Investments in liquefied natural gas since the start of the year have hit an all-time high of $50 billion, the International Energy Agency’s head, Fatih Birol, told an industry conference. “This year, 2019 already broke the highest amount of (final investment decisions) for the first time ever, $50 billion,” Birol told the LNG Producer-Consumer conference in Tokyo, as quoted by Reuters.

Not long ago, Bill Gates offered some investment advice. That, in itself, constitutes news, but the content and the reactions make up a more interesting story. Gates told the Financial Times, in essence, that investors who want to do something about climate change should stop making up lists of companies they do not want in their portfolios based on involvement in fossil fuel production or use. They should, instead, invest in disruptive technologies that will provide actual solutions to climate change.

One of the world’s largest independent oil traders, Gunvor Group, plans to revamp its refinery in Rotterdam to adapt it to produce low-sulfur fuel oil that would be compliant with the new regulations on shipping fuel, Gunvor’s chief executive Torbjörn Törnqvist told Reuters.

On Wednesday, September 18, the Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters' Union hosted a meeting of representatives of firms, government, and other institutions involved in Iran’s petrochemical sector. They had gathered to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the sector and the potential to pursue growth through trade as part of the elaboration of the National Export Strategy of Iran (NES).

Iran’s state oil company has struck natural gas at a new deposit, according to a report in PressTV, quoting another report from news agency Fars. According to PressTV, NIOC’s head of exploration, Saleh Hendi, told Fars that “This field was discovered after a year of continuous exploration in southern Iran.”

China’s crude oil imports from ship-to-ship transfers soared threefold between August and September to 910,000 tons, Bloomberg reports, citing ship tracking data. The source of the oil, the agency noted, was unclear. “I think its highly likely that these ship-to-ship and Malaysian volumes are Iranian or Venezuelan crude,” Bloomberg quoted Michal Meidan, the head of the China Energy Programme at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies as saying. “But of course the whole point here is to make it hard to be sure,” Meidan added.

India’s Reliance is set to resume oil imports from sanctioned Venezuela, according to a Reliance representative that spoke to Reuters . India had stopped its imports of Venezuelan oil months ago after the United States sanctioned Venezuela. Reliance feels secure in its decision to resume the imports, because it will be taking the crude oil in exchange for supplying Venezuela with fuels including diesel, a scenario that is allowed under the sanctions. “These are actions compliant to U.S. sanctions as crude sourcing against supply of permitted products is allowed,” the representative said in an email to Reuters.

Shell and Exxon are among the companies picked by the Pakistani government to build five LNG import terminals as part of efforts to boost natural gas imports to deal with shortages in supply.

Hydrogen is the simplest element on earth and most abundant element in the universe. It is an energy carrier as it has high energy content per unit of weight. And it has the potential to become a mainstream energy technology and a key clean fuel source in the future that could also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The world’s biggest oil tanker has begun a 12,400-mile voyage to a fuel-storage zone in Asia, the latest movement of a vessel that’s intrigued the shipping market and fuel traders for months. More than 1,200 feet long, 16 years old, and able to hold roughly a day of France’s and Britain’s combined oil consumption, Oceania will arrive at Sungai Linggi in Malaysia at the end of September, according to recent signals from the vessel. Its depth in the water and previous movements indicate the so-called ultra-large crude carrier, owned by Antwerp-based Euronav NV, has cargo on board.