Energy Markets

The Energy Information Administration reported on Friday that U.S. crude oil production dropped for the second consecutive month in December, to its lowest level since June of last year. Meanwhile, demand was at a multi-month high. The EIA reported that crude?oil?production averaged 13,66 million barrels a day in December. This was down by about 133,000 barrels a day from November. This was the biggest month-over-month drop in U.S. crude oil production since January 2025 when bad weather forced major?production centers to shut down. Analysts have predicted that oil production will slow due to the recent decline in oil prices. U.S....

Chris Wright, the U.S. Energy secretary, said that proceeds from the sale of Venezuelan oil will no longer be routed through an account in Qatar. Instead they are being sent directly to US Treasury Department accounts. The U.S. has taken control of Venezuela's oil exports after Washington and Caracas signed a landmark deal in January. The U.S. has taken control of Venezuela's oil exports as part of a historic deal signed between Washington and Caracas. To protect the money from seizure, it was initially deposited into a Qatari account. Wright, who spoke to reporters in Texas about the?reroute, said that...

HF Sinclair revealed in a filing that Atanas Atanasov has taken a 'voluntary leave from duty.' This comes just a week following a similar request by top boss Tim Go. In premarket trading, shares of the company dropped 4%. The company announced last week that it had begun an internal review of their disclosure processes. The company said on Friday that the review started on January 26 after Atanasov expressed concerns about certain actions taken by Go creating an "unfavorable" "tone at top" with respect to the 2025 disclosure process. At a later stage of the review the board expressed...

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission released a draft regulation Thursday, which will help regulate fusion energy. It is an emerging technology whose?supporters hope it can one day generate electricity without generating long-lasting?radioactive _waste. Since decades, companies and scientists in laboratories around the globe have tried to use large magnets or lasers to promote continuous nuclear fusion reactions. In these reactions, light atoms are forced to combine to release enormous amounts of energy. The leaders of the fusion energy industry met with officials from the U.S. Department of Energy in December last year. Department of Energy officials in December last year...

U.S. soybean futures fell on Thursday, a dip in profit-taking after the?hopes? for more U.S. demand and Chinese imports drove prices to their highest level since mid-2024. Corn futures fell with soybeans, but recovered to close the day higher as recent optimism about demand was not dampened by a smaller-than-expected export sales total. Wheat gained after three sessions of losses. Chicago Board of Trade may soybeans finished down 1-1/2 cents to $11.53-1/2 per bushel, after the most-active contract reached its highest level in 20 months. Soyoil Futures rose for the fourth consecutive?day, and reached their highest level since September 2023....

Four sources with knowledge of the talks say that the United States has slowed down the sale of the international assets owned by the Russian oil giant Lukoil to use as a bargaining tool in the Ukraine peace talks. A document reviewed by OFAC showed that the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) will extend to Thursday the deadline for transactions to be completed from February 28 to April 1. In recent weeks, U.S. and Russian government officials failed to make a breakthrough during talks in Geneva and Abu Dhabi, or in Miami, in order to negotiate a deal...

According to Engie's chief financial officer, the Belgian government wants to increase the capacity of nuclear reactors and extend their lifespan. Engie has previously stated that it is not interested in maintaining its nuclear assets. CFO Pierre-Francois Riolacci discussed Belgium's plans for nuclear power on Thursday, after the company announced its results and a major purchase in Britain. He also said that the company did not agree with a draft report from the Belgian regulator regarding future costs associated with the nuclear fleet. Engie CEO Catherine MacGregor stated that a final report on costs associated with the dismantling of older...

Vistra Corp, a power producer, beat Wall Street's expectations on Thursday for its fourth-quarter core profit?adjusted? as an?AI driven surge in electricity consumption from data centers?fueled earnings. The U.S. is expected to?increase its power consumption?increase?increasingly this year and next year, due to the rapid expansion in data centers for artificial-intelligence services and cryptocurrency and the switch from gas and oil heating and transportation. The big?tech companies are also looking for long-term contracts with electricity suppliers to power AI-driven services and data centres. Meta Platforms has signed a 20-year contract to purchase power from Vistra's three nuclear plants located in the...

The yen is on a shaky footing as the possibility of further rate increases in Japan has been raised. The lingering concerns about the escalation of geopolitical tensions in the U.S. Oil prices remained high ahead of the third round of talks scheduled between Iran and the United States on Thursday. Nvidia forecasted first-quarter revenues above market expectations on Wednesday, betting that Big Tech would continue to spend on AI processors. After hours, the stock price of the company remained flat. Investors were likely disappointed with the lackluster results, especially since the company had consistently exceeded revenue expectations in the...

Louisiana utility regulators deny a group of environmental lawyers' claims Request for Investigation Earthjustice, a law group, said on Wednesday that a $27 billion Meta Platforms Data Center 'deal was being negotiated. Earthjustice sent a request to the Louisiana Public Service Commission last month asking them to investigate project financing. The group argued that this could lead to unfair costs being passed on the utility customers. The motion focused on Meta's proposed Richland Parish data center project, where three new gas-fired energy plants would be built. Earthjustice's petition stated that Meta had signed a new financial agreement for the data...

The White House announced on Thursday that it would host leading data centers and artificial intelligence companies in the next week, including Microsoft, Anthropic, and Meta Platforms. This is to formalize an agreement to protect consumers from rising energy costs. The meeting is scheduled for 4 March and was first reported by. It will advance a initiative that President Donald Trump announced during his State of the Union Address on Tuesday. He said he told major technology companies they had to build their own power plant to run the fleet of rapidly expanding data centers and other artificial intelligence infrastructure....

Eagle Nuclear Energy shares rose 14.6% on Wednesday afternoon after it began trading on the Nasdaq. This was following the merger of the blank-check firm, Spring Valley Acquisition Corp II. This listing comes at a time when nuclear energy is gaining traction in the U.S. after decades of stagnation. The surge in electricity demand for power-hungry centers has been a major factor. Eagle Nuclear's flagship Aurora project is one of the U.S.'s largest undeveloped uranium reserves, located along the border between Oregon and Nevada. Mark Mukhija, CEO of the project, said that there are no 'offtake agreements' yet, but it...

On Friday, Asian shares slid while the yen and U.S. Treasuries climbed as fears about geopolitical tensions and technology company valuations affected sentiment. Stocks in Japan and South Korea were volatile, while Chinese equities fell after the artificial intelligence sector's leading company Nvidia failed to impress investors. This dragged Wall Street down. Gold and crude oil prices rose. The Omani mediator in the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks was optimistic about the latest round, but there were no signs that a breakthrough would be achieved to prevent a possible U.S. strike. Pakistan's Defence Minister also spoke of an "open war" with Afghanistan...

According to trade sources and LSEG, the prices of liquefied petrol gas and?naphtha jumped on Thursday in Asia after Saudi Aramco halted its exports from a major terminal, disrupting'supplies' to the region. Saudi Aramco announced on Wednesday that it had halted LPG deliveries this week at its eastern terminal in Juaymah. It is one of the largest exporters of butane and propane. A part of its delivery system was damaged by structural damage to an area of its delivery network on February 23. Fuel from the terminal near Aramco’s Ras Tanura refinery and the Jafurah Gas Field is used to...

China's role in setting the floor and ceiling prices for crude oil is one of the less discussed dynamics of the global market. The world's biggest crude?importer is known to buy excess oil and build up inventories when the refiners or government consider prices to be low. They also pull back imports when they feel that prices are rising too quickly. Analysts and journalists covering the crude oil market are not aware of the changes in imports because they occur with a delay of several months. There are early signs, however, that China will shift its imports in favor of...

Investors piled into what they deemed the safest bets on artificial intelligence, while the yen was still in the spotlight. In his State of the Union address, Donald Trump boasted of the stock market's?gains and claimed that "almost" all countries and corporations wanted to adhere to the tariff and investment agreements they had previously made with Washington. The financial markets did not react much to the speech. Futures markets showed a mildly optimistic start in the U.S. with S&P E-minis rising 0.07% and Nasdaq E-minis increasing 0.11%. The EURO STOXX futures rose 0.2%. The broadest MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks...

Is this the Art of the Deal, Gregor Stuart Hunter? U.S. president Donald Trump warned that trade partners should not "play games" and back out of recently agreed trade agreements after the Supreme Court ruled against his 'emergency tariffs. Some foreign governments want to check if they still have the same terms that were originally negotiated. Trump will "come out smokin'" in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, after the tariff setback. He may even take aim at the Supreme Court Justices who are seated there. However, governments in Asia still have concerns. Japan wants to know if...

Oil prices were below a seven-month high as traders weighed the uncertainty surrounding U.S. Trade Policy and the prospects for U.S. Iran nuclear talks in light of heightened Middle East tensions. Brent crude futures fell 9 cents or 0.1 percent to $71.40 per barrel at?0120 GMT. This follows a volatile session on Monday, when it reached its highest level since the 31st of July, $72.50, while alternating between gains and losses exceeding 1%. U.S. crude oil futures fell 11 cents or 0.2% to $66.20 per barrel. This is after the previous session saw a rise to $67.28 - the highest...

Wall Street futures in Asia and the dollar fell on Monday, as confusion about U.S. trade tariffs prompted the "sell America's" trade. Meanwhile, the tech-diva Nvidia is set to release its results this week. This will test the confidence of the AI sector. Gold prices dropped and gold grew ahead of the next round of talks between the United States and Iran, which will take place in Geneva on Friday. The risk of U.S. strikes remains if there is no agreement. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against President Donald Trump's emergency duties, uncertainty grew. He announced a new rate...

Tom Westbrook gives us a look at what the European and global markets will be like today. The weekend was a huddled-down one for traders, with threats flying between Iran and the U.S., and nerves raging through the markets due to listed private equity funds. PMI surveys, ?U.S. PCE and GDP data, corporate earnings and a few other items headlined the calendar. However, politics and war risk seemed to dominate investors' minds. The dollar was heading for its biggest weekly increase in four months. U.S. president Donald?Trump set Iran a 10- to 15-day deadline to reach a nuclear deal or...

European stocks fell from a record-high on Thursday, and U.S. Futures?flatlined? as fears of AI disruption abated. However, tensions between Iran and the United States kept markets 'on edge' and supported oil and gold prices. The U.S. dollar found its footing overnight after the minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting revealed that policymakers are not in a hurry to reduce rates. The STOXX 600 Index in Europe fell 0.24% after Airbus and Rio Tinto reported their earnings. The index reached a new record on the previous day, as investors were able to shake off concerns about AI disrupting businesses with...

Rocky Swift gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets. Investors are still focusing on geopolitical tensions, as well as signs of cooling in the hot tech sector. This is affecting price movements on commodities, currencies and stocks. Asian shares climbed a little higher, after a slight gain on Wall Street, amid concerns about artificial intelligence's impact on the economy and?valuations?linked to it. Many markets in Asia remained closed due to Lunar New Year. The Nikkei jumped more than 1% in Japan on the expectation that the country's tech companies will benefit from the...

The administration of President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that Japan would?finance three projects worth $36 billion, including an oil-export facility in Texas, a diamond plant in Georgia, and a natural-gas power plant in Ohio. Trump stated on Truth Social that the projects were part of Japan's $550 Billion U.S. Investment pledge, as part a trade agreement that reduced Trump's tariffs against Japanese imports by 15%. Trump gave very few details on the projects. In a statement, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated that the Portsmouth, Ohio, power plant would be the world's largest natural gas-fired generation facility with a capacity?9.2...

The Nigerian Dangote Group announced on Tuesday that it had signed a $400 million equipment deal with China’s Xuzhou?Machinery Group in order to accelerate the expansion of its oil refinery towards a planned 1.4 million barrels per day. The new equipment will support major construction projects in the refining industry, petrochemicals sector, agriculture, and infrastructure. Dangote stated that the XCMG contract would allow the company to purchase a?range of heavy-duty machines to complement the existing assets deployed to the?refinery?build-out which it expects to be completed within three years. Polypropylene production will increase from 900,000.00?tons to 2.4million tons annually as part...