European Union’s pulses market to reach 6.6m tons and $6.3b by 2035
The European Union pulses market is anticipated to see a steady rise in consumption over the period from 2024 to 2035, with a forecasted CAGR of +1.4 percent in volume and +2.9 percent in value. By the end of 2035, market volume is expected to reach 6.6M tons, with a projected value of $6.3 billion in nominal prices. Market Forecast Driven by increasing demand for pulses in the European Union, the market is expected to continue an upward consumption trend over the next decade. Market performance is forecast to decelerate, expanding with an anticipated CAGR of +1.4 percent for the period from 2024 to 2035, which is projected to bring the market volume to 6.6M tons by the end of 2035.
EPA accepts Wyoming uranium mining project
The Environmental Protection Agency approved a request May 1 from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality to allow the expansion of uranium mining in Sweetwater County, Wyoming.
The approval will allow projects to proceed in the Battle Springs Formation, an aquifer located throughout the Great Divide basin in south-central Wyoming. Working with the WDEQ, EPA determined that the aquifer, which contains uranium, is not a current and will not serve as a future source of drinking water. The decision will allow Lost Creek ISR, LLC, to expand its underground mining operations.
US crude oil output to peak sooner
U.S. crude oil supply will rise more slowly than expected for the rest of 2025 and in 2026 and peak as early as this year, as WTI benchmark prices below $60 per barrel are testing the breakeven point of shale production, energy flows intelligence firm Kpler said on Monday.
Oil prices have slipped by more than 15 percent since the beginning of April as the market fears recessions from the U.S. tariffs and oversupply from the aggressive production hikes from OPEC+. Prices dipped early on Monday after the OPEC+ group decided on Saturday to raise collective output by 411,000 barrels per day (bpd), nearly triple the volume originally scheduled.
The U.S. benchmark, WTI Crude, was trading at about $57 per barrel—a price point that is below the breakeven levels for many shale wells, especially those outside the prime acreage and hottest spots in the Permian.
With the low oil prices, Kpler has now cut its U.S. crude supply forecast by 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 170,000 bpd for the rest of 2025 and into 2026, “as weaker prices threaten to slow shale production.”
Uzbekneftegaz breaks records with $850m Eurobond
On April 30, 2025, Uzbekistan’s state-owned oil and gas company, Uzbekneftegaz, set a new national record by placing $850 million worth of Eurobonds on the London Stock Exchange — the largest single bond issuance in the country’s history. The issuance marks the company’s strategic move to refinance maturing debt and fund key investment projects, especially in light of falling natural gas production.
According to the company’s press service, investor demand exceeded $1.9 billion, allowing Uzbekneftegaz to both raise the offering volume beyond initial plans and reduce the coupon rate by 37.5–50 basis points from the original guidance. Ultimately, the bonds were priced with a yield of 8.75 percent per annum — nearly double the 4.75 percent rate of the company’s debut Eurobond issuance in 2021.
The significantly higher yield indicates that borrowing has become more expensive and suggests that investors now associate greater risk with Uzbekneftegaz and Uzbekistan’s energy sector. Despite strong demand, the elevated rate reflects the market’s more cautious outlook on the country’s economic and sectoral fundamentals.
Europe’s hunt for natural resources
Prompted by the war in Ukraine and increasingly fraught trade relations with the United States, the European Union is on the hunt for natural resources.
That search is increasingly focused on Central Asia, as the recent European Union-Central Asia summit in Samarkand showed. The summit, at which the EU announced nearly 12 billion euros in investments in Central Asia, opened a “new chapter” in the relationship between the two regions, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
But now that the summit’s heady rhetoric has faded, experts say the EU’s road to Central Asian resources is long and winding. “We’re not talking short-term here for sure,” Aruzhan Meirkhanova, a senior researcher at the Center for Regional Analysis at NazarbayevUniversity in Astana, told Eurasianet in an interview.
Natural gas needed by European economies may never flow in serious volumes westward out of Central Asia on routes bypassing Russia, some observers believe. The primary obstacles are geography and infrastructure.
The cheapest and fastest way to move goods from Central Asia to Europe remains the Northern Corridor, though Russia, which Europe wants to avoid. The recent drone attacks on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s network highlighted European worries. Meanwhile, the southern route passes through sanctioned and underdeveloped Iran.
US and Ukraine ink long-awaited natural resources deal
The US has signed a deal with Kyiv to share profits from the future sale of Ukraine’s mineral and energy reserves, after months of tense negotiations.
The deal aims to provide an economic incentive for the US to continue to invest in Ukraine’s defence and reconstruction – as well as to address Washington’s concerns over the amount of aid it has already contributed.
Ukraine is believed to have vast reserves of critical minerals like graphite, titanium and lithium. They are highly sought after because of their use in renewable energy, military technology and infrastructure.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it showed both sides were committed to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine.