Get our news on your inbox! x

Remember me Forgot password

MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, June 21st 2026 - 10:33 UTC

Energy & Oil

  • Friday, March 27th 2026 - 23:04 UTC

    Uruguay raises fuel prices 7% over Middle East war and shifts to monthly price-setting

    Under the adjustment, Super 95 gasoline will rise from 76.88 to 82.27 pesos per liter, while 50S diesel will increase from 47.32 to 50.63 pesos per liter

    Uruguay's government announced on Friday a 7% fuel price increase effective April 1, as a direct consequence of rising oil prices driven by the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately 20% of the world's crude oil supply transits.

  • Thursday, March 26th 2026 - 01:48 UTC

    International project validates renewable hydrogen energy systems in Antarctica

    INACH Director Gino Casassa said the green hydrogen pilot plant design is backed by approximately 200 million Chilean pesos in funding from GIZ and the European Union

    A delegation of Chilean and European authorities and institutions completed a technical visit to the “Profesor Julio Escudero” research station operated by the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH) on King George Island, where progress was presented on a pilot renewable hydrogen and energy infrastructure project designed to validate hybrid energy systems in one of the planet's most demanding environments.

  • Wednesday, March 25th 2026 - 20:22 UTC

    Iran rejects Trump's 15-point proposal and asserts sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz

    Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari stated that the situation in the strait “will not go back to the way it was” and that the authority to allow maritime passage belongs exclusively to Iran

    Iran rejected on Wednesday the 15-point proposal put forward by the Trump administration to end the war, calling its terms “excessive and detached from reality,” while international mediators scramble to arrange a direct meeting between representatives of both countries that could be, they warn, the last chance to prevent a broader escalation.

  • Wednesday, March 25th 2026 - 00:23 UTC

    Lula warns he will not allow others to seize Brazil's critical minerals

    Although Lula did not name any country, the remarks come during a week of heightened diplomatic tension over minerals.

    Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday he will not allow other countries to take the nation's rare earths and critical minerals, in remarks widely interpreted as a direct warning to the United States amid a growing dispute over control of these strategic resources.

  • Wednesday, March 25th 2026 - 00:18 UTC

    Peru confirms large-scale geothermal system in southern Andes, near Chilean border

    The study was conducted using the magnetotelluric method, a technology that produces a subsurface image by measuring natural electromagnetic fields

    Peru's Geophysical Institute (IGP) confirmed on Tuesday the existence of a large-scale active geothermal system in the country's southern Andes, near the Paucarani-Casiri volcano, approximately 75 kilometers northeast of the city of Tacna and close to the Chilean border, according to EFE.

  • Tuesday, March 24th 2026 - 05:55 UTC

    Analysts warn $200 oil is no longer a far-fetched scenario

    The International Energy Agency (IEA) has described the crisis as “the greatest threat to global energy security in history.”

    Oil prices could surpass $150 per barrel and approach $200 if the Strait of Hormuz blockade persists, according to energy industry analysts — a level that would make a global recession virtually inevitable.

  • Monday, March 23rd 2026 - 01:53 UTC

    Lula and Peña agree to accelerate Itaipú treaty review

    Annex C stipulates that both countries are entitled to 50% of the energy generated, but requires whichever party does not use its full share to sell the surplus to the other at preferential rates

    The presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Paraguay, Santiago Peña, agreed on Sunday in Campo Grande to intensify negotiations over Annex C of the Itaipú treaty, the instrument that governs the financial terms and energy sales of the binational hydroelectric dam, one of the largest in the world.

  • Thursday, March 19th 2026 - 02:12 UTC

    Russian diesel shipment bound for Cuba challenges US blockade

    Although limited in scale, the cargo —estimated at around 200,000 barrels of diesel— could cover roughly 10 days of national consumption

    A Hong Kong-flagged tanker that could be carrying fuel to Cuba has resumed navigation in the Atlantic after remaining halted for several weeks, in a move that could offer limited relief to the island’s deepening energy crisis. According to ship-tracking available on Vessel Finder, the Sea Horse loaded fuel in a ship-to-ship operation earlier this year and then resumed course with Cuba as a possible destination. The Financial Times reported that the vessel was part of two Russian energy shipments headed to the island and could arrive within days.

  • Wednesday, March 18th 2026 - 22:21 UTC

    Attack on world’s largest gas field raises tensions and jolts markets

    The market reaction was immediate. Brent crude rose to $110.94 a barrel, a daily gain of 7.28%, while Europe’s TTF gas benchmark climbed to 54.73 euros per megawatt hour, up 6.14% on the day

    The war involving Iran, Israel and the United States escalated sharply on Wednesday with a strike on South Pars, the Iranian side of the world’s largest natural gas field, which it shares with Qatar. Reuters reported that the hit on the site marked a new phase in the conflict by targeting major Iranian energy infrastructure for the first time in this war, and was followed by Iranian threats and attacks against energy targets across the Gulf.

  • Wednesday, March 18th 2026 - 01:07 UTC

    Magnitude 6 quake strikes eastern Cuba as island remained under nationwide blackout

    The tremor hit as Cuba was still trying to restore electricity after the “complete disconnection” of its National Electric System reported on Monday

    A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck eastern Cuba early on Tuesday while the island was still dealing with a nationwide blackout caused hours earlier by the collapse of the power grid. The quake was recorded by the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre at a depth of about 15 km, while reports from Cuba’s seismological service placed the epicenter 37 km southeast of Imías, in Guantánamo province, and said it was felt across several eastern provinces.