Ofwat’s board — eight men and women charged with deciding the future of the UK’s largest water and sewerage company — have so far failed to reach a consensus on the deal floated last month by senior creditors, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified talking about confidential negotiations.

Thames, which supplies water to about a quarter of England’s population, has been on the brink of collapse for more than two years. It’s buckling under £17.6 billion ($24 billion) of debt and has been in the hands of its creditors since its shareholders walked away in 2024, declaring the business “uninvestible.” Efforts to attract new equity failed last year when KKR & Co. withdrew a plan to invest £4 billion.

Senior creditors, including Silver Point Capital and Elliott Management, have offered to inject around £3.35 billion of equity and take a haircut of up to 30% to lighten the company’s debt load. Creditors are also asking Ofwat to let Thames off regulatory penalties until March 2030.

Some board members think that deal falls short on both the size of the haircut and equity injection, as well as the leniency on penalties, the person familiar said. Getting a deal with senior creditors is widely seen as the last chance for a market-led solution to get Thames Water back on its feet.

We “are reviewing their plans carefully to assess whether they deliver a turnaround in the company’s operational performance and strengthen its financial resilience to the benefit of customers and the environment,” a spokesperson for Ofwat said.

A spokeswoman for the creditor group declined to comment.

Fragile Finances

Thames Water has come close to running out of money several times and is on track to do so again by the end of October.

The deal proposed by creditors effectively amounts to a rewriting of Thames’s five-year business plan that was agreed at the end of 2024, the person said. That’s because the creditors want to raise customer bills beyond the level set by Ofwat and renegotiate performance targets on everything from leakage to sewage spills.

“This situation illustrates just how fragile Thames Water’s balance sheet has become,” said Tim Whittaker, a research director at the EDHEC Infrastructure Institute. “Its high leverage, combined with Ofwat’s regulatory constraints, leaves little flexibility to resolve this without some form of government intervention.” 

If Ofwat eventually agrees to the proposal from the creditor group, the next step will be to present the plan to the rest of the debtholders to get their consent. The deal should be implemented via a court process, and participants in the process who spoke to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity estimate it will still take several months to be finalized.

The regulator would also need to hold a public consultation on any deal, as it would include changes to Thames’s license, Bloomberg previously reported. Efforts to reach a consensus on the proposal are being led by board chair Iain Coucher, the person said.

Under the current penalty system, Thames has repeatedly argued that it is locked in a vicious cycle, whereby it’s consistently one of the worst performers when ranked against its peers. That results in fines that prevent the firm from being able to invest in improving its infrastructure, keeping it at the bottom of the table.

“Thames Water remains focused on securing a market-led solution that delivers improvements for customers and the environment as soon as practicable whilst continuing to make progress with our operational and financial turnaround plan,” a spokesperson for the utility said.

(Updates with estimated timeline in 11th paragraph)

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is expected to announce the aid, which may include loans, during a virtual meeting with regional leaders set for Wednesday afternoon, public broadcaster NHK said. Kyodo News and the Yomiuri newspaper reported similar.

Japan imports petroleum-related products used in medical settings from Southeast Asia and there are concerns some countries’ low oil reserves could disrupt supplies, according to the reports.

The prime minister’s office wasn’t immediately available for a request for comment.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a media briefing earlier Wednesday that Japan is “considering mutual cooperation with Asian countries from the perspective of securing the supply of products made from petroleum products and strengthening the supply chain.”

Should procurement be disrupted, it could have a negative impact on Japan’s healthcare system, according to the local media reports. The country plans to provide financial support via the government-backed Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Kyodo said, citing unnamed government officials.

Southeast Asian nations including Vietnam have previously sought help from Japan, as well as from South Korea, for crude oil supplies. Japan has tapped on its strategic reserves in two tranches since the Iran war began some six weeks ago, but has said its own stockpiles are meant for domestic refiners and not for foreign nations.

Japan itself isn’t facing an immediate oil shortage. The trade ministry said the country can secure sufficient crude supply for this year by sourcing alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz, where transit remains constrained, and by drawing on its substantial oil reserves.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Modi said the two “discussed the situation in West Asia and stressed the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and secure,” in a social media post on Tuesday.

The White House confirmed the call without providing further details.

The Middle East war has largely cut off flows of crude oil and liquefied natural gas through the critical chokepoint, driving up prices across the globe — a situation that has been particularly problematic for India, a major importer of fuels from the region. 

A ceasefire that started April 7 hasn’t caused a surge in energy traffic out of the strait, following failed talks between the US and Iran last weekend. Trump is pressing ahead with a US naval blockade of the strait to cut off Iranian exports in a bid to force Tehran toward a deal.

India’s situation is emblematic of how the brinkmanship between the US and Iran is impacting other countries, with inflation there edging up in March as higher crude prices and decreased gas supplies squeezed key industries.

Earlier: India’s Inflation Picks Up as Iran War Lifts Energy Costs

To ease the crunch, Indian refiners have been buying up Russian crude, seizing on a now-lapsed US sanctions waiver authorizing the purchases. India also is looking to take in Iranian crude as another option to address the supply crunch following a US Treasury waiver allowing temporary access to seaborne oil from that country. Two sanctioned supertankers with Iranian crude have dropped anchor off Indian ports.

Modi on Tuesday said the two leaders also “reviewed the substantial progress achieved in our bilateral cooperation in various sectors,” adding that they are “committed to further strengthening our Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership in all areas.”

Ties Improve

The call also comes at a time when Washington and New Delhi are working to reset ties strained by US tariff policies. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to visit India in May. He met India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in Washington earlier this month, where the two discussed bilateral relations.

This would be Rubio’s first visit to India since assuming office. Other senior US officials, including Vice President JD Vance, have visited India over the past year. The developments also come as ties between Trump and Pakistan’s leadership deepen, with Islamabad playing a key role in mediating peace talks between the US and Iran.

“The call shows that US and India relations are in a comfortable space despite speculation to the contrary,” said Harsh Pant, a professor of International Relations at King’s College London. “The US is reaching out to India even as it works closely with Pakistan for peace talks with Iran.”

(Adds comment from analyst and details of Rubio visit.)

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The monthly oil market report (MOMR) reveals sharp falls in crude output for OPEC producers in the Gulf such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, and Kuwait during March, coupled with a longer-term picture showing continued strong need for supply as consumption rebounds in later months.

Outlook robust beyond demand dip

OPEC, in its first public assessment of the impact of the US/Israel-Iran war, lowered its forecast for world oil demand in the second quarter by 500,000 barrels per day — an average 105.07 mbpd, down from the 105.57 mbpd forecast in the previous month’s report.

But it made no change to its full-year outlook.

Oil and gas prices soared globally in March amid the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, transit route for one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas. The energy supply crunch has impacted consumers and businesses globally and prompted government action, such as work-from-home initiatives, to conserve supplies and curb demand.

In its report, OPEC said: “Demand growth for the second quarter of 2026 is revised down for both the OECD and non-OECD (countries), driven mainly by slight transitory weakness ‌in oil demand growth, given ongoing developments in the Middle East.”

The report reveals that overall member country production plunged 27% month-on-month from 28.7 million bpd (mbpd) to 20.8 mbpd.

Sunnier forecast for growth

OPEC’s outlook going into summer and beyond is more optimistic.

“In 2026, global oil demand is forecast to grow by a healthy 1.4 mbpd year on year, driven almost entirely by demand from non-OECD regions, mainly China, India and Other Asia,” it reports.

On a quarterly basis, it says global oil demand in 2026 is set to grow by about 1.5 mbpd year on year in Q1, 0.9 mbpd year on year in Q2, 1.6 mbpd year on year in Q3 and 1.6 mbpd year on year in Q4.

It expects the “slight transitory weakness in oil demand growth” in the second quarter to be compensated in the third and fourth quarters.

Figures under scrutiny

OPEC has predicted less war-related impact on world oil demand in 2026 when compared to some other forecasters, such as the US government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).

OPEC’s forecast that demand will continue to rise remains unchanged, in stark contrast to the EIA which halved its outlook prediction in an April 7 report.

The International Energy Agency (IEA), also slashed its oil demand growth forecast, due to Middle East and Asia-Pacific contraction. It said Hormuz closure and energy infrastructure attacks prompted it to reverse previous forecasts of a sizeable surplus.

Now predicting an 80,000 bpd downsize in demand growth this year — from a 640,000 bpd rise in March — the IEA says the conflict has “thoroughly upended the global outlook for oil consumption”.

Based on a severe scenario of longer-term supply disruptions, it suggests demand could shrink by 5 mbpd year on year on average from the second quarter to the fourth quarter.

Economies need energy

OPEC says global economic growth forecasts remain unchanged from last month’s assessment at 3.1% for 2026 and 3.2% for 2027, suggesting demand for energy.

The demand for crude from countries participating in the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) in 2026 “remains unchanged from the previous month’s assessment to stand at 42.9 mbpd ... about 0.6 mbpd higher than in 2025,” says the report.

“The demand for DoC crude in 2027 also remains unchanged from the previous month’s assessment to stand at 43.6 mbpd. This is about 0.6 mbpd higher than the 2026 forecast.”

The state also plans to issue a request for proposals to potential development partners this year, according to Todd Josifovski, senior vice president of nuclear development at the New York Power Authority. 

Eight upstate communities are vying for the project, which could involve a single large reactor or multiple smaller units. Governor Kathy Hochul directed NYPA last year to develop 1 gigawatt of new nuclear capacity, and in January she raised that goal to 5 gigawatts.

Power consumption is climbing across the US, driven by data centers, industrial users and more electrified homes. That trend is spurring interest in nuclear energy, and President Donald Trump has set a goal of seeing 10 large conventional reactors under construction in the US by 2030. Josifovski said it’s too early to provide a schedule for any New York efforts, but selecting a site would mark a key early step.

“The fundamental table stakes is to have a willing host community,” Josifovski said Tuesday at the NY Energy Summit in Albany. “As soon as we can, we want to have that shored up and make sure it’s workable for the community, and workable for the project.”

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Benchmark futures hovered between small gains and losses, with trading volumes picking up after a tepid start in Asia.

Washington and Tehran are in discussions on holding more negotiations for a longer-term ceasefire, people familiar with the matter said. The goal is to hold them before a two-week ceasefire announced April 7 expires, they said.

Energy markets have been roiled by the conflict in the Middle East and the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has cut about a fifth of the world’s liquefied natural gas from global markets. 

Earlier this week, the US raised the stakes with its own blockade of vessels heading for or leaving Iran’s Gulf ports or coastal areas. That’s added nervousness to an already volatile market, which is also coping with extended trading hours amid relatively low liquidity.

Asian LNG imports have dropped to the lowest in almost six years, potentially offering some respite to European buyers competing for the fuel. Europe needs more LNG this year to replenish its depleted gas inventories in time for next winter, and traders remain on high alert. 

There’s still a risk of escalation and European gas prices face a “significant upside risk,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Patricio Alvarez said in a note. BI’s “extended conflict scenario” implies the European price could double or even triple from current levels, with Asia at greater risk of sharper spikes.

Dutch front-month futures, Europe’s gas benchmark, traded little changed at € a megawatt-hour by 8:58 a.m. in Amsterdam. 

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The 50% year-on-year jump for the three months ended March 31 was likely also driven by the front-loading of shipments before the phasing-out of an export-tax rebate. The rate was cut to 6% from 9% from April 1 and China will scrap the rebate entirely from next year.

The rise in battery shipments was accompanied by double-digit percentage growth in exports of other green technologies, including electric vehicles and wind turbines, said Wang Jun, deputy director of China’s General Administration of Customs.

“These new growth drivers for exports continued to gain momentum in the first quarter,” Wang said at a briefing on Tuesday. He did not give a reason for the increase.

While battery exports were already trending higher, the first-quarter data marked an acceleration from growth of 26% for full-year 2025.

The war in Iran overlapped with only the final month of the quarter, but the severe and ongoing disruption to global fuel supplies has made energy security a more urgent issue for import-dependent nations. Chinese battery makers, already a dominant force across the supply chain, stand to be among the biggest beneficiaries.

Some companies have already reported a positive impact from this shift. Last week, Ningbo Deye Technology Co., a major battery storage manufacturer, said its profit for the first quarter is likely to increase by as much as 70%, with a notable increase in orders from Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Crude purchases dropped 2.8% from the previous year to 49.982 million tons, although the figure was higher than February, according to China’s customs administration on Tuesday. Imports over the year so far rose 8.9% as China continued to stockpile oil despite weakness in the economy.

Gas imports fell more sharply, down 11% to 8.183 million tons, leaving the year-to-date figure 4% below the pace set in 2025.

Major refiners saw fewer cargoes from Gulf producers like Saudi Arabia and Iraq, after the US and Israeli attack against Iran that began on Feb. 28 effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz to traffic. At the same time, the smaller independent plants that had been prepared to ignore sanctions have has their access curtailed to the heavily discounted Iranian crude they’ve relied on to protect razor-thin margins. 

Chinese oil product exports fell 12% to 4.601 million tons, after the government imposed curbs to conserve domestic fuel supplies. Beijing has allowed state refiners to tap commercial reserves to help weather an unprecedented supply shock that’s only likely to worsen as the US Navy disputes Iran’s control of the key waterway. 

Gas purchases slumped even though nearly half of Chinese supply arrives overland from Russia, Central Asia and Myanmar. China won’t break out its seaborne imports until later this week, but ship-tracking data shows liquefied natural gas cargoes plunged 22% in March from the previous year to 3.74 million tons.

The seaborne market is facing prolonged disruptions. China took roughly a quarter of its LNG from Qatar, which will take years to restore operations after Iranian strikes against the world’s biggest export facility. But with pipelines running at capacity, there’s not much leeway in the short term for China’s overland suppliers to pick up the slack.

Other Commodities

Other commodities saw bigger-than-usual swings in trade due to the impact of the war on shipping costs, supply and demand.

• Aluminum exports fell 5%, although overseas sales are expected to pick up as buyers turn to China to offset production losses from the Middle East
• Steel exports fell 13% — Saudi Arabia was China’s fastest-growing major overseas market last year
• Iron ore purchases rose 11% after fewer weather-related shipping disruptions in top exporter Australia, while copper metal imports fell 11% and copper ore rose 10%
• Rare earth exports fell 27% as domestic supply tightened
• Coal imports inched up, despite gains in international prices and an output cap in top supplier Indonesia
• Soybean imports rose 15% as Brazilian shipments competed with more US cargoes after the trade truce with Washington

On the Wire

A hoard of Iranian crude on tankers at sea and robust onshore stockpiles in China will provide a cushion for the nation’s independent refiners should a US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz choke off flows.

China’s state-backed iron ore buyer has told several steel mills in the country they are allowed to purchase some BHP Group cargoes, an apparent concession in a months-long commercial dispute.

A US-sanctioned tanker linked to China is making its way through the Strait of Hormuz, testing President Donald Trump’s naval blockade.

China’s export growth slowed sharply in March from previous months, reflecting intensifying strains on the world’s No. 2 economy as the war in Iran upends global energy supply.

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. is considering a share sale to raise as much as $5 billion in Hong Kong after rallying strongly since its May listing in the city.

The war in Iran is spurring a fresh wave of enthusiasm over prospects for China’s currency to more effectively rival the US dollar.

This Week’s Diary

(All times Beijing)

Tuesday, April 14

• China’s March trade balance and 1st batch of trade data, ~11:00
  • Crude oil, natural gas & coal imports; oil products imports & exports
  • Iron ore, copper & steel imports; steel, aluminum & rare earth exports
  • Soybean, edible oil, rubber and meat imports; fertilizer exports
• EARNINGS: Hengli Petrochemical

Wednesday, April 15

• CCTD’s weekly online briefing on coal markets, 15:00
• Canton fair in Guangzhou (phase 1 through April 19)
• EARNINGS: CATL

Thursday, April 16

• China’s home prices for March, 09:30
• China’s industrial output for March, including steel & aluminum; coal, gas & power generation; and crude oil & refining, 10:00
  • Retail sales, fixed assets investment, property investment, residential sales, jobless rate
    • 1Q GDP
    • 1Q pork output and inventory
• Antaike base metals conference in Hangzhou
• SHPGX natural gas conference in Beijing, day 1

Friday, April 17

• China’s weekly iron ore port stockpiles
• SHFE’s weekly commodities inventory, ~15:30
• SHPGX’s natural gas conference in Beijing, day 2

Saturday, April 18

• China’s 2nd batch of March trade data
  • Grains, sugar, cotton, palm oil, pork & beef imports
  • Oil products imports & exports breakdown; LNG & pipeline gas imports
  • Bauxite, steel and aluminum imports; rare-earth product, alumina and copper exports

(Updates with chart, other commodities from eighth paragraph, and published-item and diary sections)

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The blockade cuts off vessels transiting to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas, raising the risk of further disruption to global energy flows.

But even amid that latest escalation, the US and Iran are discussing another round of negotiations after talks in Islamabad over the weekend ended without a deal, according to people familiar with the matter. The goal is to hold fresh talks before a two-week ceasefire announced April 7 expires next week, they said.

Saudi Arabia, a key US partner, is pushing Washington to halt the blockade, fearing it could prompt Tehran to escalate tensions and disrupt other regional shipping routes, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Arab officials it did not name. 

A vessel under US sanctions and linked to China is making its way through the Strait of Hormuz, testing the blockade. The Rich Starry, a medium-range tanker earlier known as Full Star, is trying for the second time in less than 24 hours to exit the waterway.

Disruptions in the strait pose risks for China, which remains Iran’s largest oil customer and a key trade partner. Beijing has called for an immediate ceasefire, warning that a blockade threatens global trade.

Trump said Iran had reached out to his administration. “We’ve been called this morning by the right people, and they want to work a deal,” he told reporters at the White House, without elaborating.

The president repeated claims that negotiations had failed due to Iran’s insistence on maintaining a nuclear program. Trump said any deal would require Iran to abandon its atomic ambitions.

Vice President JD Vance, who led the US delegation in the first round of talks, left the next step to Tehran. “We did make some progress in the negotiation,” he said in a Monday interview on Fox News, adding that the talks helped clarify red lines. Asked about another meeting, Vance said the question was “best put to the Iranians, because the ball really is in their court.”

The New York Times, citing people familiar with the talks, reported, that the US proposed a 20-year suspension of nuclear activity, while Iran countered with a plan to halt it for up to five years, similar to an offer made in February.

Iran blamed the collapse of talks over the weekend on the US, but left the door open for more negotiations. President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran was prepared to continue discussions within a framework of international law, according to a statement on a government news portal.

Earlier: US and Iran Mull Second Meeting in Bid to Revive Ceasefire Talks

Oil dropped on signs Washington and Tehran may revive talks, with Brent down about 1.5% to $97.85 a barrel. Asian stocks advanced in Tuesday morning trade.

Trump’s blockade will test the durability of a fragile ceasefire with Iran and intensify a global energy crisis in a six-week war that’s seen thousands of deaths across the region. It marks the latest move by the US president to strongarm Iran into easing its own chokehold over the strait.

“We can’t let a country blackmail or extort the world,” Trump said. 

Iran warned it would target ports across the Persian Gulf if its own shipping hubs are threatened, raising the risk of a wider confrontation. Its armed forces said security in the region must be “either for everyone or for no one,” calling any US move to block the strait “an act of piracy,” according to the state-run IRIB News.

Trump has warned Iran against charging fees for vessels to transit the strait. Vance sidestepped a question about whether that would be a red line for Iran in talks, saying that “we need to see the Strait of Hormuz fully open.”

Trump had warned shortly after the deadline passed that the US would target Iranian ships, using the same tactics it did against alleged drug-running boats in the Caribbean Sea in recent months.

“What we have not hit are their small number of, what they call, ‘fast attack ships,’ because we did not consider them much of a threat. Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea,” Trump said in a social-media post. 

Still, Trump looked to downplay concerns around the further potential shock to global energy markets, claiming in a separate post that 34 ships had transited the strait on Sunday, “by far the highest number since this foolish closure began.” Bloomberg reported earlier that 19 vessels passed through the waterway in either direction on Sunday.

The US has warned it will intercept or divert vessels leaving Iran, while allowing neutral ships to pass, though they may be searched for contraband. The blockade will be enforced against vessels entering or departing Iranian ports, US Central Command said.

While the US and Israel have paused strikes on Iran, Israel continues its campaign in Lebanon against Hezbollah. The conflict remains a key sticking point in broader ceasefire negotiations, with talks between Israel and Lebanon set for Tuesday in Washington. 

(Updates with news reports from paragraph 4, market moves.)

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

After a latest round of regular coalition talks late Sunday in Berlin, Merz said his government will be pushing in EU negotiations to ensure that excess emissions above a 90% target won’t have to be fully offset after 2035.

Vehicles powered exclusively by renewable fuels — including “advanced biofuels” — should be immediately counted as zero-emission, and the government also rejects proposed EU mandates to boost EVs in corporate fleets, according to a coalition policy paper distributed Monday in Berlin.

“There must be no cliff edge for these key technologies,” Merz told reporters, reiterating a call for “full technological openness” for vehicle motors. “We are entering the negotiations with Brussels united and with determination,” the conservative leader said.

Merz’s coalition of his CDU/CSU bloc and the Social Democrats is pushing ahead with a bid to ease the burden on domestic carmakers like Volkswagen AG, BMW AG and Mercedes-Benz Group AG that are struggling with geopolitical turmoil and strengthening competition from China.

Germany’s previous SPD-led government had lobbied against a combustion-engine ban and pushed for a carve-out for vehicles running on so-called e-fuels made using renewable electricity and captured carbon dioxide.

“I am firmly convinced that the future of the automotive industry is electric, but that we need flexibility and openness on the way there,” Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, the vice chancellor and SPD co-leader, said alongside Merz.

Germany’s latest intervention shows the extent to which divisions remain in the EU over how to ensure the region’s carmakers can survive the climate transition while competing effectively with Chinese rivals in the electric-vehicle segment.

The European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch, in December proposed to continue allowing a limited share of combustion vehicles on the bloc’s roads after 2035, having previously agreed on an effective ban.

Under the latest proposals challenged by Germany, emissions from the tailpipe would still have to be cut by 90% by 2035, but carmakers could use green steel and renewable fuels to offset the remaining 10%.

Member states and the European Parliament are negotiating the rules before agreeing their final shape over the coming months.

While Germany is looking for further flexibilities, other car producing countries like Spain and Sweden have warned against any more watering down of the bloc’s climate ambition amid concerns that it could put Europe behind in the race with China to ramp up EV sales.

In recent weeks, car drivers have also been exposed to surging fuel prices resulting from the US-Israeli war on Iran.

In addition to the extra wiggle room on the headline targets, Germany is also looking to suspend further tightening of the so-called utility factor, a metric that is used to calculate emissions from plug-in hybrids.

Critics say that it is based on lab assumptions that significantly understate real-world pollution.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Dangote appointed Stanbic IBTC Capital Ltd., Vetiva Advisory Services Ltd. and FirstCap Ltd. to advise on the IPO for Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Fze, FirstCap Chief Executive Officer Ukandu Ukandu said by email.

“The plan is to structure a pan-African IPO,” Frank Mwiti, CEO of the Nairobi exchange said after a meeting last week between the heads of African exchanges and billionaire Dangote in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.

A spokesman for the Dangote Group confirmed the meeting between exchange officials, but declined to disclose details.

The share sale across multiple African exchanges would be a first for the continent. It will help deepen equity markets in Nigeria — which is poised to return to the FTSE Russell frontier-markets benchmark — and other nations where it lists. Dangote plans to expand the refinery’s capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day over the next three years, rivaling fellow billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s facility in India.

Dangote’s refinery currently has the capacity to process 650,000 barrels of oil per day. The African Export-Import Bank last month said it’s underwritten $2.5 billion of a $4 billion syndicated facility intended for the refinery expansion. 

The facility’s expansion is part of at least $40 billion that Dangote plans to spend to fund a growth drive over the next five years that also includes quadrupling fertilizer output and more than doubling its oil refinery capacity.

Apart from Nigeria, the plant has been selling refined fuel to African nations, which are struggling to obtain gasoline and diesel supplies because of the US-Israel war on Iran. 

Dangote, the chairman of the refinery, earlier this month met with officials of the Nigerian Exchange Group as well as member organizations of the African Securities Exchanges Association to discuss enabling investor participation across African markets in the IPO, according to a spokesman for the Nigerian exchange. 

Next Africa newsletterhereAppleSpotify anywhere you listen

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

“We call for the restoration of the safe, unimpeded, and continuous transit passage of vessels and aircraft in the Strait of Hormuz,” foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations said in a statement on Monday. They also urged all parties to ensure the safety of seafarers and ships.

The US military said it would implement a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports at 10 a.m. on Monday Washington time, adding that it would allow other vessels to transit the Strait of Hormuz if they’re not stopping in the Islamic Republic.

“We urge the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran to continue negotiations that will lead to the permanent end of the conflict and lasting peace and stability in the region,” Asean said.

The ministers also called for the “full and effective” implementation of the ceasefire to prevent further loss of lives in the conflict that began in late February.

The top diplomats from the bloc, many of whose members source oil from the Middle East, met virtually on Monday to discuss the war in the Middle East.

Officials agreed to boost cooperation to respond to challenges affecting Asean, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro said in a briefing.

“This meeting also discussed prioritizing energy supply to fellow Asean member states in times of crisis,” Lazaro said.

(Updates with comments from Philippine foreign affairs chief.)

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

More than six weeks after US and Israeli strikes on Iran effectively shuttered the Strait of Hormuz, customers hoping to shield themselves from the extra costs are increasingly turning to greener solutions.

Ningbo Deye Technology Co., a major producer of energy storage systems and inverters, said last week it expects first-quarter profit to climb as much as 70% on a surge in overseas orders. Meanwhile, exports of Chinese-made electric vehicles and hybrids more than doubled in March to a record 349,000 units, as higher fuel prices renew the appetite for alternatives to gasoline-powered cars. 

Deye attributed the jump in profit directly to geopolitical turmoil, with households and companies in Europe and Southeast Asia increasingly looking to battery storage. Automakers such as BYD Co. and Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. are likewise benefiting, with industry observers noting parallels with the 1970s oil shock, when Japan gained global market share by offering fuel‑efficient cars during a period of sustained turmoil.

Chinese firms are uniquely well-positioned, given their dominance of clean energy supply chains from solar panels to batteries and EVs. Years spent building up capacity, often at the expense of profitability, have allowed them to quickly scale-up distribution at competitive prices. 

But the export boom also masks continued weakness at home. Domestic EV and hybrid sales fell again in March, marking a third consecutive monthly decline. 

China’s pivot to consumption-led growth has yet to materialize, leaving it overly reliant on foreign buyers. In the event of a prolonged war, the hit to the global economy could shrink overseas demand — and sharply reverse the gains made in the first weeks of the conflict. 

On the Wire

US President Donald Trump’s move to blockade the Strait of Hormuz risks deepening an unfolding economic crisis for Asia’s energy-dependent economies, including America’s allies in the region and China. 

China has cushions to damp the oil shock from the Iran war, according to Bloomberg Economics. But an extended conflict would present bigger threats — demand destruction in overseas markets and supply-chain snags that could hurt exports.

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. is cutting its passenger capacity following a surge in jet fuel costs.

Shares in Chinese rare earth companies advanced after key producers announced a sharp increase in second-quarter product prices, signaling tighter supply conditions and stronger demand amid heightened geopolitical tensions.

China has indicated it will halt exports of sulfuric acid from May, hitting metals and fertilizer industries already strained by raw material bottlenecks resulting from the Iran war.

This Week’s Diary

(All times Beijing)

Monday, April 13

• Nothing major scheduled

Tuesday, April 14

• China’s March trade balance and 1st batch of trade data, ~11:00
  • Crude oil, natural gas & coal imports; oil products imports & exports
  • Iron ore, copper & steel imports; steel, aluminum & rare earth exports
  • Soybean, edible oil, rubber and meat imports; fertilizer exports
• EARNINGS: Hengli Petrochemical

Wednesday, April 15

• CCTD’s weekly online briefing on coal markets, 15:00
• Canton fair in Guangzhou (phase 1 through April 19)
• EARNINGS: CATL

Thursday, April 16

• China’s home prices for March, 09:30
• China’s industrial output for March, including steel & aluminum; coal, gas & power generation; and crude oil & refining, 10:00
  • Retail sales, fixed assets investment, property investment, residential sales, jobless rate
    • 1Q GDP
    • 1Q pork output and inventory
• Antaike base metals conference in Hangzhou
• SHPGX natural gas conference in Beijing, day 1

Friday, April 17

• China’s weekly iron ore port stockpiles
• SHFE’s weekly commodities inventory, ~15:30
• SHPGX’s natural gas conference in Beijing, day 2

Saturday, April 18

• China’s 2nd batch of March trade data
  • Grains, sugar, cotton, palm oil, pork & beef imports
  • Oil products imports & exports breakdown; LNG & pipeline gas imports
  • Bauxite, steel and aluminum imports; rare-earth product, alumina and copper exports

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

US forces will begin implementing a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports on Monday at 10 a.m. New York time, the US Central Command said. They won’t impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports, Centcom said.

The failure of the peace talks raises concerns that LNG supply through the strait, which carried about a fifth of the world’s supply of the fuel before the war started at the end of February, will be hampered for longer. Oil and European natural gas surged in Asian trading on Monday.

Traders will be closely monitoring how aggressive China — the world’s top LNG buyer last year — refills its storage, and whether it needs to pull shipments away from Europe to do so. State-owned oil and gas company China National Petroleum Corp. has this month started injections into major underground storage sites across the west of the nation to ensure sufficient supply.

LNG prices have soared since the conflict broke out, though they have retreated from a high near $25 a million British thermal units in the week after the war started. Optimism the sides could reach a deal after agreeing to a ceasefire pushed prices lower last week, to just above $17.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The structure is part of the country’s Moho offshore exploration and production license. According to TotalEnergies, the well encountered a hydrocarbon column of approximately 160 meters in good-quality Albian reservoirs, and an extensive data acquisition and sampling campaign was carried out to support the subsurface interpretation and future development.

QatarEnergy holds a 15% shareholding position in TotalEnergies E&P Congo (TEPC) which is the operator in the Moho license. TEPC holds a 63.5% share of the license, alongside Trident Energy (21.5%), and Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo (15%).

“We are pleased to further strengthen our expanding international portfolio with this promising new discovery in the Republic of Congo. We look forward to working with our strategic partner, TotalEnergies, and with the Congolese Government to develop these resources,” said Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and the President and CEO of QatarEnergy.

The Moho G discovery, together with the discovery previously made on the nearby Moho F structure, represent recoverable resources estimated at close to 100 million barrels, which are planned to be developed as a tie-back to the existing Moho facilities, TotalEnergies said in a separate statement.

“This new discovery on the Moho license benefits from its proximity to existing production infrastructure, allowing a short cycle, cost effective tie-back development,” said Nicola Mavilla, Senior Vice-President Exploration at TotalEnergies. “By leveraging our technical expertise and existing infrastructure, we are creating the conditions for future value‑accretive production for the company.”

A temporary ceasefire remains shaky. Implementation will take time, peace talks over the weekend broke down, and there could still be a lengthy period of insecurity. Even in the ideal case of a swift peace deal, it will take months to restore normal logistics, restart fields and repair damaged facilities.

For now, every day that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the world continues to lose about 11 million barrels per day of oil supply out of about 105 million bpd of demand. Physical Brent crude prices have topped $140 per barrel and jet fuel prices exceed $200.

Also cut off are 20% of the world’s liquefied natural gas, some 40% of nitrogen-based fertiliser exports, 45% of sulphur exports, nearly 39% of helium, about 34% of methanol exports, from 9-15% of polymers, and 22% of non-Chinese aluminium production. Production of these energy-intensive commodities elsewhere will also be slashed by the loss of oil and gas feedstock.

Planning for a long crisis

The best way to make this into a short-lived crisis is to plan for a long one.

One of the key lessons from the 1970s oil crises was that much of the harm was self-inflicted. Governments’ well-intentioned efforts to cushion the shock instead delayed adjustment and worsened the economic harm. The iconic pictures of drivers queueing for petrol are because of government price controls – indeed, some of these photos date from earlier in 1973, before the October embargo.

Governments also tried various well-intentioned but economically-damaging conservation policies. Edward Heath’s administration in Britain brought in the infamous three-day working week, as a coal miners’ strike coincided with the oil shock.

This time, numerous Asian countries have introduced direct measures to cut energy consumption. Bangladesh has set air-conditioning at higher temperatures and turned off unnecessary lighting. South Korea has asked people to take shorter showers. Ethiopia has told non-essential workers to go on leave. After the Covid-era experience, work-from-home policies are a reasonable approach to cut fuel use in commuting, and cooling offices.

Direct income support

However, capping fuel prices, cutting fuel taxes, or subsidising energy bills, are expensive policies. Major consumers – India, South Korea, Australia and Vietnam – have introduced such measures or are considering them.

Better would be direct income support for lower-income people. More generally, governments should accelerate the deployment of electric vehicles. The UK, for example, could cancel its recent increases on taxes on EVs. With soaring diesel and petrol prices, battery cars are now cost-savers as well as environmentally friendly, but some people may need help to buy one.

Governments can make public transport free for a period, and run more services of buses and trains. City authorities can designate additional bike paths and try to encourage the uptake of e-bikes and electric three-wheelers (tuk-tuks or rickshaws).

Restricting exports

Another popular policy is to restrict oil exports. China has temporarily banned the export of refined products such as diesel, jet fuel and gasoline (petrol), though easing this for a few favoured Asian countries. Thailand has also suspended exports. India has introduced export taxes for oil products. South Korea has limited exports to no more than 2025 levels and banned the export of naphtha outright. Even the US might limit its shipments of crude oil, refined products or both, if rising domestic fuel prices present a political liability to President Donald Trump.

The intention here is to avoid shortages on the domestic market, and keep prices at home lower than on the international market. But such “beggar-thy-neighbour” policies are very dangerous. Countries without adequate refining capacity, such as Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, could find themselves competing for a very small pool of available exports.

Impact on the refining sector

The whole refining sector would become extremely inefficient if refineries cannot export products which are in relative surplus. They would have to cut back runs, worsening the crisis.

It is not in the interests of China, for example, to undermine the minerals industries in Australia, or Congo, or Indonesia, from which it gets much of its raw materials, by cutting off their diesel supplies. The food shock will be magnified if farm machinery and irrigation pumps cannot run.

Unlike 2022 and the shock of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, this crisis is primarily an oil rather than gas crisis. Electricity prices are, for most countries, a secondary concern this time, though still serious. For instance, Pakistan, which suffered badly from LNG cut-offs in 2022, has improved its position greatly by successfully installing some 27-33 gigawatts of solar power, mostly distributed panels.

Relying on other resources

Many Asian countries are turning back to coal for power generation, trying to restart nuclear reactors as in Japan and South Korea, and hastening renewable deployment. Indonesia, a laggard in renewable energy, now wants to build 100 gigawatts of solar power. Even Germany is rethinking its disastrous nuclear phase-out, although it will not be quick or easy to bring the six remaining reactors back to service.

But two of the big LNG users, China and India, hardly consume gas for power generation, so such policies will have limited impact. Saving gas and oil in industry through efficiency measures is key. So too are measures to encourage the wisest use of fertilisers, which are heavily and inefficiently subsidised in India.

One of the most controversial policies, at least in Europe, is encouraging more domestic oil and gas production. In most cases, additional hydrocarbon production in the short term will be small. It will reduce global energy prices only marginally.

On the other hand, it is better than importing, from the viewpoint of economy, environment and security. It will bring some tax revenues and employment to European countries that are badly short of both. It will be funded by private money, so it does not compete with government support for low-carbon energy. And if the production is small, the climate impact will likewise be small.

Speeding up the transition

But, contra the opponents of “net-zero” carbon policies, if Europe, Australia and others had not built so much renewable capacity since 2022, they would be coming into this crisis in a much worse position.

This energy crisis will dramatically accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and renewable power. It clears away many of the arguments about the supposed greater reliability and affordability of hydrocarbons. The job of governments is to manage the inevitable short-term dislocations – which will be agonising for many – while speeding the longer-term transition.

• Robin M. Mills is CEO of Qamar Energy, and author of The Myth of the Oil Crisis

The Ministry said operational and technical efforts have restored pumping capacity through the East–West pipeline to approximately 7 million barrels per day, recovering around 700,000 barrels per day lost following the attacks. 

The Ministry also confirmed that output from the Manifa oil field, where production had been reduced by about 300,000 barrels per day, has also been fully restored.

However, work is still ongoing to restore the Khurais oilfield to full capacity, which had also seen output reduced by around 300,000 barrels per day. Full production is expected to be announced once restoration is complete.

Operational resilience and reliability

In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Ministry said, “This quick recovery reflects the high operational resilience and crisis management efficiency of Saudi Aramco and the Kingdom’s energy ecosystem as a whole, thereby enhancing the reliability and continuity of supplies to local and global markets, and supporting the global economy.”

The East–West pipeline, which transports crude oil from the Kingdom’s eastern production areas to export terminals on the Red Sea, has played a critical role in maintaining export flows amid regional shipping disruptions.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Energy confirmed that a series of attacks on energy facilities had temporarily reduced oil production capacity by around 600,000 barrels per day. The Ministry did not assign responsibility for the attacks.

The latest announcement comes after the Ministry confirmed on 9 April that major refining facilities, including SATORP in Jubail, Ras Tanura refinery, SAMREF refinery in Yanbu, and Riyadh refinery had also been hit, as well as processing facilities in Ju’aymah, which impacted exports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and natural gas liquids.

Delaney, an Irish citizen, is an accomplished energy expert and long-time member of bp’s top management with more than 30 years of professional experience.

In her current position as Executive Vice President at one of the three global businesses of bp, she is responsible for an organisation with more than 50,000 employees in around 50 countries, spanning fuels and biofuels, industrial and automotive lubricant production, as well as aviation fuels and e-mobility, OMV said.

If confirmed, Delaney would be OMV’s first female chief executive.

“OMV is a leading Austrian company with international influence and of vital importance to the domestic economy and industry,” ​Austrian Chancellor Christian ​Stocker and Finance ⁠Minister Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer said in a statement.

“Our aim is to further develop and strategically strengthen OMV as one of Europe’s leading ​energy companies. The appointment of Emma Delaney as the new ​CEO sends ⁠a strong signal in this direction.” Hattmannsdorfer added that the focus for OMV is on in-house raw material extraction and further diversification, as well as the development of its ⁠chemicals and ​plastics business.

The OMV Supervisory Board based in Vienna will decide on the appointment of the CEO at its next meeting. If confirmed, the term of the mandate is to be three years with an option to extend by additional two years by mutual agreement, OMV said. Current CEO Alfred Stern, who has held the post since September 2021, announced last May that he would not stand for re-election when his ​contract expires at the end of August 2026.

Following the announcement, bp said ​that Richard Harding ‌will replace Delaney as the ​head of its ​customers and products business ⁠on an ​interim basis from ​April 13.

“Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said in a social media post, essentially blocking Iran’s means of exporting oil.

Vice President JD Vance and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner left the region Sunday after 21 hours of negotiations with top Iranian officials, mediated by Pakistan in an effort to end the six-week-old war. The failed talks left the ceasefire clinched last week in limbo, and Trump’s post signals more peril for the deal.

Hormuz is the world’s most important energy chokepoint, accounting for about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. A full blockade of the strait would further roil global oil markets by choking off the remaining trickle of shipments that have continued to move through the waterway. 

A blockade would also sever a key financial lifeline for Iran, which has continued to export at levels similar to before the war, while benefiting from surging prices for its crude. Oil futures ended last week 30% above where they were before the war, while traders are paying record amounts north of $140 a barrel for some real-world cargoes as they scramble for supplies. 

Iran’s semi-official media cited “excessive” US demands for the failed talks. But the country’s foreign ministry said it was natural that differences wouldn’t be resolved in a single round of negotiations, leaving the door open for more discussions.

The Trump administration used a similar approach against Venezuela earlier this year — effectively enforcing a blockade against its sanctioned crude on the open seas before its January capture of Nicolas Maduro.

Roughly a dozen warships were summoned for that effort. While the operation concentrated on the Caribbean, seizures sometimes happened far from Venezuela, including in the Indian Ocean.

Trump didn’t say Sunday where the US would enforce its blockade against Iran. But his declaration comes after weeks of encouragement from some energy experts, who cast the approach as a way to deprive Iran of revenue tied to oil and strengthen US leverage against Tehran as it seeks a full opening of the Strait of Hormuz.

If Trump orders the Navy to blockade the strait itself, he puts US assets in danger of Iranian missiles. But the US could more easily enforce a blockade out of reach of most of Tehran’s weaponry, in the Arabian Sea and other waters.

A blockade of the Hormuz strait is a less risky alternative to a military operation to seize Kharg Island, Iran’s critical oil export hub, said Dennis Ross, a former US diplomat and Middle East envoy.

“Kharg Island for them is what they need to be able to hold. We can seize it, but then our forces would be quite vulnerable,” Ross said Sunday on Fox News. “This is a much smarter move than seizing Kharg Island.”

Seized oil cargoes could be sold by commodity trading firms on the world market, ensuring Tehran doesn’t benefit, said Clayton Seigle, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The US has issued a sanctions waiver authorizing the sale of some Iranian crude that expires on April 19.

Since the war began, Iran has been the one country that has been able to export oil at a rate akin to pre-war levels. In contrast, production from its neighbors collapsed as the Hormuz strait was effectively closed off and Tehran began striking critical energy infrastructure in the region, sparking a scramble for crude oil across the world.

Iran exported about 1.7 million barrels a day of crude oil and condensate in March, according to preliminary tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s more than neighboring Iraq, which before the war was shipping at a rate far in excess of Iran.

Trump also said Iran’s possible mining of the key waterway and its16 demands for tolls to ensure safe passage is “WORLD EXTORTION, and Leaders of Countries, especially the United States of America, will never be extorted.” 

The president also widened his threat to international waters, saying the US Navy would interdict any vessel that had paid Iran’s toll and that “no one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.”

(Updates with context, quotes beginning in fifth paragraph.)

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

About 60% of Australia’s urea — a key nitrogen fertilizer used to boost crop yields — typically passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route that remains constrained despite a US-Iran ceasefire that took effect April 8, Collins told Sky News Australia on Sunday.

The country has sufficient supplies in reserve and “on the water,” Collins said, adding the government is working with industry to secure longer-term availability. Australia is among the world’s largest exporters of wheat, beef, wool and dairy.

Domestic production is expected to begin in mid-2027 at the A$6.5 billion ($4.6 billion) Perdaman Urea Plant in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, she said.

Grocery prices may immediately rise 3% to 4% as higher fuel and fertilizer costs linked to the conflict feed through the economy, Collins said, citing Treasury estimates.

Economic Blow

Australia is operating at level 2 of its four-tier National Fuel Security Plan, indicating supplies are continuing but under pressure. The government is bracing for a “long tail” of economic effects and working to shore up fuel supply, Infrastructure Minister Catherine King told ABC News on Sunday.

The country has launched an A$20 million campaign — “Every Little Bit Helps” — to raise awareness of fuel price pressures, outline government actions and encourage households to reduce fuel use.

The government is considering further measures to support households and businesses, while advancing renewable energy and electrification, including domestic production of low-carbon liquid fuels and sustainable aviation fuel, King said.

Meanwhile, King said that “it might not be the right time now,” to introduce planned changes to a national road user charge, adding that more work is needed.

(Adds Infrastructure Minister’s comments from sixth paragraph.)

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Scientists warn that the country is approaching a tipping point known as “peak water,” which means that as Alpine glaciers shrink, these frozen reservoirs will no longer be able to boost river flows and generate electricity to the same extent they once did.

“Almost all glaciers have been losing mass. That is consensus,” said Francesca Pellicciotti, a glaciologist at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria. “There will be less water for hydropower at some point.” 

The concept is sharpening concerns in Vienna that reliance on hydropower — long seen as a pillar of energy security — may become a vulnerability just as conflict-driven disruptions heighten the risks of depending on imported fuels. For a country whose second-most valuable listed company — state-controlled utility Verbund AG — generates about 90% of its electricity from hydropower, the implications are rippling from energy markets to credit ratings.

Climate change is already causing more volatile precipitation patterns, but the prospect of declining water availability underscores the need to diversify into wind, solar and energy storage to cushion both climate-driven shocks and external supply risks. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz after the US and Israel attacked has highlighted how vulnerable export dependence energy systems can be.

With climate models suggesting that water supplies could peak over the next two decades, Austria faces a narrowing window to adapt. Although accelerated glacier melting has temporarily increased runoff, that trend will reverse as soon as 2040. Beyond that point, shrinking ice reserves will mean less meltwater feeding rivers and dam reservoirs.

A new generation of research is attempting to sharpen those projections. Pellicciotti is leading a $9.5 million project that combines artificial intelligence with physics-based models to simulate mountain water systems and identify tipping points in glacier-fed basins. The initiative — known as MountAInWater and partly funded by former Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt — aims to pinpoint when and where peak water may occur.

Warnings are already showing up in financial metrics. S&P Global Ratings last month downgraded Verbund to A from A+, citing weaker hydro conditions and declining electricity-generation prospects. The agency expects earnings to weaken over 2026 and 2027.

The credit downgrade highlights how climate risk is translating into measurable financial pressure. Verbund’s generation coefficient — a key measure of river flow relative to long-term averages — fell to 0.79 in 2025, significantly below normal levels. Lower water availability constrains power generation, potentially squeezing margins even as the company accelerates investment.

Verbund is expected to spend more than €2 billion ($2.3 billion) over this year and next on transmission and renewable expansion. Because of the push, debt is expected to more than double by 2028. At the same time, cash flows are set to weaken due to lower hydropower output and government-imposed electricity price caps.

Austria’s hydropower network has long been seen as a strategic advantage, helping the country achieve one of Europe’s highest shares of renewable electricity and shielding it from fossil fuel volatility. But that strength is becoming more conditional as weather patterns shift.

Precipitation is increasingly falling as rain rather than snow, disrupting the steady spring melt that traditionally feeds rivers. As a result, utilities face more volatile inflows, with periods of drought punctuated by intense rainfall. This variability complicates reservoir management and reduces predictability in generation, according to Verbund.

The seasonal imbalance is particularly evident in winter, when hydropower output drops. That means in colder months, Austria has to turn to other sources.

“We can cover over 90% of our electricity from renewable energy,” Economy Minister Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer said at a March 26 briefing. “But in winter, we still have to produce 20% of our demand through gas-fired power plants and import another 20%.”

That gap is driving a push to diversify the energy mix, with Austrian government pressing ahead with the Renewable Energy Expansion Acceleration Act. Known as the EABG, the proposed legislation aims at accelerating wind, solar and transmission projects.

Hattmannsdorfer said the law will introduce uniform nationwide procedures and prioritize renewable energy infrastructure — an attempt to cut through legal disputes. Some projects have taken more than a decade to secure approval under the current system.

“We are creating a fast track for projects of the energy transition — one law, one authority, one decision,” he said, describing a streamlined approach intended to replace overlapping federal, regional and local approvals.

To gain approval, the ruling centrist coalition will need a constitutional majority, meaning it will need to lock in support either from the Green party of the far-right Freedom Party. Both have already voiced concerns.

The climate-skeptic Freedom Party has long opposed wind power as unsightly and warned that federal authorities are seeking to curb the rights of provinces and municipalities, where it has more representation. The Greens, by contrast, want bolder targets for renewable power to be imposed on provinces.

“In times of global uncertainty, we shouldn't allow any kind of delays on domestic energy production,” Energy State Secretary Elisabeth Zehetner said last month.

The reforms reflect a broader shift in Austria’s energy strategy — from focusing primarily on decarbonization to incorporating climate adaptation. That means deemphasizing hydropower.

Verbund is already adjusting. The utility is diversifying into wind and solar, expanding facilities for storing power and investing in efficiency improvements at existing plants. It’s also broadening its geographic footprint in neighboring European markets to reduce exposure to local hydrological conditions.

Despite the pivot, hydropower remains central for Austria, but there’s an element of caution due to the uncertain timing of peak water. The risk is that a temporary boost in waters from melting glaciers will mask the longer-term decline and slow action. But once a critical threshold is reached, the loss of stored ice becomes irreversible.

For Austria, that moment would mark a turning point, eroding the competitive advantage of relatively low electricity prices. Expanding wind and solar could help smooth seasonal imbalances and create a more resilient energy mix.

While scaling those technologies quickly enough remains a challenge, Austria could chart a path for other hydropower-dependent economies. Its success will depend on whether the EABG legislation gets approved in a form that can help the country adapt before the peak passes.

“The key question is when peak water is coming,” Pellicciotti said. “After that, the water provided by glaciers will start declining.”

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The operator of the 13-state eastern US grid would match proposed data centers with new power plants, PJM said on its website Friday. This process would take place from September through March 2027.  Late next week, PJM will ask how many suitors on both sides are interested in participating in bilateral negotiations, along with terms such as contract duration.

Massive electricity consumption from data centers are transforming the global energy landscape. Power grids are at the epicenter of the shift, working to ensure tech companies have sufficient electricity while grappling with the pressures of limited supplies and extreme weather events.

PJM already is bracing for a multi-gigawatt supply shortage in the summer of 2027. The shortfall may reach 60 gigawatts over the next decade, which would equal the output of 60 big nuclear reactors. 

Should the initiative — which may include resuscitating retired plants and upgrading existing facilities — fail to attract enough new supply, grid managers plan to pursue a second-phase process. 

It’s unclear how much the new power supplies will cost but the pricetag for building natural gas-fired plants have more than doubled in the past five years. 

PJM, along with federal and state lawmakers, has been seeking options to build power plants without raising utility bills for consumers. Investors have been expecting the grid operator to procure 15-year contracts for 10-to-13 gigawatts, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. analyst Julien Dumoulin-Smith wrote Thursday.

PJM’s initial proposal discussed contract durations that could vary from two to 15 years. 

Details of the proposal will be reviewed next week before a final vote is held by PJM stakeholders in late May. The final plan will be submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for approval in early June.

(Updates with additional details in the second, fifth and seventh paragraphs.)

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Creditors want more of a say in how the Brazilian biofuels giant is managed, given they are poised to become significant stockholders through a potential debt-for-equity swap, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. 

During the meetings, controlling shareholders Shell Plc and Cosan SA resisted a push from debtholders that they commit to injecting more money into Raízen, the people said. London-based company Shell agreed in March to inject 3.5 billion reais during the restructuring, while Cosan founder Rubens Ometto committed to put in 500 million reais. The new proposal request was reported earlier by newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo.

Negotiations are expected to continue in the coming days as the parties race to finalize a plan that can secure support from a majority of bondholders and banks, the people said. While a counterproposal from creditors is expected to come in the next week, there is no formal deadline for the plan, and structures may still change, the people added. The parties are up against a legal deadline of June 6 to come up with an out-of-court settlement.

The push for governance changes also reflects deepening lender discomfort with Raízen’s performance. The joint venture, created in 2011, has been hammered by high interest rates, large investments that have yet to pay off and operational hurdles in its sugar and ethanol divisions, leading to a string of earnings misses.

Raízen, Cosan and Shell declined to comment.

The New York meetings follow Raízen’s move to seek an extrajudicial restructuring, a step aimed at protecting cash flow during negotiations. Both the company and its creditors agree that an out-of-court solution is preferable to a full bankruptcy filing, the people added.

Debt traders have soured on Brazilian corporate debt after being hit with a string of bad news. Raízen and supermarket chain Cia. Brasileira de Distribuição both began out-of-court restructurings in the past month, and Alliança Saúde e Participações SA is seeking temporary court protection from creditors. Other companies like Braskem SA, HIG’s Kora Saúde and Oncoclinicas do Brasil Servicos Medicos SA are also weighing restructuring measures, people familiar with the matter have said.

(Updates to include Shell comment in sixth paragraph.)

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Brent traded near $96 a barrel, with futures down about 12% this week, on track for their biggest retreat since June. US Vice President JD Vance is expected to lead US discussions with Iranian officials in Islamabad on Saturday. Traffic through the crucial Strait of Hormuz, meanwhile, remains at a near-standstill.

Saudi Arabia on Thursday said strikes on its energy infrastructure crimped flows through an East-West pipeline the kingdom has been using to export crude via the Red Sea. The attacks cut output capacity by more than 600,000 barrels a day and reduced the pipeline flows by 700,000 barrels a day. 

Oil markets have been extremely turbulent since the war began and prices remain more than 30% above pre-conflict levels. Attention is now turning to how sustainable the truce announced this week will be, and whether a lasting peace can emerge that will restart flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

“The weekend meeting is flip-a-coin time, although I think the chance of a deal or something that looks like a deal is the most likely outcome,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodities strategy at Saxo Bank. “The futures market is sending a signal of resilience given we are six weeks into the closure and prices still trading below $100,” he added, referring to the waterway’s near-halt.

Countries heavily reliant on Middle Eastern supplies, including Japan, have begun tapping inventories. The Asian nation will release about 20 days of oil from its stockpiles in May, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said. In China, state refiners were given the green light to tap into commercial reserves, while India’s largest private refiner has started to cap fuel purchases at pumps to manage stocks.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was “very optimistic” about a deal with Iran and Israel was “going to low-key” it with strikes on Tehran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his position that the ongoing attacks weren’t part of the US-Iran ceasefire deal. Trump later threatened Tehran over charging fees in the Strait of Hormuz.  

“There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait,” Trump wrote Thursday on social media. “They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!”

The waterway’s near-closure since the end of February has disrupted a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows, triggering a severe supply shock. 

Trump described Iran’s leaders as “much more reasonable” than their public comments would suggest in a phone interview with NBC News. However, Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said in a statement on Telegram that Iran “will definitely bring the management of the Strait of Hormuz to a new stage,” though it was unclear if he was referring to past Iranian demands to retain control of the waterway that the US has rejected.

“The market is refocusing on the reality of flows through the Strait of Hormuz, which remain far from normalized and are unlikely to snap back quickly,” said Rebecca Babin, a senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Group.

Elsewhere, Ukraine’s top negotiator with Russia said he sees progress toward a potential peace deal. Brent’s gains briefly eased following the comments. 

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani will be replaced by Lorenzo Mariani, a company veteran who’s currently a senior executive at missile-maker MBDA Missile Systems Services SAS, Italy’s Finance Ministry said late Thursday. The government renewed the terms of Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi and Enel’s Flavio Cattaneo for another three years.   

Meloni is recalibrating leadership at state-controlled firms ahead of a re-election campaign set to take place by the end of next year. A polling setback last month weakened the premier and prompted changes in her cabinet, heightening attention on this round of executive appointments. 

Cingolani’s departure, after a turnaround at Leonardo that’s been welcomed by investors, underscores the pressure on Meloni to reassert power after the referendum on judicial reform she supported was soundly rejected at the polls. Opponents had urged voters to show their dissatisfaction with her leadership, and the outcome weakened the premier politically.

Leonardo shares, which have declined this week over reports of the pending CEO change, fell as much as 2.4% in Milan on Friday. 

Italy owns significant stakes in a number of public and non-public companies considered strategic to the country’s security interests. The government exerts control through board majorities and proposes the CEOs on a three-year cycle. Its nominations require shareholder approvals. 

On Thursday, the government also moved to switch the CEO of electricity grid operator Terna SpA, Giuseppina Di Foggia, to the role of board chair at oil and gas group Eni. 

Di Foggia’s replacement at Terna is expected to be the current CEO at air-traffic controller Enav SpA, Pasqualino Monti. The finance ministry on Thursday proposed Igor de Biasio, the current chairman of Terna, to be CEO of Enav.

Poste Italiane SpA CEO Matteo Del Fante was nominated for a fourth term on April 2.

Leonardo Turnaround

Cingolani, 64, was appointed in 2023 by Meloni, and his position was initially seen as safe as his term came up for renewal. The former government minister presided over a 28% increase in revenue from 2023 to 2025, and the stock has risen fivefold as he repositioned Leonardo as a consolidator in the fast-changing European defense sector.

People who have worked with him have described Cingolani as an independent thinker, an approach that sits at odds with Meloni’s tightly controlled management style.

He formed a tank alliance with Germany’s Rheinmetall AG and a drone partnership with Turkey’s Baykar Technologies, while moving ahead on a satellite venture with Airbus SE and Thales SA. Cingolani also acquired the defense business of Italy’s Iveco Group NV, while exiting some businesses and working to develop an air-defense system for Europe.

Activist investor Guy Wyser-Pratte blasted the reported plan to replace him, telling Bloomberg News this week, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Mariani, the current head of MBDA’s Italian operations, spent more than three decades at Leonardo. He has held senior roles including chief commercial officer, CEO of Leonardo International and head of its defense electronics division. MBDA is a joint venture owned by Airbus, BAE Systems Plc and Leonardo.

“We see the appointment of Mr Mariani as new CEO of Leonardo like an internal solution which should suggest continuity in the group’s strategy,” Banca Akros analyst Andrea Belloli said in a note. 

Meloni, who heads the Brothers of Italy party, has been negotiating for weeks on corporate appointments with her two coalition partners, Matteo Salvini’s League and Antonio Tajani’s Forza Italia. She had initially sought continuity, but the election loss forced a reassessment. Concurrently, the Iran war has strained Italy’s economy, driving up energy costs for businesses and consumers.

Together, the setbacks have prompted the premier to implement changes in order to project a sense of control and power, including a replacement of Italy’s tourism minister. Bloomberg reported last month that changes were afoot at state-backed companies, including at Leonardo, while Eni’s Descalzi appeared safe.

The choices offer insight into Meloni’s priorities for strategic sectors, and will play a key role in shaping the 49-year-old premier’s economic agenda as she seeks a second term in elections expected by the end of next year.

Meloni left intact leadership at Italy’s two biggest energy firms, where she’s sought to ease the impact of fuel-price spikes and the economic slowdown triggered by the Iran war.

Descalzi’s confirmation extends his tenure at Eni to more than a decade. The group plays a central role in Italy’s foreign policy, particularly in securing energy supplies in North Africa and expanding in Asia and Latin America.

Enel’s Cattaneo is expected to continue his strategy of debt reduction and refocusing the utility on core markets.

At Terna, Di Foggia was investing aggressively to fortify the grid for greater demands tied to AI and the energy transition. Her replacement as CEO will be tasked with seeing those projects through.

(Updates with Friday’s trading from fifth paragraph, adds analyst comment.)

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Webster highlights the importance of resilience, diversified sourcing, strategic stockpiling and dialogue between governments, while warning of wider economic effects across chemicals, fertilisers and critical feedstocks. He also reflects on how shifting geopolitics may reshape global partnerships in an increasingly fragmented landscape.

“There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait,” Trump wrote Thursday on social media. “They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!”

In a later post, Trump said Iran was doing a “very poor” job of allowing oil to pass through the waterway. “That is not the agreement we have!” he wrote.

Trump had earlier described Iran’s leaders as “much more reasonable” than their public comments would suggest in a phone interview with NBC News. The US president also said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “going to low-key it” with Israeli airstrikes on Tehran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, after the two leaders spoke by phone on Wednesday.

Netanyahu’s decision to open direct talks with Lebanon pushed oil prices down on Thursday afternoon, as the US agreed to host a meeting next week to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Israel and Lebanon, according to a State Department official. But the Israeli leader also reiterated his position that ongoing attacks in Lebanon were not part of the US-Iran ceasefire deal announced on Tuesday. 

The Strait of Hormuz — which Trump has repeatedly insisted Iran reopen — remains effectively shut, as shipowners await clarification on its status. Traffic is still a fraction of pre-war levels, despite state media reporting that Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization published two safe routes for shipping.

Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, whose father was killed in the early days of the war launched by the US and Israel, also repeated demands for war reparations — a likely nonstarter for US negotiators. Khamenei also said in a statement on Telegram that Iran “will definitely bring the management of the Strait of Hormuz to a new stage,” though it was unclear if he was referring to past Iranian demands to retain control of the waterway that the US has rejected.

The geopolitical developments on Thursday sowed new doubts about the prospects of securing a long-term deal to end a war that has engulfed the Middle East. 

The US and Iran appeared to pause most strikes after fighting continued in the region on Wednesday after the ceasefire was announced on Tuesday evening. But on Thursday evening, the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry said fresh drone attacks were carried out by Iran and its proxies, which targeted a number of vital facilities in the country.

Vice President JD Vance is expected to lead the US delegation in discussions scheduled for Islamabad on Saturday, with Iranian officials due to arrive in the Pakistani capital on Thursday.

Yet Israel’s ongoing campaign against Tehran-aligned Hezbollah risks undermining the negotiations. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Israel’s strikes in Lebanon are a “clear violation” of the ceasefire and “will render negotiations meaningless.” 

Israel’s military on Thursday told residents in eight Beirut neighborhoods to leave ahead of strikes, after a major operation that killed more than 300 people the previous day. 

Trump vowed to keep troops in the Gulf ahead of the talks in Pakistan, “until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with.” He added that the Strait of Hormuz would soon be open and safe to use. 

Iran effectively shut down Hormuz — through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically flows — after the US and Israel began airstrikes on Feb. 28. Control over the waterway, and safe passage for tankers, will be a major focus of talks as fears linger of a global energy supply crisis. 

Oil prices jumped towards the end of the session on news that Saudi Arabia’s production capacity was cut by more than half a million barrels a day due to a spate of attacks on energy facilities. Prices were choppy throughout the session and US crude for May rose nearly 4% to end the session close to $98 a barrel while Brent crude for June settled near $96 a barrel.  

With only sporadic attacks reported in Iran and across the Middle East, the international focus shifted to a bit toward Lebanon, where Israel revived its campaign against Hezbollah after the militant group started firing rockets across the Israel-Lebanon border at the start of the war.

The two sides previously engaged in a full-blown conflict for about two months in 2024 before a tentative ceasefire in November of that year. The Lebanese government has pledged to disarm Hezbollah, but hasn’t succeeded — with the powerful group refusing. 

Vance said Israel had agreed to “check themselves a little bit in Lebanon” to support negotiations. Hezbollah said it fired rockets toward Israel in response to Wednesday’s assault.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said Israel’s right to defend itself doesn’t justify “inflicting such massive destruction in Lebanon,” warning the offensive is hurting peace talks.

The war in the Middle East has claimed more than 5,500 lives, according to governments and non-governmental agencies. More than 3,600 people have been killed in Iran, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency estimates, while more than 1,700 people have died in Lebanon, the government says. 

Israel said it’s killed more than 1,400 Hezbollah militants, including 200 on Wednesday.

Israel has reported about three dozen deaths, and a similar number have been killed across the Gulf Arab nations, government reports show. There have also been several dozen casualties in Iraq. Thirteen American troops have been killed, according to US Central Command.

A big stumbling block to any peace talks remains the status of the Strait of Hormuz. Only three ships were observed leaving the region on Wednesday, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg shows. In normal times, about 135 vessels cross daily. 

Iran’s safe routes in Hormuz were established to avoid the potential presence of mines in the primary traffic lanes and all ships are asked to coordinate with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps until further notice, state-run Nour News reported. 

More than 800 freighters are stuck inside the Gulf, mostly waiting to leave, and owners and insurer groups have warned that more details will be needed to determine if safe transit is possible. 

Trump has made conflicting claims about a possible peace deal, including suggesting a joint US-Iran toll system for ships in Hormuz. His press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said that proposal hadn’t been accepted.

Trump also said Iran had undergone a “regime change,” even though there have been no signs this week that new leadership had taken hold. He indicated the US would use its 15-point plan as the basis of negotiations with Tehran, while remaining open to sanctions relief.

Iran’s demands include its continued control of Hormuz, acceptance of its nuclear-enrichment activities, the lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions, and a withdrawal of US combat forces from the region, according to a statement by its Supreme National Security Council carried by state media.

(Updates with Trump comment in third paragraph.)

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

The undertaking makes ConocoPhillips just the second major US oil company to publicly disclosed an on-the-ground inspection in Venezuela, home to some of the world’s biggest crude reserves.

The purpose of the trip is to “better understand the potential for in-country oil and gas opportunities,” Dennis Nuss, a spokesman, said in a statement on Thursday. “We will evaluate Venezuela against other international opportunities as part of our disciplined investment framework.”

Despite President Donald Trump’s call earlier this year for US drillers to help revive the Venezuelan oil sector, ConocoPhillips Chief Executive Officer Ryan Lance has been telling investors his main priority is recouping roughly $12 billion it’s owed after its holdings in the South American nation were nationalized in 2007.

Exxon Mobil Corp., which also quit the country after asset seizures by the late dictator Hugo Chavez, said two weeks ago that it sent a team to assess Venezuelan opportunities. 

Rebuilding Venezuelan oil output to 3 million barrels a day would require “probably hundreds of millions of dollars” over a long time horizon, Dan Ammann, upstream president at Exxon, said during the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston last month.

A lot has to happen to pave the way for more foreign investment, Lance has said on several occasions. 

“We’re trying to be constructive and help the administration think through what’s needed to incentivize the investments that will go into Venezuela,” Lance said during the CERAWeek event. “We have to see what’s the pathway to starting to recover some of what’s owed us.”

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

“China is the winner in this war from an economic standpoint, from an energy mix standpoint,” he said in an interview.

The prediction feeds into a complex picture. Bruegel, a think tank, says China’s reliance on oil imports from Iran is set to pose a “severe test” for its energy strategy. At the same time, the country’s status as the world’s largest producer of clean tech puts it in a unique position to help governments now desperate to wean themselves off Middle East imports, according to the Deutsche Bank executive. 

Longer term, Tang says “everybody knows” that the world “cannot rely on oil.” 

He says it’s a realization that will force a reset in Asia, the biggest importer of Middle Eastern oil. Japan, Korea and India are now all more likely to look for ways to diversify their energy mix, and the equipment needed to achieve that diversification will inevitably come from China, Tang said.

As the conflict in the Middle East veers between existential threats and a fragile ceasefire, volatility in oil and gas prices has skyrocketed. The promise of a two-week break from fighting offered relief on Wednesday morning, with the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz listed as a condition of the deal. 

For now, however, the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, pushing up the price of Brent crude. “The situation remains fluid,” analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a note. And by Thursday, optimism over the US-Iran ceasefire had faded after Tehran warned that some terms of the deal had been breached.

Against that backdrop, governments will continue to work toward energy independence. China, which remains the world’s largest consumer of coal, is rapidly building out its clean-tech sector as part of its goal of achieving energy independence. 

Low-carbon sources now account for close to 40% of the country’s electricity generation, compared with about 25% a decade ago, according to a February report by Ember. And renewables make up almost 50% of installed power capacity, Barclays Plc estimates.

“A decade of renewable build-out and electrification have materially reduced China’s exposure to energy shocks,” a Barclays team led by Jian Chang, the bank’s chief China economist, said in an April 8 note to clients. The upshot is that oil and gas are “now playing only a minor role in power generation” for the country, she said.

China’s long-term “focus on electrification” is making it more resilient to energy price shocks, according to a Lombard Odier note sent to clients this month. And its build-up of strategic oil reserves has created an effective short-term buffer against rising oil prices, the Lombard Odier note said.

Tang says a new wave of demand for renewable energy would sift out clean-tech winners, after years of hyper-growth drove down prices to levels at which some companies could no longer compete.

“The issue in China is that the competition is fierce,” Tang said. “The winners will be those guys with healthy balance sheets, with healthy fundamentals, with pricing power.”

Equipment exporters with margins that can absorb higher costs — and a cash flow that allows them to do mergers and acquisitions — will fare best, Tang said. He also says Deutsche is advising its private banking customers to seek out companies that are less indebted than their peers. 

“For a lot of those infrastructure companies, unfortunately, the gearing ratio is high because they are small cap, and they need money from a bank,” Tang said. 

A typical client portfolio tends to have about 10-15% of their Chinese equity allocation in clean energy stocks, he said. “We try not to be massively overweight because there is still a lot of volatility.”

Chinese stocks were among the top performers on the S&P Global Clean Energy Transition Index in the first few weeks of the war, but the gains have since evaporated for most. 

Shares of Sungrow Power Supply Co., one of the world’s largest energy storage firms, climbed more than 20% after the Iran war began before shaving off nearly a third of their value due to disappointing earnings. 

Wind power generation equipment makers Goldwind Science & Technology Co. and Ming Yang Smart Energy Group have also seen their stocks mostly plunge in recent sessions. Meanwhile, shares of battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. and electric car maker BYD Co. are still higher by about 28% and 8% in Hong Kong, respectively.

To deal with over-supply in its clean-tech sector, China’s government has embarked on an anti-involution campaign. Its latest five-year plan downplayed the solar sector, and it’s also canceling or reducing export tax rebates on products including solar cells as countries have called out trade imbalances.

“China is quite determined to make sure that prices stay at a competitive level and at the same time, that companies can survive,” Tang said.

(Updates with latest on ceasefire process, in seventh paragraph.)

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.