Iran on Friday claimed it launched attacks on U.S. military assets in Bahrain and Kuwait amid the latest re-escalation of hostilities in the region, which dashed the hopes from early this week that there could be a swift return to diplomacy. Iran’s army targeted the Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base in Kuwait, Iranian media reported on Friday. “In a direct response to recent U.S. aggressions on southern Iran, the Iranian Army has conducted precision drone strikes against key strategic facilities at Kuwait's Ahmed Al-Jaber Air Base, targeting…

September WTI crude oil futures were trading at $84.12 late Thursday, down $6.35, or 7.02%, for the week. With Friday’s session still ahead, the weekly result is not final. But the week’s main story is clear: crude sold off hard when traders thought diplomacy could restore a workable route through the Strait of Hormuz, then rebuilt part of that risk premium when the military exchange returned. The week opened with Washington’s pause in strikes and Oman’s proposal for regional management of Hormuz. That gave traders something…

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict A drone attack reached Egypt’s Mediterranean gas infrastructure for the first time in the war. At least two drones struck the US-owned Energos Winter floating storage and regasification unit and a second gas-processing vessel at Damietta port on Wednesday, setting both ships on fire and forcing them offshore. No casualties were reported, and the port authority says operations have resumed. Egyptian military investigators are examining how the drones penetrated several layers of air defence around one of…

The mutually beneficial corruption arrangement between the rival Haftar and Dbeibah camps that has kept Libya from returning to civil war could be undone by a third force usually left out of political calculations: the citizens of Libya. For nearly six years, Libya’s eastern and western power centers have preserved an uneasy equilibrium. Haftar’s family controls the east, much of the south, and the military forces surrounding much of the key oil infrastructure. Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and the armed groups aligned with his…

Half a dozen empty Saudi oil tankers have turned away in the Arabian Sea from the Red Sea chokepoint Bab el-Mandeb and headed south around Africa in the western direction, in highly unusual moves for tankers loading crude from the Middle East. All six tankers turned away from Bab el-Mandeb after the Houthi threats to Saudi shipping and actual attacks on tankers prompted Saudi Arabia to re-route its crude oil exports, again, to Egypt. The tankers are indicating destinations such as either Gibraltar or the South African ports of Durban or Algoa Bay,…

Amid tightened vessel supply due to the Middle East crisis, Abu Dhabi’s national oil company ADNOC has paid about $590 million to buy five supertankers to better manage its crude deliveries, Reuters reported on Friday, quoting sources with knowledge of the deal.   ADNOC has acquired the five very large crude carriers (VLCCs) as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) looks to boost crude oil production and exports after exiting OPEC earlier this year, and despite the regional conflict that has stalled traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. ADNOC…

Amid tightened vessel supply due to the Middle East crisis, Abu Dhabi’s national oil company ADNOC has paid about $590 million to buy five supertankers to better manage its crude deliveries, Reuters reported on Friday, quoting sources with knowledge of the deal.   ADNOC has acquired the five very large crude carriers (VLCCs) as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) looks to boost crude oil production and exports after exiting OPEC earlier this year, and despite the regional conflict that has stalled traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. ADNOC…

BP on Friday launched a process to market its North Sea business as the UK-based supermajor looks to simplify its portfolio and invest in high-return projects. The formal launch of a potential sale comes after months of speculation that BP would be divesting part or all of its operations in the UK North Sea to focus on reserve growth and long-term production opportunities outside the UK. “The decision forms part of bp's ongoing portfolio review and reflects its disciplined approach to capital allocation – all in service of creating…

This is where China’s rare earth magnet monopoly ends. REalloys (NASDAQ: ALOY) has signed a strategic agreement with permanent magnet manufacturer JS Link to develop one of the first fully integrated non-Chinese rare earth magnet platforms, bringing together feedstock, separation, metallization, and permanent magnet manufacturing under a single North American industrial strategy. Permanent magnets power guided missiles, fighter aircraft, submarines, industrial robots, electric vehicles, AI infrastructure, and wind turbines. China manufactures…

Five months of mostly closed Strait of Hormuz have not sent oil prices spiking to $150 or $200 per barrel, as many analysts had warned in March. Even as more than 10% of global crude oil supply suddenly disappeared from the market, oil didn’t hit record high levels. Crude oil prices haven’t even stayed permanently above $100 per barrel. Three key drivers have kept oil prices from surging to never-before-seen highs. First, governments started tapping strategic reserves, including as part of the IEA-coordinated 400-million-barrel stocks…

Wood Mackenzie now estimates that the global upstream oil and gas sector could generate $495 billion in free cash flow in 2026 if crude averages $90 per barrel, more than doubling its previous forecast based on a $60 oil price assumption. The revision follows the sharp jump in crude prices triggered by the Middle East conflict, turning what had been expected to be another year of disciplined cash generation into one of the industry’s most lucrative windfalls in recent years. Yet the gains will be concentrated among the world’s largest…

A failure to fully acknowledge the extent of Europe’s energy insecurities could lead to national security vulnerabilities, according to former United States Secretary of State John Kerry. NATO’s summit in Ankara, Türkiye this month displayed a recommitment to cohesion and cooperation against the backdrop of ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Iran, but contained almost no mention of the energy crises that these conflicts have wrought, and the huge impact that the ensuing energy insecurity has on the continents’ ability to defend…

Saudi Arabia’s quarterly budget deficit shrank by nearly three-quarters in the second quarter, courtesy of the same war that hammered its oil industry and sent the economy into its steepest contraction since the pandemic. The Kingdom posted a 34.3-billion-riyal—or $9.1-billion—shortfall for the three months through June, down from 125.7 billion riyals in the first quarter, according to the finance ministry. Oil revenue rose 28% from the previous quarter as crude prices jumped. As for spending, it fell 3.5%. War, as it turns out,…

Saudi Arabia’s quarterly budget deficit shrank by nearly three-quarters in the second quarter, courtesy of the same war that hammered its oil industry and sent the economy into its steepest contraction since the pandemic. The Kingdom posted a 34.3-billion-riyal—or $9.1-billion—shortfall for the three months through June, down from 125.7 billion riyals in the first quarter, according to the finance ministry. Oil revenue rose 28% from the previous quarter as crude prices jumped. As for spending, it fell 3.5%. War, as it turns out,…

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slightly increased as US-Iran negotiations remained ongoing in an effort to restore peace after the memorandum of understanding collapsed amid two weeks of tit-for-tat strikes, according to Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi, who provided no further details. Still, the security situation in the Gulf deteriorated overnight after the US launched a new wave of strikes on Iran following attacks on US forces in Jordan. Additionally, reports emerged that a US-owned LNG vessel was struck…

China’s trade turnover with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the largest economies in Central Asia, showed strong growth in the first half of 2026, as did trade with Tajikistan. Meanwhile, the numbers for Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan fell, according to the PRC’s General Administration of Customs.   China’s overall trade with the region showed a year-on-year increase of 6.5 percent, rising from $49,70 billion in the first half of 2025 to $52.94 billion during the same period this year. The…

Russia is running short of undamaged oil refinery capacity, and it’s looking to Kazakhstan for help. Kazakhstan said Thursday that it is in talks with Moscow to process Russian oil at Kazakh refineries, sell some of the resulting fuel domestically, and send a portion back across the border to Russia. No volumes, commercial terms, or refineries have been named. Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry said market participants would decide where the products go. For Kazakhstan, Russian crude would help keep its refineries running at stable rates…

Russia is running short of undamaged oil refinery capacity, and it’s looking to Kazakhstan for help. Kazakhstan said Thursday that it is in talks with Moscow to process Russian oil at Kazakh refineries, sell some of the resulting fuel domestically, and send a portion back across the border to Russia. No volumes, commercial terms, or refineries have been named. Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry said market participants would decide where the products go. For Kazakhstan, Russian crude would help keep its refineries running at stable rates…

U.S. refineries are producing the most gasoline and diesel since before the pandemic lockdowns, refining margins are running at record highs, but the world is still short on fuels. And it would take a while—and maybe a peace deal in the Middle East—before the situation changes. Fuel shortages are the more important oil crisis because it is fuels that the world consumes, not unrefined crude oil. Yet ever since the U.S. and Israel launched their first strikes on Iran at the end of February, it is crude oil prices that have been hogging…

The US economy grew at a far weaker than expected pace in the second quarter despite a pickup in consumer spending and solid business investment. According to the BEA, GDP (inflation adjusted) rose just 1.5% in the period, according to the first estimate issued Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This was well below the 2.0% median estimate.  The contributors to the increase in real GDP in the second quarter were increases in consumer spending, investment, and exports that were partly offset by a decrease in government spending. A…