Monday, 21 September 2026

Kazakhstan has lifted the coefficient used in its price-linked excise tax calculation for gasoline and diesel to 95% from 50%, according to a Tethys corporate update citing Government Resolution No. 816 adopted on September 11, 2026.

The amendment applies retroactively to transactions arising from September 1, 2026, Tethys said.

Tethys said it expects the higher coefficient to reduce downstream margins and cash generation in cases where realized selling prices do not rise enough to offset the added tax burden.

The company's board said the current tax and pricing mechanisms do not offer sufficient profit to justify the risks and costs of new exploration projects beyond those already anticipated, citing Kronos as an exception. On that basis, Tethys said it is unlikely to participate in forthcoming auctions for new licenses offered by the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Valero Energy's stock has rallied more than 200% over the past two years, outpacing every member of the Magnificent Seven, according to Benzinga. The strongest of that group over the same window was Alphabet, up 119%.

Over the past year, Valero shares are up more than 140%, Yahoo reported, placing the refiner among a small set of oil stocks that have gained from ongoing tensions in the Middle East.

The rally is running against forward earnings expectations. Analysts expect per-share earnings at refinery companies to drop by about 18% in 2027, according to Bloomberg.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) auctioned 40 parcels covering 2,776 acres in Ohio's Wayne National Forest for $11.09 million during a quarterly oil and gas lease sale, according to Cleveland Scene. The tracts sit in Monroe and Washington counties.

Pennsylvania-based Apex Energy Operating III LLC took the largest share, leasing 25 parcels for $7.97 million, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported.

The BLM said the leases run for a term of 10 years and continue as long as oil and gas are produced in paying quantities.

Zimbabwe's maximum pump price for diesel climbed to USD 2.08 per litre from USD 1.95, according to the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA). Blended petrol was capped at USD 2.06 per litre, up from USD 1.99.

The new caps took effect on September 17, 2026, ZERA said.

ZERA linked the review to shifting global market conditions, adding that geopolitical tensions continued to weigh on energy markets.

EDF Power Solutions North America has secured financing for Utah Solar 1, a photovoltaic project in Millard County, Utah, according to Clifford Chance, which advised the developer on the transaction.

The plant is sized at 300 MWac / 394.44 MWdc and is underpinned by a 30-year power purchase agreement with Southern California Public Power Authority for participating member Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, per Clifford Chance.

Annual output is expected to reach approximately 766,000 MWh, the law firm said.

Secured credit facilities were provided by Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, MUFG Bank, National Bank of Canada, Société Générale and Standard Chartered Bank, according to Clifford Chance.

Cambridge Vacuum Engineering has signed a memorandum of understanding with Cambridge Atomworks to collaborate on a nuclear microreactor, according to no2nuclearpower.org.uk. The publication described Cambridge Atomworks as a nuclear engineering start-up focused on delivering the microreactor.

Separately, the U.S. Army's Janus program has approved five companies to each build a microreactor for one of five military bases, according to the Brookings Register.

Solar company Ningbo Green Light Energy is moving to list on Pakistan's stock market through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), a transaction Bloomberg reported would be the country's first, according to ProPakistani.

The route is a reverse takeover of LSE SPAC I Ltd., and the company is awaiting court approval to complete it, according to CEO Qasim Ningbo. If cleared, the deal is expected to bring the renewable energy company to the public market within weeks.

LSE SPAC I raised Rs. 250 million through an initial public offering earlier this year and used the proceeds to acquire a 19 percent stake in Ningbo Green Light Energy.

The Indonesian Rupiah gained ground against the currency pair as crude oil prices pulled back, according to FXStreet.

US natural-gas futures settled lower on Wednesday, retreating from a one-week high, as a decline in European natural-gas prices to a one-week low sparked long liquidation in the US contract, Yahoo reported.

US stocks headed lower on Friday, with the Dow and S&P 500 slipping while the Nasdaq was little changed, as investors weighed oil prices, inflation concerns and corporate news, according to Proactive Investors.

Mozambique's petroleum regulator has launched cost audits on the two offshore gas areas holding the country's largest LNG developments, scrutinising recoverable expenses booked by the operators of Area 1 and Area 4.

On Area 1, auditors will examine expenditures for 2025 and 2026. That block hosts the TotalEnergies-led Mozambique LNG project at the Afungi site in Cabo Delgado.

Area 4 faces a wider window covering 2024, 2025 and 2026. Its licence group operates Eni's Coral Sul floating LNG facility and the Coral Norte project, and holds ExxonMobil's planned Rovuma LNG development.

The reviews come after the regulator's remit was widened in June 2026, when Mozambique granted it stronger authority to verify recoverable costs, according to Ecofin Agency.

How much the regulator signs off matters for the treasury: operators deduct approved recoverable costs from production revenue before the state takes its share, so a tighter audit line directly shapes government receipts, according to Business Tech Africa.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced up to AUD 49 million for Hysata to build a commercial-scale electrolyser manufacturing line at Port Kembla in New South Wales, according to ARENA.

The total project is valued at AUD 98 million and will establish a 50 MW per annum production line for Hysata's Australian-developed capillary-fed electrolyser technology, ARENA said.

Core components including membranes, anodes and cathodes are planned to be manufactured locally, which ARENA said supports domestic sovereign manufacturing capability and clean energy supply chains.

Retail and wholesale fuel prices moved higher across three separate markets in mid-September, according to reports from CTV News, the New Zealand Herald, and Crypto Briefing.

In Saskatchewan, pump prices rose to just under $1.90 per litre, CTV News reported.

In New Zealand, AA principal policy adviser Terry Collins said a raft of factors were combining to push up the landed price of petrol, according to the New Zealand Herald.

In the United States, jet fuel prices in parts of the country surged toward levels last seen at the onset of the US-Iran conflict, Crypto Briefing reported. The Gulf Coast kerosene-type jet fuel spot price was reported at $4.705 per gallon as of mid-September.

South Korea is considering a plan to hold back up to 10 coal-fired units from the regular electricity market and designate them as "security power sources" available only as reserve capacity during emergencies.

Under the proposal, those units would sit outside normal market dispatch and be called on for supply-demand balancing and grid stability when needed.

The country currently has 21 coal units, totaling 19.1 GW, with design lives extending beyond 2040.

Cuba's national power grid collapsed on Friday, leaving millions of people across the island without electricity, according to reporting carried by myMotherLode and the McAlester News-Capital.

The country's Ministry of Energy and Mines announced the islandwide outage on its official X account and said officials had begun "activating service-restoration protocols".

According to the same reporting, Friday's collapse was at least the sixth failure of Cuba's power grid since January.

EU finance ministers meeting in Dublin are weighing a windfall tax on energy companies, with price volatility cited as a drag on the bloc's economic outlook, according to Euronews.

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil is pressing the European Commission to table windfall tax models in time for the next Economic and Finance Council meeting in October, Euronews reported.

EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said several member states had put the initiative forward and that it formed part of the discussions. Dombrovskis added that member states can already implement windfall profit taxes at the national level, and that the Commission is ready to support them by sharing best practices.

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation has approved a debt facility of up to $414.2 million for Global Atomic's Dasa uranium project in Niger.

The package breaks down into a term loan facility of up to $397.4 million and a $16.8 million cost overrun facility, according to Global Atomic's disclosure of the DFC board decision.

The funds have not been fully disbursed. Global Atomic said several conditions must still be met before the financing can be drawn, including securing a viable export route for yellowcake, extending the project's mining permits, and reaching agreements with the Nigerien government.

Syria will offer cheaper diesel for heating, agriculture and industry after a fuel price hike triggered widespread protests, Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said, according to reporting cited by Event Registry.

Diesel produced by local refineries will be sold at 115 Syrian pounds per litre for heating, agriculture and other eligible users, Bashir said.

A second grade, which Bashir described as secured with the help of friendly countries, will be sold at 150 Syrian pounds per litre for productive and service sectors and heavy machinery.

The standard diesel grade will remain priced at 175 Syrian pounds per litre.

The rollback followed the most widespread protests since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, according to the reporting.

India imported 19.01 million tonnes of crude oil in August, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) cited by Event Registry.

The volume marked a drop of more than 11% from July. On a year-on-year basis, imports fell 3% from the August figure of 19.60 million tonnes reported for the prior year, per PPAC.

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has issued a request for proposals seeking an operator to design, finance, build and run a small-to-medium-scale LNG terminal at the Port of East London.

The project will be structured as a 25-year concession on a greenfield site in the port's West Bank precinct, according to TNPA. Bidders have until 22 February 2027 to submit proposals.

TNPA said the facility is aimed at niche LNG consumers and industrial users in South Africa's Eastern Cape, and is intended to diversify port infrastructure for future energy demand.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has launched one-time energy rebate checks of up to USD 200 for eligible households, part of a USD 1 billion energy relief effort, according to reporting on the initiative.

Bruce Blakeman vowed to cut New York utility rates in half if elected, pledging to sign an emergency order lifting the state's ban on fracking.

An analysis by the New York Independent System Operator attributes pressure on utility rates to natural gas prices, aging infrastructure and tightening power supplies.

The fracking prohibition Blakeman is targeting was first enacted by executive order under then-Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2014, and the state legislature codified the ban into law in 2020.

India's coal-fired power generation did not grow between the first half of 2024 and the first half of 2026, marking the first two-year flat stretch in more than 50 years in the world's second-largest coal consumer, according to Deccan Herald.

Clean energy added 70 TWh of generation across the same period, more than covering the 63 TWh, or 7%, rise in electricity demand, according to a press statement cited by Deccan Herald.

Power-sector carbon dioxide emissions in the first half of 2026 were no higher than two years earlier, as a record expansion of solar and wind absorbed the entire increase in electricity demand, intellinews reported.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction is the main contractor on a national research project to develop design technology for water electrolysis plants with capacities of at least 100 MW, according to the Chosun report.

The Korea Herald reported that Hyundai E&C will join a research and development project led by the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment to draw up the system, process design and operational structure required for water electrolysis plants of 100 megawatts or more. Within the consortium, Hyundai E&C will develop the basic design package and conduct an economic feasibility assessment.

The consortium named in the Chosun report includes Hyundai Engineering, Hyundai Motor Company, Hanwha Global, Korea Midland Power, the Future Standards Research Institute, Seoul National University, and Korea University.

According to the Korea Times, the project will apply artificial intelligence and dynamic simulation models to account for fluctuations in renewable power generation and to improve the stability and reliability of plant operations.

Alpex Solar has inaugurated a 2.2 GW G12R TOPCon solar cell manufacturing facility at the Kosi-Kotwan Industrial Area in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, according to Solarquarter.

The cell plant sits at the mid-stream of India's solar supply chain. Upstream, the Indian government is considering an outlay of Rs 7,000-10,000 crore for a scheme to promote at least 10 GW of polysilicon manufacturing, officials told Moneycontrol. The programme is aimed at building the upstream end of the country's solar manufacturing supply chain, according to the same report.

ACME Solar has commissioned the second phase of its Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project in Rajasthan, adding 52.32 MW of discharge capacity and 209.28 MWh of storage, according to Tradebrains.

Solarquarter reported that Phase II was completed on September 17, 2026, with commercial operation scheduled for September 19, 2026.

The addition lifts total commissioned BESS capacity at ACME Greentech Seventh, a wholly owned subsidiary of ACME Solar, to 105.95 MW and 423.80 MWh, per Solarquarter.

ACME Solar said it expects to commission the remaining BESS capacity tied to the project by the third quarter of the current financial year.

Federal prosecutors in New York filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking approximately USD 61 million in cryptocurrency generated by black-market sales of sanctioned Iranian oil, according to Event Registry reporting.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York lodged the complaint on September 14. Prosecutors said the proceeds were intended to finance Iran's government and military components, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The complaint alleges that Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale shifted Iranian oil proceeds through Binance accounts in the United Arab Emirates.

Brent crude traded 2.94% higher at USD 100.73 per barrel, according to Evening Standard. A separate Evening Standard report put Brent up 2.5% above USD 100 a barrel, with US West Texas Intermediate gaining almost 2% to about USD 95.

WTI futures later advanced 0.9% to USD 102.82 per barrel after an earlier intraday dip, according to Blockonomi.

Russia's ESPO blend bound for China surged past USD 120 per barrel during the week, Reuters reported Friday, citing trading sources and market data as relayed by The Moscow Times.

California diesel reached a record USD 8.39 per gallon on Friday, according to AAA data cited by the San Francisco Chronicle.

The national average sat at about USD 6.45 per gallon, while Oregon averaged approximately USD 6.83, AAA figures reported by KATU show. Both marks are record highs.

The price surge is squeezing truck drivers and could eventually feed through to Northwest consumer costs for groceries, cars and home-building supplies, according to KATU.

The US State Department is stonewalling efforts to determine how much Venezuelan oil revenue Washington has collected, according to the Financial Times, which reported that the department has failed to engage with a government watchdog or share audit reports with Congress.

Top Democrats are threatening to issue subpoenas to force disclosure of what happened to billions of dollars in Venezuelan oil revenues if their party wins November's midterm elections, the Financial Times reported.

Despite overseeing the country's oil exports for the better part of a year, the Trump administration has not disclosed how much money it collected or how much of that has made its way back to the interim government in Caracas, according to Times Now.

The Financial Times reported that in April, the State Department, which controls the Venezuelan funds, said the accounts holding the money were being audited by KPMG and that it would share the auditor's reports with Congress. It has not done so.

Nigeria's refined petroleum product exports reached USD 3.94 billion in the second quarter of 2026, according to Nairametrics.

That value marks a 148% year-on-year rise from USD 1.59 billion in the same quarter of 2025, Nairametrics reported, attributing the gain to continued expansion of the country's refining sector.

Quarter on quarter, exports climbed 66.2% from USD 2.37 billion in the first quarter of 2026, per the same source.

Vietnam used its national statement at the 70th Regular Session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference in Austria to restate its commitment to civilian nuclear power, linking the programme to energy security and economic growth, according to remarks by Nguyen Hoang Linh, director of the Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety.

Linh told delegates the country is executing a national atomic energy roadmap that runs to 2035, with a longer vision to 2050. Preparatory work is under way for the Ninh Thuan nuclear power projects, a nuclear science and technology centre, and a new research reactor.

On safeguards, the Vietnamese statement said projects will be run transparently, with safety, security and non-proliferation treated as top conditions for implementation.

JPMorgan has withdrawn its baseline outlook for oil markets, telling clients it cannot forecast prices while the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran continues without a visible exit strategy.

The bank's analysts wrote that they "simply don't know how to model the endgame" of the conflict.

In the same note, JPMorgan pegged September Brent fair value at around USD 90, against prices near USD 106 cited in the note. The gap points to a conflict risk premium that the bank is declining to quantify further while the war drags on.

JPMorgan tied the abandonment of a central-case forecast directly to uncertainty over how the U.S.-Israeli confrontation with Iran will resolve.

France is working with Iraq and Jordan on a pipeline project to move Iraqi oil and gas to European markets, according to French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron made the remarks days after Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falih al-Zaidi visited Paris for talks on energy and investment.

Macron said the initiative is intended to secure an alternative energy supply for Europe, citing the Middle East crisis as a factor disrupting conventional shipping routes and lifting oil and gas costs.

Iraqi official media said the planned pipeline would carry Iraqi energy through Jordan to European markets.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) intends to move against holders of idle acreage under the Drill-or-Drop clause of the 2021 Petroleum Industry Act, with licence revocation on the table, Blueprint reported.

Operators awarded blocks in the 2020 Marginal Field Bid Round, the 2022/2023 Mini Bid Round and the 2024 Licensing Round fall inside the scope and must deliver on their work programmes or face losing the acreage, per Blueprint.

The burned remains of the Moss Landing Power Plant battery energy storage facility caught fire again Friday morning, and Monterey County officials issued a shelter-in-place order in response, according to CalMatters and The Gonzales Inquirer.

North County Fire Protection District Chief Jess Cortez attributed the reignition to roughly 1,500 inaccessible battery modules that remained charged and spontaneously ignited.

Vistra's Moss Landing plant manager, George, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the modules stayed energized from before the original fire, and that the site will not reach zero risk of further flare-ups until it is completely remediated.

Iran said it hit the Togo-flagged oil tanker Trend in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday night, citing what it called an illegal attempt by the vessel to transit the waterway. The state broadcaster attributed the account to the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Associated Press said it could not immediately confirm Iran's report.

The US average diesel price hit a record $6.49 per gallon on Saturday, according to AAA.

At the state level, North Carolina's average diesel price reached a record $6.23 per gallon on Friday. California's average gasoline price stood at $6.08 per gallon, the highest of any US state.

The national average price of diesel in the United States climbed to about USD 6.44 per gallon on Friday, a record, according to AAA data cited by NBC Palm Springs. The outlet linked the rise to the continuing war involving Iran and its disruption of global energy markets.

Diesel underpins the country's transportation and distribution network, and NBC Palm Springs noted that sustained higher prices can raise the cost of moving food, manufactured goods and other products.

On the supply side, Anadolu Agency reported that Middle Eastern refinery outages and constrained flows through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea have cut both crude deliveries to refiners and product exports. Damage to Russian refineries and export restrictions have removed another major source of diesel from the international market, tightening supplies of crude and refined products, particularly diesel.

Anadolu Agency added that diesel is likely to remain the more vulnerable market through the winter, citing seasonal demand, low inventories and limited spare refining capacity.

Hyundai Engineering said its consortium with Hyundai Engineering & Construction has completed the first phase of Aramco's Jafurah Gas Processing Facilities Project in Saudi Arabia, according to TradeArabia.

The first phase carried a project value of USD 1.65 billion, according to TradeArabia.

Work ran for 45 months, from November 2021 to August 2025, according to TradeArabia.

The consortium's scope covered gas processing facilities, sulphur recovery units and the associated utility and offsite infrastructure needed to process output from the Jafurah unconventional gas field, according to TradeArabia.

Republican regulators in North Carolina rejected a proposed 250 MW gas project slated for the existing Smith Energy Complex in the south-central part of the state, according to Politico.

The rejection is not permanent, and Duke can refile its application, Politico reported.

The GOP commissioners said any Duke reapplication would need to offer cost-recovery mechanisms that comply with the White House's voluntary agreement, per Politico.

The federal government in Islamabad reduced petrol prices by Rs1.65 per litre and high-speed diesel by Rs0.88 per litre, according to a notification reported by NeoNews.

After the adjustment, petrol will sell at Rs389.14 per litre and high-speed diesel at Rs424.04 per litre, NeoNews reported. The Petroleum Division said the revised rates take effect from September 19 and remain applicable through September 21.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) attributed the revision to movements in petroleum prices in the global market.

Elsewhere, the average price of a litre of diesel has climbed to 195.32p, according to AOL. That leaves the pump price short of the record 199.09p set in June 2022. RAC policy head Simon Williams said it is increasingly likely that the average price of diesel will reach a new all-time high the following week.

Nigeria's Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority said it does not fix petrol pump prices in the country's deregulated petroleum market, according to Premium Times. The regulator acknowledged the financial pressure created by a recent rise in petrol prices but said price levels are a function of the market rather than a regulatory decision.

In a statement reported by Punch, NMDPRA said Section 205 of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 provides for wholesale and retail petroleum product prices to be determined under unrestricted free-market conditions. Vanguard reported the regulator framing the same point as a matter of statute, saying pump prices are set by market forces and not fixed by the regulator under the Act.

NMDPRA said Sections 205(2) to 205(4) of the Act restrict government intervention in petroleum pricing to exceptional circumstances involving formally declared market failure, and that no such failure has been declared, according to Vanguard. Tribune Online carried the same wording, with the regulator stating that no market failure has been declared.

The authority said it retains powers under Section 216 of the Act to prevent anti-competitive practices, price-fixing and abuse of market dominance, according to Punch.

Saudi Aramco has told at least two European refining customers that they will receive no Saudi crude oil in October following the shutdown of the kingdom's East-West pipeline, according to a Bloomberg report on September 18 cited by Siasat and Etemaad Daily.

The suspension applies to all European buyers, according to the report, which cited people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity because the information is not public, as relayed by Middle East Monitor.

The cancelled volumes concern long-term contracts under which customers normally receive monthly crude supplies, according to Greek Reporter.

The move follows the shutdown of the East-West pipeline after an attack damaged sections of the route the previous week, according to ABNA. Saudi Arabia was forced to shut the pipeline after it was attacked by Houthi drones, according to Daily Sun.

Petrol pump dealers in several parts of India have warned they may stop accepting UPI payments above INR 2,000 from October 15, when a new Merchant Discount Rate takes effect on higher-value merchant transactions, according to The Logical Indian.

The new UPI framework provides for a flat INR 5 MDR on fuel transactions above INR 2,000, IBTimes reported.

The Madhya Pradesh Petroleum Dealers Association said its members would stop accepting UPI payments above INR 2,000 from October 16, according to Latestly and Asianet News. Asianet News reported the association attributed the planned restriction to a 0.4% MDR charge on such transactions and to petrol dealers' narrow profit margins.

Indian Oil Corporation pushed back on the circulating message. IOC said the claim that Madhya Pradesh petrol pump owners would stop accepting UPI payments above INR 2,000 was fake and misleading, ABP Live reported.

The Energy Ministry reported that Cuba's electricity grid fully collapsed on Friday, knocking out power for an island population of roughly 9.4 million. Reuters described the shutdown as unfolding while a US pressure campaign has largely blocked oil deliveries to the Caribbean's largest island.

The trigger, per authorities, was a fault on high-voltage transmission lines in central Cuba shortly after 2 p.m. local time. Officials traced the cascade to a transmission-line failure in the west, which pulled down the system as far as Matanzas province before the eastern half of the island dropped off.

The Electricity Union confirmed a total disconnection of the National Electric System and began activating recovery protocols. Felix Estrada, an official at Cuba's National Electrical Union (UNE), said gradual restoration of the system was under way.

Reuters counted Friday's failure as at least the sixth partial or total grid collapse in Cuba since January.

The Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) platform provides laboratory capabilities for validating and testing marine energy technologies before they are deployed in ocean environments.

ARIES can integrate wave energy converters and related systems with storage and hybrid generation assets, allowing controlled testing of technologies that are still emerging.

The platform's large-amplitude motion platform (LAMP) simulates ocean wave movements across six degrees of freedom, letting researchers measure how wave energy converters respond physically to ocean conditions and how much energy they capture.

Grid emulators at ARIES replicate power system integration, allowing tests of how marine energy devices interact with batteries, electrolyzers and other grid-connected systems.

Cochin International Airport has partnered with the Kerala Hydrogen Valley Innovation Cluster Foundation to fund the procurement of three hydrogen fuel cell electric buses, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

The move makes Cochin International Airport the first airport in India to introduce hydrogen-powered vehicles for passenger transport, Hydrogen Fuel News reported.