Skip to Content Skip to Menu Skip to Footer

Daily Update — February 19, 2026

Rising Electricity Demand; Insurance Risk from AI; and EU-India Trade Deal

Today is Thursday, February 19, 2026, and here’s your curated selection of Essential Intelligence on global markets from S&P Global. Subscribe to be notified of each new Daily Update.

Subscribe

Energy Transition & Sustainability

Listen: Lawrence Coben, NRG Energy, on Collaboration and the Electricity Demand “Supercycle”

 

Rising electricity demand from AI, data centers and electrification is reversing decades of flat load growth and reshaping power markets. In this episode of the “CERAWeek Podcast with Atul Arya,” Lawrence Coben, chair and CEO of NRG Energy, joined Arya, S&P Global Energy’s chief energy strategist, to discuss how energy providers are responding to accelerating demand, tightening capacity and growing infrastructure needs.

 

Their conversation examined how utilities, technology companies and large energy users are adapting — highlighting the importance of investment, partnerships and policy frameworks to ensure reliable and affordable power. Join us at CERAWeek 2026, to be held March 23–27 in Houston.

Artificial Intelligence

As insurers retreat from AI risk, one startup plans to fill the gap

 

The insurance industry is at a crossroads. As traditional carriers shy away from covering AI-related risks, companies are left exposed while adoption of the technology surges. Testudo, a startup with backing from Lloyd’s of London, is aiming to bridge the gap by providing coverage for AI risk as well as helping companies to understand and mitigate it.

 

Insurers are inevitably going to be affected by generative AI risk, whether in the auto space, which has seen a rise in self-driving cars, or in segments such as professional indemnity insurance services, according to Testudo co-founder and CEO George Lewin-Smith.

Global Trade

Picture This: The Mother of All Trade Deals

 

The EU and India have agreed a free trade agreement (FTA) following negotiations started in 2007, with India referring to the FTA as “the mother of all deals.” The deal will eliminate EU tariffs on 70.5% of Indian import lines and 49.6% of Indian tariffs on EU import lines immediately, with most of the remainder phased in over 10 years. The deal is likely at least 12 months away from enactment, with at least seven major steps of approval on the EU side, while Indian approval is more direct.

 

The blocker on previous EU deal approvals, including its eventual deals with South American trade bloc Mercosur and Canada, has been the agricultural sector. Agriculture accounted for 11.3% of total Indian exports in the 12 months to Oct. 31, 2025, compared with 24.3% of Mercosur’s. In this FTA, sensitive products, including meat, rice and sugar — which accounted for 4.4% of India’s total exports over this period — are excluded from the deal, improving its chances of being passed.

In case you missed it

  • India allowed exports of 2.5 million metric tons of wheat, lifting a 2022 ban, according to a Feb. 13 Press Information Bureau statement. India also allowed exports of 500,000 mt of wheat products, the statement said.
  • Marine fuel sales at Singapore hit an all-time high of 56.77 million mt in 2025 amid record port activity, according to official data. The city state remains firmly entrenched as the world's leading bunkering port, but the government has an eye on future maritime and aviation fuels.
  • The Indian government has approved an additional 500,000 mt of sugar exports for marketing year 2025–26 (October–September), increasing the total export allocation to 2 million mt, according to an official press release.

Upcoming events