels in a northeast China pilot project, Chinese state media reported Friday. State television reported that the Daqing project in Heilongjiang Province, northeast China, covers an area of 2,778 sq km and pumps 3,500 tons or 25,550 barrels per day. The project began testing production in 2022 and is one of several pilot shale-oil projects being undertaken by national oil companies to increase drilling for hydrocarbons that are harder to develop in order stop the decline in domestic oil production.
Kuwait and China to sign top wastewater facility in mid-October
Kuwaiti state media reported that the North Kabd plant will be the largest wastewater treatment facility in Kuwait by capacity. The facility will use advanced technologies to process up 1 million cubic meters of wastewater per day. Kuwait, a country rich in oil, struggles to reuse treated water. Kuwait, an oil-rich country, struggles to reuse treated wastewater. This project is one of several mega-developments Kuwait pursues with Chinese assistance, including the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port and power and water plants. Other projects include renewable energy, waste recycling, and new residential communities.
China uses solar panels to fight desert sands
In the arid north of China, workers trim goji berry plants that are spread out under the protection of thousands of solar panel. The solar panel facility of 1 gigawatt in Ningxia, a region in northwest China, is part of an extensive network that uses the shade and bulk of the panels to reverse desertification. Vice-chairperson Liu Yuanguan of Ningxia Baofeng said that the company, which is a major player in the coal chemicals industry, intends to build 30GW of solar power, of which some will be used to prevent desertification. He added that a similar 1 GW solar project is already in place in Majiatan, which is nearby.
China renewable auction signals challenges for solar developers
Analysts said that the solar power prices at China's first province-level auction under its new renewable price mechanism are so low, they may discourage investors from launching new projects. The auction held in Shandong last week, which is seen as an indicator for future auctions nationwide, indicates that prices will be lower in the future than they were under the old system, although perhaps not as low as those in Shandong where solar investment drove prices down. The auction was part a reform announced…
China renewable auction signals challenges for solar developers
Analysts said that the solar power prices at China's first province-level auction under its new renewable price mechanism are so low, they may discourage investors from launching new projects. The auction held in Shandong last week, which is seen as an indicator for future auctions nationwide, indicates that prices will be lower in the future than they were under the old system, although perhaps not as low as those in Shandong where solar investment drove prices down. The auction was part a reform announced…
State media report that Malaysia's deputy PM claims Petronas was threatened to "burn" LNG facilities
According to state media, the Malaysian authorities issued a security warning for liquefied gas facilities after an employee of state energy company Petronas was threatened by telephone to burn them down. Petronas or Petroliam Nasional Berhad confirmed that it is working with the authorities following a directive from the National Security Council to tighten security at LNG facilities in Sarawak on Monday. Petronas’ flagship LNG plant, the Bintulu Complex, has a production capacity of 29,3 million metric tonnes per year.
The markets bet Beijing will take action against China's overcapacity
This month, commodity prices have risen from steel to polysilicon as Chinese investors bet that Beijing will finally address overcapacity in the second largest economy of the world. The prices of nine industrial commodities, including coal, steel and polysilicon (a building block used in solar panels), alumina, and lithium carbonate, have risen by 10 to 68% over the past month, while the share prices for steelmakers, solar panel makers, and clean energy companies outpaced those for CSI 300 Index. Beijing announced the moves on July 1…
China's thermal energy generation fell 2.3% on an annual basis in April
Official data released on Monday showed that thermal power generation in China fueled primarily by coal fell by 2.3% in April. It also dropped 4.1% between January and April. This is in line with the expectation that China's fossil fuelled power production could drop in 2025, for the first dip in 10 years. The National Bureau of Statistics reported that China generated 449.1 billion Kilowatt-hours last month, and 1.98 trillion in total for the year. Natural gas is also used in a few power plants, which contributes a small amount to the thermal energy generation.
State media report that US and Vietnamese firms have signed a deal on energy and minerals.
State media and one of these firms reported on Friday that Vietnamese and American firms had signed a number of deals on minerals and energy during the visit to the United States of Vietnam's Trade Minister. State-owned PetroVietnam Power said that Vietnamese firms are in discussions with U.S. companies to buy American crude and LNG. The company is a party to one of these deals, and executives from the firm will accompany the minister to the United States. Vietnamese Trade Minister Nguyenhong Dien is currently in the United States for trade talks.