Oil
Oil Markets Ignore Trump’s Russia Threats
Donald Trump’s 50-day deadline for Russia has failed to wake prices from their slumber, even as OPEC doubled down on its forecast of an exceptionally tight summer, with ICE Brent staying put slightly below the $70 per barrel mark. China’s much-sought return to relatively normal levels of refining didn’t provide any tangible boost either, most probably suggesting that the summer holiday season is taking its toll on commodity trading.
US President Donald Trump said he would impose 100% secondary tariffs on any country that buys Russian exports if Moscow does not reach a peace deal with Ukraine in the next 50 days, targeting India, China and Turkey, the three largest buyers of Russian oil.
The IEA reported that Saudi Arabia’s June production soared to 9.8 million b/d, almost 0.5 million b/d higher than the Middle Eastern kingdom’s 9.367 million b/d quota for the month, indicating that Aramco has joined the ranks of OPEC+ overproducers, OilPrice.com reports.
China’s crude oil throughput rose to 15.15 million b/d in June, an 8.5% year-over-year increase and the highest monthly reading since September 2023, as state-owned refiners maximized runs to a nationwide 80% amidst improved margins.
The Trump administration will delay by two years a final rule designating protection areas for the endangered Rice’s whale, of which only 100 specimens remain in the oil-rich waters of the Gulf of Mexico, de-risking offshore drilling until at least 2027.
US LNG developer Venture Global (NYSE:VG) has started producing liquefied natural gas from Plaquemines Phase 2, pulling a record 2.9 BCf per day of feedgas, with an aim to reach full commissioning of six new liquefaction blocks by mid-2027.
China’s new home prices posted the steepest decline in eight months last month, falling 3.2% year-over-year, dragging the iron ore futures benchmark in Dalian lower to ¥765 per metric tonne ($106/mt), with steel demand further weakened by heavy rainfall.
Following drone attacks that are believed to have come from areas under the control of Iran-backed militias, the Sarsang oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan was forced to halt production, only two days after the region’s largest asset in Khurmala was attacked.
Mining giant Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) named the head of its iron ore segment, Simon Trott, as the company’s new chief executive, taking over from Jakob Stausholm, who was reportedly reluctant to commit to transformative mergers, including the one with Glencore.
India reversed a 2015 mandate to install $30 billion worth of flue-gas desulphurization (FGD) systems on coal power plants to reduce exhaust gases, exempting roughly 80% of nationwide coal capacity on the grounds that they’re outside a 6-mile radius of city limits.
US tech giant Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) signed the world’s largest corporate renewable energy deal for hydroelectricity, inking a 20-year power purchase agreement with Brookfield Asset Management for power from the latter’s two hydro plants in Pennsylvania.
The government of India is negotiating with Chile and Peru to source critical minerals under ongoing free trade deal talks, seeking to fix annual volumes of copper concentrate to be delivered as its copper dependency stands at a whopping 90%.
South African authorities allowed UK-based energy major Shell (LON:SHEL) to drill up to 5 deepwater wells in the Orange Basin off the country’s west coast, marking a notable change after Pretoria’s intransigence prompted TotalEnergies to relinquish its assets.
Africa’s leading oil producer, Nigeria, is seeking to increase its OPEC+ production quota from the current 1.5 million b/d to 2 million b/d, even though oil theft and sabotage attacks have kept its crude production below its target since February 2025.
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