The east coast of Australia is facing natural gas shortages earlier than previously expected, the country’s competition watchdog has warned, noting the market could swing into a deficit as early as the fourth quarter of this year. The government reacted to the report by saying it would consider setting up a „gas reservation” for the vulnerable states. “The east coast gas supply outlook for 2025 and 2026 has deteriorated despite an easing in gas prices in the second half of 2024,” the Australian Competition and Consumer…

Crude oil prices began trading with a loss this week as traders anticipated another OPEC+ supply boost next month at a rate of 411,000 barrels per day, taking the cumulative increase this year to 1.78 million barrels daily, according to preliminary reports. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $67.63 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at $65.23 per barrel, following Reuters reporting over the weekend that OPEC+ was going to extend its production additions in August. The disappearance of the wartime premium following the Israel-Iran…

U.S. power utilities are set to spend $212.1 billion in capex this year, which would be a 22.3% increase on the year as they race to secure new electricity supply for data centers, the Financial Times has reported, citing data from Jefferies. Compared to 10 years ago, the rise in investment stands at an impressive 129%. According to the investment bank, capex in the power utility sector in the United States will hit an all-time high in 2027, at $228.1 billion. “Companies are investing in generation and transmission to reindustrialise the…

Global research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie has predicted that the global Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) market will surge 28-fold by 2050 to 2,061 million tonnes per annum, surpassing trillions of dollars in value. According to WoodMac, countries across the globe led by U.S., Canada and Europe have committed $80 billion for CCUS so far, with just 50 CCUS projects with a capacity to store 51 million tonnes of CO2 per year currently operational. WoodMac has also predicted that the gap between capture capacity and storage…

Despite the Western push to diversify critical minerals supply away from China, Beijing is set to further tighten its grip on the market of key battery metal lithium. China is poised to become the world’s biggest lithium miner by next year, surpassing Australia, commodity price reporting agency Fastmarkets forecasts. China already has an outsized dominant position in the refined lithium market, where it held a 73% market share as of 2024, per data from the International Energy Agency (IEA). Sourcing more of the raw material at home –…

OPEC+ will make its August oil production decision on the fly during the upcoming July 6 meeting, Russia confirmed on Friday, suggesting there would be no pre-negotiating behind closed doors.   "We'll review it during the meeting, as is traditional," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters, adding to market anticipation ahead of the gathering. Eight OPEC+ nations—including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, and the UAE—have been incrementally unwinding 2.2 million barrels per day of voluntary cuts since April, with…

Early in Donald Trump’s presidency, he announced his ambitions to acquire Greenland. In March, Trump said, “We need Greenland for international safety and security. We need it. We have to have it.” As well as stating ambitions to counter Russia’s presence in the Arctic, taking control of Greenland would put vast quantities of rare earth minerals and rare earth elements in the possession of the United States. However, Denmark quickly shot down the idea of Trump’s acquisition, saying that Greenland was not for sale.…

The European Union has pledged billions in rearmament spending. It also just pledged billions in higher NATO spending. Steel is a crucial part of the rearmament drive. Without it, you can’t build tanks and make weapons. But Europe does not just want any steel—it wants it green. And green steel is so expensive, companies are walking away from green steel projects in droves. This week saw one of the world’s largest steelmakers, ArcelorMittal, ditch its plans for the conversion of two plants in Germany to green hydrogen as an energy…

Just a couple of years ago, everyone seemed to be talking about the great potential for clean hydrogen. As governments worldwide strive to decarbonise, several industry players were looking to hydrogen as the potential miracle fuel that could clean up operations. While there is still hope for a hydrogen revolution in some parts of the world, this is looking increasingly unlikely in the United States.  Under the Biden administration, investors across the U.S. were planning to spend billions on hydrogen projects, encouraged by the financial…

Despite expectations, the recent geopolitical turbulence in the Middle East—especially the events of October 7, 2023, and the escalation between Israel and Iran—did not deliver a severe blow to global energy markets. Compared to past regional crises or major global shocks like the Russia–Ukraine war, the impact was surprisingly muted. This apparent inability of oil-rich Middle Eastern nations to wield their petroleum power as a political weapon may mark the start of a deeper shift in global dynamics—one that emboldens Western-aligned…

California’s politicians want you to believe they’re trying to rein in sky-high gas prices. They’re not. What’s really happening is years of restrictive policies and overregulation are finally catching up with the state’s fuel supply—and now lawmakers are scrambling to put a Band-Aid on a self-inflicted wound. Let’s break it down. The Real Price of "Green" Starting July 1, Californians will get hit with a one-two punch: a hike in the state’s gasoline excise tax and new rules from the California Air…

California’s politicians want you to believe they’re trying to rein in sky-high gas prices. They’re not. What’s really happening is years of restrictive policies and overregulation are finally catching up with the state’s fuel supply—and now lawmakers are scrambling to put a Band-Aid on a self-inflicted wound. Let’s break it down. The Real Price of "Green" Starting July 1, Californians will get hit with a one-two punch: a hike in the state’s gasoline excise tax and new rules from the California Air…

California’s politicians want you to believe they’re trying to rein in sky-high gas prices. They’re not. What’s really happening is years of restrictive policies and overregulation are finally catching up with the state’s fuel supply—and now lawmakers are scrambling to put a Band-Aid on a self-inflicted wound. Let’s break it down. The Real Price of "Green" Starting July 1, Californians will get hit with a one-two punch: a hike in the state’s gasoline excise tax and new rules from the California Air…

Tesla is moving forward with plans to develop new operations in China despite the ongoing trade war between the United States and China, and with uncertainty over tariffs. In June, Tesla signed an agreement to develop a grid-scale battery power plant in China to help provide the country with a stable supply of clean power for consumers and support its aims for a green transition. However, Tesla will be competing with some of the world’s biggest battery manufacturers for a market share, as it strives to break into new territory, beyond electric…

The dust has settled over Fordow, Iran's remote mountain nuclear facility, and two other locations the United States says it “obliterated” over the weekend in a dramatic escalation of its efforts to hamstring Tehran’s nuclear program. That program, to date, has yielded just over 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, what is considered “near” to the grade of refined uranium that can be put into a bomb. So where is Iran’s highly enriched uranium? “I think the safest way of describing it is that Iran knows…

For the third consecutive day, extreme heat across the eastern half of the U.S. has triggered power grid alerts and emergency warnings, highlighting the fragility of current energy infrastructure. Extremely tight power grids reinforce a core part of our energy thesis: the urgent need for clean, reliable baseload power, and there is no better option than nuclear.  The current environment strengthens our conviction as long-term 'atomic bulls', a stance we've maintained since our original call in December 2020 (read here). Nuclear energy remains…

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…