Global oil demand will rise by about 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) next year, supported by solid economic growth, OPEC said in its monthly report ton Thursday, keeping its demand forecasts unchanged from last month.

Unlike other forecasters, investment banks, and analysts, OPEC continues to expect robust demand growth in 2026 that will be higher than the estimated increase for 2025 of about 1.3 million bpd, forecasts in the cartel’s Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) showed on Thursday. 

Figures about the balance of supply and demand in OPEC’s report also suggest that the cartel expects a balanced market next year. Demand for crude from the OPEC+ producers is expected at 43.0 million bpd in 2026, up by 60,000 bpd compared to the projection for 2025, OPEC said. 

(Oilprice - Continue Reading)

Oracle’s latest earnings have raised a question across global markets, Is the AI boom heading into a real test? Shares of the cloud and software giant plunged more than 15% on Thursday, after the company posted Q2 2026 results that missed Wall Street’s revenue expectations and also indicated a steep rise in capital spending.

Oracle’s slump pulled the whole tech market down on Thursday. Nasdaq futures fell more than 1%, hitting a one-week low. Nvidia shares also fell about 3%, showing how worries about AI spending are spilling over into other AI-related companies. The selloff brought back concerns that tech stocks may be too expensive given the huge investments going into AI.

If investors were hoping for reassurance, they did not get it. Oracle warned that capital expenditures for fiscal 2026 would be $15 billion higher than the $35 billion projected just months ago, pushing expected spending to nearly $50 billion, largely to fund the construction of giant AI data centers across the US. The scale, and speed of this capex surge rattled the market, raising concerns that Oracle’s AI strategy may take far longer to translate into profits.

(Financial Express - Continue Reading)

Russia could attack a Nato country within the next five years, the Western military alliance's chief has said in a stark new warning. "Russia is already escalating its covert campaign against our societies," Mark Rutte said in a speech in Germany. "We must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured."

He echoed similar statements about Russia's intentions made by Western intelligence agencies, which Moscow dismisses as hysteria. Rutte's warning comes as US President Donald Trump tries to bring an end to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022. Earlier this month, Russia's President Vladimir Putin said his country was not planning to go to war with Europe, but it was ready "right now" if Europe wanted to - or started a war.

(BBC - Continue Reading)