Energy:
1. Following the seizure of a fifth sanctioned oil tanker last week, the US military seized a sixth oil tanker on Thursday.
2. Sources say the Trump administration is expected to finalize biofuel blending quotas for 2026 in early March.
3. Oil tycoon Harold Hamm: The US strategic petroleum reserve should be replenished while crude oil is "so cheap."
4. Kazakhstan plans to increase its oil exports to Germany to 2.5 million tons by 2026 and to increase oil exports via the BTC pipeline to 1.6 million tons by 2026.
5. PetroChina Chairman Dai Houliang: PetroChina's 1.2 million tons/year Phase II ethylene project in Tarim Basin will be fully completed and put into operation in 2026.
6. Mitsubishi executive: US natural gas demand is expected to grow by 18% by 2030 compared to 2025, mainly driven by AI, data centers, and LNG exports.
Other:
1. A bipartisan group of US lawmakers proposed on Thursday to establish a $2.5 billion "Strategic Resilience Reserve" (SRR) for critical minerals. 2. The leaders of Japan and Italy held talks, agreeing to cooperate in key mineral supplies and elevating bilateral relations to a new level.
3. On the morning of January 16, Xi Jinping met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was on an official visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
