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The logo of the OPEC is pictured at the OPEC headquarters on October 4, 2022. In October last year, the oil cartel announced its decision to cut output by two million barrels per day.

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Several OPEC+ members are set to tighten global production by an additional 1.16 million barrels per day until the end of the year, further burdening central bank efforts to curtail global inflation — but critically protecting the alliance’s broader output strategy from political pressures. 

Washington has stepped in to criticize Sunday’s announcement where eight OPEC+ producers — including group leader Saudi Arabia and key allies Kuwait and the UAE — said they would remove more than a combined 1 million barrels per day from global oil markets, as part of an independent initiative unlinked to the broader OPEC+ policy.

This adds to Russia’s existing intentions to trim 500,000 barrels per day of its own production from February output levels, now until the end of the year — bringing the combined voluntary cuts of OPEC+ members in excess of 1.6 million barrels per day.

“We don’t think cuts are advisable at this moment, given market uncertainty — and we’ve made that clear,” a spokesperson for the National Security Council said, according to Reuters.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has repeatedly lambasted the OPEC+ group for its production cuts, citing the inflationary toll on households and flinging accusations of camaraderie with sanctions-struck Russia. Curbs in production lead to smaller supply, causing higher prices at the pump in importing countries which then provides a boost for headline inflation figures.

Relations devolved into a war of words with OPEC+ chair Saudi Arabia at the end of last year, when the oil group agreed a 2 million barrels per day cut until the end of 2023 — a decision upheld at ministerial and technical committees since.

One such technical council, the OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee concluded on Monday with a statement that acknowledged the voluntary cuts, making no mention of a broader change in formal production policy.

Referring to the voluntary cuts, the OPEC Secretariat said they represent “a precautionary measure aimed at supporting the stability of the oil market.”

The JMMC will next convene on June 4, with a full ministerial meeting to follow.

Formal group action is arguably no longer required, with front-month June Brent futures prices up by $4.44 per barrel from the Friday settlement to $84.33 per barrel at nearly 10 a.m. London time. Some analysts now warn of prices soaring to $100 per barrel, while Goldman Sachs could drive up Brent forecasts by $5 per barrel to $95 per barrel for December 2023.

“The anticipated increase in oil prices for the rest of the year as a result of these voluntary cuts could fuel global inflation, prompting a more hawkish stance on interest rate hikes from central banks across the world. That would, however, lower economic growth and reduce oil demand expansion,” said Victor Ponsford of Rystad Energy in a research note.

Oil jumps as OPEC and its allies announce a surprise output cut

Tamas Varga, of oil broker PVM, flagged the broader political risks of the organized voluntary cuts, telling CNBC that headline inflation should rise faster than anticipated.

“But central banks might not deviate from the course of slowing down the hike in borrowing as their views are chiefly shaped by core inflation figures, which will not be as much affected by stronger oil prices as headline data,” he said.

“The voices of the proponents of the NOPEC bill in the US Congress will also get louder and they will accuse OPEC+ to use oil as a weapon. The step is unreservedly bullish, for now macro worries are overtaken by supply concerns. The move will also lead to further souring of the Saudi-US relationship.”

The NOPEC — No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels— bill refers to proposed U.S. legislation that would open OPEC+ countries to potential antitrust legal action.

The U.S. can attempt to combat price hikes by releasing further volumes from its Strategic Petroleum Reserves — with one anonymous OPEC+ delegate saying that Washington has encumbered its fight against inflation by blocking global access to Venezuela and Iranian volumes, while EU nations likewise refrain from Russian purchases out of solidarity with the invaded Ukraine.

OPEC+ delegates have previously also found fault with western nations’ windfall taxes on energy companies — which they claim received no consistent support when WTI futures traded in negative territory in April 2020 — and with the accelerated shift toward renewables that has reduced hydrocarbon investments without producing sufficient alternative green fuel to fully meet consumer demands.

Spare capacity has been at the heart of recent OPEC+ pronouncements, with the group stepping in to protect the appeal of stable return for long-term investments in oil projects. Nearly all of the countries participating in the recently-announced independent cuts possess additional capacity.

One anonymous OPEC+ source said discussions to coordinate further independent cuts gained traction toward the end of last week, when volatility in the banking sector following the failures of several U.S. and Swiss lenders eroded investor confidence in more historically volatile assets, such as oil. OPEC+ delegates have previously expressed that the oil impact of the banking turbulence would be short-lived, with longer-term questions lingering over the looming demand of a reopening China, the world’s largest consumer.  

“What happened to the oil prices over the last three weeks was nothing to do with oil factors, it was everything to do with the banking crisis, and the fears that brings with it. We also had a huge, huge increase in [the] short market, and that is something that OPEC are very keen to stomp out,” Amrita Sen, co-founder and director of research at Energy Aspects, told CNBC’s Dan Murphy.

Investors generally assume short positions when they expect market or price declines.

“I do believe, if the market overtightens, or exogenous issues or shocks fade, they will reverse this cut along the line. So this isn’t set in stone for the rest of the year, but very clearly defending a floor.”

OPEC is very clearly defending a floor with surprise output cut: Energy Aspects

Voluntary production moves are easier to agree and unwind without staining domestic or external OPEC+ politics. Such cuts have previously been accepted by the group, provided they aligned with the spirit of existing OPEC+ policies — but they have typically expressed the initiative of a single country, barring temporary Saudi-Kuwaiti-UAE reductions organized during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A coordinated gesture of Sunday’s scale effectively creates a second, unofficial agreement on top of the existing formal OPEC+ strategy — one that does not command formal commitments and can be more readily defended when individual oil ministries face pressures from their own governments or state oil companies to increase output and short-term revenues. Independent cuts also bypass the need for unanimous OPEC+ member approval and tentatively avoid external accusations of organized anti-consumer behavior.

But the gesture will not bridge the growing political rift between OPEC+ kingpin Saudi Arabia and the Biden administration, whose influence has been increasingly supplanted by China in the Middle East. In the past month, Beijing brokered a resumption of relations between arch-rivals Tehran and Riyadh, with Saudi Arabia also taking steps to join the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a dialogue partner.

“[The organized voluntary cuts] certainly would play into the narrative that the U.S. is losing its influence in the region to either influence the actions of core OPEC producers like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have traditionally been client states of the U.S.,” Andy Critchlow, EMEA head of news at S&P Global Platts, told CNBC.

“You can’t really look at this in isolation from the wider geopolitical situation in the Middle East, which is seeing these core oil producers shift closer to China, shift much closer to Russia. You know, they like operating in this multipolar world, instead of being completely tied to U.S. dependency.”

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Elon Musk’s Boring Company has work crew in Nashville walk off job over unpaid bills and safety

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19 hours ago

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November 26, 2025

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Elon Musk’s Boring Company has work crew in Nashville walk off job over unpaid bills and safety


The Boring Company, Elon Musk’s tunneling startup, is reportedly facing significant issues with its new project in Nashville, Tennessee. A key subcontractor has walked off the job, alleging that the company has failed to pay for work completed on the “Music City Loop,” claiming they have received only 5% of what they are owed.

We have been following The Boring Company’s expansion efforts closely.

After the relative success of the Las Vegas Loop and several projects that failed to materialize, it looked like the company was winding down until a new proposal in Nashville gained some momentum.

However, a new report from the Nashville Banner indicates that the project is hitting a major wall.

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Shane Trucking and Excavating, a local contractor hired to handle preliminary work for the tunnel project, pulled its workers off the site this Monday. William Shane, the owner of the company, told the Banner that The Boring Company has “ghosted” them and failed to pay invoices totaling in the six figures.

According to Shane, the payment terms were initially set for every 15 days, then unilaterally switched to 60 days. Now, he claims it has been over 120 days since they broke ground, and his company has received only a fraction of the payment due.

“We were really skeptical from the beginning, and then since then, things pretty much just went downhill,” Shane said.

The contractor was reportedly responsible for preparing the launch pad for “Prufrock,” The Boring Company’s proprietary tunnel boring machine (TBM). We previously reported on Prufrock’s capabilities, with the company claiming it can dig tunnels significantly faster than conventional machines, supposedly porpoising directly from the surface to avoid digging expensive launch pits.

If the launch pad isn’t finished because the excavator wasn’t paid, Prufrock isn’t digging anywhere.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of payment issues involving Musk-led companies. Tesla has been known to not pay its bills, leading to small companies going bankrupt.

As The Boring Company was stiffing Shane on the bills, the company tried to poach workers from its own contractor and lied about it:

“One of their head guys texts two of my welders, offering them a job for $45 an hour from his work phone,” Shane described, noting that the same TBC employee denied sending the texts when confronted with screenshots. “That’s actually a breach of contract.”

On top of the missed payments, Shane alleges serious safety concerns. They made several official complaints to OSHA:

“Where we’re digging, we’re so far down, there should be concrete and different structures like that to hold the slope back from falling on you while you’re working. Where most people use concrete, they currently have — I’m not even kidding — they currently have wood. They had us install wood 2x12s.” 

The Boring Company Vice President David Buss blamed missed payments on “invoicing errors” in a statement to the Banner:

“It does look like we had some invoicing errors on that. It was, you know, unfortunately, too common of a thing, but I assured them that we are going to make sure that invoices are wired tomorrow.”

He also said that he would look into the poaching allegations, but added that he is not aware of any OSHA complaints.

The “Music City Loop” was pitched as a solution to connect downtown Nashville to the airport, a route that is notoriously congested.

The Boring Company claims it can complete the project without public money, but there are some obvious issues with its financing.

Electrek’s Take

I’ve been willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on the “Loop” concept. While it falls short of the original “autonomous pods” vision or the “Hyperloop” speed dreams, the system in Las Vegas does work to move people, even if it is just Teslas in tunnels driven by humans.

There’s just no evidence that it would be more efficient than any other public transit system.

When Musk launched The Boring Company’s first test tunnel in LA, I asked him if he had any simulations showing his “loop” system to be more efficient. He said that they were working on that. That was 7 years ago.

Therefore, while The Boring Company appears to have achieved marginal improvements in tunnel boring, mainly when it comes to smaller tunnels; it has yet to show clear evidence that its Loop system is a better solution than any other public transit system.


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Heybike Mars 3.0 and Ranger 3.0 Pro e-bikes get Black Friday cuts to lows from $1,199, Tesla + Leviton EV chargers, Hiboy EV lows, more

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19 hours ago

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November 26, 2025

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Heybike Mars 3.0 and Ranger 3.0 Pro e-bikes get Black Friday cuts to lows from ,199, Tesla + Leviton EV chargers, Hiboy EV lows, more


Our Green Deals today are all centered around Black Friday EV savings, led by the first post-launch price cuts on Heybike’s new Mars 3.0 Folding e-bike to its $1,199 low, as well as the equally new Ranger 3.0 Folding e-bike options starting from a $1,399 low. From there, we spotted Tesla’s Universal Wall Connector EV charger retaining a $50 price cut to $600, as well as Leviton’s smart 48A level 2 EV charger at a new low, Hiboy’s Black Friday EV sale with tons of new low prices thanks to the 53% initial discounts and bonus savings codes, and much more waiting for you below. And don’t forget about the hangover deals that are collected together at the bottom of the page, like yesterday’s increased Velotric Black Friday savings with new lows and extra battery bundles starting from $999, the Lectric XPeak 2.0 Off-Road e-bike bundles that are shrinking in stock, and more.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Heybike drops new Mars 3.0 folding e-bike back to its $1,199 low during Black Friday sale for first time since launch

As part of its ongoing Black Friday e-bike sale, and coming right alongside the equally new price cut on the Ranger 3.0 Pro, Heybike is giving us the first official post-launch discount on its Mars 3.0 Folding Fat-Tire e-bike for $1,199 shipped, as well as a FREE Black Friday gift pack. It launched back at the top of August with a $100 discount from its $1,299 full price, which is repeating here for the first time since those initial deals cooled, and while the discount may not be large, you’re certainly getting a lot of upgraded features for such a low price.

Designed for those riders who seek greater thrills, the new Heybike Mars 3.0 e-bike brings along the new Galaxy Perform eDrive System, which pairs a 750W rear hub motor (1,400W peak) with 95nM of torque (and an obvious torque sensor), as well as a removable 624Wh battery. This system allows you to reach 20 or 28 MPH top speeds, determined by your local laws, and provides pedal-assisted support for up to 65 miles on one full charge. Just like the equally new Ranger 3.0 Pro model, you’ll find a new TFT display on this generation that delivers NFC start-up so you can turn it on by simply tapping your device to the display.

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Aside from its continued space-saving, folding frame, you’ll also notice an improved 440-pound payload so heavier riders can get in on the fun or allow smaller riders to haul some serious cargo weight. The lineup of upgraded features includes a hydraulic suspension fork, a rear Horst link suspension, hydraulic disc brakes, 4-inch puncture-protected tires with fenders, a brake-lit taillight with turn signals, a headlight, a horn, a rear cargo rack, a Shimano Altus 8-speed derailleur, and more.

man and woman riding Heybike Ranger 3.0 Pro e-bikes down street

Heybike’s new-gen Ranger 3.0 Pro folding commuter e-bike gets first post-launch cut to $1,399 low for Black Friday

As part of Heybike’s ongoing Black Friday Sale, and coming in right alongside the new Mars 3.0 Folding e-bike price drop, we’re also now seeing the new Ranger 3.0 Pro Folding Fat-Tire e-bike getting a cut to $1,399 shipped and coming with a FREE Black Friday gift pack. This model was released alongside the Mars 3.0 back in August, and has remained at its $1,499 full price since the initial launch deals ended that month. Now, during this Black Friday season, the brand is offering the first post-launch discount we have seen, giving you another chance at $100 savings on an already lower-cost commuter solution at its best price that we have tracked. Of course, if you want an even more premium look, this model has a Limited Miami Sunset colorway option that has been given a price cut to $1,599 shipped, as well as a Black Friday gift pack and a Miami Sunset gift pack for more added goodies.

Like the Mars 3.0 counterpart, the new Heybike Ranger 3.0 Pro e-bike is quite the higher-end solution for folks seeking new commuting options, all while retaining accessible pricing. It’s been upgraded from the popular Ranger S model with the new Galaxy Perform eDrive System, combining a 750W rear hub motor (1,200W peak), 80nM of torque, and a 720Wh battery. This combination provides a max speed of 20/28 MPH (depending on individual state laws), as well as pedal-assisted support (presided over by a torque sensor) for up to 90 miles on one charge, making it quite the handy commuter – plus, there’s the space-saving folding frame when you reach your destination. It boasts a new TFT display that allows you to tap your phone for NFC start-ups, giving you an extra layer of smart security.

Among its upgraded features, you’ll find a hydraulic suspension fork, 4-inch puncture-protected tires with fenders over each, hydraulic disc brakes, a headlight and horn at its front, a taillight with brake lighting and turn signal lighting, an 8-speed Shimano Altus derailleur, and more. And pivoting back to its folding design, this model condenses even smaller than its predecessor to a 41.7-inch by 20.5-inch by 32.7-inch size.

Tesla universal wall connector EV chargers installed at home driveway with two vehicles parked

Tesla’s Universal Wall Connector with dual NACS + J1772 connectors and customizable 48A speeds retains $50 cut to $600

While Amazon’s ongoing Black Friday Week Sale is going strong, we noticed that the official Tesla storefront is retaining the price cut on its Universal Wall Connector at $600 shipped during this holiday season, with it also matching the price at Best Buy. Earlier in the year we saw the price on this model rise to $650, where it’s been keeping until the more recent $50 markdown brought costs lower, giving you some continued holiday shopping relief here. Sadly, we haven’t seen any similar markdowns on its standard wall connector that is keeping to $450 shipped, or its newer Gen 2 Wall Connector models starting from $1,399 shipped.

If you want to learn more about this universal EV charger, be sure to check out our original coverage of this ongoing price cut here.

man riding Hiboy TITAN electric scooter
man using Leviton smart 48A level 2 EV charger to power vehicle

Best Fall EV deals!

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.


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The Kia EV4 is delayed, but another EV is still quietly coming to the US

Published

21 hours ago

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November 26, 2025

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The Kia EV4 is delayed, but another EV is still quietly coming to the US

Kia-another-EV-US

The EV4 will sadly not arrive in the US as expected, but Kia said it’s still planning on launching another EV that’s expected to be an even bigger hit.

Kia confirms EV4 delay, says another EV is still US-bound

The EV4, Kia’s first electric sedan, was expected to launch in the US within the next few months, but that will no longer be the case.

Kia has indefinitely delayed the launch of the EV4 in the US due to policy changes under the Trump administration.

The loss of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit and added tariffs on Korean imports have forced Kia, like many others, to adjust their US lineup.

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According to Kia America’s marketing boss, Russel Wager, the EV4 is only a small part of the broader tariff-related impacts the Korean automaker is facing. Wager told Car and Driver on the sidelines of the LA Auto Show that the changes will likely impact other vehicles and prices.

Kia-EV4-US-delay
2026 Kia EV4 US-spec (Source: Kia)

When asked for specifics about why the EV4 is being pushed back, Wager said, “Can you give me the answer of when the tariffs are going to be resolved in Mexico, Canada, and Seoul? If you give me that answer, I’ll be as specific as possible.”

While the EV4 is delayed indefinitely, Wager suggested bringing the EV3 to the US, Kia’s compact SUV, is still part of the plan.

Kia-EV3-US
Kia EV3 (Source: Kia)

The Kia EV3 is already one of the most popular EVs in Europe and the UK’s best-selling retail electric car this year. Given the growing demand for smaller SUVs, the EV3 is expected to be an even bigger hit with US buyers than the EV4.

When it will launch in the US or how much it will cost remains up in the air until Kia gets a better idea of market conditions.

Kia-another-EV-US
The 2026 Kia EV9 (Source: Kia)

Kia’s EV sales plunged after the federal tax credit expired at the end of September. Sales of the EV6 and EV9 fell by 71% and 66% last month compared to October 2024.

According to Wager, the automaker won’t really know what demand looks like until February or March 2026, since the loss of the $7,500 credit likely pulled buyers forward.

Kia-EV3-US
Kia EV3 Air in Frost Blue (Source: Kia UK)

Kia is still ready to launch the EV4 in the US, but that’s only if the tariff situation stabilizes. Earlier this month, the US and South Korea agreed to reduce tariffs on imports from 25% to 15%.

“At that point in time we look at it and say, are we at 25 [percent], are we at 15—and then we can build our business case,” Wager said, adding, “It was originally designed and engineered when the tariffs were zero percent.”

The electric pickup that Kia announced just a few months ago may never make it to the US. Wager pointed to Ford halting F-150 Lightning production and reports that it could be scrapped altogether.

In the meantime, Kia is heavily discounting its current electric vehicles, offering a $10,000 customer cash bonus on every model. Or, you can opt for 0% financing for 72 months plus an extra $2,500 bonus cash. Kia’s sister company, Hyundai, is also offering generous discounts with IONIQ 5 leases starting at just $189 per month.

Interested in a test drive? We can help you get started. You can use our links below to find Kia and
Hyundai models in your area.


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