Crude Oil Price as per July 1, 2026

US refiners Phillips 66, Citgo, Valero seek to buy crude directly from Venezuela

Phillips 66, Citgo seek to purchase directly starting in April, Valero later in the year, bypassing the trading houses to get a bigger share of the spread.

HOUSTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - U.S. refiners Phillips 66 and Citgo Petroleum are seeking to buy heavy crude directly from Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA starting in April to maximize profits, rather than purchasing through trading houses and U.S. oil major Chevron (CVX.N), according to sources familiar with the efforts.

Trading houses Trafigura and Vitol in January secured the first U.S. licenses to export Venezuelan oil as part of a $2 billion deal between Caracas and Washington. Chevron has held an authorization to operate there and ship crude since last year.

Phillips 66 (PSX.N), one of the biggest U.S. refiners, is seeking compliance and internal clearance to purchase directly from PDVSA, three sources said. Once the company is ready, it plans to charter tankers to load the crude at PDVSA's terminals, one of the sources added.

The company bought Venezuelan oil from Vitol last month at

New Russian Oil Co. Sanctions

On Wednesday night, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control hit Russia's two largest oil exporters, Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC, with sanctions. The move raises the stakes for buyers of their barrels, principally refiners in China, India and Turkey.

Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC, together with Surgutneftegas PJSC and Gazprom Neft PJSC, blacklisted in January, accounted for almost 70% of Russia's crude exports — around 3.1 million barrels a day — in the first half of the year.

If just half the Russian barrels covered by sanctions are curtailed, that could push the global oil market next year from a surplus of 700,000 barrels a day into a deficit, according to Bloomberg calculations using forecasts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. 

Crude Oil Prices picking up

Oil trending up in the last month. We should start seeing higher prices at the pump in the coming weeks…  3 Month 6 month 1 year 2 years 3 years 5 years 10 years bit.ly/MasterEnergyBlog

Crude Oil & Gas Prices

Oil lower over the past month, while gasoline hovering just over the $3/gallon.

1 Month

Shell in Early Talks to Acquire Rival BP in Landmark $80 billion deal.

@WSJ reports talks are active, with BP “considering the approach carefully.” The industry has its doubts a deal will be done.  Acquiring BP would put Shell more on par with its larger US competitors Exxon Mobil XOM & Chevron CVX.

Bloomberg & CNBC have reported that a deal for the whole company is unlikely, but the sale in parts could be on the table.

Oil cooling off following Iran's capitulation

US Gas & Crude Oil Prices

After surging +20% in the past month, Oil cooled off following Iran's capitulation in the face of Israeli & US bombardments. Their pre-announced "retaliation" against the US base in Qatar was all the market needed to shed its gains.

1 Month

Is the US Handing Over Venezuela’s Oil Sector to China on a Silver Platter?

Following the reimposition of sanctions on Companies operating in Venezuela, Reuters has already reported that crude that was produced in joint ventures with Chevron has been on its way to East Asia…The only problem is how much PDVSA gets paid, when there is only one buyer on the block—a monopsony.

It is unlikely Chinese companies will be taking over Chevron's operations in the near to medium term. More than anything else, because it does not need that to happen for Beijing to expand its influence and control— ditto for Moscow or Iran.

First, investors have plenty of options before them, from greenfield opportunities to mature fields that only need repairs. Venezuela has thousands of square kilometres with billions of barrels of oil underneath. And most joint ventures are effectively dormant: just 20 out of 64 areas of operation are producing more than 10,000 barrels per day of crude, while most are stuck at 0 or below the 1,000 mark.

Second, regime officials will prefer to keep the fields where Chevron invested for themselves. 240,000 barrels per day is a great business opportunity. This means millions of dollars in contracts for goods and services, that used to be managed by a foreign corporation—not anymore, courtesy of President Trump.

Read the whole article on OilPrice.com here:

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/How-the-US-is-Handing-Over-Venezuelas-Oil-Sector-to-China.html

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‘There was so much promise’: How Northvolt tumbled into bankruptcy

Northvolt attracted $15 BILLION of corporate and government investment to develop technology for electric vehicles to compete with China 

From the Financial Times:

The group — led by two former Tesla managers — tried to open as many as 6 factories at the same time. Current & former employees said there were problems with poor management, safety standards, & over-reliance on Chinese machinery.

Read the full article here:

'There was so much promise': How Northvolt tumbled into bankruptcy

on.ft.com

https://on.ft.com/411hAtE

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Europe’s battery storage capacity expected to grow ~5X by 2030

Record 3.7 GW of projects were added in 2024, taking Europe's total battery capacity to 10.8 GW.

The expected leap in capacity is unlikely to be enough to meet demand to balance national energy grids, according to industry estimates.

Aurora Energy Research forecast capacity will increase to over 50 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, representing investments worth around 80 billion euros ($82.80 billion).

This would still leave a shortfall, compared with expectations from industry group the European Association for Storage of Energy, which estimates 200 GW will be needed by 2030.

…

The cost of building a project in Britain has fallen around 30% in two years to just above GBP 500,000/ MW for a 2-hour duration project, resulting in returns of around 12%.

The trend looks set to continue. Average battery prices fell from $153 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in 2022 to $149 in 2023 and could fall to as low as $80/kWh by 2026, analysts at Goldman Sachs said.

Trading Opportunities 

Now that renewable generation is a bigger share of the power mix, price volatility also offers the prospect of rich returns for traders on wholesale energy markets.

At times when more wind or solar is produced than the grid demands, electricity prices have turned negative and battery operators can be paid to store the power for times of need.

"If you can be paid to charge your battery because prices are negative and then sell the electricity at a premium price when the sun goes down at 6 o'clock, then that can be lucrative for traders," said Roberto Jimenez, executive director at BW ESS, part of global infrastructure firm BW Group.

Data from LSEG shows the number of hours priced at negative or around zero in Britain's day-ahead electricity market hit a record 176 hours in 2024. It forecasts an almost four-fold increase to 792 hours in 2026.

The picture across Europe is similar. The number of German negative hours is forecast to grow from less than 500 hours in 2024 to above 900 hours in 2026, LSEG forecast.

Read the whole article on Reuters here:

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/europes-renewables-market-powers-battery-storage-boom-2025-02-06/

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