Latest News
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The largest US power grid PJM will vote on managing demand for data centers
The PJM Interconnection is scheduled to vote Tuesday on the'most important issue facing the U.S. grid operator: How to manage the 'rising demand for data centers that threatens to overwhelm regional electricity supplies. PJM has been inundated with requests from Big Tech and developers over the past two years to connect energy-intensive, data-centers to the grid covering 13 states and 'the District of Columbia. This has thrown the supply-and demand balance off needed to reliably - and affordably - supply power to 65 million people within PJM footprint. This imbalance has sent PJM's capacity prices, which power plants are paid for to ensure that they provide enough?power during peak demand periods, soaring more than 1,000% since around?2024. On Tuesday, voting members of PJM will try to decide protocols for how data centers are supplied, how they can reduce their power consumption during times of grid stress, and who is responsible for certain measures to quickly 'connect and manage' the server warehouses. PJM proposes that data centers can either pay for new power supplies on 'the grid' to cover their energy consumption or agree to have their electricity cut off if the grid is overloaded. This would help to prevent a broader blackout. A decision could be made at the meeting on the date of the "backstop" purchase. PJM encourages 'long-term contracts between data centers & power providers. However, any shortfall incurred by this process will need to be covered. The members are expected to vote around 2:30 pm EDT. Reporting by Laila KEARNEY in New York, Editing by Chris REESE
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CPC Blend Oil Exports to Decline 6% in July from June After Karachaganak Cut Output
Two trading sources reported that the Caspian Pipeline Consortium will 'export around 1.6 million barrels per day of CPC blend crude in July. This is down from the 1.7 million barrels per day planned for June, after drone damage caused a Russian gas plant to reduce production. The Russian Orenburg?gas plant normally receives gas from Kazakhstan's Karachaganak oil and gas condensate fields, which export?oil through the CPC pipeline. Karachaganak had to cut production after the Orenburg gas plant was attacked. Calculations show that daily?CPC blend oil?loadings are expected to decline by 6% from June in July. Karachaganak's production is now back to 31,000 tons per day but it remains lower than the 28,000 tons that were produced before the drone attack. This was confirmed by Askhat Khasenov of KazmunayGas which owns a stake in the oilfield operator Karachaganak Petroleum Operating. Last October, another drone attack forced the Karachaganak field to reduce its production. CPC Blend Oil loadings have been revised up by 17% from the original plan in June after the "giant Kashagan" oil field decided to delay maintenance. CPC shareholders include Russia with 31% and Kazakhstan with 20.75 %, U.S. giant Chevron with 15 %, as well as several private companies. Barbara Lewis (Reporting and editing)
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India increases petrol tax in July and cuts windfall tax on diesel
According to a government directive, India has lowered windfall tax on diesel and aviation turbine fuel exports as 'global oil prices' have eased, but increased the duty for petrol exports. Duty on diesel exports was cut from 14 to 8.5 rupies per litre. Aviation turbine fuels were set at 7.5 rupies/litre. To ensure a domestic supply, the?export tax on petrol has been raised to 4 rupees from 1.5 rupees. New rates will be effective July 1. As a result of a reduction in fears of a prolonged supply disruption, oil prices have dropped sharply since peaks of $126 per barrel. Analysts and economists predict that Brent crude oil will average $84.50 a barrel in 2026, down from the $90.44 predicted last month. (Reporting by Nikunj Ohri, Chandni Shah in Bengaluru. Mark Potter edited the article.
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German regulator moves to curb Deutsche Bahn dominance on key rail routes
Germany's network regulator is planning to limit Deutsche Bahn’s utilisation of long-distance rail on certain congested 'routes', potentially opening up the market to competitors including Italy's 'Italo' . The Bundesnetzagentur made a presentation of the proposal on Tuesday to its rail infrastructure advisory council. Before the draft becomes binding, it must be discussed with the council. This follows a complaint from the Italian high-speed railway operator Italo. Italo wants to enter Germany's market in 2028, but says it needs predictable access. The German railway company, Deutsche Bahn, controls?roughly 95% of Germany’s long-distance market. It is battling chronic delay while undergoing a decade-long network upgrade that will cost approximately EUR150 billion ($171billion). 'MINIMUM LEVEL ACCESS' The cap would apply to long-distance routes that are formally 'constrained'. It would be enforced by DB InfraGO (the infrastructure unit of Deutsche Bahn), which operates stations and tracks under the supervision of Bundesnetzagentur. The regulator stated that DB InfraGO would be able to allocate up to 60-75% of this capacity to a single user. Klaus Mueller, President of Bundesnetzagentur, said that the measure would ensure "a minimum level of competition for clock-face long distance services." DB InfraGO stated that the proposal 'would worsen existing capacity constraints and bottlenecks, with competition concentrated primarily on'major routes' while key rail hubs still lack capacity to provide wider regional connections. It stated that it would review the draft decision, and examine its options. Italo welcomed the proposal, calling it "a clear sign" that Germany is ready to compete in high-speed rail. According to the Bundesnetzagentur?Italo plans on investing EUR3.6 billion and ordering about 30 Siemens high speed trains to operate services along the Munich-Berlin route and the Munich-Dortmund route.
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Canada - June 30
These are the 'top stories' from selected Canadian newspapers. The?reports?have not been verified and?we cannot vouch for the accuracy of these stories. THE GLOBE AND MAIL Theravance Biopharma, based in Dublin, is being acquired by Vancouver-based Zymeworks for C$1.32 Billion ($927.49 Million) cash. This marks the Canadian company's entry into the respiratory illness treatment market. The deadline for the submission of a proposal to the federal government for consideration is July 1. NATIONAL POST Alberta will unveil its proposal to build a new pipeline that would transport a million barrels of oil per day to the West Coast on Thursday. This is to diversify Canada's exports to Asian markets, in the face of tariffs imposed by U.S. president Donald Trump.
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What is the British Defence Investment Plan?
The UK unveiled their long-delayed Defense Investment Plan?on Tuesday. It outlines how they intend to spend an?growing budget for the military in the next few years, as they prepare for future conflicts. Here are some of the details that?the?government? has announced: BIG KIT and INFRASTRUCTURE The Global Combat Air Programme will receive PS8.6billion over the next 4 years. This is a joint British, Italian and Japanese project to develop a new jet fighter, also called Tempest by the British. The project is being led by BAE Systems, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Leonardo. - 63 billion pounds sterling over the next four-year period to fund the new Dreadnought, SSN-AUKUS and new warheads as well as the purchase of 12 F-35A jet fighters. - Upgrade naval bases over a period of 10 years for PS26 billion. - PS11billion on munitions, weapons and a variety of attack drones. These include long-range strike weapons and?low-cost missiles. 790 million pounds sterling over four years will be spent on new radars, sensors, anti-drones systems, and upgrading the air-defence weapons system of the Type 45 destroyers. NEW TECHNOLOGY 5 billion PS over a period of four years for funding drones in the armed services, including drone fighters, attack drones and armed drones that will work with Apache helicopters. - PS650mn of that investment is allocated to inexpensive, disposable autonomous systems. - 2 billion PS to integrate the armed forces via a "digital target web", in order to accelerate decision-making through AI and software. -?Britain also announced that its Royal Navy will become a hybrid navy, combining autonomous ships and AI with aircraft and warships. The government scrapped plans to replace Royal Navy Type '45 destroyers in favor of procuring at least six 'Common Combat Vessels' to act as control hubs for systems without crews, due to enter service by the 2030s. There will be new high speed boats for the Royal Marine Commandos. (Reporting by William James and Sarah Young, Editing by William Maclean and Alex Richardson) (Reporting and editing by William Maclean, Alex Richardson and Sarah Young)
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Images from Estonia show machine guns on Russian LNG carriers in Baltic
Estonia released photos of a Russian flagged liquefied gas carrier with machine guns and sandbags in the Baltic Sea in spring. This indicates a more confrontational approach by Moscow to protect its civilian fleet. Surveillance images show machine gun positions fortified on the?the?bridge roof of a civilian vessel, the Marshal Vasilevskiy. Its home port is Kaliningrad. Yoruk isik, a geopolitical expert who runs the Bosphorus Observer consulting, described it as "a crazy step" by civilian vessels operating in the Baltic. Isik said that "this is a hostile act by Russia" to send a signal to EU and NATO nations, saying it would actively oppose any attempts to detain its ships or inspect them. There is no justification to use a machine gun as a self-defence in the Baltic... It is clear that the seas are becoming more lawless. According to LSEG data, the Marshal Vasilevskiy - owned by Gazprom's Gazprom Flot LLC - has shipped LNG from a port in St Petersburg to Kaliningrad four times since 2025. The most recent time was May. The route follows the coastline of Estonia. A spokesperson from the Estonian Police Border Guard Service said that the images were taken in the spring of this year on the Baltic Sea... within Estonia’s area. Gazprom has not responded to a request for comment. We cannot allow the blocking of our main maritime routes. In an interview published in June 15, Nikolai Patrushev said that the Baltic and Black Seas handled a?majority' of our maritime trade. It is vital to ensure that the Russian fleet can counter all threats. Sanctions and Seizures Since the beginning of the year, nine suspected shadow fleet oil tanks - vessels with unclear ownership linked to Russia and sailing under flags to avoid Western sanctions - have all been seized in Europe. The most recent was by France on the 26th of June. The United Kingdom sanctioned the Marshal Vasilevskiy in October 2024. Canada sanctioned it in February 2025, and Australia in December 2020. Gazprom flot was sanctioned in April by the EU. Unofficially, a Baltic security official said that the vessel is unlikely to be confiscated as it doesn't fall under the shadow fleet category. It also sails under the Russian flag. The official stated that it was "hard to know what the Russians were thinking." Since the Baltic Sea was made a NATO lake in 2004, Russians are stressed by anything going on there. So maybe they're just overthinking it and overreacting. Ivo Vark, the Estonian Navy Commander, stated in April that Russia was increasing its military presence between Estonia and Finland, the route leading to the ports of St Petersburg where the bulk of Russia's exports are loaded. Vark said in April that Estonia had stopped trying to detain vessels with a Russian connection which do not?pose an immediate threat because the "risk of military escalation is too high". This week, the Estonian Navy failed to respond to a comment request. In January 2019, Putin inaugurated the Marshal Vasilevskiy which is capable of regasifying LNG directly into a gas pipeline. This was to provide a backup gas supply for Kaliningrad, a militarised exclave in Russia, in the event that gas supplies through NATO member Lithuania were disrupted. (Reporting and editing by Ros Russell in Vilnius)
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Japan's Takaichi wants deeper India-Japan ties in trade and security
The Foreign Ministry in Tokyo announced that the Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi would visit India from Wednesday to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. These discussions will focus on boosting trade and investment, as well as strategic cooperation between 'two Asian partners. Modi visited Tokyo in 2014, where Japan promised to double its investment to $61 billion within the next decade. This visit was a result of 'deepening economic relations. The 16th India-Japan Annual Summit will be held by the two leaders. This is a "mechanism" where the prime ministers from both countries meet alternately. According to a?foreign minister's statement, the?summit is expected to review progress in trade, technology and infrastructure, as well as defence, people-to-people relations, while also addressing global and regional issues. A source in India said that Modi and Takaichi would also attend business meetings with executives from both nations. Around 1,400 Japanese firms operate in India. Nearly half are in manufacturing. According to Indian government statistics, bilateral trade in fiscal 2025/26 reached $27.5 billion, and Japanese investment in India?totaled $3.2 billion from April 2025 until December 2025. Leaders are expected to also discuss?security co-operation and efforts to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific. India and Japan, along with the United States and Australia are part of the Quad Grouping. They have steadily increased their defence and strategic cooperation in recent years. Japan is one of India's biggest investors. It has backed major infrastructure projects, including a high speed?railway corridor between the cities?Mumbai & Ahmedabad. Japanese firms have increased their investments in Indian companies. A recent $1.6 billion deal was made for a 20 percent stake in Yes Bank. (Reporting and editing by Raju Gopikrishnan; Saurabh Sharma)
Some Russian fuel prices are now over 100 roubles due to the crisis.
Sources at retail chains say that independent filling stations have started selling fuel in Russia for more than 100 rubles ($1.27) per litre, as a result of the unprecedented rise in spot prices for gasoline and diesel due to Ukrainian attacks on oil refining facilities. Fuel restrictions have been imposed across the country due to intensifying strikes against Russian energy infrastructure.
Sources said that independent retailers were close to crossing the 100-rouble threshold for a litre of gasoline two weeks ago but didn't because their software wasn't configured to display?three digit prices on display panels.
According to sources, the worsening conditions on the market forced these filling stations to update their technical equipment to allow them to sell gasoline and diesel for up to 120-140 rubles per litre.
The prices at chain stations run by vertically integrated oil firms are not much different from the pre-crisis level: AI-92 is about 63-66 roubles a litre and AI-95, about 70-73 roubles a litre.
The traders stated that these companies adhere to an informal agreement with regulators, which states: "price increases must remain within inflation's pace."
Fuel is selling out fast at the oil company stations due to the price difference, which has caused them to suspend their operations until they receive another delivery. Vladimir Putin admitted that Ukraine's drone war had caused fuel shortages on Sunday. He said, however, that the authorities are addressing the issue.
According to estimates by industry experts, Russia's gasoline output has been below the consumption level since May. Diesel production, however, has been at or near the consumption level.
Slow wholesale deliveries further squeeze supply
Industry sources claim that on the wholesale side of things, "demand is significantly greater than supply, with many purchase bids not being filled."
Sources said that wholesale sales volumes of AI-92 diesel and gasoline fuel on the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange are now less than half of what they were in June 2025. AI-95 volumes have also dropped by approximately a third.
Delivery delays are reducing supply. Exchange participants reported that sellers are routinely delaying shipments. Delays of up to two months now seem the norm.
Spot fuel is only available at those depots which have received wholesale quantities purchased on the exchange, or who still have volume stockpiled from the winter.
This price is double the average SPIMEX wholesale price for such small wholesale lots.
(source: Reuters)