Know What's Happening in Energy
Know What's Happening in Energy
JPMorgan flags $1 trillion U.S. power‑grid upgrade spend amid aging infrastructure
The bank warns that the U.S. grid, averaging nearly 60 years old, faces a national‑security risk and projects roughly $1 trillion in upgrades between 2026 and 2035, part of a $5.8 trillion global spend. Rising AI‑driven data‑center demand could add 100 GW of peak load by 2030, intensifying the upgrade need.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Oil majors secure $164M Alaska lease package
The House has introduced the FREEDOM Act to tackle "permit certainty" by streamlining judicial review of unreasonable permitting delays or revocations and offering compensation to affected developers. The bill emerges amid Democratic resistance to any reform that doesn’t materially boost clean‑energy investment after the Trump administration’s aggressive rollback. Its first tier—expedited court challenges—mirrors elements of the stalled SPEED Act, while the second tier adds a damages regime intended to shift agency behavior. Critics caution that generous compensation could erode environmental safeguards.
Romanian nuclear operator Nuclearelectrica’s shareholders have approved a Final Investment Decision for a 462 MWe NuScale small‑modular‑reactor plant at Doicesti, comprising six 77 MW modules. The project, estimated at up to $7 billion, targets commercial operation of the first unit by 2033, contingent...
Global EV sales hampered by China, US slowdown in January "Global EV registrations, a proxy for sales, fell by 3% year-on-year to almost 1.2 million units in January, according to the data, which includes battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars. They were down...
Pemex is back in the bond market after six years — and demand was strong. This doesn't signal confidence in Pemex. Buyers are really underwriting the Mexican state. https://t.co/YRGXmzi4aW #Pemex #Mexico #OilMarkets #EnergySecurity #SovereignRisk #DebtMarkets #EmergingMarkets
Taiwan's state-owned enterprises have signed a trade agreement with the United States committing to purchase $44 billion in liquefied natural gas and crude oil and $25.2 billion in power‑generation equipment by 2029. The deal, announced on Feb. 12, creates a $69 billion energy trade...
China is pulling more cheap oil from the Middle East. That leaves W. African oil struggling to find buyers until it gets cheap enough to move again, writes @JuneGoh_Sparta In this tight market, the Middle East has the upper hand. Sorry oil...
Shell imagines a future in which electricity is the dominant component of global energy. I assume that it is training elephants to fly. https://t.co/rAoZ1exs8H #EnergySecurity #Electrification #SystemicRisk #Geopolitics #EnergyReality #Infrastructure #CapitalConstraints #EnergyTransition #CriticalMaterials #GridLimits
Oil prices closed Friday largely unchanged after a session marked by sharp swings between macro‑economic headwinds and geopolitical support. Traders weighed the prospect of OPEC‑plus expanding output against lingering demand concerns. The market’s equilibrium suggests that supply‑side expectations have not...
OPEC+ may restart April hikes to catch peak summer and regain share as sanctions bite Russia/Iran. https://t.co/cILwlUi7h2 #OPECplus #Oil #IEA #SaudiArabia #UAE #Iran #Russia
Enbridge a no on appetite to build proposed bitumen pipeline to Canada’s west coast “I don’t think investors or the infrastructure companies should be taking on the risk of development in jurisdictions that have historically created a challenge” Still some N Gateway...
US retail electricity prices have spiked, prompting criticism of new AI data center projects. While AI‑driven facilities consume large amounts of power, they represent a modest slice of total grid demand. The backlash threatens a key source of future natural‑gas...
🚦From a pure fundamentals perspective, there's simply no bullish driver in sight capable of pushing oil prices into the high $70s—or higher—in 2026. ⚽️Betting your capital on a major war with Iran or any similar geopolitical shock to spike prices isn't...
The real question isn’t, “How do we build more power plants?” It’s “How do we add power system capacity — fast?” That’s a fundamentally different problem. And it leads to a different answer: load flexibility — especially distributed batteries — aggregated into...
Expand Energy, the United States' largest gas producer, announced the removal of CEO Nick Dell'Osso. The leadership change coincided with a plan to relocate the corporate headquarters from Oklahoma City to the Houston metropolitan area. Analysts say the ouster is...
On February 3, a pipeline explosion at the Delfin LNG export project in the Gulf of Mexico halted construction and triggered a lawsuit alleging negligence by the developers and contractors. The incident adds to a history of delays that have already...
The Northeastern United States is enduring its coldest winter in over three decades, pushing spot gasoline prices to a significant premium. In contrast, Western Canada is enjoying its warmest winter in a century, easing local fuel costs. The divergent weather...
Oil prices rose on Feb. 13, 2026 as OPEC+ announced an extension of its production cuts through 2027, supporting a tighter market. U.S. crude inventories dropped by 3.2 million barrels, further tightening supply. Brent crude settled at $84 per barrel,...
Jay R. Young, CEO of King Operating Corporation, is championing a shift from single‑well oil‑gas investments to unitized drilling structures that spread risk across larger acreage. He pairs this structural innovation with an education‑first approach, highlighted in his book *The...
“But what about China?” is a common excuse people use to reject climate action. Here’s what's actually happening: * As the U.S. expands fossil fuels and blocks new wind & solar, its emissions are edging up. Meanwhile, China’s emissions seem to have...
The Amplify Lithium & Battery Technology ETF (BATT) has surged 14.5% year‑to‑date, outpacing the Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (LIT) and other pure‑play mining funds. Its 0.59% expense ratio and $117 million assets give investors exposure across the entire...
The Interior Department’s August secretarial order introduced a “capacity density” test that compares the land footprint of energy projects to their output, effectively targeting renewable projects on federal lands. The order invokes the “unnecessary and undue degradation” (UUD) standard from...
U.S. heat‑pump sales slipped in 2025, yet they still outperformed gas furnaces, with September shipments surpassing central ACs for the first time. A 2024 inventory buildup created a backlog that muted demand, while high upfront costs—median $25,000 versus half that...
“The intent is to protect ratepayers. But the second-order consequences of forcing data centers off-grid are far worse than the problem the bill is trying to solve. Off-grid mandates will hurt everyday ratepayers, constrain American infrastructure buildout, and drive up the...
Fastmarkets announced a correction to several EU biodiesel FOB ARA prices published on February 13, 2026, after a calculation error incorporated prior‑day data. The revised figures show modest adjustments, such as UCOME outright rising to $1,419.50 per tonne and RME...
The EPA’s own analysis shows that eliminating federal greenhouse‑gas standards for cars could lift gasoline prices by up to 29% by 2050, adding roughly 75 cents per gallon in constant dollars. Over the 2026‑2055 horizon, consumers may face a net...
British Gas chief executive Chris O’Shea warned that UK electricity bills will exceed the 2022 peak by 2030 as the country scrambles to fund massive grid upgrades. He attributed the surge to years of under‑investment, with two‑thirds of future costs...
Energy stocks are enjoying a robust start to 2026, driven by rising data‑center power demand and deregulation. The T. Rowe Price Natural Resources ETF (TURF), an active fund launched in June 2025, posted a 13% year‑to‑date gain and a 23.2% return over...
The ALPS Clean Energy ETF (ACES) is positioned to profit from a $1.4 trillion U.S. grid‑modernization program slated through 2030, as utilities boost capital spending 12% in 2025 and are expected to increase it another 6% in 2026. Roughly 40% of...
Solar Capital, a Gurugram clean‑tech start‑up, launched a digital platform that lets individuals and organisations invest in solar projects without owning rooftops. Subscriptions start at just Rs 999, removing installation and maintenance barriers for renters, apartment dwellers, and small businesses. The...
In a volatile market, Invesco’s equal‑weight ETFs RSPT and RSPG offer sector exposure while limiting concentration risk. Both funds track S&P 500 equal‑weight indexes, giving roughly 1.5‑2% weight to each constituent instead of the 40% dominance seen in cap‑weighted peers like...
The U.S. rig count held steady at 551 this week, with oil rigs slipping by three to 409 while gas rigs rose by three to 133. Crude output climbed to 13.713 million barrels per day, edging close to an all‑time high....
Stored Energy Systems (SENS) is pivoting from standalone battery chargers to fully integrated, hybrid power solutions for critical‑power applications such as data centers. The company cites market pressure to adopt multi‑vendor, high‑redundancy architectures like N+1 to 2N+1, which demand streamlined...
Political scrutiny of the EU emissions trading system intensified in mid‑February, pushing the front‑year EU ETS contract down almost 6% on Feb 5 and a further 7% after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s comments. EU officials denied reports of extending free‑allowance allocations beyond...
Brent crude option skew—which many have been treating as a proxy of oil market Iran risk perception (see comp to June 2025)—continues to deflate. Down more than half from a week ago, with prices down ~$3/bbl from Wednesday high. Gives a sense...
Energy security is high on the @MunSecConf agenda. I’ve been discussing how the toolkit to deliver it must evolve—amid a fragmenting global order, the need to accelerate the clean transition, and a far deeper level of European distrust toward the...
Slovakia and Hungary have reported a complete halt of Russian crude deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline, marking the latest escalation in the energy conflict between Moscow and Kyiv. Simultaneously, a series of drone attacks this week have damaged several Russian...
Kuwait's production capacity was ahead of the UAE's in 2010. Now it is 3.2 Mbpd versus 4.85 Mbpd Budget break-even is $90.5 per bbl and oil is 83% of the budget https://t.co/1si82Sc7pF
🛢️ OIL CONTEXT WEEKLY 🛢️ 📈📉Crude prices rise on Hormuz advisory before falling back on the prospect of longer US-Iran talks, with headlines dotted with a flurry of US sanctions relief on Venezuela’s oil sector. Summary below, link to full report in...
Saudi Aramco will load its first cargoes of Jafurah condensate in March, following the start‑up of the giant Jafurah wet‑gas project late last year. The development converts wet gas into condensate and LPG, adding a new stream to the kingdom’s...
This is actually the best way to describe the difference between GL 49 and GL 50 (the two Venezuela-related General Licenses issued by OFAC today)
If you were buying more Energy Exposure via $XOP $OIH into a red close 24 hours ago, professionally done
TC Energy reported fourth‑quarter earnings per share of US $0.72, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68, driven by record natural‑gas deliveries in both the United States and Canada. U.S. pipeline flows rose 9.5% YoY to 29.6 Bcf/d, while Canadian deliveries hit a...
Can't help but notice who ISN'T on this list of companies who just gained access to invest and operate in Venezuelan upstream. https://t.co/qrLcy4bd48
👀The Coalition for Green Capital (CGC) retained Checkmate Government Relations to lobby. Checkmate has deep ties to the Trump admin. CGC is among the groups that had billions of $ in Biden-era EPA grants frozen. The filing, to be clear,...
Alexandria, Virginia, approved a new ordinance that lets developers meet green‑building requirements using an energy‑use intensity (EUI) metric instead of relying solely on third‑party certifications. The rule applies to commercial projects of 10,000 sq ft or larger, offering a choice between traditional...
This is an interesting oil market transparency development. Argus "will assess three grades of Venezuelan crude oil, Merey, Hamaca and Boscan, for delivery to the U.S. Gulf coast, which Argus said is now the most likely destination for Venezuelan cargoes" https://t.co/RaKzvH53Rp
California grid electricity demand continues to decline despite 2.5 million EVs and lots of data centers in the state 2026 Demand on CAISO grid down 1.84% v '25; 1.22% v '24; and 2.27% v '23 Due to growth in behind-the-meter roof PV,...
Here's EPA's undoing of its 2009 Endangerment Finding wrt to vehicles. EPA's finding is based on a new reading of the Clean Air Act. EPA also finds that its vehicle emission standards do not and could not mitigate the climate risks...
Ohio lawmakers consider bill that would essentially ban solar and wind projects https://t.co/JJNzVHnE3G via @MotherJones
Singaporean light distillate (eg gasoline/naphtha) inventories are *very* high right now. (seasonal chart, million barrels) https://t.co/ZgYbX7ZU9F
