Category: Oil & Petrochemicals
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A Small Personal Favor to the Republic of Cyprus
I have a small personal favor to ask the Republic of Cyprus.
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Can Cyprus Play a Role in a US-Russia Oil Partnership?
A possible US-Russia Lukoil deal could create new strategic opportunities for Cyprus and Greece within the Eastern Mediterranean energy landscape.
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Trump: Ukraine Is Responsible for Expensive U.S. Fuel
Trump points the finger at Ukraine, blaming refinery attacks on Russia for pushing up fuel prices and inflation across energy markets.
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EU and Ukraine undermine efforts to normalise oil market
Ukraine says its strikes have affected facilities representing 51% of Russian refining capacity, disrupting operations and increasing pressure on fuel supplies.
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EU faces gas shortages
Gazprom warns Europe faces a difficult autumn-winter season as gas supply risks, storage levels and geopolitical uncertainty continue to weigh.
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Saudi Aramco Cuts Oil Prices
Saudi Aramco cuts Asian crude prices to a six-year low as regional oil flows recover and supply conditions improve.
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Middle East Oil Exports Are Returning to Normal
Middle East oil exports are returning toward normal levels despite tanker attacks, shipping risks and persistently high logistics costs.
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Macron Links EU Competitiveness Loss to Russian Gas
Macron links Europe’s competitiveness decline to the loss of cheap Russian gas and growing competitive pressure from China
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Türkiye Bets Big on Petrochemicals
Petkim launches engineering work for major new ethylene, polyethylene and polypropylene plants aimed at more than doubling polymer production.
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Lukoil Deal Signals a New US Russia Relationship
U.S.–Russia talks reportedly include a multibillion-dollar Lukoil deal, linking oil assets and energy interests to broader Ukraine negotiations.
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Saudi Energy Security Under Fire Again
Houthis claim missile and drone attack on Saudi Aramco facility in Riyadh, renewing concerns over Middle Eastern energy infrastructure security.
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Brussels Targets Romania’s Offshore Oil
The European Commission tells Romania to tighten offshore safety legislation as Black Sea oil and gas development gains strategic importance.
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G7 Opens the Emergency Oil Tap
G7 countries agree to release 100 million barrels from emergency reserves, targeting diesel shortages and broader instability in global energy markets.
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BP Bets on Namibia’s Oil
BP expands offshore Namibia, taking operating stakes in three exploration licences as international oil companies deepen interest in Africa’s emerging frontier.
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Brazil Strikes Oil Again
Petrobras announces a new ultra-deepwater oil discovery off Amapá, strengthening Brazil’s Equatorial Margin as an emerging exploration frontier.
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Europe Bows to Trump Pressure on Oil Reserves
Europe considers releasing strategic oil and diesel reserves after U.S. pressure, highlighting growing concern over winter fuel security and supply risks.
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UN Says Global Fuel Subsidies Could Top $1 Trillion
Global fuel subsidies could exceed $1 trillion in 2026 as governments shield consumers from high energy prices and supply disruptions.
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Canada Rediscovers Crude Oil Overnight
Canada fast-tracks a major oil pipeline as Ottawa seeks new export markets, greater energy security and reduced dependence on the United States.
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Trump Puts France and Germany Under Pressure Over Diesel
Trump pressures France and Germany over diesel reserves, exposing Europe’s energy vulnerability and the declining leverage of its biggest economies.
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EU Energy Security Depends on US and Nigeria
Europe’s winter energy vulnerability exposes how replacing Russian dependence with new suppliers may have diversified risk rather than eliminated dependency.
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OPEC+ Freezes November Oil Targets
OPEC+ is expected to freeze November production targets, pausing further increases while actual Gulf output remains constrained below pre-war levels.
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India buys Cheap Iraqi Crude
India secures deeply discounted Iraqi crude as regional disruptions reshape oil flows and create unusually attractive buying opportunities for Asian refiners.
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China Suspends Fuel Exports
China halts most October fuel exports, prioritising domestic supply as Middle Eastern and Russian disruptions tighten regional markets and boost margins.
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EU Targets Chinese PVC Imports After INEOS Complaint
INEOS welcomes European Commission investigation into unfair PVC imports and calls for urgent reform of EU trade defence.
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Restructuring at Aramco
Aramco weighs a major gas restructuring and possible Arlanxeo sale as it reshapes its energy, chemicals and downstream portfolio.
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Dangote Kenya Refinery on Appropriated Land?
A Kenyan court land dispute raises questions over Dangote’s planned 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery as local residents claim ancestral ownership of the site.
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Vietnam Turns to ExxonMobil to Diversify Crude Oil Supply
Vietnam’s BSR partners with ExxonMobil Asia Pacific to diversify crude supplies, strengthen energy security and increase flexibility at the Dung Quat refinery.
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TotalEnergies Strike Threatens French Fuel Supply
CGT calls an October strike across TotalEnergies sites, raising concerns over refinery disruption and possible pressure on French fuel supplies.
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Middle East Tensions Boost European Chemical Distributors
Middle East tensions are lifting European chemical distributors’ margins as customers pay premiums for reliable supply amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.
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US Diesel Ban Could Hit Europe Hard
A possible U.S. diesel export ban could strengthen Trump’s leverage over Europe by turning fuel supplies into a bargaining tool.
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EU Namibian Hydrogen Dream Collides With Oil
EU-backed green hydrogen ambitions in Namibia collide with major oil discoveries, increasingly shifting attention toward lucrative offshore petroleum development.
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US Outplays the EU in the Balkans
While Brussels pursues ambitious climate goals, Washington pushes American gas into the Balkans, turning energy geopolitics into commercial opportunity.
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TotalEnergies Board Backs CEO for Another Mandate
TotalEnergies’ board backs Patrick Pouyanné for another mandate as Les Echos highlights five achievements that shaped his leadership.
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France Guards Saudi Oil, Turns to Nigeria
France deploys military assets to protect Saudi oil infrastructure while increasingly turning to African suppliers as Europe reshapes its energy dependencies.
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TotalEnergies Lifts Force Majeure on Polypropylene Supplies
TotalEnergies has lifted force majeure on polypropylene supplies, easing disruption and improving availability for customers across the polymer market.
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Saudi Arabia Turns Away From Europe
Saudi Arabia redirects more crude toward Asia, while Europe faces tighter supplies, higher costs and growing pressure on its struggling industry.
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The World Is Running Out of Oil Tankers
A global shortage of supertankers is driving freight costs higher, making long-distance crude shipments more expensive and squeezing refinery margins worldwide.
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McKinsey Report: Energy Security
A short summary of the McKinsey report on the Hormuz crisis and its impact on global energy security.
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Dangote Plans Refinery and Petrochemical Complex in Kenya
Dangote plans a huge Kenyan refinery and petrochemical complex, with Engineers India winning a $450 million engineering and management contract.
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Braskem Ownership Changes Hands
Braskem’s ownership is changing as IG4 takes over Novonor’s stake, while Petrobras remains a major shareholder amid financial pressure.
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The Price of Oil Is Hitting India Hard
India’s oil import bill jumped 48% despite lower volumes, as higher crude prices, tighter supplies and soaring freight costs hit hard.
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OPEC’s 2026 Oil Growth Forecast Is Evaporating
OPEC has slashed its 2026 oil demand growth forecast by 73%, raising questions about whether global demand could soon decline.
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Ineos Stops Production in the UK
Ineos halts UK production as soaring gas costs deepen Europe’s industrial crisis, prompting a satirical swipe at government economic policy.
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Belgium’s Gas Supply Falls
Belgium enters winter with lower gas arrivals as Ukraine continues disrupting the energy infrastructure Europe once relied on.
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The Oil Shock Is Becoming a Plastics Shock
Oil disruption is spilling into plastics, driving up feedstock, production and shipping costs across the global petrochemical and polymer industries.
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Libya Oil Pipeline Shut by Armed Group
An armed group shut Libya’s Sharara pipeline, cutting oil production by around 200,000 barrels per day and disrupting exports.
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Europe Faces Major Jet Fuel Shortage
Europe faces a major jet fuel shortage as Middle East disruptions tighten supply, drain inventories and increase dependence on Asian imports.
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Saudi Arabia’s Biggest Oil Pipeline Hit
Saudi Arabia’s largest oil pipeline was reportedly damaged by a drone attack, disrupting Red Sea exports and pressuring global oil markets.
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Shell & Equinor Warn Energy Crisis Is Coming
Shell warns that shrinking energy buffers and Middle East disruptions could trigger a deeper global energy crisis and sharper price spikes.
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Who Is Still Under Petrochemical Force Majeure?
Middle East disruptions triggered widespread petrochemical force majeure declarations, with several producers still facing unresolved supply constraints six months later.
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EU Now Depends on Nigerian Oil
Europe is increasingly turning to Nigeria’s Dangote refinery as Middle Eastern disruptions tighten fuel supplies and reshape traditional energy trade routes.
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China Revolutionises Oil Refining
Chinese researchers unveil membrane-based oil refining technology that could cut energy use, emissions and costs across fuels, chemicals and plastics.
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Was There Insider Trading in the Oil Futures Market?
Suspicious oil trades before a major Trump announcement raised insider-trading concerns, prompting scrutiny of who knew what, and when.
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Saudi Pipeline Breakdown Puts Global Oil Supply at Risk
Saudi pipeline trouble threatens a key oil export route, raising fears of tighter global supply, higher prices and petrochemical disruption.
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EU’s Chemical Collapse Was Made in Brussels
Brussels piled regulation, energy costs and climate obligations onto chemicals, weakening competitiveness while cheaper foreign producers steadily captured Europe’s market share.
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SABIC Decides European Petrochemicals Aren’t Worth It Anymore
SABIC is selling its European petrochemicals business as weak demand, high costs and global competition pressure the region’s downstream industry.
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Europe Helped Destroy Eurasia’s Downstream
Europe helped isolate Russian refining. Now Ukrainian strikes are tightening diesel markets, exposing the strategic cost of dismantling Eurasian energy links.
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Oil Prices Triple Depending on Location
Oil prices are diverging sharply worldwide as shipping disruptions make geography increasingly important, creating huge premiums and discounts between crude grades.
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World Oil Demand Is Falling
IEA expects global oil demand to fall sharply in 2026 as high prices weaken consumption, especially across Asian petrochemical markets.
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Braskem’s Debt Crisis Deepens
Braskem’s debt restructuring depends on securing enough creditor support, leaving the Brazilian plastics giant facing renewed financial uncertainty.
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Germany’s Leuna-Polyamid Shuts Nylon Production
Leuna-Polyamid will end nylon production in Germany after failing to find an investor, amid high costs and Chinese competition.
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Evonik Shuts Two German Chemical Plants
Evonik will close two German chemical sites, shifting production elsewhere as weak demand, Asian competition and margin pressure hit operations.
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Trump Wants More Oil Refineries
The White House is considering emergency powers to expand U.S. oil refining capacity as fuel prices rise and supply concerns grow.
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Brent Is European, But It Takes Orders From Washington
How Brent became American overnight — and what it says about Europe’s disappearing geopolitical influence.
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Trump vs China: The Oil Price War
Trump’s Iran strategy may squeeze China’s oil lifelines, boost American crude, and push Beijing into an even tighter energy alliance with Russia.
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EU Blames China for the Collapse of Its Chemical and Plastics Industry
Europe blames China for its industrial decline, but Brussels may need to confront how much of the damage is self-inflicted.
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21 Energy Companies Want to Explore for More Oil in Norway
Twenty-one energy companies have applied to explore for new oil and gas resources in Norway.
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Canada Gets a New Oil Giant
Tamarack Valley and Headwater are merging in a C$10 billion deal, creating a major new Canadian crude oil producer.
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EU May Limit Cheap Chemical and Plastic Imports
EU countries are considering limits on cheap chemical and plastic imports to protect struggling European producers.
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Dow May Quit Aramco Plastics Venture
Dow may sell its 35% Sadara stake as weak demand and industry pressures intensify globally.
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Where Did the Ottoman Empire’s Oil Go?
European powers and later American oil companies competed for Ottoman petroleum. After the empire collapsed, its former oil territories became central to Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and global energy.
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EU Lost Its Seat at the Oil Poker Table
Europe regulated itself out of the oil game, leaving others to control supply, prices and geopolitical leverage.
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Canada-US Trade War Reaches Plastics
Canada’s retaliatory tariffs now extend to selected U.S. plastic products, potentially reshaping sourcing, costs and cross-border supply chains.
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Oil Shock Sends Plastic Prices Higher
Oil’s surge toward $100 is lifting Chinese plastics and petrochemical prices, raising fears of higher costs across global supply chains.
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Goldman Sachs Warns of $120 Oil
Goldman Sachs warns intensifying Middle East shipping attacks could push oil prices toward $120 per barrel amid severe supply disruption risks.
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Is China Quietly Stabilising Global Oil Prices?
China’s weaker demand and large crude inventories are helping cushion global oil prices despite Middle East disruptions.
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Diesel, Not Crude, May Be the Real Energy Crisis
Diesel supplies could tighten this winter as refining disruptions, low inventories and geopolitical tensions intensify.
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ENI Expands Oil Production in Venezuela
ENI signs new agreements in Venezuela to expand oil projects and increase future production.
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Italy Considers New Tax on ENI and Energy Firms
Italy’s proposed windfall tax could reduce ENI’s profits and returns to shareholders.
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China Turns to Russian Oil as Middle East Supplies Tighten
China’s growing purchases of Russian oil could raise costs for smaller refiners and affect plastics production.
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The Naphtha Crunch Behind Asia’s Plastics Crisis
Rising naphtha costs are squeezing Asian plastics producers, worsening margins and exposing the region’s dependence on volatile petrochemical feedstocks.
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Europe Created Its Own Petrochemical Crisis
Europe’s shrinking petrochemical capacity leaves it increasingly exposed as geopolitical disruptions tighten global chemical supplies.
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South Korea Protects Its Petrochemical Industry
South Korea protects domestic naphtha supplies as global competition for petrochemical feedstocks intensifies amid disruptions.
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Petrochemical Winners of the Iran War
War-driven supply disruptions reshuffled petrochemical fortunes, boosting Western producers’ margins while Middle Eastern competitors struggled with production and logistics.
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War Hits Arab Petrochemical Giants
Middle Eastern petrochemical producers took a direct hit from the regional war. Saudi Arabia’s SABIC saw operating income fall 27%, while UAE-based Borouge reported a 27% decline in net profit and 18% lower sales volumes. Saudi Kayan and Sipchem also suffered from weaker volumes and higher costs, while Yansab bucked the trend, posting its strongest…
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Japan Resonac Dumps Petrochemicals on Shareholders
Resonac separates its petrochemicals operations, handing control of Crasus to shareholders as the Japanese group shifts towards higher-value businesses.
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Saudi Arabia Abandons Europe’s Chemical Recycling Ship
SABIC’s European exit and Plastic Energy’s collapse expose growing cracks in Europe’s chemical recycling ambitions as German investors take over.
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PetroChina Bets on Petrochemicals
PetroChina accelerates its petrochemical and advanced-materials expansion as declining transport-fuel demand reshapes China’s oil refining and chemicals industry.
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Trump Strikes World’s Biggest Oil Deal
A landmark US-Venezuela oil agreement gives American interests majority control over 65 billion barrels while promising investment and increased production.
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Refinery Attacks Cut Russian Gasoline Supply by 30%
Russia’s Fuel Crisis Adds Pressure to Fragile Global Market
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US Wants 100-Year Deal on Venezuelan Oil
Washington is considering a century-long arrangement granting US companies access to Venezuelan oil fields as investment and production plans accelerate.
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Global Supply Disruptions Rescue German Chemicals
German chemical producers see improving demand and sentiment, but weak capacity utilisation and global uncertainty continue to cloud the sector’s recovery.
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15 Dead at SIBUR–Sinopec Gas Chemical Complex
A deadly fire at the massive SIBUR–Sinopec petrochemical complex highlights the human risks behind expanding global plastics production capacity.
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EU Still Needs Russian Oil & Gas
Geopolitical instability is narrowing Europe’s energy options just as winter approaches, exposing the consequences of increasingly fragile supply routes.
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Sinopec Resets Strategy Amid Petrochemical Overcapacity
China’s Sinopec is reshaping its strategy as petrochemical overcapacity, weaker fuel demand and shrinking margins challenge the traditional refining and chemicals business.
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Indonesia Plans New Refinery and Petrochemical Complex
Indonesia is moving ahead with plans for a nearly $6 billion refinery and petrochemical complex in North Kalimantan.
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How Trump Keeps America the World’s Oil Master
Trump is turning America’s oil dominance into economic and geopolitical power, challenging Europe’s perception of him as an unpredictable leader.
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Taiwan Turns to America for Its Petrochemical Feedstocks
Taiwan turns to U.S. petrochemical feedstocks as Middle Eastern disruptions expose its dependence on Gulf supplies.
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Japan Changes Its Oil Strategy
Japan is reshaping its oil strategy, diversifying crude and naphtha supplies while protecting the domestic refining and petrochemical industries from future geopolitical disruptions.
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Shell to sell European Chemicals Business
Shell considers selling its European and US chemical assets as weak margins, high costs and declining competitiveness reshape the future of its global chemicals business.
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