Gas

Caracas, August 14, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The Venezuelan government has granted an offshore natural gas concession to a consortium of British multinational BP, the United Arab Emirates’ XRG, and Qatar’s UCC.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez held an agreement-signing ceremony and press conference on Thursday alongside executives of the three corporations on Wednesday.

“I salute this historical moment and thank you for setting up this consortium to achieve such an important agreement for Venezuela and the global energy community,” she said. 

Rodríguez emphasized Caracas’ decision to prioritize natural gas ventures to supply the domestic market and boost exports. However, state energy company PDVSA is not a stakeholder in the project.

The multinational consortium was granted rights to drill in the so-called second phase of the Loran field, in the Deltana Platform off Venezuela’s Atlantic coast, with reserves estimated at 4 trillion cubic feet (Tcf). Loran shares its deposits with the Manatee field in the territorial waters of Trinidad and Tobago. They hold 7.3 and 2.7 Tcf of natural gas, respectively.

The first phase of Loran’s exploration was granted to Shell, which is also operating on the Manatee side and expects to produce 4.4 Tcf from the two fields. Both phases are to be developed concurrently. Shell has additionally secured a concession to run the 4 Tcf Dragon field.

“The award of the Loran Phase 2 license […] builds on the strong collaboration we have established with the government of Venezuela and our partners and reflects the progress we have made together,” BP CEO Meg O’Neill stated during the televised event.

The London-headquartered multinational has aggressively pursued Venezuela natural gas opportunities. BP is also set to operate the 1 Tcf Cocuina-Manakin field alongside Trinidad and Tobago’s National Gas Company (NGC). BP recently sold 20 percent of its stake in the Cocuina-Manakin project to the NGC.

BP, Shell, and NGC hold respective 45, 45, and 10 percent shares in Atlantic LNG, a major liquefied natural gas project in Trinidad that is expected to process most of the output from the ventures in Venezuelan waters.

On Thursday, BP also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Venezuelan authorities to explore opportunities in the Carúpano East block, which belongs to the Mariscal Sucre offshore natural gas project.

XRG, the international arm of the UAE’s state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), has been expanding overseas investments and recently secured a stake in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta development. 

For its part, the UCC is a privately owned Qatari conglomerate with close ties to the royal family. Originally focused on construction and infrastructure, it has gradually expanded its portfolio to energy and mining ventures. The arrival of Qatari and Emirati firms in the South American country reflects Venezuela’s geopolitical realignment since the January 3 US military strikes and kidnapping of President Maduro. During the previous two decades, the Chávez and Maduro governments pursued an eastward-looking policy, deepening ties with Iran, Russia, and China in energy and other strategic sectors while maintaining a predominant state role.

In recent months, energy majors have flocked to Venezuela to strike new deals or renew existing ones following a pro-business overhaul to hydrocarbons legislation. A reformed Hydrocarbon Law slashed royalties and taxes, granted foreign partners control over operations and sales, and subordinated contracts to international arbitration bodies.

Despite the opening to transnational corporations, Venezuela’s oil output has stagnated since May. The latest OPEC monthly report placed the Caribbean nation’s July production at 1.117 million bpd, roughly one percent above the June figure, according to secondary sources.

PDVSA reported an output of 1.200 million bpd, up from 1.187 million bpd the prior month. Direct and secondary measurements have historically differed over disagreements on the inclusion of condensates and natural gas liquids.

Edited by Lucas Koerner in Philadelphia, USA.

Published on
14/08/2026 – 10:54 GMT+2

BP is going back into Venezuela.

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The agreement signed in Caracas on Thursday gives the company operatorship of Loran phase two, an offshore gas project holding more than four trillion cubic feet of proven gas resources, with Abu Dhabi’s XRG, Qatar’s UCC Oil and Gas Holding taking equal stakes beside it.

It is the clearest signal yet that the opening of Venezuela’s energy industry to foreign capital, underway since Maduro’s removal, is gathering pace.

All three companies will hold equal working interests, with BP as operator, and the licence remains subject to regulatory approvals.

PDVSA Gas, the state producer’s gas arm, transferred part of its interest to XRG, the international investment vehicle of Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC. For both XRG and UCC, a unit of the Qatari conglomerate of the same name, this marks a first entry into Venezuela.

The field itself is shared as Loran forms the Venezuelan portion of the Loran-Manatee accumulation, which straddles the maritime boundary with Trinidad and Tobago and holds roughly 10 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas in total.

Shell won the licence for the first phase in June and is separately developing Manatee on the Trinidadian side, where first gas is expected next year.

BP says both Venezuelan phases will now be developed in parallel and signed a further memorandum of understanding covering exploration at the Carúpano East Block.

The agreements were concluded during a visit to Caracas by CEO Meg O’Neill and David Campbell, BP’s senior vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean.

A sector reopened under US pressure

The licences are the product of a bargain struck with Washington.

After Maduro was seized by US forces in January, interim president Delcy Rodríguez rewrote the country’s energy law at the Trump administration’s urging, opening the world’s largest proven oil reserves to foreign firms.

In return, the US relaxed sanctions that had frozen most Western investment, including the licences it revoked from BP, Shell and Chevron in 2025.

Eni, Repsol and Shell have all signed since.

The awards process stalled after the earthquakes of 24 June, which killed more than 6,300 people, and resumed only on Thursday, when the three Loran permits were issued and the agreements signed.

“I have a special interest in gas to promote national development,” Rodríguez said at the ceremony, which was broadcast on state television.

BP is not a newcomer as it held a licence for the Cocuina field from 2024, before Washington withdrew its permission to use it.

A salvage operation is under way to stabilise the stricken tanker behind a major oil spill off Oman, the risk management company coordinating the effort has said.

The announcement by Ambrey on Thursday came a day after Oman’s environmental authority confirmed that oil from the Caroline Bezengi had reached beaches along the sultanate’s central coast.

The tanker, a suspected member of Russia’s shadow fleet used to transport sanctioned Russian oil, has been leaking crude into waters near the Hallaniyat archipelago since June, when the ship’s crew reported an unidentified explosion.

Ambrey said it was working with Omani authorities and that its services had been engaged as part of a “significant international response” that included salvage vessels, aircraft and specialist personnel.

Apart from Oman and an unnamed “leading international oil spill response company”, Ambrey did not elaborate on which other countries or firms were involved in the effort to salvage the vessel, which has flown the flags of states including Cameroon, Palau and Liberia.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) – the United Nations maritime agency – said on Thursday that it was “closely monitoring” the situation and would “continue to support ongoing efforts”, without providing further details.

The International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds, a pair of intergovernmental organisations established to provide compensation for oil pollution, said it would not be involved in the cleanup operation after determining that the incident likely resulted from an act of war.

Ambrey, based in Hereford in the United Kingdom, said it expected salvage vessels to reach the Caroline Bezengi soon and that specialist personnel had already boarded the vessel to begin stabilising its cargo.

Ed Wollaston, director of global response at Ambrey, said the “extremely challenging situation” had been complicated by adverse weather from the annual Khareef monsoon.

“However, we have deployed the leading experts in each aspect of the response and have mobilised the appropriate supporting equipment, aircraft and vessels,” Wollaston said in a statement.

“We are working around the clock to mitigate the environmental impact of the situation.”

The oil spill has expanded dramatically in size over the past week, according to analyses of satellite imagery, raising fears for coastlines and ecosystems in the region, including a marine reserve established last year off the Hallaniyat archipelago.

Environmental NGO Greenpeace said on Thursday that, based on satellite imagery, the spill had grown from 45 square kilometres (17sq miles) in late July to about 1,300sq kilometres (502sq miles) as of Wednesday.

Omani authorities as recently as Monday estimated the size of the spill at approximately 400sq kilometres (154sq miles).

Hanen Keskes, Greenpeace’s head of campaigns for the MENA region, said the circumstances of the spill made it “especially challenging” to respond to.

“Given the scale of this – a damaged tanker in a remote location, during monsoon season, with no clear owner or verified insurer to compel a rapid response – this is a case where international assistance should be mobilised urgently,” Keskes told Al Jazeera.

“Capabilities like specialised salvage equipment and expertise can exceed what any one country has on hand, and every day of delay allows more oil to disperse.”

Najmedin Meshkati, an expert in oil spills and a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southern California, said that authorities should have moved faster to contain the spill.

“That two-month interval was the response window, and it closed. In spill response, source control on day three is worth many multiples of source control on day 60,” Meshkati told Al Jazeera.

Meshkati acknowledged, however, that Omani authorities had been dealt a difficult situation.

“It was handed an orphaned wreck with no responsive owner, no verifiable insurer, no functioning flag state, and a compensation regime containing a war exclusion that may void it entirely,” Meshkati said.

“No mid-sized maritime administration on earth is resourced for that. But that is precisely the argument for escalating harder and earlier.”

Damilola S Olawuyi, a professor of energy and environmental law at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, said the spill highlighted the need for stronger international mechanisms to hold polluters accountable.

“The obligation of the entity responsible for pollution to pay for the cost of cleanup and remediation, ie, the polluter pays principle, has for long been a bedrock of international law,” Olawuyi told Al Jazeera.

“However, in an era of increasing geopolitical realignments, identifying the responsible polluter has become complex, therefore complicating effective risk reduction, response and remediation measures,” he said.

A new LAPD report released Tuesday blamed poor planning and coordination for issues with the department’s response to protests that erupted on city streets last summer in opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

But apart from identifying those problems, the report concluded that police officers performed well in the face of “unprecedented” unrest that sometimes devolved into violence and vandalism.

Missing from the 62-page report — at least in the view of some longtime department observers — was any reflection about officers’ use of less-lethal weapons that left hundreds of people injured and drew strong condemnations from human rights groups.

The report largely blamed protesters for instigating violence and injuring officers, saying “agitators” intent on taking advantage of the disorder made it impossible to avoid using force.

The report said the LAPD was not prepared to deal with the protective equipment and “improvised weaponry” employed by some protesters, including people with oven mitts who picked up and lobbed tear gas canisters back in the direction of officers and others who used leaf blowers to redirect the gas.

During the department’s presentation of the report, one police commissioner, Jeff Skobin, pointed out that demonstrators and journalists who spoke at the meeting felt as though their perspectives weren’t reflected in the report whatsoever. He suggested that LAPD officials consider reaching out to journalists or press organizations as the department reevaluates its media policy.

Commission President Rasha Gerges Shields said the department could have examined whether reforms that were called for in 2020 had been implemented — and areas where the department still needed to improve.

“I just want to make sure that this isn’t just the end-all, be-all of this conversation,” she said.

In response, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said the report had considered past lessons learned, but the “unprecedented” nature of the protests justified the department’s actions.

“The level of violence — I have been doing this for 45 years, I have not seen that here or anywhere else in the country,” he said, noting that nearly 50 officers were injured.

The report said officers were targeted with rocks, bottles, commercial-grade fireworks and Molotov cocktails. Timely communication was a concern at times, the report said, with the department lacking a necessary number of radio wave frequencies.

When less-lethal weapons proved ineffective, the department deployed tear gas on two occasions, June 8 and 14, to disperse “violent groups” and restore order. It was the first time the department had used the measure since at least the 1970s. The decision to use gas “reflected the extreme conditions faced at the height of the unrest,” the report said. The report doesn’t specify who authorized the deployment of the gas.

But the gas also created tactical challenges, since many patrol and Metropolitan Division officers lacked protective masks, increasing their risk of exposure. The report said the chemical agents were “the only viable option to reestablish control.”

In just two weeks of protests, the report said, the department spent $17.47 million in personnel costs, including $12.14 million for overtime. Ultimately, the report concluded, the department “contained the unrest” without any loss of life or “major breaches of critical infrastructure.”

Some critics said the report failed to answer basic questions, such as how many less-lethal rounds were fired or how many officers were disciplined for misconduct.

Like past after-action reports, the review was hyper-focused on the threats faced by officers, critics said. But, they noted, it had little to say about how officers’ use of less-lethal weapons — sometimes in clear violation of the department’s own policies — that were widely documented documented on social media and in news accounts.

“If the department can’t even recognize the possibility that they might have a problem with how they police protests, after last summer, how can anyone expect them to do anything differently next time?” said Peter Bibring, a civil rights attorney who previously served as director of police practices at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

According to the city attorney’s office, more than 120 claims for damages have been filed against the city in connection to police actions during pro-immigration protests as of April. The city is still facing lawsuits stemming from the 2020 protests over the police killing of George Floyd. The latest spate of civil actions could tie the city up in costly litigation for years to come.

At Tuesday’s commission meeting, the 45-minute public comment period was extended to accommodate dozens of speakers, many of whom criticized the report for whitewashing what they described as the department’s heavy-handed response to the protests.

Despite years of costly lawsuits, oversight measures and promises by leaders to rein in indiscriminate use of force during protests, officers were shown on video last year trampling demonstrators on horseback and aiming so-called less-lethal launchers at people’s heads in a violation of department policy, speakers said. None of that, observers said, was mentioned in the report.

Others argued that the report seems to cast members of the media as nuisances to be dealt with, while ignoring instances in which journalists were targeted by law enforcement.

“It’s an insult,” said Nick Stern, a British news photographer who is suing the Los Angeles County after being struck by sheriff’s deputies while covering a protest in Paramount. “Journalists only show up as logistical problems.”

Another speaker noted the inflammatory language used in the report seemed to justify the aggressive tactics by describing protesters as operating in “cells,” likening them to Al-Qaeda.

Lt. Joseph Fransen, the study’s chief author, told the Commission that he took inspiration from the federal government’s 9/11 after-action report, which dissected mistakes leading up to the terrorist attack.

“These aren’t necessarily points of failure, these are just lessons to be learned in the future,” Fransen said of his report.

Officials have promised thorough investigations of all uses of force. The department limited its use of the launchers after a federal judge issued an injunction in January, but has deployed other types of crowd control weapons in subsequent protests. The judge ruled that officers have repeatedly violated previous court orders that allow the weapon to be used only to subdue protesters who pose a threat of violence.

The report found that, on several nights, the LAPD didn’t have enough personnel to process and transport all the people who were arrested. Between June 7-16, 2025, the department made 435 protest-related arrests, including 182 on June 10 alone. Three out of every four arrest was for unlawful assembly, while 16 arrests were made for violent crimes, including assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer or attempted murder of a police officer. Most people were released on citation. Four-fifths of those arrested came from the county, while others traveled from surrounding counties or outside the state.

Sacramento — The two candidates for California governor came to Sacramento on Tuesday offering policy agendas that were both sweeping and vague on details, with both warning of the dangers posed by their rival’s political party.

Democrat Xavier Becerra vowed to lower healthcare costs for Californians and teased two new policies on energy and artificial intelligence. Republican Steve Hilton pledged to slash gas prices and utility bills to help remedy his dystopian view of California under Democratic rule.

The two candidates will face off in the Nov. 3 election to succeed outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom, and took time to deliver their campaign messages at an afternoon political forum in the state capital.

Hilton pointed to the size of the state budget, the homelessness crisis, high taxes, the cost of living, the unemployment rate and the business climate to argue that 15 years of Democratic control has proved disastrous in California.

“It’s just a complete failure on every front, and it seems to have been immune to any kind of challenge because it’s very powerful. The machine is very powerful, funded by government unions, and you’ve got this alliance of the government unions and nonprofits, and the Chamber of Commerce, and all of this,” he told hundreds of people at a convention center in Sacramento.

Becerra defended California’s Democratic leadership, which controls the state Legislature, the governor’s office and every other statewide political office, as a staunch bulwark against the ruthless agenda of the Trump administration and Republican-led Congress.

“We’re a state. We’re a family. You don’t blame just one parent when things go awry with one of the children,” he said in reference to more than a decade of Democratic governance in California. “We’re all in this together. We all have to work together. I could say that one of the members of the American family in Washington, D.C., has created more chaos than any Democrat in the state of California.”

After a chaotic and competitive June primary, Tuesday marked one of the few times the two men have addressed the same audience. They appeared at a forum hosted by the news organization Politico and sponsored by Airbnb, AT&T, energy company California Resources Corp., Google and the Western States Petroleum Assn.

In a state with a pronounced Democratic tilt, Becerra, a former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, is the front-runner in the race. Nearly 45% of the state’s voters are registered Democrats, while 25% are Republicans, according to a May report by the secretary of state’s office. Becerra has raised millions of dollars more than Hilton and benefited from well-funded independent groups that spent millions supporting his campaign.

Becerra repeatedly said he would not promise anything he could not deliver, saying that voters “want to see actual outcomes.”

“That’s also why I think you can’t do pie in the sky, inflated promises, because people want to see you deliver, and you can talk a great game, but unless you can deliver, people are going to crucify you,” he said.

He said he could not promise to build 3 million new housing units, as Newsom did eight years ago as a candidate for governor.

“That’s an inflated promise. But I will tell you, we will build, and I will tell you, there will be more Californians who own a home,” Becerra said.

Later, he told reporters he was not specifically referring to the figure Newsom had promised. “I could have said 2 million. I could have said 5 million. What I was saying is, it’s gonna be something that’s realistic,” he said.

Becerra was willing to make some big promises on healthcare.

“Am I going to promise you that I can drop the price of prescription drugs? Yes, because I did it before, and I know I can do it again. Am I telling you that I can keep Californians insured for healthcare, even though the guy in the White House stripped a trillion dollars out of the healthcare system? Yes, because I know how much money is in the healthcare system,” he said.

Pressed for specifics on how he would prevent people from losing their health insurance, Becerra hinted that the solution could be within the healthcare industry itself.

“There’s money in them there hills,” he said. “Healthcare is more expensive in California than anywhere else in the country, and healthcare is more expensive in the U.S. than it is anywhere else in the world. There is money that’s being spent that does nothing to dispense healthcare to you, and we’ve got to stop that game.”

Hilton acknowledged the long odds he faces in the November general election.

“I know I’m probably the only person in this room that actually thinks I can win this election,” he said.

Since the June primary, Hilton has been a constant presence on the campaign trail, crisscrossing the state, holding town halls and news conferences, making speeches and giving media interviews. Becerra has been far less visibly active.

Hilton argued that California is at a crossroads, pointing to residents and businesses moving out of the state.

“I’m here to say we can turn them around,” he said. “It’s an absolute crisis that we’re in if we don’t change direction.”

Hilton has vowed to cut gas prices to $3 per gallon, reduce utility bills, eliminate income taxes for Californians making under $150,000, increase the supply of starter homes and overhaul the business climate, particularly in the entertainment and agricultural industries. Just how Hilton would deliver on his agenda, given that Democrats control the California Legislature, remains unclear.

While he did not make any formal policy announcements at the summit, Becerra said there is “a lot of room to expand” on regulations and protections on AI, and he signaled support for a government-purchased stake in AI companies. “We can make it so they can prosper, but we prosper with them,” he said.

Hilton, who has released several AI-generated campaign ads, criticized Sam Altman of OpenAI and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei for doing little to earn the public’s trust on the fast-emerging technology. He also said there is space to both regulate and give AI more freedom.

“I think we’re in danger of both over- and under-regulating at the same time. I think we’re under-regulating some of the harms, for example, in relation to children and in relation to the creative community and their output, but we’re in danger of over-regulating some of the potential benefits,” including in the medical field, he said.

When asked whether the state’s voters are “stupid” for continuing to vote for Democrats, Hilton replied that they are not, but rather had not been offered a clear, positive alternative.

“There is a sense of inevitability about it, and I think that’s infected perhaps a lot of the political discourse in California,” he said. The notion that “it’s California. Democrats are always going to be in charge. What can you do?”

He said he believes he has a shot in the November election because he has a positive message, similar to that which helped propel the right-leaning Tories to a 14-year reign in the United Kingdom when he was a senior advisor to then-Prime Minister David Cameron.

Hilton labeled Becerra “unqualified” and didn’t discuss his endorsement by President Trump, which propelled his advancement to the general election.

“We’ve got everything going for us in California. We’ve got incredible assets and resources. We’ve got natural beauty, the best weather, great universities, amazing people, the incredible innovation ecosystem, the kind of startup hustle rebel spirit,” he said. “We just need, I think, a proactive, pro-business governor [who] recognizes that we’ve just ended up …, often with good intentions, frankly, in a situation where we’ve just got this massive, bloated bureaucratic government that’s stifling the spirit of California.”

Libya’s National Oil Corporation warns it may halt operations at the country’s largest operating refinery if drone attacks continue.

Firefighters in Libya are battling a massive blaze at the Zawiya refinery following a drone attack, with the country’s national oil company warning it may declare a force majeure and shut down operations if attacks continue.

Libya’s Ambulance and Emergency Service said in a statement on Tuesday there were no “serious injuries” from the fire, with most patients treated for smoke inhalation.

Footage verified by Al Jazeera showed huge flames and thick black ‌smoke billowing over the facility, the largest operating refinery in Libya with a refining capacity of 120,000 barrels per day.

It is located about 40km (25 miles) west of the capital, Tripoli.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) said in a statement on Facebook that the fire broke out on Monday evening at tank number 402-T, belonging to the Brega Oil Company.

It said the tank, which contained about 4.5 million litres (1.2 million gallons) of gasoline, was “directly targeted, resulting in a severe fire before the tank completely collapsed”.

The NOC said the attack followed drone strikes on a water desalination plant at the refinery on Sunday and on a naphtha reservoir on Saturday.

The company declared a “maximum emergency” in the region and urged authorities to launch an investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, and the company did ‌not say who they believed was behind them.

In a statement hours later, the NOC said the refinery was “still being subject to sabotage attacks” with a drone targeting an oil blending and filling ⁠plant operated by the Zawiya Oil Refining Company.

It said the drone fell near its main oil tank and a pipeline network used to produce oils for the domestic market, without causing any casualties or damage.

“The company’s board of directors also confirms that if these attacks continue, it will have to declare a state of force majeure and suspend operations at the refinery,” it warned.

The Brega Oil Company, meanwhile, appealed to “all parties to stop the fighting and stay away from oil facilities and depots”. It said “oil facilities are vital infrastructure and owned by all Libyans” and that “protecting them is a national responsibility that does not tolerate any negligence”.

The attacks highlight the continuing security challenges in Libya, where rival administrations and armed groups have retained influence despite a ‌2020 ⁠ceasefire that halted major warfare. The country split in 2014 after a NATO-backed uprising that toppled longtime leader Muammar ⁠Gaddafi in 2011.

Two governments are currently vying for power: the United Nations-recognised administration in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, and a rival in the east backed by military commander Khalifa Haftar.

In a statement, the Tripoli-based government said Dbeibah held a meeting earlier in the day with key officials, including the interior minister and the chiefs of some armed groups in the capital, “to follow up on the latest security developments”.

Dbeibah “stressed the need to deal firmly with any transgressions or actions that threaten security or harm vital facilities and installations”, the statement said.

Separately, a Libyan parliamentary panel condemned the attack and called for stronger protection of oil installations.

“The House of Representatives’ Energy and Natural Resources Committee condemns in the strongest terms the criminal attack targeting the Zawiya Refinery, one of the most vital facilities in the oil and gas sector that is a cornerstone of the national economy,” it said in a statement.

Aug. 10 (UPI) — Police in Jharkhand, India used tear gas and water cannons on demonstrators who were demanding investigations into recruitment for government jobs on Monday.

Thousands of protesters were met with police wielding batons as they marched to the state legislature building. Protesters pushed past some police barricades and there were injuries on both sides.

The protest was sparked by allegations of irregularities in recruitment drives for government jobs. Protesters called for India’s Central Bureau of Investigations to probe the allegations.

Young adults in Jharkhand, the poorest state in India, have taken to the streets in an outcry over allegations that they are not being given a fair chance to compete for highly coveted government roles.

Demonstrators say there have been grading errors and financial irregularities in recruitment exams. They have also called for the cancellation of three recruitment exams, which the Jharkhand government agreed to on Sunday.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, a political party in the state, also agreed to speed up the investigations that demonstrators asked for.

Government jobs are highly sought after in India. Recruitment for job listings can result in hundreds of thousands of applications for 500 to around 2,000 openings.

One recruitment push for 2,025 jobs received about 640,000 applications. Another drive for 510 jobs received 322,000 applications.

In May, India scrapped the results of its medical college-entrance exam, a test that requires students to spend years studying. The exam was scrapped after its question papers were leaked, which has happened multiple times throughout the country.

In July, protests erupted in the capital city New Delhi with demonstrators marching on Parliament and calling for the resignation of India’s top education chief. Law enforcement activity heightened as a result, leading to allegations of police brutality.

Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo reports from Buenos Aires, where police fired tear gas as thousands protested against a private property bill. Opponents fear it will lead to foreigners owning too much land, while the Milei government says the law would attract investment.

Aug. 4 (UPI) — British oil giant BP posted second-quarter profit on Tuesday of $5.7 billion, more than double the $2.35 billion it made in the April to June period in 2025, amid sharply higher oil and gas prices caused by the U.S.-Iran conflict.

Profit was $2.5 billion more than what the company made in the first quarter, the first two months of which were before the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, and easily beat the $5 billion expected by analysts.

BP’s results, the latest of the oil giants to report bumper profits in recent days following on from Shell, Exxon Mobil and Chevron, came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump accused energy firms of exploiting the current shortage of supply.

“Based on a shortage, they’re making too much money,” he said Monday after Exxon Mobil and Chevron last week reported a combined $26.5 billion profit for the second quarter.

Trump demanded the companies return some of their windfall to the public by cutting their retail prices, saying profits that had jumped as much as 12-fold were not acceptable and that he was not happy about it.

On Friday, Shell, the other British supermajor, also posted results showing it more than doubled its earnings, reporting a $9.84 billion profit for the April to June period, up from $4.26 billion in the same period last year.

Environmental groups criticized the profit made by BP as unseemly.

“Clearly not everyone is feeling the pain of the energy crisis. While BP banks another round of enormous profits, millions of households are paying the price through sky-high energy bills and a climate crisis accelerating rapidly out of control with increasingly severe heatwaves, wildfires and droughts,” said Friends of the Earth campaigns head Rosie Downes.

BP CEO Meg O’Neill told CNBC on Tuesday that while she understood the pressure ordinary consumers felt when they were confronted by the prices at the pump, the company had little control over the cost.

“The reality is we produce a global commodity and the prices for the product we sell hangs off that global commodity price, said O’Neill, who stressed that the sterling financial results were due to strong performances across all its businesses,” she said.

She added that the company had tweaked the firm’s refining runs to ensure the products consumers needed most at any given point in time were available in sufficient quantities but insisted BP was “there was more to do.”

“We are not making the most of our potential. Our performance over the past few years has not met our own expectations, let alone those of our shareholders. We have not delivered consistently; we have written off too much value; and our costs and liabilities are not resilient enough in a low price environment,” said O’Neill.

BP’s results came four days after it put its North Sea oil business on the market amid uncertainty over whether the British government will forge ahead with phasing out North Sea oil and gas, in line with its Net Zero by 2050 target, or issue some new drilling licences to meet U.K. demand in the interim.

O’Neill said Tuesday that in a conversation with Prime Minister Andy Burnham he had assured her that he would take a “pragmatic” approach to the issue.

“The U.K. is still using a huge amount of oil and natural gas every single day, and we ought to be using our domestic resources first instead of buying those resources from a third party,” O’Neill added.

Analysts estimate BP’s 24 fields, about half of which are still producing, should fetch around $2.6 billion.

There are estimated to be at least 12 billion barrels of oil left under the North Sea, although developed reserves awaiting to be pumped are much lower.

United States President Donald Trump has lambasted the nation’s biggest oil and gas giants as Houston, Texas-based Chevron reported record earnings while consumers struggle with soaring petrol prices.

“I don’t like it,” Trump told reporters on Monday in reference to the blockbuster second-quarter earnings, as his war on Iran has kept oil prices high for months.

“Chevron, too much money. ExxonMobil, too much. Too much money.”

Trump’s comments came on the heels of an interview Chevron CEO Mike Wirth gave on the Fox News programme Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo. Writing on his Truth Social platform, the US president berated Wirth for not crediting his administration’s efforts to help the oil industry.

“The only thing he [Wirth] conveniently forgot to mention is that, without the genius, foresight, strength, and stability of the TRUMP Administration, the Oil Industry, and our Country itself, would be DEAD!”

Chevron reported its highest quarterly profits in six years on Friday. Adjusted earnings per share came to $6.06, or $12bn, as tensions between the US and Iran strained global oil supply chains in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, where roughly one-fifth of the world’s energy supply travelled through before the war, sending prices soaring.

Chevron rewarded its employees. Wirth praised them for their work and said in an email that most workers would receive a bonus equivalent to half their monthly base pay, the Reuters news agency reported, citing an internal email.

Al Jazeera has not been able to independently confirm Reuters’ reporting.

Chevron’s strong earnings come as the company is less reliant on Middle Eastern production operations than its competitors, allowing it to reap the benefits of higher global oil prices during the quarter. Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, was 23 percent higher than in the first three months of the year.

“Being less dependent on the Strait of Hormuz is definitely helping them. It’s also the refining they’re able to do here. The fact that Chevron has less than 5 percent exposure there gives it some protection,” Bill Drolet, executive director, mergers & acquisitions at The Post Oak Group investment bank, told Al Jazeera.

“More than 70 percent of Chevron’s production is concentrated in America, and that’s where it’s making its biggest margins right now.”

Chevron also benefitted from the president’s move to open up oil production in Venezuela after US special forces abducted the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, in January. Chevron had stayed on in the South American nation even after former President Hugo Chavez nationalised oil production.

Chevron did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

Competitors also performed well. ExxonMobil on Friday posted its best quarterly profits in four years, but they fell short of analysts’ expectations. Earnings raked in $9.2bn.

Exxon did not respond to a request for comment.

On Thursday, Valero Energy reported its highest ever second-quarter profit, with net income coming in at $3.7bn as US refiners reap the benefits of tensions choking oil production across the Middle East.

But those benefits have not reached consumers, who are feeling the strain at the petrol pump. Petrol prices are above $4 a gallon (3.78 litres) across the US. The average price for a gallon of petrol is $4.09, down from $4.11 this time last week, but up from $3.82 a month ago, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks daily petrol prices.

By comparison, when the US and Israel first struck Iran in late February, the average price was $2.98.

An analysis from Bank of America published in April showed consumers spending as much as 4.2 percent of their income on petrol in March, up from 3.9 percent in 2019. Lower-income earners are hit much harder, with more than 10 percent of households spending more than 10 percent of their monthly income on petrol.

This comes as pressure on the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve continues. The reserves hit their lowest level since 1983 this week, according to the Department of Energy. They fell by 2.8 million barrels over the week to 304.8 million barrels.

Political pushback

The condemnation of the oil industry has come from across the political spectrum.

“A decent industry would say, ‘this was money we didn’t earn, it’s a windfall we get from our cartel pricing scheme.’ Not these corrupt, greedy and grasping rogues,” Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island wrote in a post on X on Sunday.

But lowering prices might not be as easy. Beyond pressure from consumers, companies across the corporate United States are beholden to a concept called shareholder supremacy. This means that while lowering prices might be in the best interest of pinched consumers, it may not be possible given the legal framework and companies’ fiduciary responsibility to shareholders.

“They’ve [oil companies] got shareholders they’re responsible for. They could reduce share buybacks or dividend payouts, but right now, I don’t see oil companies doing much,” Post Oak Group’s Drolet said.

He said if he were advising a member of Congress or the president, providing relief to consumers might be easiest by suspending the so-called gas tax, which varies by state. In Texas, for example, the gas tax accounts for 20 cents per gallon, while in California, it is 63 cents per gallon.

“From a political standpoint, the best thing our government can do is suspend gas taxes, especially in California. If they put a temporary hold on taxes, that would help everybody get through this challenging time.”

Al Jazeera asked the White House if that policy is on the table, but the press office did not respond.

Heading into the US midterm elections, cost of living remains among the highest concerns for consumers. In a Washington Post/Ipsos poll last month, 54 percent of respondents said that high prices and the economy were a chief concern heading into November.

“They see the price of fuel and net profit for Exxon and Chevron and feel that they are abusing US consumers, especially as US consumers have access to the correct fuel, whereas other areas around the world have shortages [such as Germany, Philippines],” Babak Hafezi, professor of international business at American University, told Al Jazeera.

“The reality is that as the war [On Iran] progresses, the impacts of the lack of supply will create full price and supply shocks.”

Amid Trump’s comments, Chevron’s stock is on the downturn in midday trading, tumbling more than 2 percent from the market open. However, it is up more than 1.1 percent over the last five days.

ExxonMobil is down 0.5 percent for the day and 0.1 percent over the last five days.

The announcement by the head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad al-Alimi, to resume oil exports starting July 20 following a halt that began in late 2022 has revived hope that the Yemeni government’s most important source of foreign currency will be restored. The government, struggling economically and facing continued Houthi rebel control over Yemen’s northwest, needs the money – and has pledged to direct the revenues towards paying salaries, improving services, and supporting economic stability.

However, the flow of oil from Yemen’s fields to global markets does not depend solely on a decision made by politicians; it requires creating a security environment, after years of war, that allows for the protection of facilities, pipelines and ports, in addition to restoring the confidence of shipping and insurance companies, as well as international buyers.

With Yemen’s war threatening to escalate after a four-year period of calm, the stability the country needs to resume oil exports may be elusive.

The export test

Yemen has proven oil reserves estimated at about three billion barrels, primarily concentrated in the Masila, Marib and Shabwa basins. While the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicates that the country still holds sufficient resources for production and export, the security environment hinders their extraction and transport to global markets.

Yemen’s oil production reached a historical peak of about 439,000 barrels per day (bpd) at the beginning of the millennium, but it has gradually declined due to the depletion of some old fields. This decline accelerated with the outbreak of the war in 2014 and the targeting of oil infrastructure, settling at a level of 19,000bpd in 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

A report published by S&P Global estimated actual production, following the halt in exports, at about 7,000bpd to 10,000bpd in 2023 and 2024, almost all of which was for domestic use.

Yemeni Minister of Oil and Minerals Mohammed Bamqaa said that export revenues would be deposited in the Central Bank as part of a government directive to bolster the state’s financial resources, pointing out that there are oil stockpiles exceeding 1.7 million barrels ready for export.

Bamqaa added that total production will initially reach about 60,000bpd. He explained that the ministry has directed oil companies to prepare timelines to increase production and develop the fields, in a way that raises production capacity by up to 25 percent during the first month after exports resume.

Professor of financial economics at Hadramout University, Mohammed al-Kasadi, told Al Jazeera that while he expected oil production to meet the 60,000bpd figure mentioned by Bamqaa, the figure does not reflect the actual volume of exports, as the local market consumes about 20,000bpd to operate refineries and power plants, which makes the quantities available for export likely to hover at about 40,000bpd.

Hassan Mohammed Moghalis, an expert in Yemeni affairs, told Al Jazeera that most of the fields located in government-controlled areas remain capable of production. At the forefront of these are the Masila fields in Hadramout and the al-Uqla fields in Shabwa, which represent the fundamental base for any anticipated resumption. Moghalis explained that crude oil can be transported via pipelines to Arabian Sea ports.

However, Moghalis pointed out that resuming exports does not simply mean opening the valves, as some fields require maintenance and restoration after a long period of suspension. Additionally, pipelines and pumping stations require technical reviews to ensure their readiness before resuming regular operations.

Market confidence

Despite the importance of restarting production at the oilfields, experts believe bigger obstacles await after the oil reaches Yemen’s ports. Houthi attacks targeting export ports in Hadramout and Shabwa in late 2022 made shipping and insurance companies more wary of handling Yemeni crude, pushing up insurance costs and weakening buyers’ willingness to enter into contracts.

The Houthis have conditioned the resumption of exports on them receiving a share of the revenues to cover public sector salaries.

Al-Kasadi, of Hadramout University, says that the government’s success in pumping oil to the port does not automatically guarantee a successful export process. Maritime transport and insurance companies primarily assess the level of security risks and the likelihood of ports or tankers facing renewed attacks – currently a particular concern in light of Houthi attacks on shipments tied to Saudi Arabia, which supports the Yemeni government.

Al-Kasadi added that the oil market relies heavily on trust and stability. Therefore, any export operation requires buyers to be convinced that shipments will depart safely and that export activities will not suddenly halt again.

Moghalis, the expert, believes that providing military protection for ports and pipelines is the first step, but not the only condition. It is also imperative to restore the confidence of insurance companies and international buyers, as oil does not reach markets solely through production, but rather via an interconnected system of transport, financing and insurance.

He added that any new attack on the ports, even if it does not cause significant material damage, could be enough to send the sector back to square one, given shipping companies’ sensitivity to risks in conflict zones.

But, as al-Kasadi pointed out, a resumption in exports is vital. He argued that the halt in exports was not merely an oil sector crisis, but rather developed into a comprehensive financial crisis. The government lost its most crucial source of foreign currency, which negatively impacted the Yemeni rial’s exchange rate and the state’s ability to finance basic services.

Economic pressure

Despite the importance of resuming exports, Yemeni affairs expert Abdul Karim al-Ansi warned against overstating its immediate impact on the Yemeni economy.

He told Al Jazeera that the resumption of exports will undoubtedly provide a vital source of foreign currency and afford the Central Bank greater leeway to support monetary stability. However, it will not be enough on its own to end the economic crisis, as the Yemeni economy faces broader challenges related to the division between government- and Houthi-controlled areas, weak non-oil revenues and declining economic activity.

Al-Ansi added that the extent to which Yemenis benefit from oil revenues will ultimately depend on how these funds are managed and the government’s ability to channel them into salaries and basic services, rather than solely on the volume of exports.

And while successful initial shipments could send a positive signal to markets and investors, al-Ansi stressed that the real test would be whether exports can be sustained. Yemen’s economy needs a steady flow of foreign currency, rather than sporadic shipments that stop whenever security conditions deteriorate.

The suspension of oil exports has not only deprived the government of its most important source of revenue, but also intensified pressure on the foreign exchange market. As dollar inflows from oil sales have dried up, demand for foreign currency has remained high to finance imports of essential goods, particularly food, fuel and medicine. The resulting shortage has weakened the Yemeni rial and contributed to rising inflation.

These pressures have been compounded by the monetary division between the Central Bank in Aden and the Houthis in Sanaa, which has created two separate financial systems and exchange rates. The split complicates monetary policy and limits the authorities’ ability to use oil revenues in a coordinated way to stabilise the economy.

Al-Kasadi said that Saudi financial support for the government had recently helped contain currency volatility in government-held areas. However, he stressed that such support was no substitute for a steady and sustainable flow of oil revenues – which needs a period of stability, something that may be difficult if the conflict escalates in Yemen, as it is currently threatening to do.

Trump-endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton formally launched his general election campaign Wednesday by pitching himself to California’s abundance of anti-Trump voters.

In a speech, Hilton said Democrats had “abandoned” working-class and Latino communities and crushed small businesses. He criticized Gov. Gavin Newsom for leading the state into decline, pointing to low literacy rates and slow responses to crises such as the Boyle Heights warehouse fire.

Hilton, a British-born conservative political commentator and former Fox News host, faces an uphill battle in California, a Democratic stronghold. In June, Hilton clinched second place in California’s gubernatorial primary behind veteran Democratic politician Xavier Becerra.

In an effort to persuade voters who are dissatisfied with the status quo, Hilton bought a full-page ad in the Wednesday editions of the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle.

The ad read, “Can you be anti-Trump and still vote for me?,” followed by a checklist readers could use to “test” if they shared common ground with Hilton.

“I can’t stand Trump, but I’m not happy with the way things have been run in California lately,” reads one line in the ad.

“I want to fight climate change, but $6.00 gas is crazy!” reads another.

At a news conference Wednesday, Hilton said the ad is aimed at voters who “know that we need change in California.”

Trump’s unpopularity in the state “doesn’t matter because we’re not talking about national policies here,” he said. “This is about what we can do in our state to make life better for Californians.”

Hilton then framed himself as a “pragmatic, problem-solving change-maker” focused on affordability, promising to lower gas prices, electricity costs and taxes and the cost of homes.

“We may not agree about national politics, but I think we can agree that we need change in California, and I’m going to bring that change,” he said.

The news conference, which marked the formal launch of Hilton’s general election campaign, took place at a Boyle Heights auto body shop across the street from the Lineage cold storage facility that was destroyed by a fire last month.

The location was chosen because it is a “symbol of Democrat failure,” Hilton said. The nauseating stench of rotting food filled the surrounding neighborhood. Swarms of flies buzzed about, occasionally landing on top of Hilton’s head.

Hilton said he’s not expecting Trump to campaign on his behalf in California. But, he added, “I’m proud to be endorsed by the president and I think it’s a very good thing to have a governor who has a good relationship with the federal administration.”

No Republican has been elected to a statewide office since 2006. A poll by the Public Policy Institute of California published earlier this month showed Becerra with support from 61% of likely voters, compared with 36% for Hilton.

Hilton insists his campaign is different from previous Republican bids.

“We’ve got to the point in California where people are looking for a positive alternative,” Hilton told The Times. “We’re going to be fighting very hard … already in the last year and a half I’ve fought a campaign like no one’s seen in California for 20 years. I’ve been to nearly every single county in our state.”

July 20 (UPI) — The average price of a gallon of regular grade gasoline in the United States has again reached $4 on Monday with renewed fighting in Iran.

AAA reported a 13-cent hike in the average gas price over the past week, bringing an end to declining prices. The latest surge comes on the back of the peace deal between the United States and Iran falling apart with both sides reigniting attacks.

The lowest gas prices in the United States on Monday can be found in Indiana, where a gallon of regular gasoline is $3.35. California has the highest average price per gallon at $5.49 and Washington and Hawaii are above $5 per gallon.

The average price of a gallon of gas was $2.98 before the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb.28. Prices climbed quickly after that due to Iran effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint in the Middle East oil trade. The average gas price in the United States topped $4.50 in May, marking a four-year high.

Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, surpassed $90 per barrel on Monday for the first time since early June. The price of Brent crude oil has climbed by 16% in the past week.

The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil has increased by $12 in July, hitting $82 per barrel.

Aggressions between the United States and Iran have brought the return of the U.S. naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. forces are again targeting any ships using Iranian ports.

U.S. economic data showed improvement beginning in June as talks of a peace agreement heated up. The White House welcomed a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics last week that showed consumer prices falling in June.

“Prices are coming way down, and we’re doing a great job,” President Donald Trump told reporters last week. “And remember that for the midterms.”

The decline in consumer prices was largely attributed to falling gas and energy prices. Those prices were also the catalyst for prices surging over the past five months.

Azerbaijan’s relationship with Germany is shifting beyond energy, with the two countries deepening ties across industry and logistics as Europe works to diversify its supply chains away from Russia.

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“Azerbaijan is gradually ceasing to be perceived by Germany solely as an energy supplier and is increasingly becoming part of a new Eurasian industrial and logistics architecture,” said Orkhan Yolchuyev, director of the CASPIA Analytical Center.

Bilateral trade between the two countries reached around €1.7 billion in 2025, driven by German exports of industrial equipment, machinery and transport systems, Yolchuyev said.

Over 250 German companies now operate in Azerbaijan, spanning manufacturing, construction, logistics and energy.

The shift has accelerated since Azerbaijan began supplying gas directly to Germany and Austria in early 2026, part of a wider European push to reduce dependence on Russian energy following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Beyond energy

The real change, Yolchuyev said, is not in the trade figures but in what they represent.

“[They] indicate that bilateral relations are evolving toward a higher level of industrial cooperation,” he said, pointing to Germany’s need for new export markets and more resilient supply networks.

German companies already active in Azerbaijan could soon be drawn into its reconstruction programmes and expanding industrial zones, particularly in engineering, transport, renewable energy and advanced manufacturing.

Much of this shift runs through the Middle Corridor, the transport route linking China and Central Asia with Europe via the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has given the route new urgency, as European firms hunt for alternatives that insulate their supply chains from disruption.

Azerbaijan sits at its logistical centre, with sea and rail links increasingly central to the transcontinental route.

Yolchuyev said the corridor’s value lies less in cargo volumes than in what it carries.

“The higher the share of high value-added products, such as automotive components, industrial machinery, electrical equipment, electronics or chemical products, the greater the economic efficiency of the route,” he said, pointing to the expansion of the Port of Baku and the Alat Free Economic Zone as drivers of new manufacturing and logistics investment.

Energy still at the core

Energy remains central despite the widening scope of cooperation. Azerbaijan has positioned itself as a dependable gas supplier and, since early 2026, has been sending gas directly to Germany and Austria.

Farid Shukurlu, a non-resident fellow at the Research Institute for European and American Studies, said Russia’s invasion marked a turning point.

“Traditionally, economic relations between Azerbaijan and Germany were concentrated in a limited number of sectors, including heavy machinery, automobiles and pharmaceuticals,” he said.

“However, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine fundamentally reshaped the bilateral economic relationship.”

Within five months of Azerbaijan’s first crude shipment to Germany, the country had exported 360,300 tonnes of crude oil and petroleum products worth approximately $210.9 million (€196mn), Shukurlu said.

He believes Azerbaijan could eventually become a transit route for Kazakh oil and Turkmen gas bound for Germany and other European markets.

Germany’s shift carries weight given its past reliance on Russian gas. Italy remains the largest European buyer of Azerbaijani gas via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, but Germany is now moving in the same direction.

Manfred Scherer, mayor of the Verbandsgemeinde Sprendlingen-Gensingen, a collective municipality in Germany’s Mainz-Bingen district, recalled meeting Azerbaijan’s current energy minister, Parviz Shahbazov, during his time as ambassador to Germany.

“Economic relations between Germany and Azerbaijan have developed positively in recent years. There is strong potential to further strengthen cooperation,” Scherer said.

“I have fond memories of the visit of the current minister of energy, Parviz Shahbazov, to our municipality during his time as ambassador of Azerbaijan to Germany,” he continued.

“At that time, we discussed opportunities to deepen our relations through a municipal partnership and to strengthen cooperation between our regions.”

A wider European shift

Germany’s pivot fits a broader European turn toward the South Caucasus and Central Asia, partly in support of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process, which could unlock further energy diversification and regional connectivity.

The high-level visits have piled up. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the partnership with Azerbaijan “matters greatly to the European Union” and had “real momentum”.

European Council President António Costa travelled to Baku for talks on deeper EU re-engagement, while EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas visited in May.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Slovak President Peter Pellegrini have also held high-level talks with President Ilham Aliyev.

A gas tanker exploded after soaring temperatures sparked a fire near the Lebanese Army barracks in Hermel. The powerful blast damaged nearby homes and vehicles as Civil Defense crews worked to extinguish the flames.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is travelling to the United States for talks with President Donald Trump, in what will be his first foreign trip since taking office in May.

During this week’s meetings, al-Zaidi is expected to sign agreements in energy and trade while also boosting investment with US companies.

Iraqi government spokesman Haider al-Aboudi told reporters on Sunday the visit to Washington, DC, will mark a shift in the countries’ relations “from a framework of crisis management to a strategic economic partnership”.

The focus, he said, would not be about striking a “temporary” agreement but about establishing “a durable, long-term partnership that serves the shared interests of both countries”.

Al-Aboudi said oil would be “a top priority” during the visit as the Iraqi government seeks to increase production and find alternative export hubs to lessen the consequences of any future closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iraq was one of the countries badly hit by the shutting down of the critical waterway in recent months due to the US-Israel war on Iran, as about 90 percent of its 3.4 million barrels per day (bpd) of exports passes through it.

Al-Aboudi said Iraq’s proposal to establish an energy and development fund with the US would be on the table to finance any projects that would be agreed upon, especially in the energy sector.

Al-Zaidi had previously said the fund would initially be structured in oil exports of 500,000 bpd with the goal of increasing to as much as two million bpd.

The prime minister has also said Iraq seeks to increase oil production to seven million bpd over the next three years, up from its current output of about 4.5 million bpd.

“Iraq is in need of such kind of cooperation, especially with a partner like the United States to enhance and strengthen its capacity, particularly in the energy, oil, gas, electricity, and petrochemicals sectors,” said Abdulrahman Almashhadani, an Iraqi economic expert and professor.

“However, the critical question remains whether Iraq can provide a safe and stable environment that would encourage US companies to come to Iraq,” he said. “This issue is sensitive and unresolved; it largely depends on the government’s ability to deliver on its commitments to restrict weapons to state control.”

Large delegation

Sources told Al Jazeera the Iraqi delegation to the US comprises more than 70 people, including key ministers, the head of the central bank, the national security adviser, lawmakers and businessmen.

A well-informed source said meetings with US administration officials and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have also been planned. According to the source, who asked not to be named, Iraq is seeking to secure an IMF loan of up to $8bn.

A separate well-informed source told Al Jazeera that the disarming of pro-Iran Iraqi armed factions and restricting weapons under state authority, as well as Baghdad’s relationship with Tehran, are expected to be among the issues the US side will raise during the visit.

In his first speech in parliament as prime minister, al-Zaidi had promised that the state would have control over weapons in a country where paramilitary groups, including many supported by Iran, have been powerful since the 2003 US-led war on Iraq.

Some armed factions said they would abide by the prime minister’s declaration, but others – particularly the powerful ones that launched missiles and drones at US facilities during the war on Iran – rejected it.

In a statement released hours before al-Zaidi’s trip to Washington, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed groups in the region, including Iraq, rejected the prime minister’s visit and its outcomes.

“We will not give a blank cheque for all government policies. We warn against replacing military occupation with an economic occupation that is even more dangerous,” the statement said.

“The option of defending Iraq and its legitimate interests will remain on the table,” it added.

Al-Zaidi has said his government is eager to implement a 2024 deal made with the US-led coalition’s military mission in Iraq to end its presence as combat forces by the end of September.

Some of the factions that rejected the prime minister’s disarmament statement said they would wait to see what happens on September 30 and then act accordingly.

Ehsan al-Shammary, a professor of international studies at Baghdad University, said the economic initiatives and the backing that al-Zaidi is seeking from Trump during Monday’s talks would inevitably be overshadowed by the issue of Iran’s influence in Iraq.

Ultimately, he added, it is the issue that will determine the success or failure of a “very important” visit that could “redefine” bilateral relations and “give it a push”.

“Al-Zaidi has little room for manoeuvre. He should choose either to align with the United States or move closer to Iran,” said al-Shammary. “I do not believe Washington is willing to accept a divided sphere of influence in Iraq alongside Tehran. That is why the prime minister’s task appears to be almost impossible.”

McCulloch said: “If I were the secretary of state for energy security and net zero, I’d be looking closely at where’s my next source of energy security, and you’re standing on it.

“The wells are drilled, they’re hooked up. We’re just readying the systems. It will be ready for the 1st of October.

“Jackdaw will play a vital part of this winter’s gas supply,” he added, providing energy security, employment and taxation to the UK.

Environmentalists say Jackdaw will only produce 2% of the country’s annual gas demand during the lifetime of the field.

“It would be a huge betrayal of the British public for the UK government to approve new oil and gas fields at a time when ordinary people are suffering so much as a result of these record-breaking heatwaves,” said Tessa Khan, executive director of the campaign group, Uplift.

In response McCulloch said: “So we all watch the same news, and we see that.

“But what we’re saying is that Jackdaw should not take that on its shoulders, or it should take a very small portion of that.

“It’s a very, very small proportion of the total global emissions.”

Brent crude rises above $76 a barrel for the first time in two weeks amid renewed violence in Strait of Hormuz.

Oil prices have surged as renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran threaten to derail a fragile ceasefire that had brought some relief to global energy markets.

Brent crude, the main international benchmark, rose as much as 3 percent on Wednesday, reversing a slide that had seen prices return to pre-war levels.

Brent futures for September stood at $76.07 a barrel as of 04:00 GMT, the highest since June 23.

The jump came after the US launched strikes on Iran and revoked a temporary waiver of sanctions on Iranian oil, following attacks on three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

US, Qatari and Saudi officials blamed Iran for the attacks on the vessels.

US Central Command said on X that it had begun “launching a series of powerful strikes against Iran to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway”.

Tehran has not directly claimed responsibility for the attacks, but has repeatedly warned vessels against attempting to transit the waterway on routes it has not approved.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said earlier that Tehran would take “decisive actions to safeguard its national interests and security” in response to the revocation of the sanctions waiver, describing the move as a “blatant violation” of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Washington and Tehran on June 17.

Tony Sycamore, a senior market analyst at IG Australia, said the MoU’s language was deliberately vague regarding control of the strait and traffic management.

Disagreement between the US and Iran over whether the strait is an international waterway or partly Iran’s territorial waters was never fully resolved, Sycamore said.

“It remains to be seen whether this morning’s US strikes bring a swift end to the latest escalation or Iran elects to continue flexing its leverage over the Strait with actions that fall short of triggering a broader conflict,” Sycamore said in a note to clients on Wednesday.

“At the very least, it will keep markets on edge and does suggest crude oil prices have based for now.”

The US strikes followed a separate move by the US Treasury Department late on Tuesday to revoke its 60-day waiver on sanctions on Iranian oil.

The Treasury Department last month authorised the sale of Iranian oil until August 21 as part of broader negotiations with Tehran, but transactions will now no longer be allowed after 12:01am EDT (04:01 GMT) on July 17, according to a statement on the department’s website.

The new order also rescinds authorisation for any new transactions, including purchases or loading, after Tuesday.

Saul Kavonic, head of energy research at MST Marquee, said he expects oil prices to remain elevated as hazardous conditions persist in the strait and the release of emergency oil stockpiles wind down.

“Iran fully intends to cement its control over the Strait of Hormuz in the coming weeks, which is unacceptable to the US, many Gulf states and global customers, and could result in passage through the strait remaining below 50 percent of pre-war levels for many months with periodic flare-ups in hostilities,” Kavonic told Al Jazeera.

July 3 (UPI) — The Justice Department on Friday called on states to investigate whether businesses and individuals are artificially inflating gas prices amid complaints from President Donald Trump that costs are too high.

Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. along with Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson sent a letter to state attorneys general asking them to join federal investigators in probing potentially illegal practices.

“Recent volatility in crude oil prices does not suspend either the antitrust laws or state consumer protection laws, and it does not authorize companies to manipulate retail prices or collude with their competitors,” the letter read.

“We also encourage State Attorneys General to use all tools available under your state laws to investigate and prosecute any misconduct causing unjustified prices increases — particularly conduct that violates state antitrust and consumer protection statutes.”

Gas prices have been on the rise since late February when the United States and Israel began attacks on Iran. Tehran, in return, largely shut down the Strait of Hormuz to traffic, crippling the the transport of oil through the waterway. About one-fifth of the world’s gas supplies pass through the strait.

An agreement between the United States and Iran reopened the strait, but Trump took to Truth Social on June 23 to complain that gas prices had not dropped fast enough.

“The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil,” he wrote. “Those prices are dropping like a rock! In other words, customers are being ‘gouged.’

“I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this. Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!”

AAA reported Friday that the current national average gas price was $3.82 per gallon for regular gasoline, down from $4.26 a month prior. One year ago, it was $3.16 per gallon.

Last week, the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior expanded the situations in which their firefighters are allowed to wear N95 masks.

Starting in September, the federal government began allowing firefighters to wear the masks, but not when they were working on the fire line, only at times such as in camp and sitting in vehicles. Now they’ll be allowed to wear them during some work battling wildfires, including patrolling for areas where the blaze has jumped past fire lines and putting out smoldering remains after a fire is contained.

Masks are still prohibited during firefighters’ most grueling tasks — digging lines to stop fires and directly attacking flames. And the masks they’re using, N95s, do not protect against all of the toxic substances in wildfire smoke.

Nonetheless, health experts applauded the move as a step in the right direction.

Here’s why it took so long to get here:

Research has linked wildfire smoke to a range of long-term health issues, including respiratory problems, cardiovascular diseases and cancers.

“The fire service knows that,” said Rachael Jones, professor and chair of environmental health sciences at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health. “They all have stories” of lung damage or cancer, either their own or their coworkers’.

But this wasn’t always common knowledge.

“The verbiage was that wildland smoke was benign,” one firefighter told Jones’ colleagues for a recent study on firefighters’ thoughts on mask use. “It was like sitting around a campfire.”

Even as scientists and fire officials came to terms with the very real long-term health risks, some firefighters still had concerns that masks could muffle communication, make it hard to breathe and interfere with other equipment. That slowed adoption.

Missing crucial orders because a voice is muffled, or struggling to pull out an emergency fire shelter because a mask is in the way, could be the difference between life and death.

“These are not trivial things when the fact is that they reflect life safety outcome,” Jones said.

Deciding on the right type of mask or respirator has slowed adoption too. There are no commercially available respirators that protect against all of the dangerous pollutants in wildfire smoke.

Scientists have not even fully determined which pollutants pose the greatest risks to firefighters, further complicating a choice.

N95s filter for solid particles in the air but not dangerous gases. Heavy smoke or sweat can cause them to clog.

Half-face respirators — often gray rubber with pink canisters — offer different filters for different gases, but none can filter all of the concerning gases in wildfire smoke. The masks and backup canisters are also much bulkier to carry around than N95s.

Respirators that can filter out all of the “literally hundreds” of concerning compounds in smoke “just simply don’t exist,” said Matt Rahn, research director for the Wildfire Conservancy, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting firefighters.

The result: “In our pursuit for perfection in finding the best respiratory devices for firefighters, we’ve basically fallen into a decision paralysis of doing nothing,” Rahn said. “It’s been that way for years.”

The federal government acknowledges the limitations of N95s in its educational material for firefighters. In a statement to The Times, the Forest Service said it will begin studying different respirators in a small pilot program to “determine if their use will be suitable for the wildland fire environment.”

The Forest Service said that N95s are already “readily available” to its firefighters and that it has more than 30,000 of them.

More recent wildfire news

Many in the western United States will have to celebrate the country’s 250th birthday with fewer fireworks due to heightened wildfire risk. Utah’s governor restricted fireworks statewide through July 5 as multiple wildfires raged in the state and the National Weather Service issued a rare “Particularly Dangerous Situation” warning, Kathy McCormack reports for the Associated Press. California officials, meanwhile, warned of zero tolerance for illegal fireworks, with some local governments recently increasing fines, Kassia Bonesteel reports for CBS News.

Three federal wildland firefighters were killed and two were injured by the fast-moving Knowles fire in Colorado on Saturday. As a ground crew began some of the first attacks on the fire, an order came over the radio to “get out of there now,” CNN reported. Within minutes, the crew was forced to deploy their emergency shelters, a desperate last line of defense when escape is impossible. Firefighters lined the streets of Grand Junction, Colo., on Sunday in a procession for their fallen colleagues.

Much of the western U.S. is facing above normal fire potential after one of the hottest and driest winters in recent years. Coastal Southern California, conversely, is facing average wildfire potential, fire weather analysts say, thanks to monsoon breezes bringing damp air from the tropics.

A few last things in climate news

A pair of hazardous chemical crises in Greater Los Angeles — at an aerospace facility in Garden Grove and a warehouse in Boyle Heights — have left Californians questioning why environmental and public health agencies such as the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health failed to address known risks, a team from CalMatters and the LA Local reports.

The Boyle Heights warehouse fire coincided with a spike in emergency room visits for smoke inhalation and throat pain, my colleague Hayley Smith found. Meanwhile, the water used to fight the toxic blaze ended up in the Los Angeles River, The Times’ Mack Baysinger reports. Local organizers collected water samples for testing as L.A. County public works deployed floating barriers to contain the runoff.

The headwaters of the Colorado River, a vital source of water for 35 million people and 5 million acres of farmland, is drier than anyone can remember, my colleague Ian James reports. As seven U.S. states and Mexico remain gridlocked in complex debates over use of the river, it’s a stark reminder that the climate of the 21st century will leave less for everyone.

Europe is facing its second major heat wave of the year, with France recording its hottest day ever, Lauren Dalban reports for Inside Climate News. As residents struggled to handle the extreme heat, worsened by climate change, so did climate infrastructure championed to combat it. Trains were halted as the heat risked buckling tracks and nuclear reactors were slowed or powered off as the cooling water they discharged became too hot, the New York Times’ Chico Harlan reported.

This is the latest edition of Boiling Point, a newsletter about climate change and the environment in the American West. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. And listen to our Boiling Point podcast here.

For more wildfire news, follow @nohaggerty on X and @nohaggerty.bsky.social on Bluesky.

July 2 (UPI) — A Ukrainian national has been charged in Germany in connection with the 2022 bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines bringing natural gas 760 miles via the Baltic Sea from northwestern Russia to Lubmin in northeastern Germany.

Authorities allege the suspect, named only as Serhii K, led and coordinated an operation with seven others to sabotage the $17 billion gas projects on Sept. 26, 2022, according to reports in German media Wednesday. He is also charged with attacking and destroying civilian energy infrastructure and causing an explosion.

Prosecutors said he is the same individual who was detained by Italian authorities in August and extradited to Germany in November.

He denies all wrongdoing.

German prosecutors further allege he was a serving Ukrainian officer and that he and the others, who were also members of the Ukraine military, were “acting on behalf of state bodies in Ukraine” to deprive Moscow of energy revenues from the pipelines to fund its war against Ukraine.

The finger has variously been pointed at Ukraine, along with Britain and the United States, and even Russian itself, but the Federal Public Prosecutor General’s claim the attack was ordered by Kyiv was highly significant because Germany is one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies, providing military aid and political support.

Kyiv , which has always denied involvement, did not immediately respond to the accusation.

Three of the four pipelines were ruptured east of the Danish island of Bornholm in the attack. Nord Stream 1 was shut down at the time due to technical problems.

Nord Stream 2, a subsidiary of the Russian state-run energy giant Gazprom, was completed in September 2021 after being plagued problems including legal wrangles and U.S. sanctions targeting companies party to the project.

However, it never opened because Germany cancelled its certification process shortly before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 as it moved to wean itself from its reliance on Russian gas.

The project, which would have doubled Nord Stream’s gas capacity to 110 billion cubic meters annually — said by the company to be sufficient to supply to 26 million homes in Europe and critical to efforts to guarantee the European Union’s “security of supply of natural gas.”

Brent crude edges up as tit-for-tat strikes imperial return to normality in key waterway.

Oil prices have climbed following the latest flare-up in hostilities between the United States and Iran.

Brent crude, the primary international benchmark, rose about 0.9 percent on Monday after tit-for-tat US and Iranian strikes over the weekend renewed doubts about a return to normal shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent futures for August delivery stood at $73.21 a barrel as of 03:30 GMT, 127 cents higher than the day before the US and Israel launched their war on Iran on February 28.

“Brent’s partial rebound this morning reflects a market that had perhaps run too quickly on ceasefire optimism,” Fabien Yip, a market analyst at IG in Sydney, Australia, told Al Jazeera.

“Oil had nearly unwound its entire war premium, despite an MoU with no enforcement details and ongoing strikes. Thursday’s attack on a commercial vessel was a reality check, and this weekend’s tit-for-tat exchanges have compounded that,” Yip said.

Asian stock markets were mixed on Monday morning, with losses in Tokyo and Seoul and gains in Hong Kong and Taipei.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was 0.7 percent lower, while South Korea’s Kospi was down 1.9 percent.

Japanese and Korean stocks tied to the AI boom saw some of the biggest losses amid heated debate about whether tech firms’ massive investments in the emerging technology will pay off.

Japanese tech giant SoftBank Group fell about 5 percent, while Advantest Corporation, a key maker of semiconductor testing equipment, slumped 3.7 percent.

South Korean memory chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix dropped about 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively.

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index and Taiwan’s Taiex both rose, gaining 2.2 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

“Quarter-end profit-taking is adding to the selling pressure, with investors locking in gains from what has been a remarkable run. The Kospi is up roughly 95 percent this year, and the Nikkei up 37 percent,” IG’s Yip said.

“The underlying concern, however, is whether the AI boom can continue to translate into sustained earnings growth, or whether margin pressure is arriving sooner than the market anticipated.”

US Central Command announced strikes against Iran on Friday and Saturday, citing Iranian attacks on two commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, which in peacetime serves as a conduit for about one-fifth of the global trade in oil and liquified natural gas.

Iran responded to the strikes by launching a series of missiles and drones targeting US military assets in Bahrain and Kuwait.

Washington and Tehran agreed to cease their attacks and renew their negotiations on ending the war, multiple media outlets reported late on Sunday, citing unnamed US officials.

Axios, citing an unnamed senior US official, reported that the sides would hold talks in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday.

Iran has yet to comment on the reported agreement to cease hostilities or the planned talks.

US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding to end the war on June 17, but the agreement has repeatedly come under strain due to flare-ups in hostilities and disagreements about the meaning of the text.