Confirming API data overnight, DOE reports that while total inventories of crude rose less than expected (+234k vs +2.1mm exp.) Gasoline and Distillates saw a massive build once again. Gasoline inventories rose 8.44mm barrels (following last week's 10.6mm record build) is the biggest 2-week inventory build in history. Crude has crashed back from overnight "China is buying oil" demand hopes. [...]

Step-by-step Russia, China and other emerging economies are taking measures to reduce their dependence on the US dollar, F. William Engdahl notes, referring to Russia's crude oil benchmark initiative; the move could deal a dramatic blow to the "petrodollar's" dominance. [...]

One of the biggest stories of 2015 was the sharp decline of oil prices, which fell this year to levels not seen in more than a decade. "After plunging from more than $100 a barrel to nearly $50 a barrel last year, U.S. oil prices fell 30 percent in 2015 to $37.04 a barrel," the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. [...]

On Saturday, Ukrainian police said that power lines in southern Ukraine supplying the Crimean peninsula with electricity were blown up by activists from the group which launched the unsuccessful, Kiev-sanctioned 'food blockade' of the peninsula in September. Sputnik brings you up to speed on the energy blockade and its potential consequences. [...]

The personal fortunes of just 782 of the world's wealthiest people could power half the world—Africa, Latin America, and "most of Asia"—with 100 percent renewable energy within 15 years, according to a new report to be published Monday. Broken down by continent, it would take the wealth of just 53 rich people to power all of Africa, and a mere 32 prosperous people could plug in the vast majori [...]

Solar provides 100 percent of electricity to airport, with excess power sold to the grid and bought back at night. Cochin International Airport in southern India’s Kerala state may be best known as the gateway to the tourist beaches and houseboats of the region’s famous backwaters. Now it has a new claim to fame: world’s first solar airport. Since August, the airport has used 46,000 so [...]

American benchmark WTI crude briefly slipped below $40 per barrel for the first time since 2009, showing an eighth straight weekly decline , the longest streak in almost 30 years. During the intraday trading in New York, the benchmark WTI crude price dropped as low as $39.86 per barrel before settling at $40.45 – some 2.1% drop in one day. [...]

In May China imported a record 3.92 million metric tons of crude oil from Russia, which is equivalent to 927,000 barrels per day. Russia has become Beijing's top crude supplier for the first time since October 2005. “Russia is using its good relationship with China to increase supplies and has now taken the top spot,” Gao Jian, an analyst at Shandong-based energy consultant SCI Internationa [...]

More than a dozen minor earthquakes have struck western Alabama's Greene County since November. The area is near the Black Warrior Basin, where thousands of hydraulic fracturing natural gas wells have been operating in recent years. The Associated Press reported Sunday that Greene County has had 14 notable yet inexplicable seismic events since November 20, starting with a magnitude 3.8 quake 10 [...]

A new Texas law signed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott prohibits cities and towns from imposing local ordinances to prevent fracking and other potentially environmentally harmful oil and natural gas activities. In debating the law, Texas lawmakers emphasized the state’s successful development of oil and gas for more than 100 years. [...]

Serbia is interested in joining the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project, as it wants to ensure energy security for its citizens and cut dependence on deliveries via Ukraine, said the Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic. "At present, we can express our readiness for participation in this project because we need reliable gas supplies," Dacic said at a news conference in Belgrade after [...]

The Turkish Stream pipeline will become operational in December 2016, said head of Gazprom Aleksey Miller. "An agreement [between Russia and Turkey] has been reached on operational commissioning and the start of gas deliveries via Turkish Stream in December 2016,” said Miller, according to a statement released by Gazprom. [...]

Electric car producer Tesla Motors has adapted battery technology for household and business applications. The wall-mounted batteries will make solar power more accessible and throttle grid consumption to diminish loads and bills. [...]

Russia's upper house of Parliament, the Federation Council, has ratified the plan to deliver 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China. The deliveries are slated to begin as early as 2018. The bill hashes through the detail of exactly how the nearly 4,000 kilometer long pipeline will be built and operated. [...]

Ukrainian supermarkets have imposed rationing of basic products after the drastic fall in the value of the hryvnia. The currency has lost 70 percent of its value causing people to stockpile food and buy electronics as a hedge. Restrictions apply for goods such as cooking oil, flour and sugar, Ukraine’s news agency UNN reports Wednesday. [...]

Russia will supply coal and electricity to Ukraine without prepayment, Vladimir Putin's spokesman said. Ukraine is trying to cope with energy problems amid an ongoing crisis in the industrial east. This proves the president’s political goodwill and support, “particularly before New Year,” said presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Saturday, as quoted by TASS. [...]

The number one crude oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, has projected a $39 billion deficit in 2015. The impact of lower oil prices, along with the decision not to cut production, is putting pressure on the country’s finances. The figure was part of the endorsed 2015 budget, which was made public in a statement read out on state-run television on Thursday. [...]

So the EU “defeated” Putin by forcing him to cancel the South Stream pipeline. Thus ruled Western corporate media.  Nonsense. Facts on the ground spell otherwise. This “Pipelineistan” gambit will continue to send massive geopolitical shock waves all [...]

When President Putin makes his lightning one-day visit to India, the main thing on his mind will be power. He'll be discussing nuclear cooperation and energy when he meets Prime Minister Modi. “Nuclear energy cooperation is one of the pillars of our strategic partnership. We concluded two inter-governmental agreements in this field in 2008 and in 2010,” Putin said in an interview with India [...]

Out with boring public information leaflets and in with flashy TV ads. The German Ministry of Environment has come up with a series of commercials on the problems of climate change, featuring sex and zombies in the message. The scene: A young girl arrives home late one night and is confronted with the awkward situation of finding her parents engaged in the act inside a brightly lit room. After [...]

Moscow and Riyadh both want to see oil prices react to market forces, and not to geopolitical muscle flexing, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, said Friday. “Saudi Arabia and Russia believe that pricing should be market-oriented and let supply and demand play the decisive role. [...]

From Spider Man protesting in Hong Kong to Darth Vader running for parliament in Ukraine's elections; a world search for North Korea's 'missing' leader and Sweden's hunt for a mysterious 'Russian submarine' - RT offers you October headlines, made visual. The ongoing epidemic of the deadly Ebola virus has shown no sign of abating, being dubbed a "worse threat to humanity than HIV or SARS." [...]