Category Archives: Commodities

Countries must seek energy independence through renewables and nuclear, says John Kerry

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Former US secretary of state says oil shock driven by war in Iran highlights dangers of reliance on fossil fuels

Countries must seek energy independence through renewable resources and nuclear energy for their national security, and to avoid the “choke points” of fossil fuel supply, the former US secretary of state John Kerry has warned.

The war in Iran has sent oil prices soaring, as refineries and fields have closed down in several Middle Eastern countries and many tankers are stranded in the strait of Hormuz, with economic impacts beginning to be felt around the world.

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Can the IEA put a lid on the price per barrel by releasing oil stockpiles?

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Despite rare act of multilateralism, there is no guarantee the IEA’s release of 400m barrels from reserves will depress prices

When the global economy was still in the grip of the devastating 1970s oil crises, exposing the chokehold exerted by a few important oil states, the International Energy Agency (IEA) was created, in the hope of limiting future shocks.

Almost half a century on, the IEA’s 32 members have drawn up plans to hit the emergency button, for only the fifth time in its history.

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Aramco warns of oil market ‘catastrophe’ unless strait of Hormuz reopens soon

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Saudi Arabian state oil firm calls crisis by far the biggest the region has seen but firm can reroute 70% of exports and tap crude held in storage

Saudi Arabia’s state oil company has warned of “catastrophic consequences” for the world’s oil markets if the US-Israeli war with Iran continues to block shipping in the strait of Hormuz.

The world’s biggest oil exporter expects to be able to supply the market with about 70% of its usual crude output despite the stranglehold on the vital trade artery, but its chief executive warned that there would still be “drastic” consequences for the world economy if the disruption continues.

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Iran war drives oil prices above $100 a barrel for first time since 2022

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Donald Trump insists surge in energy prices is ‘very small price to pay’ as Middle East conflict sparks fresh stock market sell-off

Oil prices surged past $100 per barrel for the first time since 2022 as fallout from the US-Israel war with Iran continued to rattle global markets and leading economies moved to tackle a worsening energy supply crisis.

A weekend of escalating violence in the Middle East intensified concerns around a sustained supply crunch, propelling oil prices to their highest level in four years and triggering a deep stock market sell-off.

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White House worries as gas prices jump amid ongoing US-Israel war on Iran

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US drivers are largely insulated from higher oil prices caused by Middle East turmoil – but only to a point

Across the US, the average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline has jumped nearly 27 cents in a week, to $3.25, and American consumers are bracing for higher prices at the gas pump as the US-Israel conflict with Iran threatens to disrupt the global oil supply.

That fear has entered the White House too, where Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, is reportedly hunting for ideas to lower gasoline prices and officials are getting “screamed at” to bring good news, according to Politico.

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Caffè Nero says growth is ‘steady’ but coffee prices are likely to rise

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Founder of family-owned firm says it will pause acquisitions after takeover of 15 Compass Coffee stores in US

Caffè Nero will continue opening new shops in the UK and overseas, but has warned coffee prices are likely to keep rising as the war in Iran and higher staffing costs feed through.

The family-owned business, which has just bought the 15-store Compass Coffee based in Washington DC to convert to its main brand, is aiming to open as many as 30 UK stores and between 50 and 70 more this year across the 10 other countries it operates in.

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US grants waiver to allow India to buy Russian oil amid Iran war

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‘Stopgap measure’ designed to keep oil flowing into global market as Middle East crisis disrupts crude shipments

The US has temporarily allowed India to buy Russian oil currently stuck at sea in an effort to keep global supplies flowing and temper further price increases.

On Thursday the US treasury issued a 30-day waiver allowing India to buy Russian oil, having previously imposed heavy sanctions related to the war in Ukraine.

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Oil price continues to rise amid Middle East crisis but stock markets rebound across Asia

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Reports of attack on US registered tanker in Gulf lifts crude by 3% to $84 a barrel as gas price also starts to climb

Stock markets have rebounded in Asia after days of heavy losses driven by the war in the Middle East, but oil and gas prices have continued to climb amid disruption to supplies.

South Korea’s KOSPI, which posted its biggest ever fall on Tuesday of 12%, rose by almost 10% on Thursday, while Japan’s Nikkei climbed by 1.9%. MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan jumped by 2.7%.

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Iran has largely halted oil and gas exports through strait of Hormuz

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At least four tankers have been struck by drones and maritime traffic has dropped by 80%, reports say

Iran has in effect closed the strait of Hormuz to oil and gas exports for the past four days with a mixture of drone strikes and fear that has halted commercial maritime traffic despite intense US attacks on Iran’s navy.

At least four tankers have been struck and Lloyd’s List Intelligence reported that seaborne traffic had dropped by 80% on Sunday, with little sign of a return as key maritime insurers cancelled cover the next day.

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China calls for vessels in strait of Hormuz to be protected amid soaring shipping costs

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Beijing’s foreign ministry urges ‘all parties’ to avoid escalation as number of crossings drops 60% in one day

The Chinese government has called for vessels passing through the strait of Hormuz to be protected by all sides in the escalating Iran conflict, as shipping freight rates soared.

Maritime traffic through the strait – a narrow channel on Iran’s southern border that connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman – has effectively been closed since the US and Israel launched missile attacks on Iran at the weekend, prompting a retaliation from Tehran.

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US boards second oil tanker in Indian Ocean after it fled Venezuelan raid

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Pentagon tracked sanctioned Veronica III from Caribbean Sea after it left Venezuela on day Maduro was captured

US military forces boarded another sanctioned tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean Sea in an effort to target illicit oil connected to Venezuela, the Pentagon said on Sunday.

Venezuela had faced US sanctions on its oil for several years, relying on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to smuggle crude into global supply chains. Donald Trump ordered a quarantine of sanctioned tankers in December to pressure the president, Nicolás Maduro, before Maduro was apprehended in January during a US military operation.

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Canada minister resigns from cabinet over Carney’s controversial oil pipeline deal

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Minister Steven Guilbeault says Indigenous nations were not consulted and the pipeline would have ‘major environmental impacts’

Mark Carney has agreed an energy deal with Alberta centred on plans for a new heavy oil pipeline reaching from the province’s oil sands to the Pacific coast, a politically volatile project that is expected to face stiff opposition.

The move proved politically damaging within hours, with the minister of Canadian culture, Steven Guilbeault, who is the former environment minister, announcing he would leave cabinet. Guilbault, a former activist and lifelong environmental advocate, said he strongly opposed the plan.

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State-sanctioned fuel smuggling cost Libya $20bn over three years – report

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Policy body calls for western-backed investigation into oil officials known to be at heart of illegal enterprise

A surge in state-sanctioned fuel smuggling between 2022 and 2024 cost the Libyan people about $20bn (£15bn) in lost revenue – an alarming sum that demands decisive international sanctions against those responsible, according to the most comprehensive report published on how Libya’s primary revenue source has been systematically pillaged.

The report by the investigative and policy body the Sentry states that “politicians and security leaders who claim to serve the public and fight organised crime have, in fact, acted as the chief architects of Libya’s fuel-smuggling industry, often with backing from foreign states”. Some of the imported fuel has also been smuggled into Sudan, where it has prolonged that country’s civil war.

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India casts doubt on Trump’s claims that it has agreed to stop buying Russian oil

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The US president claimed Modi had assured him of deal, but Indian officials insist no such conversation took place

India has cast doubt on claims by Donald Trump that its prime minister, Narendra Modi, had agreed to stop buying Russian oil.

On Wednesday, Trump claimed that Modi had assured him “today” that India would put an end to its purchase of Russian oil.

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Illegal gold mining clears 140,000 hectares of Peruvian Amazon

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Armed criminal groups tear down precious rainforest to capitalise on record gold prices, report finds

An illegal gold rush has cleared 140,000 hectares of rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon and is accelerating as foreign, armed groups move into the region to profit from record gold prices, according to a report.

About 540 square miles of land have been cleared for mining in the South American country since 1984, and the environmental destruction is spreading rapidly across the country, Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP) and its Peruvian partner organisation, Conservación Amazónica, found.

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Gold prices scale record highs as investors seek safe haven

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US government shutdown and uncertainty about the economy has caused a surge in value of precious metal

Gold futures prices topped $4,000 per ounce for the first time on Tuesday as investors continue to seek safe havens for their money, with the US government essentially shut down and widespread uncertainty around the economy.

As of 9.10am ET, gold futures traded at $4,003 in New York. The going price for New York spot gold rose to $3,960.60 per troy ounce – the standard for measuring precious metals.

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Ineos to cut a fifth of Hull jobs, blaming ‘dirt-cheap’ imports from China

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Company says more roles will be at risk unless UK government supports tariffs to protect industry

Ineos, the chemicals company owned by the billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, is to cut a fifth of jobs at its East Yorkshire plant, blaming “sky high” energy costs and “dirt-cheap” imports from China.

The company founded in 1998 by Ratcliffe, who co-owns Manchester United FC, said it would cut 60 jobs at the Acetyls site in Hull, which makes petrochemical products such as acetic acid. It said more roles would be at risk across the industry unless the government stepped in.

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Almost a third of Prax Lindsey oil refinery workers to lose jobs

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Insolvency Service says 125 roles to go at Lincolnshire plant, which went into administration in summer

Almost a third of workers at the Prax Lindsey oil refinery in north Lincolnshire, which collapsed into administration this summer, will lose their jobs at the end of October.

The Insolvency Service said the decision to make 125 roles redundant, with 255 people remaining at the site, “was not taken lightly” and follows a thorough review of “all aspects of the business, following its insolvency”.

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Trump brags of ‘massive’ oil deal in Pakistan – but drilling has not found any

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Announcement of deal baffles experts and former ministers, who say there is no sign of any untapped reserves

The newfound camaraderie between the US and Pakistan was on full display this week as Donald Trump welcomed Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and the country’s powerful army chief, Asim Munir, into the Oval Office, heralding them both as “great leaders”.

Having been cold-shouldered by successive US presidents, this was the first time a Pakistani prime minister had been invited to Washington in more than six years. It was also the unprecedented second time this year that Munir – who holds no official government role – held an intimate meeting with Trump, which many took as a telling signal of where the power to cut deals really lies in Pakistan.

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BP makes its biggest oil and gas discovery in 25 years off coast of Brazil

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Company to carry out more tests on its Santos basin find as it continues shift from renewables back to fossil fuels

BP has made its largest oil and gas discovery of the past 25 years off the coast of Brazil as it continues to shift its focus away from renewables and back to fossil fuels.

The Santos basin oil and gas discovery, which is located in deep waters, is the company’s 10th oil discovery of the year and could be its largest since its discovery at the Shah Deniz gasfield in Azerbaijan in 1999.

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