It's been a long time coming, but the bulls are finally back in uranium. And with them comes the restart of multiple uranium projects that have been taken offline in the years while the commodity slouched in price. We have long stated here on Zero Hedge that nuclear power is an obvious win/win: it's clean, it's safe, it provides robust power and, most importantly to our liberal friends, it has minimal emissions. So why isn't it more prominent? In the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, uranium mining in the United States... Читать дальше...
Russia is considering a nuclear power plant installation on the moon starting between 2033 and 2035, according to the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos. Russia—along with China—is considering the idea of placing a nuclear power plant on the moon over the next decade or so, and the two countries have been working together on a lunar program for nuclear space energy. “Today we are seriously considering a project—somewhere at the turn of 2033-2035—to deliver and install a power unit on the lunar... Читать дальше...
Uzbekistan is looking to China for help in upgrading the Uzbek rail system. A delegation from the Chinese locomotive and rolling stock manufacturer CRRC held talks in Tashkent in late February with the state rail company Uzbekistan Railways JSC. Discussions focused on the “modernization of electric locomotives and localization of production,” according to the Uzbek company’s statement. The talks, however, did not yield any concrete agreements. China is also assisting Uzbekistan in modernizing its... Читать дальше...
Canada’s Cenovus Energy will boost its energy production by 19% over the next five years, in line with pipeline capacity growth, Cenovus CEO Drew Zieglgansberger said at the company’s annual investor day. Cenovus has plants to lift production by 150,000 boepd to 950,000 boepd by 2028, the CEO said. For now, Canada’s heavy oil, produced by Cenovus Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor, and Repsol, trades at a discount to the U.S. benchmark WTI due to the country’s limited pipeline capacity to... Читать дальше...
NATO has had to wait nearly 18 months for Turkey and Hungary to finally sign off on letting Sweden join the military alliance. Despite the long wait, there is a good deal of excitement in Brussels about the 32nd member. One NATO diplomat told me that Sweden's membership was the "missing piece of the jigsaw," completing the alliance's security architecture in the Nordic, Arctic, and Baltic regions. To understand, it's enough to just look at a map. Sweden is the fifth largest country in Europe -- bigger... Читать дальше...
Energy-starved Bangladesh will invite later this week international bidding for 24 offshore oil and gas exploration blocks as the south Asian country looks to increase its domestic energy supply. Bangladesh will launch on March 10 an international bidding round for the blocks in the Bay of Bengal, Zanendra Nath Sarker, chairman of state-owned oil and gas firm Petrobangla, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. Bangladesh has set the deadline for receiving bids for the blocks for the first week of September 2024. Читать дальше...
Following six years of no major private sector coal power capacity buildout, major private Indian power firms are now vying to install at least 10 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired capacity over the next decade, sources with knowledge of the plans have told Reuters. Major private utilities, including Adani Power, JSW Group, and Essar Power, have told India’s Ministry of Power they are now willing to expand old coal-fired power plants or finish previously mothballed projects, according to the sources and... Читать дальше...
Crude oil prices recently logged their second monthly gain in a row as OPEC+ extended their supply curb deal until the end of Q2 2024. The gains have been considerable, with WTI adding about $7 per barrel over the month of February. Yet a lot of analysts remain bearish about the commodity's prospects. In fact, they believe that there is enough oil supply globally to keep Brent around $81 this year and WTI at some $76.50, according to a Reuters poll. Yet, like last year in U.S. shale showed, there... Читать дальше...
Aliko Dangote, the owner of Africa’s largest refinery and Africa’s richest person, is looking to set up a trading firm that would handle crude supply for the new mega refinery in Nigeria, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing multiple sources with knowledge of the plans. The Dangote Refinery in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest, began the production of fuels in January 2024, marking the start-up of the refinery that has seen years of delays. The Dangote refinery, which has a processing capacity…
Oil prices have had a disappointing start to the week as markets were underwhelmed by China's commitments to get its economy back on track and boost demand.EQT, Chesapeake Become the OPEC+ of Natural Gas Markets - The gas markets have been missing an OPEC-like instrument that could collectively curb supply whenever global balances indicate a huge glut, and it now seems leading US gas producers are considering taking on that role, albeit temporarily.- Presenting its Q4 results, the US’ largest gas... Читать дальше...
Climate Fund Managers, a fund manager focused on climate, is launching a $1.3-billion energy fund to finance cross-border energy transmission infrastructure in Southern Africa, aimed at strengthening the power grid. Climate Fund Managers (CFM), a blended finance fund manager focused on climate, said on Tuesday it was appointed by the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to manage the $1.3-billion Regional Transmission Infrastructure Financing Facility (RTIFF). Читать дальше...
A Turkish oil terminal on the Mediterranean will stop importing Russian oil amid intensified U.S. sanctions pressure on Moscow’s exports, the terminal’s operator told Reuters on Tuesday. Global Terminal Services (GTS) operates the mid-sized Dortyol terminal on the Mediterranean and it has decided to stop accepting Russia-origin volumes to avoid possible connections to Russian oil. “GTS decided to cut all possible connections to Russian oil and declared accordingly to its customers in late February... Читать дальше...
A company backed by the world’s biggest independent oil trader, Vitol, is nearing a deal to buy a 90%-plus stake in Adriatic LNG, Italy’s largest import terminal, from ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the plans. Exxon currently holds 70.7% of Adriatic LNG, officially known as Terminale GNL Adriatico Srl, via its subsidiary ExxonMobil Italiana Gas. The other shareholders in Italy’s main LNG import terminal off the Adriatic coast in northern…
Bullishness is returning to the oil industry, with prices set to go considerably higher in case the conflict in the Middle East escalates, RBC’s Helima Croft told Bloomberg in an interview. The commodity analyst noted the resilience of oil demand in China as another important factor for prices, saying that while the macro picture of the Chinese economy might suggest weak demand, actual demand has actually held up pretty well. Regarding the situation in the Middle East, the biggest question remains... Читать дальше...
Tellurian eyes the final investment decision for the first two trains of its Driftwood LNG plant before the end of this year. The news comes soon after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted the company a three-year extension of the construction permit for the long-delayed Driftwood project. Construction work is already underway at Driftwood, Tellurian said in a corporate presentation this week, adding that it expects to make the final investment decision on the third train of the facility in Lake Charles... Читать дальше...
China will seek to reduce the energy intensity of its economy by 2.4% this year, Bloomberg has reported, citing a government document. “As the economy continues to recover and grow and the service sector resumes its normal pace of growth, a bigger drop can be expected in energy consumption per unit of GDP,” the National Development and Reform Commission of the country said in the document. “However, energy use in industry and homes will inevitably grow and result in an increase in energy consumption.” Last year... Читать дальше...
Squabbling between Venezuela and South America’s newest oil-producing nation Guyana over the resource-rich Essequibo region is heating up once again. The more than century-long quarrel centers on Venezuela’s claim to the 61,000 square mile area, which comprises roughly two-thirds of Guyana’s sovereign territory. After supermajor Exxon made a swathe of high-quality oil discoveries in the waters off Essequibo, socialist Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s saber-rattling intensified. By the end of... Читать дальше...
A series of legal rulings by Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court (FSC) on 21 February underlined that the planned New Oil Law being worked on by the government of Iraq in Baghdad will be the final agent of change that will end any semblance of independence for Iraqi Kurdistan. And for Western oil companies working in the region, it looks like the future has been cancelled. To begin with, the FSC ruled that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) must turn over “all oil and non-oil revenues” to Baghdad.... Читать дальше...
As DB's Henry Allen writes, February was another very strong month for risk assets, with many major world equity indices hitting fresh record highs. That included the S&P 500, which surpassed the 5,000 mark for the first time, as well as the Nikkei, which surpassed its previous record from 1989. In part, that was because of continued excitement around AI, and the Magnificent 7 posted their best performance in 9 months. However, with inflation still above target and surprising on the upside in the US... Читать дальше...
Via Metal Miner In July, India became a net importer of steel for the fourth time in the last year. And therein lies a tale of tariffs, changes in steel prices, and supply and demand. However, before discussing those issues, it’s important to revisit the facts. A recent report by India’s Steel Ministry revealed the country became a net importer of steel for the first time in the ongoing fiscal year and the fourth time in a calendar year. Throughout this month, the country imported 587,000 tons of steel... Читать дальше...
