Libya NOC reaches production-sharing deal with Chevron
Libya's state-owned oil company NOC has announced a production-sharing agreement with Chevron for an area in the Sirte Basin, in a deal linked to an internatio…
Energy & Resources — August 2026
Iran says new gas field found as war hits energy
Iran said Sunday it had discovered a natural gas field in southern Fars province with more than 200 billion cubic metres of gas, as its energy sector faces dam…
Bangladesh gas crisis shuts factories and cuts power
Bangladesh's gas crisis has shut or restricted major fertiliser plants, cut factory output and caused regular power and household gas shortages across the country. The state-owned Ashuganj fertiliser factory has been closed since March 2025. It once employed…
Rare earths extracted from US coal mine wastewater
Rare earth elements are being extracted from wastewater flowing out of retired coal mines in West Virginia, in a pilot project that researchers say could help…
Iraq targets 10 million barrels a day in oil output
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said Friday that he wants to raise the country's oil production to as much as 10 million barrels per day within six years. “…
Bulgaria to cut nuclear output as Danube runs low
Bulgaria will reduce nuclear power output at the Kozloduy plant on Friday because of very low water levels in the Danube river, the energy ministry said. The state-owned plant will cut the capacity of one of its two operating reactors by around 120 megawatts…
North Sea drilling decision tests UK climate pledge
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham must decide in the coming weeks whether to authorise two North Sea drilling projects, testing Labour’s climate pledge again…
Nord Stream attack: Zelensky denies Ukraine role again
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that Kyiv did not take part in the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline attack, repeating a denial after German prosecutors alleged the bombings were ordered by the Ukrainian state. Zelensky told reporters that Ukraine…
Canada announces $50 billion clean energy plan
Canada announced a clean energy plan worth nearly CAN$70 billion, or $50.5 billion, aimed at expanding wind and hydropower generation in the country's east. The tentative agreement involves Prime Minister Mark Carney's government, Quebec, and Newfoundland and…
Amazon coast oil find is 'passport to future,' Lula says
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has hailed Petrobras's oil discovery near the Amazon coast as a "passport to the future," despite opposition from…
Cuba blackouts drive residents to rooftops to sleep
Cuba's blackouts and summer heat are driving people in Havana onto rooftops, porches and public spaces at night to find enough breeze to sleep. In Central Havana, 59-year-old Alexis Milan waits until sunset with his blind 17-year-old son before going to the r…
Shell loses South Africa offshore exploration case
South Africa's Constitutional Court on Friday overturned oil and gas exploration rights granted to Shell more than a decade ago, ruling in favour of coastal communities and environmental groups. The decision ended a years-long battle over Shell's plans to con…
Iraq oil exports highest since war began, minister says
Iraq's oil exports have averaged two million barrels a day since the start of August, their highest rate since the Iran-US war disrupted the Strait of Hormuz, Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair said Friday. Khudair told a press conference that the rate amou…
Spain extends Almaraz nuclear plant to 2030
Spain has authorised the Almaraz nuclear plant to operate until June 8, 2030, extending the life of the country’s largest nuclear site in a reversal of its previous plan to close it in 2028. A ministerial order published in the official state gazette said the…
Russia fuel crisis prompts remote-work appeal in Siberia
Authorities in Russia's Novosibirsk region have urged employers to switch staff to remote work and asked residents to limit car travel during a deepening fuel…
Iraq power protests leave over 50 police hurt, officials say
Hundreds of residents protested in Kut, eastern Iraq, over power cuts during extreme summer heat, with local health officials saying more than 50 police office…
India oil reserve: ONGC approves 1.75 MMT plan
India's state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has approved plans to develop a 1.75 million metric tonne strategic petroleum reserve in the Mangalore region…
India defends E20 petrol after engine damage claims
India defended its rollout of E20 petrol on Friday after motorists and viral social media posts claimed the ethanol-blended fuel could damage vehicles or affec…
Kazakhstan gas cylinders raise safety fears after blast
A deadly gas cylinder explosion in northern Kazakhstan has renewed concern over the country’s reliance on bottled gas, despite its large natural gas reserves.…
Venezuela cuts public sector hours to save power
Venezuela will reduce public sector working hours to ease pressure on its power grid, interim leader Delcy Rodriguez said Wednesday. Rodriguez said the measure would mean public sector employees working every other day and half days, except for essential serv…
Romania shuts only nuclear plant as Danube drops
Romania halted operations at its only nuclear power plant on Thursday after low Danube water levels left the river unable to provide enough cooling water. The Cernavoda plant, which usually generates about a fifth of Romania's electricity, has two 700-megawat…
Moscow fuel queues return after Ukraine refinery strike
Drivers queued at several Moscow petrol stations on Wednesday as local shortages of some fuel types reemerged after recent Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure. AFP journalists saw dozens of cars waiting for fuel at several stations in the Russian…
IEA cuts 2026 oil demand forecast as Hormuz stays shut
The International Energy Agency cut its forecast for 2026 global oil demand again on Wednesday, saying the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz and high fuel prices were weighing on consumption. The Paris-based agency now expects demand to fall by 1.6 mi…
Oil prices swing as analysts cite Hormuz closure
Oil prices are continuing to swing during the US-Iran clash, with analysts pointing to the partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz, shifting statements from President Donald Trump and pressure on refined fuels including diesel and gasoline. Jim Burkhard, head…
Greenland warns US firm over unauthorised drilling gear
Greenland's government has warned Texas-based Greenland Energy after the company unloaded drilling equipment without authorisation on the east coast of the autonomous Danish territory. The company unloaded the gear last month in Nunap Qeqqa, also known as Jam…
Germany power prices to surge during solar eclipse
Germany's wholesale electricity prices are expected to briefly surge during a partial solar eclipse on Wednesday evening, according to European Power Exchange data. Spot electricity for some 15-minute periods was selling at more than 400 euros per megawatt-ho…
France nuclear capacity 20% offline amid heat, jellyfish
France had 20.4 percent of its nuclear generating capacity unavailable Wednesday as extreme heat, drought and a jellyfish invasion disrupted reactors, according to AFP calculations based on EDF data. Between 9:45 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., EDF's nuclear fleet reach…
Venezuela's Delcy Rodriguez meets US Treasury officials
Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez met senior US Treasury Department officials on August 10 for talks that her office said covered energy-market stability and the reactivation of financial mechanisms. The Venezuelan presidency said Rodriguez met US…
Europe gas stocks hit lowest level since 2021
Europe's natural gas storage is at 58 percent, the lowest level since 2021, raising questions about winter supply as prices stay above pre-crisis levels. Summer is normally when energy firms refill gas storage before colder weather lifts demand for heating, e…
US Data Centers Turn to Nuclear Power via Small Modular Reactors
Small Modular Reactor (SMR) firm Nuclea Energy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with New Mining to evaluate deploying SMRs at data centers across the United States. The MoU sets out a collaborative framework under which the parties will assess c…
Australia scrutinises China-linked rare earth investors
Australia's economy minister increased scrutiny on Monday of China-linked investors in Northern Minerals, a critical minerals company whose Browns Range rare earths project has been pitched as a future non-China source of key materials. Northern Minerals said…
Moerdijk faces possible demolition for Dutch energy hub
Moerdijk, a small Dutch port village of about 1,150 people, faces an uncertain future as the Netherlands considers whether to use the area for a major clean-energy infrastructure project. The planned Powerport project would develop several hundred hectares fo…
Ukraine has almost no intact thermal plants, Zelensky says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine has “virtually no intact thermal power plants” ahead of winter because of Russian strikes.
Pentagon offers $400m loan for Australian scandium mine
The Pentagon has announced a $400 million conditional loan commitment to Sunrise Energy Metals to build a proposed scandium mine in New South Wales, Australia. Sunrise said the Syerston project in Fifield, about 450 kilometres west of Sydney, would be the wor…
AI data centers drive US private gas plant boom
US technology companies are increasingly planning private gas-fired power plants to supply AI data centers, with research firm Cleanview identifying around 60 planned sites with a combined 97 gigawatts of behind-the-meter generation into the early 2030s. Clea…
Solar eclipse may cut Europe solar output by 9.7 GW, grid body says
European power grid operators are preparing for the August 12 solar eclipse to cause a temporary dip in solar electricity generation, the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity said. Under clear skies, photovoltaic output across Eur…
DR Congo to test uranium claims in China-bound cobalt
The Democratic Republic of Congo's government said on Friday it will investigate the presence of uranium in its cobalt exports after allegations that radioactive material had entered shipments sent to China. An investigation published in late July in Nature C…
RWE abandons US offshore wind projects in $1.22bn deal
German energy company RWE said Thursday it is abandoning its offshore wind projects in the United States after reaching a $1.22 billion settlement with the US government to give up leases in the New York Bight and off the coasts of Louisiana and California. R…
Ukraine has almost no intact thermal plants, Zelensky says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday in Belgrade that Ukraine was entering winter with almost no intact thermal power plants, after overnight Russian strikes killed four people in the Kyiv area, including a child. Speaking alongside Serbian Pr…
India approves $2.5bn biogas scheme
India has approved a $2.5 billion programme to expand domestic biogas production, as the government seeks to reduce reliance on imported energy. A government statement said the National Circular Bioenergy Scheme will support waste collection, manure processin…
Deep-sea mining plan alarms US Pacific islands
US plans to open parts of the Pacific Ocean to deep-sea mining exploration have alarmed leaders in American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, where officials say local communities were not properly consulted and fear damage to fisheries and marine…
Soil power lights Japan lab from 1,500 boxes
A test lab in Hitachi-ota, Japan, is lit by electricity collected from 1,500 wooden boxes of soil and compost, part of designer Satoshi Nakagawa's effort to show how very small currents could power low-energy devices. Nakagawa, chief executive of Tripod Desig…
Philippines solar boom grows on high bills, cheap panels
The Philippines is seeing a rooftop solar boom as high electricity bills, cheaper Chinese panels and concerns about outages push households and businesses to install systems. The government has set a target of 35 percent renewable energy in the power mix by 2…
Cuba grid reconnected after 36-hour blackout
Cuba's state electricity operator said Tuesday that the country's power grid had been reconnected after a 36-hour nationwide blackout, the sixth islandwide outage this year. Authorities had struggled to bring generation facilities and connectors back online.…
Syria-Iraq oil pipeline may take three years to restore
Syria and Iraq are finalising negotiations on a contract to restore the Haditha-Banias oil pipeline, a Syrian official said Tuesday, with the work expected to take up to three years. Syrian Petroleum Company chief executive Youssef Qablawi said at the Rmeilan…
Iraq oil exports via Hormuz top 30m barrels, Kpler says
Iraq exported more than 30 million barrels of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz in one month, maritime tracking firm Kpler data showed Tuesday, as the country tries to keep shipments moving through a disrupted export route. Kpler said vessels it detected…
Trump says oil firms profit too much from Iran war
US President Donald Trump said major oil companies were making “too much money” from high prices linked to shortages caused by the Iran war, and called on them to cut prices for consumers. “I don't like it. They're making too much money, okay? Based on a shor…
Cuba power restoration hit by bad weather
Cuba was working Monday, August 3, to restore electricity after its sixth nationwide blackout of the year, but the state energy utility said bad weather had disrupted the recovery effort. By midday Monday, about 50 percent of Havana had power again, along wit…
Key OPEC+ members agree 188,000 bpd September oil rise
Saudi Arabia, Russia and five other key OPEC+ members agreed in an online meeting on Aug. 2 to raise September oil production by 188,000 barrels per day, the participating countries said in a joint statement. The decision was made by Saudi Arabia, Russia, Ira…
Power returns to Havana after Cuba grid failure
Power returned to Havana and other parts of western Cuba early Sunday after state-run electricity company UNE fixed a partial collapse of the grid that had left five of the country's 15 provinces without electricity for most of the night. UNE said on X that s…
Turkey-Iraq pipeline deal extended by one year
Turkey and Iraq agreed on Saturday to extend an oil pipeline agreement by one year, officials from both countries said, days after a top-level Iraqi visit to Ankara. Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the agreement was signed after a meeting in…
Hungary nuclear plant stays online after shutdown threat
Hungary's only nuclear power plant remained in operation on Monday after engineers reduced cooling-water needs enough to keep one turbine online, Prime Minister Peter Magyar said, averting for now a full shutdown he had warned could happen for the first time…