While the west has had a considerable amount of success imposing energy sanctions on Russia in response to the ongoing war in Ukraine, Russian nuclear sector exports have proven harder to kick. But now, as more western nations get serious about cutting Russia out of their nuclear energy supply chains, they are pushing more and more economic and geopolitical power into the hands of China.  While it seemed impossible to wean Europe off of Russian oil and natural gas without devastating the economy and dangerously compromising European energy ..read more

Pembina Pipeline Corp (PPL.TO) of Canada is veering away from considering a substantial investment in the recently expanded Trans Mountain oil pipeline (TMX), primarily due to lingering uncertainties surrounding shipping tolls, a top company executive revealed on Friday. While Pembina initially formed a partnership with the Western Indigenous Pipeline Group (WIPG)  in 2021 to explore the possibility of acquiring a stake in the Canadian government-owned pipeline, recent months have seen a notable shift in their stance towards investing in the ..read more

The U.S. has big plans for lithium production in the coming years as it ramps up output to support the rollout of utility-scale battery storage and greater electric vehicle (EV) uptake. To ensure the U.S. has enough lithium to support the rapid growth of the battery market and reduce reliance on China, President Biden is supporting the development of the country’s lithium industry with funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and other national policies. Meanwhile, the private sector is investing heavily in lithium as the consumer uptake ..read more

Artificial intelligence is shaping up as the hottest topic of the year. Analysts are predicting how it would benefit virtually every industry, and developers are eager to try it everywhere they can. But there is one potentially huge problem with AI: its energy and raw material requirements. The energy problem surfaced last year, with one scientist doing the maths on how much electricity data centers hosting AI hardware would require. Warnings began coming in saying that the utilization of artificial intelligence will reverse the transition ..read more

The Biden administration is expected to make a major announcement on China tariffs as soon as next week that will impact semiconductors, solar power, and electric vehicles, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. While the possibility of additional tariffs has been widely known, the specific industries to be targeted have now been identified. Moreover, Beijing will likely release angry comments after Biden's speech next week, followed by a tit-for-tat response.  Two of the people said the decision to hit China's "new ..read more

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States fell this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday. The total rig count fell by 2 to 603 this week, compared to 731 rigs this same time last year. The number of oil rigs fell by 3 this week, after falling by 7 in the week prior. Oil rigs now stand at 496--down by 90 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs rose by 1 this week to 103, a loss of 38 active gas rigs from this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed the same at 4 ..read more

The United States has extended a general license through November 15, allowing certain transactions with Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA that are necessary for wind-down operations, according to a notice from the U.S. Treasury Department. The extension covers key players in the industry, including Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes Holdings, and Weatherford International PLC. This extension comes amid ongoing political tensions and economic challenges in Venezuela. Recent contract cancellations by entities like Polish refiner Orlen ..read more

The most severe solar storm in nearly two decades could disrupt electric power grids, navigation, radio, and satellite operations on Friday and Saturday, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) said in a warning today, in the first such severe solar storm advisory since 2005. SWPC, a division of the National Weather Service, said that “Space weather forecasters have issued a Severe (G4) Geomagnetic Storm Watch for the evening of Friday, May 10. Additional solar eruptions could cause geomagnetic storm conditions to persist ..read more

The United States wants to force a gradual shift in Iran’s “decision-making calculus” by signing a defense deal with Saudi Arabia and securing the normalization of relations between Riyadh and Israel. “We continue to work with allies and partners to enhance their capabilities to deter and counter the threats Iran poses, impose costs on Iran for its actions, and seek to shift Iran’s decision-making calculus over time,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson told RFE/RL. The security package has several components ..read more

South Africa has hinted that Shell could receive fewer oil exploration licenses after the supermajor decided to sell its downstream business in the country, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe told Bloomberg in an interview published on Friday. Earlier this week, Shell said it is preparing to divest from downstream operations in South Africa as a result of an internal portfolio review. Shell holds a majority share in Shell Downstream SA (SDSA), which was formed by the merger agreement between Shell South Africa and ..read more