energyindependence

The Trump administration will put up for auction more than 81 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas companies on Wednesday as part of efforts to boost domestic energy production through regular auctions for offshore leaseholds.
The auction will be the second since the US-Israel war with Iran disrupted global crude oil flows and pushed oil prices to four-year highs. It is the third of 30 auctions provided for under the 2025 law by President Donald Trump on tax cuts and spending.

On Thursday, the White House issued an order introducing restrictions on certain types of foreign electrical equipment for power grids. The order declares a national emergency regime due to foreign supplies of electrical equipment for backbone power systems.

Tajikistan has asked Iran for supplies of 2.55 million tonnes of oil and oil products, seeking to make up for a fuel shortage after disruptions in deliveries from its traditional partner—Russia. Reuters reports this.
According to the request, the republic expects to obtain 2 million tonnes of crude oil, 150,000 tonnes of gasoline, 300,000 tonnes of diesel fuel, and 100,000 tonnes of aviation fuel.

In the first half of 2026, EU countries imported a record quantity of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Russian “Yamal LNG” plant. This was reported on Monday, July 13, by the Financial Times (FT), citing data from the analytics firm Kpler.
According to analysts, over the past six months EU countries purchased 9.89 million tons of LNG from companies. This is 18% more than in the same period last year. The German non-governmental organization Urgewald estimates the value of the purchased gas at roughly six billion euros. The main buyers of Russian LNG were France, Belgium, and Spain.

The Prime Minister of Iraq will travel to Washington on Monday to strengthen strategic relations with the United States. During the visit, a number of agreements in the oil and gas sector are expected to be signed.
The agreements include several memorandums of understanding in the oil and gas sector. Iraq is preparing to attract a number of American companies that will help boost the country’s oil production capacity, a government official, Haider al-Abadi, said.

Liquefied natural gas will become the United States’ second-largest net export industry over the next five years, contributing nearly $1.4 trillion to gross domestic product by 2040, according to a study by S&P Global Energy.
In 2025, the country became the first to export more than 100 million metric tons of LNG in a single year, helped by the commissioning of new production capacity.

China instructed the country’s largest oil refineries to maintain a high level of fuel production amid renewed fighting between Iran and the United States, which poses a risk of disruptions in oil supplies through the Persian Gulf. Bloomberg News reported this on Saturday.

Canada announced on Monday a strategy for the accelerated development of nuclear energy, which includes the construction of up to 10 new large reactors and streamlining the approval process for future projects.
Minister of Natural Resources Tim Hodgson laid out a strategy indicating that by 2035, two new nuclear reactors will be under construction, and another five will be in the planning or development stage by 2040.

On Friday, spot-market differentials for West African oil practically did not change amid low trading activity throughout the week.
According to sources, the market for West African crude grades remained largely calm this week.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose by approximately 3.4% and 4%, respectively, over the course of the week. The United States threatened to impose a permanent naval blockade of Iran, raising concerns about potential disruptions to oil supplies from the Middle East.

In July, nearly 30,000 tons of petroleum products were shipped to Russia from South Korea. This was reported on Friday, August 7, by Reuters, citing data from ship-tracking systems Kpler and Vortexa.
At least two tankers with destinations in Russia’s Far East were loaded with petroleum products from storage tanks at Ulsan port, the agency notes. According to Kpler and one of the sources for the journalists, one of the vessels has already arrived in Russia but has not yet begun unloading. As the agency’s interlocutors point out, the речь is about diesel and aviation fuel.

According to Financial Times (FT) information, Russia is expanding its “shadow fleet” of ships intended for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG). These measures are being taken ahead of the 2027 entry into force of the EU ban on imports of Russian LNG, the outlet reported on Tuesday, August 4, citing data from analytics firm Windward.

Kazakhstan is holding talks with Russia on the processing of Russian oil at its refineries. Reuters reported this on Thursday, July 30, citing the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan.
"Negotiations are under way on the processing of Russian-origin oil, followed by the sale of the resulting products within Kazakhstan and the export of part of the products to the Russian Federation", Reuters quotes a statement from a Kazakhstan agency.

On Saturday, the United States carried out new strikes on Iran, targeting forces involved in the missile and drone attack that killed two American service members in Jordan, Bloomberg reports.
U.S. Central Command said the operation was aimed at undermining Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping, as well as punishing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps units responsible for the Friday attack.

Europe’s economy is approaching a critical point: renewed energy inflation, a slowdown in manufacturing activity, and limited budgetary support increase the risk of a technical recession, analysts at BCA Research say.
Outlook remains uncertain. One scenario assumes two consecutive quarters of economic contraction, however a number of resilience factors could keep growth in slightly positive territory.

The production index of oil products in Russia (as part of the overall industrial production index) in June of the current year was 21.8% lower than a year earlier. These are the data from Rosstat released on Wednesday, July 22. For comparison: in May 2026, this indicator, year-on-year, fell in Russia by 13.5%.

Moscow car dealerships are struggling to keep up with demand for new electric vehicles from China: drivers are trying to bypass the fuel crisis that has led to gas station queues and a sharp rise in prices across much of Russia. Reuters reports this.
Increased attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure in recent weeks have limited supplies of gasoline and diesel.

Московское областное управление Федеральной антимонопольной службы (ФАС) возбудило дело против компании «Евротранс», которой принадлежит сеть АЗС «Трасса», сообщается на сайте регулятора. Поводом стали подозрения в установлении монопольно высоких цен на бензин марок АИ-92, АИ-95 и дизельное топливо. По данным УФАС, розничные цены компании существенно превышали показатели АЗС крупных нефтяных компаний.
Регулятор установил, что «Евротранс» занимает доминирующее положение на рынке топлива в восьми городских и трех муниципальных округах Подмосковья – ей принадлежат 57 АЗС. В случае подтверждения вины компании грозит оборотный штраф – до 15% от выручки.
Еще в середине июня служба направляла «Евротрансу» запрос о ценообразовании. Уже к середине августа стало известно, что служба возбудила уже 41 дело против участников рынка нефтепродуктов по всей стране, еще в 68 случаев компании получали предупреждения о возможных нарушениях.
Череда технических дефолтов у компании началась еще в марте по выпускам народных облигаций, а 5 августа она допустила первый полноценный дефолт по купонной выплате по облигациям серии БО-001Р-09 – инвесторы получили лишь 7,8 млн рублей, или 19% от причитающегося купона.
Уже на следующий день Московская биржа перевела все 10 выпусков облигаций «Евротранса» в режим торгов «Д». С начала августа компания не исполнила обязательства еще по 10 выпускам и продолжила фиксировать дефолты. Совокупный облигационный долг эмитента с учетом ЦФА составляет 36,8 млрд рублей – основная часть из 42 млрд рублей публичного долга эмитентов, впервые допустивших дефолт с начала года, по оценке АКРА. Сбербанк и банк «Россия» уже заявили о намерении инициировать банкротство компании.
Параллельно «Евротранс» лишился рейтингов всех четырех агентств. В конце мая «Эксперт РА» отозвал оценку без подтверждения – последним из агентств, сохранявших рейтинг компании. До этого АКРА перестала учитывать рейтинг по инициативе эмитента с 13 марта, НРА отозвало его 13 апреля, НКР – 14 апреля.
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Electricity generation on the U.S. mainland reached 100,895 gigawatt-hours for the week ending August 22, which is 6.1% higher than the same period last year, according to data published by the Edison Electric Institute on Wednesday.
The weekly generation volume decreased by approximately 0.6% compared with the previous seven-day period, in which production amounted to 101,498 GWh, an industry organization reported.

The U.S. Treasury Department accused the oil-refining arm of China’s conglomerate Hengli Group of buying Iranian oil worth billions of dollars, placing the company at the center of Washington’s campaign against Tehran’s oil exports, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Hengli denies trading with Iran, saying it complies with regulatory requirements in all markets where it operates, and that its suppliers provided similar assurances.

Oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron increased their profits by several times last quarter thanks to high oil prices due to the war in the Middle East. Due to limited opportunities to produce, refine, and export oil and oil products in the Persian Gulf, American companies are using their capacity to the fullest. But their windfall profits are bringing them closer to a confrontation with Donald Trump, who is demanding lower fuel prices.