Hormuz tensions are flaring again as Iranian exports collapse, pushing Brent toward $87 and raising the risk of another run toward $100. China’s Crude Drawdown Puts Iranian Barrels Back in Demand - Shrinking crude inventories in China might spur a buying spree over the upcoming weeks, particularly for Russian and Iranian crude, buoyed by a record-high July stock draw in Shandong.    - Chinese teapots are expected to boost their purchases of Iranian oil in the upcoming days as stockpiles in the northeastern Shandong province…

Ukraine’s military claimed another drone attack on an oil refinery in Russia in the early hours on Tuesday as Ukrainian forces continue to target Russia’s energy producing and exporting infrastructure in an escalation of drone attacks at key oil refining hubs. The Ukrainian military on Tuesday said it had struck the Orsknefteorgsintez oil refinery in Orsk, in the Orenburg region. Orsk is about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from the frontline. “Fire was recorded. Damages are being ascertained,” the Ukrainian military said…

Ukraine’s military claimed another drone attack on an oil refinery in Russia in the early hours on Tuesday as Ukrainian forces continue to target Russia’s energy producing and exporting infrastructure in an escalation of drone attacks at key oil refining hubs. The Ukrainian military on Tuesday said it had struck the Orsknefteorgsintez oil refinery in Orsk, in the Orenburg region. Orsk is about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from the frontline. “Fire was recorded. Damages are being ascertained,” the Ukrainian military said…

The US House of Representatives moved to advance a sweeping Russia and Iran sanctions package on August 10, just days after the Senate approved it by an overwhelming 86-11 vote, opening the next phase of a congressional push to squeeze Moscow’s war economy and give President Donald Trump additional leverage to force Russia toward negotiations with Ukraine. The move came unusually quickly -- while the House is in its August recess -- with Republican Representatives Michael McCaul of Texas, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Democratic Congressman…

The national oil company of the United Arab Emirates has issued its eighth spot tender since June, trade sources told Reuters on Tuesday, as the Gulf producer that has just left OPEC pushes to sell increased crude volumes to international markets. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is offering in the latest spot tender cargoes of the Upper Zakum, Umm Lulu, and Das crude grades for loading in October and November, according to Reuters’ sources. These crudes are produced within the Persian Gulf but ADNOC offers buyers the optionality to…

The national oil company of the United Arab Emirates has issued its eighth spot tender since June, trade sources told Reuters on Tuesday, as the Gulf producer that has just left OPEC pushes to sell increased crude volumes to international markets. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is offering in the latest spot tender cargoes of the Upper Zakum, Umm Lulu, and Das crude grades for loading in October and November, according to Reuters’ sources. These crudes are produced within the Persian Gulf but ADNOC offers buyers the optionality to…

The latest Bloomberg data show that shipping transits through the Strait of Hormuz remained largely disrupted Monday morning, even as Iran and Oman reportedly moved closer to a deal. Brent crude futures traded near $85 a barrel as markets priced in the possibility that a deal to reopen the maritime chokepoint could be imminent. Yet global supply-chain stress remains near its highest level since the pandemic, and any normalization could take months, even if shipping traffic resumes. UBS senior international economist Pierre Lafourcade highlighted…

Over the past couple of years, Colombia’s clean energy transition has shifted into overdrive under President Gustavo Petro’s "Just Energy Transition" agenda, with the country pivoting away from fossil fuels towards wind and solar energy. Petro, Colombia’s first ever left-wing president, instituted a strict ban on signing new oil, gas and coal exploration contracts while securing multi-billion-dollar international funding partnerships for clean energy projects. This strategy helped Colombia’s renewable energy capacity to…

As peace in the Persian Gulf remains elusive and Ukrainian drones keep raining on Russian refineries, a global fuel crisis is looming larger by the day as demand is set to increase in the coming months, especially for diesel. Shortages are already reality in some parts of the world. In Southeast Asia, Reuters reported last week, palm oil farmers are seeing diesel supply shortages and spiking prices. In the United States, diesel fuel exports hit an all-time high in the first week of August, running at an average daily rate of 1.9 million barrels.…

With over 90% of Iraq’s annual budget still coming from oil exports and historically around 95% of that crude shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, securing an alternative export route while the Strait remains effectively blockaded has become an existential matter for Baghdad.  Aside from the billions lost in immediate oil revenues for OPEC’s second-largest oil producer, the blockade meant Iraq’s domestic oil storage tanks filled quickly to maximum capacity, forcing the shutdown of several production wells. The longer that…

A Texas-based oil company chaired by an entrepreneur thought to be close to U.S. President Donald Trump is moving drilling equipment in Greenland in preparation for an oil drilling campaign. However, the drilling plans or the moving of the equipment have not been authorized by the Greenland authorities yet, although a process to do so is under review at present. That’s why Greenland’s government has recently said a strong warning would be sent to the licensee “with a warning that all future logistical matters must be advised and…

The strangest part of America's latest offshore-wind retreat is not that several projects have been cancelled. Some were early-stage, expensive and increasingly difficult to permit. Weak projects should be allowed to fail. The strange part is that the U.S. government is paying companies to abandon one energy technology and directing their capital toward another. Between March and August, the Department of the Interior reached a series of agreements worth approximately $3.9 billion with TotalEnergies, Bluepoint Wind, Golden State Wind, Invenergy,…

Complex systems reveal their true characteristics only under stress. Disturbance exposes assumptions that routine operation conceals and becomes the catalyst for adaptation. Capital reassesses risk, governments reconsider policy, and markets establish a new equilibrium. The resulting system may ultimately prove stronger than the one that preceded it, but it is never identical. Recent developments surrounding the Strait of Hormuz provide one such moment. Whether they ultimately prove to be a lasting geopolitical inflection point remains uncertain.…

Bank of America (BoFA) is warning that oil prices could continue climbing into the winter if the U.S. and Iran fail to reach an agreement reopening the Strait of Hormuz, with severe shortages already emerging in diesel, gasoline and global natural gas markets. “We’ve been expecting oil to be in the $70 to $80 a barrel range for Brent on the assumption that we were going to see some resolution,” Francisco Blanch, Bank of America’s head of commodities and derivatives research, told CNBC on Monday. “But if we don’t,…

Bank of America (BoFA) is warning that oil prices could continue climbing into the winter if the U.S. and Iran fail to reach an agreement reopening the Strait of Hormuz, with severe shortages already emerging in diesel, gasoline and global natural gas markets. “We’ve been expecting oil to be in the $70 to $80 a barrel range for Brent on the assumption that we were going to see some resolution,” Francisco Blanch, Bank of America’s head of commodities and derivatives research, told CNBC on Monday. “But if we don’t,…

Bank of America (BoFA) is warning that oil prices could continue climbing into the winter if the U.S. and Iran fail to reach an agreement reopening the Strait of Hormuz, with severe shortages already emerging in diesel, gasoline and global natural gas markets. “We’ve been expecting oil to be in the $70 to $80 a barrel range for Brent on the assumption that we were going to see some resolution,” Francisco Blanch, Bank of America’s head of commodities and derivatives research, told CNBC on Monday. “But if we don’t,…

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has replaced Mohammad Baqer Zolqard as his representative on the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), appointing the veteran commander Mohsen Rezaei as the new secretary of the council. The move came after days of speculation in Iranian media about Zolqadr’s fate, with rumors suggesting that he had submitted his resignation only for President Masud Pezeshkian, who on paper is the head of the SNSC, to reject it. The president formally chairs the SNSC, but in practice it's the secretary who…

Egypt and Libya are reportedly nearing a deal to build an 800-kilometer oil pipeline connecting Tobruk with Alexandria, creating a direct route for growing Libyan crude production to reach Egyptian refineries as the war with Iran disrupts Egypt’s traditional Gulf supplies. The proposed pipeline would cost more than $1 billion, according to a government official who spoke to Asharq Bloomberg on condition of anonymity. The two countries are now studying financing, implementation and the pipeline’s final capacity, which would be determined…

Egypt and Libya are reportedly nearing a deal to build an 800-kilometer oil pipeline connecting Tobruk with Alexandria, creating a direct route for growing Libyan crude production to reach Egyptian refineries as the war with Iran disrupts Egypt’s traditional Gulf supplies. The proposed pipeline would cost more than $1 billion, according to a government official who spoke to Asharq Bloomberg on condition of anonymity. The two countries are now studying financing, implementation and the pipeline’s final capacity, which would be determined…

Egypt and Libya are reportedly nearing a deal to build an 800-kilometer oil pipeline connecting Tobruk with Alexandria, creating a direct route for growing Libyan crude production to reach Egyptian refineries as the war with Iran disrupts Egypt’s traditional Gulf supplies. The proposed pipeline would cost more than $1 billion, according to a government official who spoke to Asharq Bloomberg on condition of anonymity. The two countries are now studying financing, implementation and the pipeline’s final capacity, which would be determined…