Month: October 2026

The blockading of the Strait of Hormuz was something that was never going to happen—until it did, paralyzing a fifth of global LNG and crude oil flows and causing quite a bit of economic pain to both producers and consumers of energy commodities. Now, they are taking care to never let a disruption of that scale happen again. The most immediate response to Iran’s closure of the strait was switching to alternative pipeline routes for those that had them. Saudi Arabia demonstrated foresight with its East-West pipeline that it used to reroute…

In the early 2020s, there was great enthusiasm around the development of the small modular reactor (SMR), which was expected to support a nuclear renaissance. However, after supply chain disruptions, technical difficulties, and other challenges, it is unclear whether SMR development is progressing as expected. Nevertheless, some companies continue to invest heavily in the technology, hoping it will help drive innovation and expansion in the nuclear power sector. SMRs are advanced nuclear reactors with a power capacity of up to 300 MW(e) per unit,…

Equinor and its partners are investing more than NOK 4 billion ($390 million) to expand the Troll field, a giant North Sea asset that supplies around 10% of Europe’s natural gas and contains 40% of Norway’s remaining gas reserves. The project is expected to unlock around 11 billion cubic meters of natural gas, equivalent to roughly 69 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), further strengthening one of Europe’s most important sources of energy. Known as TWIN (Troll West Increased Gas Recovery North), the development will consist of two new wells…

The leaders of the G7 have created a strategic alliance on critical minerals in a coordinated effort to break China’s oversized control of the metals and minerals and rare earth elements crucial to the defense, automotive, and clean energy industries. At the G7 summit in Evian, France, the leaders of G7 issued a declaration in which the nations committed “to coordinating efforts within the G7 and with partner countries to establish and develop the necessary processing and industrial capacities for diversification of our critical minerals…

While ships are beginning to trickle through the Strait of Hormuz after months of near-total closure, it will be a very long time before the effects of this year’s energy crisis fade from the global economy – if they ever do. This latest round of turmoil in global oil and gas markets has catalyzed clean energy adoption to a degree that may permanently alter the global energy landscape, as well as the way that we conceive of energy security and geopolitical strategy. It is extremely telling that, against the backdrop of the United States…

Nobody, especially not Iraq, wants to be caught relying on Hormuz ever again. Iraq is preparing to export crude oil and naphtha through Syria’s Mediterranean port of Baniyas, expanding an emergency workaround that emerged after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted the country’s primary export routes and left storage tanks filling up. According to Reuters, Iraqi officials say the strategy will remain in place even after shipping through Hormuz returns to normal. That alone says plenty. Iraq normally exports around 3.6 million barrels of…

The data centre industry has taken off in the last few years, as tech companies look to develop the massive computing power needed to run complex operations, such as artificial intelligence. Thousands of data centres are being developed on land, but now, some countries are looking to establish innovative models in alternative locations, such as underwater. In May, China launched the world’s first wind-powered underwater data centre off the coast of Shanghai, with an investment of around $238 million. The 24 MW-capacity Shanghai Lingang undersea…

For decades, energy policy in Washington was debated on the basis of economics, climate change, and domestic politics. That era is over. The United States is entering a period where energy security must be recognized as a  core pillar of national security and military readiness. The global competition underway with China is not just about trade or tariffs. It is about industrial capacity, technological dominance, artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductor manufacturing, and defense production – all of which depend on a foundational requirement:…

A high-stakes push-and-pull is taking place in the United States clean energy sector as state-level laws, federal-level policy, and that infamous invisible hand all tug in different directions. A staggering amount of different legal actions on the part of the Trump administration, the judicial system, and state politicians have created an incredibly complex landscape for clean energy adoption across the country. And while the economics of renewables are looking better than ever, the political positioning of the clean energy transition is looking…