Charging up: National Grid to invest a further £70bn into energy networks May 14, 2026 National Grid has confirmed its commitment to invest an additional £70bn across the next five years into energy networks across the UK and US, as it continues its pivot towards becoming a net-zero energy system. The FTSE 100 company doubled down on its ambition to invest in energy infrastructure in its latest financial results, which [...]
King’s Speech: Ministers ban North Sea oil and gas exploration May 14, 2026 The government will make it illegal to grant new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, the King said at the state opening of Parliament, in a sign ministers are refusing to buckle in the face of a barrage of criticism that the policy is depriving the UK of billions of pounds in tax [...]
Britain’s data centres are eating the grid – and we underestimated the damage May 14, 2026 UK data centre emissions forecasts have been revised upward 100-fold. London’s server farms already consume more power than all its households combined. So why did it take this long to do the maths? Data centres are consuming six per cent of all UK electricity, while government emissions forecasts have been revised upward by a factor [...]
IEA warns of ‘record’ oil drawdown after ‘unprecedented’ Strait of Hormuz supply shock May 13, 2026 The West’s international energy watchdog has warned that oil stockpiles were being drained at a record rate last month as the US’s war in Iran continues to choke supply in an “unprecedented” supply shock. The International Energy Agency revealed that around 4m barrels of oil a day were tapped from back-up supplies in April, within [...]
Eon, Hometree strike deals to snap up parts of Ovo Energy May 11, 2026 Two arms of Ovo Energy have been snapped up by separate buyers, ending uncertainty over the retail energy giant’s future. German energy firm Eon is to acquire Ovo’s retail business, creating one of the UK’s biggest energy operators with around 10m combined customers, while Ovo’s Home Services arm, including Corgi Homeplan and Homepeat, is to [...]
Shell shares slump after earnings rocket on oil surge May 7, 2026 Shell kicked off a mega share buyback following a bumper first quarter that breezed past expectations on the back of booming oil trading. The FTSE 100 oil major recorded earnings of $6.9bn (£5bn), cruising past the consensus pencilled in by analysts of $6.4bn. It also marked a significant uplift on the $3.3bn pocketed in the [...]
Two million global airline seats cut as jet fuel shortage grounds travel May 6, 2026 Airlines are preparing to slash millions of seats from this month’s schedule, as the Middle East conflict and soaring jet fuel prices drive up costs ahead of the industry’s busiest travel season. Some 13,000 flights have been removed from May schedules worldwide, according to data from the aviation analytics company Cirium. Istanbul, one of the [...]
‘Critically low levels’: UK braces for jet fuel shortage as rationing looms May 5, 2026 The UK is particularly vulnerable to the jet fuel shortages caused by the Iran war, as the risk of rationing looms as supplies fall to “critically low levels” while the summer holidays creep closer. The ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz has led to an “extreme tightness” in the supply of jet fuel in [...]
Trump turmoil sends oil prices back toward multi-year peak May 4, 2026 Iran hits back at president’s ‘Operation Freedom’ pledge for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz; Brent up over 5 per cent to $114 a barrel The main international oil price surged back toward multi-year highs on Monday, as US President Donald Trump’s pledge to get tanker traffic moving through the Strait of Hormuz was [...]
Sparking interest: Could utilities stocks power your portfolio? May 4, 2026 The FTSE 100 isn’t known as the flashiest of stock markets, lacking the might of the trillion-dollar tech stocks of the US or the glamorous luxury conglomerates of France. But what it lacks in shine, it makes up for in reliability, with the index reporting a 21.5 gain in 2025, its strongest calendar year performance [...]