Net recurring income for the full year should be in a range of €4.9 billion ($5.6 billion) to €5.5 billion, €300 million higher than previously forecast, the company said in a statement Friday. It fell to €3 billion in the first half from €3.1 billion a year earlier, caused by lower French gas demand and the shutdown of nuclear reactors in Belgium. 

The improved guidance is due to the earlier-than-expected completion of the UK Power Networks acquisition, currency fluctuations, “a bit of volatility in market prices, and a performance plan that’s delivering beyond our expectation,” Chief Executive Officer Catherine MacGregor said on a conference call.

Engie and other European utilities are betting on an expected increase in power demand driven by the artificial intelligence boom and electric cars by investing in wind, solar, battery storage and power networks. It bought a leading UK power-distribution network for £15.8 billion ($21 billion) including debt in May to counterbalance its exposure to French gas assets, which may suffer from a shift away from fossil fuels.

Engie has also been cutting costs to help counter a loss of earnings from Belgium, where three of its five reactors in the country were closed last year. The firm is now in talks to sell its entire Belgian nuclear business to the state to eliminate risks related to energy policy changes and focus on assets with more predictable income and expenses.

So-called performance effects, which include cost cuts and other efficiency gains, were more than €100 million above the company’s expectations in the first half, Chief Financial Officer Pierre-Francois Riolacci said Friday. The company also had a better-than-expected gas trading profit, although increased market volatility contributed “very little” to the improved earnings guidance.

Earnings of the company’s energy management unit, which hosts its trading activities, were partly mitigated by more challenging conditions in power markets, the company said. 

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The polyolefins manufacturer reported revenue of $1.4 billion, up from $1.2 billion in the previous quarter, while adjusted EBITDA rose to $401 million and net profit reached $191 million, supported by stronger polyolefin prices, alternative logistics arrangements, and the successful restoration of full asset availability by the end of June, completing repairs to facilities affected by the 5 April incident ahead of schedule.

To maintain customer supply during the disruption, Borouge implemented alternative logistics routes using road, rail, and sea transport, enabling it to ship all volumes produced during the quarter as well as additional material from inventory.

The company recorded production volumes of 0.7 million tonnes and sales volumes of 0.9 million tonnes during the period, with utilisation rates averaging 60%.

Operational recovery supports earnings

The stronger pricing environment helped offset the impact of regional disruptions, with Borouge benefiting from a 53% increase in average realised prices compared with the first quarter.

The company attributed the improvement to a global shortage of polyolefins supply and continued demand for its differentiated product portfolio, which supported a 20% quarter-on-quarter increase in revenue to $1.4 billion.

Higher selling prices partially mitigated increased freight and logistics expenses as well as higher propylene feedstock costs, although these factors continued to weigh on margins during the period.

Commenting on the results, Hazeem Sultan Al Suwaidi, Chief Executive Officer of Borouge Plc, said the company's second-quarter performance reflected "the strength of our operations, the agility of our supply chain, and the outstanding commitment of our people."

He added that “repair work was completed safely and successfully, restoring full production availability across all units affected by the incident on 5 April.”

Higher costs weigh on margins

However, higher costs continued to weigh on profitability. Borouge said EBITDA margins were temporarily impacted by elevated freight and logistics expenses, as well as higher propylene feedstock costs, reflecting the challenging operating environment.

While stronger realised prices helped offset some of these pressures, the company noted that margins remained affected by the additional costs associated with maintaining customer deliveries and navigating regional disruptions.

Despite the operational disruption and higher logistics costs, Borouge said its annual dividend intention of 16.2 fils per share remains unchanged.

The company said its financial discipline and resilient business model continue to support shareholder returns as it navigates short-term disruption.

Borouge 4 expansion advances

Borouge continued to advance its Borouge 4 expansion project during the quarter, with its new Cross-Linked Polyethylene (XLPE) plant reaching commercialisation and delivering its first batch of materials to customers following successful performance testing.

The facility is expected to add 100,000 tonnes of annual capacity, doubling the company's XLPE output and strengthening its ability to supply premium polyolefin solutions for infrastructure and energy applications.

Additional Borouge 4 plants are scheduled to come online in 2026 and 2027, supporting its plans to expand production capacity and drive future growth.

The formation of Borouge Group International AG through the merger of Borouge Plc and Borealis and the acquisition of NOVA Chemicals was completed in March 2026, creating a company with 13.6 million tonnes of annual production capacity and positioning it as the fourth-largest polyolefins producer globally by nameplate capacity.

A tender offer to convert Borouge Plc shares to Borouge Group International AG shares is expected to take place in 2027, subject to market conditions and regulatory approvals.

What are your thoughts on the short-term and medium-term outlook for natural gas in light of the Middle East conflict? With a peace deal announced, do you expect the global supply shock to abate soon?

The Middle East crisis has delivered a major shock to global natural gas markets. The gradual easing in market balances that had been underway since the second half of 2025 was significantly disrupted by the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the outbreak of the war in the Middle East at the end of February 2026.

Between March and June, LNG loadings from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates fell by around 35 billion cubic metres (bcm) compared with the same period last year. About two-thirds of that loss was offset by additional LNG production from new projects in North America and Africa and improved feedgas availability from legacy producers. Even so, global LNG production declined by around 4% over the period, creating market tightness.

Looking ahead, our current assumption is that LNG exports from the Gulf will gradually recover, with operations returning to full capacity by the start of the fourth quarter. Under that scenario, global LNG supply would remain broadly flat in 2026. However, any delays to that recovery could result in the first annual decline in global LNG supply since 2012.

As tighter supply pushes up prices, we expect global natural gas demand to decline in 2026, the third annual contraction this decade. This is largely due to lower demand in the Middle East, as well as in Asia, where higher LNG prices are encouraging greater coal use in the power sector. These developments underscore just how quickly geopolitical events can reshape global gas markets. They also reinforce the importance of supply diversification.

In light of the Middle East conflict, how should policymakers balance short-term emergency measures with the massive investments needed for long-term supply resilience? 

Governments are responding to the immediate crisis in different ways, trying to find alternative sources of supply, acting to constrain demand in some cases, and looking to shelter their citizens from the impacts of higher prices. 

In many cases they are also rethinking their longer-term energy and investment strategies. Countries are diversifying trade routes and energy sources, including by advancing new pipelines and other supply infrastructure and turning to more domestically available resources. After the 2022 crisis, investment grew in renewables and nuclear, as well as broader measures to strengthen electrification and accelerate investment in energy efficiency. 

There are no hard and fast rules on how to balance short-term emergency measures with long-term supply resilience. Each country is dealing with a different set of circumstances, resource endowments and policy challenges. Nonetheless, a key consideration is to ensure that short-term measures do not make the achievement of long-term goals more difficult. 

One aspect of this is fiscal — governments often provide broad price support to all consumers during times of crisis, but this quickly becomes very expensive. It would be better to provide more targeted support to those most in need and deploy other available funds towards structural changes that can improve resilience. 

What are the ways in which countries and companies can strengthen the architecture of global gas supply security?

The first “golden rule” of energy security is diversification, which can mean exploring alternative supply routes, and avoiding excess dependence on a single supplier or route.

A second consideration is the balance between long-term contracts and reliance on short-term markets. Countries can have different preferences on where this balance lies, based on each country’s needs and their vision for the role of gas in the future, but a portfolio of contract durations and pricing arrangements can help to manage different commercial and security risks.

A third way is to build flexibility and optionality into the system, for example by investing in additional regasification capacity, or ensuring that certain pipelines are capable of being operated in both directions, or building additional connections between national markets. Gas storage is another important area to look at. These investments increase the overall resilience of the system.

Well-functioning markets continue to play a very important role in gas security by giving clear signals to investors all along the value chain and helping to redirect gas efficiently in case of disruptions.

And finally, I want to underline the importance of international cooperation on gas supply security, including closer international cooperation between producers and consumers. The International Energy Agency supports this dialogue through its Gas Working Party and the LNG Producer-Consumer Conference organised jointly with Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

With global LNG trade growing by 12% YoY through the October-February period before the war, how can the LNG industry scale up to meet immediate demand without risking stranded assets? What is your assessment of the LNG wave that the industry was talking about before the war? 

The LNG wave is still coming, even if its arrival has been delayed by the crisis. There is a huge amount of LNG export projects under development — 2025 was a record year for new project approvals. 

At the same time, this is the second major gas crisis in the span of five years, and it is forcing gas importers to take a hard look at their future investment plans. These importers require assurances that gas can be reliable and affordable. Producers should also help make the case for gas by taking the necessary steps to tackle emissions along the supply chain, for example, methane leaks into the atmosphere. 

The rapid rise of AI data centres is triggering an unprecedented crunch on power grids. How can gas-to-power providers realistically scale up to meet this high-load demand? 

Investment into data centres is surging. Just five large technology companies are on track to spend over $700 billion this year on capital goods and infrastructure — much of it going into data centres. This has led to a rush to provide new generation to match data centre needs. 

A large part of this will be grid-connected, but in some cases, when the grid is unable to provide a connection at the speeds the tech sector demands, data centre operators are installing on-site gas-based generation. This is contributing to a 25-year high in gas turbine orders.

Turbine manufacturers are scaling production to meet a significant backlog, but they are also cautious against risks of scaling up too fast. There are also complexities with on-site generation, which is why data centre operators prefer grid connections where possible.

Gas is playing an important role but it’s not the only game in town. Technology companies are investing in new generation from renewables and nuclear, including small modular reactors. Ultimately, the gas industry can benefit from greater transparency on the pipeline of data centre capacity additions. At the IEA, we are working to provide a better line of sight on the future of data centre electricity demand, which we hope will help stakeholders plan better. 

What are you looking forward to with your participation at Gastech this year?

I’m looking forward to sharing the IEA’s latest insights on the outlook for global gas and LNG markets at a time of major energy market disruption and heightened uncertainty. I’m also looking forward to using the occasion to engage with policymakers, industry leaders, and other stakeholders at a particularly consequential moment for global energy markets.

The utility giant, which operates in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, lowered its pipeline of high probability data centers to 11 gigawatts, down from 18 gigawatts, according to the company’s second-quarter earnings presentation. The firm also cut its overall future pipeline through 2027 to 25 gigawatts, down from 43 gigawatts in the first quarter. 

“What this update reflects is we have now weeded out speculative projects, and it gives us proactive insight into what is real,” Chief Financial Officer Jeanne Jones said on the company’s earnings call.

The revision comes at a time when investor skepticism over the artificial intelligence spending spree is whipsawing markets and public outcry against data center projects is growing. Utilities, which once touted robust pipelines of hosting facilities, are now making efforts to prioritize the connection requests that are likely to come to fruition, while winnowing out projects at risk of floundering.

The company describes its high probability pipeline as projects in advanced phases of design or backed by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-approved transmission security agreements. Those pacts as well as Exelon’s cluster study process are aimed at removing data center projects unlikely to be realized or that fall short of the required collateral.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Stephen D’Ambrisi blames regional opposition to new data centers and consumers’ fear of higher utility bills.

“Making the bar much higher in order to connect to the grid is part and parcel of all of these ways in which utilities are trying to protect regular rate payers,” D’Ambrisi said in an interview. “You’re seeing pushback to data center development across the US, and so there are some level of projects that were probably high probability that may be falling out of the queue as well.”

An Exelon spokesperson declined to detail the reasons some of the projects might be unfeasible, but said via email that “if a project chooses not to proceed because of those customer protections, this is evidence the framework is working as intended.”

Exelon’s shares fell 3.1% on Thursday in the biggest one-day slump since March 20. Ryan Levine, an analyst at Citi, attributed the drop to the reduced data-center pipeline. He still rates the stock a buy and said the update improves the quality of the pipeline.

The lowered forecast contrasts with California utility, PG&E Corp., which raised its outlook during its second-quarter report. PG&E’s pipeline of proposed data center projects, which more than doubled from March to June, signals that the data-center boom is moving beyond the Mid-Atlantic and Texas, states that have dominated AI infrastructure so far.

Meanwhile, the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s grid operator, has begun to study interconnection requests in batches in order to get serious projects connected to power as quickly as possible. Under the plan, batch studies will take place every six months. To start, Ercot has dubbed the most advanced projects as Batch Zero, a pool of around 220 gigawatts looking for connection.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The Series C funding, co-led earlier this month by Eclipse and G2 Venture Partners, will allow Antora to build a second factory to produce its modular batteries for pairing with renewables or grid power. Participating investors included Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures as well as BlackRock Inc. and Temasek Holdings Pte.’s joint venture Decarbonization Partners.

Demand for batteries has surged as renewable energy makes up a growing share of electricity generation. The technology allows operators to buy and store cheap energy when renewable output is abundant and demand is low, then discharge it when the sun sets, winds slow or power prices rise. Antora said its batteries can discharge firm energy around-the-clock.

“There are some customers that care about the environmental attributes, but it’s our firm belief that you have to be competitive on cost, otherwise none of the rest of it matters,” said Andrew Ponec, Antora’s chief executive officer and co-founder, in an interview. 

Thermal batteries’ ability to stash heat at extremely high temperatures – Antora’s batteries operate at 2,400C (4,352F) – make them especially well-suited for heavy industrial facilities such as steel or cement plants that have proven difficult to wean from fossil fuels because many of their processes require scorching temperatures. 

Antora is also developing thermophotovoltaic technology, similar to the approach used in solar panels, to convert heat into electricity. In addition, Ponec said the company is pursuing projects beyond industrial applications, including data centers, but declined to name specific customers. 

As they struggle with lengthy grid connection queues, some data centers have turned to bringing in their own power generation and storage. The heat from thermal batteries can be used to produce steam which can then generate electricity.

“The data center opportunity or other commercial enterprise electricity applications, that second act, that’s what really got us excited to underwrite the investment,” said Joe Fath, a partner at Eclipse. 

Thermal batteries are less efficient than lithium-ion batteries at converting stored energy into electricity. But they are built with less expensive materials and can store energy for days.

“Thermal energy storage could be a cheaper way to store energy over those daily or weekly time scales because the material cost is so cheap,” said Dharik Mallapragada, an energy engineer at New York University. 

Antora’s first commercial project launched this spring: a wind-powered battery project for biofuel maker Poet LLC in South Dakota. The site is the largest thermal energy storage facility in the world, accounting for 89% of estimated global capacity, according to Kyle Disselkoen, an analyst at BloombergNEF. 

The project allows Antora to purchase curtailed wind power at a discounted rate, which it stores and sells to Poet, which can then access federal tax credits designed to promote clean fuel production. 

“Stacking those multiple sources of revenue is key to making projects bankable,” Disselkoen said. 

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

West Texas Intermediate fell 1% to settle below $84 a barrel, while Brent closed near $89. Open interest in the global benchmark trended lower ahead of its expiry on Friday, distorting price action. 

Traders hesitated to make big bets as they weighed US and Iran exchanging air strikes Thursday against a recent pick up in shipping through Hormuz, which connects the Gulf to global markets. Kpler, a market intelligence firm, said 14 commodity vessels transited the waterway in both directions on Wednesday, up from single digits last week. Meanwhile, China’s massive crude inventories remain robust, suggesting buyers there can continue relying on stockpiles while keeping imports subdued.

Energy markets have been rocked by a fresh round of volatility this month, as investors navigated a short-lived pause in hostilities between Tehran and Washington, followed by renewed fighting. Early Thursday, the US hit dozens of Iranian military targets in an operation aimed at degrading Tehran’s ability to threaten US troops, its Arab allies and commercial shipping in the region, US Central Command said in a post on X.

Hormuz lies at the heart of the dispute, with Tehran insisting on control and attacking tankers challenging its authority. To avoid the waterway, Saudi Arabia has rerouted flows through its East-West pipeline that links to the Red Sea, but that pathway is now being challenged by the Tehran-backed Houthis. Riyadh’s forces joined with the US to hit targets in Iraq that are linked to Tehran-backed militants.

The market is also monitoring two attacks on ships attempting to load at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal on Russia’s Black Sea coast, the main export route for Kazakh barrels. Last week, similar attacks led to days without shipments and helped push oil prices above $100 a barrel. 

“CTAs are sellers of WTI crude oil on the day, but the supply picture continues to tighten,” TD Cowen analysts wrote in a note. Attacks at the CPC terminal “will continue to see Russian crude exports reduced one to two million barrels a day compared to June averages, and could become a more prolonged outage as drone attacks persist,” they said. 

Meanwhile, Russia extended a diesel export ban until Sept. 1, sending heating oil futures up as much as 3.7% on Thursday. The tighter product market could ultimately support crude prices if refiners elsewhere increase runs to offset the loss of Russian supply.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Hamm’s Continental Resources Inc. is set to compete for shale blocks in an auction managed by Neuquen province where the lion’s share of Vaca Muerta acreage is located, said the people, who declined to be named discussing private deliberations. Bids for 15 blocks in Neuquen will be opened on Aug. 19. 

Continental declined to comment. The Neuquen provincial administration didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Argentine government officials and oil executives have been pitching the Vaca Muerta in Houston as they try to lure US shale producers and service companies to Patagonia as an alternative to the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico, where some of the best drilling acreage is running out.

Fifteen years after the resources were proven viable, the Vaca Muerta is growing quickly under President Javier Milei’s free-market reforms that have attracted investments and financing after years of controls stifled build-outs.

The basin already produces more than 1 million barrels a day of oil and gas. A key export pipeline and port called VMOS will be ready next year, allowing producers to ramp up crude production. Plans for liquefied natural gas shipments are also taking shape.

Last year Continental became the first US shale independent to dip its feet into Argentina via a deal to acquire assets from local driller Pluspetrol SA. It did a second transaction in January to buy stakes in blocks operated by Pan American Energy Group, which is half-owned by BP Plc.

Another US producer betting on Argentina is supermajor Chevron Corp., which recently decided to develop more acreage in the Vaca Muerta thanks to a Milei initiative that provides tax cuts and other benefits. Argentine officials still need to approve Chevron’s application.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

US reactor operators bought about 3.28 million separative work units, or SWUs, of Russian enrichment services in 2025, equal to almost 26% of their total purchases, according to data published Wednesday in the Energy Information Administration’s latest uranium marketing report. That compares with 17% a decade earlier. 

The vulnerability is growing more urgent as Washington promotes a nuclear revival driven by power demand from data centers and electrification. Existing utilities are seeking to extend reactor lives and restart plants, while developers of small modular reactors need to secure fuel for projects over the next decade.

Both groups also remain exposed to international trade, even as the Trump administration disrupts supply chains with sanctions and tariffs. Foreign sources supplied 77% of the enrichment services purchased by US operators in 2025. Russia was the largest single source.

A 2024 US law bans Russian uranium imports but allows the Department of Energy to grant waivers when alternative supplies are unavailable or imports are deemed to be in the national interest. That authority expires no later than January 2028.

The arrangement creates a political choke point because deliveries are contingent upon both US waivers and Russian export licenses, leaving utilities exposed to a further deterioration in relations between Moscow and Washington. Sanctions have already transformed trade in oil, gas and other energy commodities since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Domestic and allied enrichment projects are advancing, but their timing leaves a gap. Urenco USA — owned by the British, Dutch and German nuclear consortium — is adding about 700,000 SWU of annual capacity by early 2027. Larger projects from Centrus Energy and Orano aren’t expected until 2029 and beyond. 

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Coal-fired plants accounted for 49.7% of electricity output from January through June, according to the National Energy Administration. Renewable sources supplied more than 40%, with wind and solar alone generating nearly a quarter of the total, officials said at a press briefing Thursday.

China has spent years expanding wind and solar, while keeping coal at the heart of its power system to avoid electricity shortages. The country is the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter and burns more coal than the rest of the world combined, but is also the biggest producer of renewable energy. Any lasting shift away from coal would carry implications well beyond China’s borders.

“This is a phased achievement resulting from the long-term replacement of fossil-fuel generation by non-fossil energy, marking a new breakthrough in China’s green and low-carbon energy transition,” said Xing Yiteng, deputy director-general of the administration’s Department of Development and Planning.

Even so, coal use is still rising in absolute terms. Output from thermal power plants increased in the first half as electricity demand grew, partly driven by high-tech manufacturing, electric-vehicle charging and data centers. Coal’s share fell as cleaner sources expanded even faster.

The rapid expansion of renewable energy is also exposing weaknesses in China’s electricity network. Renewable projects are increasingly being forced to cut output because the grid cannot absorb all the electricity they produce. 

Solar utilization fell to 91.4% in the first half from 94.3% a year earlier, while wind slipped to 90.9% from 93.5%, Pan Huimin, deputy director of the administration’s renewable energy department, said at the same briefing.

Beijing is ramping up investment in the power system to ease grid bottlenecks. Spending on grid infrastructure rose 14% in the first half from a year earlier, while investment in energy storage climbed 74%. 

Battery systems are also being used more frequently, averaging 1,195 hours of operation in 2025, nearly double the level in 2023.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The company has now attracted a total of $4 billion, accounting for about 30% of all funding raised by fusion developers to date, according to a statement Thursday. The latest round is the industry’s biggest since Commonwealth garnered $1.8 billion in 2021. 

Fusion promises abundant, carbon-free energy, but it will require overcoming significant scientific and engineering hurdles to commercialize the technology, and progress has been slow. That’s one of the reasons why earlier funding rounds for the industry featured individual billionaires who were comfortable making speculative investments in a field where success has never been guaranteed. Commonwealth’s latest funding shows this is changing, a sign of growing confidence. 

“This is a new class of capital,” Bob Mumgaard, Commonwealth’s chief executive officer, said during a conference call. 

Commonwealth’s investors now include pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, industrial partners and infrastructure investors, though the Devens, Massachusetts-based company didn’t identify them. 

Fusion involves replicating the conditions within a star, generating intense heat and pressure that forces small atoms to fuse into larger elements, releasing energy. Commonwealth has completed about 80% of a demonstration system at its headquarters and expects to switch it on next year. 

The goal is to contain a superheated cloud of plasma within a donut-shaped device known as a tokamak, triggering a fusion reaction that releases more energy than is required to sustain it. If successful, the demonstration would pave the way for the company’s first commercial power plant, which it is already developing in Virginia.

“This really puts us in a position where we can go quickly,” Mumgaard said.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The Al Areesh, which had been idling in the Arabian Gulf since picking up a shipment from the Ras Laffan export facility in early July, sailed through Hormuz with its transponder turned on and was entering the Gulf of Oman on Thursday morning local time, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

The tanker is signaling Pakistan as its next destination. The South Asian nation has mediated peace talks between the US and Iran and previously shunned more expensive spot LNG cargoes in the expectation that supplies from Qatar would resume. However, more recently it has made plans to procure immediate shipments for August.

The latest move indicates that QatarEnergy may be resuming deliveries through the strait after pausing journeys when the Al Rekayyat gas carrier was struck on July 7. An increase in flows through Hormuz may also allow the company to ramp up production at the world’s largest LNG plant — a plan that was placed on hold following the attack.

Neither QatarEnergy nor Seapeak LLC, the company that owns the tanker, responded to a request for comment.

More than a dozen tankers are currently idling near Ras Laffan, according to the ship-tracking data, indicating that they may be preparing to pick up shipments from the Qatari plant. An empty LNG carrier owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.’s shipping arm also appeared in the Gulf on Wednesday after traversing Hormuz in the opposite direction, with its location broadcaster turned off.

Still, a resumption in strikes by the US and Iran is deepening concerns that LNG flows through Hormuz will remain compromised, leaving the global market tight. Attacks took a brief pause in an effort to advance talks to end the months-long conflict, but that lull ended Tuesday night when Iran fired multiple ballistic missiles at an American base in Jordan. In response, the US launched a new wave of strikes on Thursday local time.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The contract covers the supply of nine customised centrifugal compressors designed for high-pressure gas processing applications. The equipment will support a multi-billion-dollar energy expansion project in the Middle East aimed at strengthening gas infrastructure and enhancing the reliability of global energy supplies.

According to the company, the project involves coordinating strict delivery schedules across multiple engineering teams, licensors, and international stakeholders. Ebara Elliott Energy said its ability to provide a flexible phased delivery programme and detailed milestone planning played a key role in securing the contract.

The compressors will be manufactured and tested through the company’s global production network before deliveries begin in line with the project’s construction schedule.

The award highlights continued investment in large-scale gas projects across the Middle East, where countries are expanding production and processing capacity to meet growing global demand for natural gas while supporting energy security.

“The world needs dependable energy today while planning for a lower-carbon tomorrow, and this project does both,” said Nobu Miyaki, Chairman and CEO, Ebara Elliott Energy. “At this scale, there is no room for error. Larsen & Toubro Limited and their end user chose us because our engineering teams design for extreme conditions, and our technology delivers real-world reliability when it matters most. Trust is earned project by project, and our global manufacturing team is ready to execute.”

Baker Hughes, Halliburton, and SLB offset regional weakness through strong demand for LNG infrastructure, offshore developments, and digital solutions, while Honeywell Technologies benefitted from growing investment in automation and gas processing projects. Weatherford stood out for its cash-generation performance despite softer earnings. 

The quarter showed a broader industry trend: companies with exposure to energy infrastructure, power systems, automation, and digital technologies are better positioned to navigate market volatility.

Baker Hughes: LNG and gas equipment drive growth

Baker Hughes delivered strong sequential growth during the second quarter despite ongoing disruption across the Middle East. The earnings show that profitability remained resilient, with adjusted net income rising 3% to $640 million. Revenue rose to $6.7 billion from $6.6 billion in the first quarter, while orders surged from $8.2 billion to a record $10.5 billion this quarter. 

“IET delivered another exceptional quarter of orders, with record bookings doubling year-over-year to $7.1 billion and backlog increasing 19% to a new all-time high. The strength was driven by robust demand across Power Systems and LNG, with particularly strong momentum in power generation.”

- Lorenzo Simonelli, Chairman, President, and CEO of Baker Hughes

Baker Hughes' strongest performance came from the Industrial & Energy Technology (IET) division, which generated a record $7.1 billion in orders, as compared to $4.9 billion in the last quarter. 

“IET delivered another exceptional quarter of orders,” said Lorenzo Simonelli, Chairman, President, and CEO of Baker Hughes, adding that the “strength was driven by robust demand across Power Systems and LNG, with particularly strong momentum in power generation.”

Overall, the results show Baker Hughes’ shift toward energy infrastructure, LNG, and power solutions under its Horizon 2 growth strategy. The company now expects Horizon 2 orders to exceed $45 billion. 

Weatherford: cash generation takes centre stage

The company's cash generation strengthened significantly versus last quarter. Operating cash flow rose quarter-on-quarter to $175 million, while adjusted free cash flow jumped to $139 million, supported by lower capital spending and disciplined cost management.

Compared with the first quarter, Weatherford delivered a weaker earnings performance in the second quarter as Middle East disruptions affected activity. Second quarter net income dropped $39 million, while revenue fell 4% quarter-on-quarter to $1.1 billion. 

“Despite the significant disruption in the Middle East due to the Iran conflict, our second-quarter results, especially adjusted free cash flow, were strong, demonstrating the reliability and resilience of our operating paradigm.”

- Girish Saligram, President and CEO, Weatherford

Net income dropped 71% sequentially, mostly due to geopolitical uncertainty across key Middle East markets. However, Weatherford’s proposed Delaware redomestication is projected to deliver annual cash savings of $20 million-$30 million from 2027.

Weatherford President and CEO Girish Saligram said, “Despite the significant disruption in the Middle East due to the Iran conflict, our second-quarter results, especially adjusted free cash flow, were strong, demonstrating the reliability and resilience of our operating paradigm.”

“While the Middle East situation remains volatile and creates activity headwinds in the short term, our longer-term thesis remains intact. A return to the pre-conflict operating levels is expected to be gradual, contingent on continued regional stability, and requires an absence of further geopolitical escalation,” Saligram said. 

Halliburton: international expansion supports recovery

Halliburton posted one of the strongest sequential improvements, as net income rose from $461 million to $534 million, and revenue increased to $5.7 billion from $5.4 billion in the first quarter. For Halliburton, Europe and Africa led regional performance, with revenue jumping 19% quarter-on-quarter.

This growth was supported by activity in the North Sea, Namibia, Egypt, and Angola. Middle East and Asia revenue declined 2% as a result of the ongoing geopolitical conflict in the Middle East, according to Halliburton. The quarter showed Halliburton's growing exposure to international offshore developments and its continuing investment in digital technologies, automation, and AI-enabled asset management systems.

“In North America, I see clear signs that we are in the early innings of a recovery. In international markets, our performance around the world outpaced disruptions from the Middle East conflict. I expect that our consistent focus on returns and capital discipline will drive long-term success for Halliburton and its shareholders.” 

- Jeff Miller, President and CEO, Halliburton

“In North America, I see clear signs that we are in the early innings of a recovery,” said President and CEO Jeff Miller. “In international markets, our performance around the world outpaced disruptions from the Middle East conflict. I expect that our consistent focus on returns and capital discipline will drive long-term success for Halliburton and its shareholders.” 

SLB: offshore growth helps soften Middle East disruption

SLB delivered a strong quarter despite its significant exposure to the Middle East. Net income increased 5% to $786 million while revenue increased 3% sequentially from $8.72 billion to $8.97 billion. 

Revenue from the Middle East fell roughly 13% compared with the previous quarter as disruptions affected operations, particularly in Iraq. However, this was offset by stronger activity elsewhere, with North America revenue increasing 4% sequentially and international offshore markets maintaining momentum.

“SLB delivered solid second-quarter results, as broad-based sequential growth across international markets — led by offshore activity in Latin America, Europe & Africa and Asia — more than offset the impact of continued disruptions in the Middle East.”

- Olivier Le Peuch, CEO, SLB

“SLB delivered solid second-quarter results, as broad-based sequential growth across international markets — led by offshore activity in Latin America, Europe & Africa and Asia — more than offset the impact of continued disruptions in the Middle East,” said SLB CEO Olivier Le Peuch.

“Excluding the Middle East, revenue grew sequentially across all Divisions, supported by higher offshore activity, a rebound in U.S. unconventionals and strong demand for production and recovery solutions,” Le Peuch added. 

SLB also highlighted its growth in digital technologies and data centre infrastructure. Digital revenue increased 9% compared to the previous quarter, while data centre solutions revenue grew 33%. 

Honeywell Technologies: LNG demand drives automation growth trend

Honeywell Technologies’ second quarter net income surged to $5.68 billion from $821 million from the last quarter, largely due to a one-time gain related to Quantinuum's deconsolidation following its IPO. Revenue rose to $9.72 billion from $9.14 billion. 

“The second quarter marked a historic milestone for Honeywell Technologies as we completed the separation of Honeywell Aerospace and began a new era as a leading pure-play automation company. The results we delivered this quarter are the outcome of a year-plus long process to simplify our business, and we are already seeing the benefits of this transformation today.”

- Vimal Kapur, Chairman and CEO, Honeywell Technologies

Honeywell's energy-focused businesses saw strong LNG-related order activity offsetting softer margins in parts of its process automation portfolio. The company's Process Automation and Technology segment reported a 24% increase in orders, driven by robust demand from LNG projects.

“The second quarter marked a historic milestone for Honeywell Technologies as we completed the separation of Honeywell Aerospace and began a new era as a leading pure-play automation company. The results we delivered this quarter are the outcome of a year-plus long process to simplify our business, and we are already seeing the benefits of this transformation today,” said Vimal Kapur, Chairman and CEO of Honeywell Technologies.

Themed “Forging Africa’s Strategic Energy Growth Through Global Collaboration,” this year’s edition converted a week of dialogue among senior government officials, regulators, national and international energy companies, investors, financiers, and technology providers into binding commitments across the energy value chain.

Gas and upstream projects dominate investment activity

Gas & LNG accounted for the largest share of total value at approximately 39%, followed by Upstream at 31%, Midstream at 16%, Engineering & Technology at 10%, and Downstream at 4%. The composition tells its own story: capital is prioritising gas development to spearhead Africa’s energy transition.

The deals signed during the Energy Alliance session further buttressed that position. The NNPC Limited and Seplat Energy Joint Venture signed a 15-year Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement with UTM FLNG Limited to supply 200 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, positioning Nigeria’s first floating LNG project for a Final Investment Decision in the fourth quarter of 2026.

ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria, with partners Chevron, TotalEnergies, and Nexen, announced a $1 billion investment commitment to the Usan Infill Project, a fast-track deepwater development expected to add 40,000 barrels per day to Nigeria’s output, marking the company’s first major drilling campaign in Nigeria since 2016.

During the week, NNPC Limited also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL), a Gas Sale and Aggregation Agreement with Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, and Network Entry Agreements with Chevron Nigeria Limited, AGPC, and NNPC Exploration & Production Limited (NEPL).

‘Igniting the engine of industrialisation’

Speaking at the signing ceremonies, Engr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, GCEO, NNPC Limited, stated: “What we are witnessing today is not just about signing agreements. It is about igniting the engine of Nigeria’s industrialisation.” He set the tone at the opening ceremony, noting: “This year’s NOG Energy Week theme could not be more timely. The conversation around collaboration, investment, and innovation remains central to unlocking Africa’s energy potential and delivering sustainable access for its people.”

For 25 years, NOG Energy Week has been the meeting point where Nigeria’s oil and gas industry negotiates its future, from the early years of building consensus around reform to creating an investment-attractive business environment. Each edition has compounded the trust and relationships that transactions of this magnitude require, and the 2026 results show what a quarter century of sustained convening can deliver.

Industry leaders outline the path forward

H.E. Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Federal Republic of Nigeria, paid tribute to that legacy: “I want to extend my gratitude to the visionaries who, 25 years ago, conceived the idea that Nigeria’s energy story deserved an identity of its own. That vision gave birth to the annual NOG Energy Week, and it is the reason we are all gathered here today.”

H.E. Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Federal Republic of Nigeria, framed the road ahead: “The future belongs not to economies that choose between energy security and sustainability, but to those that successfully deliver both. Natural gas has emerged as the indispensable bridge connecting these two objectives.”

From dialogue to deal-making

As Wemimo Oyelana, Portfolio & Country Director, dmg Nigeria Events, stated: “NOG Energy Week exists to spark the partnerships that move energy projects from ambition to delivery. Every deal signed this week is capital, jobs and energy security in motion for Nigeria and the continent.”

Twenty-five years after its first gathering, NOG Energy Week has moved from setting the agenda to closing deals. The $4.5 billion recorded this year is not a ceiling; it is a marker of how quickly Africa’s energy story is shifting from potential to delivery, and a signal to global capital that the continent’s next chapter is already being written, one transaction at a time.

Federal, state and territory energy ministers met virtually Tuesday to discuss the proposed curbs as Australia’s rapidly expanding data center industry — fueled by demand for artificial intelligence and hyperscalers including Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc. — attracts opposition from community and environmental groups.

Queensland state and the Northern Territory opposed most measures related to putting guardrails on the data center sector, including introducing a national set of regulations, according to a government statement issued after the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council gathering. All states and territories must support the federal policy for it to proceed.

The federal government will work with states, territories and market bodies on a detailed policy design, with the potential for introduction of more stringent local requirements, the council said in its communique. The ministers are set to meet again in September.

New data centers would need to add at least as much electricity generation to the grid as they consume, Albanese said in a policy speech earlier in July that laid out plans to embrace the sector while shaping how it develops. Bringing these issues into a single national framework would be a global first, he said.

He said operators would be expected to build renewable generation, minimize water use, maximize energy efficiency and fund any additional water infrastructure required, though he provided few details on how the policy would work.

Australia is among a growing number of countries trying to regulate AI without stifling innovation while ensuring adequate power supplies for the energy-hungry data centers that underpin the technology. A surge in data center investment is also helping support the country’s slowing economy.

Australia is emerging as one of Asia’s top locations for data center construction due to its high potential for renewable energy, stable political environment and strong connectivity with the rest of Asia via low-latency submarine cables, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts led by Matt Ingram said in a June report.

Data center investment could hit A$150 billion by 2030, Commonwealth Bank of Australia associate economist Lucinda Jerogin wrote in a note. Six gigawatts of potential capacity are planned, with demand driven by appetite for hyperscale cloud and AI infrastructure, she said. 

The country was second only to the US in terms of dollars invested in the sector in 2024, according to a report from real estate group Knight Frank.

Buy-In 

Queensland had previously stated that it doesn’t support the imposition of renewable power requirements in order to remain an attractive market for investors, Premier David Crisafulli said prior to Albanese’s policy announcement. 

The state would support proposals that delivered affordable, sustainable power but “will not support underdeveloped ideas that hand increased power to Canberra at the expense of Queenslanders,” Energy Minister David Janetzki said in a statement on Wednesday.

The measures enjoy public support. A YouGov survey commissioned by Australia’s Climate Council found that 82% of respondents agreed that new data centers should be made to pay for extra renewable energy and storage infrastructure that meets their power needs. 

National rules on data centers would stop states and territories from competing with each other, according to Rob Nicholls, a senior researcher at the University of Sydney’s Centre for AI, Trust and Governance.

“The policy the PM has announced doesn’t work unless there’s buy-in from all the states and territories,” Nicholls said. “Part of the reason you have a policy is to avoid a race to the bottom from the states.”

Chief Executive Officer Belinda Dennett of industry group Data Centres Australia — whose members include Google, AirTrunk and Microsoft Corp. — said the group is supportive of the principle that new electricity demand should be backed by new supply, with many operators and customers already underwriting renewable energy.

Still, the industry wants clarity on three key issues, Dennett said, including whether the compliance obligation falls on the data center operator or the tenant, when that obligation takes effect, and what energy usage is being offset — the facility’s actual electricity consumption or its nameplate capacity.

(Updates with comments from Queensland energy minister)

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Bloom reported second-quarter profit of 62 cents per share, according to a statement Tuesday, blowing past the 28-cent average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The shares gained as much as 14% in after-hours trading in New York.

The company manufactures fuel cells that produce electricity from natural gas, and its systems are in high demand to power data centers. Although conventional gas turbines have a years-long waiting list, Bloom says it can deliver much faster. Oracle Corp. in April said it would buy 2.8 gigawatts of capacity from Bloom after the company made some deliveries in as few as 55 days. 

“Demand is compounding,” Chief Executive Officer KR Sridhar said in a conference call with analysts. “New customers are arriving at a faster pace than ever.”

Booming fuel-cell demand has prompted the company to repeatedly boost sale forecasts. The company said Tuesday that sales this year will range from $3.9 billion to $4.2 billion, up from April guidance of $3.4 billion to $3.8 billion. In February, it projected annual sales of $3.1 billion to $3.3 billion. 

That demand has prompted questions about Bloom’s ability to boost production, and whether it can do so fast enough to deliver fuel cells to all the data centers that are clamoring for electricity now. 

“Bloom Energy’s AI-power earnings upside rests on converting demand into cash,” Rob Barnett, a Bloomberg Intelligence senior analyst, wrote in a research note. 

The company has said it’s doubling production capacity at its Fremont, California, facility this year to about 2 gigawatts annually, and the site could eventually be expanded to make as much as 5 gigawatts a year. Sridhar said on the call Tuesday that Bloom uses a sophisticated algorithm to plan manufacturing, but declined to provide specific details on output. 

“We can predict what our capacity needs are going to be,” he said on the call. “Capacity is not going to be our constraint.”

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The Saudi Defense Ministry said it had intercepted the drones on Tuesday, without clarifying whether the facilities were damaged. Similar attacks were carried out from Iraq on Riyadh and the Eastern Region on Monday.

The Saudi government said Iraq must take all necessary steps to ensure that its territories are not used as a launching pad for such attacks. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is visiting Saudi Arabia on Thursday, according to Al Arabiya.

Iraq has set Sept. 30 as a deadline for surrendering weapons held outside state institutions, as the premier seeks to deter the influence of militants in the country.

Iraq on Monday said it wouldn’t allow its territory become a staging ground for assaults against neighboring countries. Drones were also fired at Saudi Arabia from Iraq in May, as Gulf nations including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates were hit from Iraqi territories throughout the ongoing Iran war.

Iran-affiliated militias in Yemen also carried out assaults on oil facilities on Riyadh and the Eastern Region, the Saudi cabinet said earlier Tuesday. 

The Houthis, a clan from Yemen’s north that took over the capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and triggered a civil war that drew in the Saudis and other Middle East states, claimed Monday that they had targeted Saudi oil facilities with drones. 

The Iranian-backed group earlier said it fired missiles and drones at facilities linked to oil giant Saudi Aramco in the Red Sea port towns of Jizan and Yanbu. There was no confirmation from the Saudi government or Aramco that the company’s sites were targeted.

The Houthis last week announced a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, in response to what they say was the kingdom’s siege of Sanaa. 

The group has since attacked tankers linked to Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, which the kingdom opted to use for the bulk of its crude exports after the Strait of Hormuz, where about a fifth of the world’s oil flowed before the US-led war on Iran, remains near a standstill. 

On Tuesday, the Houthis said they targeted a Saudi oil tanker with ballistic missiles for violating the maritime blockade, forcing it to retreat.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The Chinese state-owned energy giant is working with an adviser to help gauge interest for its 15% stake, which could be worth a few billion dollars, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. PetroChina may reduce its holding gradually through several smaller transactions, they added.

The discussions are at an early stage and no final decision has been made, the people said. PetroChina didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

China’s largest oil and gas producer plans to use proceeds from the sale to help finance the facility’s second phase, the people said. The expansion, which would double the plant’s output, is gaining urgency as the war involving Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a key route for about a fifth of global LNG shipments — leave the market facing a supply crunch.

The LNG Canada project has provided an important alternative for China after the Middle East conflict disrupted deliveries from Qatar, which supplied nearly 30% of Chinese LNG imports last year. Cargoes from Canada have partly offset that shortfall, ship-tracking data show.

The first phase of the project’s facility in Kitimat, British Columbia, began exports last year, kicking off a wave of new global supply. Its partners — which include Shell Plc, Mitsubishi Corp., Petroliam Nasional Bhd. and Korea Gas Corp. — agreed to invest in the $31 billion project in 2018.

“We are not in a position to comment on any process that may be undertaken by our joint venture participants,” Sarah Norman, a spokesperson for LNG Canada, said by email. 

Chinese companies are also seeking more LNG from Canada and other producers to reduce their reliance on Gulf supplies and guard against future disruptions, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The firm will sell 90% of the output from Project Sterling to Tesla, according to a statement. The facility is scheduled to begin operating in 2028 and will include 509 megawatts of peak solar generation and 360 megawatts of four-hour battery storage. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

The agreement is rare for Tesla and highlights the growing need to enter so-called power purchase agreements as AI-driven data center growth tightens US markets. Other tech giants have been entering such contracts for years, and were major drivers of the solar and wind boom of the past decade. Renewable projects paired with batteries have become one of the fastest ways to bring new capacity online, particularly in regions where utilities are struggling to meet rising demand.

Tesla, which typically buys its electricity from local utilities and grids, didn’t respond to requests for comment outside normal business hours. The firm also owns some generation assets. 

The plant will be connected to the grid overseen by the Western Area Power Administration with access to California. Grids across the US face unprecedented demand growth as the data center buildout has severely strained network areas that until recently had massive supply gluts.

The average electricity price to consumers is projected to increase 4.3% this year to a record 14.22 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to US Energy Information Administration data going back to the late 1990s.

The deal is the first between Tesla and ContourGlobal. Agreements such as this one typically run for 10 to 15 years, providing buyers with predictable electricity costs while giving developers the revenue certainty needed to finance new projects.

Sterling will become the largest renewable asset in ContourGlobal’s portfolio. The company acquired the project in late 2024 and will trade the remaining 10% of its output by itself. 

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The company has shortlisted sites in at least three states to build nuclear projects and will start work after the government finalizes the rules for private companies, Chief Executive Officer Praveer Sinha said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday.

“What we can expect is that early part of 2028 we will start possibly the construction activity,” Sinha said. “We are targeting that 2032-2033, we will have the first of the nuclear plants ready in the private sector.”

The South Asian nation’s nuclear push mirrors a global revival of the industry. Countries are shedding the caution that followed the 2011 Fukushima disaster as surging electricity demand from artificial intelligence and data centers revives interest in atomic power. Japan is restarting reactors, while China, South Korea, and Bangladesh are among the nations building new ones.

Tata Power has identified sites in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Gujarat and geotechnical studies have already started, according to Sinha. 

He expects the government to clarify issues such as long-term uranium supplies and price stability as it finalizes the rules of the nuclear bill. “We expect the approval process will take 12 to 14 months,” he added.

Last year, India’s parliament passed a bill that opened up the sector to private firms, with an ambitious goal of expanding the country’s nuclear generation capacity eleven-fold by 2047. The sector supplies just 3% of India’s electricity now, with state-owned Nuclear Power Corp., operating the entire capacity of 8.8 gigawatts. The expansion will require nearly 19.3 trillion rupees ($202 billion) in investment, according to a government panel.

Earlier this month, Australia agreed to supply uranium for India’s civil nuclear program and expand energy cooperation during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit. 

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The government will consider measures including risk-capital funding in order to promote Japanese firms’ participation in such pipeline projects, according to a document released by the country’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry late last week. The paper, which outlines key challenges and potential new measures aimed at strengthening Japan’s stable energy supply, was opened for public comment through Aug. 22. 

The move comes as Saudi Arabia is considering expanding the capacity of its crude oil pipeline to the country’s Red Sea coast, Reuters has reported. The head of Japan’s oil refiners’ lobby group said in mid-July that both Abu Dhabi and Riyadh had asked Tokyo to cooperate in expanding pipeline facilities in the region.

The ministry is likely seeking to expand the role of the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security as one of the potential measures to achieve this, according to a Meti official. This includes allowing Jogmec to provide financing for pipeline projects on a standalone basis, the official said.

The public company’s mandate for supporting oil transportation investments, including pipelines, is currently limited to projects associated with upstream oil and gas development, according to the ministry.

The import-dependent nation relies on the Middle East for nearly all of its oil, and has been hit particularly hard by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. More than 90% of Japan’s crude oil imports passed through the strait in 2025, according to Meti.

The country’s crude imports in July are expected to be fully sourced from areas that don’t require transit through Hormuz, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said last month, to make up for supply shortages resulting from disruption in the strait.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

But there is another — and I believe more compelling — interpretation.

Customers whose cargoes continued arriving through Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline to Yanbu on the Red Sea, or through the UAE’s Habshan-Fujairah Pipeline bypassing Hormuz, may well conclude they are dealing with some of the world’s most reliable energy suppliers. The recent crisis did not expose a failure of Gulf producers. It validated decades of strategic investment designed precisely for moments like these.

The distinction is an important one. There is a fundamental difference between geopolitical risk and supplier reliability. No energy producer can eliminate regional conflict or geopolitical tensions. The true measure of leadership is whether producers anticipate those risks, invest to reduce their impact, and continue delivering when markets are under extraordinary stress.

For decades, energy markets have measured leadership by production capacity, reserve replacement, and spare capacity. Those metrics remain essential. But today’s world demands another benchmark: resilience capacity.

Resilience capacity is the ability of an energy system to anticipate disruption, absorb shocks, adapt quickly, and continue delivering reliable supplies despite geopolitical crises, infrastructure failures, cyber threats, or market volatility. In a more uncertain world, it may become the defining measure of energy leadership.

Leadership is measured by preparation

The Strait of Hormuz has long been recognised as one of the world’s most strategically important — and vulnerable — energy chokepoints. The recent disruption did not reveal a new risk. It validated investments made years before the crisis ever occurred.

Long before the latest tensions, Saudi Arabia invested in the East-West Pipeline linking its eastern producing fields with export terminals on the Red Sea. The United Arab Emirates constructed the Habshan-Fujairah Pipeline, enabling significant export volumes to bypass Hormuz altogether.

Strategic storage facilities, expanded export terminals, and operational redundancy were developed not in response to a single crisis, but as part of a deliberate long-term strategy to ensure customers continued receiving reliable supplies.

These investments were never simply infrastructure projects. They were investments in confidence. No producer can guarantee that geopolitical crises will never occur. Responsible producers invest so geopolitical risk does not become supply risk.

Leadership is measured across the entire value chain

The recent crisis also highlighted another often-overlooked reality: energy security extends well beyond crude oil production. Disruptions to Hormuz affected not only crude flows but also global markets for gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and petrochemical feedstocks. Product security can quickly become just as important as crude supply security.

This is where Gulf producers — particularly Saudi Arabia and Saudi Aramco — have demonstrated long-term strategic leadership. For decades, Saudi Arabia has invested not only in maintaining production capacity and significant spare capacity, but also in one of the world’s most extensive downstream portfolios.

Through investments in refineries, petrochemical complexes, storage terminals, and integrated marketing ventures across Asia, Europe, and North America, Aramco has strengthened the resilience of global fuel supply chains while creating greater flexibility during periods of disruption.

Reliable energy markets are built not simply on producing molecules but on ensuring those molecules can be transported, refined, stored, and ultimately delivered to consumers under virtually any market condition.

Every bypass pipeline, every strategic storage terminal, every refinery located closer to demand centres, and every investment in integrated logistics enhances resilience capacity — not only for producers, but for consumers as well.

Leadership is measured by performance

The true test of reliability comes when markets are under stress. Throughout the recent crisis, Gulf producers worked to restore exports, maximise alternative infrastructure, and fulfill contractual commitments under exceptionally difficult circumstances. Their objective was not simply to maximise production, but to minimise disruption for consuming countries already facing heightened uncertainty.

Refiners do not judge reliability solely by headlines. They judge it by whether contracted cargoes arrive, refineries continue operating, and customers receive the supplies they depend upon. Trust in energy markets is earned one cargo, one contract, and one investment decision at a time.

Leadership is measured by looking ahead

The most enduring consequence of the Hormuz crisis may not be the disruption itself, but the investments it will inspire.

Just as earlier disruptions accelerated investments in bypass pipelines, strategic storage, and export diversification, recent events are likely to catalyse a new generation of resilience investments across the Gulf. Additional storage capacity, enhanced maritime logistics, expanded downstream integration, digital supply-chain management, cyber resilience, and greater export flexibility will further strengthen the reliability of Gulf energy supplies.

For decades, Gulf producers invested primarily in expanding production capacity. The next chapter is likely to focus equally on expanding resilience capacity — building energy systems that are not only larger, but more adaptable, redundant, and secure.

History rarely remembers energy crises for the disruptions they cause. It remembers them for the innovations and investments they inspire. The true measure of energy leadership is not the absence of geopolitical risk. It is the presence of resilience capacity. In an increasingly uncertain world, resilience has become one of the world’s most valuable energy resources.

The new measure of energy leadership is not whether geopolitical risks exist — they always will. It is whether producers prepare for them, continue delivering through them, and emerge even better prepared for the next challenge. By that measure, Gulf producers are not simply preserving trust — they are setting a new standard for energy leadership in an increasingly uncertain world.

• Joseph McMonigle is the President of the Global Center for Energy Analysis and former Secretary General of the International Energy Forum.

A de-escalation is “weeks away, not months,” Macquarie’s energy strategist Vikas Dwivedi said in a interview on Friday. “They’re long a put option, but that value is decaying with time and the expiration date is the midterms.”

While a comprehensive peace deal is unlikely in the short-term, tensions are expected to ease, allowing oil flows from the Middle East to resume, Dwivedi said. As soon as a deal is reached, the market will be “significantly” oversupplied, he added. 

Before the conflict broke out in late February, the oil market was bracing for a glut, but the war sapped millions of barrels of supply.  The US Energy Department forecasts that stocks are set to start building again, reaching a daily surplus of 2.73 million barrels in the fourth quarter, and rising to 5 million barrels in the first three months of next year.

US President Donald Trump’s incentive to reach an agreement to end a war that’s wildly unpopular comes as his Republican party hopes to retain control of Congress during the November midterm elections. The price of gas, which is again above $4 a gallon nationally, and wider inflation, are top voter concerns.

Iran, for its part, risks facing a more aggressive US military campaign after the midterm elections. The country won concessions from the US during a now-defunct ceasefire and its economy remains stressed by the war.

Oil markets have been gripped by multiple geopolitical flashpoints disrupting global flows. The US-Iran war drags on, and the Strait of Hormuz remains essentially shut, while Iran-backed Houthi rebels have launched attacks against Saudi oil tankers transiting the Red Sea. On Monday, oil prices fell as the US hit pause on attacks, with Trump saying it was in order to give diplomacy another chance. But it’s unclear if any substantial negotiations between the US and Iran were taking place. 

A potential de-escalation of the conflict ahead of the elections would likely involve concessions from both sides, including the imposition of tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, an outcome seen as “inevitable”, Dwivedi said. 

“It’s as clear as day, we don’t have a way to stop Iran for blocking the strait,” he said. Iran, on the other hand, may continue to be denied access to billions of dollars in frozen funds. 

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Nvidia is in discussions to help the creator of ChatGPT lease a $500 billion, 10-gigawatt hub that SoftBank Group Corp. is overseeing in Ohio, people familiar with the matter said. The US chipmaker may provide a guarantee of as much as $250 billion to the AI lab, one of the people said. Negotiations are in their early stages and could collapse or financing terms may change, the people said, asking to remain anonymous to describe private talks. 

A guarantee by Nvidia would highlight the increasingly circular financing behind the AI boom, as tech giants fund ever-larger projects that ultimately generate business for themselves. Investors have in recent weeks begun to cool on lofty tech stock valuations, worried that there’s more capacity under construction than future AI services will require. Big US players from Meta Platforms Inc. to Alphabet Inc. have accelerated borrowing in recent months to bankroll that historic buildout, prompting fears about overly ambitious spending on a technology that’s yet to provide consistent returns.

The Ohio data center complex as envisioned would be among the largest in the world — a mega-symbol of the enormous demand for computing to propel AI development. It’s also a centerpiece project for SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son and the Trump administration, which hailed the investment as a major win. 

The Japanese investment powerhouse intends to join big tech firms in driving trillions of dollars into data center construction and AI development in coming years. A major financing deal involving Nvidia would help SoftBank borrow more capital for its tentpole Ohio project, which is being developed by subsidiary SB Energy.

“While Nvidia’s investments and partnerships reinforce confidence in long-term AI buildouts, investors remain concerned about circular financing,” said Gary Tan, a portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments. 

ChatGPT’s developer has been in talks to secure that capacity for weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier. Nvidia is separately discussing financing for OpenAI chip purchases that may total $350 billion, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. Representatives for Nvidia, OpenAI and SoftBank didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

What Bloomberg Intelligence Says

Nvidia’s talks to provide a roughly $250 billion financing backstop for an OpenAI data-center lease, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, look constructive for CoreWeave, Crusoe Energy and other neoclouds. The structure suggests Nvidia is prepared to support larger AI infrastructure build-outs, easing concern that capacity demand is fading or that funding markets won’t absorb the next wave of projects. Alphabet’s capex increase last week pointed to sustained hyperscaler spending, and similar signals from Microsoft, Amazon and Meta this earnings season would reinforce our view that high-end AI computing remains supply-constrained. We’ll watch whether Google makes similar credit-wrapper commitments to neocloud partners in its orbit, as it previously did with Fluidstack, and whether such backing lowers financing costs. 

- Anurag Rana and Josh Christensen, analysts

Nvidia’s Jensen Huang has directed billions of dollars into companies throughout the AI supply chain. He’s aiming to accelerate the uptake of his products and eliminate roadblocks that threaten to slow the adoption of artificial intelligence. 

Nvidia is separately investing $1 billion in Naver Corp. to help finance an AI data center under construction, and is teaming up with SK Group to build more than 2 gigawatts of AI data centers on the Korean Peninsula.

For Nvidia, closer ties with SK will help improve its access to high-bandwidth memory chips. That conglomerate’s SK Hynix Inc. business and South Korean rival Samsung Electronics Co. are the two biggest providers of the crucial components — semiconductors that are in short supply because of the global build-out of AI data centers.

Huang has argued that investments in companies such as Anthropic PBC and OpenAI will help not only his business but provide an investment return. Critics have expressed concern that such moves represent an artificial inflation of demand. 

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The status will grant the “highest level of prioritization” for progressing approvals, Woodside said in a statement on Wednesday. 

The offshore Browse project is a key pillar in Woodside’s growth plans and will help shore up supply for the country’s oldest liquefied natural gas export terminal, North West Shelf. Environmentalists have taken the federal government to court over a decision to extend the lifespan of North West Shelf to 2070. 

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

In the Middle East, the opposite is happening.

This year, for the first time, Siemens published a dedicated Middle East edition of our Infrastructure Transition Monitor — a survey of 400 senior executives across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, and Oman, supplemented by in-depth interviews with regional leaders and experts. We did this because what is happening in this region deserves its own conversation. The pace, the scale, and the intent are different here, and the data confirms it.

When we asked executives to describe current progress in transforming infrastructure to support the energy transition, the words chosen most often were “accelerating,” “effective,” and “following a clear vision.” That is a striking finding at a time when the transition has stalled or slowed in many other markets. Two-thirds of regional executives say the global energy transition needs to accelerate significantly compared with 57% globally.

But what makes the Middle East story truly distinctive is not just the ambition. It is the way that ambition is being organised and executed.

Decarbonisation as strategy, not compliance

Across the Middle East, decarbonising core operations has become the number-one organisational priority over the next three years. Globally, it ranks seventh. That gap is not marginal — it reflects a fundamentally different relationship between sustainability and competitiveness.

70% of organisations in the region have already set direct and indirect emissions targets, compared with 58% globally. And this is not happening in isolation. 65% of executives say businesses and governments are working closely together on energy-system policy — six points ahead of the global average. Governments here set large, visible strategic priorities — UAE Net Zero 2050, Saudi Vision 2030, Qatar National Vision 2030 — and industry moves quickly to align. That public-private coordination is accelerating execution in ways that other regions have struggled to replicate.

Building intelligence in from day one

The region is also making a deliberate choice about how it builds. Rather than constructing infrastructure and digitising it later, organisations here are embedding AI and digital intelligence into assets from the start. 68% of executives describe digitalisation as a critical enabler of the energy transition, and 62% expect AI to reshape how their organisations operate within three years.

This is not theoretical; it is already operational. Across the region, industrial AI is being used to optimise building performance, predict maintenance issues in municipal systems, and manage complex cooling loads in data centres, where it can reduce energy consumption by up to 30%.

57% of organisations are already using AI to help decarbonise their operations. The top three technologies executives expect to have the biggest positive impact on decarbonisation over the next three years are all AI-related.

In Saudi Arabia, we are helping Ceer Motors build smart factories for the next generation of domestic electric vehicles, and training over 100 Saudi engineers to run them. In the UAE, smart building technologies deployed across 60 government buildings are delivering up to 27% energy savings. In Qatar, more than 200 buildings are equipped with Siemens smart technology. These are not pilot projects. They are operational deployments delivering measurable results.

The grid: where ambition meets reality

None of this works, however, without a grid that can keep up.

Electricity demand across the Middle East and North Africa has tripled since 2000 and is projected to rise another 50% by 2035, driven heavily by cooling, desalination, and the rapid expansion of data centres. Power-grid limitations are cited by executives as the single biggest factor likely to slow the clean energy transition, and 62% say electrification is being held back by inadequate grid infrastructure.

The region knows this, and it is acting. Earlier this month, the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure inaugurated the Emirates Monitoring Center (EMC), the country’s first unified platform providing real-time visibility across the entire national power grid. For the first time, all four of the UAE’s electricity utilities are linked through a single monitoring and coordination system, covering ~48 gigawatts of installed generation capacity. Siemens delivered the core platform, achieving the world’s first fast-track deployment of the latest generation of our energy management system. The centre has been designed to grow alongside the country’s evolving energy landscape, supporting renewable integration, future cross-border interconnections, and AI-enabled predictive analysis.

This is what grid modernisation looks like in practice. Not just a bigger physical network, but a smarter, more coordinated electricity system that can balance renewable integration, industrial electrification, and the demands of a growing digital economy. It is why 64% of executives in our survey identify smart grids and grid software as crucial enablers of the transition.

A model worth studying

At Siemens, we have been a partner in this region for over 160 years. We are working hand-in-hand with governments, businesses, and communities to co-create the technologies and solutions that will drive sustainable progress, from smart cities and renewable energy to advanced manufacturing and intelligent grids.

What I see across the Middle East today is a region that refuses to slow down. Growth, decarbonisation, and resilience are not being treated as competing priorities; they are converging. And the combination of clear national visions, strong public-private collaboration, and a willingness to build intelligence into infrastructure from the start is producing results that the rest of the world should be paying close attention to.

The energy transition is not losing momentum everywhere. In this part of the world, support for acceleration remains strong.

With the Strait of Hormuz already facing constraints, Saudi Arabia’s increased reliance on Red Sea exports via Yanbu is now being tested. Oil prices climbed sharply in July, with Brent briefly surpassing $100 per barrel on 23 July before falling back. This situation highlights the implications for crude availability, supply tightening, diesel supplies, shipping costs, and Asian markets.

Importance of Bab el-Mandeb for oil flows

Bab el-Mandeb is a narrow waterway, with its narrowest point measuring approximately 14 miles, linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. In June-July 2026, oil flows through the strait reached 7.4 million barrels per day (mbpd), according to Kpler data.

The strait serves as a vital bypass, supporting Saudi exports loaded at Yanbu and destined for key markets, particularly in Asia. It also carries a significant share of global petroleum trade alongside broader commercial shipping.

Impact on Saudi Arabia and Red Sea operations

Saudi Arabia has shifted substantial volumes, around 4-5 mbpd, via the East-West pipeline to its Red Sea terminals. Since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Yanbu has handled more than 70% of the kingdom’s crude and condensate exports. But last week's attacks have affected this route. Saudi crude loadings through its western terminals of Yanbu and Jizan dropped around 36% over the last two weeks, falling to 6.1 million bpd from a peak of 9.5 million bpd. Multiple tankers turned back or rerouted in response to the threats.

Direct incidents involving Saudi-linked tankers have prompted safety concerns and operational pauses. As Saudi Arabia’s main alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, Bab el-Mandeb now faces direct challenges. No new tanker attacks have been reported in the Bab el-Mandeb area since last week's attacks, suggesting that maritime traffic is continuing albeit with heightened security concerns. Saudi Arabia continues to ship oil, with millions of barrels of Saudi Arabian crude still moving from its Red Sea coast despite Houthi efforts to impose a blockade.

Ying Cong Loh, Market Analyst - Crude Oil at Kpler, said, “The drop is real and immediate, but it isn't a shutdown: Saudi-loaded cargoes are still transiting the strait, just at roughly half the throughput seen before the strikes.”

The kingdom is now rerouting shipments via the Suez-Mediterranean pipeline across Egypt. This, however, is an expensive workaround and adds considerable voyage time, particularly for oil shipments bound for Asia. Saudi oil exports from Yanbu to South Korea take roughly 24 days via Bab el-Mandeb, compared to 54 days via Suez and the Cape of Good Hope, according to Kpler data.

Effects on global oil markets

As Brent crude briefly jumped more than $100 per barrel this month, analysts continue to highlight risks if the attacks continue, leading to physical supply losses or a shortage of tanker availability. Sustained disruptions to Bab el-Mandeb would have implications beyond Saudi Arabia’s crude exports. Longer voyages around the Cape of Good Hope would tie up tankers for additional weeks, reducing fleet availability and increasing global freight rates. 

Regionally, Asia remains the main destination for Saudi crude exported via the Red Sea. Countries such as South Korea, China, and India would be particularly affected by prolonged delays. India could also face a dual impact through higher costs for imported crude. Meanwhile, Asian refiners that have increasingly relied on Saudi crude shipped from Yanbu may be affected, while Europe could face tighter diesel supplies as Middle Eastern cargoes take a longer route. 

The proposal, which Shmyhal discussed with Canadian Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson, follows agreements reached by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Shmyhal said in a post on X.

As part of the talks, the two sides discussed the possibility of direct grant support from Canada worth C$650 million ($461 million) to help Ukraine buy gas for the coming winter as part of Ottawa’s broader aid package. Ukraine has faced repeated Russian strikes on its energy infrastructure through successive winters of the war, now well into its fifth year. 

Zelenskyy this month overhauled his government and said preparations for winter were a key reason driving the change. Sergii Koretskyi, chief executive officer of state-run energy company NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy, was named as prime minister, replacing Yuliia Svyrydenko. 

Ukraine’s power and heating infrastructure remain vulnerable to Russian ballistic-missile strikes and low supplies of interceptors.

Ukraine also invited Canadian suppliers to store gas in its underground facilities and sought supplies of energy equipment from Canadian manufacturers, Shmyhal said. The ministers also discussed cooperation on small modular reactors, or SMRs, an area Kyiv wants to fold into the proposed long-term agreement as it looks to Canada’s experience in the technology.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The Iran conflict’s disruption of Middle East energy flows has strengthened the case for the conduit that would ferry African gas to Europe, Moroccan Ambassador Youssef Amrani said in an interview Wednesday in Washington. He declined to provide further details on discussions about funding for the project.

The US Exim Bank has had early stage talks about the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline, a spokesperson said. The World Bank declined to comment.

Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States, a 12-nation economic bloc, signed an inter-government agreement on July 19 formally backing the proposed 6,800-kilometer (4,230-mile) pipeline. The conduit will link gas deposits in countries including Nigeria, Senegal and Mauritania, before connecting to the existing Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline that joins Morocco to Spain.

The pipeline is “one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects under development today in Africa,” Amrani said.

It joins a slate of giant energy projects on the continent including Algeria’s proposed Trans-Sahara gas pipeline, an oil refinery that billionaire Nigerian investor Aliko Dangote plans to build in Kenya, and multibillion-dollar gas developments in Mozambique. 

Morocco is pushing to get the decade-old plan for the pipeline into development as Europe looks to diversify gas supply. The US-Israeli war on Iran has pushed European prices for the fuel to their longest streak of daily gains in eight years, raising concerns around filling stocks ahead of the European winter.    

The large number of countries participating in the AAGP project would make it difficult to execute, said Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a global research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. She cited persistent operational and supply disruptions on the smaller West African Gas Pipeline that connects Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana.

Corbeau also questioned the need to extend the project into Europe, at a time when the continent wants to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels.

The proposed AAGP pipeline’s capacity is expected to be 30 billion cubic meters, half of which will be destined for Morocco and the rest to Europe, according to Moroccan state energy company ONHYM, which together with the Nigerian National Petroleum Co. is leading the project.

The pipeline is slated to start construction in 2028 and produce first gas by 2031, pending financing commitments.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The empty very large crude carrier New Champion made a dramatic about-turn in the Gulf of Aden Friday, after idling there during its voyage toward the Red Sea, according to ship-tracking data. The vessel had been chartered by a Chinese buyer to pick up a cargo of crude from Yanbu, shipping fixtures show. It’s now heading eastward at a near top speed of around 16 knots.

It’s not clear what exactly prompted New Champion’s U-turn. Some providers of shipping insurance have in recent days been unwilling to offer coverage for any vessels calling at Saudi Arabia due to the risk of attacks, according to ship and insurance brokers.

New Champion’s pivot exposes the widening economic fallout of the Houthi naval blockade against Saudi Arabia, and points to increased hurdles for Chinese buyers to receive Saudi crude. While Western vessels have stayed cautious about entering the Red Sea to pick up or deliver cargoes to and from Saudi, China-bound ships had continued to receive crude barrels from Yanbu at the rate of around 520,000 barrels per day this year, Kpler data show. Those flows surged during the Iran war, as Saudi diverted Persian Gulf crude exports to Yanbu in order to avoid Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

The supertanker appears to be the first Chinese tanker that has changed course in and around the Red Sea, possibly in response to the heightened risk in the region. Earlier this week, two Chinese-owned supertanker safely exited Bab el-Mandeb carrying Saudi cargoes with their transponders turned on, making them the first tankers with Saudi crude to leave the Red Sea unimpeded since the Houthis announced their blockade. 

Behind them in the Red Sea, New Explorer is nearing the chokepoint, fully laden with Saudi crude, while New Pearl that is loaded up with the commodity had just sailed out from Yanbu early Saturday.

Some Western-linked ships and others operated by cautious owners, meanwhile, have been opting to avoid the southern exit out of the Red Sea, preferring to take the safer but much costlier option of sailing both through the Suez Canal and around the African continent to reach Asian buyers. 

The Japan-bound supertanker carrying cooking fuel, Gas King, exited the Red Sea via the canal on Friday, making it one of the first to load and leave the waters with a Saudi cargo since the Houthis announced their embargo. The ship, which previously estimated that it would reach Japan in early August, now has an updated arrival date for late September, data show. 

Other tankers with Western links have sailed through Bab el Mandeb, or approached Yanbu without their transponders on, likely in order to avoid their crew and the vessel from being tracked by the Houthis. 

New Champion, New Explorer and New Pearl are managed by Associated Maritime Co (H.K.) Ltd as listed on database Equasis. The Hong Kong-based company didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment sent outside of regular business hours.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.