UN data shows that Turkmenistan is making repairs to its energy infrastructure to seal major methane leaks, according to a report published by the Guardian. The improvements appear linked to efforts by Ashgabat to emerge from a self-imposed isolationist shell.  The UN’s Methane Alert and Response System (MARS) has identified natural gas-rich Turkmenistan as one of the world’s leading sources of methane leaks. According to MARS, Turkmenistan had three of the six worst leaks detected over the past six months, and nine of the top…

Despite having secured export licenses, some Chinese rare earth producers have stopped shipping these materials to the United States over fears of repercussions from China's authorities, sources familiar with the development told Reuters. The renewed standoff in rare earths comes weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Washington for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump at the end of this month. A few Chinese suppliers have been refusing to export rare earths to the U.S. since the beginning of August, according to Reuters'…

European benchmark natural gas prices on Friday headed for their fourth consecutive weekly gain as the re-escalation in the Middle East dampened hopes that LNG flows from the Strait of Hormuz could normalize soon. The front-month price at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), the benchmark for Europe's gas trading, was basically flat in early morning trade in Amsterdam on Friday, but it was on track for a 7% jump this week alone. This week, the re-escalation of hostilities between the United States and Iran intensified concerns about LNG supply…

October WTI crude oil futures are trading at $91.80 Thursday night, up $8.36 or 10.02% for the week so far. The contract traded as low as $84.11 early in the week before reaching $93.14, its strongest level since late July. The market began the week testing whether more cargoes moving through the Strait of Hormuz would take the war premium out of crude. That selloff did not hold. The United States and Iran exchanged their heaviest fire since July. Iran tightened shipping restrictions. Kuwait came under missile and drone fire. Israel renewed threats…

Trump says the U.S. has effectively reopened the Strait of Hormuz, with 18 million barrels of oil reportedly crossing under American protection on Tuesday, close to the roughly 20 million bpd that moved through before the war. The problem is that nobody outside the U.S. government can yet verify Tuesday’s number, and the shipping data we normally rely on has become unusually difficult to read. Kpler recorded 11 visible commodity-vessel crossings Tuesday, while Lloyd’s List Intelligence recorded roughly 12 transits a day from August…

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict The U.S. restarted major strikes on Iran this week, hitting missile, radar, and other military installations along the southern coast and on Larak Island. Iran retaliated against U.S. positions across the Gulf and Jordan, and also continued attacking commercial shipping, with two supertankers carrying Saudi crude struck near Hormuz and two sailors killed aboard a Saudi-owned vessel. The civilian toll from the renewed U.S. campaign is drawing scrutiny after a strike hit a wedding in southern Iran, killing five…

The average U.S. diesel price hit a record high late on Thursday, exceeding the previous record from 2022, as the Middle East crisis tightened global fuel markets and sent prices soaring this summer. As of Thursday afternoon, the live U.S. national average price of diesel set a new record at $5.820 per gallon, according to GasBuddy data.   This average price has now surpassed the previous daily $5.819 per gallon all-time high that occurred June 17, 2022, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said. Record-high diesel prices…

Argentina’s President Javier Milei threatened to impose sanctions on oil companies drilling near the Falkland Islands, after reiterating his claim that the territory under British control is Argentine. The Falklands are “historically and legally” Argentine, Milei said in a televised address, apparently emboldened by the recent hints from U.S. President Donald Trump that the U.S. could review its neutrality on the issue and may not back the UK in the Falklands dispute because of the lack of UK support for the U.S. war in Iran.…

Prime Minister Andy Burnham is expected to approve the development of the Jackdaw natural gas field in the North Sea before the end of the month, the BBC reported, citing unnamed sources. The Jackdaw project, along with Rosebank, was initially approved for development several years ago, but environmentalists sued and overturned the approval on the grounds that the effects of that development on the climate were not considered. However, now that oil and gas prices are soaring and the UK’s dependence on imported energy deepens, priorities are…

Emirati ADNOC is still loading liquefied natural gas in the Persian Gulf despite the latest exchange of strikes between the United States and Iran, Bloomberg has reported, citing satellite imaging data. The data showed one tanker docked at ADNOC’s Das Island export terminal on September 2, with another one in the vicinity of the terminal as well. The publication noted, however, that both these vessels were in so-called dark mode, with their transponders switched off to avoid detection. ADNOC has had some success in getting its liquefied gas…