Embattled Iran slams consequences of war on oil markets

Published

2 months ago

July 9, 2025

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Dilara Irem Sancar | Anadolu | Getty Images

Iran’s oil minister on Wednesday criticized the effects of war-led disruptions to oil markets, weeks after Tehran’s 12-day hostilities with Israel sent crude price soaring.

In remarks via videoconference for the OPEC seminar in Vienna, Mohsen Paknejad said, “Whatever the cause, an aggression of war that leads to the disruption of the supply of oil and gas resources to the international market imposes … complications on energy producers, and subjects national economies to hardships.”

“I believe we all need to take a principled stand against the resort to, and use of war, as a tool of pursuing political objectives,” he said.

Iran is the third-largest producer in the influential OPEC alliance and holds the organization’s rotating one-year presidency in 2025.

The security of Tehran’s supplies — which averaged 3.3 million barrels per day in May, according to the June OPEC monthly oil market report that cites independent analyst sources — came under scrutiny last month, as Iran engaged in direct missile and drone strikes with long-time regional foe Israel.

Tensions further escalated when the U.S. attacked three Iranian nuclear facilities, Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan, in what U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have repeatedly touted as a victory over Tehran.

Iran and Israel ultimately agreed to, and have been implementing, a Washington-brokered ceasefire since June 24, offering relief to oil prices that have since retreated amid concerns over long-term demand and output increases from some OPEC producers. The security of Iranian supplies remains a concern within the producer group’s considerations when deciding its output strategy, an OPEC+ delegate previously told CNBC.

Bob McNally, founder and president of Rapidan Energy Group, echoed that sentiment on Wednesday, telling CNBC’s Dan Murphy that “geopolitics is by far the biggest Black Swan,” or unpredictable factor, governing the market picture in the near-term, with Iran as an ongoing concern.

“We are not out of the woods with Iran,” he said with respect to lingering questions over the fate of Tehran’s nuclear program, which Israel and the U.S. have cited as the reason behind their recent offensive.

“What we believe in here is that the last 20 years of just sort of kicking the can down the road with Iran is likely to come to an end,” he added.

Trump, who also took a strict and sanctions-based approach to engaging Tehran during his first term, has made a priority of pursuing negotiations to achieve a so-far elusive nuclear deal with Iran during his second presidency. Late last month, Iran’s parliament approved a bill on suspending cooperation with the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“We are heading to where we’re going to have either a diplomatic deal, lifting of sanctions and a more benign scenario, or, I think we’re just setting up for the next round of conflict, especially if Iran attempts to go for a bomb or refuses to negotiate or even reconstitute its sort of shattered air defense system,” McNally noted.

Washington’s sanctions – bolstered by a fresh wave on July 3 – have crippled Iranian crude exports, the backbone of the Middle Eastern country’s economy. Most of Tehran’s barrels now head to China, often transported by Iran’s “shadow fleet” of off-grid oil tankers and intermediating shell companies.

Environment

Oil giant Equinor backs crisis-stricken Orsted as Trump lashes out at offshore wind

Published

5 hours ago

September 1, 2025

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Oil giant Equinor backs crisis-stricken Orsted as Trump lashes out at offshore wind

Picture taken on September 4, 2023 shows windmills at the Nysted Offshore Wind Farm constructed by Danish windpower giant Orsted in 2002-2003 in the Baltic Sea near Gedser in Denmark.

Thomas Traasdahl | Afp | Getty Images

Norwegian oil giant Equinor on Monday pledged to support Denmark’s Orsted with almost $1 billion of fresh capital, backing the beleaguered company amid sustained attacks on offshore wind projects from the Trump administration.

In an apparent show of confidence in the world’s largest offshore wind developer, Equinor signaled its intention to participate in Orsted’s planned 60 billion Danish krone ($9.4 billion) rights issue and said it intended to hold on to its 10% ownership in the company.

Equinor said its strategic support of the rights issue reflects its confidence in Orsted’s underlying business and the competitiveness of offshore wind in the future energy mix. The state-backed Norwegian energy group is the second largest shareholder in Orsted, behind the Danish government.

As part of the move, Equinor said it would nominate a candidate to Orsted’s board of directors.

Shares of Orsted rose 3.6% on the news, before paring gains. The stock price, which is down nearly 90% from a 2021, peak notched a fresh record low last month after the Trump administration ordered the company to halt work on a near complete windfarm.

Equinor shares were last seen 0.2% higher on Monday morning.

Both companies have been navigating challenges around the offshore wind industry, with Equinor saying it is closely monitoring developments in the U.S., and that it intends to remain in dialogue with Orsted.

The wind industry has been a target for U.S. President Donald Trump since his first day in office. The latest blow came on Friday when the U.S. Department of Transportation canceled $679 million in federal funding for a dozen infrastructure projects that would support offshore wind power nationwide.

“Wasteful, wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement.

Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said Equinor’s move to support Orsted could be seen as a first step for the company considering the possibility of a potential merger between the two offshore wind portfolios.

“The challenge with participating fully is that the company will effectively increase its net exposure to two 100%-owned US offshore wind projects, neither of which look likely to be farmed down in the near term, and where political support remains uncertain,” analysts at RBC Capital Markets said in a research note.

“The incremental positive is that alongside its maintained shareholding, Equinor will now be having board representation, making the most of a challenging situation,” they added.

Spokespeople for Equinor and Orsted did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

— CNBC’s Spencer Kimball & Ganesh Rao contributed to this report.

Environment

E-quipment highlight: Komatsu PC20E-6 electric mini excavator

Published

18 hours ago

August 31, 2025

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E-quipment highlight: Komatsu PC20E-6 electric mini excavator

Komatsu electric mini offers ‘realistic working day’ operation

Japanese equipment giant Komatsu has added a not-so-giant electric excavator to its growing lineup of battery-powered construction equipment. The new Komatsu PC20E-6 electric mini excavator promises a full day of work from a single charge.

Komatsu says the design of its latest mini excavator was informed by data sourced from more than 40,000 working days of comparably-sized diesel excavators. The company found that, in 90% of its global customers’ mini excavator deployments, these vehicles are in active use for less than 3.5 hours per day.

“This defined the target for the required, reliable working time with the excavator,” reads the Komatsu web copy. “This result makes it possible for Komatsu to offer an attractively priced machine with a performance that exactly matches the requirements.”

Keeping costs down are relatively conservative specs. Komatsu chose to power the PC20E-6 with a 23.2 kWh battery pack sending electrons to an 11 kW (~15 hp), high-torque electric motors. Not exactly super impressive on paper, but the machine has an operating weight of 2,190 kg and enough juice for up to four (4) hours of continuous operation.

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More than enough, in other words, to have completed 90% of of those 40,000 work days the company analyzed.

Getting it done

PC20E-6 electric mini excavator; via Komatsu.

If, for some reason, that four hours’ runtime isn’t enough, an on-board charging option for 230V and 3kW charging power compatible with various plug adapters is standard, with an external DC quick charger for 400V and 12 kW charging as optional. In either case, it won’t be long before the machine is back at work.

To help the later adopters sleep well about their battery-powered investments, the PC20E-6 ships with Komatsu’s E-Support maintenance program, which includes free scheduled maintenance by a Komatsu-trained technician, a 3 year/2,000 hour warranty on the machine, plus a 5 year/10,000 hour warranty on the electric driveline. The company says the battery should last 10 years.

“The Komatsu E-Support customer program is included free of charge with every market-ready electric mini excavator and offers exclusive machine support,” said Emanuele Viel, Group Manager Utility at Komatsu Europe. “The bottom line is that the risk for the end customer is significantly reduced, especially when it comes to exploring the electrification advances in the industry.”

Komatsu hasn’t released official pricing quite yet, but has revealed that the P20E-6 will begin series production this October.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Komatsu.

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Environment

Tesla unexpectedly ends contract at Giga Texas, letting go 82 people

Published

21 hours ago

August 31, 2025

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Tesla unexpectedly ends contract at Giga Texas, letting go 82 people

Tesla has unexpectedly terminated a contractor’s contract at Gigafactory Texas, resulting in the layoff of 82 workers who were supporting the automaker’s production at the giant factory in Austin.

MPW Industrial Services Inc., an Ohio-based industrial service provider specializing in cleaning and facility management, has issued a new WARN notice, confirming that it will lay off 82 workers in Texas due to Tesla unexpectedly ending its contract with the company.

Here are the details from the WARN notice:

State / agency: Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).
Notice date: August 27, 2025.
Employees affected: 82
Likely effective date: September 1, 2025
Context from the filing/letter: layoffs tied to an unexpected termination of a major customer contract (Tesla—Gigafactory Texas, 1 Tesla Road); positions include 61 technicians, 7 team leads, 7 supervisors, 7 managers; no bumping rights; workers not union-represented.

In April 2024, Tesla initiated waves of layoffs at the plant, resulting in the dismissal of more than 2,000 employees in Austin, Texas.

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Since then, Tesla’s sales have been in a steady decline. While the automaker is expected to have a strong quarter in the US in Q3 due to the end of the tax credit, sales are expected to decline further in Q4 and the first half of 2026.

Many industry watchers have expected Tesla to initiate further layoffs due to the situation.

Electrek’s Take

We may be seeing the beginnings of a new wave of layoffs at Tesla, as the automaker typically starts with contractors.

To be fair, Tesla could also potentially end the contract unexpectedly for other reasons, but the timing does align with the need to cut costs and staff ahead of an inevitable downturn in US EV sales.

I think it’s inevitable that we start seeing some layoffs. I think Tesla will have to slow down production in the US to avoid creating an oversupply, especially in Q4-Q1.

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