Nuclear industry sees revival as Mideast crisis pushes oil to $100

The nuclear industry could benefit from the current bout of global energy insecurity as attacks on three more cargo ships in the Gulf push oil prices toward $100.

Boris Schucht, CEO of uranium enrichment company Urenco, told the Financial Times that a “nuclear renaissance” is underway, with the company holding a record $21.3 billion order book for uranium and fuel products.

“The supply crisis in the Middle East will refocus policymakers and industry on energy security and the need to have some form of baseload power in countries that is independent from supply threats,” Schucht said.

Analysts say the crisis is prompting governments from Europe to Japan to accelerate nuclear plans, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the continent’s earlier retreat from nuclear power a “strategic mistake.”

Saudi $1 trillion in capital spending aims to shift economy

Saudi Arabia is headed into what Goldman Sachs terms a “capex super-cycle” as it plows more than $1 trillion into the economy and aims to strengthen industries outside the oil and gas sector.

In an analysis of the kingdom’s projected capital expenditures for the next five years, the New York-based investment bank expects about 73% to be spent on non-oil industries, up from its previous estimate of 66%.

Clean energy should get $235 billion in funding, up from a previous forecast of $148 billion, with the increase driven mainly by renewables as Saudi Arabia more than doubles its 2030 capacity target, Goldman Sachs said.

Saudi Arabia is also funding sectors that enable economic diversification away from oil, such as metals and minerals, transport and logistics, and digitalization, according to the report.