Oil fell for a third session as talks between the US and its trading partners gain urgency ahead of next week’s deadline. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.5% to settle near $66 a barrel as risk-on sentiment faded, and oil traders rolled over positions ahead of the August contract’s expiration on Tuesday, adding to volatility. Investors also honed in on discussions between European Union and US negotiators as they seek to clinch a trade deal by Aug. 1, when President Donald Trump has threatened to hit most of the bloc’s exports with 30% tariffs. “The risks to the downside are the longer-term oversupply that we expect in the fourth quarter and the first quarter of 2026, with the tariff deadline on Aug. 1 as another potential catalyst to the downside,” said Joe DeLaura, global energy strategist at Rabobank. Crude has been drifting sideways since the end of the conflict between Iran and Israel toward the end of last month, dragging gauges of market volatility to the lowest since early April. While WTI and Brent prices have flatlined, many of the largest moves in the oil market have been in diesel prices, which are soaring because of tight supplies and refinery closures. Looking ahead, traders will be focused on US economic data on jobless claims and home sales due to be released later this week. Oil Prices WTI for August delivery, which expired Tuesday, declined 1.5% to settle at $66.21 a barrel. The more active September contract slipped 1% to $65.31 a barrel. Brent for September settlement shed 0.9% to $68.59 a barrel. What do you think? We’d love to hear from you, join the conversation on the Rigzone Energy Network. The Rigzone Energy Network is a new social experience created for you and all energy professionals to Speak Up about

Spain’s power outages probably cost oil producer Repsol SA about €170 million ($200 million) in losses at refineries and chemical plants last quarter, people familiar with the matter said.  A nationwide blackout in April led to an estimated loss of roughly €100 million at five refineries, and €40 million at three chemical plants, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public. Smaller power failures probably cost about €30 million, they added.  Repsol declined to comment. The unprecedented collapse of Spain’s power grid left more than 50 million people without electricity for several hours across the Iberian peninsula and small parts of France on April 28. The overall financial impact remains unknown, with most industrial, corporate and retail customers waiting for the energy market regulator’s review of the debacle before making insurance and damage claims.  Repsol’s oil refinery and the Escombreras industrial complex in Cartagena, Spain, on Jan. 16, 2025. The nationwide losses tally could reach between €2 billion and €4 billion, according to power industry executives with knowledge of the estimates, who also asked not to be named discussing non-public information.  The regulator, known as CNMC, hasn’t said when it will present its review. A government report last month laid blame at the grid operator and some unnamed power plants, without fully explaining why the network became so unstable in the first place. Repsol had additional electricity-related losses in the first quarter from a smaller outage that halted its Cartagena refinery six days earlier, as well as a technical problem at a substation operated by a local power company, which led to the Puertollano refinery halting on June 16, the people said.  The smaller April 22 outage was related to power network oscillations — the same type of problem that occurred on April 28.  In

Nearly every night for the past two weeks, Puerto Rico’s grid operator has called on tens of thousands of batteries scattered across the island to overcome energy shortfalls and help deliver power to approximately 3 million residents — and it’s working.  What started as a modest pilot program in 2023 has grown into the first operational behind-the-meter virtual power plant in Latin America and the Caribbean, and a crucial support for the territory’s dilapidated energy infrastructure, said Javier Rúa-Jovet, chief policy officer of the Solar and Energy Storage Association of Puerto Rico. “It’s grown … in the blink of an eye,” he said. “It’s something to be proud of.” In May, Puerto Rico’s Energy Bureau, which regulates utilities, approved an emergency expansion of the “customer battery energy sharing” program in anticipation of a projected generation shortfall during the warmer months.  Since then, LUMA Energy, the grid operator, celebrated what it called a “major energy milestone.” “[L]ast night we successfully dispatched approximately 70,000 batteries, contributing around 48 MW of energy to the grid,” the company said in a July 9 statement posted on X. “This collaboration helped address a generation shortfall of nearly 50 MW, assisting in preventing multiple load shedding events and keeping the lights on longer in many communities across the island,” it said. Before Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, the island had a modest solar industry, driven largely by the desire to save money on power bills through net metering, and “storage was not a thing,” Rúa-Jovet said. What followed the deadly storms was the longest blackout in American history. “That kind of shifted, in people’s minds, the thinking on energy and the value of resiliency, and the importance of just basic energy,” Rúa-Jovet said. The Puerto Rico Energy Public Policy Act of 2019

Turkey will seek a new deal with Iraq on an oil export pipeline between the two countries that’s been idled for more than two years in a payment dispute. Ankara is unhappy with the underutilization of the pipeline under the current deal and sees greater potential benefit for itself and Iraq from a new arrangement, according to a senior Turkish official with direct knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. A decree in Turkey’s Official Gazette said a 1973 agreement governing the route would be “terminated” on July 27, 2026, together with all subsequent associated accords. The potential renegotiation is the latest step in the saga that started in March 2023, when Turkey closed the link after an arbitration court ordered the country to pay Iraq $1.5 billion over unauthorized exports. Numerous attempts to restart shipments have since failed – including due to disagreements between Iraq, its semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and companies operating in the area. But last week, Iraq’s federal and regional administrations agreed to an oil-transfer plan in a move toward resumption. Still, contracts with companies in the Kurdish region are yet to be signed. It wasn’t immediately clear if Turkey’s renegotiations would be another hurdle to a restart. Iraq’s oil ministry and the state oil-marketing company, SOMO, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Turkey’s announcement about ending the agreement. In a letter to Iraq’s oil ministry, the Turkish energy ministry expressed its willingness to renew the pipeline deal, state-run Iraqi News Agency reported, citing an unidentified source at the Baghdad-based ministry.  Turkey sent its neighbor a draft for a new, more comprehensive energy cooperation agreement which spans oil, gas, petrochemical industries and electricity. The Iraqi oil ministry will negotiate with Turkish authorities over the proposed

Wall Street analysts have high hopes for oil and gas stocks, encouraged by cheap valuations and President Donald Trump’s boosterism of the beleaguered energy sector.  Energy boasts the highest percentage of buy-rated equities among the 11 sectors in the S&P 500 Index: roughly three in four members have buy recommendations, compared with roughly half in the broader market, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Plus, sell-side analysts see energy stocks rising about 16% over the next 12 months, second only to the health-care segment and roughly double the projected gain for the overall index. Energy stocks — one of three index segments in the red this year — appear to have room to run. They’re the cheapest S&P 500 sector based on price-to-earnings ratio, and Trump is a cheerleader for the industry, calling for companies to “drill, baby, drill.” “The thesis that some people have is that multiples and valuations are very, very low right now,” Leo Mariani, analyst at Roth Capital Partners, said in an interview. Looking further into the future, the sector is expected to post the highest earnings growth in 2026, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Challenges ahead Of course, it’s understandable why investors may be skeptical about Wall Street’s bullish take. US crude prices have dropped about 7% this year, hurt by the fallout from Trump’s trade war and a drive by OPEC+ to restore curbed supplies. Also, the sector doesn’t have much momentum: Energy stocks have underperformed the market for four of the last five quarters. BMO Capital Markets expects US energy producers’ second-quarter earnings to fall 30% compared to the first three months of the year, and for cash flows to drop 15% in the same period because of weaker crude prices, according to analyst Phillip Jungwirth.  “Is there a catalyst to dramatically change that and reverse

David Lapp is people’s counsel at the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, an agency that advocates for Maryland’s residential utility consumers. The current openings for a new chief executive officer and two board seats present an opportunity for a much-needed paradigm shift at the PJM Interconnection. PJM is supposed to be independent under federal law, but in practice PJM has proven much more interested in advancing policies responsive to big corporate interests than the welfare of consumers. PJM’s ongoing public relations campaign illustrates the need for leadership change. Rather than responding with objective facts and reform to address root causes, PJM is resorting to blaming states for supply and infrastructure shortages, often defending the very policies that are driving up customer costs. PJM’s messaging in Maryland is illustrative. Consider four examples. First, with no qualification or quantification, PJM says it is “undeniable” that Maryland’s electric demand for power is growing and that it has a “supply” issue. According to PJM’s own forecasts, however, Maryland’s projected growth is quite modest. Twenty years from now, in 2045, PJM projects that the peak demand of Maryland’s largest utility, Baltimore Gas and Electric, will still be less than what its peak was in 2011, 14 years ago. Other areas of Maryland also show very modest increases in peak demand. The only real “supply” issue Maryland faces is really a PJM-wide issue: the massive growth and projected demand growth of data centers — about 30,000 MW by 2030, almost all of which is outside of Maryland. Second, PJM claims it is “undeniable” that power plants are shutting down without adequate replacements. But Maryland has few if any power plants likely to retire that have not already retired or announced plans to retire. PJM’s own data shows that despite some retirements, Maryland has more generation capacity