Per Japanese government instructions, refiner Taiyo Oil has bought a cargo of Russia’s Sakhalin crude to ensure stable production of the LNG plant that supplies gas to Japan, a company spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday. “At the request of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, we have decided to …

China’s crude oil imports fell in May to their lowest daily rate in four months, data showed on Monday, as planned maintenance work at both state-owned and independent refiners picked up. May imports in the world’s largest crude buyer totalled 46.6 million metric tons, equivalent to 10.97 million barrels per …

China earlier this year introduced restrictions on its exports of rare earths. The move marked a new stage in the US- China trade spat, when the two sides no longer tried to out-tariff each other but took to more concrete steps. The problem is, the restrictions don’t just apply to …

Iran has started gas production from another infill well in its section of South Pars, the world’s largest gas field, which straddles the maritime border between the country and Qatar in the Persian Gulf. The Iranian company Petropars, which is in charge of operations in Phase 1 of South Pars, …

The 411,000 barrels daily that OPEC+ said it would add to oil production in May have not materialized, commodity analysts from Morgan Stanley said. “Notwithstanding the around 1 million-barrel-a-day increase in production quotas between March and June, an actual increase in production is hard to detect,” the team, led by …

Copper has become an essential building block in modern construction and energy. In the coming years, the global demand for copper is expected to increase significantly as it is used more widely for renewable energy projects and transmission. The Australian mining major BHP expects the demand for copper to grow …

In a move that fuses domestic revival with international strategy, the Trump administration has greenlit the expansion of Montana’s Bull Mountains coal mine—unlocking nearly 60 million tons of coal destined for key U.S. allies Japan and South Korea. The approval, announced Friday by the Department of the Interior, comes under …

Iran’s economy grew by 0.9 percent in the first month of the current Iranian calendar year Farvardin (March 21 – April 21), according to a new report from the Iranian Parliament’s Research Center. As reported by Mehr News Agency, the center released its latest estimate of monthly GDP growth in …

The Dangote oil refinery in Nigeria, Africa’s largest crude processing facility, has been buying increasing volumes of U.S. crude WTI despite the fact that Nigeria is the biggest crude oil producer in Africa. But Africa’s top OPEC member has been struggling to materially boost domestic crude output, so the 650,000-barrels-per-day …

A law enabling nuclear reactors in Japan to operate beyond 60 years took effect Friday, scrapping a limit imposed after the Fukushima crisis, with the government viewing the power source as vital to the country’s energy mix. Under the new system, the life of a reactor will, in principle, be …