U.S. commercial crude oil inventories rose last week, but Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) draws and sharp declines in key refined products left overall oil and product stocks tighter, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Weekly Petroleum Status Report released today for the week ending July 31, 2026. Key Inventory Highlights (Week Ending July 31, […]
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The Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed on or around August 4-5, 2026, that they successfully targeted a Saudi-controlled medium-range (MR) product tanker in the northern Red Sea with ballistic missiles. The vessel, identified as the Bahri-controlled NCC Wafa (also referred to as Wafaa or NCC WAFA; IMO 9688348, approximately 49,990 DWT, built 2014, Saudi-flagged), […]
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Global oil refineries outside active conflict zones are operating near or at maximum capacity, with almost no remaining buffers to absorb further shocks. Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser made the point clearly this week: the system is stretched thin, leaving “little shock absorbers or buffers” against higher fuel prices. A combination of the ongoing war […]
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The global energy landscape remains highly volatile in early August 2026, shaped by overlapping geopolitical, security, and climate pressures. Disruptions centered on Russia’s refined product exports, ongoing uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz, escalating risks in the Bab el-Mandab Strait, and a severe drought across Europe are tightening supplies of crude oil, petroleum products, LNG, […]
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Oil markets swung lower on Tuesday as Qatar and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pointed to advancing mediation efforts aimed at a short-term arrangement between the United States and Iran, centered on reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The chokepoint, which normally handles roughly one-fifth of global oil and LNG supplies, has been heavily disrupted since […]
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New York City’s lights increasingly depend on a pair of half-century-old floating power plants that were never meant to run this hard. The Gowanus and Narrows barge-mounted generating stations, moored off Brooklyn in the Upper Bay, serve as the city’s last line of defense against blackouts. As intense heat waves and rising demand strain the […]
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High fuel prices are likely to persist even if crude oil prices ease in the coming months. Global refining capacity remains critically constrained by the ongoing wars involving Iran (including the Strait of Hormuz disruption under Operation Epic Fury) and Russia-Ukraine, according to warnings from the chief executives of ExxonMobil and Chevron. On recent earnings […]
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A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker loaded with Qatari cargo was struck by a projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz overnight, marking another escalation in attacks on critical energy shipping and raising fresh alarms about supply security for the world’s second-largest LNG exporter. Security consultancies Vanguard Tech and Marisks identified the vessel as the […]
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“The Tale of Two UK Oil Companies” could be the title of an old book, movie, or play. But sadly, it is a real-life story of how a once great country is imposing a self-imposed death spiral of deindustrialization and financial collapse. The very same death spiral the Blue / Net Zero crowd in the […]
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Electricité de France (EDF) has shut down the Golfech-2 nuclear reactor in southern France as a blistering heatwave drives temperatures toward 40°C across parts of Europe. This is the latest in a record number of heat-related outages hitting France’s nuclear fleet this summer, curbing output from what remains the backbone of Europe’s electricity system. EDF […]
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