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Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Oil & Gas industry myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.The lessons of the energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have not been fully learned, the International Energy Agency has said, as more than 60 global leaders are set to arrive in London for discussions on energy security. Sir Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, will this week host Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, as well as ministers from the US, Japan, France, Germany and India, and the heads of dozens of energy companies, for a…

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the worldDonald Trump’s global trade war is threatening a corner of America that voted in droves for the Republican president last year: oil-producing North Dakota.It might also upend the president’s plans to boost fossil fuel production in the state that launched America’s shale revolution. Trump’s tariff rhetoric triggered an oil price sell-off, with US prices plunging below $60 a barrel (West Texas crude settled at $63.08 a barrel on Monday). The escalation raised concerns across the US shale patch, some of…

MP Materials, operator of the Mountain Pass mine in California’s Mojave Desert, is ramping up supplies of the critical ingredients and magnets used in autos, electronics and military hardware as China tightens exports. Since China retaliated against President Trump’s tariffs by restricting exports of rare earth minerals — crucial to making the magnets that go into electric motors, used for cars, electronics, robots and wind turbines — MP Materials founder and CEO Jim Litinsky’s phone has been ringing off the hook from companies desperate for new suppliers. “The sense of urgency, I’ve never seen anything like it,” he told Forbes.…

Current Climate brings you the latest news about the business of sustainability every Monday. Sign up to get it in your inbox. Getty Images President Trump has played up his plans to boost U.S. energy production, though so far his priority is doing that with fossil fuels instead of renewable power. And his efforts to eliminate federal subsidies for clean power created by the Inflation Reduction Act and other policies enacted during the Biden Administration are quickly having an impact on that industry. Since January, investments totalling $7.9 billion for 16 large-scale factories and other projects have been cancelled, closed…

Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd. has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis, or National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG), for a joint exploration project in the Etosha-Okavango basin onshore southeastern Angola. ReconAfrica said the agreement with Angola’s national concessionaire and regulator is a strategic addition to its portfolio. The company said in a media release that the deal creates an opportunity for early entry into onshore Angola at a low cost and with minimal work commitments. ReconAfrica said the agreement complements its initiatives in Namibia, adding 5.2 million acres in to the…

Pakistan’s exploding security situation springing out from its western border catches many political commentators by surprise, especially given Islamabad’s closer historical partnership with the Taliban. Since Aug. 15, 2021, the Taliban has followed the policy of continual hostility for Islamabad’s security apprehensions, even questioning its own past relationship with Pakistan. Taliban’s volte-face reflected through sponsoring and sheltering anti-Pakistan militant groups like Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the growing intimacy with India and Iran, mainly considered the regional competitors of Pakistan. The obvious explanation for the Taliban’s drift away from Pakistan, as noted by many Afghan experts, is the mistrust and skepticism…

The Pakistan Minerals Forum was held in Islamabad on April 8–9, 2025. Representatives from several countries, including the US and China, attended this forum Eric Meyer, senior official at the State Department Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, at a meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other senior officials, is supposed to have expressed interest in potential investment in Pakistan’s mineral sector. According to a statement, Meyer acknowledged “the potential of Pakistan’s mineral sector.” Sharif, on his part, highlighted the fact that if Pakistan ably harnessed its mineral reserves, it could reduce its dependence on international institutions…

In a famous tweet in 2018, Donald Trump, the then-President of the United States, wrote that when a country (the United States) loses billions of dollars in trade with nearly every country it trades with, “Trade wars are good, and easy to win.” In recent weeks, as the Trump administration imposed tariffs exceeding 145% on US imports from China and initiated a new, even more dangerous trade war than before, the US Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, justified this trade war by stating:  “I think it was a big mistake, this Chinese escalation, because they’re playing with a pair of twos, […]. What do we lose…

Lengthening legislative shadow Valero’s proposal for the Benicia refinery follows Phillips 66 Co.’s October 2024 confirmation that it will permanently cease conventional crude oil processing operations its 138,700-b/d dual-sited refinery in Los Angeles by yearend 2025 amid the operator’s determination that market conditions will prevent the long-term viability and competitiveness of the manufacturing site (OGJ Online, Oct. 17, 2024). Announcement of the Los Angeles refinery closure came on the heels of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Oct. 14, 2024, signing of legislation aimed at making the state’s oil refiners manage California’s gasoline supplies more responsibly to prevent price spikes at the…

Freedom of speech, gatherings, and protests are some commonly shared values of democratic polity around the globe. The Nepali public has been habituated to a political culture of street protests for more than three decades since 1990, for dissenting and expressing dissatisfaction against the incumbent government. The focus here is neither on the types of protests nor their modus operandi, rather on the lack of credible and factual ground reporting of any given incident by the mainstream, private, and social media, which appear to function for their own vested interests these days in the South Asian region – shunning all…