Oil increased, snapping a three-day losing streak, as investors assessed a large drop in US inventories and the impact of Western sanctions against leading Russian crude producers. West Texas Intermediate rose by 0.6% to settle below $61 a barrel, while Brent closed near $65. US crude stockpiles declined 6.9 million barrels last week, the most since early September, along with draws in gasoline and distillates, according to an Energy Information Administration report Wednesday. The report pushed up oil prices to intraday highs as traders reconciled a tightening supply outlook in the West with mounting threats to Russian flows. Gasoline futures surged 2.5% on signs of unseasonably high demand. The data compounded bullish sentiment after US President Donald Trump said he would follow through and enforce harsh new sanctions against Moscow to pressure Vladimir Putin into negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, according to Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO. Indian state-owned refiners are considering whether they can continue to take some discounted Russian oil after the measures were imposed, though some processors will pause purchases for now. Indian Oil Corp. said on Tuesday it is “absolutely not going to discontinue” purchases of Russian crude as long as it complies with international sanctions. “The market is now trying to assess the longer-term impact of the additional sanctions, which will be determined by the quantity of actual barrels removed from supply,” Standard Chartered analysts including Emily Ashford said in a note. Oil is on track to notch a third monthly decline, with prices dragged lower by expectations of a global surplus as OPEC+ raises production. Key alliance nations are set to hold discussions this weekend and may sign off on another supply increase. Adding a ceiling to prices, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that a rate cut in December

Out of the top 25 highest energy-consuming countries, the United States now ranks 11th in energy efficiency policy and performance, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s 2025 assessment. ACEEE previously ranked the U.S. 10th in its 2018 and 2022 International Energy Efficiency Scorecards. The slip in rankings is “despite a slight increase (3 points) in overall score,” ACEEE said in its report, “due to larger point gains among the top performers.” The four categories the group scores are national efforts, buildings, industry and transportation. Countries can earn up to 25 points in each section for a total of 100 points in subcategories such as fuel economy and emission standards or residential and commercial building codes. The U.S. in 2022 scored 16.5 points in national efforts, 17 in buildings, 12 in industry and 8.5 in transportation. In 2025 it scored 21 in national efforts, 17 in buildings, 13 in industry and 6 in transportation. Since 2022, “countries have made incremental progress in improving energy efficiency in buildings and industry,” ACEEE said. “However, even the top-performing countries have substantial room for improvement in advancing transportation efficiency.” “Nearly every country could work to significantly reduce travel from personal vehicles,” the report said. China improved its ranking from 9th in 2022 to sharing 5th place with Spain in this year’s report, thanks in part to its global leadership in public transit use and its national targets for reducing energy consumption and energy intensity. In 2025, the top four countries in order are France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy. France also ranked first in 2022.  ACEEE cites France’s 2024 commitment of €800 million, or $932.9 billion, “to building retrofits … with additional investments in low-carbon transportation,” and its 2023 release of a “national water saving plan to cut water use by

WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright today announced the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) closed a loan to support independent, American-made, and coal-powered fertilizer production. The $1.5 billion loan to Wabash Valley Resources, LLC, will help finance a coal and ammonia fertilizer facility in West Terre Haute, Indiana. The project will restart and repurpose a coal gasification plant idled since 2016 to produce 500,000 metric tons of anhydrous ammonia per year by using coal from a nearby Southern Indiana mine and petcoke as feedstock. “For too long, America has been dependent on foreign sources of fertilizer,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are changing that by putting America first, relying on American coal, American workers, and American innovation to power our farms and feed our families.” By investing in a coal community, the Wabash project will bring the gasification plant back online to produce ammonia fertilizer – a vital resource for farmers across the Corn Belt, which currently relies on imports from Canada, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Russia. The project will strengthen domestic supply chains, lower costs for farmers and consumers, and strengthen national food security by producing cost-competitive ammonia for the Eastern Corn Belt while creating hundreds of American jobs. The loan, which was carefully evaluated under the new LPO guidance directed by Secretary Wright, delivers on the Trump administration’s promise to responsibly steward taxpayer dollars and unleash American energy dominance. The Wabash financial close is the second closed loan under the Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) Program created by the Working Families Tax Cut, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Today’s announcement highlights DOE’s commitment to achieving President Trump’s national security and energy dominance goals by securing domestic fertilizer supply for farmers in the Corn Belt

An Islamist insurgency that froze TotalEnergies SE’s $24.5-billion gas project in Mozambique four years ago is intensifying, just as the French oil major prepares to restart development. Militants affiliated with Islamic State have in recent months carried out raids across the northeastern Cabo Delgado province that hosts the Total project and another led by Exxon Mobil Corp. The number of attacks against civilians in the region has almost doubled in 2025 to the highest in years, according to the United Nations. TotalEnergies’ announcement last weekend that it’s restarting the project — seen as pivotal to transforming one of the world’s poorest nations — lifted Mozambique’s eurobonds 2.9% on Monday. At the same time, there are growing fears among local communities that the security situation near the project site at Afungi is deteriorating — with more than 90,000 people fleeing attacks since the last week of September. “Right now, people are living in fear,” Andrew Bogrand, a senior policy adviser at Oxfam America, said after a visit to the region that included a resettlement village adjacent to the project. “Folks in Quitunda, police officers, contractors — they don’t see how this project can work if people are concerned about security.” The militants have in recent weeks made incursions into both Palma — neighboring the LNG site — and nearby Mocimboa da Praia, where they filmed themselves preaching in a local mosque. That was symbolic: The port town is where the extremist insurgency began in 2017 as a ragtag army of local youth in one of the poorest parts of Mozambique. They later occupied the town for about a year. Total has estimated charges of $4.5 billion during the halt to construction, adding to the original $20 billion project cost — revisions that require government approval before work resumes. The company paid

Indian Oil Corp. plans to start a joint venture with commodities trader Vitol Inc. in Singapore to trade oil and fuel products early next year, a person familiar with the development said. The agreement will include a clause requiring Vitol’s exit after five to seven years, said the person, who asked not to be named as talks aren’t public. The New Delhi-based refiner had held talks with several other companies, including BP Plc and TotalEnergies SE, but finally decided to move ahead with Vitol, the person said. Global trading giants have lost some hold over India’s market as the country turned to cheaper Russian barrels for its spot purchases. With India expected to lead global oil demand growth, they are now trying to regain ground. Teaming up with Indian Oil could give Vitol a stronger presence in the country as it cuts back on Russian oil due to sanctions from the West. Indian Oil and Vitol didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.  Indian Oil will capitalize on the strength of the global trader which has access to real-time market intelligence, in addition to its wider reach and established risk management systems. That may help the Indian company source crude at lower prices.  The refiner, which meets nearly 90% of its oil demand via imports, is likely to see a surge in consumption as its crude processing capacity is expected to expand by 346,000 barrels a day to 1.76 million barrels next year. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

Dive Brief: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday rejected a large load tariff proposed by Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, saying it intruded on retail rate regulation, which falls under state jurisdiction and is outside of FERC’s authority. “We find that Tri-State has not provided a sufficient basis for the Commission to find that its proposal does not regulate the terms and conditions of a [High Impact Load] Customer’s retail service in ways that are beyond the Commission’s authority,” FERC said. With FERC beginning to consider the U.S. Department of Energy’s request that the agency develop rules for interconnecting large loads to the transmission system, the Tri-State decision provides insights into the commission’s thinking about its jurisdiction over the issue, according to Steven Shparber, a member at the law firm of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo. “FERC’s decision relied on longstanding U.S. Supreme Court precedent noting that FERC may not regulate retail sales, which are exclusively within the states’ jurisdiction,” he said in an email. Dive Insight: Tri-State’s Aug. 28 proposal came as utilities like AEP Ohio and Dominion Energy Virginia have adopted tariffs that set out terms and conditions for interconnecting data centers and other large loads. In its proposal, Tri-State — a wholesale cooperative based in Westminster, Colorado, with 40 utility members in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming — said there is growing interest in building data centers in the Mountain West region. It has received 10 requests from member utilities to add loads ranging from 45 MW to 650 MW that could each grow to 300 MW to 1,000 MW, according to Tri-State, which has a 2,500 MW peak load. Tri-State said its proposed High Impact Load, or HIL, tariff and High Impact Load Agreement would protect its utility members from a range of risks