Stocks of crude oil in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by about 5.3 million barrels to 293.4 million barrels last week, the lowest level since December 1982, according to data from the Department of Energy. The drawdowns are part of a U.S. agreement to release 172 million barrels from the facility. (Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston) [Read more]

Infrastructure company WhiteWater and its joint venture partners Devon Energy, MPLX, Diamondback Energy and Western Midstream Partners said on Monday they had reached a final investment decision (FID) to build two natural gas pipelines from the Permian Basin to Katy, Texas. The Permian Basin, the largest oil-producing region in the U.S., has seen steady growth in associated natural gas production in recent years, spurring investment in new pipeline infrastructure to move gas to key demand [Read more]

** KBW says last week's major capital commitments from U.S. big banks linked to domestic infrastructure and AI build out signal confidence in the sustainability of the capex cycle ** Bank of America pledged $250 billion for US infrastructure financing and Morgan Stanley launched a $1.5 trillion infrastructure initiative ** Elsewhere, Nvidia partnered with Wall Street giants including Goldman Sachs to establish AI infrastructure financing platforms to mobilize over $500 billion ** "We [Read more]

China managed to add a small volume of crude oil to inventories in July, as weak refinery processing outweighed a sharp drop in imports. China's surplus crude for July amounted to 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) and came after the world's biggest oil importer drew on stockpiles in both May and June amid supply constraints caused by the Iran conflict. The return to a surplus in China's crude availability in July comes as a surprise given the huge decline in imports, with seaborne arrivals of [Read more]

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed over the weekend, data showed on Monday, following attacks on tankers, while U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the Middle East conflict stalled. Five commodity vessels transited the strait on Saturday, with none registered for Sunday, shiptracking data from Kpler showed, versus 31 in the prior weekend. Ships entering the strait on Saturday included an empty Very Large Crude Carrier with its Automatic Identification System switched off and an Indian-flagged [Read more]

Palantir chair and co-founder Peter Thiel has bought a 1% stake in Argentina's Vista, one of the largest oil companies operating in the country's Vaca Muerta shale formation, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The filing, published on Friday, comes four months after the tech billionaire met with Argentine President Javier Milei in the presidential palace, after which Milei told a local media outlet they discussed economic policies and his opposition to wealth [Read more]

Iran has not decided to resume talks with the United States, and messages being exchanged via Qatar and Pakistan do not amount to negotiations, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in an interview published on Saturday. Araqchi told Iranian news outlet Shahrara News that separate talks with Oman were focused on defining a sea route through the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States would have to meet conditions for shipping to resume through the waterway. (Reporting by Eman Abouhassira and [Read more]

Iran called on the U.S. to accept defeat while President Donald Trump blasted Iran as "evil" and urged Americans to brace for continued high fuel prices. The comments suggested the warring parties remained far apart, with progress toward peace talks and oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway both halted. "This strait will be opened and closed only under Iran's command, and so long as you do not accept the reality of defeat and stop indulging in fantasies, Iran will [Read more]