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 has 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 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.

©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.

The three firms will each hold an equal share of a 49% stake in a joint venture that will lease and lease back the usage rights to all of the pipeline assets of a subsidiary of state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp., according to a statement on Saturday. The transaction is expected to generate $7.85 billion in upfront proceeds for Kuwait.

The deal, the largest foreign direct investment in the country’s history, “sends a powerful signal that Kuwait continues to rise as an attractive destination for global capital, even amid a challenging regional environment,” KPC Chief Executive Officer Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah said in the statement.

Since hostilities between the US and Iran flared again around July 7, Kuwait has been targeted more than any other country by the Islamic Republic’s drone and missile strikes. Kuwaiti bases, some shared with the US, along with power and water plants, have been damaged. 

Still, Kuwait raised $6 billion through a three-part dollar bond sale on Wednesday, underscoring resilient demand for the OPEC member’s debt.

Kuwait opted to press ahead with the pipeline transaction, the first to bring long-term capital from leading global investors into the country’s midstream infrastructure, even amid the conflict. The deal underscores the country’s renewed push to attract foreign investment after years of capital shifting to neighboring Gulf states such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The JV involves lease usage rights for 13 pipelines. Kuwait Oil Co., a subsidiary of KPC, will hold operating and maintenance rights to the assets for 20.5 years in exchange for a volume-based tariff, according to the statement.

Centerview Partners LLC, HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co. acted as financial advisors on the deal. The proceeds will be used to support KPC’s investment program, which includes boosting crude-production capacity to 4 million barrels a day by 2035.

Kuwait normally pumps about 2.5 million barrels a day, though the war and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz forced it to slash output.

Such transactions have become increasingly common across the Gulf as governments seek to diversify their economies and raise money without losing control over their assets.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. sold a 40% stake in its oil pipeline network to BlackRock and KKR in 2019, although an Abu Dhabi entity later repurchased the stake. Adnoc also sold leasing rights for part of its gas pipeline business to an investor group led by GIP, while a consortium led by BlackRock acquired a 49% stake in Aramco Gas Pipelines Co.

“This investment reflects our confidence in Kuwait and our commitment to providing long-term capital in support of strategic infrastructure,” said KKR Co-Chief Executive Officers Joe Bae and Scott Nuttall.

Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman said Kuwait’s a “compelling destination for international capital.” Brookfield’s CEO, Bruce Flatt, said Kuwait is a “long-standing and highly valued partner” of the investment company.

Kuwait has suffered multiple strikes on its oil infrastructure this year, including two refineries and KPC’s headquarters in the capital. The country cut production after the Strait of Hormuz was closed and storage tanks filled, with output falling to levels last seen after Iraq’s invasion in the early 1990s. Production has since recovered, though exports remain constrained.

A key US ally in the Middle East, Kuwait is among the world’s wealthiest countries thanks to its vast oil reserves and it one of the largest sovereign wealth funds. Even so, its economy has come under strain this year with the war and production losses, which have caused its fiscal deficit to jump.

KKR, Blackstone and Brookfield — among the world’s largest alternative asset managers — have steadily expanded their Middle East footprint from fundraising outposts into full-scale investing platforms. KKR, which has maintained offices in Dubai since 2009 and Riyadh since 2013, last year appointed former CIA director David Petraeus as chairman of its Middle East business. It established a dedicated regional investment team and subsequently opened an Abu Dhabi office.

Brookfield manages about $16 billion of assets in the region and has continued pursuing acquisitions despite this year’s war, including launching a property joint venture in Dubai and evaluating healthcare and other buyout opportunities.

Blackstone is similarly deepening its presence as the world’s largest alternative asset manager looks to capture a growing pipeline of Gulf transactions. The firm has recently announced partnerships spanning artificial intelligence, logistics and financial technology.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The embassy confirmed that the Indian nationals are safe and that it continues to monitor the situation closely, according to a statement posted on X after the attack on the vessel DISHA. 

Separately, India’s external affairs ministry said a commercial vessel MV OMORFI was attacked while transiting the Black Sea, reportedly in Russian territorial waters. One Indian died in the attack, while two others are reported to be safe, the ministry said, condemning the strikes on commercial ships. The Indian mission in Russia has contacted relevant authorities.

The developments highlight the growing risks faced by seafarers as global conflicts intensify including the war in the Middle East. Last month, vessels carrying Indian crew were struck by American forces in the Gulf of Oman, prompting local authorities to summon a US embassy official in New Delhi.

India’s directorate general of shipping has issued a circular advising all Indian-flagged vessels and foreign-flagged vessels to exercise the “highest degree of caution” while transiting in and around waters in Yemen, the Bab-el-Mandeb strait and the Southern Red sea.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The global benchmark fell roughly 5% on Friday, its biggest intraday drop since late June. Crude fell to a session low after Reuters reported that Pakistan is exploring a path toward resuming stalled US and Iran peace talks, citing three Pakistani sources.

Technical factors also aided the pullback after the commodity reached triple digits on Thursday following attacks on tankers in the Red Sea. Traders have piled into options in record numbers to hedge against a sudden deescalation in the conflict between the US and Iran.

Oil’s relative-strength index, a gauge of its price direction, signaled it’s primed for a period of weakness following a roughly week-long rise.

Crude pared July’s more than 30% advance amid signs of persistent trade flows, with millions of barrels of Saudi Arabian crude still being shipped from its Red Sea coast, despite Yemen’s Houthi militants seeking to impose a blockade on the kingdom’s shipping. 

“The crude market is taking a breather,” said Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities. “Flows via Bab el-Mandeb have thus far not been majorly disrupted,” while Saudi Arabia continues to invoke workarounds like the Suez-Mediterranean pipeline that crosses Egypt and reduced capacity supertanker transits through the Suez Canal, he added. 

Traders are closely watching US President Donald Trump after he threatened “major military punishment” in the event of further attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, and told Axios on Thursday he was considering a “massive attack” on Iran.

At the same time Trump’s revived levies have fed into worries over another inflationary spike as global bond yields surge, posing a threat to fuel demand. Retail prices of diesel fuel, used in trucking and farming, have topped $5 a gallon in the US and gasoline is above $4 a gallon, heightening the prospect of demand destruction.

Bullish risks

Traders are also contending with what appear to be Ukrainian attacks at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal on Russia’s Black Sea coast, which exports most of Kazakhstan’s oil. 

“Markets are assessing whether Brent should remain at that $100-a-barrel level” as “demand concerns are rising,” said June Goh, senior oil market analyst at Sparta Commodities SA. “But from a supply angle, we are clearly in deficit with both the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb effectively shut and CPC production curtailed.” 

Some Western shipowners now appear to be making plans to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb strait, at the southern end of the sea, or to sail through it with their location transponders turned off. Another option is to voyage around the African continent to Asian destinations. That diversion takes them north through the Suez Canal and almost doubles some voyage times.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Westinghouse Electric Co., Korea Electric Power Corp. and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. signed an agreement in January 2025, ending a dispute over whether South Korean reactor exports relied on Westinghouse-controlled technology. 

The settlement gave KEPCO and KHNP rights to use Westinghouse technology for South Korean reactor designs in territories spanning four continents and including Saudi Arabia, according to a copy of the settlement seen by Bloomberg. It reserved North America, Japan, Ukraine and most of Europe for Westinghouse, while restricting KEPCO and KHNP from commercial discussions with customers outside permitted territories without the US firm’s approval.

Details of the Trump deal, which could allow American companies to build reactors in the kingdom, emerged in February and led the South Koreans to complain to Westinghouse whether the terms of their agreement was breached.

That exchange and details of the settlement have now been obtained by EU regulators who are scrutinizing whether it goes beyond resolving an intellectual property fight.

Market sharing agreements between competitors have long drawn the attention of watchdogs and the European Commission’s enforcers are seeking more details about the IP settlement between the three firms. Some of those details emerged in correspondence seen by Bloomberg between KEPCO and Westinghouse, even before the US and Saudi Arabia announced a long-sought nuclear technology-sharing deal on Wednesday.

Trump’s Saudi deal doesn’t name Westinghouse, but it could benefit US nuclear companies. While the additional deal conditions announced on Thursday by the US president threaten to derail the agreement, it could eventually help American firms gain a foothold in a region where rivals have been active, especially Russia. Saudi Arabia, in particular, has the potential to become a huge market.

But whereas Trump’s Saudi agreement created business potential for Westinghouse, KEPCO saw a clear violation of the settlement agreement that delineates the kingdom as a territory for the South Korean firms.

Key Project

KEPCO said it had already spent considerable resources pursuing the Saudi deal, calling it one of the company’s “key projects for more than 15 years,” according to a March 16 letter sent to Westinghouse. The South Korean firm said it would require access to a market of “comparable value,” such as the US, to avoid breaching the settlement.

The documents reviewed by Bloomberg don’t include a Feb. 11 letter to KEPCO from Westinghouse, and therefore don’t establish the US firm’s full position. Westinghouse is now owned by Canada’s Cameco Corp. and Brookfield, but is still subject to US export controls.

A spokesperson for KEPCO said the company was unable to comment on the confidential settlement agreement with Westinghouse. KHNP didn’t respond to a request for comment.

A Westinghouse representative declined to comment on the settlement. Chief Executive Officer Dan Sumner welcomed Trump’s Saudi deal.

“The US government’s announcement to launch a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia is a landmark step that strengthens energy security, expands opportunities for US industry and workers, and drives significant long-term economic growth and investment benefits for both countries,” Sumner said in response to a request for comment from Bloomberg News.

Great Access

When asked whether the Trump administration communicated with Westinghouse about entering the Saudi market, the White House referred to the Department of Energy. In a statement on Wednesday, US Energy Secretary Christopher Wright said the deal between Washington and Riyadh will provide “great access for American companies” while “benefiting American industry, workers, and supply chains.”

To be sure, the future of the administration’s proposed deal is far from certain. Congress still needs to review its terms, which potentially could include the manufacture of nuclear fuel. On Thursday, Trump said the agreement wouldn’t permit Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium and was contingent upon the kingdom normalizing relations with Israel.

KEPCO’s letter warns that Westinghouse’s interpretation could cause the settlement to be characterized not as a legitimate technology-transfer arrangement but as market allocation, exposing both parties to regulatory and legal risk under EU competition law.

A separate internal email from the European Commission’s competition regulators — dated July this year and seen by Bloomberg News — shows officials looking to obtain internal Westinghouse, KHNP and KEPCO documents containing information about why the settlement was reached, especially those discussing whether US technology is present in Korean reactor designs. 

The European Commission declined to comment.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Governments and energy companies ended last winter believing they could afford to delay rebuilding stockpiles, even as they hit the lowest levels since 2022. The jump in gas prices following the start of the Iran war in late February made it hard to justify purchases, while traders bet diplomacy would eventually prevail and flows through the strait — a conduit for a fifth of LNG supply — would resume. 

Nearly five months later, that wager is looking risky. Fighting in the Middle East has flared up again, gas prices are near their highest since the conflict began and Europe is well behind its usual stockpiling pace. Asian buyers from China to Pakistan have been snapping up available LNG shipments to replace lost Qatari supply, effectively pulling cargoes away from Europe.

A key question is whether governments — particularly in the largest market Germany — will intervene to support purchases if Hormuz remains shut, potentially fueling a bidding war with other regions in the months ahead. Few doubt Europe will secure enough fuel for winter. The bigger risk is the cost — and whether households and industry can stomach another jump in heating and power bills just a few years after the region’s last energy crisis.

“We have been like the frog in the boiling water,” said Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a researcher at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy and former head of gas analysis at BP Plc. “The question is whether the frog will jump because now gas prices are increasing — fast.”

A resumption of LNG traffic through Hormuz remains a distant prospect, with exports effectively halted since a Qatari carrier was struck about two weeks ago. Hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough have faded, with Washington and Tehran downplaying the possibility of talks, while President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb bridges and power plants in Iran.

The economic consequences would be significant. Energy consultancy Baringa Partners estimates that if Hormuz remains closed through September, soaring gas and power prices could be enough to tip the UK and Europe into a contraction toward the end of the year.

“European buyers are now having to go to the market and buy gas and pay these prices they weren’t willing to before,” said Caspian Conran, economist at Baringa. “Otherwise we’re going to freeze in the winter.”

Qatar, normally the world’s second-largest LNG exporter, is preparing for a prolonged disruption. It sent several shipments through Hormuz following an ill-fated US-Iran interim peace pact in mid-June, but now plans to extend its force majeure for European customers until the middle of October and for Asia until September, according to people with knowledge of the matter. 

That would all but eliminate any chance of Europe drawing on Qatari supply in the run-up to the heating season. European Union gas inventories are just over 54% full, well below a five-year average of 70% and short of the bloc’s Nov. 1 target of 80%.

“No one expected the US-Iran war to escalate again,” said Alex Siow, lead gas analyst for Asia at Independent Commodity Intelligence Services. “Time is getting tight. EU will have to ramp up its purchases now if it were to hit the target.”

According to Corbeau, Europe would have needed LNG arrivals to match last year’s pace to hit the 80% storage target. Instead, Bloomberg ship-tracking data show deliveries are running about 27% below last year’s levels, based on a 30-day moving average, while imports into Asia have climbed. The shift suggests Asian buyers — which sourced about a quarter of their LNG from the Gulf last year — are seeking supply from other sources, leaving Europe with fewer alternatives.

“Developments in the Gulf are leading market participants to price a prolonged disruption, leaving Europe more vulnerable to a cold shock as we saw in January and parts of February this year,” said Marco Saalfrank, head of continental Europe merchant trading at Swiss-based Axpo Holding AG. 

The EU has also committed to ending Russian LNG imports by January 2027, reducing one of its key supply options. Fuel from the exporter made up 17% of Europe’s deliveries between January and June this year, ship-data shows. EU members this week failed to push through a proposal that would restrict firms from transferring Russian LNG to third countries.

Searing temperatures across Asia are keeping LNG demand elevated, with Pakistan, Bangladesh and India buying spot cargoes at some of the highest prices in years. Traders and policymakers see few signs that demand will ease despite the higher costs. Those countries are under pressure to secure fuel or face rolling blackouts or factory shutdowns.

China, the world’s biggest LNG importer, is also returning to the market. The country has ramped up purchases ahead of peak summer demand while rebuilding inventories, with June imports up 8.3% from a year earlier. Chinese buyers have increased procurement from exporters outside the Gulf to offset Qatar.

Even Japan, which leaned more on coal in March and April, is now boosting gas-fired generation as blistering hot weather boosts power prices to the highest level in over three years. That risks draining storage and adding pressure on utilities to buy from the spot market. The same goes for South Korea and Taiwan.

“Asian countries are organizing tenders, Europeans are not,” Corbeau said.

It remains unclear at what point European utilities and governments will be willing to compete for winter supplies. In May, Germany’s gas market manager said it won’t intervene in refilling inventories, citing conviction that private market actors will eventually do so themselves. In other countries, such as Italy and the Netherlands, governments have started to provide some support, raising the risk of fierce competition for supplies within Europe.

The last time Europe faced similar difficulties in rebuilding its inventories was shortly after Russia curbed pipeline supplies in 2022. The region got through that winter largely thanks to exceptionally mild weather, but counting on a repeat is a risky bet.

“If it’s not a warm winter, then there’ll be problems and the problems will be exacerbated by having less gas and storage,” Centrica Plc’s Chief Executive Officer Chris O’Shea said on a call with journalists following earnings on Thursday. “It is not a very good risk management strategy to hope for a warm winter.”

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The government will look at both the price and stability of supply when issuing a tender and selecting a shipper, Minister of Mines and Energy Keo Rottanak told Bloomberg Television in an interview on Friday.

Cambodia is “doubling down” on LNG as a transition fuel, and the new 900 megawatt plant is part of a plan to diversify energy sources, he added.

At present, Cambodia gets about 63% of its energy from renewable sources, a relatively elevated proportion that has helped to shield the economy from the fall-out from the war in the Middle East, the minister said. By the end of the decade that share is expected to have expanded to about 70%, with LNG accounting for part of the other 30%, Keo Rottanak said.

Electricity prices have not been increased since the war broke out despite escalating energy prices, with the government helping “absorb the shock,” the minister said. Taxes and duties on fuels have been reduced, a policy that would continue despite extra budget costs of up to $60 million a month, he said.

At this difficult time, “we want to make sure that industry continues to grow, at least keep their factory processes going,” he said. “So, if it were to take longer, we will continue to support our households, our industry.”

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs released an updated offshore wind road map on Thursday, targeting 18.3 to 19.9 gigawatts of installed capacity by 2035 and as much as 27.9 gigawatts by 2039. The current target for 2035 is 18.4 gigawatts. Taiwan had 3.4 gigawatts of installed capacity last year, according to BloombergNEF.

The plan comes despite headwinds for offshore wind both at home and abroad. Taiwan’s projects have struggled to move forward due to rising supply chain costs, strict localization requirements and tougher environmental approvals, forcing policymakers to retreat from a 2025 target of having 20% of its energy produced by renewable sources. 

Still, Taiwan is under growing pressure to speed up its renewable energy rollout as the war in the Middle East disrupts natural gas supplies and pushes up the cost of imported fuel. The island also became more reliant on energy imports after shutting its last nuclear reactor last year.

Taiwan plans to hold offshore wind project auctions every four years, allocating about 8 gigawatts of capacity in each round, the ministry said in the statement. Power demand is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 2.5% between 2026 and 2035, driven by the expansion in the semiconductor, AI and technology sectors, according to the ministry.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Citing shipping data from Kpler, a Reuters report showed that three Aframax tankers loaded with Iraqi fuel oil at Syria’s Baniyas port between June and July. These tankers were headed to the US Gulf Coast, showing that Iraq is increasingly using land transport to access international markets after months of disruption to Gulf shipping.

The first tanker, On Passion, left Baniyas on 17 June carrying about 716,600 barrels of fuel oil. Some of this cargo was unloaded in the Bahamas in mid-July, and the rest is set to arrive in Texas later this month. Two more tankers, Nissos Christina and Green Warrior, carrying 288,500 and 414,400 barrels respectively, are expected to deliver shipments to the US Gulf Coast in the third week of August.

Land routes keep Iraqi oil on the move 

Iraqi fuel oil is trucked across the Syrian border before being loaded onto tankers at Baniyas. According to some reports, about 900 tanker trucks have reportedly been arriving at the terminal each day since this new export route opened in early May, enabling Iraq to keep moving refined products.

The US had not directly imported Iraqi fuel oil since March, according to Kpler. Traditionally, US fuel oil imports come from suppliers like Mexico, Algeria, and Iraq, making the Syrian export route a new addition to established trade flows. 

“It looks like a push and a pull: Baniyas has been increasing fuel oil exports recently, while the US Gulf is trying to fill the supply gap left by Mideast Gulf flows,” Matt Smith, director of commodity research at Kpler, told Reuters.

This trade route is part of a larger strategy by Baghdad to diversify exports beyond Hormuz. Earlier this month, Iraq and Syria signed an agreement to restore the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline, inactive since 2003. Once operational, the renewed pipeline could let Iraq move up to 700,000 barrels per day. 

The project received support during Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi’s visit to Washington mid-June. The US reaffirmed its support for reviving the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline as part of broader efforts to strengthen commercial ties with Iraq and improve alternative energy export infrastructure.

Revatilising the Kirkuk-Baniyas Pipeline

In a joint statement on 15 June, Prime Minister Al-Zaidi and US Special Presidential Envoy to Iraq Tom Barrack said they aim to “advance a memorandum of understanding with TI Capital to rehabilitate the Kirkuk-Baniyas Pipeline as a vital oil export route.”

Although crude oil and naphtha exports through Syria have not started yet, Iraqi and Syrian officials have stated they plan to keep using the Mediterranean route even if shipping through Hormuz returns to normal. This strategy aims to reduce dependence on a single export route, a vulnerability revealed by recent regional conflicts.

Syria has quickly become a major fuel oil export hub in the Middle East, according to a Bloomberg report. The country made up more than a quarter of regional shipments in June as thousands of trucks delivered Iraqi products to Baniyas. Iraq is also sending smaller volumes through Jordan and is exploring additional pipeline projects to strengthen export resilience.

For Iraq, which relies heavily on oil revenues, increasing use of Syria as an export gateway marks a significant change in regional energy logistics. Mediterranean routes are likely to play a more important role in Iraq’s long-term export strategy.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission plans to convene a September forum to finalize a package of solutions to overhaul governance at PJM Interconnection LLC, which serves 67 million Americans across 13 states and Washington, DC. If PJM leaders don’t act first, the regulator will force change, Chairwoman Laura Swett said Thursday.

“This commission is not going to hesitate to use the full extent of our legal authority to implement reforms necessary to restore confidence in PJM,” Swett said at the end of a day-long technical conference on grid governance. “PJM can be on a path toward success, hopefully without intervention.”

America’s aging electricity networks are struggling to keep up with surging demand from data centers, fueled by the boom in artificial intelligence. Among the country’s grid operators, PJM, which sprawls from Illinois to North Carolina, has endured the most criticism over its struggle to build sufficient electric generation and to keep utility bills in check. 

During Thursday’s conference, federal officials weighed in, with Peter Lake of the National Energy Dominance Council saying the White House will not tolerate continued failure at PJM. Meanwhile, Deputy Energy Secretary James Danly characterized the grid as “a mess.” Both faulted PJM for a failure to deliver enough affordable power generation as well as opaque decision making.

“We don’t know who does what” at PJM, Danly said.

White House officials have grown increasingly frustrated with PJM, accusing it of slow-walking an emergency auction that would aim to get data centers to pay to cover a projected power supply shortfall in coming years. They’ve even suggested breaking the grid region into pieces. One of the biggest utilities in the US, American Electric Power Co., has threatened to leave the grid.

PJM officials said Thursday that the emergency mechanism, dubbed the reliability backstop procurement, would be put forward by early next week, which would enable an auction to take place starting in September.

While plenty of potential reforms were discussed Thursday, including giving states a greater say in decisions and streamlining procedures, it remains to be seen whether there is sufficient political will within PJM to enact them. 

PJM is facing a “grave legitimacy crisis,” Swett said. “Frustrations are mounting.”

President Donald Trump has made AI a key pillar of his push to spur economic growth and maintain superpower status amid China’s rise. That goal requires enormous amounts of new electricity generation, as well as a rapid grid modernization.

“If we don’t change, there’s a 100% chance of failure,” said FERC Commissioner David LaCerte. “If we don’t get that action out of PJM, we will use every single legal authority within us, and maybe some more, to figure that out.”

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The California utility’s pipeline of proposed data center projects totaled 12.7 gigawatts at the end of June, up from 5.1 gigawatts in March, the company said Thursday in its latest earnings presentation. The surge underscores that the data-center boom won’t be limited to the states that have dominated AI infrastructure thus far, including Virginia and Texas.

PG&E separates projects in the pipeline into different categories depending on how far along the interconnection application is. The current makeup of the pipeline shows that while dozens of projects have advanced enough to sign an application and pay a study fee, far fewer are close to getting connected.

The largest gain in the second quarter came from projects that have applied and paid that initial fee. The company now has 26 projects totaling 8.2 gigawatts in that category, up from 1.7 gigawatts in March. But there are only four projects making up 490 megawatts of the pipeline that have actual interconnection construction agreements, up from 140 megawatts.

The bulk of the projects entering the pipeline are in what Chief Executive Officer Patti Poppe calls the “Goldilocks” size of 1.5 gigawatts or smaller and concentrated in the Bay Area. 

But larger projects are coming in. “As people realized that we have more capacity in California than they thought, and that we’ve been adding capacity and we have transmission capacity, we’ve had more applications for these larger projects in the mix,” she said on a call with investors Thursday.

Like many US utilities, PG&E has said it’s working to lower customers’ bills while contending with how to get ever-bigger data centers connected to power. According to the company, each additional gigawatt in its data center pipeline reduces customers’ electricity bills by 1% or more. But those results can “differ materially” depending on the pricing and rate design for large electricity users, the company said, an issue utilities and regulators are still working to determine.

“We remain very focused on pricing this load correctly, attractive to data center customers, but still rate reducing for our other customers,” Poppe said. 

PG&E shares fell as much as 3%, the biggest intraday drop in over a month, after the company reported second-quarter operating revenue that was below analysts’ estimates.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

More than a year later, construction has yet to begin. New York State is battling the project in court, but the hurdles extend beyond the legal fight.

More fundamentally, the US energy landscape has changed dramatically since Williams Cos. first proposed the Constitution pipeline more than a decade ago. Not a single utility has announced an agreement to buy gas from the project, and moreover, drillers are no longer pushing to ship their fuel on it.

The result is that the economic case for Constitution has weakened even as the pipeline has taken on outsized political significance. It remains a key test of Trump’s effort to revive stalled fossil-fuel projects, though analysts say the project has become more symbolic than commercially important.

“The project’s strategic rationale has deteriorated,” said Amber McCullagh, a US gas analyst. “Most gas industry executives today would quietly acknowledge that, at this point, when they talk about Constitution, it’s to emphasize the need for a streamlined and straightforward permitting process, rather than as a pipeline that is itself strategically important to build.”  

The biggest change for Constitution’s economic case comes from a shift in drilling needs. 

When the project was announced in 2012, two gas drillers with operations in Pennsylvania — Southwestern Energy Co. and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. — soon agreed to ship fuel on the pipeline, providing Williams with long-term partners. Yet both have since merged with other companies and are no longer involved with the project. 

At the same time, the region’s shale fields have become less appealing after gas producers tapped much of the lowest-cost production. Now, drillers are balking at signing up to back the pipeline. 

So Williams instead turned to utilities in the Northeast to buy gas from the project and help it get established. 

Toby Rice, chief executive officer of Pittsburgh-based gas giant EQT Corp., said at this point, support for Constitution needs to come from utilities. If drillers were eager to ship their fuel on the pipeline, they would have signed up already, Rice said.

“The challenge is that the demand is very seasonal, and the market is fragmented,” Rice said. 

While northeast power companies are eager for more pipelines, Constitution wouldn’t actually take gas to the population centers where they need it, according to gas-market and pipeline analysts. 

Instead of delivering gas directly to near New York City or in New England, the 125-mile (200 kilometer) pipeline would bring gas from northeast Pennsylvania to a compressor station about 25 miles west of Albany in rural Schoharie County.

To make use of the conduit, utilities would potentially need to expand their own systems. So far, no utility has told New York regulators that there’s a need for Constitution, according to the state Department of Public Service.

Williams, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, contends the project remains crucial to bring more supply to a densely populated region that suffers from a dearth of pipelines, leading to high energy costs. The company has said Northeast governors support the pipeline, and it remains optimistic utilities will buy gas from it.

“We’re encouraged by constructive conversations with the New England states and are optimistic about securing customer commitments in the near future,” said Cherice Corley, a Williams spokeswoman.

Williams had originally scrapped the project in 2020 after a years-long legal fight over New York’s refusal to grant it a permit under the federal Clean Water Act. Within weeks of starting his second term, Trump promised to bring it back to life. He has repeatedly renewed the pledge and also lobbied New York Governor Kathy Hochul on the project. Legal battles are ongoing over environmental issues in New York. 

To be sure, Williams has said it plans to connect the Constitution project to two existing pipelines, the Iroquois Gas Transmission System and Tennessee Gas Pipeline, which would expand its reach.

Yet those pipelines are already nearly full during winter when gas demand peaks, according to Jaxson Fryer, an energy analyst at East Daley Analytics. Unless they are significantly expanded, Constitution won’t provide much relief, he said. 

National Grid Plc provides power and gas to large swaths of Upstate New York and neighboring Massachusetts that Constitution could potentially serve. When asked about the project, the company said it would look at ways to expand the supply of gas in the region, but that they need to make sense for its customers. 

“We assess any potential project through that lens,” CEO Zoë Yujnovich said in a statement.

Consolidated Edison Inc., which serves much of downstate New York, has no plans to buy gas from Constitution, a spokesperson said. Two other leading Northeast utilities, Eversource Energy and Avangrid Inc., didn’t comment.

“Constitution does not solve the Northeast bottleneck in a meaningful way,” Fryer of East Daley Analytics said.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Adjusted net income jumped 68% from a year earlier to $6.03 billion, the French major said Thursday. That almost matched analyst estimates, which had been revised lower after Total previously flagged underperformance in gas.

Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine are tightening global fuel supplies, bolstering profits for the world’s top energy companies. Like European peers Shell Plc and BP Plc, TotalEnergies is a major oil refiner as well as a producer and runs a large trading desk, which has helped it navigate the market upheaval.

“In a high-price environment related to the Middle East conflict, TotalEnergies is leveraging its integrated model and portfolio diversification,” Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanné said in a statement. The company managed to “fully capture the increase in refining and petrochemical margins.”

Adjusted net operating income from refining and chemicals more than quadrupled from a year earlier to $1.8 billion as the firm ramped up distillates production. That’s the biggest increase of any operating segment, the company said.

Crude and petroleum products trading — a part of that division — showed similar strength to the first quarter, it said.

Refinery Runs

That windfall helped offset a decline in refinery runs, with the Satorp refinery in Saudi Arabia damaged in an attack in April, the Donges plant in France halted for maintenance for about two months and the US Port Arthur facility shut down during a tropical storm in June.

The refinery utilization rate is expected to be between 80% and 85% in the third quarter, with Satorp, which has been operating at 70% of capacity since early May, returning to full output by the end of the period.

The energy giant also got a boost from its exploration and production business, where profit soared 64% from a year earlier even as oil and gas output fell 4% because of disruptions in the Middle East. The decline was mitigated by project ramp-ups in countries such as Brazil, the US and Libya.

Earnings from the integrated liquefied natural gas unit slumped 22%. The company had already said last week that results from the division would fall “significantly” amid a lackluster European market.

Dividend Payouts

Total shares traded up 2.8% in Paris trading as of 10:23 a.m. local time.

The company will pay an interim dividend of €0.90 ($1.03) a share, up 5.9% from a year earlier. It plans to repurchase as much as $1.5 billion of stock in the third quarter, in line with the previous three months. Back in February, Total said it would buy back $3 billion to $6 billion of its shares this year with oil at $60 to $70 a barrel.

Benchmark Brent crude is currently trading near $98 a barrel. The company has said it would aim to use extra profits to reduce debt.

Total’s gearing — the ratio of net debt to equity — fell near 13% at the end of the second quarter, excluding leases, from 15.5% at the end of March.

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Brent crude advanced as much as 2.6% to trade near $96 a barrel after closing at a six-week high in the previous session, while West Texas Intermediate rose above $88. The Houthis said they fired missiles and drones at the vessels for violating a blockade, identifying the tankers as Encelia and Layla.

Minutes before the Houthi statement, UK Maritime Trade Operations said a ship had been struck by a projectile southwest of Al Shuqaiq on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, causing a fire on board. UKMTO didn’t identify the vessel.

Following the attack, products tanker Encelia began broadcasting a “not under command” status, indicating it may have lost maneuverability due to damage, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Layla, a very large crude carrier, has continued sailing under its own power.

The attacks mark the first strikes on oil tankers in the Red Sea, opening a new front in a regional conflict that has snarled traffic through the Strait of Hormuz following a flare-up in violence. In recent days, Iran has struck vessels in the narrow waterway that is critical to Gulf crude exports.

The Red Sea attack is “a serious escalation” of the conflict, said Daniel Hynes, senior commodities strategist at ANZ Group Holdings Ltd. “If this route is disrupted, the tightness in the oil market is only going to worsen.”

Brent has rallied more than 30% this month, and some analysts see prices returning to triple digits later this year if hostilities persist in the Middle East. US forces conducted a 12th consecutive day of strikes on Iran, while Tehran responded by attacking Kuwait, which has borne the brunt of its retaliation.

American forces struck Iranian military targets including maritime capabilities and coastal surveillance sites, according to US Central Command. Nine commercial vessels have been redirected and one disabled to prevent ships from entering or departing Iran’s ports, Centcom added.

The durability of the price rally will depend on whether the Red Sea attack proves to be isolated, or triggers prolonged supply-chain disruptions, said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova Pte. She added that “bulls can comfortably aim for $100 a barrel” Brent.

Washington and Tehran have both played down the prospect of peace talks, raising the possibility of prolonged hostilities that could tighten oil markets. President Donald Trump threatened to bomb bridges and power plants, and reiterated threats to strike Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected Iranian nuclear site.

Houthi militants issued their threat to blockade Saudi shipping in the Red Sea earlier this week. The waterway has become a key alternative export route for Saudi Arabia, allowing the kingdom to bypass Hormuz and export millions of barrels a day to global customers.

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The agreement, signed by US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy and Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, establishes the legal framework for US companies to participate in Saudi Arabia’s nuclear energy programme. 

The deal, known as a “123 Agreement”, will now be submitted to the US Congress for review before it can enter into force. 

According to the US Department of Energy, the agreement, alongside a bilateral safeguards agreement, will support cooperation on the peaceful use of nuclear energy while strengthening commercial ties, energy security, and nuclear non-proliferation. 

US export of nuclear technologies 

The Department said the agreement would provide “great access” for American companies in Saudi Arabia’s nuclear programme, creating opportunities for US industry and supply chains while helping the Kingdom meet its growing energy demand. 

In a press statement, Saudi Arabia said the agreement follows the visit of the Crown Prince and Prime Minister His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, to the US in November last year.

The statement added that the agreement aims to “enhance cooperation between the two countries in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to facilitate the exchange of expertise, knowledge, and technologies, contributing to strengthening bilateral cooperation in accordance with the highest international standards of nuclear safety, nuclear security, and non-proliferation.”

The US Department of Energy said the agreement complies with the non-proliferation requirements set out in the US Atomic Energy Act and maintains high standards of nuclear safety and security.

“These agreements reflect our two nations' shared commitment to strengthening US-Saudi commercial relations, delivering prosperity at home and security to our allies abroad,” Secretary Wright said in a statement. “Rest assured, these agreements uphold the highest standards of nuclear safety and non-proliferation, while relying on the world’s best nuclear technology and scientists, designed right here in the United States.”

A decades-long nuclear partnership

The agreement is expected to support the potential deployment of US-designed AP1000 nuclear reactors in Saudi Arabia over the coming decades, with the US stating that the project would be a “multi-billion-dollar partnership”. 

However, analysts have noted that feasibility studies, licensing, and construction timelines mean any commercial reactors would likely take years to become operational.

The agreement will now be reviewed by the US Congress, which has 90 legislative session days to object before it can take effect. 

UAE: the Gulf’s nuclear pioneer

Saudi Arabia is the second GCC country to strike a deal with the US in order to develop its nuclear programme. The UAE remains the Gulf region’s pioneer in civilian nuclear energy, having become the first Arab country to operate a commercial nuclear power plant. The project has also demonstrated how Gulf states can diversify their energy mix while reducing carbon emissions.

In 2012, the UAE began its nuclear programme by constructing the first reactor for Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant's Unit 1, entering service in 2020. 

The facility's all four APR-1400 reactors came online in 2024, and are now fully operational, making Barakah the largest single source of electricity in the UAE. Together, the reactors generate around 40 terawatt-hours of carbon-free electricity annually, supplying approximately 25% of the country's power needs.

According to Barakah's operator Emirates Nuclear Energy Company (ENEC), the nuclear plant prevents up to 22.4 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions each year, supporting the UAE's net-zero ambitions and broader energy transition goals.

An agreement announced Wednesday between the Interior Department’s Marine Minerals Administration and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is intended to strengthen cooperation between the agencies as they evaluate the possibility of deploying undersea nuclear power plants.

No commercial nuclear power plants are approved or planned in federal waters, but the agreement is designed to assess whether and how the technology could be “responsibly implemented” in the future, the Marine Minerals Administration said.

“Submerged reactor systems have been safely deployed in naval applications for decades, demonstrating their potential as a reliable source of energy in demanding marine environments,” said Matt Giacona, the Marine Minerals Administration’s acting director. “It could greatly strengthen America’s energy security in the future.”

Also on Wednesday, the Department of Transportation and the Port of Long Beach signed a memorandum of cooperation to test small modular reactors, or SMRs, for commercial vessels and other applications at the port.

“Everything that’s going on in the energy market, the cost of fuel, and the uncertainty surrounding that is strengthening the case for energy diversification,” Port of Long Beach Chief Executive Officer Noel Hacegaba said after the signing at the Transportation Department’s Maritime Administration in Washington. “Now is the right time for us to explore nuclear energy.”

Hacegaba said Long Beach-based Bluecore Energy is working with the port on research and development for maritime applications of small modular reactors.

“My team and I took nuclear reactor technology that’s been running power plants safely for seventy years, made it smaller, and put it on a barge — a power plant that floats,” Kofi Asante, Bluecore founder and CEO, said in a statement released Tuesday.

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The utility known as MSEDCL has selected SBI Capital Markets Ltd., IIFL Capital Services Ltd., ICICI Securities Ltd, Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors Ltd., IDBI Capital Markets & Securities Ltd. and HDFC Bank Ltd. as advisers for the proposed share sale, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. The company could appoint more banks before formally launching the process, the people said.

The IPO is expected to comprise a mix of newly issued shares and an offer for sale, with state-owned parent MSEB Holding Co. likely to dilute about 10% of its stake, the people said.

Deliberations are ongoing, and key details including the size, valuation and advisers of the offering remain under discussion and could change, the people said. Representatives for MSEDCL and the banks didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

India’s IPO market, which set records in each of the last two years, is regaining momentum after a subdued first half of 2026. Companies have raised about $5.2 billion so far this year, compared with roughly $22 billion during all of 2025. SBI Funds Management Ltd. just completed the country’s first billion-dollar offering of the year, with large deals in the pipeline including share sales by Manipal Health Enterprises Ltd., National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. and Jio Platforms Ltd.

An IPO by MSEDCL would be among India’s first listings of a government-owned electricity distribution utility and could serve as a test case for long-pending reforms in the power distribution sector.

The Maharashtra cabinet has approved a restructuring plan for the company, including a proposal for the state government to assume about 330 billion rupees ($3.5 billion) of the utility’s liabilities to strengthen its balance sheet ahead of the share sale.

MSEDCL supplies electricity to about 35 million consumers across Maharashtra and is among the largest electricity distribution utilities in Asia by number of consumers and power supplied, according to the company’s website.

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Indian Oil Corp. abandoned plans to load the supertanker Lila Jamnagar, which can hold as much as 2 million barrels of oil, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. The refiner concluded it was too risky for a fully laden tanker to attempt a Hormuz crossing, after several freighters were struck by projectiles in recent days.

Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd., controlled by state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp., has also suspended lifting from Iraq because of the deteriorating security situation, the people said. Indian Oil, Mangalore Refinery and India’s oil ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment.

India’s halt further highlights the sharp pullback in shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran targeted multiple oil tankers in an attempt to assert control over the waterway. Vessels that had their transponders off to avoid detection have also come under fire, leaving shipowners with the big question about whether they’re still willing to transit dark.

“The situation in the Strait of Hormuz and the escalating conflict in the region” have increased transit risks and insurance costs, Iraq’s Oil Ministry spokesman Salim Al-Rikabi said. “As a result, some companies have canceled scheduled loading operations,” he said, wihtout elaborating further.  

Indian state refiners typically purchase Iraqi crude under long-term contracts that requires the buyer to arrange shipping. Reuters first reported India’s loading suspensions.

India’s shipping ministry has directed shipowners, managers and recruitment agencies to refrain from deploying Indian seafarers on vessels transiting Hormuz until further notice following the rise in attacks on commercial vessels.

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Brent rose to trade around $92 a barrel, climbing for a fourth day, while West Texas Intermediate was above $85. Trump vowed to respond if Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen disrupted shipping in the Red Sea and reiterated threats to strike soon at Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected Iranian nuclear site.

The American military conducted an 11th straight day of attacks on the Islamic Republic in an effort to degrade the country’s abilities to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, according to US Central Command. The waterway remains open, despite Iranian aggression, it added.

Oil futures have rallied this month as the US and Iran escalated hostilities across the Middle East, with three tankers attacked in recent days in Hormuz near Oman. Beyond the region, the market is also contending with a spate of attacks at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal on Russia’s Black Sea coast, which ships most of Kazakhstan’s crude.

On Tuesday, Trump said Iran “want to desperately meet,” adding that the US has no interest. Tehran dismissed claims that it’s seeking talks. Crude has repeatedly swung on the prospects for escalation and détente.

“Our view is that we’ll be kind of in this $80 to $90 range, depending on the news flow,” said Jay Hatfield, chief executive of Infrastructure Capital Management LLC. “If we actually have a closed Red Sea, that’s a threat. We haven’t seen that yet. That could shoot us over $100.”

The Houthi threat to Saudi Arabia’s maritime traffic has started to have some impact. Some tankers appeared to pause as they approached Yemeni waters, while others carrying oil from the kingdom reversed course and headed toward the Suez Canal. Still, other vessels continued to move toward the area. 

The Red Sea became a crucial export route for Saudi Arabia during the war, allowing the kingdom to redirect some flows via pipelines and bypass Hormuz. Observed commercial vessel traffic through the narrow waterway near Iran has fallen to the lowest level in three weeks.

Brent could breach $100 a barrel before year-end if the Middle East conflict drags on and commercial inventories across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development draw further, according to a note from Bernstein. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has also flagged the possibility of prices returning to triple digits, although that’s not the bank’s base case.

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