Gold Reclaims Bullish Momentum as the Rally Resumes

The latest Bloomberg data show that shipping transits through the Strait of Hormuz remained largely disrupted Monday morning, even as Iran and Oman reportedly moved closer to a deal. Brent crude futures traded near $85 a barrel as markets priced in the possibility that a deal to reopen the maritime chokepoint could be imminent. Yet global supply-chain stress remains near its highest level since the pandemic, and any normalization could take months, even if shipping traffic resumes. UBS senior...

Egypt and Libya are reportedly nearing a deal to build an 800-kilometer oil pipeline connecting Tobruk with Alexandria, creating a direct route for growing Libyan crude production to reach Egyptian refineries as the war with Iran disrupts Egypt’s traditional Gulf supplies. The proposed pipeline would cost more than $1 billion, according to a government official who spoke to Asharq Bloomberg on condition of anonymity. The two countries are now studying financing, implementation and the...

The U.S. oil industry got a scare last week. News reports claimed that the Trump administration may be considering an export ban on crude oil and refined petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel in order to bring those prices down-prices which have been elevated considerably by the reduction of oil supplies worldwide in the wake of the Iran war. But a Trump administration spokesperson said the administration has no plans to ban exports of oil or natural gas products. It's important to...

Central Asia’s energy market is experiencing a rapid shake-up thanks to Ukraine’s drone campaign against Russian energy infrastructure. Russia stands to lose leverage and market share in the region over the long term as Central Asian states rush to diversify their fuel-supply options. Repeated Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries have caused the Kremlin to limit exports of fuel products, including gasoline and jet fuel, to cope with deepening domestic shortages. That, in turn, is prompting...

The biggest Indian state-controlled refiners that have been selling liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) on the retail market have seen their losses on these sales narrow so far in August, an Indian energy ministry official said on Monday. Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) have seen their losses narrow nearly threefold this month compared to July, India's junior oil minister Suresh Gopi told Parliament in a...

Kazakhstan is looking to re-route part of its crude oil exports away from its Black Sea export terminal and on pipelines through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey amid continued threats to its shipments from the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. “Transportation through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan system, shipments across the Caspian Sea through the territory of Azerbaijan, as well as the Baku-Supsa route are being considered,” the Kazakh Ministry of Energy said on Monday, as carried by local...

ADNOC Gas, the gas business of the Emirati energy major, will spend more than $8 billion on its Rich Gas Development project, the company said today, as it eyes 60% growth in its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization by 2030. The Rich Gas Development project covers several gas production facilities, including the Habshah gas project, which is the UAE’s largest gas processing facility, and the Ruwais LNG project, also in the UAE. Of the total investment, $3.9 billion...

Crude oil prices began this week with a gain following a statement by Iran setting six demands for a peace deal with the United States and claims from the Houthis that they had struck an Aramco refinery in Jazan. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $84.24 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate changing hands for $78.70 per barrel. Both benchmarks are off their spring peaks but still elevated from pre-war times. Iran said over the weekend that it will only reopen the Strait of...

U.S. President Donald Trump is weighing another suspension of the Jones Act as gasoline prices above $4 a gallon threaten to become a liability for Republicans heading into the midterm elections. The move would again open domestic oil and fuel shipments to cheaper foreign-flagged vessels, extending an emergency waiver Trump imposed after the Iran war sent crude prices sharply higher in March. The problem is that the first waiver barely moved gasoline prices. Shipping costs account for only a...

Europe is currently contending with its third energy crisis in four years against the backdrop of near-constant global geopolitical friction and fracas. The continent’s over-reliance on foreign fossil fuel imports has been thrown into sharp relief in recent months and years as the European Union has struggled to catch its breath and stabilize markets in the vanishingly short time spans between global oil shocks. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, Europe as a whole depended on...

To accelerate the global green transition, several energy companies are developing more durable and efficient renewable energy equipment, such as wind turbines and solar panels. This has been hugely successful in recent decades, with the creation of larger, stronger wind turbines and more efficient, resilient solar panels. As companies continue to improve renewable energy equipment and technology, several innovations could significantly help to boost energy production in the coming years....

The U.S. energy system has helped mitigate the shock loss of oil and LNG supply from the Middle East when the Strait of Hormuz closed to traffic and sent refiners and gas importers worldwide scrambling for alternative supply. The record American crude oil production and huge natural gas production and rising LNG exports were decades in the making, during which companies invested billions of dollars every year to increase oil, natural gas, and fuel supply, the American Petroleum Institute (API)...