Russell Hardy did not wake up on October 6 and decide to scare a room full of energy executives. He runs Vitol, the biggest independent oil trader on the planet, and he was describing what his people are actually seeing when they try to move barrels. The seven-month war involving the United States, Israel, and […]
Continue Reading
Record VLCC rates now equal about $33 a barrel — 27 percent of delivered crude — and history shows that energy shocks plus Fed tightening are how demand destruction turns into recession. Especially after the Fed raises rates during an energy crisis, recessions follow. Patterns in finance matter, just like physics matters to the grid. […]
Continue Reading
Washington expanded its economic campaign against Iran on October 1, designating the country’s rail system, major industrial firms, and a Russia-linked shadow banking network on the same day the U.S. military blockade continues to choke seaborne oil exports. The Treasury actions, issued under Operation Economic Outcast, come as three shadow-fleet tankers seized earlier this year […]
Continue Reading
Tankers are burning in the Strait of Hormuz, visible traffic through the waterway has collapsed to a fraction of normal levels, and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says he is “highly confident” Europe will draw down emergency diesel stocks to ease a global shortage. The combination is keeping a firm geopolitical premium in crude while […]
Continue Reading
On March 17, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security issued the longest and broadest Jones Act waiver since at least 1950, covering energy commodities and fertilizer inputs. The waiver was extended twice and now runs through November 15, 2026, with a narrower product list and voyage-by-voyage review after August 17. The Cato Institute’s Jones Act […]
Continue Reading
Kirk Edwards, President of Latigo Petroleum, stops by the Energy News Beat Podcast In this episode of the Energy News Beat Podcast, host Stu Turley sits down with Kirk Edwards, President of Latigo Petroleum, to discuss the critical energy challenges reshaping global markets. From diesel shortages and geopolitical tensions to drone warfare targeting refineries, the […]
Continue Reading
Three sanctioned tankers carrying nearly six million barrels of Iranian crude—valued at roughly $600 million—are crossing the Atlantic toward the United States, according to vessel-tracking data from TankerTrackers and Kpler. The ships, Majestic X, Tifani, and Lenore, were seized months ago in the Indian Ocean as part of a broader U.S. campaign against Iran’s sanctions-evading […]
Continue Reading
That is the argument Javier Blas is making in his September 23 Bloomberg Opinion column, China Isn’t Buying More Oil, It’s Buying From Different Markets (also framed as “Don’t Believe the Hype About China’s Oil Buying”). The global market treated China’s pre-war appetite as a floor. In 2026 it became a valve. The Blas thesis: […]
Continue Reading
Energy News Beat — President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping meet in Washington on Thursday, September 24. The agenda is broader than energy. For the U.S. LNG industry, the meeting is still one of the most important political events of the year. China is the world’s largest LNG importer. The United States is the […]
Continue Reading
The oil market is no longer one price. It is a map. Javier Blas put the new arithmetic on the table in Bloomberg Opinion on September 21: hiring a Very Large Crude Carrier from the Persian Gulf to Asia has jumped twelvefold in a few months to a record $1.1 million a day. Translate that […]
Continue Reading