Headlines

Oil prices dropped about 1% on Thursday, down for a third consecutive day, after Qatar said Iran and the U.S. had made progress in indirect talks focused on the Strait of Hormuz, which handled one-fifth of global oil supply before the war. The discussions produced "positive progress" on issues related to the memorandum that halted the war in June, a Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a post on X. There was, however, no sign that the two sides had made headway towards a lasting [Read more]

U.S. crude stocks fell to their lowest last week since 2018 as domestic refinery demand rose, while gasoline inventories also fell ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Commercial crude inventories fell by 3.8 million barrels to 408.4 million barrels last week, the lowest level since September 2018, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 4.5 million-barrel draw. Since the Iran war started at the end of February, total [Read more]

Activist investors pushed global companies more aggressively in the second quarter to make changes and lifted the overall pace of campaigns in the first half of 2026, Barclays data showed, as their biggest demand was for businesses to sell themselves in a rebounding deal market. Compared with the first half of 2025, activists such as Elliott Investment Management, Jana Partners and Starboard Value, launched 136 global campaigns between January and end-June, a 5% year-over-year increase, [Read more]

Crude inventories fell by 3.8 million barrels to 408.4 million barrels last week, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 4.5 million-barrel draw. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 709,000 barrels in the week ended June 26, the EIA said. Refinery crude runs rose by 85,000 barrels per day. Refinery utilization rates rose by 0.5 percentage points in the week. U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 2.3 million barrels in the week to 214 [Read more]

EDMONTON - Albertans can start applying today for $100 from the provincial government to help deal with the high cost of living. Premier Danielle Smith announced earlier this month that residents can get the cash instead of the province reducing its tax on gasoline at the pumps. Smith said cuts to gas taxes don't always get passed on to customers. Last week, the province officially changed its fuel tax relief regulations to make way for the payments. Nearly 3.4 million adults are [Read more]

One stage of the Iran war has ended, but the world may be mistaking a pre-election pause for lasting peace. Tehran's economic leverage will likely remain strong through the U.S. midterm elections in November, but could weaken once the votes are counted, raising the risk of renewed confrontation afterward. In this dangerous new environment, how might the rest of the world position itself to avoid becoming collateral damage once again? Whether the 60-day talks between the U.S. and Iran will [Read more]

Canada's world-famous Calgary Stampede kicks off on Friday, but a push by Alberta separatists to begin the process of splitting from the country is casting a shadow over the festivities and spurring division at rodeos across the oil-rich province. Alberta residents will vote in a non-binding referendum in October on whether to remain part of Canada, the first time a province outside of Quebec has ever put the question of separation to the public. In the small town of Sundre, in central Alberta, [Read more]