While the dust is settling and facts emerge, it is clear that the latest attack on Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq oil-processing complex is rapidly becoming one of the most consequential energy developments of 2026. The event should not be assessed on the basis that it has immediately removed millions of barrels of oil from international markets, but rather because it exposes a vulnerability that traders, governments, and investors have largely assumed no longer existed. At present, oil prices are not showing any real impact; levels are restrained. At the…

Donald Trump’s July 8 order to halt trade with Spain has yet to become an energy embargo, but Madrid can no longer dismiss it as political theatre. It was the second such threat since March 2026, this time delivered directly to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent after Spain refused to commit 5% of GDP to defence spending and declined to support US operations against Iran. Washington is now reportedly examining products that could be targeted, even though EU customs rules make it illegal to isolate one member state from the bloc’s common…

ExxonMobil and Chevron made a combined $26.5 billion in the second quarter after producing more oil, refining more fuel, and selling all of it into a market scrambled by war. Washington is investigating why gasoline costs so much. Chevron reported record net income of $12.2 billion, nearly five times its year-ago profit. Exxon earned $14.5 billion, double what it made during the same quarter last year and its best result since oil prices soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Iran war sent crude prices sky high after Gulf production…

Kyrgyzstan’s election to a two-year term on the United Nations Security Council came after a diligent campaign to gain support for its candidacy. It means a Central Asian state will have a seat on the UN’s most powerful body for the second time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Attention now turns to what Kyrgyzstan wants to do — and what it will be able to do — on the Security Council. “This is a new test for us,” Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov said during a speech in late June. “We view membership…

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States rose this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, bringing the total rig count in the US to 588, up 48 from this same time last year. The number of active oil rigs rose by 1, reaching 451 during the latest reporting period, according to the data. This is 41 above this same time last year. The number of gas rigs stayed the same at 127, which is 3 more than this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed at 10. The latest EIA data showed that weekly…

Ukraine has struck one of Russia’s biggest refineries, Lukoil’s Volgograd processing facility, the Ukrainian forces said on Friday as they resumed attacks on Russian refining capacity. The Volgograd refinery, which has the capacity to process 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude, produces gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. It was hit by Ukrainian forces, Ukraine’s Security Service said in a Telegram post on Friday. The hit was “successful,” Ukraine said, without offering details as to the extent of damage. Andrei Bocharov,…

Brent is set for an 8% weekly loss, but ongoing disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea continue to support oil prices near $90 a barrel. Friday, July 31, 2026 Oil prices are set for an 8% weekly loss after the sell-off earlier this week was halted by the reality of two disrupted waterways in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia seeking to organize a maritime coalition against the Houthis. The IRGC claims to have turned around several tankers in the Strait of Hormuz; however, that could also suggest shippers won’t give up on exiting…

Iranian-designed drones have wreaked havoc for Ukrainian forces battling Russian troops as Moscow took Tehran's technology and ran with it, supercharging production and deploying drones in devastating droves in its all-out war against Kyiv. As far as Ukraine is concerned, that makes Iran an indirect combatant. And that means Iranian cargo ships heading to Russia are fair game as far as military targets go. That's what happened this weekend in the Caspian Sea, and Tehran is not happy.Moscow's 53-month-old invasion has scrambled politics for Europe.…

China will have more installed solar power capacity than coal-fired generation capacity as early as this quarter, Chinese authorities have said. As of the end of June, solar power capacity stood at 1,274 gigawatts (GW), just below the total coal-fired installed capacity of 1,275 GW. “By the end of June, total solar power capacity had caught up with coal, effectively tying it as the country's largest primary power source,” says the mid-year report released by the China Electricity Council (CEC) cited by local media. Renewable energy…