UK car production plunged to its lowest level since 1949 last month, as Aston Martin and other British carmakers halted exports to the United States amid president Donald Trump’s escalating trade war. Data released on Friday by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) found that UK factories turned out just 49,810 cars and vans in the month of May, down 33 per cent on the year and the worst monthly performance in 76 years, outside the COVID-19 shutdowns of 2020. The collapse comes after Trump imposed steep tariffs on foreign-made…

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States fell yet again this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, following a 1-rig decrease in the week prior. The total rig count in the US fell by 7 to 547 rigs, according to Baker Hughes, down 34 from this same time last year. The number of oil rigs fell by 6 to 432 after falling by 1 during the previous week—and down by 47 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs fell by 2 this week, to 109 for a gain of 12 active gas rigs…

Alberta expects to have booked a budget surplus of about US$4.2 billion (C$5.8 billion) for the fiscal year 2024-2025 that ended in March, as Nate Horner, the finance minister of Canada’s oil-producing province, prepares to deliver the year-end fiscal update later on Friday.  The unexpectedly large surplus for 2024-2025 was due to higher resource royalties, RBC said earlier this year.    However, Alberta expects a large deficit of about US$3.8 billion (C$5.2 billion) for the current fiscal year 2025-2026 which began in…

Alberta expects to have booked a budget surplus of about US$4.2 billion (C$5.8 billion) for the fiscal year 2024-2025 that ended in March, as Nate Horner, the finance minister of Canada’s oil-producing province, prepares to deliver the year-end fiscal update later on Friday.  The unexpectedly large surplus for 2024-2025 was due to higher resource royalties, RBC said earlier this year.    However, Alberta expects a large deficit of about US$3.8 billion (C$5.2 billion) for the current fiscal year 2025-2026 which began in…

Alberta expects to have booked a budget surplus of about US$4.2 billion (C$5.8 billion) for the fiscal year 2024-2025 that ended in March, as Nate Horner, the finance minister of Canada’s oil-producing province, prepares to deliver the year-end fiscal update later on Friday.  The unexpectedly large surplus for 2024-2025 was due to higher resource royalties, RBC said earlier this year.    However, Alberta expects a large deficit of about US$3.8 billion (C$5.2 billion) for the current fiscal year 2025-2026 which began in…

Oil flows on the Transneft pipeline network, which handles 80% of all the oil Russia produces, fell last year and continue to slide in 2025, too, due to the OPEC+ agreement to withhold supply and technological issues at Russia’s oil-producing sites, the pipeline giant said on Friday. Due to the falling oil flows, Transneft doesn’t expect its revenue to grow at the same pace as in the past decade until about 2030, the company’s first deputy CEO Maxim Grishanin was quoted as saying by Russian news agency Interfax. Tariffs on shipments…

Car Online, an Iran-based campaign on social media channels, has started to call on its subscribers and followers to incite Yemenis to target facilities of Saudi oil giant Aramco, as a revenge against U.S. strikes against Iranian nuclear sites, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) says.  The Car Online channel on Telegram began its life as an Iranian social media operation, FDD researchers uncovered last week. During the so-called 12-day war between Israel and Iran, the Car Online operation was instructing followers how to create…

Car Online, an Iran-based campaign on social media channels, has started to call on its subscribers and followers to incite Yemenis to target facilities of Saudi oil giant Aramco, as a revenge against U.S. strikes against Iranian nuclear sites, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) says.  The Car Online channel on Telegram began its life as an Iranian social media operation, FDD researchers uncovered last week. During the so-called 12-day war between Israel and Iran, the Car Online operation was instructing followers how to create…

Following the collapse of geopolitical risk premium in oil prices, oil is back to trading on supply, demand, and OPEC+ expectations. The Israel-Iran ceasefire and the lack of subsequent retaliatory attacks has drained oil markets of the elevated geopolitical risk that saw Brent near $80 per barrel last week, only to post a $9 per barrel week-on-week drop and trade around $68 per barrel on Friday. Now that the Middle East is relatively calm, there are two main price-defining events ahead - OPEC+ with its July 06 meeting and Donald Trump with his…

BYD stock and its U.S. listed ADRs slumped about 3% on Wednesday this week, after it was reported the vehicle manufacturer was cutting production. China’s top automaker is scaling back production at several factories due to rising vehicle inventories and slower-than-expected sales growth, multiple outlets including Reuters and CarNewsChina reported. The company has canceled night shifts and delayed adding new production lines, reducing output at at least four factories by about one-third. “There were two reasons for the mentioned actions:…

BYD stock and its U.S. listed ADRs slumped about 3% on Wednesday this week, after it was reported the vehicle manufacturer was cutting production. China’s top automaker is scaling back production at several factories due to rising vehicle inventories and slower-than-expected sales growth, multiple outlets including Reuters and CarNewsChina reported. The company has canceled night shifts and delayed adding new production lines, reducing output at at least four factories by about one-third. “There were two reasons for the mentioned actions:…

BYD stock and its U.S. listed ADRs slumped about 3% on Wednesday this week, after it was reported the vehicle manufacturer was cutting production. China’s top automaker is scaling back production at several factories due to rising vehicle inventories and slower-than-expected sales growth, multiple outlets including Reuters and CarNewsChina reported. The company has canceled night shifts and delayed adding new production lines, reducing output at at least four factories by about one-third. “There were two reasons for the mentioned actions:…

Numbers Report – June 27, 2025In the latest edition of the Numbers Report, we will take a look at some of the most interesting figures put out this week in the energy and metals sectors. Each week we’ll dig into some data and provide a bit of explanation on what drives the numbers. Let’s take a look.1. BP Takeover Bids Have a New Problem, Its Debt • The relatively stale world of major energy M&A deals has been roiled by the Wall Street Journal reporting on Shell’s entry talks with BP for a full takeover, only to…

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict- Trump has suggested that China is free to buy oil from Iran if it wants, but urges Beijing to purchase more U.S. crude instead, essentially suggesting that more oil deals are the price for de-escalating things with Iran. China's purchases of Iranian barrels have surged past 1.5 million bpd, and the U.S. administration, despite the high-profile strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, is more interested in export competitiveness than in curbing illicit flows. - Iraq is preparing to import LNG for the first…

Iran’s missile strike on Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on June 23 was loud but calculated. Despite the scale (nearly 20 missiles, including medium-range ballistic weapons) the damage was negligible. U.S. and Qatari sources confirm that interception systems neutralized the bulk of the barrage, and the only successful impact hit a structure outside the base, with no military value and no casualties. This was not a serious attempt to degrade U.S. capabilities in the Gulf. It was theater with a purpose: to signal resolve without triggering escalation,…

This could have been a momentous week in Ukraine’s long-term wish of joining the European Union and NATO. In the end, it wasn't. As leaders of the two institutions met for key summits in Brussels and The Hague respectively, Kyiv’s eventual membership of both should have been a centerpiece. Instead, Ukraine is no closer to joining either — and the many obstacles in the war-torn country's path to the Euro-Atlantic community were on full display. Just like in Vilnius a year ago, Ukraine was frustrated that it didn’t get an…

Crude oil markets endured a sharp four-day selloff from June 22-26, driven by collapsing geopolitical risk premiums and mounting global supply. The steep decline wiped out nearly all the gains from mid-June’s heightened Middle East tensions, as traders recalibrated around fresh supply-side realities and emerging demand concerns. Iran-Israel Ceasefire Removes Key Supply Risk Oil’s abrupt decline was catalyzed by a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran, announced late Monday by U.S. President Donald Trump. Though Israel accused…

Santos has granted exclusive due diligence access for six weeks to the consortium led by Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC that has made an $18.7 billion non-binding takeover bid for the Australian energy giant.  Santos, which earlier this month received – and plans to accept – the offer, has now entered into a process and exclusivity deed with XRG, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and lead investor of a consortium including Abu Dhabi Development Holding Company and Carlyle, the Australian gas giant said on Friday.  The…

Santos has granted exclusive due diligence access for six weeks to the consortium led by Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC that has made an $18.7 billion non-binding takeover bid for the Australian energy giant.  Santos, which earlier this month received – and plans to accept – the offer, has now entered into a process and exclusivity deed with XRG, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and lead investor of a consortium including Abu Dhabi Development Holding Company and Carlyle, the Australian gas giant said on Friday.  The…

Shell and its partners have started up two subsea compressors to boost the recovery rate at the Ormen Lange natural gas field in the Norwegian Sea, the UK-based supermajor, which operates the field, said on Friday.  Shell expects the compression stations to raise the gas recovery rate to 85% from the current 75%.  The two new compressor stations are installed on the seabed 120 kilometers (75 miles) from shore and are directly connected to the processing plant at Nyhamna.  The increased recovery rate will allow the extraction of 30–50…