The United States and European Union officially reached a tariff agreement on Sunday, averting a potentially crippling transatlantic trade war. Following months of contentious negotiations, U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the deal at Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland.
Oil prices continued to move higher on Friday morning in Asia, supported by renewed optimism surrounding U.S.-EU trade negotiations and expectations that Russia will restrict gasoline exports. Even reports of Chevron’s return to Venezuela, which analysts estimate could add around 200,000 barrels per day to global supply, have been unable to pull prices lower.
Lower demand for crude oil from refiners at home gave a boost to U.S. exports of the commodity, turning it into a net exporter to OPEC member Nigeria in two of the seven months since the start of this year.
This is taking place ahead of the next round of trade talks between the two countries, to take place in Sweden next week. U.S. Treasury Secretary described current relations as being “in a good place.” Chinese officials, for their part, have signaled a readiness on the part of the country’s government to reach a mutually beneficial deal. An official statement said that the Chinese side hoped for an atmosphere of “mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation,” at the talks.
The United States could abandon the International Energy Agency (IEA) if the organization, created in the aftermath of the 1970s Arab oil embargo, doesn’t return to forecasting energy demand without strongly promoting green energy.
The United States and Iran are poised to return to the negotiating table at a moment when tensions between the two are high and trust is low.
The talks were initially planned for July 10 in Oslo, according to RFE/RL’s sources, who now say the meeting has been postponed — likely to next week.
Brazil is preparing to defend its oil export sector as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports starting August 1. The move has escalated tensions between the two countries, with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva vowing reciprocal action: “If he charges us 50%, we’ll charge him 50%,” Lula told local media outlet Record.
The problem of AI data centers’ energy consumption has been drawing more and more attention as the AI race heats up and data centers proliferate. Indeed, the problem has become so pressing in some countries that they have set limits on the number of data centers that can be built there.
This marks the strongest signal yet that Aramco intends to take a material position in the U.S. LNG sector. It also follows earlier exploratory efforts with projects such as Delfin LNG and Energy Transfer’s Lake Charles facility, though those discussions have not resulted in formal agreements. The Commonwealth negotiations, if concluded, would give Aramco a direct channel into the fast-growing U.S. Gulf Coast export market, amid rising demand in Asia and Europe.
The North American Reliability Corp. has been warning of blackouts for two years now, citing extreme temperatures but also increased reliance on weather-dependent sources of electricity, notably wind and solar installations. The latest warning came earlier this year, with NERC attributing the danger to the surge in demand for electricity. The surge, in turn, was driven by the proliferation of data centers, which consume enormous amounts of electricity.