** U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday accused India of profiteering from its sharply increased purchases of Russian oil during the war in Ukraine, saying Washington viewed the situation as unacceptable. Bessent told CNBC in an interview that Russian oil now accounted for 42% of India’s total oil purchases, up from under 1% before the war, and contrasted that with longtime buyer China, whose Russian oil purchases had increased to 16% from 13%.
** Entergy’s Louisiana unit received the state’s regulatory approval to move forward with infrastructure investments tied to Meta’s new global data center in Richland Parish, the utility firm said on Wednesday. Facebook and Instagram parent Meta said in December last year it would invest $10 billion in the Louisiana data center, in what would be the tech company’s largest data center in the world.
** Shares of US solar energy companies have experienced a notable increase following the Trump administration’s announcement last Friday (15 August) on new subsidy rules for clean energy projects, which were less stringent than anticipated by investors.
** An Austin-based energy company building modular nuclear power plants for data centers announced Tuesday it has raised $100 million in a second round of funding to expand its operations. Aalo Atomics said the new investment will allow it to double its workforce from about 60 to 120 employees.
** A U.S. appeals court has temporarily blocked the transfer of federal forest land in Arizona to a pair of international companies that plan to mine one of the largest copper deposits in North America.
** Oracle will reportedly power a giant data center with gas generators. a source said the company plans to spend more than $1 billion a year powering a single data center in Texas with gas generators rather than waiting for a utility connection to be built. When completed, this data center is expected to be one of the largest known sites, with computing power of 1.4 gigawatts.
World
** Chinese refineries have purchased 15 cargoes of Russian oil for October and November delivery as Indian demand for Moscow’s exports falls away, two analysts and one trader said on Tuesday.
** Russia expects to continue supplying oil to India despite warnings from the United States, Russian embassy officials in New Delhi said on Wednesday, adding that Moscow hopes trilateral talks will soon take place with India and China.
** Indian refiner Nayara Energy, backed by Russia and under European Union sanctions, is relying on a dark fleet to import oil and transport refined fuels, according to shipping reports and LSEG flows.
** India has suspended an 11% import duty on cotton until September 30, in a move seen as a signal to Washington that New Delhi is willing to address U.S. concerns on agricultural tariffs, while also easing pressure on its garment industry.
** The Israeli government is set to finalise a major gas supply agreement with Egypt, involving the export of 22% of resources from Leviathan, Israel’s largest gas field, and 13% of the country’s total natural gas to Cairo over several years. The deal comes after two years of delays and is expected to be signed in the next two weeks.
** Hindustan Zinc, India’s top refined zinc producer, will aim to expand into uranium mining if the government opens up the sector to private players, its chief executive Arun Misra told Reuters on Tuesday.
