There is no doubt that AI advancements and data centers will be sucking up more electricity in the coming years, and power demand in the United States will grow after a decade of stagnation. What’s in doubt is how much additional power-generating capacity the AI boom will need and how electric utilities will navigate through the complex supply-demand balances in various regions. U.S. power utilities have announced billions of U.S. dollars in capital plans for the next few years and are getting a lot of requests from Big Tech for new power…

Saudi oil giant Aramco and China’s top refiner, Sinopec, will expand a joint venture petrochemicals complex in Saudi Arabia under an agreement signed on Wednesday. Aramco and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, as Sinopec is known, own the Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company (Yasref) on the west coast of Saudi Arabia, with Aramco holding 62.5% and Sinopec 37.5% in the venture. The companies signed on Wednesday a so-called Venture Framework Agreement (VFA), which will to pave the way for a major petrochemical expansion at Yasref,…

Venezuela’s armed forces were placed on high alert over the weekend as Caracas accused foreign actors of plotting a false flag attack targeting ExxonMobil’s operations in the oil-rich Essequibo region—an area administered by Guyana but long claimed by Venezuela. The 160,000-square-kilometre maritime zone, home to some of Exxon’s largest offshore discoveries since 2015, has become the latest flashpoint in a decades-old territorial dispute. Venezuela’s military command vowed to respond with "vigorous action" to any perceived…

Venezuela’s armed forces were placed on high alert over the weekend as Caracas accused foreign actors of plotting a false flag attack targeting ExxonMobil’s operations in the oil-rich Essequibo region—an area administered by Guyana but long claimed by Venezuela. The 160,000-square-kilometre maritime zone, home to some of Exxon’s largest offshore discoveries since 2015, has become the latest flashpoint in a decades-old territorial dispute. Venezuela’s military command vowed to respond with "vigorous action" to any perceived…

Crude oil inventories in the United States saw an increase of 2.6 million barrels during the week ending April 4, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration released on Wednesday. Crude oil prices were trading sharply down prior to the crude data release by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, continuing their slide after another volley in the tariff war between the United States and China was manifest in an announcement of 84% tariffs levied on the US beginning April 10. On Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute…

Chevron will boost the so-called triple fracs — fracturing three wells with one frac spread at one time — to more than half of its wells in the Permian basin, a Chevron executive told Reuters, amid efforts to reduce the costs and times of fracking at the world’s top shale basin. Chevron plans to use triple-frac on between 50% and 60% of its wells in the Permian, up from 20% of wells “triple-fracked” last year, Jeff Newhook, a completions operations manager at the U.S. supermajor, told Reuters in an interview. The triple-frac…

Chevron will boost the so-called triple fracs — fracturing three wells with one frac spread at one time — to more than half of its wells in the Permian basin, a Chevron executive told Reuters, amid efforts to reduce the costs and times of fracking at the world’s top shale basin. Chevron plans to use triple-frac on between 50% and 60% of its wells in the Permian, up from 20% of wells “triple-fracked” last year, Jeff Newhook, a completions operations manager at the U.S. supermajor, told Reuters in an interview. The triple-frac…

Oil prices plunged early on Wednesday as China retaliated to the U.S. tariff of 104% on Chinese goods, and Brent Crude sank to below $60 per barrel for the first time in four years. As of 8:31 a.m. EDT, the front-month Brent Crude futures prices were plummeting by 5.25% at $59.46. The U.S. benchmark, WTI Crude, plunged by 5.59% to $56.09, close to the $55 per barrel mark. That level is already $10 a barrel below the average $65 per barrel price U.S. producers need to profitably drill a new well, as they indicated in the Dallas Fed Energy…

Oil prices plunged early on Wednesday as China retaliated to the U.S. tariff of 104% on Chinese goods, and Brent Crude sank to below $60 per barrel for the first time in four years. As of 8:31 a.m. EDT, the front-month Brent Crude futures prices were plummeting by 5.25% at $59.46. The U.S. benchmark, WTI Crude, plunged by 5.59% to $56.09, close to the $55 per barrel mark. That level is already $10 a barrel below the average $65 per barrel price U.S. producers need to profitably drill a new well, as they indicated in the Dallas Fed Energy…

China's retaliatory tariffs in response to US actions have intensified the economic standoff, causing significant disruption in global commodity markets. WTI and Brent crude oil prices have fallen to their lowest levels since 2021 due to fears of recession and oversupply amidst the ongoing trade war. Analysts warn that continued trade tensions, combined with OPEC+ output hikes and weakening Chinese consumption, could lead to further declines in oil prices. 7m ago 8:06am CST How We Got Here: A Tariff Timeline February 1, 2025President Donald Trump…

President Donald Trump signed several executive orders on Tuesday that should incentivize the construction of new coal power plants in the latest stark departure from his predecessor. “We're bringing back an industry that was abandoned,” Trump said, as quoted by Reuters. “We're going to put the miners back to work,” the U.S. president added. Coal power plants have declined as share of U.S. generation capacity over the years, especially with the influx of cheap natural gas. Coal plants currently generate a fifth of U.S. electricity,…

Crude oil prices slumped to their lowest level since 2021 after the U.S. announced a fresh 50% tariff for Chinese imports following Beijing’s refusal to withdraw its retaliatory 34% tariffs announced in response to Washington’s imposition of a 34% tariff rate on top of already existing levies. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $60.36 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at $57.04 per barrel, both down by close to 4% from Tuesday’s close. Since the start of the year, the benchmarks have shed lover $10 per barrel…

The U.S. stock market bounced back on Tuesday, making the first sizable gains ever since U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a minimum 10% tariff on all imports from 90 countries, roiling financial markets across the globe. However, oil markets have struggled to advance after posting heavy losses to trade at multi-year lows on fears of a full-blown trade war. Brent crude for June delivery slipped 0.4% to trade at $63.94 per barrel at 11.45 am ET on Tuesday, a level they last touched in February 2021, while WTI crude for May delivery was flat on…

The tariff war is in full swing, but the analysis of their effect has focused on economies. While this makes sense, a look at some of the industries set to bear the brunt of the protectionist measures might be useful—because it might reveal a means of solving the trade deficit problem that has been irking President Trump enough to make him pick the trade equivalent of the nuclear option. The petrochemical industry has been the fastest-growing arm of the oil and gas industry for years. This is especially true of China, which has emerged as…

Some of you may be old enough to remember cold fusion, that wondrous scientific discovery touted by the press back in the last century. Well, we don’t want to leave the impression that we have discovered another cold fusion, just that the decision date for natural (white or gold or whatever color you like) hydrogen may be coming closer. In case you missed the initial findings, geologists believe there are substantial pockets of renewable hydrogen under certain geological formations. Renewable because rainwater seeping through the ground,…

Increasing financial constraints, a low commodity price environment and a shrinking pool of prospective basins have transformed how oil and gas players explore for new barrels. Across the globe operators are prioritizing low-risk, low-cost near field or infrastructure-led exploration (ILX) prospects instead of expensive, high-risk exploration plays. ILX, although not a recent phenomenon, is a reliable avenue that capitalizes on existing production hubs and pipeline networks to commercialize smaller discoveries that might otherwise remain untapped.…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 1.057 million barrels for the week ending April 4, after a 6.037 million barrel spike in the prior week. So far this year, crude oil inventories have climbed nearly 22 million barrels, according to Oilprice calculations of API data. Earlier this week, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) climbed 0.3 million barrels again to 396.7 million barrels in the week ending April 4.…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 1.057 million barrels for the week ending April 4, after a 6.037 million barrel spike in the prior week. So far this year, crude oil inventories have climbed nearly 22 million barrels, according to Oilprice calculations of API data. Earlier this week, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) climbed 0.3 million barrels again to 396.7 million barrels in the week ending April 4.…

Via Metal Miner The Raw Steels Monthly Metals Index (MMI) returned to the downside. Overall, the index witnessed a modest 0.75% decline from March to April. Steel Prices Find Peaks as Reciprocal Tariffs Spare Steel Steel prices either found a peak or began to stabilize by the start of April. As of April 4, hot rolled coil prices fell from their peak to $920/st. Meanwhile, CRC prices and HDG prices started to move sideways, trending only slightly higher from where they stood recent weeks, and steel plate prices dropped from their peak. Despite leveling…

Economic analysts in Central Asia and the Caucasus widely believe that the immediate impact of the US tariff policy on their respective countries’ exports will be limited. Even so, some worry about potential, unforeseen consequences arising out of a global trade war. The Trump administration’s announcement of global tariffs on imports comes at a time when Central Asian states are coming together in an attempt to boost regional trade. The tariff announcement calls into question recent US expressions of interest in expanding trade and…