In a dramatic escalation of Middle East tensions, the United States launched targeted strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities—Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordo—late Saturday, prompting fears of soaring oil prices, market volatility, and a deepening U.S. role in the region’s conflict.  President Donald Trump, announcing the attack on Truth Social and in a televised address, hailed it as a “spectacular military success,” claiming Iran’s “key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally…

Forget betrayal. Forget backsliding. What global banks are doing right now isn’t a reversal of climate commitments—it’s a long-overdue reality check. In 2024, they dumped nearly $900 billion into fossil fuel financing, according to the latest “Banking on Climate Chaos” report. And while advocacy groups are clutching their pearls, investors are quietly nodding. Banks funding fossil fuels haven’t lost their way—they’ve just stopped pretending. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Barclays…

A team of researchers in China is using artificial intelligence to help breathe new life into old electric vehicle batteries. Extending the lifespan of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles would be a major boon for making electric vehicles more endurable and cost-effective, help mitigate skyrocketing lithium demand, and slow the flow of critical – not to mention toxic – minerals into landfills. The China-based scientists wanted to discover a molecule that could re-infuse a dead cell with lithium ions, replenishing its capacity.…

Brazil will hold the COP30 climate summit in November, where it is expected to lead the world in supporting a green transition. In recent years, Brazil has made greater efforts to increase its renewable energy capacity and protect the Amazon rainforest from deforestation activities. However, in the lead-up to the summit, Brazil’s government has announced plans to auction new areas for oil and gas exploration and expand fossil fuel production over the coming years, decisions that are at odds with its COP30 presidency.  When Luiz Inácio…

Year after year, the leaders of developing countries across the globe plead with high-income countries to invest in a global green transition. Many low-income countries are open to exploiting their natural resources to develop their renewable energy capacity, through wind and solar, and other energy projects. However, establishing new energy sectors and transitioning away from a reliance on fossil fuels will require significant financing, and many countries simply do not have the funds to invest in green energy. Now, the Inter-American Development…

The U.K. is once again backing nuclear power, with plans to develop new large-scale nuclear plants as well as alternative small modular reactors (SMRs) in the coming decades. This is part of a Labour government plan to accelerate the country’s green transition by expanding its clean energy capacity and shifting away from a reliance on fossil fuels. For decades, the U.K. stopped developing its nuclear energy capacity, due to poor public perception of the energy source, the high costs involved with developing new projects, and a focus on other…

Ontario has always been a clean-energy giant, deriving half of its electricity from nuclear power and 25 percent from hydroelectricity. Now, the central Canadian province is preparing to expand its nuclear energy capacity to meet rising electricity demand. Under a strategy released June 12 called ‘Energy for Generations’, "nuclear power will continue to serve as the backbone of the province's electricity system providing the 24/7 baseload power the province's economy requires.” Electricity demand is expected to rise by 75 percent…

As artificial intelligence transforms our computing systems, economies, and energy footprints, the question of who should regulate artificial intelligence and how is a pressing – and incredibly complex – issue. There’s a political battle currently unfolding in Washington about governance over the sector, and large questions about what limitations should be placed on the fast-evolving sector. Answering these questions will be extremely difficult thanks to high levels of secrecy and opacity within and around the sector.  One…

The UK government is mulling over a change to the law to oil and gas projects in the North Sea in a drive to lower energy bills. Michael Shanks, a minister working under energy secretary Ed Miliband, will be visiting Scotland on Thursday with a decision set to be made on the government’s intervention on legal cases won by environmentalists last year over an oil project by Equinor at Rosebank and a gas field by Shell in Jackdaw. The government has given extra funds for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to invest between 2026…

For decades, China has driven the lion’s share of oil demand growth thanks to its remarkable economic boom and large population. However, China is now losing its prominence in global oil markets due to a dramatic slowdown in its economy coupled with the country’s ongoing electric vehicle revolution. Last year, nearly half of all new cars sold in China were electric vehicles, including both battery-electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Indeed, China's rapid adoption of EVs, as well as rapid growth of high-speed rail and natural…

It was a completely unsurprising surprise announcement.  In a highly unusual statement issued on June 14, a Saturday, Kazakh authorities said they had selected Russia’s state-owned Rosatom to build Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant, binding the country further to its northern neighbor. “Finally, the spectacle is over,” Kazakh economist Aset Nauryzbaev, who opposed the project, said in a video after the announcement.  The real surprise came later the same day when Almassadam Satkaliyev, the chair of Kazakhstan’s…

Russia hiked its fuel oil and vacuum gasoil (VGO) exports to India and Turkey in May as buyers preferred to purchase more fuel oil amid falling prices, according to shipping and trade data reviewed by Reuters. Russia’s oil products have been banned in the EU and other Western countries since 2023, so Moscow redirected most of the shipments to Asia and the Middle East. Saudi Arabia has emerged as the top buyer of Russia’s fuel oil as it is taking advantage of discounted prices to use the fuel for summer electricity generation. But Russian…

Russia hiked its fuel oil and vacuum gasoil (VGO) exports to India and Turkey in May as buyers preferred to purchase more fuel oil amid falling prices, according to shipping and trade data reviewed by Reuters. Russia’s oil products have been banned in the EU and other Western countries since 2023, so Moscow redirected most of the shipments to Asia and the Middle East. Saudi Arabia has emerged as the top buyer of Russia’s fuel oil as it is taking advantage of discounted prices to use the fuel for summer electricity generation. But Russian…

Fuel producers just scored a green light from the nation’s highest court to go after California’s aggressive emissions standards. In a 7-2 decision Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that energy companies like Valero’s Diamond Alternative Energy do, in fact, have standing to challenge the EPA’s 2022 decision that allowed California to impose tougher emissions and electric vehicle mandates than the federal baseline. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the majority, said plainly: “The government generally may not…

Fuel producers just scored a green light from the nation’s highest court to go after California’s aggressive emissions standards. In a 7-2 decision Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that energy companies like Valero’s Diamond Alternative Energy do, in fact, have standing to challenge the EPA’s 2022 decision that allowed California to impose tougher emissions and electric vehicle mandates than the federal baseline. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the majority, said plainly: “The government generally may not…

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 4-rig decrease in each of the two weeks prior. The total rig count in the US fell by 1 to 554 rigs, according to Baker Hughes, down 34 from this same time last year. The number of oil rigs fell by 1 to 438 after falling by 3 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 111 for a gain of 13 active…

Two swallows do not a summer make. Well, okay, Aristotle didn’t put it that way, but we are betting that a lot of utility investors are hoping so. Here’s what happened on the same day. Two news stories.  USA Network, the Gannet news service, reported that the N.Y. State legislature is not just looking at rising electricity rates, but they are legislating. Eight bills passed by the Senate and on their way to the Assembly, calling for the designation of an additional Public Service Commission member as consumer advocate (weren’t…

Iran Loads Every Available Barrel of Oil on Its Tankers  - Confronted with the prospect of the Trump Administration potentially attacking its infrastructure, Iran has been maximizing exports and sending as much produced crude as possible to its terminal in Kharg Island. - Iran’s main crude oil loading port, Kharg has a capacity to store approximately 28 million barrels of oil, and recent satellite imagery indicates most tanks are completely full, adding some 5 million barrels over the past week. - Since Israel attacked Iran on June 13,…

Geopolitical risk raced back into oil markets last week with Israel's strikes on Iran, and Donald Trump's uncertainty about how he will react is only going to create more volatility in oil prices.Friday, June 20th, 2025 The unpredictable nature of the Israel-Iran conflict has seen Brent bounce in a wide range of $70.56 to $79.04 per barrel this week, set for a slightly bearish closing around $77 per barrel after the Trump administration pushed out the timeline of its potential involvement in the Gulf. US Federal Reserve decisions, OPEC+ policy,…

Refiners in Asia have asked for additional oil supply under term contracts this summer as the conflict between Israel and Iran is hiking premiums for spot supply, Reuters reported on Friday, citing sources in the oil trade industry. As hostilities escalate, spot premiums for oil supply from the Middle East jumped this week to the highest level in four months, to more than $3 per barrel. Meanwhile, the official selling prices (OSPs) that Middle Eastern exporters set for their term supply for loading the following month are currently lower than the…