Author: omc_admin

The histories and geographical spread of the 26 tankers that have recently switched flags illustrates the growing risks.The dark fleet of tankers shipping illicit oil around the world is rushing to seek the perceived protection of the Russian flag after the US started seizing vessels involved in the Venezuelan trade.At least 26 ships have switched registration to Russia since the beginning of last month, with the bulk of those happening after the US snatched the Skipper supertanker off the coast of Venezuela on Dec. 10, according to Starboard Maritime Intelligence data. That’s a jump from six in November and just…

Silicon Valley is raising its standards for talent.Adrien Friggeri spent over a decade combined at Meta — including back when it was called Facebook — with stints at Michael Bloomberg’s Hawkfish and Clubhouse as well. Now, he works as a partner software engineer at Microsoft, according to his LinkedIn profile.The consequences of underperforming are “more drastic” now than they were 10 years ago, Friggeri said on “The Peterman Pod.”In an email to Business Insider, Friggeri wrote that there is less “organizational ‘slack'” and higher expectations for tech employees.”That means performance gaps are identified and addressed faster, and if someone is…

China’s coal imports booked a decline last year, at 9.6% from 2024 to a total of 490 million tons. The sizable decline was driven by higher domestic production and a rare decline in thermal power generation, Bloomberg reported, citing official import data.The publication noted that the coal import decline was the steepest among all the major commodities that the country buys from abroad and that it was the sharpest annual decline in a decade.Gas imports declined by 2.8% last year, to a total of 127.87 million tons, Reuters said in a report citing the statistics data released today by Beijing,…

Data indicates a significant rise in average consumption, which has increased from 3 cylinders to 4.85 cylinders per family.India’s Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, took to his social media on Wednesday, highlighting the transformative impact of India’s clean cooking initiatives, emphasizing that the true success of the program lies in the regular usage of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) rather than just the number of connections provided. In his post on X, he noted that India currently operates a massive nationwide LPG system with 33 crore connections.He also mentioned the achievement of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana…

NEW YORK (AP) — Shoppers increased their spending in November from October as holiday shopping kicked into full gear.Retail sales rose a better-than-expected 0.6% in November, following a revised 0.1% decline October, according to the Commerce Department. The report on Wednesday was delayed more than a month because of the 43-day government shutdown.Retail sales rose 0.1% increase in September, but jumped 0.6% in July and August and 1% in June.The federal government is gradually catching up on economic reports that were postponed by the shutdown.The retail sales figures, which are not adjusted for inflation, showed that in most cases shoppers…

More than two dozen sanctioned tankers have switched to a Russian flag since the start of December as a means of avoiding seizure by U.S. forces, Bloomberg has reported, citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence.As many as 26 tankers are currently sailing under a Russian flag, compared to only six in November and 14 for the five months to November, the data showed. The switches accelerated after the United States seized the tanker Skipper off the Venezuelan coast in early December, Bloomberg noted in its report.There are 1,500 tankers that are used to ship Russian, Iranian, and Venezuelan crude, Bloomberg…

U.S. President Donald Trump visits a Ford production center in Dearborn, Michigan, U.S., January 13, 2026. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Tuesday that he had “cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials,” and reiterated his support for protestors fueling one of the largest anti-government demonstrations in the Middle Eastern country.Trump’s move suggests that diplomatic methods aimed at compelling Tehran to cease its violent crackdown on protestors might be off the table for now.WTI crude and global benchmark Brent saw prices jump more than 2.5% during U.S. trading hours as Washington’s involvement…

Uniper SE said Tuesday it had sanctioned four new solar projects in Poland with a combined capacity of 219 megawatts peak (MWp). The Domanowo, Kłodawa, Krotoszyce and Pakosc projects are among five solar projects on which it made a positive final investment decision (FID) last month, the German power and gas utility said in a press release Tuesday. Uniper already announced a FID to proceed constructing its first solar project in Scotland on December 11, 2025. It said it expects the 45-MW Berryhill Solar Farm just north of Dundee to start construction “early 2026” and start operation later in the year.…

BPRL is very positive about the well results and is looking forward to further establishing the economic deliverability of the wells during the appraisal phase.Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) on Wednesday said that Bharat PetroResources Limited (BPRL), its wholly owned subsidiary and exploration and production arm, through a 50:50 special purpose vehicle with Urja Bharat Pte Limited (UBPL), have discovered oil in their operated Onshore Block 1 in Abu Dhabi.BPCL, in a regulatory filing, said the discovery was announced on January 13, 2026, following the award of the exploration concession to UBPL in March 2019 and completion of the exploration…

Crude oil imports into China last year hit the highest ever, reaching 11.55 million barrels daily, or a total of 557.73 million tons, up 4.4% on 2024, Reuters reported today, citing official statistics.The December total was also a record high, the data showed, at an average daily of 13.18 million barrels for a total of 55.97 million tons.The data casts doubt on claims that Chinese oil demand is shrinking irreversibly, driven down by the electrification of transport. On the other hand, some of the oil that China imported last year has gone into storage.Higher Chinese purchases have helped support oil…