Category: Finance

The U.S.–Venezuela oil deal does more than reroute barrels. Its second-order effects strike at the heart of China’s two-decade oil-for-loan model in Caracas: who controls production, who prices the crude, who books the cargoes, and who decides whether Beijing ever gets repaid.

Clark Savage404

President Donald Trump’s late-August 2026 arrangement with North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) grants the company 100-year rights over 17 fields in Lake Maracaibo and the Orinoco Belt, holding an estimated 65 billion barrels—about one-fifth of Venezuela’s proven reserves. NABEP plans as much as $100 billion in infrastructure investment. The U.S. government receives rights to […]

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Beyond Coal? India, Indonesia, and Vietnam Didn’t Get the Memo. Should Someone Tell Michael Bloomberg That Coal Is Not Quite Dead Yet?

Clark Savage366

Michael Bloomberg has poured more than $1 billion into campaigns to retire coal plants in the United States and globally. In 2019, his philanthropies committed $500 million to the Beyond Carbon effort. In 2021, he launched a drive to close a quarter of the world’s remaining coal plants and cancel all proposed ones by 2025. […]

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Diversified Energy is buying Elliott-backed Birch Permian Holdings for about $1.8 billion, its largest deal in 25 years, and using Carlyle-backed asset-backed securities to scale a PDP platform in the Midland Basin without a large equity raise.

Clark Savage369

The transaction, announced September 2, 2026, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to customary conditions and a $50 million break fee. It expands Diversified Energy Company (NYSE/LSE: DEC) from a multi-basin PDP consolidator into a scaled, operated Permian producer with integrated midstream and water infrastructure. Deal structureGross purchase price is […]

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Chevron, Eni, and a broader group of firms signed energy agreements in Caracas on September 2, 2026, with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez present.

Clark Savage517

The pacts target higher crude output from existing and new acreage under Venezuela’s reformed hydrocarbons law, separate from the larger U.S.-backed North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) arrangement announced days earlier by President Trump. Wright described the package as “tens of billions” in investments and a “transformation for Venezuela.” Rodríguez credited Trump administration efforts for […]

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Russia’s surprise return to a G20 finance meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, this week laid bare a widening rift.

Clark Savage418

European attendees openly scorned the presence of Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who attended at the invitation of the Trump administration—the first in-person Russian participation since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil called the signal “quite troubling” and insisted “you cannot simply return to normality.” European officials refused […]

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The White House’s August 31, 2026 fact sheet details a landmark oil agreement that grants North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) 100-year concessions on 17 Venezuelan fields holding roughly 65 billion barrels of proven reserves.

Clark Savage574

The U.S. government receives a 35% equity stake in NABEP’s corporate parent via the Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital, a guaranteed right to buy 20% of offtake at production cost, and a right of first refusal on the remaining 80%. U.S. governance rights include veto power over board appointments, a requirement that a […]

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Global Diesel Shortage on the Horizon

Clark Savage688

If you think diesel prices will ease next year, Wall Street is not with you. On August 31, 2026, CoinBureau founder Nic Puckrin flagged Goldman Sachs for more than doubling its 2027 diesel-margin forecasts, arguing that refineries are being hit from every direction—Middle East strikes, Russian export bans, and winter demand—with diesel at the epicenter […]

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The Everything Shortage: Why Global Supply Chains Are Breaking and What It Means for Energy Markets

Clark Savage202

The world is short of nearly everything. Shipping routes are under attack, refineries are maxed out, and energy policies have backfired. In this episode, commodities expert Jack Prandelli breaks down the “everything shortage”—the interconnected crises in oil, gas, food, and critical minerals that are reshaping geopolitics and creating the next commodity super-cycle. Discover why diesel […]

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