Brent crude has broken back above $100 a barrel for the first time in nearly two months as escalating attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea deepen concerns that the Middle East supply crisis is spreading beyond the Strait of Hormuz. As of mid-morning Thursday, front-month Brent for September delivery was trading at $100.69 a barrel, up more than 7% on the day after touching an intraday high of $101.01. WTI was also sharply higher, with the entire Brent forward curve moving higher as traders priced in a greater risk of prolonged supply disruptions.…

July 23, 2026 LNG Headlines

Commodity traders are having the rug pulled out from under one of their biggest paydays yet as refiners start bypassing oil and traders and buying Venezuelan crude directly, according to Reuters. Refiners and major oil-producing firms are rapidly gaining market share in Venezuelan crude by locking in direct supply contracts with state-run Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), bypassing the global middlemen and commodity trading houses such as Trafigura and Vitol that previously dominated the space. Six months after traders reopened Venezuela’s…

The regional price of natural gas produced in the Permian, the top U.S. oil basin, was negative for most of the first half of the year. Rising associated gas output from oil-targeting wells has had nowhere to go. Producers had to either flare the gas, within allowed limits, or pay to get rid of what many Permian players see as an undesirable by-product of the valuable crude. For years, the key constraint to local gas prices has been the insufficient pipeline takeaway capacity, which hasn’t grown in lockstep with the soaring gas production…

Europe's effort to rebuild natural gas inventories before winter suffered another setback on Wednesday after Equinor CEO Anders Opedal warned the region may struggle to reach its 80% storage target, highlighting intensifying competition for global LNG supplies. Speaking after Equinor's second-quarter earnings release, Opedal said Europe may not succeed in filling its gas storage facilities to 80% before winter. "We do not think Europe will necessarily reach 80% storage before winter," Opedal said. European gas storage sites are currently around…

Renewed Houthi blockade of Saudi Red Sea ports threatens up to 4 million bpd of redirected Saudi crude exports, adding fresh supply risks as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively disrupted The latest reignition of hostilities between the United States and Iran led to a spike in oil prices that, contrary to some observers’ expectations proved to be temporary. After jumping, prices once again moved lower, driven by hope for peace. Yet the recent announcement by Yemen’s Houthis that they would blockade Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea ports…

Researchers at MIT have developed a new framework to map out geographical hotspots and pain points for our beleaguered electrical grids. As extreme weather events and soaring summer heat waves become more commonplace, and energy demands on the electric grid skyrocket thanks to data center hyperscalers, understanding the minutiae of climactic patterns as well as how they map onto regional trends in energy supply and demand will be critical to ensure grid stability and security going forward. This summer’s blistering heat waves have underlined…

East Africa has spent decades exporting one commodity and importing another. The region holds roughly 4.7 billion barrels of crude oil reserves and more than 70 trillion cubic feet of natural gas across Uganda, South Sudan, Kenya and the DRC, according to the African Energy Commission (AFREC). Yet it imports 100% of its refined fuel after Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited (KPRL), the region’s last operating refinery, shut down in 2013. Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote now says he intends to reverse that equation with a $17 billion (KSh2.2…

Metals markets remain in a delicate tug-of-war, with structural deficits and massive AI-driven data center infrastructure buildout providing forward momentum, while global growth reassessments, high energy prices and the growing risk of interest rate increases increasingly challenge the bullish thesis. Base metals prices have been highly volatile so far in the current year, with the LMEX hitting an all-time high in early June before plunging to a 3-month low a couple of weeks later after the collapse of the ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran…

Central Asian states are tilting towards Beijing amid intensifying competition between the United States and China for predominance in artificial intelligence development. Top officials from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan gathered recently in Shanghai to attend the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, where Chinese leader Xi Jinping presented an ambitious vision for Beijing’s leadership in the global AI race. The American and Chinese models for AI development differ significantly. Ahead of the conference on July 16,…