In an August 20, 2026, Bloomberg Opinion column, Javier Blas argued that “choking Iran’s economy is the least bad way to end the war.” Drawing on firsthand observations of sanctions-induced collapse in Iraq, Venezuela, and Cuba—worthless currencies, skyrocketing inflation, and soaring unemployment—Blas noted that pure economic pressure has historically failed to force political change. U.S. […]
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Hat tip to Claire Coutinho (then Energy Secretary, now Shadow Secretary of State for Energy) and the think tank Onward with modeling by Transira Energy. This article was first published on the Energy News Beat Substack. Britain’s electricity prices rank among the highest in the developed world—frequently the highest for industrial users among IEA countries and […]
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Brent crude hovering near $91 a barrel might look manageable on a trading screen. Jeff Currie, the veteran commodities strategist now at Carlyle Group, argues that focus is dangerously misplaced. “Nobody on the planet Earth consumes crude oil,” Currie told CNBC. “Refineries do. Everyone else consumes gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, and those markets look […]
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Australia’s Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink), the flagship project of SunCable (now controlled by Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures), is sold as the pathway to making Australia a “Green Energy Superpower.” It promises the world’s largest solar array, the world’s largest battery, and the world’s longest subsea HVDC cable—exporting firmed renewable power from the Northern Territory’s Barkly region […]
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How Blue States are lining up to follow the UK and EU into fiscal and energy collapse. We are getting Kathryn scheduled on the Energy News Beat podcast soon. In her August 13, 2026, commentary for The Telegraph, independent energy analyst Kathryn Porter delivers a stark warning: Britain’s National Energy System Operator (NESO) is making […]
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Geopolitical risks are colliding across multiple theaters in early August 2026, creating a perfect storm for energy markets. The Strait of Hormuz is flaring again, with Iranian loadings collapsing toward zero. Saudi Arabia’s Jazan refinery has been hit by Houthi drones for the second time in weeks. Ukraine continues deep strikes on Russian refining infrastructure, […]
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On August 7, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sweeping sanctions targeting digital asset exchanges and networks used by the Iranian regime to launder funds, evade sanctions, and support the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other terrorist groups. The action hits two major platforms exploited by […]
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On the night of August 7-8, 2026, Russia and Ukraine exchanged strikes targeting energy infrastructure and civilian areas. Russian forces launched ballistic missiles and drones at the Kyiv region and capital, while Ukrainian forces conducted long-range drone strikes on two Russian oil refineries. Russian strikes hit the Brovary district near Kyiv and areas in the […]
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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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Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has sunk to its lowest level in more than two months as attacks and threats intensify, leaving the world’s most critical oil chokepoint effectively stalled despite intermittent diplomatic noise from Washington. Ship-tracking data show vessel movements—including commodity carriers—plunged after a brief mid-June to early-July uptick tied to a […]
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