U.S. energy secretary says shale industry will ‘survive and thrive’ despite plunging crude prices
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright is not worried about falling oil prices and their impact on America’s shale oil industry, and is stressing that the coming years should be a time of energy abundance for the world’s largest economy.
“The U.S. shale industry is going to is going to survive and thrive,” Wright said in an interview with CNBC’s Dan Murphy in the United Arab Emirates’ capital Abu Dhabi. “But of course,” he added, “investment decisions are going to be tailored if prices stay long for stay this low for a long period of time. But I’m quite bullish on the U.S. industry.”
Oil prices have come under pressure amid lower global demand, mounting uncertainty over tariffs, and greater supply on the market from both OPEC and non-OPEC countries — with lower revenues threatening the viability of shale producers.
The June expiry contract of global benchmark Brent crude was trading at $63.51 per barrel on Friday at 1:43 p.m. in London, up 0.28% from the Thursday settlement. The front-month May U.S. WTI contract was at $60.26 per barrel, higher by 0.32% from the previous day’s close price. Both contracts are down roughly 22% in the last year.
To make his point, Wright referenced the 2014 to 2016 period, during which a boom in shale production coincided with lower global demand and brought oil prices down 70%. The industry was forced to grapple with a tidal wave of bankruptcies.
But the energy secretary took an optimistic angle. “In 2015 and 2016 oil prices twice hit $28 [per barrel], and what happened? What did the U.S. shale industry do in that time — innovate, get smarter, drive their costs down, and that’s what’s happening right now,” Wright said.
Commodities analysts estimate that U.S. crude needs to stay above $65 per barrel to keep shale producers in business. Goldman Sachs this week lowered its oil price forecast for U.S. WTI to $58 per barrel by December 2025 and $51 per barrel by December 2026, down from a previous outlook of $66 per barrel this year and $59 per barrel in 2026.
Wright himself is a former shale executive, having founded and served as CEO of the Denver-based oilfield services company Liberty Energy until stepping down to join the U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. Liberty Energy’s share price has suffered amid the slide in oil prices and trade tensions, with shares down over 46% year-to-date.
The energy secretary’s comments come roughly a week after the alliance of OPEC and its non-OPEC oil-producing partners, known as OPEC+, made the shock decision to accelerate its already planned crude production hikes, adding more supply to an already saturated market. The decision helped push crude prices down further.
Long-term, however, OPEC+ members need higher oil prices to balance their budgets. By contrast, Trump has promised to “drill, baby, drill” to keep prices down for American consumers, and has long been vocal about wanting OPEC members to pump more oil for that reason.
Asked if this could eventually put the U.S. and OPEC on a collision course, Wright responded in the negative.
“I don’t think it’s a collision course at all. What we see, and what I saw here in the UAE, and you see in Saudi [Arabia] and Qatar is a very long-term vision of energy,” Wright said.
“Yeah, of course there’s some extra short term reduction in revenues if you have lower oil and gas prices. But the investments that are made here and the relationships that are built here, these are looking out decades into the future.”
Wright insisted there was overall alignment in the energy strategies of the U.S. and its oil-rich Arab Gulf allies in particular, whose leaders he is scheduled to meet with during the course of his Middle East visit, which comes ahead of an anticipated visit to the region by Trump.
“The way to make American lives better, and the citizens of the world better, is larger energy, more affordable energy, and just a much more bright and prosperous future,” Wright said. “That’s the path we’re on. And I think certainly [the] UAE and Saudi Arabia and Qatar, I think we’re all aligned in that mission.”
BMW Motorrad’s futuristic electric scooter just got its first real refresh since beginning production in 2021. The BMW CE 04, already one of the most capable and stylish electric maxi-scooters on the market, now gets a set of upgraded trim options, new aesthetic touches, and a more robust list of features that aim to make this urban commuter even more appealing to riders looking for serious electric performance on two wheels.
The BMW CE 04 has always stood out for its sci-fi styling and high-performance drivetrain. It’s built on a mid-mounted liquid-cooled motor that puts out 31 kW (42 hp) and 62 Nm of torque. That’s enough to rocket the scooter from 0 to 50 km/h (31 mph) in just 2.6 seconds – quite fast for anything with a step-through frame.
The top speed is electronically limited to 120 km/h (75 mph), making it perfectly capable for city riding and fast enough to hold its own on highway stretches. Range is rated at 130 km (81 miles) on the WMTC cycle, thanks to the 8.9 kWh battery pack tucked low in the frame.
But while the core performance hasn’t changed, BMW’s 2025 update focuses on refining the package and giving riders more options to tailor the scooter to their taste. The new CE 04 is available in three trims: Basic, Avantgarde, and Exclusive.
The Basic trim keeps things clean and classic with a Lightwhite paint scheme and a clear windshield. It’s subtle, sleek, and very much in line with the CE 04’s clean-lined aesthetic. The Avantgarde model adds a splash of color with a Gravity Blue main body and bright São Paulo Yellow accents, along with a dark windshield and a laser-engraved rim. The top-shelf Exclusive trim is where things get fancy, with a premium Spacesilver metallic paint job, upgraded wind protection, heated grips, a luxury embroidered seat, and its own unique engraved rim treatment.
There are also a few new tech upgrades baked into the options list. Riders can now spec a 6.9 kW quick charger that reduces the 0–80% charge time to just 45 minutes (down from nearly 4 hours with the standard 2.3 kW onboard charger). Tire pressure monitoring, a center stand, and BMW’s “Headlight Pro” adaptive lighting system are also available as add-ons, along with an emergency eCall system and Dynamic Traction Control.
BMW has kept the core riding components in place: a steel-tube chassis, 15-inch wheels, Bosch ABS (with optional ABS Pro), and the impressive 10.25” TFT display with integrated navigation and smartphone connectivity. The under-seat storage still swallows a full-face helmet, and the long, low frame design means the scooter looks like something out of Blade Runner but rides like a luxury commuter.
With these updates, BMW seems to be further cementing the CE 04’s role at the high end of the electric scooter market. It’s not cheap, starting around €12,000 in Europe and around US $12,500 in the US, with prices going up from there depending on configuration. However, the maxi-scooter delivers real motorcycle-grade performance in a package that’s easier to live with for daily riders.
Electrek’s Take
I believe that the CE 04’s biggest strength has always been that it’s not trying to be a toy or a gimmick. It’s a real vehicle. Sure, it’s futuristic and funky looking, but it delivers on its promises. And in a market that’s still surprisingly sparse when it comes to premium electric scooters, BMW has had the lane mostly to itself. That may not last forever, though. LiveWire, Harley-Davidson’s electric spin-off brand, has teased plans for a maxi-scooter-style urban electric vehicle in the coming years, but as of now, it remains something of an undefined future plan.
Meanwhile, BMW is delivering not just a concept bike but a mature, well-equipped, and ready-to-ride electric scooter that keeps improving. For riders who want something faster and more capable than a Class 3 e-bike but aren’t ready to jump to a full-size electric motorcycle, the CE 04 hits a sweet spot. It delivers the performance and capability of a commuter e-motorcycle, yet with the approachability of a scooter. And with these new trims and upgrades, it’s doing it with even more style.
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If you’ve ever wondered what happens when you combine a fruit cart, a cargo bike, and a Piaggio Ape all in one vehicle, now you’ve got your answer. I submit, for your approval, this week’s feature for the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column – and it’s a beautiful doozie.
Feast your eyes on this salad slinging, coleslaw cruising, tuber taxiing produce chariot!
I think this electric vegetable trike might finally scratch the itch long felt by many of my readers. It seems every time I cover an electric trike, even the really cool ones, I always get commenters poo-poo-ing it for having two wheels in the rear instead of two wheels in the front. Well, here you go, folks!
Designed with two front wheels for maximum stability, this trike keeps your cucumbers in check through every corner. Because trust me, you don’t want to hit a pothole and suddenly be juggling peaches like you’re in Cirque du Soleil: Farmers Market Edition.
To avoid the extra cost of designing a linked steering system for a pair of front wheels, the engineers who brought this salad shuttle to life simply side-stepped that complexity altogether by steering the entire fixed front end. I’ve got articulating electric tractors that steer like this, and so if it works for a several-ton work machine, it should work for a couple hundred pounds of cargo bike.
Featuring a giant cargo bed up front with four cascading fruit baskets set up for roadside sales, this cargo bike is something of a blank slate. Sure, you could monetize grandma’s vegetable garden, or you could fill it with your own ideas and concoctions. Our exceedingly talented graphics wizard sees it as the perfect coffee and pastry e-bike for my new startup, The Handlebarista, and I’m not one to argue. Basically, the sky is the limit with a blank slate bike like this!
Sure, the quality doesn’t quite match something like a fancy Tern cargo bike. The rim brakes aren’t exactly confidence-inspiring, but at least there are three of them. And if they should all give out, or just not quite slow you down enough to avoid that quickly approaching brick wall, then at least you’ve got a couple hundred pounds of tomatoes as a tasty crumple zone.
The electrical system does seem a bit underpowered. With a 36V battery and a 250W motor, I don’t know if one-third of a horsepower is enough to haul a full load to the local farmer’s market. But I guess if the weight is a bit much for the little motor, you could always do some snacking along the way. On the other hand, all the pictures seem to show a non-electric version. So if this cart is presumably mobile on pedal power alone, then that extra motor assist, however small, is going to feel like a very welcome guest.
The $950 price is presumably for the electric version, since that’s what’s in the title of the listing, though I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. I’ve bought a LOT of stuff on Alibaba, including many electric vehicles, and the too-good-to-be-true price is always exactly that. In my experience, you can multiply the Alibaba price by 3-4x to get the actual landed price for things like these. Even so, $3,000-$4,000 wouldn’t be a terrible price, considering a lot of electric trikes stateside already cost that much and don’t even come with a quad-set of vegetable baskets on board!
I should also put my normal caveat in here about not actually buying one of these. Please, please don’t try to buy one of these awesome cargo e-trikes. This is a silly, tongue-in-cheek weekend column where I scour the ever-entertaining underbelly of China’s massive e-commerce site Alibaba in search of fun, quirky, and just plain awesomely weird electric vehicles. While I’ve successfully bought several fun things on the platform, I’ve also gotten scammed more than once, so this is not for the timid or the tight-budgeted among us.
That isn’t to say that some of my more stubborn readers haven’t followed in my footsteps before, ignoring my advice and setting out on their own wild journey. But please don’t be the one who risks it all and gets nothing in return. Don’t say I didn’t warn you; this is the warning.
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