Upside Ahead for Oil Prices as Supply Comes Into Focus
by Michael Kern
21 Mar 2025 at 9:00am
Oil prices climbed this week as OPEC+ committed to controlling supply while Trump continued his efforts to choke Iran's oil industry. Friday, March 21st, 2025 Buoyed by Trump?s continued pressure on Iran and OPEC+?s renewed efforts to send prices higher ahead of its April meeting by committing to additional overcompensation plans, ICE Brent is creeping back closer to the $75 per barrel mark, posting its second weekly gain. The oil markets have become desensitized to US Federal Reserve meetings and with the awkward implementation?

Trump Puts Alaska Back on the Oil Map
by Editorial Dept
21 Mar 2025 at 8:33am
Trump Puts Alaska Back on the Oil Map - The US Department of Interior has announced its plan this week to pursue the reopening of 82% of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to leasing and energy project development as well as mining. - Whilst allowing for new licensing would be a welcome change for Alaska where the 2025 ANWR lease sale drew no bids whatsoever after the Biden administration restricted acreage, it would take months if not years to finalize the lengthy comments period. - As recently as last year, then-President Joe Biden banned?

Kazakhstan?s Oil Output Hits Record High
by Tsvetana Paraskova
21 Mar 2025 at 8:30am
Kazakhstan?s oil production reached an all-time high in March despite the country?s continued pledges to start complying with its OPEC+ quota that it has been exceeding for years. As international supermajors are expanding oilfields in Kazakhstan, the non-OPEC producer part of the OPEC+ pact pumped as much as 2.16 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and condensate in the first half of March, industry sources told Reuters on Friday. In February, oil and condensate production averaged 2.12 million bpd. Under the OPEC+ agreement,?

Trump Announces Imminent Minerals Agreement With Ukraine
by RFE/RL staff
21 Mar 2025 at 8:00am
US President Donald Trump says the United States soon will sign a minerals and natural resources deal with Ukraine as negotiations with Russia and Ukraine to end the war continue. Trump told reporters at the White House on March 20 that his efforts to achieve a peace deal for the country were going "pretty well" after his talks this week with the leaders of the warring countries. "We're doing very well with regard to Ukraine and Russia. And one of the things we are doing is signing a deal very shortly with respect to rare earths with Ukraine,"?

U.S. Firm Backed by Gates and Bezos Seeks Congo Lithium Exploration
by Charles Kennedy
21 Mar 2025 at 7:30am
U.S. firm KoBold Metals, whose backers include billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, is seeking to develop a huge hard rock lithium deposit in the Democratic Republic of Congo as the African country, which also has large cobalt, gold, and cobalt resources, is seeking a minerals partnership with the United States. KoBold Metals has set sights on taking over a mining license for an area, the Manono project, which promises large lithium deposits. The U.S. firm ?would welcome the opportunity to develop the asset,? Sandy Alexander, the?

Shareholder Showdown: Elliott Demands Further Changes at BP
by Charles Kennedy
21 Mar 2025 at 7:00am
Elliott Management, the activist investor pushing for changes at BP, has discussed with other large shareholders in the supermajor potential additional moves to boost the company?s performance including more cost reductions and leadership reshuffles, two shareholders have told Reuters. BP?s stock has been underperforming its UK-based peer, Shell, and other major international oil firms in recent years. The BP board has been under increased pressure to seek fundamental changes to the business to reward shareholders more. The pressure?

India?s Oil Import Dependence Hits All-Time High
by Tsvetana Paraskova
21 Mar 2025 at 6:15am
India?s dependence on crude oil imports is on track to set a record high in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, as Indian fuel demand continues to grow while domestic crude production remains flat. India imported 88.2% of the crude it consumed in the April 2024-February 2025 period, according to oil ministry data reported by The Indian Express. The import dependence has increased from 87.7% in the same period of the 2023/2024 fiscal year, the data showed. The Indian import dependence in the full 2023/2024 fiscal year averaged 87.8%. As?

Another Volatile Week for Oil Markets
by Editorial Dept
21 Mar 2025 at 5:30am
Crude oil traders faced a volatile week as prices reacted to a combination of geopolitical tensions, supply-side shifts, and macroeconomic signals. While Middle East conflicts and fresh sanctions on Iran provided bullish catalysts, downside risks emerged from Russian supply prospects, U.S. tariffs, and uncertain Chinese demand. With the market caught between these forces, traders need to assess whether the next move favors an upside breakout or a renewed selloff. Middle East Conflicts and Sanctions Create Bullish Setups Geopolitical tensions in?

Erdogan Arrests Istanbul Mayor Ahead of Election
by Editorial Dept
21 Mar 2025 at 5:30am
Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict In Turkey, Erdogan has returned to authoritarian moves in order to secure his future power, this time by arresting a key rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamo?lu, on charges of alleged corruption and ties to terrorism, along with the detention of other prominent figures, including two district mayors. The opposition CHP party is demanding justice over this politically motivated move designed to keep the Istanbul mayor from running in elections.  The balance of force in the Russia-Ukraine war remains unclear?

Israel Resumes Ground Operations in Gaza
by Editorial Dept
21 Mar 2025 at 5:30am
Israel has resumed ground operations in Gaza, abandoning the ceasefire deal and killing some 100 people in the first round, with the next phase of war less likely to contribute as much to oil price volatility, which is now centered more on tariffs and real fundamentals. Hamas was set to arrive in Cairo on Thursday to attempt to revive ceasefire talks, but we are not optimistic. Netanyahu?s coalition would likely not survive without the Gaza war, which will continue unabated until that is secured. It will have nothing to do with DC directly.?

Germany Seizes Oil Tanker Belonging to Russia?s Shadow Fleet
by Tsvetana Paraskova
21 Mar 2025 at 5:00am
Germany has seized an oil tanker of the Russian shadow fleet that was found adrift in the Baltic Sea in January, German magazine Spiegel reported on Friday, quoting security sources. The tanker, Eventin, was traveling under the flag of Panama when German authorities said in January that the vessel, belonging to the Russian shadow fleet, was stuck in German waters in the Baltic Sea. The tanker had lost power and steering and was found adrift in the sea, north of the German island of Rügen. Germany secured the vessel and blamed Russia for the?

EU Mulls Using Ukraine Gas Storage to End Slovakia Spat Over Lost Transit Fees
by Tsvetana Paraskova
21 Mar 2025 at 4:02am
The European Commission is considering a plan under which Ukraine would boost natural gas imports from Greece and Turkey, store the gas, and send it in the winter via Slovakia to other EU countries, POLITICO reports, as the EU is seeking to resolve a Slovakia-Ukraine dispute over gas transit and lost fees. Slovakia?s Prime Minister Robert Fico has defied the EU and met with Putin in Moscow at the end of December to discuss Russian gas supply to Slovakia ahead of the halt to deliveries via Ukraine. On December 31, the supply deal?

Transition Investors Pile Into Buyers? Market for Wind and Solar
by Irina Slav
21 Mar 2025 at 3:00am
Investors in energy transition businesses are enjoying a shift in market sentiment that has led to valuation slumps turning a lot of wind, solar, battery storage, and other companies from the area into great bargains. Bloomberg reports that the recent crash in wind, solar, battery, and other transition-related stocks has whetted buyers? appetite on the grounds that the fundamentals of these businesses remain sound. ?We think the fundamentals of renewable power are as strong as they?ve ever been,? Ignacio Paz-Ares, the deputy?

Trump Admin Forges Ahead With Alaska Energy Plans
by Irina Slav
21 Mar 2025 at 2:00am
The Trump administration is moving forward with its energy dominance plans, focusing on Alaska and its oil and gas potential by opening up more of the National Petroleum Reserve and removing restrictions on LNG infrastructure. As much as 82% of the National Petroleum Reserve will be opened to exploration, Interior Secretary Dan Burgum said, as quoted by Reuters, along with the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that the previous administration sought to exclude from such activities. A special focus would be placed in liquefied?

Crude Set for Weekly Rise on OPEC+ Supply Control
by Irina Slav
21 Mar 2025 at 12:50am
Crude oil prices were set for another weekly gain today, driven higher by fresh U.S. sanctions on Iran?s energy industry and OPEC+ efforts to rein in production. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $72.28 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at $68.26 per barrel, both up from opening and both about $1 higher than they were at the start of the week. The U.S. Department of Treasury yesterday announced another round of sanctions against Iran as part of President Trump?s maximum pressure campaign against Tehran that aims?