Global oil demand is on track to decline for the first time since 2020 after the Iran war disrupted production and exports across the Middle East, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday, though the agency expects consumption to recover from its May low and return to growth by the end of the year as supplies improve and pent-up demand is released. World oil demand is set to decline by...
Global oil demand is on track to decline for the first time since 2020 after the Iran war disrupted production and exports across the Middle East, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday, though the agency expects consumption to recover from its May low and return to growth by the end of the year as supplies improve and pent-up demand is released. World oil demand is set to decline by 1 million b/d year-on-year in 2026, which would mark its first annual decrease since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the IEA said. "While the global oil market balance looks set to swing back to surplus towards the end of the year, the forecast hinges on the assumption that tanker flows through the Strait will gradually recover, allowing producers to restart fields and refiners in the Middle East and elsewhere to resume product shipments," the IEA wrote. Renewed exchanges of fire in the Gulf this week highlight the risks of not reaching a lasting peace agreement, which is a must for the normalisation in oil markets, the agency said in its latest oil market report. A number of ships came under attack and traffic through the Strait has once again slowed to a trickle. Global oil supply rebounded by a sharp 4.1 mb/d to 98.8 mb/d in June, as a resumption of flows through the Strait of Hormuz underpinned a partial recovery in Gulf production. World output was nevertheless some 9.4 mb/d below pre-war levels, with supply on track to decline by an average of 3.7 mb/d to 102.6 mb/d in 2026, contingent on a swift de-escalation of renewed hostilities. If transit volumes improve, oil supply is seen expanding by 7.5 mb/d next year. Crude prices turned higher after the ceasefire agreement was breached on July 7–8, clouding the outlook and potentially upending forecasts that see the market flipping to a surplus next year, the IEA concluded. Oil ETFs: ( USO ), ( UCO ), ( DBO ), ( OILK ), and ( USL ). Oil futures: ( CL1:COM ), ( CO1:COM ) More on the energy market, etc. Greg Sh...
In this episode of Bloomberg Tech: Europe, Bloomberg’s Tom Mackenzie launches into Europe's efforts to develop its burgeoning space economy. SpaceX has shown the might of American space technology - and financial muscle - with its record-breaking IPO. Bloomberg Tech: Europe looks at where Europe is lacking in the space race, and how it can secure space autonomy. "Bloomberg Tech: Europe" spotlights...
In this episode of Bloomberg Tech: Europe, Bloomberg’s Tom Mackenzie launches into Europe's efforts to develop its burgeoning space economy. SpaceX has shown the might of American space technology - and financial muscle - with its record-breaking IPO. Bloomberg Tech: Europe looks at where Europe is lacking in the space race, and how it can secure space autonomy. "Bloomberg Tech: Europe" spotlights the biggest names and trends shaping the region's technology ecosystem as the global competition heats up. This monthly, 30-minute magazine-style show features in-depth interviews with top technology leaders, as well as major investors and policymakers - giving you a compelling A to Z of the most consequential innovations, opportunities and challenges. (Source: Bloomberg)
SK Hynix Inc. is hardly a household name. But the maker of memory chips, which two decades ago was struggling to survive, is now South Korea’s second-most valuable listed company, just behind Samsung Electronics Co . With the artificial intelligence boom fueling enormous demand for advanced memory chips , the company’s share price has risen roughly 13-fold since the start of 2025, with its market ...
SK Hynix Inc. is hardly a household name. But the maker of memory chips, which two decades ago was struggling to survive, is now South Korea’s second-most valuable listed company, just behind Samsung Electronics Co . With the artificial intelligence boom fueling enormous demand for advanced memory chips , the company’s share price has risen roughly 13-fold since the start of 2025, with its market value hitting $1 trillion in May. On July 10, SK Hynix American depositary receipts will start trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market in the US, exposing the company to an even deeper pool of capital. What is SK Hynix? SK Hynix’s roots trace back to 1983, when Hyundai Group, one of South Korea’s largest industrial conglomerates, founded Hyundai Electronics Industries as part of the country’s push into strategic industries, including semiconductors, amid a global boom in electronics. The company initially focused on manufacturing dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips — small semiconductors that temporarily store the data that computer processors need to access quickly. Heavy investment in fabrication plants and advanced chipmaking technology turned Hyundai Electronics into one of the world’s leading DRAM suppliers by the 1990s. This aggressive expansion left Hyundai Electronics in deep financial trouble when the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis struck. Slumping memory-chip prices and mounting debt forced a sweeping restructuring of Hyundai Group, and the company — renamed Hynix Semiconductor in 2001 as part of the overhaul — spent much of the following decade relying on creditor bailouts. It was nearly sold to US rival Micron Technology Inc. in 2002, but the deal collapsed. A turning point came in 2012, when South Korea’s SK Group, a conglomerate with businesses spanning energy and telecommunications, acquired a controlling stake from Hynix’s creditors and renamed the company SK Hynix. A year later, in 2013, the company, working with US chip designer Advanced Micro Dev...