QatarEnergy has extended its force majeure on LNG deliveries to Italy’s Adriatic LNG terminal until at least mid-August, Edison said on Monday, with five more cargoes affected by the Strait of Hormuz crisis. montelnews.com/news/3004c06...

Oil prices plunged nearly 6% to two-week lows early on Monday as investors grew more confident that the US and Iran were nearing a deal to end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, despite both sides acknowledging key issues remain unresolved. montelnews.com/news/f29b567...

Recently proposed benchmarks to allocate free carbon allowances to industry would saddle the German chemical sector with additional costs running into hundreds of millions of euros, the VCI chemical industry association said on Friday. montelnews.com/news/8f22464...

France’s summer power prices could drop off current highs as the season looks set to be stormier and less hot and dry than previously anticipated, French weather forecaster Meteo Consult told Montel. montelnews.com/news/856ef35...

France’s energy sector has welcomed a government plan to cut taxes on power bills for all consumers but remained cautious about the nation’s budgetary constraints. montelnews.com/news/c577315...

Germany is set for a period of strong wind and solar output, reaching up to 20% above the seasonal norm, according to forecasts on Friday. montelnews.com/news/fd49f2b...

Europe should see power prices turn negative this weekend, traders and analysts told Montel on Friday but most did not expect a return of record lows seen on 1 May as the market is “evolving”. montelnews.com/news/8020e23...

The global LNG market is facing increased volatility this summer – leaving little margin for error amid a wave of planned maintenance shutdowns and weather risks, an analyst with consultancy Wood Mackenzie told Montel. montelnews.com/news/54c63d6...

Europe’s gas markets risk becoming economically fragmented due to rising pipeline transportation costs, despite being physically interconnected, an analyst with trade intelligence firm Kpler told Montel. montelnews.com/news/7baef77...

The US-Israel war with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz blockade will likely postpone an expected global LNG supply glut by two years, Equinor’s head of LNG told Montel on Thursday. montelnews.com/news/07ce96d...

“No final decision” has been reached on which Belgian nuclear reactors would be recommissioned or have their lifetimes extended amid a government plan to acquire the assets from French firm Engie, the energy ministry told Montel. montelnews.com/news/cd6b6c6...

Next month sees the biggest risk this summer of low river levels and high water temperatures – indicating potential cooling problems at French reactors – amid hot, dry conditions, which could also affect hydropower, forecaster MetDesk said on Thursday. montelnews.com/news/b43d479...

France’s negotiations with the European Commission over the country’s subsidy scheme for the construction of six nuclear reactors will continue for “the coming months”, the economy and energy ministry told Montel despite a year-end national deadline. montelnews.com/news/62b761a...

The EU needs more mechanisms than its emissions trading system (ETS) to finance Europe’s green transition, while its ETS benchmarks may be structurally biased, said an Italian study released on Thursday. montelnews.com/news/3299dea...

Seventy companies and industry groups on Thursday called for a binding target to electrify 50% of final EU energy consumption by 2040, warning that the bloc risks falling behind China and the US on clean technology. montelnews.com/news/0aa4723...

With the standoff in the Middle East war dragging on, analysts told Montel’s latest Plugged In podcast they remain divided on how long the disruption could last and its impact on energy markets. montelnews.com/news/b356c62...

With the standoff in the Middle East war dragging on, analysts told Montel’s latest Plugged In podcast they remain divided on how long the disruption could last and its impact on energy markets. montelnews.com/news/62a4270...

A European strategic gas reserve would be the “lesser of two evils” over the currently used EU storage targets, with the latter potentially distorting market prices, Energy Traders Europe’s gas committee chairman told Montel on Wednesday. montelnews.com/news/bcbf639...

The Iran war has created a crisis of LNG supply flows rather than one of availability and will be combated by 33bcm of new LNG capacity ramping up, lobby International Gas Union told Montel on Wednesday. montelnews.com/news/d65b781...

A growing dependence on US LNG supply should not be a concern for European buyers, a US LNG executive said on Wednesday, although EU market participants remain unconvinced. montelnews.com/news/27ca0c4...

Analysts have spotted heat signals in the southern section of Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG facility for the first time since Iranian missile strikes on the complex in March, they told Montel. montelnews.com/news/1efe57f...

EU gas storage levels could reach almost 80% of capacity by winter, but only with the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a peace deal between the US and Iran, Axpo Solution’s head of merchant trading said on Wednesday. montelnews.com/news/d90465f...

French renewable energy investment is beginning to stall as a debate that pitches nuclear power against green technologies heats up ahead of next year’s presidential election, analysts told Montel. montelnews.com/news/a6f8509...

Up to 16 GW of German offshore wind capacity faces limbo due to grid connection delays and supply chain issues, risking EUR 45bn of investment, said wind industry association BWO on Wednesday. montelnews.com/news/656208d...

The impact of ongoing disruptions to LNG supply due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz could last until 2028, assuming the situation is resolved soon, a Poten & Partners executive said on Wednesday. montelnews.com/news/c20e2d2...

Europe could see power prices jump 10% from current levels this summer amid hot, dry conditions, along with the possibility the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed disrupting energy imports to the region, analysts told Montel this week. montelnews.com/news/b230f82...

The EU has plans to phase out piped natural gas from Russia next year, although some buyers may find clandestine ways to continue receiving Russian supply, Ukrainian trading firm D-Trading’s head of LNG told Montel. montelnews.com/news/af4c652...

UK consumers could be facing higher electricity bills amid concerns of market manipulation as so-called capacity hoarding during interconnector trading with Europe inflates TSO Neso’s balancing costs, an analyst told Montel. montelnews.com/news/c911e63...

The UK’s 3.2 GW Sizewell C nuclear plant could save consumers GBP 18bn on their energy bills, but the benefits would not outweigh costs until 2064, while significant uncertainties remain, the government’s spending watchdog said on Wednesday. montelnews.com/news/119f136...

Column of the Week: A lot of noise, little change in Europe’s PPA market montelnews.com/news/fae1f11...

Russian forces continued “massive attacks” on the oil and gas facilities of Ukraine’s state-owned energy company Naftogaz, exerting “extensive damage” over the past three days, the company said on Tuesday. montelnews.com/news/0505118...

The European solar sector’s reliance on components made in China leaves Europe vulnerable to attacks on its energy system, an analyst told the Solar 2026 seminar in Helsinki on Tuesday, calling for the bloc to take action. montelnews.com/news/37354f4...

Norway has spent NOK 86.7bn (EUR 8bn) on subsidising power consumption since launching an electricity support scheme in December 2021, with the bill set to exceed NOK 100bn by the end of this year, a Montel investigation has found. montelnews.com/news/4a3e00a...

Geopolitics is increasingly playing a role in driving gas prices, meaning traders need to adapt trading practices, the head of trading strategy at Singapore-based trading firm Jera Global Markets said on Tuesday. montelnews.com/news/95445f3...

Stringent EU methane emissions regulations on LNG and gas imports are “impossible to meet” and putting a “cloud” over contract negotiations, a US government official said on Tuesday. montelnews.com/news/0cd5207...

Germany will likely see more negative power prices – similar to the EUR -499.99/MWh level seen on 1 May – during periods of surplus renewable supply and low demand, which, in certain situations, may pose challenges for grid operators, analysts told Montel. montelnews.com/news/723bb45...

Oil prices were falling on Tuesday after US president Donald Trump said he had called off a planned attack on Iran, raising hopes for a diplomatic solution to the war that has locked in 20% of global crude. montelnews.com/news/5b64e9f...

Oil prices fell on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump said he had called off a planned attack on Iran, raising hopes for a diplomatic solution to the conflict that has disrupted around 20% of global crude supply: markets.montel.energy/news/article...

Spanish TSO Red Electrica should have notified the country’s regulator, the CNMC, that voltage control was inadequate before last year’s blackout, the director of the watchdog’s energy division said late on Monday. montelnews.com/news/37f3433...

Italy’s energy regulator has begun work to develop a mechanism to compensate gas-fired power plants facing high costs, pending approval from the European Commission. montelnews.com/news/711e8f2...

Small modular reactors (SMRs) risk becoming a “distraction” from Ireland’s existing decarbonisation strategy, despite growing political discussion around nuclear energy, consultancy Cornwall Insight said on Monday. montelnews.com/news/ca9f53f...

Power purchase agreements (PPAs) covering the extra capacity unlocked by upgrading old solar plants are set to take off as developers run out of cheap greenfield sites, experts have told Montel. montelnews.com/news/9859286...

Amid planned reforms to the greenhouse gas protocol (GHG) emissions reporting standards for companies, there are growing divisions about how they should be measured, with some analysts telling Montel an accounting framework was “not fit for purpose”. montelnews.com/news/3f2a68e...

Europe is facing an “extraordinary increase” in energy costs that requires EU economic intervention, Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said in a letter to the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, on Monday. montelnews.com/news/988f724...

Oil prices jumped on Monday after an Iranian attack on a nuclear facility in the United Arab Emirates heightened regional tensions, while US president Donald Trump threatened to resume bombing unless Tehran agreed to peace. montelnews.com/news/67cce34...

The UK’s aim to achieve an energy system mostly run on renewable energy sources will probably continue to depress prices for renewable energy guarantees of origin (Regos), which have collapsed, an analyst told Montel. montelnews.com/news/f28ad1e...

Bulgaria and Romania are both taking steps to relax the quality requirements for gas entering their transmission systems, in a move that will facilitate LNG imports via the Vertical Gas Corridor (VCG), traders told Montel. montelnews.com/news/8646674...

Oil prices rose on Friday – with international benchmark Brent set to gain 6% on the week – as limited progress from the US-China summit meant the US-Iran war supported risk premiums and concerns persisted over ship attacks. montelnews.com/news/11254c8...

Hungary’s energy shift away from Russia will be gradual under new economy and energy minister Istvan Kapitany, as structural constraints outweigh political change, analysts told Montel this week. montelnews.com/news/dec44ba...

The UK government’s clean energy strategy is entering a “second phase” focused on rapidly increasing electricity demand and electrification across transport, heating and industry, the head of the country’s green transition said on Thursday. montelnews.com/news/070b09e...