The Czech Republic’s Ministry of Industry and Trade has officially given its approval after completing the safety assessment of the three approved bidders - EDF from France, Westinghouse from the USA and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP).

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories increased by 4.3 million barrels from the previous week to 415.9 million barrels.

Brent gained $6.41, or 6.5%, to $104.43 a barrel, WTI was up $5.95, or 6.3%, to $100.99 a barrel.

The price for WTI, the U.S. benchmark, will average $113/b in March and $112/b for the second quarter of 2022.

Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a strategic partnership council. Earlier, Johnson met the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nayhan, in Abu Dhabi.

Germany has missed emissions targets for two straight years.

In collaboration with ENEA, Newcleo will build an electrical prototype of the lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR) system, which will not use radioactive materials or nuclear fuel, to allow the study of thermo-dynamic, mechanical and functional performances.

The Committee decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 1/4 to 1/2 percent and anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate.

The company has 2,278 MW of nuclear generation in Michigan, 450 MW of purchased wind generation from Indiana, more than 22 MW of hydro generation in both states, nearly 35 MW of large-scale solar generation in both states, and 2,620 MW of coal-fired generation in Indiana.

Brent were last up $2.64, or 2.6%, at $102.55 a barrel, WTI rose $1.91, or 2%, to stand at $98.35 a barrel.

The 2022 forecast for global oil demand growth remains under assessment at 4.2 mb/d, with OECD forecast at 1.9 mb/d and non-OECD at 2.3 mb/d.

Compared to last year, the period from March 1 through March 15 saw increases in supplies to nine European countries, for instance, Italy (+51.7 per cent), Poland (+71.8 per cent), Croatia (+110.9 per cent), Greece (+34.6 per cent), Bulgaria (+24.4 per cent), as well as Turkey (+21.1 per cent).

But getting Saudi Arabia and the UAE to agree to pump more crude would require them to break a more-than-five-year partnership with Russia that has forged strong ties beyond oil — an uncertain prospect as they increasingly look eastward for political allies.

BGR meanwhile, has represented the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, and Uranium One, a mining company owned by the Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom.

Finance minister Shaukat Tarin told the Financial Times that a deal with Russia to build the multibillion-dollar Pakistan Stream pipeline “is almost done”.