Energy markets stayed firm in the week of 28 September – 4 October, with Brent closing above $102 per barrel while governments added emergency stocks to supply. Euro area inflation rose to 3.8%, copper eased during China's Golden Week holiday, and Russia submitted its 2027–2029 budget draft.
Oil & Gas
Brent settled at $102.25 per barrel on 2 October and WTI at $91.11, with WTI down 1.41% on the week, EnergyNow reported. G7 members agreed to release an additional 100 million barrels of diesel and crude over four months, while the IEA said 325 million of the 400 million barrels pledged earlier this year have already reached the market (Euronews). China suspended petroleum-product exports for October, according to EnergyNow.
On 4 October, seven OPEC+ countries agreed to keep November required production at September levels and will meet again on 1 November (OPEC). In LNG, Shell and its partners took a final investment decision on LNG Canada Phase 2, which will double capacity at Kitimat (LNG Prime), and FERC approved higher capacity at NextDecade's Rio Grande LNG in Texas (LNG Prime).
Metals
LME copper settled at $14,253.50 per tonne on 1 October, down 1.1% to a two-week low, as Chinese exchanges closed for Golden Week (The Rio Times). In Chile, 95% of voting members of the 1,020-strong supervisors' union at BHP's Escondida rejected the company's contract offer; a mandatory five-day mediation period now follows (Mining Weekly). Spot gold ended 2 October at $4,140.06 per ounce, down 3.4% for the week, with silver at $60.36 and platinum at $1,692.90 (Kitco).
Data centers: AI & mining
Google was named a customer for Crusoe's Goodnight campus near Amarillo, Texas, planned at over 1GW with an estimated cost of $29 billion (DCD). In Scotland, CX Tech filed plans for a 1GW, £16.5 billion campus at the former Chapelcross nuclear site (DCD). Nebius signed a 12-year, 50MW lease with AIB Data Centers in South Carolina (DCD). US data center construction starts reached $98.5 billion across 153 projects year to date (ConstructConnect).
In digital mining, public bitcoin miners removed about 75 EH/s of hashrate in the first half of 2026 as they shifted capacity to AI and HPC, while twelve tracked companies booked roughly $1.1 billion in asset impairments (Bitcoin.com News).
Economy: EU
Euro area annual inflation rose to 3.8% in September from 3.2% in August, according to Eurostat's flash estimate; energy inflation reached 18.8% and services 3.2% (Eurostat). Unemployment held at 6.4% in the euro area and 6.1% in the EU in August (Eurostat). Addressing the European Parliament on 28 September, ECB President Christine Lagarde described September's 25 basis point rate increase as a measured response and said the ECB reacts "if we see risks of higher energy prices becoming embedded in inflation" (BIS).
Economy: CIS
Russia's government submitted the 2027–2029 federal budget to parliament on 30 September, with 2027 revenue of RUB 43.3 trillion, spending of RUB 48.8 trillion and a deficit of 2.2% of GDP, narrowing to 1.9% in 2028–2029 (Interfax). The draft assumes 1.4% GDP growth in 2027 (Kommersant). Weekly consumer prices rose 0.12% in 22–28 September, with annual inflation at 6.26% (Kommersant). Kazakhstan's annual inflation slowed to 9.3% in September from 9.8% (Trend), and Uzbekistan's foreign trade turnover grew 7.6% to $57.4 billion in January–August (Trend).