US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a long list of demands for the World Bank in line with Trump administration interests, including ending the bank's prohibition on financing upstream oil and gas projects, putting resources into deep-sea critical minerals mining and reforming its procurement policies. Bessent, in a statement issued late on Wednesday to the steering committees of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, also said that the IMF should do more to push back on [Read more]

The Trump administration is considering easing sanctions on so-called shadow fleet vessels that have transported oil and petroleum products from countries including Russia, Iran and Venezuela, in an effort to reduce record-high global freight rates, a US official said on Wednesday. The discussions are happening days after President Donald Trump temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian diesel fuel, a move met with a torrent of criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, European [Read more]

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that "massive oil, gas and mineral exploration"was set to begin on Greenland, a contentious statement on a territory that has resisted his efforts to control it and has banned new drilling for crude. Trump described the Danish Arctic island which is run by a semi-autonomous government as "our new and beautiful Greenland" in a social media post that hailed what he said were US gains from a security deal signed in September. The Greenlandic prime [Read more]

The jump to record highs in the cost of shipping oil in supertankers is squeezing profit margins for Asian oil refiners, who are heavily dependent on Middle Eastern crude, the International Energy Agency said in a monthly report. * Asian oil refiners have faced the highest transportation costs as cargoes are moved through the Strait of Hormuz to secondary tankers for onward delivery, the IEA said * The freight rate for a VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) on a route from the Middle East Gulf [Read more]

A container ship has sunk near the Strait of Hormuz after being hit by a projectile, while a separate dry bulk carrier damaged in an earlier attack is also reported to be sinking, maritime security sources said on Wednesday. The Singapore-flagged GFS Pride container ship, with a small 2,824 TEU (20-ft equivalent unit) capacity, had sunk, the sources said. "Commercial vessel 'GFS PRIDE' reported sunk with floating containers... mariners cautioned," the Hydrographer of Pakistan said in a [Read more]

A Russia-US deal on supplies of Russian diesel can pave the way for further economic cooperation between the two countries, Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on Wednesday, adding that Moscow would overcome any sanctions-related difficulties to ensure the fuel was delivered. US President Donald Trump said last Friday that he and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had reached an agreement for Russia to release supplies of diesel to the US and global markets. Trump is keen to lower US diesel [Read more]

The European Commission foresees a "very, very difficult winter" regarding higher energy prices, spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said on Wednesday. She added there is an "affordability" crisis and that the situation is very volatile and very unpredictable. (Reporting by Inti Landauro, Editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout) [Read more]