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, bringing the total rig count in the US to 587, up 45 from this same time last year. The number of active oil rigs fell by 2, reaching 450 during the latest reporting period, according to the data. This is 35 above this same time last year. The number of gas rigs rose by 1 and now stand at 127, which is 5 more than this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed at 10. The latest EIA data showed…

Saudi Arabia, which at the start of the Iran war redirected virtually all crude exports through its East-West pipeline to Yanbu on the Red Sea, has seen crude exports from Yanbu crumble by 41% to about 2.39 million barrels per day (bpd) by June, from a peak of 4.07 million bpd in March, Wood Mackenzie vessel tracking and cargo data showed. Despite the near-total concentration of exports through Yanbu, volumes have declined steadily from the March peak, according to WoodMac's tracking data. By June, Yanbu loadings had fallen to around 2.39 million…

The dual disruption of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb is tightening global oil flows, raising transport costs and fueling expectations of $100 oil. Friday, July 24, 2026 The double blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb has turbo-boosted oil prices this week, with both ICE Brent and WTI gaining $10 per barrel on the week. Whilst technically the Bab el-Mandeb could be bypassed through the Suez Canal, resulting in longer routes and higher costs, the dramatic decline in transits via the Hormuz should be of particular worry to the oil markets.…

Global liquefied natural gas exports grew by about 1.2 trillion cubic feet in 2025. The United States supplied approximately 1.10 trillion cubic feet of that increase. Put another way, roughly 93% of the world’s additional LNG came from the United States. The scale of that contribution is even more striking considering where the industry stood a decade ago. In 2015, the United States exported less than 0.03 trillion cubic feet of LNG. By 2025, exports had reached 5.2 trillion cubic feet, making the United States the world’s largest…

Indian refiners are in search of crude supply from as far as Angola in Africa and Venezuela in South America as their term supplies from the Middle East are trapped again and unable to reach India as planned. Some of the biggest state-held refiners in India, the world’s third-largest crude oil importer, are looking for and testing new crude grades, to offset part of the supply lost to the Middle East conflict, senior refinery executives told Indian outlet Economic Times. “We diversified our crude sourcing outside of the Strait of Hormuz,…

July 24, 2026 LNG Headlines

Lithium prices have sunk to a five-month low as the return of previously idled mine capacity triggered fears of a massive market oversupply. Lithium prices on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX), the most active lithium carbonate contract, fell to 136,800 yuan ($20,210) per tonne on Wednesday, nearly 30% below their multi-year highs reached in mid-May. The sharp pricing downturn is linked to a wave of accelerating mine restarts and expansions across China and Australia. Last month, China’s EV battery giant, Contemporary Amperex Technology…

The Trump administration is studying the deployment of offshore nuclear power generation, with the Marine Minerals Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission agreeing this week to coordinate on any future developments. The announcement comes amid surging electricity demand driven by Big Tech. “Submerged reactor systems have been safely deployed in naval applications for decades, demonstrating their potential as a reliable source of energy in demanding marine environments. While no commercial deployment on the Outer Continental Shelf…

OPEC+ is expected to approve another production target increase when eight key producers meet on August 2, extending a months-long campaign to unwind voluntary supply cuts that have existed largely on paper since the Iran war upended Gulf exports. Reuters reported Thursday that Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan, and Oman are expected to raise their combined September production target by another 188,000 barrels per day, matching the increases announced for June, July, and August. The problem is that quotas have been rising…

Artificial intelligence is a double-edged sword for the energy sector. The rapid buildout of data centers to support widespread integration of large language models in virtually every economic sector imaginable, from our energy grids to your electric toothbrush – yes, really – is pushing energy demand growth projections to unprecedented levels, threatening to far outpace energy capacity additions and imperil energy security on a global scale. On the other hand, artificial intelligence holds enormous promise for improving energy efficiency…