Trump on Monday said the biggest US oil companies are “making too much money,” urging them to “give some of that back to the public” and cut retail gasoline prices.

“I don’t like it. I should be the last one to say because I’m a big free enterprise guy, nobody bigger,” the president told reporters at the White House. “You surprised I’m saying it? I’ll say it loud and clear. I’m not happy about it.”

ExxonMobil and Chevron more than doubled their second-quarter net income on the heels of global energy market disruptions stemming from conflicts in the Middle East and Russia. Instead of using the money for investor proceeds, the supermajors put it toward lowering their debts.

Trump has come under intense political fire from the economic fallout from the war.

Americans already grappling with the high cost of housing, food and consumer goods are now paying more than $4 per gallon of regular gasoline on average. Voters have given Trump increasingly poor marks over his handling of the economy and the war, imperiling his fellow Republicans’ chances in November’s midterm elections. 

In recent weeks, he’s pointed to big oil companies as a scapegoat for high fuel prices. Trump in June ordered the Justice Department to investigate why gasoline prices had not fallen, suggesting companies could be engaged in price gouging. 

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Large solar farms are being built around the Arctic Circle in the Nordics, rooftop panels are spreading across northern Scotland and the technology has even found a role in the notoriously cloudy Faroe Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Its rise is giving governments another way to electrify their economies while producing more energy at home.

Across the Nordic region, for the first time, investors and utilities added more new solar capacity than wind in 2025, a lead expected to continue this year, according to BloombergNEF. Governments have upgraded their own forecasts as installations exceed expectations. Sweden reached its original 2030 solar target in 2023 and is already close to meeting a newer, more ambitious goal. Finland hit its end-of-decade target six years early.

“The question isn’t whether solar works this far north anymore,” said Warren Campbell, chief executive officer of Swedish solar developer Alight AB. “It’s how much we’re going to build.”

Developers are already planning the next wave of projects. Companies have proposed at least another 300 megawatts of solar in Finland’s northern Lapland region. Projects of around 600 megawatts are seeking grid connections in the north of Sweden. 

The industry’s momentum in Europe’s northern flank is in sharp contrast to its struggles further south. So much solar has been installed in Spain that power prices are plunging and investors get very little or no return at all for their buck. 

But in the Nordics, the shift has been driven by a sharp improvement in economics. Panels and related equipment costs in Europe have fallen 30% since 2021 according to Aurora Energy Research, while higher electricity prices have made projects far more attractive. Nordic wholesale rates averaged about €11 per megawatt-hour in 2020 before surging to more than ten times that level during the energy crisis that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. They averaged €79 during the first six months of this year.

Few projects illustrate that transformation better than Exilion’s Simo solar park, just south of the Arctic Circle. Tommi Riski, the company’s director of business development and electricity markets, says that in the early days of the project, the typical response was “Who the hell builds a solar plant in Lapland?”

Less than three years later, the €40 million ($46 million) project is generating electricity for almost 22 hours a day at the height of summer. 

The park earns most of its revenue during the summer months. The European Commission’s solar calculator show that a project in northern Finland would generate around 82% of its annual output between April and September. For a similar project in Madrid, it would be 58%. 

Exilion’s business case assumes virtually no generation between November and January, treating any winter output as a bonus. The site also hosts a wind farm, which generates most of its electricity during the dark winter months, illustrating how the two technologies increasingly complement one another in northern climates in so-called hybrid projects. Batteries are also increasingly included. 

Operating that far north also comes with some advantages over those building on the continent. Cooler temperatures help solar panels operate more efficiently, while snow reflects additional light onto the site’s double-sided panels, boosting production. 

Finland and northern Scandinavia may offer the clearest example of how far north large-scale solar can now work. But the shift isn’t confined to the Nordics. Across northern Scotland, households and businesses are adding panels at a record pace. Installation company AES Renewables has added solar systems as far north as Thurso, almost on the same latitude as Oslo. 

Nearly 2,000 homes across the Scottish Highlands and islands installed solar panels in the six months through April, despite the region receiving barely half the sunshine of southern Spain. The demand has prompted AES to increase its workforce by more than 50% since the start of last year.

Installations are also picking up in the Faroe Islands, a windswept archipelago northwest of Scotland and regarded as one of the world’s cloudiest places. The islands had only a handful of solar farms a few years ago but lower costs and growing interest from households and businesses are changing that. 

Local utility SEV estimates there are now more than 60 installations, with another 25 to 30 awaiting approval. Although the Faroes receive relatively little sunshine overall, the new solar installations dovetail nicely with wind and hydropower, which generate less electricity during the summer. 

 That allows solar to fill a seasonal gap in the system, just as fossil-fuel use is increasing. “Since we rely on expensive diesel in the summer, that is a benefit for solar,” said Helma Maria Trondheim, an SEV research engineer. 

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

After crossing the 100-gigawatt mark in 2012, it took the world 10 years to deploy 1 terawatt of solar power. An additional 1 terawatt, enough to meet all of US power demand at its peak, took less than three years to build. Not even two years later in 2026 — the precise timing is subject to debate among analysts — the 3-terawatt threshold was reached.

No one really noticed. 

That makes sense. For most people, the increased deployment of solar isn’t perceived in figures, but in other ways. “Take a train anywhere, say in the UK, and you’re likely to spot solar panels,” said Lara Hayim, head of solar research at BloombergNEF.  

The visual signal is only going to get stronger. Forecasters are so bullish about solar that, in just a few years, the 3-terawatt milestone will seem almost insignificant. BNEF expects the world to deploy more than 9 terawatts of solar by 2036.

But dig in a little deeper and you’ll find interesting stories. The first terawatt was mostly rich countries subsidizing the installation of solar, with China and poor countries still finding photovoltaics too expensive. That story changed going into the second and third terawatt, with China taking the baton from rich countries. 

The result is that, even as the world has added solar power at an accelerated pace, the share of deployment going to poor countries has largely stalled since 2020. China has clearly been the main driver of the global story, said Hayim. But disaggregate the numbers, and “you can now see solar booms in other countries too.” In the past few years, countries like Pakistan, Nigeria and the Philippines have seen an extraordinary increase in the amount of solar power installed on rooftops. Some smaller markets, such as Cuba and Lebanon, have also seen rapid uptake. It’s why the number of countries with at least 1 gigawatt of solar installed has grown to as many as 74 last year, up from 42 in 2020.

China’s solar deployment has been faster than the buildout of supporting infrastructure, such as transmission and batteries. That’s leading to more curtailment of solar production during peak hours, and thus a waste of resources. So analysts expect deployment in China to slow down. In its latest five-year plan, the country announced a series of measures to increase renewables consumption, rather than production, by more than 50%.

BloombergNEF expects that poor countries’ share of solar deployment will start growing again from this year onward. Most developing countries are starting with very low amounts of solar penetration in the grid and won’t hit the limits that China and other big adopters are facing now. By 2036, more than a quarter of all solar deployed will be in developing countries, with rich countries’ share falling to about 20%.

The boom in solar power has happened as countries have overcome local issues, from a lack of skilled workers to challenges of managing a grid with intermittent renewables. Still, Hayim says the main constraint for developing countries continues to be the lack of accessible financing. 

There is, however, a theoretical upper limit to how much solar can be added to the grid. That’s because, once solar power meets all the demand during the daytime, adding more is of no value. Countries such as Australia and regions like California, which have among the highest solar penetration, regularly set negative electricity prices during the daytime, signaling there’s too much solar power on the grid.

Lithium-ion batteries can help extend the solar boom for some time, absorbing excess power in the day and releasing it later in the evening. That’s what Australian policymakers have helped encourage through subsidies for home batteries. It’s also what’s starting to happen, regardless of policy support, in developing countries like Pakistan and the Philippines, where a battery boom is following a solar boom. 

Without battery energy storage, the solar revolution is unlikely to continue. “Without enough energy storage, you cannot maximize solar’s potential,” said Hayim.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Brent for October lost as much as 7.3%, after futures surged by almost a quarter in July to post the biggest monthly gain since March. West Texas Intermediate was below $80. Trump said on Sunday that he called off a massive attack on Iran after allies in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, asked him to pursue a deal instead.

The US leader said he’d agreed to cancel the assault, “subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL” to quickly reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to an earlier post on Truth Social. “Get to work, everybody, and get it DONE.”

“The drop is a reflection of relief that further escalation has been avoided,” said Takahiro Asaoka, a commodities researcher at Itochu Research Institute Inc. “The move appears to be largely driven by short covering as the geopolitical risk premium eases. A sustained decline in oil prices is difficult unless there’s an agreement that allows shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to return to normal.”

Brent swung through a roughly $32 range last month as fighting resumed following the collapse of a June truce. That saw the conflict spreading to the Red Sea and Jordan before another pause in late July to allow diplomatic efforts to continue was shattered. 

European natural gas fell as much as 6.3% in early Asian trading. 

Oil futures pared some of their early decline after UK Maritime Trade Operations said a tanker off Oman reported an explosion in close proximity on Sunday. That highlighted the persistent risks for shipping through Hormuz — which carried about a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas in peacetime — after an LNG vessel was struck by a projectile late last week.

Meanwhile, Gulf producers continue to seek alternative export routes. Turkey and Iraq agreed to extend an expired oil pipeline deal by one year that would be able to export as much as 750,000 barrels a day, according to Iraq’s Oil Ministry.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday on Telegram that negotiations between Iran and Oman are in the final stages. The two countries that flank the strait are discussing a new route through it, but the talks don’t cover whether the waterway will be closed or open, a ministry spokesman said on Iranian state-run TV. 

Elsewhere, major OPEC+ nations approved the latest small increase to their production quotas, a move that will complete the theoretical revival of supplies halted in 2023 and give them scope to add more barrels once the Middle East war ends.

In addition, Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry said the Caspian Pipeline Consortium continues to operate with oil intake at 100,000 tons a day from Aug. 1 after a temporary suspension on Friday. While CPC will allow vessels to load, the pace of exports will also depend on whether tankers are willing to risk the journey. 

A series of attacks on tankers loading at or near the Black Sea facility has disrupted flows from the CPC, a major export route for Kazakh crude.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The raised quotas restore the 1.65 million bpd of supply OPEC+ had voluntarily removed from the market, with the seven producers now returning to their original production levels before the additional voluntary cuts were introduced in April 2023.

“The seven OPEC+ countries also noted that this measure will provide an opportunity for the participating countries to accelerate their compensation,” OPEC+ said in a statement. 

However, around 2 million bpd of separate OPEC+ production cuts dating back to 2022 remain in place and are currently scheduled to run until the end of 2026.

Conflicts hindering increased supplies

The return of OPEC+ production follows heightened geopolitical tensions that are limiting oil supplies. Export disruptions affecting Gulf producers, Russia, and Kazakhstan amid regional conflicts have also meant that much of the additional supply approved by OPEC+ this year has yet to reach the market.

The organisation’s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) also expressed concerns “regarding attacks on energy infrastructure,” adding that “restoring damaged energy assets to full capacity is both costly and takes a long time, thereby affecting overall supply availability.” 

The attacks on energy infrastructure have impacted supplies, even as the group steadily raised its official production targets. It remains to be seen whether OPEC+ will continue raising output during the rest of 2026 or pause after September. 

Jorge Leon, Head of Geopolitical Analysis at Rystad Energy, said the completion of the restoration programme increases the likelihood of a pause later this year.

“OPEC+ has finished unwinding its voluntary cuts. The next challenge is managing the surplus that could emerge as export flows normalise,” Leon said.

“Having completed the restoration campaign, OPEC+ has little incentive to rush into further supply changes. Our base case is a fourth-quarter pause while the group prepares for the 2027 quota negotiations.”

The seven producers are scheduled to meet again on 6 September to review market conditions.

Meanwhile, the JMMC said it had reviewed May and June production data and noted overall conformity among OPEC and non-OPEC countries participating in the Declaration of Cooperation.

The JMMC said it would continue monitoring the situation and compliance with existing production commitments, with its next meeting scheduled for 4 October. 

The energy transition is not only about shifting energy sources or adopting new technologies, but also about designing a future energy system that meets every dimension of development, including security, accessibility, and sustainability. 

Ultimately, the success of the energy transition is not measured solely by the increasing share of clean energy, but also by the ability to build confidence among the public, businesses, and investors that the energy system remains stable, supports continuous economic growth, and maintains affordable costs along the transition journey. This is a mission that no country can drive alone; it requires collaboration across all sectors at both national and international levels. 

Mission for a secure future

Thailand’s energy transition must advance in parallel with power system security. Progress toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions should not compromise power system stability or impose an excessive cost burden. The concept of “Bridging the Next Energy Era” has been developed to connect today’s power security with the future energy system.

It reflects the role of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) as the organisation responsible for safeguarding Thailand’s power security by balancing energy security, economic growth, and environmental sustainability. EGAT aims to ensure that Thailand’s energy transition is secure, fair, and sustainable.

Regional stability and connectivity

Throughout the energy transition, liquefied natural gas (LNG) remains a key fuel for maintaining power system stability. At the same time, EGAT continues to develop modern and flexible energy infrastructure through grid modernisation to support the growing share of renewable energy.

As today’s energy landscape extends beyond national borders, regional energy cooperation has become important in strengthening shared energy security. The Lao PDR–Thailand–Malaysia–Singapore Power Integration Project (LTMS-PIP) is a significant example of regional energy connectivity and represents an important step toward realising the ASEAN Power Grid. The project enables the efficient cross-border transmission of clean energy, enhances energy security, and creates new economic opportunities across ASEAN. 

Multi-pathway approach: no single solution for the future

EGAT is accelerating the study and development of low-carbon innovations through a multi-pathway approach. EGAT recognises that no single technology can address the complexity of the energy transition; rather, it requires diverse solutions that systematically complement one another. 

• Hydrogen: Studying and developing hydrogen as a promising fuel of the future

• Small Modular Reactors (SMRs): Studying SMRs as an energy source with high efficiency and low emissions

This approach will pave the way for preparing the country for a diverse range of alternative energy sources to increase the share of renewable energy without adverse effects on power system security, driving Thailand toward net-zero emissions in a tangible manner.

Energy is a foundation of the digital economy

The energy transition must align with the rapid shift toward a fully digital economy. Artificial intelligence (AI), data centres, and digital infrastructure need secure, high-quality, and adequate power supply. Beyond an energy mission, power development also lays the foundation for enhancing competitiveness and serves as a key driving force behind the country’s industrial growth on the global stage. 

A platform for collaboration at Gastech 2026

Gastech 2026 is much more than a global energy technology exhibition. It is a collaborative platform that provides an opportunity for the public and private sectors, academics, and global policymakers to exchange knowledge, experiences, and views to help shape the direction of the future energy system.

The energy transition will succeed not only through technologies but also through a network of collaboration, trust, and a shared vision across all sectors to build a secure, resilient, and sustainable energy system for everyone.

Separately, Moscow claimed a Ukrainian drone struck the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian forces since 2022, near one of the facility’s power units. Ukraine hasn’t commented. 

The Saratov attack resulted in a fire at the refinery, Ukraine’s General Staff said in a Telegram statement. Ukraine’s forces also struck Engels airfield in the Saratov region, about 730 kilometers (450 miles) southeast of Moscow and over 1,000 km east of Kyiv, according to the statement. 

The Engels air base is a critical operating hub for Russian warplanes including the Tu-95 long-range strategic bomber, which has been used to launch cruise missile strikes against Ukraine, the General Staff said. 

Regional authorities said there was damage to civilian infrastructure in Saratov and Engels following the attack, which also killed two people. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv’s forces also hit an oil depot in Russia’s Kaluga region and on a drone storage facility in the Bryansk region. 

Images of the Saratov refinery captured Sunday by NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System show fresh heat anomalies that may indicate active fires. 

Rosneft didn’t immediately respond to a Bloomberg request for a comment sent via WhatsApp outside normal business hours.  

The Saratov refinery, which has a design capacity of processing about 140,000 barrels of crude a day, was previously hit on July 8 and had restored operations after that attack.   

Ukraine’s forces intensified strikes on Russia’s refineries, including facilities far from the nations’ border, in the final days of July after a short lull over the previous couple of weeks. On Friday, Kyiv hit the Volgograd refinery, one of Russia’s largest, while attacks on Saturday targeted Ufa, home to three Bashneft refineries, in Russia’s Bashkortostan republic. 

Earlier on Sunday another drone attack on the republic’s industrial facilities sparked a fire at an industrial area in Ufa, Radiy Khabirov, head of Bashkortostan, said without providing details.  

Intensified attacks threaten to disrupt fuel supplies in Russia again, just as many regions across the country were increasing limits for gasoline and diesel sales at filling stations or even lifting them after a period of shortages. Following the attack on the Volgograd refinery, filling stations of Lukoil PJSC and Gazprom PJSC temporarily introduced gasoline rationing in the Volgograd region, according to regional authorities.

In the past 24 hours, 1,158 unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down by Russia’s air defense systems, the Defense Ministry said in a statement after midday Moscow time. That was Ukraine’s record for the number of drones launched in a single day, according to estimates from Agentstvo. Novosti, an independent media outlet. The previous record was on June 18, when 992 Ukrainian drones were shot down, it said. 

While Ukraine continues so successfully target Russian oil infrastructure, Zelenskyy said certain Russian enterprises not currently subject to Western sanctions are working to step up production of drones, missiles and guided aerial bombs. 

“The aggressor is investing more and more in its ballistic weapons capability and is trying to ramp up production,” Zelenskyy said on X. “Pressure is needed on every segment of Russia’s defense-industrial complex.” 

Alexey Likhachev, chief executive officer of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, said a Ukrainian drone hit a passageway that connects six power units at the Zaporizhzhia plant overnight, several meters from the reactor compartment of the third unit. There was no explosion, he said, according to Rosatom’s in-house media service’s Telegram. 

Likhachev said Rosatom hopes Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, will visit the Zaporizhzhia facility in the near future. Grossi has visited the plant several times since 2022. 

The IAEA hasn’t commented on Likhachev’s claims, which couldn’t be independently verified. 

On Saturday, the UN’s nuclear watchdog said the Zaporizhzhia plant in southeast Ukraine lost off-site power for the 23rd time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. During the outage emergency diesel generates provided back-up power for reacting cooling and other safety functions.   

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

One of the two reactors still operating at the Paks plant was shut down early Sunday, with the final one powering down later in the day, according to Magyar. He cited the progressively lower water levels, which are causing a shortage of water for cooling at the facility, which is operating at a little over a tenth of its 2,000 megawatt capacity.

The nation is heading into uncharted territory by shutting the nuclear plant for the first time in its 44-year history — a result of sustained drought across much of central Europe. 

The plant, about 120 km (75 miles) south of Budapest, accounts for 40% of the country’s electricity generation. Neighboring Romania on Friday ordered a state of alert in the energy sector after reducing output at its own nuclear plant.

Hungary’s government is boosting power imports to cover part of the shortfall, and has asked large industrial companies, including car and battery makers, to voluntarily cut their consumption, warning that mandatory reductions may also be ordered.

A new crisis plan focuses on prioritizing electricity cuts at firms and limiting household usage only as a last resort. For example, rail freight will be stopped at peak hours from Monday while decorative lighting on state buildings has been turned off. Budapest ordered trams and subways to go slower to conserve electricity. Water supplies are also under strain, prompting the government to order a halt to the watering of grass and stadium pitches.

It’s all shaping up to be a major test of Magyar’s leadership, less than four months after a landslide election that ousted Viktor Orban. That’s true even as the new premier pointed to the deterioration of energy and water infrastructure during 16 years of Orban rule, including delays to the modernization of the Paks plant’s cooling system as well as in its controversial Russian-led expansion.

“We inherited a fragile, expensive and vulnerable system,” Magyar said in an address on social media. “We now have to operate, defend and fundamentally rebuild this system all at once.”

Before the drought, Magyar had moved quickly to deliver on his pledge to dismantle Orban’s illiberal regime, crack down on corruption, restore the rule of law, and hold officials of the previous administration to account. Now the energy crisis is eclipsing all other issues.

The call to pare energy usage by companies is likely to hamper industrial production, just as it was showing signs of revival after nearly three years of contraction. The drought is also poised to devastate agriculture, restraining economic growth and potentially fueling food inflation. That may challenge central bankers who’d penciled in a third consecutive monthly interest rate cut in August and potentially more for later in the year. 

The unexpected outlays on electricity imports are also roiling budget consolidation efforts. The government is still in the process of amending this year’s fiscal plan, which Magyar has said were based on falsified numbers and didn’t include much of Orban’s spending splurge ahead of the elections.

Energy crisis concerns are spilling into the markets. The forint, one the world’s best performing currencies since investors started pricing in Magyar’s election win early this year, closed at the weakest level in three months against the euro on Friday, and posted its worst month in July since October 2024.

Even before the drought, Magyar’s government had started to address key energy and water system vulnerabilities. It opened a call for bids for major investments in wind energy, with the government planning to use freshly released EU funds to finance projects. Consultations had also started on modernizing the country’s irrigation system.

But none of that will of help to deal with the immediate crisis as Hungary heads into another heat wave. Temperatures in Hungary’s capital are expected to hit 37 or 38C (98.6F-100.4F) on each of the next six days, with no precipitation in the forecast.

The most acute situation is at Paks, where the cooling of nuclear reactors remains a vital task even after the reactors are taken offline. That can be done even under extreme conditions, when the water flow is as much as 90% below average, and even when the water temperature is elevated, the Hungarian Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement, citing available technology and reserves.

But with Europe warming faster than any other continent, the longer term outlook is grim and the short-term one isn’t any brighter.

Historical water levels show that the Danube reaches its annual low point in August or September, according to Laszlo Nagy, the deputy director of the Paks plant, who added that it takes about a further week to bring the reactors online once water levels become adequate again. That means Hungary may have to do without its single-biggest energy asset for several months.

“The outlook isn’t too good, unfortunately,” Nagy told reporters on Friday at a joint briefing with Magyar. “We’re facing an unprecedented situation.”

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Security consultancies Vanguard Tech and Marisks identified the ship as the Gaslog Shanghai LNG tanker. The UK Maritime Trade Operations had alerted that a vessel was struck in the strait off the Omani coast overnight, without identifying it. There was no environmental impact so far, the UKMTO said. 

The carrier picked up an LNG shipment from Qatar around July 27, and stopped sending a signal on July 31 near the western entrance of Hormuz, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg and Kpler. It appears that the ship wasn’t sending a signal when it was struck in Hormuz. Greece-based Gaslog, which manages the vessel, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment outside of regular business hours.

The shipping manager of the Gaslog Shanghai confirmed that the vessel was hit by an unknown projectile, causing a blackout on the ship, a spokeswoman for the company said in a statement. No one was hurt and the fire caused by the projectile was extinguished.

The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted LNG traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a conduit for about a fifth of global flows of the super-chilled fuel. In early July, a Qatari LNG tanker was hit near Hormuz, forcing the world’s second largest exporter of the fuel to pause shipments through the waterway for three weeks.

On Saturday, the UKMTO said in a separate alert that another tanker reported seeing an explosion in the water near to it. The vessel wasn’t damaged.

Earlier this week, another Gaslog LNG carrier was hit while in a northern Egyptian port. The Gaslog Salem was struck by a drone on Wednesday at Damietta, security firms said, with no one having claimed for the attack thus far.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The State Council, China’s cabinet, greenlit projects across four provinces, filings from state-backed power producers show. Among them are Huizhou Units 5 and 6 in Guangdong province, operated by a subsidiary of CGN Power Co., the nation’s top nuclear operator. Each unit will add 1,217 megawatts of capacity once complete — enough to power million of homes in China.

Approvals were also granted for China National Nuclear Power Corp.’s Zhuanghe project in Liaoning and Jinqimen facility in Zhejiang, alongside SPIC Industry-Finance Holdings Co.’s Laiyang development in Shandong, according to separate regulatory filings.

The approvals underscore Beijing’s drive to secure reliable, around-the-clock power as electricity demand continues to surge. While China leads the world in solar and wind installations, nuclear energy is vital to provide carbon-free baseload power to stabilize a grid vulnerable to the intermittent nature of renewables.

In March, the Chinese government set a target of 110 gigawatts of installed nuclear capacity by 2030 – a 76% surge from the end of last year. The rapid expansion is part of China’s efforts to overtake France and the US as the world’s largest nuclear generator before the decade ends.

Still, hitting those ambitions may prove challenging. China missed its previous targets of reaching 58 gigawatts by 2020 and 70 gigawatts by 2025 following a multi-year approval freeze after Japan’s 2011 Fukushima disaster, as well as post-pandemic supply chain bottlenecks.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Pemex posted an 18 billion peso ($1 billion) profit in the period that ended June 30, according to a company filing Friday. It was the company’s first quarterly profit since it reported a $3.2 billion gain a year ago. Pemex said results were largely buoyed by more sales and higher global oil prices amid continued tensions between the US and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.

Crude and condensate production rose to 1.66 million barrels per day, up 1.7% from a year earlier, the company said. Natural gas output was more than 4 billion cubic feet per day, a nearly 12% increase from a year prior. Crude processing rose.

Pemex’s total financial debt stood at $77.5 billion at the end of June, according to the filing.

While the company has slashed its total debt in the past year, it’s still far from reaching financial self-sufficiency, a goal President Claudia Sheinbaum hopes the company will achieve by 2027. Sheinbaum has funneled upward of $40 billion in financial support to the company since taking office to help it cope with huge debt payments, high payroll costs and inefficiencies at its refineries. 

It still may not be enough. The government has earmarked $14 billion in its budget to cover Pemex’s debts this year, but Fitch Ratings Inc. expects even more support to cover an estimated $10 billion operating shortfall by year-end, analysts at the credit assessor wrote in a note earlier this month.

Mexico Finance Minister Edgar Amador on Thursday ruled out the government providing additional state funds for Pemex during the rest of the year.

All that financial support also hasn’t meaningfully turned around output. Pemex pumps about half as much crude as it did at its peak over 20 years ago.

In a bid to reverse the trend, Sheinbaum is calling on private companies to partner with Pemex to boost crude production to about 1.8 million barrels per day. Although the company has signed several contracts with local private sector producers this year, few international oil majors have jumped aboard, and a bidding process for projects at four major Pemex oil fields was canceled earlier this month. 

Juan Carlos Carpio, Pemex’s new chief executive officer, who took the company’s reins after former CEO Victor Rodriguez resigned in May, will now be tasked with continuing to slash debt while also sealing joint venture contracts with partners and increasing efficiency at Pemex’s loss-making refineries. 

For its part, Pemex has secured some tie-ups with billionaire Carlos Slim’s Grupo Carso SAB de CV to develop its aging oil and gas fields. It’s also exploring a partnership with Brazil’s Petroleo Brasileiro SA to begin looking for crude deep under the Gulf of Mexico. 

The company’s reputation, however, continues to be tarred by accidents and environmental disasters. In April, the company said faulty infrastructure caused a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. A March blowout at a well in Veracruz state has sparked a fire that has been burning for months. Multiple fires and explosions have also rocked Pemex’s flagship Dos Bocas refinery and other processing facilities this year.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Ukraine’s Security Service said on Telegram that it targeted facilities at Lukoil PJSC’s refinery in the Volgograd region, without indicating the extent of the damage. The attack resulted in a fire at the facility, Ukraine’s General Staff said in a separate message. 

Kyiv has intensified attacks on Russian refineries this year, helping drive the country’s crude processing rates to multiyear lows and contributing to a nationwide fuel shortage this summer. Many Russian regions had to ration gasoline and diesel sales at filling stations, while the government banned most exports of motor-fuel. 

Russia didn’t specifically confirm the attack on the refinery, but Volgograd Governor Andrey Bocharov said earlier Friday that a fire broke out at an industrial facility in the region’s fuel and energy complex following a mass drone attack, without identifying the site.

Satellite imagery of the Volgograd refinery by NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System shows several freshly hit anomalies at the facility site, which indicate fires. 

The Volgograd refinery is one of Russia’s largest, with a design processing capacity of about 300,000 barrels of crude a day. It has been targeted repeatedly by Ukraine and had only recently restored throughput, nearly recovering its runs to levels seen before earlier strikes.

Lukoil’s press service didn’t respond to requests for comment.

A lull in Ukrainian attacks over the past few weeks had given several drone-hit refineries time to complete repairs and resume operations, helping improve fuel supplies to the domestic market before the latest strike.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The North Sea unit, which Bloomberg News previously reported could fetch about £2 billion ($2.7 billion) in a full divestment, “will be better positioned as part of another company,” Chief Executive Officer Meg O’Neill said in a statement on Friday.

BP has already agreed or completed a series of divestments over the past year, including the sale of its lubricants business Castrol, as it attempts to simplify its portfolio, strengthen the balance sheet and focus investment on its core upstream, downstream and trading operations.

BP is the last remaining global oil major to have its own standalone North Sea business after Shell Plc and TotalEnergies SE combined their operations with others to form independent units in the aging offshore basin. Others such as Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips have sold their North Sea assets.

The oil industry says the North Sea has become less attractive due to the UK government’s restrictions on exploration and development of new projects, as well as high taxes.

“This is one of those “moments” that should serve as a deadly serious wake up call,” Andrew Griffith, shadow business secretary for the opposition Conservative party, said in a statement on Friday. “Britain needs to compete — for energy, capital and talent — but the government carries on putting up taxes and piling on red tape.”

London-based BP has been shrinking its own presence in the region over the last decade, including the sales of its interest in the Shearwater field to Shell and the Forties pipeline system to Ineos Group Holdings SA. BP still holds a 45% stake in Clair, the largest oil field on the UK Continental Shelf. 

BP said it has been producing around 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the North Sea across five production hubs. That compares with its global output of about 2.3 million barrels per day. 

The North Sea could be the first sizable disposal under O’Neill, who in April became the first outsider to be appointed BP’s CEO. O’Neill and then-Chairman Albert Manifold had sought to reverse years of underperformance, which has brought pressure from activist shareholder Elliott Investment Management and cost former CEO Murray Auchincloss his job.

Manifold has since been removed and O’Neill will now own BP’s turnaround story. The company said this week it will cut about 700 jobs in production and operations. 

BP reports second-quarter earnings on Tuesday, O’Neill’s first full quarter at the helm.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

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.

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. 

Worldwide, fusion developers have received a total of $14.2 billion in backing to date, according to the Fusion Industry Association. Investment surged 69% in the past year, a sign of confidence that companies are making progress.

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.

(Updates with industry investment figures in sixth paragraph.)

©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.

The four reactors of 1 gigawatt each are now estimated to cost 1.38 trillion rupees ($14.4 billion), according to a written reply to parliament by Atomic Energy Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday. That is 55% more than the estimates published in 2024. 

Steep cost escalations and holdups are symptomatic of the challenges faced by the sector. Similar projects from the US and the UK to Bangladesh have also suffered due to a sharp increase in expenditure after construction delays. Georgia’s Vogtle plant, the first nuclear project built in the US in decades, was delivered years behind schedule at more than double its original budget.

The projected expenditure for two of the new Kudankulam reactors has risen by 73% while the estimate for the remaining increased by 40%, federal government data showed. The cost overruns will make electricity generated by these plants more expensive, posing hurdles for nuclear expansion in India’s price-sensitive power market. 

“While nuclear is important for climate risk mitigation and energy security, costs need to be contained,” said Rupesh Sankhe, senior vice president for research at Elara Capital India Pvt Ltd., adding that this may dent the plant’s competitiveness compared to other sources of power. “Very high costs only enforce the anti-nuclear argument and can create further opposition to projects.”

India has installed two Russian reactors of 1-gigawatt capacity each at Kudankulam, a coastal town near the southern most tip of the country, and construction is ongoing for four more. The new reactors will be commissioned through March 2030, with the first expected to start operations in June next year, according to Singh. The government had earlier said that all these reactors will be completed by 2027. 

The costs for building four 700-megawatt domestic reactors, two each at Kaiga in Karnataka and Gorakhpur in Haryana, are also set to be revised, Singh informed the parliament on Wednesday.

India currently has 8.8 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity which contributes to about 3% of the country’s power output. Last year, the government opened up the sector to private firms, pursuing an ambitious goal of expanding the country’s nuclear generation capacity eleven-fold by 2047.

©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 stock fell as much as 12% on Thursday, the largest intraday drop since March 2020. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on late Monday proposed to end an unpopular charge where power consumers pay for electricity lost during delivery. 

Uncertainty over the proposed removal of the power charge is clouding the outlook for Manila Electric, Philippines’ largest power distributor, with questions remaining over whether utility firms will be allowed to recover the costs through another mechanism. Manuel Pangilinan, the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, on Wednesday said the move would cost the industry “tens of billions of pesos.”

“The sentiment now is really driven by the hot mess after the State of the Nation Address remarks on system loss charges,” said Jasper Timoteo Ondap, an equity analyst at Regina Capital Development in Manila. The planned reform has “sparked debates and projected negative financial implications” for electricity producers.

Manila Electric reported an 11% year-on-year increase in net income for the first half of the year, though Pangilinan said geopolitical developments in the Middle East presents a headwind for the local energy industry. The Philippines is a fuel import-dependent country. 

JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst Jelline Gaza cut recommendation on the company to neutral from overweight, citing earnings and sales that trailed estimates.

©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 privately funded effort will include construction of a 2-gigawatt natural gas-fired power plant at or near the government site in Paducah in western Kentucky, and as much as 2.6 gigawatts of battery storage capacity, the US Energy Department said Wednesday. One gigawatt is roughly the output of a traditional nuclear plant and can power about 750,000 homes.

The project comes as the Trump administration is trying to address surging power demand from data centers that are provoking considerable political opposition. Failure to add new electric capacity would threaten a key priority for the US president — winning the AI race against China — and worsen the spike in electricity prices that could represent a political liability come the November midterm elections.

There’s “a lot of interest” in developing data centers and power generation on federal lands, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said during a Bloomberg Television interview. 

“You’ll certainly see more of this,” Wright said in a separate interview. “If we can use existing federal lands to get private capital investment to grow energy production, and AI production and jobs we’ll do the all day long.”

The privately funded investment, one of the largest in Kentucky’s history, is expected to create 8,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent positions, the department said.

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. will develop and operate the data center campus, which will occupy portions of the sprawling 3,556-acre Energy Department site once used to produce weapons-grade uranium and fuel for nuclear reactors. Operations using the now obsolete enrichment technology known as gaseous diffusion stopped in 2013, and the site is now subject to cleanup efforts. Construction is expected to be completed in 2031, the Energy Department said.

Sikander Rashid, Brookfield Asset Management’s global head of AI Infrastructure, said in an interview the firm will use its Brookfield Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Fund for its portion of the project investment. 

Brookfield Corp. shares fell 1.6% and NextEra declined 0.9%.

The project, which also includes partnerships with local electric cooperatives, comes as soaring demand for artificial-intelligence tools has touched off a worldwide expansion of data centers. The buildout has touched off concerns across the US about increasing costs for water and electricity. The Trump administration has been trying to address those concerns ahead of the midterms by, among other things, exacting pledges from technology companies that they’ll pick up the costs. 

SoftBank Group Corp. said earlier this year that a data center campus it was developing on another former Energy Department enrichment site in Ohio could be as large as $500 billion. 

(Updates with comment from US energy secretary in fifth paragraph.)

©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.