Global oil demand is expected to grow by just 730,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year amid escalating trade tensions, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday, slashing the previous month’s growth forecast by 300,000 bpd. Escalating trade tensions have negatively impacted the economic outlook, the IEA said today in its Oil Market Report (OMR) for April, and sees further slowdown in demand growth next year, when consumption is now forecast to increase by only 690,000 bpd. Risks to the forecast “remain rife given the fast-moving…

Pakistan is actively considering the idea of importing U.S. crude oil for the first time to seek a reduction of its trade surplus with America and avoid one of the highest tariffs – currently paused – on its goods sold in the United States. Crude oil is one of the products that Pakistan is actively exploring to buy from the U.S. to appease President Donald Trump, a Pakistani government source and an executive at a local refinery told Reuters on Tuesday. Pakistan imported about 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil last year, mostly…

Pakistan is actively considering the idea of importing U.S. crude oil for the first time to seek a reduction of its trade surplus with America and avoid one of the highest tariffs – currently paused – on its goods sold in the United States. Crude oil is one of the products that Pakistan is actively exploring to buy from the U.S. to appease President Donald Trump, a Pakistani government source and an executive at a local refinery told Reuters on Tuesday. Pakistan imported about 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil last year, mostly…

The temperature in downtown Muscat over the weekend was 35 degrees Celsius, but for the swarms of high-level officials from the U.S. and Iran buzzing around busily discussing a new ‘nuclear deal’ it probably felt a lot hotter than that. On the one side was the delegation from the U.S. who found themselves in direct talks with their Iranian counterparts largely because their President threatened military action against the Islamic Republic if they did not attend. Washington’s core aim is to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons…

Two weeks ago, China announced a slew of countermeasures in retaliation against punitive tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump, including extra levies of 34% on all U.S. goods as well as export curbs on rare earth minerals. Under the new restrictions, exporters will now be required to apply for a license from China’s Ministry of Economy and also disclose the final use of rare earth elements (REE) and critical metals such as dysprosium, gadolinium, samarium, scandium, terbium, yttrium and lutetium.  This wasn’t the first time Beijing…

Is the Iraq-Türkiye Cooperation Set to Skyrocket? Iraq’s struggling oil and gas sectors may be on the verge of a breakthrough as cooperation between Baghdad and Ankara intensifies. According to Turkish media, Türkiye is advancing plans to expand its energy collaboration with Iraq significantly. Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, recently announced that proposals are underway to construct new oil and natural gas pipelines stretching from Basra to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. In tandem, Ankara…

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices dipped into the low $60 per barrel range following President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs announced on 2 April. While the subsequent 9 April move to pause the new levies at 10% for most countries for the next 90 days helped WTI prices recoup some losses, the market remains extremely volatile. This price level is well above the fundamental upstream breakevens for most US shale players, especially those in the Permian. However, Rystad Energy finds that additional corporate items, including higher…

Based on Moscow’s new energy plan, Russian crude oil production and exports are set to remain flat until 2050, and output is projected to settle at around 540 million metric tons by the end of this decade, crimped by U.S. and European Union sanctions, Bloomberg reported on Monday. In 2023, Russia produced 531 million metric tons. In terms of exports, Russia’s new energy plan projects flat exports through 2050 of around 235 million tons annually. While oil production is set to see zero growth from now until the middle of the century,…

The majority of small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) have sidelined net zero practices, according to a survey of around 500 business owners, in signs that net zero policies are increasingly falling out of fashion.  President Donald Trump’s abandonment of Biden-era green policies has driven a global trend that is seeing firms and governments move away from prioritising climate change.  Now this survey appears to suggest that UK firms are following suit as higher cost pressures bite.  More than half of business owners have deprioritised…

Based on Moscow’s new energy plan, Russian crude oil production and exports are set to remain flat until 2050, and output is projected to settle at around 540 million metric tons by the end of this decade, crimped by U.S. and European Union sanctions, Bloomberg reported on Monday. In 2023, Russia produced 531 million metric tons. In terms of exports, Russia’s new energy plan projects flat exports through 2050 of around 235 million tons annually. While oil production is set to see zero growth from now until the middle of the century,…

The World Bank is under fire over allegations of impropriety in financing the Rogun Dam project in Tajikistan. Specifically, bank officials are facing accusations that they failed to comply with procedures to account for potential environmental and socio-economic harms associated with the project. A statement issued April 8 by the World Bank’s Inspection Panel, an independent investigative body, announced the registration of a formal Request for Inspection, in effect a complaint, concerning the bank’s involvement in the Rogun hydropower…

Average national prices for a gallon of gasoline at the pump on Monday fell for the first time in a month, according to GasBuddy, dropping 8.2 cents per gallon compared to a week ago, with prices still 7.8 cents higher than a month ago, and 46.9 cents higher than this time last year.  Diesel is also tracking this month with gasoline, with the national average per gallon of diesel dropping 4.8 cents week-on-week, resting at $3.546 per gallon on Wednesday, according to GasBuddy data.   “After oil’s sharp drop over the last…

Average national prices for a gallon of gasoline at the pump on Monday fell for the first time in a month, according to GasBuddy, dropping 8.2 cents per gallon compared to a week ago, with prices still 7.8 cents higher than a month ago, and 46.9 cents higher than this time last year.  Diesel is also tracking this month with gasoline, with the national average per gallon of diesel dropping 4.8 cents week-on-week, resting at $3.546 per gallon on Wednesday, according to GasBuddy data.   “After oil’s sharp drop over the last…

Average national prices for a gallon of gasoline at the pump on Monday fell for the first time in a month, according to GasBuddy, dropping 8.2 cents per gallon compared to a week ago, with prices still 7.8 cents higher than a month ago, and 46.9 cents higher than this time last year.  Diesel is also tracking this month with gasoline, with the national average per gallon of diesel dropping 4.8 cents week-on-week, resting at $3.546 per gallon on Wednesday, according to GasBuddy data.   “After oil’s sharp drop over the last…

Nuclear talks in Oman marked the first formal engagement between Iran and the United States in years, and though progress may have been slight, it was enough to signal a willingness to temper tensions through diplomacy rather than military action. Iranian and US negotiators agreed on April 12 to continue their high-level talks over Tehran's nuclear program on April 19, with the venue likely moving to Europe from the Middle East. Axios on April 13 cited sources as saying the second round would likely be in Rome, but there has been no official comment…

OPEC has revised its global oil demand growth forecast for 2025, citing escalating trade tensions and weaker-than-expected economic indicators. The cartel now anticipates a demand increase of 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) for 2025, down 150,000 bpd from its previous projection. Similarly, the 2026 forecast has been adjusted downward to 1.28 million bpd.  OPEC's latest report highlights that Trump’s tariff war has dampened economic activity, leading to a more cautious outlook on oil consumption. The organization also revised its global…

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), one of the UK’s central forecasters, prepared itself for President Trump’s tariff war – or at least partially.  At a presentation after Chancellor Reeves’ Spring Statement, OBR chair Richard Hughes admitted the fiscal watchdog’s central forecast risked being completely undermined by global events.  Hughes came up with three possible scenarios for what Trump could announce and how much pain the UK economy would suffer. In one scenario, where the UK was slapped with…

Oil prices are sagging like a tired trampoline, and U.S. shale producers are feeling the bounce—just not in a good way. With WTI dancing around $60 and analysts wringing their hands over breakeven levels near $65, you'd be forgiven for assuming the shale patch was in full panic mode. But U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright—former CEO of Liberty Energy and now the government’s top oil whisperer—seems utterly unbothered. “The U.S. shale industry is going to survive and thrive,” Wright declared this week in Abu Dhabi,…

Oil prices are sagging like a tired trampoline, and U.S. shale producers are feeling the bounce—just not in a good way. With WTI dancing around $60 and analysts wringing their hands over breakeven levels near $65, you'd be forgiven for assuming the shale patch was in full panic mode. But U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright—former CEO of Liberty Energy and now the government’s top oil whisperer—seems utterly unbothered. “The U.S. shale industry is going to survive and thrive,” Wright declared this week in Abu Dhabi,…

Electric rate hike requests in Virginia don’t generally make the headlines globally, but the Financial Times featured a story about one: Dominion Energy’s request for a 14% rate increase for its Virginia customers. It wasn’t a slow news day, either. Donald Trump had just hiked tariffs and the pages were filled with discussions about why the administration had singled out Lesotho and Madagascar for extreme tariff punishment, to say nothing of the penguins. The FT’s story suggested that there would be more of the same from…