U.S. refiner Phillips 66 told shareholders on Monday that they should keep in mind that activist investor Elliott, which wants to break up one of the biggest U.S. refiners, may not necessarily act in Phillips 66 shareholders’ interests as it is pursuing an acquisition of Citgo, a direct competitor of Phillips 66. Activist hedge fund Elliott Investment Management has called on Phillips 66 to spin off its midstream business and tighten up operations. However, Elliott is also pursuing an acquisition of Citgo, the U.S.-based refiner…

The U.S. move to penalize China-built and China-owned vessels calling at U.S. ports could lead to an oil supertanker made in China and operated by a Chinese company facing a fee of up to $5.2 million per call at a U.S. port, shipbrokers have estimated. The U.S. last week announced fees on vessel owners and operators of China based on net tonnage per U.S. voyage. The previous proposal was a per-port-entry fee of up to $1.5 million on Chinese-built vessels, and up to a $1 million per-port-entry fee on any vessel (Chinese-built or non-Chinese-built)…

Saudi Aramco and the top Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, BYD, will explore closer collaboration in the development of new energy vehicle technologies, Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant said on Monday. Aramco’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Saudi Aramco Technologies Company (SATC), and BYD have signed a joint development agreement to explore innovative EV technologies that boost efficiency and the environmental profile of new energy vehicles. “Aramco is exploring a number of ways to potentially optimize transport efficiency, from…

Chinese privately held firm ENN Natural Gas has signed a 15-year deal to source LNG from ADNOC’s new liquefied natural gas export project, in the biggest agreement between China and the United Arab Emirates on LNG supply so far. ENN LNG (Singapore), a wholly owned subsidiary of ENN Natural Gas, has signed the long-term LNG sale and purchase agreement the national oil and gas firm of the UAE, under which ADNOC will supply approximately one million tons per annum (mtpa) of LNG to ENN NG for a period of 15 years, the Chinese firm said on Monday.…

China slashed its imports of many U.S. energy and agricultural commodities in March amid intensifying trade and tariff tensions with the United States, which are set to further reduce Chinese purchases of American goods this month and in the coming months. China’s LNG imports from the United States crashed to zero in March as China slapped tariffs on American LNG and other energy products, making these uneconomical for Chinese buyers. Last year, U.S. LNG represented about 5% of China’s imports of the super-chilled fuel. Similarly to…

This week, the Interior Department axed a major offshore wind power project in New York. The grounds for the decision to halt construction at Empire Wind 1 was a sub-par environmental assessment. The wind industry was shocked, and more shocks are coming. Yet it won’t be Trump’s administration that could eventually kill the transition. It would be the transition itself. The Trump presidency has certainly ushered in even harder times for energy transition industries than they were having to deal with before. Tariffs are a big problem,…

Last week, tech moguls pleaded with the United States Congress to ramp up energy production to meet soaring energy demand driven by artificial intelligence. The already considerable energy footprint of data centers is sharply on the rise, and is projected to keep gaining steam in the coming years. As a result, industry insiders are lobbying congress to ramp up energy production so that the U.S. tech sector can stay competitive with China.  “We need energy in all forms,” said Eric Schmidt, a former Google CEO who now leads a think…

Via Metal Miner   Tata Steel recently signed an agreement to install a new pickling line at its Port Talbot site in Wales. The steel industry leader’s latest move will offer 50% more capacity than the existing line. According to the company’s April 9 announcement, the new equipment will have an annual capacity of 1.8 million metric tons and will employ up to 220 people during construction. The UK Steel Industry Should See the New Line by 2028 A source within the company told MetalMiner that Tata expects to commission the line in…

Australia has been developing its critical mineral sector in recent years, aiming to become a major producer and processor of the high-demand minerals and metals needed to support a global green transition. In addition to launching a national strategy and providing billions in funding for the sector, the government recently established a tax incentives law for critical minerals that is expected to attract greater investment in the sector.  The demand for critical minerals is expected to increase dramatically over the coming decades as countries…

Rising market and policy uncertainties forced companies to cancel $8 billion in investments in U.S. clean energy projects in the first quarter of the year. In a dramatic surge in cancellations of projects amid the chilling effects of the Trump Administration’s trade policy and attempts to repeal part of the green energy incentives, companies have withdrawn $7.9 billion in investments since January, clean energy business group E2 said in a monthly update this week. The value of the canceled investments in the first quarter alone was more than…

The fate of US Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell looks increasingly uncertain as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on the central back to cut rates faster. Powell has been resolute that he will not be influenced by Trump’s attempts to sway the Fed, instead sticking to its mission of bringing down any inflation that could be caused by tariffs raising prices. “He [has] indicated that the Fed would probably put its anti-inflation mandate ahead of the target to see full employment in the USA if price pressures ticked higher,”…

The U.K. is already a world leader in wind energy, having rapidly expanded both its onshore and offshore wind capacity over the last decade. Now, under the new Labour government, the U.K. hopes to expand its wind power sector even further through the massive expansion of the Rampion offshore wind farm. This is expected to help the government progress towards achieving its net-zero carbon ambitions.  In 2023, 46.4 percent of the UK’s electricity was generated using renewable energy sources, of which wind energy contributed 61 percent.…

Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev wants the European Union to ease regulatory hurdles and improve financing conditions to enable an expansion of natural gas exports. But recently published data raises doubts about whether Azerbaijan can meet a commitment of exporting 20 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas annually to the EU by 2027. Azerbaijani gas exports are now trending in the wrong direction, according to data published by Bruegel, a Brussels-based think tank dedicated to improving “the quality of economic policy with open and fact-based…

French officials have praised talks held between key European countries, Ukraine, and the United States, the first involving the three sides since US President Donald Trump took power, as they look to end Europe's largest conflict since the end of World War II. Until the gathering in the French capital on April 17, US officials had taken negotiating tracks -- one between the United States and Ukraine and one between Washington and Moscow -- that appeared to leave Europe on the sidelines. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that was no…

France is discovering the hard way that having too much of a good thing—say, electricity—isn’t always cause for celebration. The country’s grid operator, RTE, has issued a sharp-tongued warning to power suppliers and traders who’ve been flouting basic rules and fanning an already toasty power glut. In a letter dated April 11, RTE called out near-daily breaches that are throwing the country’s energy balance into chaos and triggering pricey emergency measures. Why the drama? Picture a grid groaning under a tidal…

The Biden offshore era is officially in the rearview mirror. On Friday, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum kicked off the long march toward America’s 11th National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program—a sprawling, bureaucratic saga that ultimately decides where and when offshore drilling can happen. The process begins with a simple Request for Information (RFI) from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), opening a 45-day public comment window. Expect everyone from oil majors to angry seagull lobbyists to weigh…

Iraq’s crude and oil product exports fell by 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) from a year earlier to 3.7 million bpd in the first quarter of 2025, per data from Energy Research Unit cited by Shafaq News. The 3% drop in exports came as OPEC’s second-largest producer continues to restrict oil production as part of the OPEC+ agreements. Iraq, however, has not complied yet with its oil production quota under the deal—in fact, it has been overproducing above its ceiling for years and has been one of the producers with the most overproduction…

Iraq’s crude and oil product exports fell by 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) from a year earlier to 3.7 million bpd in the first quarter of 2025, per data from Energy Research Unit cited by Shafaq News. The 3% drop in exports came as OPEC’s second-largest producer continues to restrict oil production as part of the OPEC+ agreements. Iraq, however, has not complied yet with its oil production quota under the deal—in fact, it has been overproducing above its ceiling for years and has been one of the producers with the most overproduction…

The cost of shipping Russian crude from its ports in the Baltic Sea to India has dropped this month as the price of Russia’s flagship crude grade, Urals, slid in early April to below the G7 price cap, which increases the availability of tankers. The price cap mechanism set by the G7 and the EU says that Russian crude shipments to third countries can use Western insurance and financing if cargoes are sold at or below the $60-a-barrel ceiling. The price of Urals dipped below $60 per barrel earlier this month as international benchmarks crashed…

The cost of shipping Russian crude from its ports in the Baltic Sea to India has dropped this month as the price of Russia’s flagship crude grade, Urals, slid in early April to below the G7 price cap, which increases the availability of tankers. The price cap mechanism set by the G7 and the EU says that Russian crude shipments to third countries can use Western insurance and financing if cargoes are sold at or below the $60-a-barrel ceiling. The price of Urals dipped below $60 per barrel earlier this month as international benchmarks crashed…