Another detainee dies at controversial NYC-area ICE facility

Michael Loria, 

USA TODAY
Mon, August 3, 2026 


Another detainee has died at a controversial U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center outside New York City, the man's family announced Monday, Aug. 3.

Edwin Lopez Cornejo, a New Jersey resident detained on June 18 by immigration enforcement officers, died on Aug. 1 at Delaney Hall in Newark, his mother Maria Cornejo said in an emotional video posted to Facebook. Cornejo attributed the death of her son to him not receiving diabetes medications he required while in custody.

Cornejo said her son lived in the United States for nearly 20 years. She described him as hardworking and a good father to her granddaughter. According to family, Lopez Cornejo had a work permit.

"An excellent son," she said, "and I lost him to the hands of immigration authorities."

Lopez Cornejo's death comes as a record number of people have died in ICE custody amid the Trump administration's aggressive push for mass deportations. An earlier detainee at Delaney Hall died in December 2025.

Several deaths have been attributed to poor medical treatment. ICE has denied any accusations of poor treatment, even as witnesses in numerous lawsuits and news reports contradict official accounts of detainee treatment.

The Newark detention center is among ICE facilities where conditions have reportedly been poor, sparking hunger strikes and unrest inside the facility, and mass protests outside of it.


ICE agents detain a protester outside of the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall, where ICE is housing detained immigrants, on May 28, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. The ongoing protests, which became tense over the holiday weekend, come amid reports of a hunger strike by detainees. (Adam Gray, Getty Images)

An ICE agent points his taser at protestors outside of the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall, where ICE is housing detained immigrants, on May 28, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. The ongoing protests, which became tense over the holiday weekend, come amid reports of a hunger strike by detainees. (Adam Gray, Getty Images)

ICE agents use a chemical irritant as they clash with protestors outside of the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall, where ICE is housing detained immigrants, on May 28, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. The ongoing protests, which became tense over the holiday weekend, come amid reports of a hunger strike by detainees. (Adam Gray, Getty Images)

Newark Police block the road leading to the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall, where ICE is housing detained immigrants, on May 28, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. The ongoing protests, which became tense over the holiday weekend, come amid reports of a hunger strike by detainees. (Adam Gray, Getty Images)

Protestors link arms as they face off with ICE agents outside of the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall, where ICE is housing detained immigrants, on May 28, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. The ongoing protests, which became tense over the holiday weekend, come amid reports of a hunger strike by detainees. (Adam Gray, Getty Images)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents use batons to forcibly push protesters back outside Delaney Hall on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Newark. Some of the detainees are currently hunger striking against alleged poor conditions inside the facility. Protesters were attempting to block vehicles from entering or exiting the facility. (Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents use mace to forcibly push protesters and members of the press back outside Delaney Hall on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Newark. Some of the detainees are currently hunger striking against alleged poor conditions inside the facility. Protesters were attempting to block vehicles from entering or exiting the facility. (Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com)

What does DHS say?

The Department of Homeland Security in a statement to USA TODAY denied accusations of medical neglect in the case of Lopez Cornejo.

"While in custody, Lopez-Cornejo received proper medical care and was seen by medical professionals," an agency spokesperson said in a statement. "ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments. Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout their stay."

According to DHS, detainees receive a comprehensive health screening within 12 hours of booking and a full evaluation within 14 days.

DHS did not comment on claims from Lopez Cornejo's family that he had a work permit.

GEO Group, the company that runs the detention center, declined to comment.
What did his family say?

Lopez Cornejo's mother, in an emotional interview posted to Facebook, described her son as a hardworking father to her granddaughter.

She said her son was on his way to work when he was arrested by ICE. She said she learned of her son's death from the hospital where he was brought after he had already died.

The two last spoke Thursday, July 30, said Cornejo, adding her son spoke of being unwell and plans to get medical care though it was unclear when that would happen.

"That's one of the reasons for his death, I think, because of neglect, that they didn't give him the medications he had to take," she said.

Cornejo lamented that her son never got to see his 12-year-old daughter again before he died.

Daughter left 'an orphan'

Sebastiana Cornejo, Lopez Cornejo's aunt, slammed immigration authorities for leaving her niece an orphan.

"We ask them to stop these deportations, that they're separating families, kids they're leaving as orphans, without anyone's protection," the man's aunt said. "Who's going to protect them? Kids who are born American citizens. Why? Why are they detaining so many hardworking people? Even if we're immigrants we haven't hurt anyone, we came here to work, not to hurt anyone."
Family calls for justice

Lopez Cornejo's surviving family members, including his mother, aunt and brother all spoke publicly about their loss in an interview posted to Facebook. The group spoke behind blue medical masks but used their full names in a rare move among people who have lost loved ones to ICE.

According to the family, speaking up is about seeking justice for Lopez Cornejo and anyone in a similar situation.

"I know this pain that's gotten me, hasn't only gotten me, but many people in this country have felt these pains, but unfortunately in this recent case it's me because I lost my son," said Maria Cornejo, her voice breaking down. "And if justice isn't done, they're going to continue doing this, and we don't know how many more people we'll lose in this country."

Republicans want to talk about James Talarico’s manhood. Talarico says let them.

Calen Razor
Mon, August 3, 2026


He's eating barbecue. He's winning over Joe Rogan. He's challenging his opponent to mano-a-mano televised faceoffs.

James Talarico is determined not to let his GOP challenger Ken Paxton's and Republicans' attacks on his masculinity define him in what has emerged as one of the party's loudest tactics in the crucial Senate race.

The Texas Democrat is working to position himself as a candidate focused on issues he says men actually care about instead of speculation about his diet, sexuality and religious beliefs.

"They've even called me a vegan, and those are fighting words in the state of Texas," Talarico said at a San Antonio rally this summer.

"Nowadays our culture tells young men that greatness is tearing other people down, is trolling and owning and dominating. But my dad showed me what real greatness looks like. He inspired me to serve," Talarico said at another rally in Houston, referencing how his dad often mowed the lawn of his elderly widowed neighbor without asking.

Talarico's attempt to reclaim the masculinity narrative by confronting the issue head-on could help propel him to flip a seat Democrats haven't held in nearly four decades, and which could determine control of the Senate next year.

It comes as both parties, in Texas and across the U.S., are fighting to win male voters — especially young, Black or Hispanic men — who in 2024 lurched to the right to help Republicans take control of the White House and Congress. The issue of masculinity has also been turbo-charged during Donald Trump's second term, with the president hosting UFC fights on the White House lawn and his Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth pushing for testosterone testing in the military.

If Talarico prevails, he could ultimately serve as a model for other Democratic candidates to connect with male voters or fend off Republicans who try to use issues of masculinity as a cudgel.

"Democrats need to be prepared for more of these attacks to come and understand how to handle them," Lucas Holtz, a senior political adviser at the centrist think tank Third Way, said in an interview.

Republicans think they've hit a nerve with Texas voters about Talarico's manhood. Members of the party have targeted the 37-year-old public school teacher-turned-state legislator for past statements endorsing a vegan lifestyle, suggesting that "God is nonbinary" and opposing legislation that erodes transgender rights.

"If you look at him, this is a guy who's publicly stated pretty bizarre things — that God is nonbinary," said Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) in an interview. "He's a total weirdo, and I think Texas voters recognize that."

Talaricosaid recently his comment on God's gender was meant to be "deliberately provocative" and that he meant God is beyond gender.

Third Texas Senate poll in a week shows Talarico ahead of Ken Paxton  USA TODAY

Republicans are also seizing on Talarico's unmarried status and smaller physical build to paint the Democratic candidate as weak and effeminate. Some have falsely called him gay or transgender. Paxton's very first ad of the general election campaign implied Talarico has low testosterone levels. And a conservative PAC released an AI-generated video of Talarico as an actress from "The Sound of Music" singing about wanting to give hormones to children.

Talarico opposes gender affirming care for minors, his spokesperson JT Ennis said.

"In Texas, there's a certain level of tough guy-ness that we all pretend to have in ourselves, and that we like in our elected officials," said Vinny Minchillo, a Texas-based Republican admaker who is not involved in the race. "If you push that the right direction, that especially does not sit well with Hispanic men and Black men."

Paxton's campaign and his allies think Talarico's previous comments on these issues put him out of touch with voters in both parties.

"Texans can spot an audition for a new identity and they know he is weak and woke on core Texas values," Paxton adviser Nick Maddux said in a statement. Maddux pointed to moves Talarico has made during the campaign he said shows flip-flopping, such as wearing a Texas flag shirt after calling the American flag a "complicated symbol."

"He is undoubtedly hurting Democrats," Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said in an interview about Talarico.

Some Hill Democrats say Republicans' fixation on Talarico's manhood is an attempt to distract from Paxton's weaknesses.

"They fear his strength, especially since he's running against the most notorious scumbag in American politics," Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) said.

Paxton has faced an ethics complaint that was later dropped, a Justice Department corruption investigation for which he was not charged and securities fraud charges which were ultimately dismissed in an agreement. He was also impeached by the Texas GOP-led House for bribery and abusing his public office, which he called a "sham" coordinated by liberals, and was later acquitted by the Texas Senate.

Paxton also has a history of using cultural issues to his advantage, such as stoking anti-Muslim fears through campaign messaging.

Meanwhile, Talarico's campaign says they're not seeing evidence that the masculinity barbs are gaining traction, pointing to robust Democratic gains among Hispanic voters while also arguing that polling shows a toss-up general election contest. The campaign did not share specific data to support that its messaging to male voters was lifting Talarico's polling with that demographic.

Talarico has focused on issues he says affect many men — like lowering housing costs, stopping corporate landlord rent manipulation and curbing the influence of billionaire mega-donors in politics.

"Ken Paxton is picking these fights no one cares about to distract from the fact that he has no solutions to lower the cost of gas, groceries, or healthcare," Ennis said in a statement. "Real men serve others, weak men serve themselves."

Talarico also has tried to appeal to young men and Hispanic voters by placing ads during World Cup and NBA Finals games. And he's challenging Paxton to a series of televised debates, in which the two could spar on manhood and other issues. Paxton's team said he's agreed to the debates but they're still negotiating logistics and terms.

The Democrat's campaign also said it is trying to facilitate similar opportunities to Talarico's pivotal appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast last year, which boosted his national profile to millions of young men who make up Rogan's core audience. The podcaster — who during the interview exclaimed "you need to run for president," to Talarico — has continued to compliment the Texas Democrat and defend his views, including during a conversation with Vice President JD Vance last month.

Talarico has also fired back with his own jabs. He responded to Paxton calling him "Talafreako" by putting the phrase on T-shirts and selling them on his campaign website.

And Talarico turned on Paxton's low-testosterone message by telling MS NOW "I don't think guys my age are really concerned about that kind of thing," adding, "You've got these old guys lathered up in their fake tans throwing cheesy nicknames at each other."

Some public opinion research shows Talarico's strategy fits the 2026 moment.

The growing cost-of-living crisis — exacerbated by the deeply unpopular military conflict in Iran — and Trump's low approval ratings may mean the GOP's masculinity attacks fall flat this cycle, Luke Warford, founder and director of Texas Public Opinion Research, a nonpartisan public opinion research firm, said in an interview.

The top issues for men and young men in Texas center on affordability, the cost of living, economic growth and job creation, according to an aggregate of data shared with POLITICO from the group's latest surveys in May and June.

"We've got a really different scenario now where the Republicans are in power in Texas and nationally, so they own the things that are broken," Warford said. "There is a deep anti-establishment sentiment in this country and a deep frustration with the status quo particularly among men, and that could be a much stronger political force than the cultural attacks."

Matt Angle, founder of the Lone Star Project, a Democratic-aligned political action committee in Texas, said "there's no attack that should be ignored," but that Democrats are in a good position.

"Ken Paxton is no he-man. He's a thin-chested, soft spoken, weak guy," Angle said.

One warning sign for Talarico: a swath of male voters perceive him as too progressive, said Holtz, the Third Way adviser. Holtz noted a recent poll of men by the group in which 49 percent of respondents said the candidate was "too far left."

In focus groups held by the centrist think tank last year and this year, young men overwhelmingly pointed to the Republican Party as the better representative of men's priorities. Respondents in those groups associated Democrats with more social and cultural issues while tying Republicans with financial independence, finding a partner and starting a family.

On Capitol Hill, some Democrats are calling the conversation in Texas an opportunity to revisit the party's historic avoidance of issues that are important to men, which have made them more susceptible to criticism.

Rep. Marc Veasey, a moderate Texas Democrat, said in an interview that "Democrats, overall, need to do a better job of expressing some of the concerns that young men have."

"When we have people on our side who are attacking things like nuclear family structure and expecting everybody to fall in line, that's pure insanity," Veasey said. "There's this expectation with Democrats that men are just going to follow along, and they're not. We haven't figured out how to talk to them."

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said in an interview that Democrats tend to display examples of "traditional masculinity" rather than the "stereotypical masculinity" Republicans are attacking them for not adhering to. He pointed out he served in the Marines, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) played football and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) was an astronaut.

"What voters know is truly masculine is a politician who is going to take care of their needs and be a protector and be a provider for the family," Gallego added.

"When a man can't support his family because inflation is so fucking high, they're not going to care about who is on the ballot that is, quote unquote, 'not masc enough.'"

Democrats have a new problem as they try to win the Senate

Analysis by Aaron Blake, CNN
Mon, August 3, 2026 

From left, Democratic Senate candidates Mary Peltola of Alaska, James Talarico of Texas and Sherrod Brown of Ohio during their campaigns. - Getty Images, AP

The big hurdle for Democrats' Senate majority hopes at the start of the 2026 election cycle seemed clear: The map was terrible for them.

They needed to win at least two states that President Donald Trump carried by double digits in 2024. It wasn't even clear they could put that many red states in play.

Now, polls increasingly suggest they have put more than enough of those states in play. But other hurdles that complicate their majority math have cropped up — creating an incredibly complex and high-stakes battle to control the Senate come 2027.

The good news for Democrats: Recent, early high-quality polling suggests red states are competitive. The bad news for the party: That might not be sufficient.

States in play

In Texas, a Fox News poll Friday showed Democratic state Rep. James Talarico at 51% among registered voters to state Attorney General Ken Paxton's 48%. It's merely the latest to show the race close to even.

In Iowa, state Rep. Josh Turek led by 4 points among registered voters in a Fox poll in late June. And he was neck and neck with GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson — 46% to 48% among likely voters — in a New York Times-Siena poll, also in late June.

In Ohio, former Sen. Sherrod Brown led by 8 points among registered voters in a Fox poll from early June. And he was running close with GOP Sen. Jon Husted — 47% to 50% among likely voters — in a Times-Siena poll from later that month.

And in Alaska, a Times-Siena poll showed Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola within 2 points of GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan.

State Representative James Talarico, a Democrat from Texas and US Senate candidate, is hugged by a supporter during a Juneteenth march in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday, June 19, 2026. Talarico will face Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton in November's general election. - Mark Felix/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Mary Peltola launches her campaign as a Democratic candidate for Senate in Anchorage, Alaska, on January 17, 2026. Peltola will face Republican Senate candidate Dan Sullivan. - Kerry Tasker/Reuters

Polling at this stage can't be interpreted to predict results, of course, but it suggests that these candidates are doing what they need to do to make those states competitive.

Specifically, the Fox polls show the three Democrats they tested carrying independents by wide margins — including by more than a 2-1 ratio in Talarico's and Turek's cases. And both Talarico and Turek were both also carrying at least 23% of non-MAGA Republicans. (The Ohio poll didn't break out this group.)

Peltola also led 51%-37% among independents and took 8% of Republicans in the Times-Siena poll.

Whether Democrats can actually get over the hump in a state like Texas — where they've come close before, but haven't won a statewide race in more than 30 years — is a big question. But they've pretty evidently given themselves a chance to pick off two of those states.

Why it might not be enough

Democrats are suddenly dealing with complications in some friendlier states — namely, Maine and Michigan — and the new x-factor known as Sen. John Fetterman.

In Maine, Democrats were able to rid themselves of their Graham Platner problem. But it's not yet clear how much better his replacement, former state Senate President Troy Jackson, will ultimately fare under the new spotlight.

Troy Jackson speaks on July 25, 2026, in Bangor, Maine. - Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A University of New Hampshire poll in mid-July put Jackson at 49% to GOP Sen. Susan Collins' 46% among likely general election voters. But the same pollster once had Platner (prior to his bigger controversies) leading by between 9 and 11 points.

Michigan is Democrats' more immediate concern, where they're playing defense to hold onto a seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Gary Peters. There are major concerns among some establishment Democrats that Sen. Bernie Sanders-backed Abdul El-Sayed, who's facing Rep. Haley Stevens in Tuesday's Democratic primary, might jeopardize a purple state that Democrats would reasonably expect to win in a favorable year for their party.

(A case in point: Recent polls show Democratic candidates comfortably ahead — by around 10 points — in similarly situated swing states like Georgia and North Carolina.)

But perhaps the most unwelcome variable in this majority math might be Fetterman. The Pennsylvania senator, who has demonstrated a penchant for siding with Republicans and giving his party fits in recent months, has also increasingly flirted with switching parties.

Back in May, Fetterman wrote that he had "no plans to leave" the Democratic Party. But a couple weeks ago, he amended that posture by saying he would leave it if it adopts an anti-Israel posture — a topic causing significant strife within the party.

US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed holds a campaign rally in Detroit, Michigan, on July, 18, 2026. - Rebecca Cook/Reuters

US Sen. John Fetterman rides in an elevator outside the Senate Chambers during a vote in the U.S. Capitol Building on May 11, 2026 in Washington, DC. - Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Democrats have been trending more against Israel, reflecting the views of their base, though it isn't an "official" position, as Fetterman laid out. Still, given huge pressure from that base, the real question is how stringent a litmus test this is for the Pennsylvania senator.

That means Democrats could go into the November general election not even knowing how many seats they need to win. Do they need to flip four seats, including two red ones that Trump carried by significant margins, as they'd previously thought? Or do they need to actually win five and three, respectively?

Democrats clearly have the fundamentals on their side, and it's looking like the environment is conducive to them winning where they need to. Just like in the red states, polls show their candidates in Georgia and North Carolina have big leads among independents and are taking significant numbers of non-MAGA Republicans.

But it's also looking like it might not be red states that ultimately decide the fate of the Senate.

China's Solar Capacity Set to Overtake Coal This Quarter

By Charles Kennedy - Jul 31, 2026

China will have more installed solar power capacity than coal-fired generation capacity as early as this quarter, Chinese authorities have said.

As of the end of June, solar power capacity stood at 1,274 gigawatts (GW), just below the total coal-fired installed capacity of 1,275 GW.

“By the end of June, total solar power capacity had caught up with coal, effectively tying it as the country's largest primary power source,” says the mid-year report released by the China Electricity Council (CEC) cited by local media.

Renewable energy sources have become the leading driver of new power capacity additions, the report by the CEC said, as carried by China Daily.

In the first half of 2026, China's total non-fossil energy power generation grew by 8.5% from a year earlier, said Hou Wenjie, director of the statistics and data intelligence department at the CEC.

“The incremental growth of non-fossil energy power generation accounted for 70.7 percent of the total incremental power generation nationwide,” the official added.

Official Chinese data showed earlier this week that the share of coal in China's electricity output fell in the first half of 2026 to below 50% for the first time on record, in a landmark achievement of the Chinese policy to boost non-fossil power sources.

The share of coal averaged 49.7% of China's total electricity output in the first half of this year, official data showed on Thursday.

As the share of coal slipped, electricity generation from renewable energy rose by about 9% from a year earlier, according to the data from China's National Energy Administration (NEA).

Renewable energy accounted for 41.2% of China's total electricity generation in the first half of 2026, with wind and solar combined generating almost 25% of the total power output.

Despite the milestone of reducing coal power output to below 50% of total generation for the first time ever, China continues to rely on coal for power for industry and to maintain the reliability of the power grids.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com 

BP Completes Sale of German Refinery as Portfolio Overhaul Accelerates

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Aug 03, 2026

BP has completed the sale of its refinery in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, to Klesch Group, as the UK supermajor continues to streamline its business and high-grade its portfolio under CEO Meg O’Neill.

The transaction, whose sum was not disclosed, is part of BP’s continued focus on disciplined capital allocation and is also expected to lower the group’s underlying operating expenditure by around $1 billion, the supermajor said on Monday.

“By concentrating our capital on the assets and markets where bp can be most competitive, we are building a higher-value, more resilient downstream business that continues to supply the fuels and products our customers rely on,” said Richard Harding, interim executive vice president of Downstream at BP.

Earlier this year, BP streamlined its businesses, bundling these into two divisions, Upstream and Downstream, with trading connecting both to create value.

After the sale of the Gelsenkirchen refinery, BP retains a refining portfolio of five refineries serving key customers and markets across its downstream business, including Cherry Point and Whiting in the United States, and Castellón, Lingen, and Rotterdam in Europe.

The completion of the transaction for the Gelsenkirchen refinery comes days after BP formally launched a process to market its North Sea business amid the ongoing company overhaul to simplify the portfolio and invest in high-return projects.

The formal launch of a potential sale of the North Sea business came after months of speculation that BP would be divesting part or all of its operations in the UK North Sea to focus on reserve growth and long-term production opportunities outside the UK.

Last month, CEO O’Neill said that BP had started to simplify its portfolio and cut costs, and would make fewer but better choices in which projects to invest.

“We are taking concrete action to grow long-term value for shareholders: simplifying our portfolio, reducing costs, maintaining tight discipline on capex and strengthening the balance sheet,” O’Neill, the first female CEO of a Big Oil company, wrote in a LinkedIn post to reflect on the first 100 days as top executive of BP.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

 

India Moves to Rescue Renewable Energy Projects Stalled by Grid Shortages

By Irina Slav - Aug 03, 2026

The Indian government will consider waiving transmission charges for solar and wind energy developers facing delays in the commissioning of their projects due to transmission line shortages.

According to a Reuters report citing the country’s power regulator, the relief will only cover projects whose developers had signed at least seven-year power sale contracts by the end of this year. In earlier moves to stimulate more wind and solar, the government began phasing out interstate transmission charges for alternative energy generation projects in July last year.

There have been a number of solar, wind, and hybrid power generation projects delayed because there are not enough transmission lines to carry their output. The Indian Central Electricity Regulatory Commission will also consider extending the relief to battery storage projects as New Delhi seeks to diversify its electricity generation away from coal and gas.

India’s government has a target of building 500 GW of non-hydrocarbon generation capacity by 2030. Solar currently accounts for 29% of the country’s non-hydrocarbon generation capacity. Plans were to expand it from 162 GW currently to over 292 GW by 2030. This target is under threat, however, due to recent legislative changes seeking to reduce dependence on imported solar components from China, because while local module capacity is substantial, at 200 GW, solar cell manufacturing capacity is just 27 GW.

Still, solar power generation in India is expanding fast, with a record 44 GW in new capacity added during financial 2025/26. This fast growth, however, has run into obstacles such as the lack of enough transmission lines to connect all new capacity to the grid. Meanwhile, coal remains India’s biggest source of power generation, accounting for about 70% of total generation. This is seen falling to below 50% by 2035 thanks to the expansion in wind and, especially, solar.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

India’s Imports of Russian Crude Hit New High in July

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Aug 03, 2026

India keeps buying a lot of Russian oil, with July imports hitting a new all-time high and accounting for more than half of total Indian crude oil imports.

India’s crude oil imports from Russia rose to 2.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in July, up from the previous high of 2.7 million bpd in June, for the highest average monthly volume ever, according to vessel-tracking data by Kpler cited by the Times of India on Monday. 

Total Indian crude oil imports inched up slightly from June to stand at just over 5 million bpd in July, per the data.

The share of Russian oil in India’s overall crude imports was 55.5% last month, as Indian refiners continued to rely on Russian volumes amid threats to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and more recently, at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea.  

Apart from record Russian volumes, Indian refiners boosted imports of crude from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, as millions of barrels managed to make it out of the Persian Gulf during the mid-June-mid-July window in which the Strait of Hormuz was tentatively open to tanker traffic. India also imported crude from Kuwait for the first time since March, according to the shipping data compiled by Kpler.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) remained India’s second-largest crude oil supplier, behind Russia, as the UAE is raising production and shipments of crude loaded on tankers outside the Strait of Hormuz.

India continued to keep high levels of Russian imports in July even after the end of the U.S. waiver the previous month. The U.S. quietly let the waiver allowing the purchase of Russian oil loaded on tankers expire on June 17, just as the U.S. and Iran signed the memorandum of understanding to continue negotiations on a deal.

Going forward, Russian crude will remain a key source of oil supply for India amid the highly uncertain shipping conditions in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, analysts say.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

Shell Sells European Onshore Renewables Portfolio to TotalEnergies

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Aug 03, 2026

Shell has signed an agreement to sell its European onshore renewables portfolio to French peer TotalEnergies, the UK-based supermajor said on Monday as it prioritizes capital allocation into high-value businesses.

The portfolio included in the transaction comprises 0.5 gigawatts (GW) of combined renewable generation capacity in operation and in development, as well as a pipeline of projects for future development across Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to complete by the end of 2026, Shell said.

Shell has said for over a year that it would adjust its power portfolio to “ensure capital is allocated where it can deliver the strongest long?term value.” That was a pledge in the Capital Markets Day 2025, which the supermajor follows through.

“We are recycling capital and prioritising areas where we have differentiated capabilities and can create the most value over time, including through asset-backed power trading and customer-focused energy solution,” said Machteld de Haan, President, Downstream, Renewables and Energy Solutions at Shell.

European majors BP and Shell have reversed their pledges from the early 2020s to reduce oil and gas production by the end of the decade. Last year marked the return to boosting oil and gas investment and production, and with it—increased exploration efforts in key basins and promising new frontiers.

Shell’s chief executive Wael Sawan has said that reducing global oil and gas production would be “dangerous and irresponsible”.

Moreover, Shell has realized that the energy transition faces bigger hurdles than expected and doesn’t pay off in profit margins and shareholder payouts the way oil and gas does.

At the end of last year, Shell exited two offshore wind power projects in Scotland, days after announcing it was withdrawing from the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind project in the United States.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

Seven Months After Maduro's Fall, Big Oil Still Won't Commit To Venezuela

By ZeroHedge - Aug 03, 2026

• Seven months after Maduro's removal, Exxon and Chevron still haven't signed major new investment deals in Venezuela.
• 
  
• Venezuela's oil output has climbed to 1.07 million barrels per day, up from 937,000 last year, but remains far below its late-1990s peak.
• 
  
• With majors staying cautious, the Trump administration is leaning on smaller independent producers to move faster and supply capital.
• 
  

Venezuela's long-awaited oil revival has been slower than many in Washington anticipated, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Seven months after Nicolás Maduro's removal, negotiations between the interim government and major U.S. energy companies remain bogged down, with no landmark investment deals despite the country's vast crude reserves.

Rather than rushing back into the country, firms such as ExxonMobil and Chevron are taking a cautious approach. Executives remain wary of Venezuela's history of nationalizing foreign assets, unresolved compensation disputes dating back to the Chávez era, and lingering political uncertainty. As Francisco Monaldi of Rice University's Baker Institute put it, "They have been burned twice," making boards reluctant to approve multibillion-dollar projects unless the opportunity is exceptionally attractive.

WSJ writes that competition has also complicated negotiations. Several companies are pursuing the same high-quality assets in the Orinoco Belt and Monagas state while pressing for more favorable tax, regulatory, and ownership terms. According to José Ignacio Hernández of Aurora Macro Strategies, enthusiasm has yet to translate into commitments: "You have a very successful open house with 100 people attending, but then nobody calls."

Chevron has continued expanding production through operational improvements, lifting output to nearly 300,000 barrels per day, but it has stopped short of committing fresh billions to new developments. Exxon has reportedly scaled back some of its interest after failing to secure enough of the assets it wanted and facing enormous costs to rehabilitate previously nationalized infrastructure.

Venezuela's oil production has climbed to roughly 1.07 million barrels per day, up from about 937,000 last year, but it remains a fraction of the country's late-1990s peak. With the majors proceeding cautiously, the Trump administration has increasingly looked to smaller independent producers that can move faster and provide immediate capital. Several privately held firms have already signed preliminary agreements, though analysts caution that fully developing Venezuela's heavy-oil resources will ultimately require the deep pockets, long investment horizons, and technical expertise that only the largest international oil companies can provide.

By Zerohedge

Why Have China and Russia Just Stepped Out Of The Shadows In The U.S.-Iran War?

By Simon Watkins - Aug 03, 2026

• Russia and China are reportedly expanding support for Iran, providing intelligence, satellite navigation, and advanced weaponry.
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• The conflict is putting growing pressure on global energy security by threatening key export routes, including the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb.
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• China could ultimately emerge as the main geopolitical beneficiary by leveraging its influence over Iran to shape future peace negotiations and expand its regional influence.
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As with all wars, particularly in the world’s main oil and gas repository of the Middle East, the U.S./Israel-Iran conflict has long threatened to widen out to include other interested parties aside from the main protagonists. The involvement of Washington’s and Tel Aviv’s allies so far has been limited to intelligence sharing and strictly defensive air support, rather than participating in offensive bombardments. For Tehran and its proxies, support from its key longtime sponsors China and Russia has been largely focused on diplomatic cover and economic lifelines, together with some deniable hardware for the war being supplied to Iran by Russia and China, including microelectronics and materials required to manufacture missiles and drones. All this helped keep the global oil markets under the ‘total panic point’ that might otherwise have been expected from such a conflict. However, dangerous new developments indicate that this covert war involving Russia and China might be stepping out of the shadows and into plain sight.

In Russia’s case, U.S. intelligence reports now indicate that Moscow is actively providing real-time satellite feeds and intelligence tracking on U.S. targets to Iran. This data on American warships and aircraft movements has enabled Iran to conduct far more precise retaliatory missile strikes. Moscow has also integrated its GLONASS satellite navigation system into Iranian drones, according to the same sources, allowing Tehran’s long-range projectiles to bypass allied electronic jamming more effectively. Widening out the loop even further, Iran’s newest drones and missiles also benefit from being able to track Chinese BeiDou-3 systems at the same time as Russia’s GLONASS. By merging Russia’s Ukraine-era upgrades with China’s tech, standard Western jamming systems cannot block both at once, as each system operates on entirely different radio frequencies. This gives the new drones that Iran is using against the U.S. unprecedented precision against its bases, as well as those of its allies.

In China’s case, news emerged last week from various intelligence sources that Iran is acquiring up to 400 Chinese-made Man-Portable Air-Defence Systems (MANPADS). These are highly accurate against helicopters, drones, and low-flying jets, utilising sensitive infrared and ultraviolet seekers that lock directly onto the heat signature of an aircraft’s engine, and are immune to countermeasures. They are also easy to deploy, weighing only between 15 and 20 kilograms, and basic operational training for a MANPADS launcher can be completed in less than a week. They are also impossible to locate, emitting zero electronic signature while tracking. In short, they aim to try to deny the U.S. low-altitude air superiority.

As effective as these pieces of kit are, they become even more potent in the broader geopolitical context that China (and Russia) want to halt what had been, until the Iran War, a successful push by President Donald Trump to reassert U.S. influence across the Middle East. The foundation stone for this was to have been the rolling out of further ‘relationship normalisation’ deals (‘Abraham Accords’) between Israel and other Middle Eastern countries, brokered by Washington, as analysed in full in my latest book on the new global oil market order. The UAE had been the first major Middle Eastern signatory to such a deal back in 2020, and Trump had been confident that he had shifted the backdrop across the region sufficiently to pave the way for several new deals. His bullishness was based on the U.S./U.K.-led removal of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria in December 2024, which removed Russia’s key Middle Eastern power hub at a stroke, a massive surge of U.S. investment in Iraq that saw multiple new oil and gas projects awarded to American firms rather than Chinese ones, as had been the previous trend. And Trump had ensured major new investment for Saudi Arabia too, while all the time tightening the sanctions noose around its principal regional nemesis, Iran.

Had Trump continued along this tack, the final obstacle to his vision of the Middle East returning to the U.S.’s sphere of influence, and away from that of China and Russia, may well have been realised. However, with direct attacks on Iran, he opened a Pandora’s Box, with the first problem flying out of it being Iran’s predictable closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which flows up to 30% of the globe’s oil and around 10% of its liquefied natural gas (LNG). Worse still, is that the Iran-backed Houthis could widen their current blockade of Saudi Arabian ports and ships sailing through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait any time they wanted to. This would lock out another 12% of the world’s crude oil flows and 8% of its LNG from the global supply chain. Added to this economic disaster for the Middle East’s energy suppliers is the daily threat from Iranian drones and missiles that target their key energy installations and vital infrastructure related to their other financial mainstay, the tourist sector. The geopolitical fallout here for the U.S. is no less catastrophic, as many of these countries are now questioning their rationale for buying hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. defence equipment and relying on Washington as their protector against Iran.

It is not at all accidental that both problems could be solved very quickly -- by China. As first revealed anywhere in the world in my 3 September 2019 article and analysed in full in my latest book on the new global oil market order, under the full terms of the ‘Iran-China 25-Year Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement’, China controls much of Iran’s oil and gas resources. The deal crucially also gives Beijing enormous power over the vital oil and LNG transit routes of the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. This 16-mile-wide waterway flows between the west coast of Yemen on the one side, and the east coasts initially of Djibouti and then of Eritrea on the other, before it joins the Red Sea. The 25-year deal with Iran not only gives Beijing power over all Iran’s proxies, including the Yemeni Houthis, but China also holds huge sway over Djibouti and Eritrea through predatory loans-for-infrastructure deals given to them under its ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ programme. Put simply, China could directly affect Iran’s willingness to keep the Strait of Hormuz blockaded, and the Houthis’ appetite to do the same for the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, by simply telling Tehran to stop, and, if necessary, adding that it would halt all imports of its oil if it did not. China remains Iran’s biggest buyer of oil and Chinese ships still enjoy safe passage through both Straits. Moreover, Chinese-flagged and Chinese-operated supertankers (such as the Cosnew Lake and Xin Long Yang) have also been allowed by the Houthis to freely carry millions of barrels of Saudi and Emirati crude directly through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait without a single scratch.

When it comes to a direct military confrontation with the U.S., China knows it is outmatched, and in any event this is rarely the Chinese way. As laid out in The Art of War by China’s great fifth-century military strategist Sun Tzu, ‘the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting’. This seems to be exactly the approach China is taking in the context of the current events in the Middle East. Beijing is allowing the U.S. to deplete its resources of missiles and other crucial war materiel in fighting an unwinnable hot war, while it quietly wins the strategic peace. The strategy also places China in an ideal position to broker a peace between Washington and Tehran when the situation becomes truly untenable for Trump, perhaps with a view to winning an understanding that the U.S. in return might take a softer view on future Chinese actions over Taiwan’s sovereign status. Russia may also hope to leverage its own influence on Iran to secure a peace deal with the U.S. In exchange, Moscow would likely expect Trump to push for a matching settlement in Ukraine -- one that offers a better agreement than Russia could otherwise achieve -- although this approach seems less likely to succeed than Beijing’s gambit. Meanwhile, the U.S. has signalled its own willingness to confront any further widening of the war, at least regionally. For the first time, the U.S. publicly partnered with Saudi Arabia in military strikes carried out on 28-29 July, targeting Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces militia groups in Iraq. This followed an historic long-range drone strike by Ukraine on 25 July in the Caspian Sea against ships moving from Iran to Russia. Those vessels were believed to be carrying Iranian Shahed drone components and ballistic missiles destined for Moscow’s war effort against Kyiv. A Washington-based security source exclusively told OilPrice.com last week that, aside from reducing weapons deliveries, the Caspian strike signalled that the U.S. can rely on Ukraine as a vital partner in various aspects of its broader fight against Iran.

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com