Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations saw their bourses plunge on Thursday following U.S. President Donald Trump’s unveiling of sweeping ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs on importers that helped send oil prices plunging 7% earlier in the day. In the UAE, the Dubai stock index was gearing up to record its biggest drop so far this year, shedding 1.8%, while the Abu Dhabi index fell 0.8%. Saudi Arabia’s main index dropped 0.4%, partly driven by losses from state-run oil giant, Saudi Aramco. Lower oil prices in recent years, combined…

Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to “keep a cool head” in the face of the “economic impact” of Donald Trump’s 10 per cent tariffs on UK exports to the US, amid fears of a wider trade war. The Prime Minister spoke to business chiefs in Downing Street this morning in the wake of sweeping global import taxes announced by the US President at the White House last night. Trump imposed a rate of 20 per cent on the European Union (EU), 24 per cent on Japan and 34 per cent on China, among a wide range of others, in a speech hailing…

President Trump’s sweeping new tariffs are sending shockwaves through global markets, sparking concerns across industries—from tech to energy. Announced Wednesday, the new tariff package imposes a minimum 10% duty on all U.S. imports and much higher rates for countries with significant trade surpluses with the United States. China, facing a 54% tariff, is expected to be among the hardest hit. Apple could feel the impact more than most. Analysts estimate that if the company passes the full cost of tariffs on to consumers, the price of…

Via Metal Miner   Steel Industry leader British Steel is set to start consultations on permanently blowing down the operating blast furnaces at Scunthorpe. The move comes after the company failed to reach an agreement with the UK government on financial aid for conversion to green steelmaking. “Since 2020, the shareholder of British Steel, Jingye, has invested more than £1.2 billion [$1.55 billion] to maintain operations amid ongoing production instability and significant financial losses of around £700,000 [$906,400] a day,”…

In the latest of a series of accusations and repudiations, Russia accused Ukraine on Thursday of having launched what Moscow said were “provocative” attacks on energy infrastructure. “The attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure are targeted and are purely provocative and demonstrative,” Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said on Thursday, as carried by Reuters. Last month, Russia agreed to a 30-day suspension of attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in exchange for an identical halt of attacks…

In a time of institutional upheaval and reappraisal The Trump administration, with help from the Supreme Court, is trying to weaken or abolish Federal regulation by administrative agencies. States with a similar philosophical bent might attempt to do the same. Here we examine the issues that will arise when policy wonks make their “modest” proposals to abolish state agencies that regulate public utilities. They might argue that these agencies no longer suit the purpose for which they were intended in the late nineteenth and early twentieth…

In the latest of a series of accusations and repudiations, Russia accused Ukraine on Thursday of having launched what Moscow said were “provocative” attacks on energy infrastructure. “The attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure are targeted and are purely provocative and demonstrative,” Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said on Thursday, as carried by Reuters. Last month, Russia agreed to a 30-day suspension of attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in exchange for an identical halt of attacks…

Western military leaders will discuss the possible deployment of troops to Ukraine who would monitor a potential cease-fire in the conflict with Russian and be part of the country’s new security structure, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. “This is our starting point: the Ukrainian army must be strong enough, and on this foundation, the entire security architecture is built,” Zelenskyy said. “A meeting will take place in just a few days -- on Friday (April 4) -- with representatives…

The price of WTI crude oil dropped more than 7% on Thursday as President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs blitzed markets and OPEC+ threw an unexpected production curveball. At 10:38 a.m. in New York, Brent crude was trading at $70.21—a 6.32% slide—while WTI sat at $66.80, down nearly 7%. The double whammy came as OPEC+ dropped a surprise output hike and Trump lit a fresh round of tariffs aimed at leveling the playing field with other countries. Eight OPEC+ nations announced Thursday they’ll raise output by 411,000…

The price of WTI crude oil dropped more than 7% on Thursday as President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs blitzed markets and OPEC+ threw an unexpected production curveball. At 10:38 a.m. in New York, Brent crude was trading at $70.21—a 6.32% slide—while WTI sat at $66.80, down nearly 7%. The double whammy came as OPEC+ dropped a surprise output hike and Trump lit a fresh round of tariffs aimed at leveling the playing field with other countries. Eight OPEC+ nations announced Thursday they’ll raise output by 411,000…

The price of WTI crude oil dropped more than 7% on Thursday as President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs blitzed markets and OPEC+ threw an unexpected production curveball. At 10:38 a.m. in New York, Brent crude was trading at $70.21—a 6.32% slide—while WTI sat at $66.80, down nearly 7%. The double whammy came as OPEC+ dropped a surprise output hike and Trump lit a fresh round of tariffs aimed at leveling the playing field with other countries. Eight OPEC+ nations announced Thursday they’ll raise output by 411,000…

Russian revenues from oil and gas plunged by 17% in March from a year earlier, according to data from Russia’s finance ministry. Oil and gas revenues for the Kremlin fell to $13.1 billion (1.1 trillion Russian rubles) last month, while revenues for the first quarter dipped by nearly 10% on the year to $31.4 billion (2.64 trillion rubles), the official Russian data showed. Much of the decline was likely attributable to the lower oil prices in February and March, as well as the initial chaos with Russian oil trade after the U.S. sanctions from…

Oil traders are avoiding hiring tankers built in China amid concerns that port fees could be coming for Chinese vessels at U.S. ports as part of a plan by President Donald Trump to revitalize the American shipbuilding industry. Under the plan – not yet finalized – the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) proposes a per-port-entry fee of up to $1.5 million on Chinese-built vessels, and up to $1 million per-port-entry fee on any vessel (Chinese built or non-Chinese-built) for operators that have any Chinese-built vessels in their…

The leaders of Canada’s two biggest political parties are promising expansion and modernization of energy infrastructure to reduce dependence on the United States for energy exports amid U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff and sovereignty threats. Mark Carney, the Prime Minister who replaced Justin Trudeau and is leading the Liberal Party ahead of the April 28 federal election, says that Canada’s principal investment imperatives include “expanding and modernizing our energy infrastructure so that we are less dependent both on…

Refineries are switching to biofuels or shutting down due to hostile regulations—but demand for oil products is growing. This could result in either a market imbalance that will make these products more expensive or a geographical imbalance, which those who care about supply security wouldn’t like. A total of 101 out of 410 refineries around the world are at risk of getting shut down over the next decade, Wood Mackenzie analysts estimated recently, noting that this number represented 21% of global refining capacity. The reasons for…

Oil prices slipped on Wednesday afternoon after initially climbing more than $1 as markets digested a sweeping new round of global tariffs announced by an aggrieved U.S. President Donald Trump from the Rose Garden.  The announcement rattled equity markets and fueled uncertainty across commodities, despite initial gains. Both Brent and WTI crude futures lost ground on Wednesday afternoon, reversing gains made after Trump revealed that a minimum 10% tariff would be imposed on all countries exporting goods to the United States. Additionally,…

Iran is targeting a dramatic increase in oil production from the fields it shares with neighbouring Iraq, according to the chief executive officer of its Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC), Nasrollah Zarei. These include its enormous Azadegan oil field (split into North and South sites) that sits on the same reservoir as Iraq’s huge Majnoon site, and the massive Yadavaran oil field which occupies the same reservoir as Iraq’s Sinbad site. Other notable major shared fields – among many others -- are Azar (on the…

Mexico’s energy sector is undergoing a dramatic transformation, which was announced on the 87th anniversary of the original oil expropriation by Lazaro Cardenas. These new ‘leyes secundarias’ will substantially alter the path set by the 2013 energy reforms that opened the industry to private and foreign investment. Former President Enrique Peña Nieto’s government promised that inviting private companies into oil, gas and electricity production would modernize infrastructure, reduce costs and boost efficiency. However,…

About 20 years ago, I was interviewing a candidate for a position at a major oil and gas company. On paper, they had impressive credentials, including extensive experience with hydrogen. Naturally, I asked what I thought was a straightforward follow-up: “What are the primary sources of commercial hydrogen?” The answer I received stopped me cold: “You drill a hydrogen well.” That was a disqualifying response, and for good reason. Commercial hydrogen is not produced from hydrogen wells. The overwhelming majority comes from…

Oil prices were largely holding steady Wednesday afternoon, waiting for the other shoe to drop on the prospect of a failed nuclear deal with Iran that could lead to military conflict, and as the Trump administration gears up to make a big market-rattling tariff announcement in the afternoon. At 2:47 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Brent crude was trading up 0.66%, at $74.98, while the U.S. crude benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), was trading up 0.80% at $71.77. Most market attention at the moment remains focused on Trump’s plan to announce sweeping…