Thailand is the latest Asian economy looking to import higher volumes of American energy as a way to convince the U.S. Administration not to slap high tariffs on Thai goods sold in the United States. Thailand plans to raise its U.S. LNG imports over the next five years, Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira said on Wednesday. Delegations from many Asian countries are heading to Washington D.C. these days to discuss the U.S. tariffs, now suspended for 90 days, which hit the most economies in Asia and Southeast Asia, including Thailand. The tariff…

Thailand is the latest Asian economy looking to import higher volumes of American energy as a way to convince the U.S. Administration not to slap high tariffs on Thai goods sold in the United States. Thailand plans to raise its U.S. LNG imports over the next five years, Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira said on Wednesday. Delegations from many Asian countries are heading to Washington D.C. these days to discuss the U.S. tariffs, now suspended for 90 days, which hit the most economies in Asia and Southeast Asia, including Thailand. The tariff…

The eight OPEC+ countries that have been cutting oil production will have to compensate 4.57 million barrels per day (bpd) in overproduction so far, and the compensation plans entail offsetting all above-quota output by June 2026. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman have submitted their individual compensation plans to OPEC, the cartel said on Wednesday. Source: OPEC Since the very first OPEC+ agreement in 2016, OPEC and its non-OPEC allies have been struggling with overproduction from several…

Previously, we reported that the ESG investing boom of yesteryears has gone bust. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing spiked in 2020 and 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic with low oil prices driving more investments beyond fossil fuels, while fund managers tried to appear more climate-conscious. However, the oil price boom of 2022/2023, political backlash against ESG led by Republican politicians as well as claims about greenwashing have made ESG investing lose plenty of luster.  To wit, Texas has barred state entities, including…

“The sky won’t fall,” the spokesman of China’s customs authority said this week, referring to President Trump’s trade war in China, just as the authority reported an over 12% jump in exports for March. China is preparing to respond to the tariffs—by going gray in trade. The New York Times reported this week that there is a growing fear in Europe that China may start redirecting its cheap, subsidized products to European markets in response to U.S. tariffs. Examples included electric cars, steel—which Europe…

The fact that U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a pause on the raft of new tariffs against most of the world’s countries – but not on most of those directed at China – highlights what these new levies are really all about. They are in large part specifically aimed at finally correcting a longstanding imbalance in the trade deficit between the U.S. and China since the Ccmmunist country developed a capitalist twist in the 1990s under former leader Deng Xiaoping. This gap has become increasingly more dramatic through China’s…

Over the past 100 years of US utility regulation, we’ve witnessed a great inversion of power: a once muscular administrative state has been severely weakened. In boxing terms, the utilities have won this round decisively vs big government. The financial implications are that state utility commissions and risk taking equity investors have become unnecessary. Why? Because if regulators uncritically approve every major utility capital initiative while authorizing generous returns on capital, then those jurisdictions already operate in a regime…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose by 2.4 million barrels for the week ending April 11. Analysts expected a loss of 1.680 million for the week. The API estimated a 1.057 million barrel drop in the prior week. So far this year, crude oil inventories have climbed more than 24 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…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose by 2.4 million barrels for the week ending April 11. Analysts expected a loss of 1.680 million for the week. The API estimated a 1.057 million barrel drop in the prior week. So far this year, crude oil inventories have climbed more than 24 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…

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has concluded the 83rd session of its Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 83), marking a significant advancement in maritime decarbonization efforts. A pivotal outcome of this session was the approval of the IMO Net-Zero Framework, despite reservations expressed by certain member states, including the US and several oil production states.Rystad Energy's research highlights that the IMO's direct compliance targets are notably more ambitious compared to those set by FuelEU Maritime. Under the…

Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for upholding multilateral trade as he landed in Vietnam as part of a high-stakes tour of Southeast Asia's most export-reliant economies as he looks to capitalize on global trade tensions with the United States. The three-country visit, which begins with a two-day state visit to Vietnam on April 14, will also take Xi to Malaysia and Cambodia as he aims to emphasize China as a stable partner in contrast to the United States, which has imposed and then suspended punishing tariffs across the region and roiled global…

Complicating Turkey’s COP31 bid is Ankara’s diplomatic distancing from the West in recent years, coupled with mounting democratic backsliding, underscored by the recent arrest of Erdoan’s leading political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who maintains his jailing is politically motivated. To secure COP31, Turkey is expected to engage in high-level dialogue seeking support from Western Europe, North America and New Zealand. According to Ümit ?ahin, a prominent Turkish climate expert and the coordinator of climate change…

Via Metal Miner Amid chaos from steel tariffs, the European Commission plans to tighten steel import quotas on April 1 over fears of dumping on the bloc. Those fears primarily stem from U.S. President Donald Trump’s implementation of 25% duties on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States, which came into effect in early March. The measures are part of a several-point document titled “A European Steel and Metals Action Plan,” which the European executive released on March 19.  The EC noted that further plans for…

HSBC has shaved a few bucks off its oil price crystal ball this week, citing Trump’s tariff tirades and OPEC+’s decision to open the spigots wider than expected. In a note released Tuesday, the bank cut its 2025 Brent forecast to $68.50 per barrel (down from $73), and its 2026 estimate to $65 (from $70). That’s a notable downgrade, especially as the market tries to figure out if the tariff-induced panic is just short-term, or whether it is the start of a longer slog. HSBC’s revised WTI numbers came down too: $65.40 in 2025…

BP is holding its annual general meeting on April 17 in the early days of its strategy reset to return to its core oil and gas business while oil prices have crashed by more than $10 per barrel this month. Shareholders, especially activist hedge fund Elliott, will want to make their position known at the AGM votes on Thursday. Activist investor Elliott, which has been pushing for dramatic changes at BP since amassing a 5% stake in the supermajor, is likely to express its continued frustration with BP’s performance by voting against the re-election…

HSBC has shaved a few bucks off its oil price crystal ball this week, citing Trump’s tariff tirades and OPEC+’s decision to open the spigots wider than expected. In a note released Tuesday, the bank cut its 2025 Brent forecast to $68.50 per barrel (down from $73), and its 2026 estimate to $65 (from $70). That’s a notable downgrade, especially as the market tries to figure out if the tariff-induced panic is just short-term, or whether it is the start of a longer slog. HSBC’s revised WTI numbers came down too: $65.40 in 2025…

The dollar has fallen 0.7 per cent today, marking its fifth straight day of decline, as markets continue to reassess the currency’s position in the global economy. The DXY index, which tracks the dollar’s value against a basket of currencies, dropped to its lowest in three years in trading today. The dollar index has now fallen more than four per cent since Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ at the start of April, as investors sell their US assets over fears around the country’s growth prospects. In comments on Friday…

As Indonesia seeks to negotiate a reduction of a planned tariff of 32% on Indonesian goods sold in the United States, the government of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy will offer to buy an additional $10 billion worth of American oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Indonesia was slapped with one of the highest tariffs - 32% - in the “liberation day” tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump. These tariffs were suspended last week for 90 days, during which the Trump Administration expects most countries to come pleading…

As Indonesia seeks to negotiate a reduction of a planned tariff of 32% on Indonesian goods sold in the United States, the government of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy will offer to buy an additional $10 billion worth of American oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Indonesia was slapped with one of the highest tariffs - 32% - in the “liberation day” tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump. These tariffs were suspended last week for 90 days, during which the Trump Administration expects most countries to come pleading…

Brent crude has slipped below $65 per barrel. WTI is trading barely above $60. Neither Trump nor China are backing down from the trade war that started the rout. OPEC+ has not yet updated its production plans, which contributed to the rout. Yet it is pretty much business as usual in the U.S. oil patch, per Energy Secretary Chris Wright. Speaking to Bloomberg recently, Wright said that the stock market selloff had been overblown, with fears about the global economy “misplaced”. “You see a marketplace right now that is worried about…