Angesichts der gestiegenen Ölpreise wegen des Kriegs im Nahen Osten hat der britische Energieriese BP seinen Gewinn kräftig gesteigert. Das bereinigte Ergebnis lag von Januar bis März bei 3,2 Milliarden Dollar – nach 1,4 Milliarden im Vorjahreszeitraum.
Archiv: Ressourcen / ressources
‘Obscene Transfer of Wealth’ Continues as Another Oil Giant Posts Massive War-Fueled Profits
TotalEnergies announced in its first-quarter earnings report that it would increase returns to shareholders through a higher dividend and stock buybacks after seeing $5.8 billion in profits and $8.6 billion in cash flow during the first three months of 2026.
Panama Canal prices take flight on Iran butterfly effect
(April 24, 2026)
Vice president of finance Víctor Vial confirmed that while certain vessels have recently paid more than $1m to secure a crossing, such sums reflect temporary spikes in demand rather than structural pricing shifts. Before the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East, average auction prices ran between $135,000 and $140,000. That figure rose some 180% to around $385,000 between March and April as demand surged.
The canal makes three to five slots available each day through its auction mechanism, aimed at vessels that have not booked in advance.
BlackRock strikes $23 billion deal to place Panama Canal ports under American control
(March 5, 2025)
But while much attention was focused on Mr. Trump‘s threat to retake control of the canal, his administration trained its sights on Hutchison Ports, the Hong Kong-based consortium that manages the canal‘s key ports, at either end of the canal. As a result of BlackRock‘s deal with CK Hutchison Holding, those two key ports will be placed under American control.
Energie-Lockdown: Ägypten verhängt Sperrstunde
Als Reaktion auf die Energiepreisexplosion hat die ägyptische Regierung eine landesweite Geschäftssperrstunde verhängt. Ab dem heutigen Samstag müssen Geschäfte, Restaurants, Cafés und Einkaufszentren unter der Woche um 21 Uhr schließen. Donnerstags und freitags dürfen sie bis 22 Uhr geöffnet bleiben.
Zunächst wird die Maßnahme für ein Monat verhängt. Ministerpräsident Mostafa Madbouly begründete den Schritt mit den gestiegenen Energiepreisen. .
PM apologises for disruption stemming from government’s handling of oil crisis
Thailand’s prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul offered a public apology today for the disruptions people are experiencing as a result of the government’s handling of the current oil crisis.
He raised his hands in a “wai” gesture of apology during the regular press gaggle this morning at Government House.
Saudi Aramco cuts oil supply to Asia for second month in April
Saudi Arabia has exported 4.355 million barrels per day of crude so far in March, data from analytics firm Kpler showed, down from 7.108 million bpd in February.
The producer is trying to boost crude exports via Yanbu to offset the Strait of Hormuz disruption, with loadings seen rising to record volumes in March. China‘s top refiner Sinopec (600028.SS), opens new tab is set to load about 24 million barrels of Saudi crude from Yanbu in March.
U.S. Waives Shipping Regulation to Ease Fuel, Fertilizer Deliveries
The waiver, a rare exception to the century-old law, underscores the administration’s urgent response to a crisis that has sent gasoline prices sharply higher and disrupted critical fertilizer supplies for U.S. farmers.
China restricts fertiliser exports, further crimping war-tightened supply
In mid-March, Beijing banned exports of nitrogen-potassium fertiliser blends and certain phosphate varieties, sources told Reuters.
The ban, which has not been formally unveiled, was reported earlier this week by Bloomberg News.
Added to existing bans and export quotas for urea, only a handful of fertilisers – notably ammonium sulphate – can be exported, five sources said. That would mean between half and three quarters of China‘s exports last year are restricted, potentially up to 40 million metric tons, according to a Reuters estimate.
The Other Global Crisis Stemming From the Strait of Hormuz’s Blockage
(March 12, 2026)
Deprived of their natural gas supplies from Qatar, fertilizer firms in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan have had to shut down production. Egypt, another important producer, has lost its gas imports from Israel and must turn to the ever-pricier LNG market. The benchmark price of urea, the most widely traded fertilizer, is up about 30 percent in the last month.
The damage extends beyond nitrogen to another key crop nutrient, phosphorus. Gulf countries produce around 20 percent of phosphate fertilizers, and as well as a quarter of global sulfur, which is largely an oil and gas byproduct. Fertilizer producers need sulfur (sulfuric acid, to be precise) to turn phosphate rock into a liquid that plants can absorb.
Korea, Taiwan chip sectors most exposed to helium shortage amid Middle East war: Fitch
Helium, a by-product of natural gas extraction used in semiconductor manufacturing for ultra-clean cooling, leak detection and inert shielding, faces a global squeeze, with Qatar among the world’s most important suppliers.
This comes as the US-Israeli attacks on Iran have already disrupted liquefied natural gas (LNG) production in Qatar, a leading LNG supplier, and constrained shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a key energy chokepoint that is now paralysed.
Energie-Lockdowns breiten sich aus
Besonders Asien ist durch die Energiekrise, die der US-israelische Angriff auf den Iran ausgelöst hat, hart getroffen. Am ganzen Kontinent werden Spar- und Rationierungsmaßnahmen von Regierungen verordnet.
Thailands ungewöhnliche Maßnahmen gegen Energieknappheit
Premierminister Anutin Charnvirakul hat staatliche Behörden angewiesen, ihren Energieverbrauch deutlich zu reduzieren. Eine der ersten Maßnahmen: Viele Staatsbedienstete sollen vorübergehend von zu Hause aus arbeiten. Damit sollen Pendelverkehr, Stromverbrauch in Bürogebäuden und andere energieintensive Abläufe reduziert werden. Ausgenommen von dieser Regelung sind lediglich Mitarbeiter, die im direkten Kontakt mit Bürgern arbeiten und deren Präsenz in Behördengebäuden notwendig ist.
Zusätzlich hat die Regierung ihre Angestellten dazu aufgefordert, Treppen statt Aufzüge zu benutzen, um den Stromverbrauch in öffentlichen Gebäuden zu senken. Auch wenn diese Maßnahme eher symbolisch wirkt, soll sie Teil eines umfassenderen Programms sein, mit dem staatliche Institutionen ihren Energiebedarf möglichst schnell reduzieren.
What could fuel rationing look like? Five options for a NZ response
MBIE data from Monday showed New Zealand had a 58-day supply of petrol, 50 days of diesel, and 47 days of jet fuel, meaning 43 days as of today.
While a further supply to the country was on its way, Stuff reported earlier on Thursday that we may already be down to 17 or 18 days left by the time it arrives.
NOC rations cooking gas, directs bottlers to sell half-filled cylinders
KATHMANDU, March 12: Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has enforced a rationing system for cooking gas, directing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) bottlers to sell only half-filled cylinders. The decision comes amid a surge in demand driven by panic buying from consumers, fueled by the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
According to NOC, there are approximately 150,000 LPG cylinders currently in circulation across the country.
China Halts Fuel Exports as Hormuz Crisis Tightens Global Supply
(today)
The Chinese government has moved to ban all fuel exports amid a worsening supply crunch because of the severe disruption in tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. The ban covers gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, unnamed sources told Reuters.
The restrictions will take immediate effect, applying to all cargoes that had not passed through customs as of March 11, the sources also said.
IEA Member countries to carry out largest ever oil stock release amid market disruptions from Middle East conflict
IEA members hold emergency stockpiles of over 1.2 billion barrels, with a further 600 million barrels of industry stocks held under government obligation. The coordinated stock release is the sixth in the history of the IEA, which was created in 1974. Previous collective actions were taken in 1991, 2005, 2011, and twice in 2022.
The conflict in the Middle East that began on 28 February 2026 has impeded oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, with export volumes of crude and refined products currently at less than 10% of pre-conflict levels. This is forcing operators across the region to shut in or curtail a substantial amount of production.
An average of 20 million barrels per day of crude oil and oil products transited the Strait of Hormuz in 2025, or around 25% of the world’s seaborne oil trade. Options for oil flows to bypass the Strait of Hormuz are limited.
Libya signs $20bn oil deals with US and French energy companies
Libya’s Tripoli-based government signed a 25-year oil development agreement with France‘s TotalEnergies and the US’s ConocoPhillips that could more than double the output of its Waha Oil company.
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Tripoli also signed an agreement with Chevron and the government of Egypt to cooperate on energy logistics, exploration and production.
Freihandelsabkommen unterzeichnet Was das Mercosur-Abkommen für die Wirtschaft bedeutet
Sechs Staaten sind Mitglied von Mercosur, von denen vier Teil des Abkommens mit der EU sind: Argentinien, Brasilien, Paraguay und Uruguay.
EU and South America’s Mercosur bloc sign landmark free trade agreement
The European Union and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries formally signed a long-sought landmark free trade agreement on Saturday, capping more than a quarter-century of torturous negotiations to strengthen commercial ties in the face of rising protectionism and trade tensions around the world.
The signing ceremony in Paraguay’s humid capital of Asunción marks a major geopolitical victory for the EU in an age of American tariffs and surging Chinese exports, expanding the bloc’s foothold in a resource-rich region increasingly contested by Washington and Beijing.
Exclusive: China state oil majors suspend Russian oil buys due to sanctions, sources say
A sharp drop in oil demand from Russia’s two largest customers will put a strain on Moscow’s oil revenues and force the world’s top importers to seek alternative supplies and push up global prices.
Chinese national oil companies PetroChina (601857.SS), Sinopec, CNOOC and Zhenhua Oil will refrain from dealing in seaborne Russian oil at least in the short-term due to concern over sanctions, the sources said.
How Research Reactors Help Make Medical Imaging Possible
(August 10, 2020)
From reactor to patients
Research reactors are reactors that, instead of generating electricity, are primarily used to produce neutrons for other applications. These neutrons can be used for various purposes, such as to produce 99Mo by irradiating uranium-235 targets.
Being a radioisotope, 99Mo is an unstable atom that undergoes decay. It takes 66 hours for half of any 99Mo produced to decay — this is known as its half-life. The decay product of 99Mo, also called its ‘daughter product’, is 99mTc.
To get 99mTc, the irradiated uranium-235 targets are moved to a processing installation, usually near a research reactor, to separate 99Mo from the other fission products and purify it. The purified 99Mo is then transported to a production facility for 99Mo/99mTc generators — devices used to safely hold, transport and chemically extract 99mTc from 99Mo directly on site at a hospital or other medical facility.
What Is Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99)?
Our fusion-based medical isotope production system produces high-specific-activity molybdenum-99 using a proprietary fusion-fission process, without the need for a conventional reactor and the use of inefficient highly enriched uranium. We believe that our production of Mo-99 in the United States will mitigate, if not prevent chronic shortages by producing the isotope in an efficient, clean, low-cost manner compatible with the existing radioisotope supply chain.
What is molybdenum-99 used for?
Molybdenum-99 is the parent isotope of technetium-99m, a gamma-emitting isotope used as a radioactive tracer in medical imaging procedures such as SPECT scans. Tech-99m is used in tens of millions of medical diagnostic procedures around the world every year. It is a critical medical tool for diagnosing heart disease, bone disease, and cancer.
Tech-99m has a very short half-life; of any given supply, nearly all of it will decay in under a day. Its short half-life makes it extremely useful as a tracer, but also makes it impossible to stockpile
Europe makes slow progress on critical minerals as US and China lead the way
(February 28, 2025)
In the last 30 years, Europe has outsourced its mining needs to other regions of the world, and has stopped looking for the resources it had right at home, experts say
Libya‘s first private oil firm grows in eastern commander‘s shadows
The shipments by the little-known Arkenu Oil Company, which was set up in 2023, are the first by a private Libyan company and mean some of the country‘s oil revenue is likely being channelled away from the Central Bank of Libya.
(…)
Reuters was unable to determine who owns Arkenu. However, a U.N. panel of experts said in a Dec. 13 report, opens new tab to the Security Council that Arkenu was indirectly controlled by Saddam Haftar, one of Khalifa Haftar‘s sons.
BP, Eni, Repsol, OMV Return to Libya, Ending 10-Year Absence
(January 9, 2025)
The Libyan National Oil Company plans to tender 22 onshore/offshore exploration blocks in 2025 as it works to rebuild credibility with foreign oil producers.
Taliban Sign Multibillion-Dollar Afghan Mining Deals
(August 31, 2023)
Shahabuddin Dilawar, the Taliban minister of mines and petroleum, said the seven contracts cover the extraction and processing of gold, copper, iron, lead and zinc in four Afghan provinces — Takhar, Ghor, Herat and Logar.
The nationally televised signing ceremony occurred as the de facto Afghan authorities marked the second anniversary of the withdrawal of all U.S.-led NATO troops from the country after nearly 20 years of war with the then-insurgent Taliban.